Chapter 21 - Slave Training

Kuro's Village - Mess Hall - Two Days Later

Ten elderly men were standing in a line side by side. In front of them, a man clad in black and red armor was quietly observing each of them.

"So, I just want to confirm this before we proceed any further. None of you have any remaining relatives or children you are looking after left in the village, correct?"

All of the men in front of him nodded their heads gravely. According to Kuro, all of the men present had what family members they had left either died due to starvation or were considered lost after they went off alone searching for food.

Simon quietly walked down the line, staring into each of the man's stern eyes as he went. As if measuring their resolve. None of the men so much as blinked. He returned to his prior position in front of the group and nodded his head, satisfied, "I have seen your resolve, but resolve alone will not be enough. For us to succeed, you must be willing to set aside your pride without a moment's hesitation." He paused for a moment to study the men's reactions before continuing, "Kneel." All at once, the elderly men went down on one knee and kneeled before Simon, "Bow."

Only one of the men hesitated, a bit briefly, before bowing his head lower than the rest, as if in an attempt to redeem himself.

Simon stared directly at the man and nodded his head once before approaching him. Without warning, Simon's foot pressed against the man's head and forced his face into the dirt. No reaction. Good. Simon lifted his boot from the man's head before presenting the sole to him, "Your mangy hairs have gone and gotten my boot all dirty," He turned his head to face the entire group, "All of you, lick it clean."

The man who had been stepped on earlier began immediately while the others watched on for a moment before nodding their heads and starting to lick. The sight of the elderly men on their knees licking his boots clean was deeply unsettling for Simon, but he continued regardless. This was necessary he kept telling himself over and over, not quite believing it himself.

The clenching of teeth and a few gasps could be heard from behind him, where several of the villagers were currently watching the scene play out. Simon had brought them in to watch their little training session, hoping to add a little more oomph to what would be their last rehearsal before heading off to Ebonshear.

"Hmm...Good enough." Simon lightly kicked one of the men away and sent him sliding across the ground. "Now, what do you say?"

"""Thank you, master."""

Simon clenched his back teeth and smiled at the reply, "You're welcome. You there, go get me a cup of tea. The rest of you, strip. I want to watch you roll around in the dirt like the disgusting mutts you are." He wasn't sure what to expect when they arrived in Ebonshear. Thus, Simon decided to prepare the elderly men as best as he could.

One of the villagers in the back mumbled something along the lines of 'damned monkra' as they watched the elderly men roll around naked in the dirt, but Simon paid them no heed. They were right, after all. The elderly man sent to retrieve tea arrived shortly after, only to receive a slap across the face as a reply after

Simon took the teacup from his shaking hands.

"What? No chair? What are you, an idiot? No, wait, don't answer that. You're a lame 'Wolfen' after all. I guess I should have expected this. Next time I'll have to get something more competent like a kitsune, always did like how they screamed and they at least follow directions well enough." Simon looked down at the elderly man stretched out across the floor. "Well? If you're going to be down there all day anyway, get on all fours. I'll make do with you in the missing chair's place, although I doubt you'll be even half as useful as a rickety chair would be."

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The elderly man nodded once and promptly got on all fours, presenting his aged back to Simon. If I sit on him normally, he'll die. Chair Squats it is, then.

Simon sighed and sat down on the man's back while keeping most of his weight on his legs. Despite only a fraction of his weight being pressed against the elderly man's back, he let out a quiet groan as beads of sweat formed on his brow. Simon wiggled around like he was trying to find a comfortable position. He used the chance to further reduce the burden on the elderly man's back to the point where the villagers standing behind him could possibly see an air gap between them if the elder bent down even slightly. He quietly sipped his tea while maintaining his sitting position and observing the sight in front of him, a forced smile plastered on his face expertly hid his internal turmoil. I can't wait until this whole mess is over.

"Hmm... You there. Yes, you. Fight him. Make things interesting for me. Oh, and no killing, I really don't want to have to go down to the market to buy a replacement." Simon shifted his position again and adopted the classing thinking man pose, "I wonder, Maybe I could send one of you down to the market to buy a replacement. You know, I've never seen a slave purchase a slave before. How would that even work? Would I have to order one of you to order them to do something for me?" The old soldier clapped his hands loudly, balancing the teacup on his knee, "You there. Stop rolling around. I want you to head down to the market and purchase a replacement for that one. They seem to be broken." Simon's gaze shifts over towards one of the two men fighting who had apparently lost. He was sprawled out across the ground breathing heavily but thankfully otherwise unharmed. I'm glad they at least realized I wasn't serious about fighting, alas, it's still not enough. "Oi, mutt! Did I tell you to stop?!" a teacup flew from his hand before shattering against the floor near the victorious man, "Keep hitting him! and you! Didn't I tell you to go get a replacement?"

The elderly man who was ordered to head out tried to speak, “B-But sir.”

"Sir? SIR? That's Master to you. Mas-Ter. How many times do I have to tell you that before you get it? Do I have to cut off your ears and clean them out for you to understand?"

"N-No S-, No master."

"Good. Now, what did you want mutt? I don't have all day to listen to your prattling."

"Master, the nearest slave market is in Ebonsheer. I'd never make it there alive on my own."

Simon lifts an eyebrow at the elderly man, "So? Did I stutter?"

"N-No master."

"I thought not. Now go. Whether you make it or not is of no consequence. Thankfully that rune carved across your back will keep you fleeing even if you wanted to. Now get going. I've got a dinner to attend and I'm not about to miss the chance to speak with the Baron."

Several minutes passed before he stood up from his seated position, "Alright, that's enough for today. Go ahead and get dressed. We'll be leaving shortly."

The man that had been Simon's chair collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.

Good job, everyone.

Simon kept that last statement to himself as he left the panting man behind and exited the building.

---

"Ugh. Did you see that damned grin across his face when he sat down on Karn?"

"Yeah, I almost tried to charge at him when he did that."

"You damn fool, you DID charge at him. The only reason you didn't reach him was that I stopped you. Although if that damned grin had lasted any longer, I might have joined you instead."

"Yea, that was hard to watch. Did he really have to go as far as to order them to strip? Wasn't telling them to kneel enough?"

"Aye, I think he went too far."

Another voice appears behind the four gossiping men, "I think he kept going because he was enjoying it. I mean, did you see the way he ground down on Karn? What kind of sick monkra does that?"

Suddenly the man fell to the ground, hard. Before him stood Karn with an outstretched fist, still panting. "Do you really fucking believe that? He wasn't even fucking sitting on me at the end. He kept all his damned weight on his legs." One by one, the other selected men crowded around Karn, clearly sharing the same opinion as him. "I know you couldn't hear it because of how hard of hearing you are, but I could. He was grinding his teeth so loud I thought blood was going to start pouring out on top of me."

Karn turned to face the remaining four men, his eyes screaming with rage. "Despite knowing all that, do you still think he was enjoying that? He probably fucking hated it even more than we did. He's not like those other monkra's. Hell, I don't think he's even fucking human, so don't you dare go and compare him to one."

All at once, the selected men behind Karn nodded silently and headed out the door.

In the shadows, a lone wolfen rogue sat observing the situation while flipping around a knife. Soon. Soon we'll bring them home.