CHAPTER 2.
After the guard left, Tiber carefully picked up something nearby and came back.
“Whew, I got some food. Hmm… smells like fruit again. I think it’s acorn bread.”
“B-bread…”
“No way, calling this bread is an insult to real bread. It tastes terrible. But we’re hungry, so we have to eat. We have to live in the moment. So let’s eat… somehow.”
Tiber thought for a bit, then tore the small bread in half.
“Can you eat this?”
No. I couldn’t. It felt like I shouldn’t.
“But you still have to eat. If not, you’ll die. You drank water while you were passed out, so I’m sure you can eat too. Here, try a little. I’ll help you.”
Tiber gently put small pieces of bread in my mouth, like feeding a baby bird.
This friend who loved food so much didn’t eat it all himself. He shared it with me.
I was thankful—and sad. So I forced myself to chew and swallow, slowly, little by little.
As I ate, memories of others appeared before my eyes.
The people who worked at the mansion.
Tiber’s dad.
And my own father.
They all died. And we’ll die soon too.
Like our fathers before us, we’ll also die here.
The thought crushed me.
It hurt so much I felt like I’d die from the pain alone. But even while feeling that, the food still went down.
“Well done. That’s my friend. To be my friend, you’ve got to be able to eat even in a place like this.”
“Ugh…”
“Swallow slowly. People have to eat to live. You’re doing great… But I don’t get it—why didn’t those guards just kill us? Why bring us here?”
Yeah. Why?
“It can’t be anything good. Also, why do they keep calling us frogs? At first, they said we were sacrifices… I’d rather be a frog than a sacrifice, I guess. Frogs can taste good roasted with some salt. Remember last year when we grilled some on the mountain?”
I nodded.
“If I caught a hundred frogs right now, I’d eat every single one. Ugh, if I knew this would happen, I’d have eaten the whole pumpkin pie my dad made that morning. I saved half to enjoy later… and now it’s gone forever.”
Tiber stayed next to me, chatting nonstop.
Like he was trying to comfort me. He exaggerated every little move.
“Munch munch… See? I ate it all too. But my body doesn’t feel right. Then again, who feels okay in a poison cave? Once we rest and adjust, we should plan an escape.”
Escape?
“Back in the village, I was called Tiber the Speedy. Don’t believe me? Whatever. Anyway, those guys are human too. They can’t stay awake forever.”
They probably switch shifts. That’s what normal people do.
But I didn’t want to ruin my friend’s hope. I couldn’t speak anyway.
“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you behind. I still have enough strength to carry you. Not now though. Maybe when things calm down. A little while ago, two boys from the honey farm tried to escape. They got caught and beaten to death. It was awful.”
“D-dead…”
“Yeah. If you die, that’s it. So first, we survive. As long as we’re alive, we’ll get a chance. Maybe someone will rescue us.”
Rescue…
It’s already been a week since the Granble family—the great sword clan—was completely destroyed.
The “Holy Empire of Feria” is just a name. They won’t help. But the other sword clans will know what happened and take action.
They protect the world, after all.
But since there’s been no word from anyone…
“Someday we’ll eat something delicious again, right? Ugh, something’s seeping into my body. I feel cold… Is it the poison? I feel weird and sleepy after eating… I’ll sleep a bit.”
Tiber lay next to me, facing me.
“Ray? You listening?”
I nodded.
“I’ll just rest for a bit. Maybe they’ll bring food when I wake up…”
He closed his eyes.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
And then… he never moved again.
Did he know he was going to die?
As time passed, his body grew colder. I felt the chill, but I couldn’t move away.
And I couldn’t get closer either.
What kind of poison is this?
Why can’t I even hold my dead friend one last time?
Then something strange happened.
Red smoke began to rise from Tiber’s body… and seeped into mine.
Just like Tiber couldn’t avoid death, I couldn’t escape that red smoke.
What was it?
It wasn’t good. My aching body hurt more, and I felt even worse.
“Ugh…”
I wished I could just die now.
Why drag it out?
But I didn’t die. Instead, I started seeing something new.
Red energy.
The whole cave was full of it. Not as deep red as Tiber’s, but the same kind of energy. And it kept entering my body, bit by bit.
Tiber was right.
This place was a poison cave.
The poison slowly fills us. And when someone dies, the poison inside their body transfers to someone nearby.
