"Ha…ha…" Kafil gasped, carrying stones on his back according to his master's demands.
Due to Kafil's enormous figure that dwarfed most others along with his thick muscles—he was bought with the purpose of completing daunting labours that an average slave would take six hours minimum just to barely reach the required materials needed to be supplied and even then—they would be worn-out while sustaining injuries.
But such a thing did not apply to Kafil. Ever since his arrival a month ago, the noble had been drowning in riches. His Herculean build made it seemed as if the tasks given by his master were child's play. The slaves around Kafil stared at him with jealousy. To think a newcomer would already surpass their master's expectations, and even outperform those who had been working for decades—it was insulting to the amount of hard work they had put in just to meet the quota every single day.
"Hahaha! Good work today as well, Kafil!" The noble praised.
The onlookers glared at him with resentment yet none dared to utter a single word as they continued with their jobs. As much as they hated to admit it, Kafil was gifted with an extraordinary physique that made gathering experience nearly useless in this field of work.
"Thank you for praising me, master." Kafil replied before resuming his actions.
Because of his innate talent, he naturally became an outcast amongst the slaves. Although he felt a bit depressed to have been singled out, Kafil was much more focused on surviving and hoping that one day—he would escape from here.
'Soon enough, I'll reunite with those three. Believe in yourself, Kafil.' He prayed.
…
"HELP! HELP! ANYONE! PLEASE!!!" A slave cried out.
"Quiet! It's all useless. No one's coming to rescue us…" Another slave said despondently.
Just an hour ago, multiple men cladded in pristine armour had entered the cave while escorting a young, well-dressed man. Upon the man's appearance, the noble instantaneously bowed down at him before being dragged away. Albeit being a bit baffled to see their master bowing his head to another, the slaves thought nothing of it until they heard the sound of rocks crashing onto the ground—as if a structure had collapsed.
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Growing anxious, the slaves cautiously followed the origin of the sound. Despair scrawled on their faces as they were greeted by the sight of the entrance of the cave blocked by rocks stacked on top one another. Their master's left arm was protruding beneath the rubble—causing a few of them to stumble on their backs out of fear.
Silence ensued as seeds of uneasiness sprouted within their hearts. Every individual apart from Kafil gradually grew more and more distressed by the seconds. All hell broke loose at last the moment a slave shouted for help—causing a chain reaction to occur as all of them screamed for a rescuer to come.
"E-everyone! Calm down, you're only wasting your energy!" Kafil attempted to get their attention but his endeavours were unsuccessful. His words were drowned in their cries for help—never to be heard even once.
One hour later, the voices finally died down. The people's throats were sore from screaming at the top of their lungs. Their faith and hope diminishing every second the longer their prayers were unanswered until everyone came to the realisation that today is possibly the day they would meet their maker.
Even though they all understood that there was the possibility of them being unable to leave alive afterwards—the slaves simply could not accept the fact that there were no preparators for them to blame. For all they knew, the ones that killed their master and trapped them in here was either the prestigious man from earlier, or natural causes.
Yet since their suspicions were unconfirmed, they began pointing fingers at each other—claiming it was the other's fault for not being more wary of the situation. Chaos ensued as the slaves started hitting each other—a mere accusation turning into a full-out brawl. The brawl also caused a few deaths from having their heads bashed against the walls, and from pickaxes puncturing their vitals.
"Everyone! Calm down, please!" Once more, Kafil gave it his all to get a hold of their observation and while he was successful this time…it turned out for the worst.
The combination of enviousness they held towards him, mixed with the accumulation of the doubts they held for each other ever since they became aware of death—all redirected towards Kafil made them all recognise him as their true enemy.
"I see…so you're the reason we're trapped like this." A middle aged man declared as he stepped towards a pickaxe with anger coursing through every fibre of his being.
"But I didn't-"
"Shut your mouth. We knew you always outperformed us, and wanted to get rid of us so that you could take our wages too." The man continued with his unreasonable rants.
"That's not even how that work-"
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT SHOULD'VE DIED, NOT THEM! EVERYONE, ATTACK!!!" The man promptly rushed towards Kafil as he finished speaking.
'Urgh, seriously…is this why you find most distrustful, sir?' Kafil pondered as he braced himself for combat.
Swiftly, he uppercuts the closest opponent, followed by a tackle to a second person behind him. Kafil then winced in pain as someone struck his back with a pickaxe, but such inconvenience was quickly taken care of with a single punch.
'...God, if you can hear me, please…forgive me.' Kafil begged as he greeted the oncoming wave of attackers with open arms—literally.
Bodies were flung across the entire cavern from Kafil merely flailing his arms around with all his might. It was a reckless technique but it did the job. However, the men and women that fell rose up from the sheer resentment they held for Kafil.
Staring at his adversaries with a weary expression, he taunted them to come to him once more.
"I'm sorry… Please don't hate me too much for this."
…
"Ah…ah…ah…" Kafil uttered tiredly. Looking down at his blood-covered hands—a distant memory resurfaced in his mind.
「"Kafil, remember. Don't ever feel guilty for killing your enemies. After all, there's nothing more precious than your life, and killing those that want to take it away can be considered a norm for every single type of organism. So, no need to feel sad for their deaths. They simply paid the price for trying to take another's life.」
"...I'm starting to find it hard to see others in a good light…I wonder if I'll eventually turn out like sir…"
…