Captives

The towering canopy spread like a giant umbrella, blocking out the sky. The sun's rays could only filter through gaps in the leaves and scatter across the forest.

The dappled patches of light constantly shifted with the swaying branches, disrupting the vision of those walking through the woods.

Fortunately, they were all Wildlings born and raised here. Long accustomed to the changing light and shadows of the forest, they knew how to stay sharp and alert in such an environment.

Ucha carried a sack of dried meat at the rear of the group, glancing back from time to time to make sure no foraging beasts were following them.

"Look, we're almost there!"

The shout from ahead startled Ucha slightly. He quickly looked forward and, through layers upon layers of branches and leaves, caught sight of the deep valley in the distance.

Memories from several days ago surged into his mind, making Ucha shudder.

It had been the most terrifying night of his life.

Blood, screams, slaughter, and corpses carpeting the ground... They often woke him in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat.

Luckily, Ucha had run fast enough back then. Otherwise, he would have died in the valley or become a captive.

Luckily, too, that noble lord had been merciful. Not only had he not held the Tiger Tooth Tribe accountable, he had even accepted them as his subjects.

Ucha did not really understand the difference between subjects and Wildlings, but he did not resist the change in his status much.

At least they would no longer have to fight those terrifying Reachmen.

And they could eat delicious white bread.

Ucha still remembered the wonderful taste that melted in his mouth. This time, he had brought dried meat to Eagle's Beak in hopes of trading it for more bread.

Of course, that was only incidental.

His main task was actually to find a man for his sister.

Quite a few girls from the village had already married into Eagle's Beak. After all, the Battle of the Gorge had left Tiger Tooth Village with a severe imbalance between men and women. If the village girls did not want to grow old alone, they could only marry out.

Besides, Wildlings had always admired strength.

The Reachmen had proven their power, so naturally the girls of Tiger Tooth Village had no objection to marrying outsiders.

What was more, the lord had promised rewards to any girls who married into Eagle's Beak.

Over the past few days, quite a few girls from Tiger Tooth Village had headed to Eagle's Beak to choose themselves husbands.

Yes, the girls who lived in the mountains had always been quite forward.

Ucha's sister Una took pride in her good looks and could not help being somewhat reserved. But now, she no longer dared hesitate and wait, or all the Reachmen warriors would soon be taken.

Then only craftsmen would be left.

After walking for a while longer, the group approached the mouth of the valley.

The scene gradually grew livelier. Several hundred Wildlings were busy felling trees here. The once-dense forest had become much sparser, and a large open space had been cleared near the valley entrance.

Ucha knew that these lumberjacks had once been his own tribesmen. They had remained at Eagle's Beak after being captured, working to build a castle for the lord.

He had initially thought they would be miserable—without enough to eat or proper sleep, forced to do exhausting labor, perhaps even beaten and abused in every manner.

But after seeing them along the way, he discovered that this was not the case.

Every one of the lumberjacks was full of energy and worked with great enthusiasm. They did not look like captives at all.

"Uncle!"

Hearing his sister call out, Ucha hurriedly turned his head. Sure enough, he saw his uncle swinging an axe before a thick oak tree.

"Hey, Una, Ucha, what are you two doing here?" His uncle stopped working, then seemed to recall something and laughed. "You're here to pick a man for Una, right?"

Una nodded openly, not particularly embarrassed, though she looked a little worried. "Uncle, the Reachmen won't bully us Wildlings, will they?"

"They won't. The lord has already issued laws declaring Reachmen and Wildlings equal. Anyone who uses their power to bully others will be punished."

"That's good." Una nodded, seeming to finally relax.

"Uncle, are you doing all right..." Ucha asked guiltily.

He always felt that running away alone that night had been cowardly, and that he had caused his uncle to become a captive.

"I'm doing fine. I have food, a place to sleep, and I even get paid."

"You get paid?" Ucha was stunned.

"That's right." His uncle picked up his axe again. "I'll tell you more later. I need to finish today's quota, or they'll deduct my work points."