That’s it. That’s the reason the monsters of the poison clan didn’t kill us right away.
We’re bugs inside a jar of poison.
Feeding on it. Filled with it. Until one of us absorbs the most poison.
But why?
Why does the poison clan want to gather poison into one body?
I don’t know. But suddenly, I felt hungry.
“Hah…”
Am I crazy? How can I feel hungry now?
But the hunger was real. It felt like my stomach was eating itself.
That’s weird.
I’ve never felt this hungry before. Tiber always whined about food, not me.
When I was little, my sister had to force me to eat every meal.
But now, even in this hellhole, something inside me is screaming for food.
“I’m hungry!”
“Ugh, I’m starving.”
“Let’s eat.”
“Eat!”
“Eat as much as we can!”
“Sweet stuff! Savory stuff! Greasy stuff…”
I froze. Those were all things Tiber used to say.
Was this Tiber’s voice?
Did his soul enter me with the poison?
Or… am I just losing my mind?
“Ugh…”
A groan escaped me.
“Ugh…”
But that wasn’t my voice.
“Ugh…”
“Argh…”
More groans.
From around me.
“Ugh… kill…”
“I’ll kill you…”
“Die!”
“Aaaagh! Die!”
“Grah! Die!”
The groans turned to screams. Maybe the other kidnapped kids were losing their minds too?
I heard fighting. Bones breaking. Flesh hitting the ground.
Why were they fighting?
I didn’t know. I couldn’t move. I was half-dead, lying next to my dead friend.
“I’m so hungry…”
“I’m gonna starve…”
“I wish I could eat something…”
Voices filled my head.
Suddenly, I saw another corpse nearby.
Was that… me?
It looked like me.
Maybe it was a hallucination. Maybe it wasn’t.
But it didn’t matter.
Like Tiber, like Father, like Mother before them…
I would die soon too.
So that dead body—it was just my future.
Yes. I’ll die soon. And suddenly, I missed my family.
My brother. My sister.
I was closer to my sister, but I loved them both.
They supported me so much. Especially helping me try to get into the academy.
But I failed.
I’m sorry, Brother. Sorry, Sister.
I didn’t see them die. But if they’re not here, they’re probably already gone.
“You… you!”
A boy stumbled toward me.
He was the second son of the village mill owner. What was his name?
“I’ve seen you. You’re from the Granble family…”
Other kids shouted:
“What?”
“Granble!”
“There’s a sword clan kid still alive?”
“It’s all Granble’s fault! The sword clan couldn’t even stop the poison clan!”
“Ptooey! Who cares if you’re one of the Eight Sword Clans!”
“You should’ve protected us!”
“My mom! My dad! My siblings! All dead because of your failure! Damn you, Granble! Die!”
Hate. Anger.
All at once, it exploded.
Kids started gathering around me, slowly but determined.
They were poisoned, weak, and could barely stand—but they still came closer.
Guys, stop. I’m not your enemy.
It’s the poison clan. I’m sorry my family failed, but I didn’t kill your families.
But that didn’t matter.
They just needed someone to blame.
A tall blond boy came first.
Maybe older than the others. I couldn’t see his face clearly in the dim light.
Was I about to be beaten to death?
No.
He turned his body, stood in front of me, and spoke:
“Get lost.”
To the others.
“Stop. Or I’ll kill you. Come any closer, and I’ll kill you all. Do you hear me?”
His raspy voice scratched like metal. It sounded familiar.
But the others didn’t stop.
“Shut up!”
“Who are you!”
“A Granble dog!”
“Kill him first!”
They came charging.
So the blond boy started fighting back—with his bare hands.
Thud!
Crack!
Smack!
Sickening sounds echoed.
“Ugh!”
“Aaaagh!”
“Die!”
The kids got back up and charged again.
He kept knocking them down. Calm and strong. Always with one fist.
“Huff… huff…”
He finally bent over, catching his breath.
Silence. No more screams. No more groans.
Red smoke started rising again.
From the beaten kids.
It flowed into the blond boy’s body, fast and wild.
But he didn’t seem to notice.
“Tch. What’s wrong with these kids? Cough!”
He turned toward me.
Brushed back his wild hair.
Now I could see his face clearly.
“B-bro…”
It was my brother.
He was alive.
