Another batch of fiends entered the room and I ordered my men to kill the incompetent ones that would only waste space. It looks like I scared the living shit out of the ones who were still alive. There naturally wasn’t anything different between them and regular humans, but we told them otherwise to engrave in their minds the idea that their power is forbidden to use. They’ll only be taught the surface level magic that will look like simple tricks compared to the actual power that some insane lunatics are able to harness.

There are monsters out there that have mastered these powers, which has caused the royalty of the Holy Empire of Raksha to effectively execute and root out anyone who had learned to use these powers outside of royalty. Even those who have not mastered this power are trouble to emperors and kings around the continent of Toruna. Our enemies to the north, Senkuno Kingdom, have also been cracking down on those who exhibit any signs of magical power. The Holy Empire of Raksha decided to call these powers the devil’s power to scare people away from any connection to these powers. Raksha has been dominated by humans for the majority of its existence and has continued to enforce the policy of forcing guards to find magic-users and execute them in public.

I looked around the room, at the survivors that were left standing. Three were half-beasts from the Bakeno kingdom in the west. There was also one from the long-eared race who lived near the half-beasts. Oddly enough, even though Raksha had been hunting down magic users for decades, there were two humans - both were no older than 10 years old. One of the kids had long, dark blue hair that covered her face. The other had dull, red hair with dark, black eyes. They were all worn out which would be expected of someone who came from the slums of society.

I taught them the basic magic that they would be using in the mines in order to gather the resources that were major necessities in the cities as well as in the ongoing war. There were various precious metals and magic stones that could be used to either conduct everyday life or take someone's life.

While teaching them, the child with dull, red hair stood out to me for some unknown reason. I got a closer look and realized he couldn’t have been much older than eight. He seemed so weak that I could probably snap him in half with ease. There were no characteristics that stood out, just that he had survived this long in that lean body of his. At most he was three cubits tall, weighing 200 deben at most. Perhaps he stood out to me because of how long he had lasted in this cruel world. I wondered how much longer he would last working in Mine B. Before I left, I spoke words that would leave them little hope. The boy glared at me and I glanced at him as I left the room.

I left while they practiced, my thoughts engulfed by the boy. I inwardly wished the boy luck surviving in this hellhole.

*Cubits = 1.5 ft

*Deben = 91 g / 0.091 kg / 0.2 lbs