Chapter 34. Prisoners I knocked out the four remaining people, leaving them alive for something I had planned. Something that might once again ruin my image in the eyes of everyone on the camp. *Why should you do this to them? They are nothing but children, they will have to do it after some time. Why now?* ^Why only one? And why did you not bring them here and let them experience the reality of things?^ I looked around to see if there was someone nearby, but there were only six people all unconscious. 'Maybe it was someone in the tent.' I left it at that for now. I walked into the large tent and had to close my eyes just after the first glance. Naked people lay everywhere. Males, females, and even some kids. You couldn't even tell if anyone was alive or dead. There were chains in a corner, which I used to bind the people outside, except the one that had followed me. There were other tents that contained goods such as food, water, and even monster meat. All the stolen things were also neatly arranged. 'They do keep their stuff properly.' One tent stood out because there were people inside, chained and hurt, with soulless eyes, but still alive "Why are you here? I already said we won't do anything for you. Kill us if you want." A bearded man said. "I am not with the Syndicate." I threw them the keys I had. At first, they just stared, alternating between me and the keys. "Thank you," I heard from behind but I had already left the tent. These people were probably prisoners, people with useful skills that were rare. Killing them was a bad idea, so they were left alive. From my perspective, Henry and his group were going to force them into working for them one way or another. I just happened to reach here before their plan could succeed. And having nowhere to go, they would choose to follow their only savior. "Please wait." 'Here it comes.' "They found us tight after we were teleported here. Were had just gotten organized ourselves but their interruption ruined everything. There were a lot of us that belonged to the Union, the church too but we forgot they were the Syndicate. None of them cared. Killed most of the people and dragged the rest here. It was awful, being abducted the first thing that happens to you after coming back." "Be happy that you were not a beautiful girl or a female civilian. Anyway, what are you going to now, after all this?" I asked looking around. "We.... we were hoping to follow you." "You won't be able to freeload, there are already many such people I don't wish to take in more. Especially those who are capable of taking care of themselves." We were already running out of food. There was a lot of food gathered here, I could give them enough for a week and they are on their own. "That is what we intended for. Working also helps us earn levels and we can be useful. I promise we will be worth your time and effort." He brought his hand up to his chest and hit it a few times. "I'll warn you beforehand, we will be moving into the forest in a few days. You will have to start working immediately." "The layout of the town will come first, and the drainage system and the building distribution will have to be fixed first. For that-" "There are a few craftsmen that are already with us, you can finalize everything after meeting them, and once it's all done contact me for confirmation, okay?" "Garry, is the name? And what should I call you by?" "Ray," I said "Uh Garry, can you help me with carrying some," I paused looking at the other tents, "Stuff." "Huh?" "We are almost there, a kilometer or more left." We finally reached the base camp, the time to come back was a lot more. We had to carry food, water, and people. Six alive and a few dead. The man that had followed me was still unconscious and I left him like that. "Teacher you're back!" Lucy was the first one to run up to me. I patted her on the head, these three had really become my siblings over time. And I knew could trust them but I wanted them to be ready for the new world. *You are too harsh.* ^You are too soft.^ "Did you say something Lucy?" "No, I didn't. Why?" "No, it's fine. Anyway, after everything is done here, bring Arthur and Luke to the garden. I have something important to say." "Ok, I'll tell them." She smiled and ran off. I felt really bad doing this but it had to be done. Around the same time, that man woke up. "My wife, where is my wife?" He was practically screaming as he ran all over the building. "Garry bring those over here." I turned towards Garry. "Do we really need to do this? We could just tell him and-" "No he won't believe it, and he needs to know the truth." I interrupted Garry, even if the truth was harsh, everybody had the right to know it. You cannot deny someone the truth. Garry went over to the makeshift cart they had built for carrying stuff. He brought out three things wrapped in cloth. He carefully placed them down on the ground and slowly unwrapped the top part. By now a lot of people had gathered hearing the noise and everybody fell silent after seeing the dead bodies. The three of them were those that Henry had brought away with him, there were more but they were all locked up and still alive. It was just these three that were dead. "No, no that's not true, right? This is a joke, isn't it? Or am I in a Nightmare? Yeah, a nightmare, that's got to be it. I just need to wake up and everything will be alright. Everything will-", The man broke down, he started sobbing, screaming as he held her wife in his arms. I could not bring his wife back from the dead but I could give him a chance to let that hatred out. "Garry, tell someone to get Henry. The guy with blood all over his face." Garry did not say anything in return, he just called someone and whispered something into his ear. Henry was then dragged and brought to the center of the crowd, near the crying man. It was time for execution.