Without paying attention to Yaro, the youth began to walk.

Yaro followed naturally, his body moving without thinking.

What the hell? He had lost control of his arms and limbs, and he was forced to move like a marionette. And Lord Kilsov was holding the strings…

He felt cold fear run through his body. It really seemed as though Lord Kilsov had the power to command life and death over him.

Yaro swallowed, resolving never to cross the youth. All thoughts of overt rebellion had vanished in an instant.

Just tell me what to do, and I’ll jump on it. Run, sing, bark like a dog, whatever! I just don’t want to die again!

Yaro decided to be compliant and mute for the time being, attending to all of Lord Kilsov’s orders until he could understand what was going on. The first priority was to live.

Only if this was achieved could he move on to the second priority, figuring out what the hell was going on!

Therefore, he should be quiet as a mouse, keeping his complaints to himself.

Yaro followed the youth out of the small, empty room to a larger room that had a small kitchen, a bed and little else. There was a pot on the stove, and a few other basic tools. To Yaro’s modern sensibility, it looked pathetically bereft of comfort.

Is this where I am supposed to sleep? Are these the famous slave quarters?

There was no fifty-inch HD TV, no heated toilet seats, not even books or a couch.

For comfort, am I supposed to stare at a wall or meditate like a monk?

There did not appear to be another room in the house, apart from the empty one he had spawned in.

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A farmer’s studio?

Only…where was the bathroom?

And where was the Lord supposed to sleep? Was there a palace nearby?

The youth did not stop, taking Yaro outside.

There, Yaro saw a truly unusual sight. Outside the house, there was a small shack and a plot of red soil that was roughly three square meters in size. A few small sprouts were poking out of the surface of the plot.

A few meters away from the shack, there was nothing but a dark expanse, a stretch of pitch black shadow. However, the darkness did not extend to the sky, which was clear with only a few clouds - moreover, further away, there was a bright sun that was rising on the horizon, indicating that it was morning.

So no palace, then…

Wait! If there was no palace…then that was not his studio room, ahem, those were not the slave quarters.

And…only one bed. Why was there only one bed in the house?

Yaro was sure that if there was a question of who was going to sleep on the bed that he would not win out against the Lord. A sense of foreboding began to creep through his heart.

Is this what it means to be a lawslave?

“You will live in that shack, along with the other lawslaves,” Lord Kilsov said.

The shack! Yaro felt outrage run through his body. If the house was already so barren, then what would it look like inside of that tiny little hut?

Forget common amenities, from all appearances, he did not even know if it would provide the slightest help at keeping the rain and cold out!

Perhaps one could store a shovel or an axe in there, but a human - erm, a lawslave? He was being forced to live like a common farm tool!

Lord Kilsov continued. “Every day you will explore the unknown territory and forage for anything of value. There are many dangerous plants and animals, so you must be careful not to lose your life.

“Although you are not very impressive, you are still a servant of this Lord, and so I will treat you fairly, feeding you every day for your service. If you serve me well, you will also be fed well.

“Numbers 1 through 4, come out!”

At Lord Kilsov’s command, four nondescript, gray-clothed men walked out of the shack and lined up. They were all holding hoes, and their gray uniforms had many pockets of varying sizes. They had the appearance of depressed farmers.

Roommates?

Yaro felt some solidarity with the four men. They must all have been summoned, just like he had been. They did not even have real names, just going by ‘Numbers 1 through 4.’

And it appeared that they all slept together in the shack…poor bastards. Unfortunately, he would soon be joining them. Commiseration in the shack!

But what was with that bland, gray outfit?