Queen Serdan

Vito, the shipwright of the Western Exploration Fleet, and five other sailors.

Six people in total had become captives of the "higher-ups."

The higher-ups were beings who could be called the Serdan People in the local language.

However, in private, they preferred to call them sheep-men based on their physical characteristics.

Vito was currently inside a spacious room.

Everyone had shackles around their ankles.

"Oh, my little darlings!"

A Serdan man dressed in fine clothes but carrying a whip walked in.

"How is your coursework coming along?"

The affection in his gaze as he looked at Vito and the others was the kind one showed toward kittens and puppies.

"Snap!"

He cracked the whip once.

"Lord Hubbard is coming to inspect the results of your training soon. I hope you won't disappoint him."

"Yes, Lord Aibute. We're ready."

Vito and the others answered him fluently in the local language, then saluted him stiffly in the Serdan manner.

Although they still felt deeply humiliated inside,

they had no choice but to do so if they wanted to avoid being abused.

There was a saying from Earl Greiman—so long as the green foothills remained, there was no need to worry about running out of firewood.

The same was true of a person's fate. So long as one remained alive, there would always be a day when things could change.

"Good, good. You truly are my masterpieces."

Aibute nodded in satisfaction, then left.

Vito and the others continued waiting.

After a while, the Serdan man who had ordered the attack on the Exploration Team's ships at the harbor—the city lord, Hubbard—appeared in the room.

He inspected the results of Vito and the others' studies.

Language, etiquette, and so on...

"Amazing!"

He discussed it with Aibute in a tone filled with surprise.

"To be