“Move quickly if you don’t want to get whipped!” a soldier holding a whip spoke out loudly.
Currently, we had just arrived at The Central Island and were getting off the ship.
With my hands cuffed, I was walking in line along with other people wearing the same orange uniform as me. These guys were prisoners just like me.
In this world, most prisoners didn’t just get locked up. Instead, they were shipped to this island to serve their sentence.
“What are you doing!? Get up and walk!” An old man suddenly tripped and fell over. A soldier immediately started whipping the old man.
A few prisoners started talking among themselves and laughed at the old man. These guys were all criminals. Each of them had committed crimes, serious enough to get sent here.
Prisoners were not the only things that were sent to this island. There were a few other ships that had just arrived alongside our ship.
I looked at a nearby ship. There were many old people, orphans, people with incurable diseases or plagues, the disabled, homeless orphans, and even abandoned babies on that ship. Many soldiers were carrying them onto wagons and drew them away in a different direction from us.
There were also a few other ships that were full of all kinds of trash from all around the world.
The Central Island, not only the most dangerous place in the world but was also the place of the unwanted. Those who were not needed, sinners who had committed grave sins, those who were abandoned or forgotten by the world, were all shipped to this island for reasons I didn’t know.
‘Are they using this island as a dumping ground? This island is really suspicious… well, none of that is my problem.’ Not bothering myself with any of that, I just obediently followed the line.
Suddenly, I felt a gaze. I turned around. Standing there was a stern-looking girl with long blond hair. She seemed to be a few years older than me. She wore a fancy military uniform with a rapier strapped on her waist, which fitted her stern and serious look really well.
She seemed to be a high-ranking official, as there were also a few people in similar uniforms standing behind her.
‘Is she looking at me?’ Not sure if she was looking at me or I just happened to be in her line of sight, I turned away from her, trying my best not to make eye contact.
‘Who knows… I might get whipped for staring.’ Not wanting to get whipped, I just kept walking.
We kept walking until we reached a place that seemed to be an open hall with a stage at the center. Then we were told to break into smaller lines.
Chatter chatter
The hall became noisy.
The girl from before walked onto the stage. She confidently unsheathed her rapier, pointing it forward.
“SILENCE!” She silenced the crowd.
“I am Lorean Rosefields, the Vice Commander of Labyrinth Watcher!” She, Lorean, introduced herself.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
‘Labyrinth Watcher?’ I curiously asked in mind. Big sis didn’t tell me anything about this so-called Labyrinth Watcher. Almost all the information I had about this world came from my Big sis/teacher, the girl who was locked up in the Aura Academy’s prison. I was absolutely clueless about anything else she didn’t tell me.
“The Labyrinth Watcher is a military branch of Avidyte City, in charge of watching over this Island as the guardians who will stand against the ferocious aura beasts, preventing them from ever leaving this island!” (Lorean)
She was kind enough to explain about The Labyrinth Watcher.
I knew about the aura beasts. They were the primary monster of this world. The Central Island was overrun by Aura Beasts, and The Labyrinth Watcher’s job was to fight against these aura beasts.
“Every single one of you is worse than maggots! Not realizing how blessed you are just by being born, you insult yourselves and everybody around you by committing crimes against your own people. Pieces of trash such as yourselves should be better off not having been born in the very place. Your very existence itself is an insult to our races as a whole!
But- our ever graceful ruler, The Aura Lord, is willing to give you sinners a second chance to prove yourselves useful to mankind one last time.” (Lorean)
“Currently, the world is threatened by the ever-looming presents of aura beasts. And The Central Island is the home to most aura beasts. Many powerful aura beasts beyond your imagination reside on this very island! If all these beasts were to ever leave this island, mankind as we know it will come to an end!” (Lorean)
“You prisoners will serve your sentence on this island by fighting against the threat of the Aura Beasts alongside us, The Labyrinth Watcher, as brave soldiers that will stop the advance of the Aura Beasts. We are mankind's first and possibly last line of defense!” (Lorean)
This world found a way to make use of its prisoners, instead of just locking them away.
“This is your second chance in life, but if you disobey commands or commit any more mistakes, there will never be a third chance. You will get put down instantly!
-But for those who diligently follow orders and perform exceptionally well in the upcoming battle against the aura beasts will be rewarded without fail. Depending on your merits and achievements, you will have your sentence shortened or even regain back your freedom!” (Lorean)
“---------“
Her speech continued for another whole hour after this. It was all pretty much just her praising the Aura Lord.
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“Damn, our vice commander is such a looker, and she’s also got those big jugs-”
“…”
“I’d give my left arm to have a night with her!”
“…”
“Come on, dude! Don’t be so cold! We’re roommates!”
“Instead of your left arm, she’ll chop off both your dick and your head…” I finally replied to the annoying voice.
“I’m Vince! What’s your name?” My ‘roommate’, Vince asked.
This guy was so annoying, he kept talking nonstop since the moment we’ve met.
After the long boring speech from Lorean, the Vice Commander, we were led to this prison. Once again, I returned to a cell. Though this cell was a lot smaller and dirtier compared to my previous cell in the Aura Academy, and I had to share it with this guy.
“Lynn” I reluctantly gave him my name.
Despite how much I didn’t want to, I still gave him my name. It would be a bad idea to have a bad relationship with this guy. We were cellmates, and this guy was a criminal to boot. What if he were to kill me in my sleep because he hated me? I didn’t want to be friendly with him, but I didn’t want to be on a bad term with him either.
“So! Lynn, why are you here? What did you do?” He asked.
“…” Not wanting to answer, I remained silent again.
“Come on~ say it! We’re both criminals here, right?” (Vince)
“There’s no need to be shy! I won’t laugh at you, no matter how lame it is!” (Vince)
“We’re friends, right? Say it~” (Vince)
Blah blah blah-
He just kept going on. I was really tired of the Vice Commander’s speech, and now I had to deal with this guy. I felt like he would keep going forever if I didn’t answer him.
sign-
“… it was rape” not wanting to listen to his annoying yapping any further, I finally gave in. There was no reason to hide. Everyone here was a criminal anyway.
“How many?” With an excited look, he asked again.
“How many what?” (Lynn)
“How many women did you rape?” (Vince)
“… one” (Lynn)
“ONE!? You’ve got caught after just one!? What an amateur number~” he laughed like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.
‘…’ (Lynn)
“What about you? What crime did you commit?” Not bothering with his ridicule, I returned his question.
“I was a pirate before coming here.” (Vince)
“Pirate?” (Lynn)
“Yeah! I and my brothers would rob any small ships we came across. We would kill anybody who resist, so most of them would just obediently hand over their belonging and money. And sometimes there were good-looking women on their ships. We would ask them to hand over the women as well. Alongside all my brothers, we would take turns to enjoy the women, and after we’re done, we usually sell them to the brothel.” (Vince)
“...” (Lynn)
“Ahh~ the good ol’ day…” He started reminiscent of his past like it was some kind of fond memories.
‘To think I have to share a cell with this piece of shit…’ While feeling disgusted inside, I kept a straight face, not showing any reaction.
As we continued to strengthen our ‘bond’, a prisoner I had not seen before showed up in front of our cell.
“Come out” the man simply told us to follow him.
“…” Me and Vince look at each other.
Without knowing what was going on, we followed the man.