Chapter 2 - The Exploitation

I ran out of the chamber, unsure about what I should do. I was still befuddled by recent events and the strange place, that I found myself in, was completely alien to me. I froze at the sight before me, a giant pit carved deeply into the bedrock astounded me with its magnitude.

It was so wide that the buildings carved on the opposite side of it looked like toys. The depth and height of it simply overwhelmed my imagination as I could see something like a small lake of lava deep down below, while high above me there was a tiny oblong of the grey sky.

My gaze wandered in all directions, only to find countless tiny figures relentlessly working in the workshops strewn across the gargantuan cliffs. Everything was illuminated with infernal glow coming from lava pools and water...er...lavafalls?

My sightseeing was interrupted suddenly, by a snapping sound and the pain of a whip slapping across my back. I managed to hold my voice while turning back to see what hit me. I found myself dwarfed by a menacing fiend from earlier. -’ How could it get there soundlessly!? ‘ I wondered uselessly, while the fiend took another swing at me.

Somehow, I managed to dodge the whip, but it only served to annoy the beast.

-” Grwgh. “ The fiend growled menacingly. -” Stop dodging, stupid imp, you are only making this worse! “ A barrage of smacks followed, but, somehow, I was able to dodge them all.

-” Who would stop in such circumstances! “ I responded in a shrill voice, I wasn’t going to get smacked for no reason.

-” Oho, you must be new. “ The fiend stopped, retracted the whip and looked thoughtfully at me. -” You probably do not know how the things work and how you got here, right? “ He looked at me with a big eyes, and he seemed almost...concerned and caring, despite the beastly appearance.

-” Yes! “ I responded, relieved that there seemed to be some understanding *person* in this madness. -” I think that there was some kind of mistake... “

-” Certainly. “ He bent down slightly and scratched fur under his chin. Somehow it made him seem somewhat scholarly. -” Then let me break it out to you. “ His snout opened in something almost like a smile. -” This is a Netherworld, a lawless world filled with vicious demons. And do you know what’s the most important rule here? “

I did not know why, but my subconsciousness was screaming for me to run, though what the fiend was saying seemed too important to just pass on. My curiosity had gotten the better of me. -” No. “

He motioned for me to listen, so I bent a bit closer to him and began to listen attentively.

*Smack*

Fiend used that moment to hit me with a surprise, backhanded blow and while I was knocked down he started to whip me ruthlessly. -” The. Rule. Is. To. Always. Listen. To. Your. Betters. “ Each pause was punctuated with a sharp smack of the whip.

I could do nothing to resist and pain washed all over my unfamiliar body. After a while, which seemed really long, the fiend started panting and eventually stopped the beating. I felt really miserable and betrayed by the recent turn of events.

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Also, deep in my mind, a smouldering spark of hope held the conviction that what happened earlier, with Deidre, was some kind of fluke and that she wasn't responsible for my situation.

-” Huff… Now take the pickaxe and go dig with the others. “ The beast seemed somewhat winded by the ordeal.

I felt somewhat better when I realized that I wasn’t badly hurt. Actually, I noticed that the wounds were already healing on me.

Somehow the fiend must have read my mind as it suddenly gave me a warning look. -” Don’t get stupid ideas, consider this a friendly advice. Next time I will use pliers and burning oil. “

-” Aieee! “ I responded reflexively and ran toward the pile of pickaxes.

Soon I was striking vehemently at the unyielding layer of bedrock, together with the other imps. And I felt really miserable as I couldn’t even have a momentary break. The overseeing fiend seemed to appear soundlessly out of thin air each time I even thought about slowing down.

After an eternity of tormenting work the fiend returned, announced by the thudding sound of its big hooves. -” Time’s up, go to sleep. “

I was relieved upon hearing those words, but one of the imps suddenly started to argue. -” What’s with food? “

-” I said go to sleep. “ Fiend looked at the imp threateningly and swung the whip around lazily. -” Haven’t dug deep enough. “

Imp covered at the threat and scampered away, together with the others. I didn’t want to be left alone and followed close behind. I could hear accusing voice coming from the front. -” Fat jerk, eating our rations! We should get him back for it! “

Group of imps started to calm down the troublemaker.

-” Shh, he might hear us. “

-” Not so loud. “

-” We can’t do anything. “

-” You want to get tortured? “

When we arrived back at our chamber, which was nothing more than a cave dug into bedrock, I realized that it was almost empty. All imps, apart from the ones I worked with, disappeared. Though I quickly focused on more important thing - after working for gods know how long I was tired and aching all over and, what's worse, I was dreadfully hungry.

I tried to fall asleep, but gnawing hunger in my belly kept plaguing me. Eventually I gave up and tried to approach the troublemaker imp. -’ He must have some answers, right? ‘

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Hey~, Author's here~

hell, rampant betrayals and excruciating work, how long will it take for our protagonist's naivety to vanish... I wonder, muhahahahaha.

Cheers,

Mea

NEXT CHAPTER: Chapter 3 - The Substitution

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