The Chains of Humanity | Levi Ackerman

Chapter 1: The Girl Who Was Sold

The chains that bound her wrists together rattled and clattered. The heavy black chains hung low, weighing down her scrawny arms. Her face, covered in bruises and welts, stung from the frequent lashes she received from the two traffickers. The larger man, with his squared face heavily scarred and deep with wrinkles, took out his short temper upon her frail body. His partner, a slightly smaller and much younger man, took the reins of Saika's horse and led it closely behind his own. The trek from the Yumer District, which was located ten kilometers northwest of Wall Maria, to Mitras, the Capital within Wall Sina, was exceedingly long and uncomfortable.

But the journey from the Outer Wall to the Inner Wall was the least of her worries.

It took an entire week of nonstop riding to arrive at Wall Rose, where the immigration policies were very strict. Stacks upon stacks of paperwork had to be filled out, even though the Boss and his partner were only passing through.

Saika, of course, was hidden at all times.

After getting through Wall Rose, it was another week and a half to cross the one hundred thirty kilometer gap between said wall and to the innermost structure: Wall Sina.

“Listen here, little girl,” the Boss grunted gruffly as the three rode on horseback, the other man hanging on tightly to Saika's reins. “Georges Kippermann is a very wealthy man; we don't want you misbehaving and breaking our ties with him. He expects a lot from the girls he buys from me, and he will expect only the best from you.”

“Sir,” Saika murmured softly, her voice grave and defeated. “How many girls has Mr. Kippermann bought from you?”

The Boss smirked.

“The last girl was pure Native, with black hair longer than yours and skin as golden as a piece of sweet caramel; she was girl number sixteen, but she couldn't even last him six months.”

The man in front of her scoffed.

“Pathetic little thing.” He narrowed his eyes. “She couldn't even fold a bed sheet correctly; she was a disaster of an investment from the start.”

Saika lowered her head, her black eyes staring blankly at the ground. The stomping of her horse's hooves muffled her ears, the large creature's gray-speckled body quivering as it attempted to shake away the pestering flies.

“By the way,” the Boss growled from the front again, his voice deep and slightly annoyed. “What was your name again?”

Saika didn't even bother to look at him, as this was the tenth time this expedition he had asked for her name.

“Matsumoto,” she whispered. “Matsumoto...Saika...”

The Boss and his partner just rolled their eyes and nodded slightly, trying only vaguely to remember her name so they could present her formally to their regular client. Saika sighed in the back, a tear leaking from the corner of her eye. The drip slithered down her ivory face, stinging the only remaining welt on her cheekbone as it fell, turning cold like a drop of snow melt.

It was only days later when the three arrived at Wall Sina, where a rather plump man with graying stubble on his wide chin waited for them. He was dressed rather formally in a brown coat that hung over his dark green vest and beige button-up shirt. His matching brown trousers were neatly ironed, a sharp crease down the side of his legs, and his shiny black shoes glistened like poison in the high afternoon sun.

This was Georges Kippermann.

“Johnathan Wells,” the rich man greeted cheerfully, his large arms outstretched to welcome the trafficker. “Such a wonderful treat to be able to see you looking so well!”