With that, he ignored the bewildered siblings and resumed swinging his axe.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

After the tree began creaking, the man leading the work motioned for his men to pull hard on the thick rope that had long been looped around the treetop.

The towering tree, already on the verge of collapse, was finally dragged down with a thunderous crash by the combined efforts of the group, kicking up a cloud of dust.

After clearing away the excess branches, they hoisted the logs onto their shoulders and headed into the valley.

Ucha and Una followed after them.

"Uncle, you said you get paid?"

"That's right. The lord said we're captives, not slaves, and work deserves compensation. But since we're atoning for our previous mistakes, the pay isn't high, and we can't receive it right away."

"Then when can you get it?"

"When the castle is finished, the lord will settle accounts with all of us at once. For now, they just record work points."

"Work points?"

"Yes. You get one point for completing your assigned work each day. In addition, every person in the group that does the most work receives one extra point. Each point is worth one copper coin. It may not sound like much, but the lord provides our meals—and makes sure we eat our fill!"

"That really is pretty good." Seeing that his uncle was doing well, Ucha secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"What a merciful lord!" Una said with a sigh, looking forward even more to marrying into Eagle's Beak.

"Yes. The only bad thing is that after every six days of work, we have to stop for one day. The lord says it's a rest day." His uncle sighed heavily. "But you can't earn work points that day. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. What's the point of resting?"

"You could go back to Tiger Tooth Village for a visit. Oh, right, Uncle, are you allowed to leave Eagle's Beak?"

"Yes. The lord hasn't restricted our freedom. But why would I go back? That woman has remarried, and my mother and son are now living in the Orphanage at Eagle's Beak. Tiger Tooth Village is no longer my home."

"Aunt only did that because she thought you had unfortunately died in battle..."

"Enough. Don't make excuses for her. She and I have nothing to do with each other anymore. Once I finish building the lord's castle and get my wages, finding another woman will be easy. There are plenty of widows in the village now."

Ucha scratched the back of his head and said no more.

After walking a little farther, they saw a small group gathered ahead, apparently in the middle of an argument.

From their features, Ucha recognized them as members of the Longbeard Tribe. They had also answered the call of Chika and his two brothers to join the Battle of the Gorge.

This stretch of road through the valley was very narrow, so Ucha and the others could not help overhearing some of the conversation as they passed by.

"Tell the chieftain we're not going back."

"Why not? Since the Reachmen haven't restricted your freedom, why aren't you running?"

"Why should we run? We eat well here, sleep well, and get paid. I'm not going back."

"But you have to keep working here."

"Wouldn't we have to hunt if we went back? Cutting trees is less dangerous than that."

"B-but... the tribe needs you!"

"Why doesn't the chieftain submit to Lord Caesar too, like the Tiger Tooth Tribe?"

"Yeah, yeah! Then we can all become Lord Caesar's subjects."

"Bastards! Have you forgotten the glory of the Longbeard Tribe?"

"What glory is left... We were beaten that badly..."

"Shut up! You ungrateful lot! You've been bought off by a few copper coins!"

"It's more than a few copper coins! It'll be a long time before the castle is finished. That means... lots of copper coins! If we run now, all the work points we earned before won't count. I'm not leaving anyway."

"Right, I'm not leaving either."

"Me neither."

"Only idiots would run." Listening to the Longbeard Tribe members argue, Uncle gave his assessment. "Not only has no one escaped, the number of people in our captive camp has actually increased these past few days."

"Increased?" Ucha was stunned. "Are people actually volunteering to become captives?"

"Of course. You heard them yourself. Captives are treated so well here, so why wouldn't they come?" His uncle glanced at his nephew, then suddenly said, "Ucha, why don't you stay and become a captive too? Your sister is marrying over here anyway. If you stay, you can look out for each other."

"What?" Ucha was dumbfounded.

But on second thought, it did not seem like such a bad idea.

But... who willingly became a captive? What about a Wildling warrior's honor?

For a moment, Ucha fell into deep conflict.