How were they going to break out? That question had been on Taro's mind for the past hour. They were all caged and nobody had access to their prana, so there was no way to force their way out. His sword, which could be his only hope, was nowhere near his reach. And even if he managed to get it, there was no guarantee it would be of any use here. Their chances of escaping here looked bleak...
Additionally, that girl had been of no help at all. He had hoped she, in her all-encompassing imagination, would be able to invent a realistic solution. He had been right about the imagination, but his biggest mistake had been the realistic part. No matter what she blurted out, it felt as it was ripped right out of a third-rate fairy tale.
A door creaked open. Someone entered the room with something in their hands. Taro flinched his eyes, and saw that it was a chunk of bread. They gave it to the guard, who then distributed it between the two cells. Taro had completely ignored his stomach's cries ever since he awoke, almost forgetting about the fact that he didn't have any food for a good while. The figure went back outside, after which they returned with a can of water and a couple of bowls. The guard took the bowls and shoved them through the gaps in the cells.
Taro saw a disgusted look on Yukina's face. She had fallen completely silent ever since the person had entered the room, when she had seen the tooth-breaking bread and the bowls from which they were supposed to drink. No matter how she got here, she probably got treated well before her arrival. Here, however, they were seen as less than humans. There was no such thing as privilege, the only thing those people outside cared about is keeping them alive. Whether it was as humans or as animals, was of no concern to them.
"H-hey, can't I get a cup or something?" She tried. Nobody answered.
"Hey! Hello? I'm not going to drink from this! Even those filthy pirates had a better sense of decency!" Again, nobody answered.
"I don't like this anymore. Please stop this trial or theater or whatever this is supposed to be. I have learned my lesson, I won't ever steal my sister's desert anymore, I promise. So please, let me out..." The guard took the can and poured some inside the cup in front of her. He smiled cruelly, as if he enjoyed the girl's suffering. Yukina's tone immediately shifted towards anger.
"Hey, you peasant! Do you even know who I am? Do you know what my daddy will do to you if you won't stop this farce at once? Well, I know what I am going to do to you when I get out of here! I am going to lock you up, just like you did with me. But instead of these cups, I'll make you drink water from the ground, so that you will have to lick the whole place clean just to survi-"
The guard's expression turned from pleasure into annoyance. He took the bowl he'd just filled, and splashed the contents in her face.
"You know, that's a great idea. Drink from the ground, like the animal you are. Also, if you dare open your mouth once more against me, I'll make sure you won't be able to talk until you leave this place." He pointed at a dirty piece of cloth lying on the table. Yukina immediately knew what he was implying and ceased her protests. Taro saw tears welling up in her eyes. This was probably the first time the girl had been treated like dirt, making her completely crash down from the throne she'd be living on.
"Hey, you, pour them some water. I am done with these pests. Why are they even here in the first place? We should just send them to the third district... Oh, and don't pour that girl any water. If she wants some, she can get it after she kissed my feet." Yukina's eyes widened even further after hearing the guard's words. Maybe she had finally realized this wasn't fake, that she had actually been captured or kidnapped and had landed in a place that was far from friendly to her.
The other person was standing next to his sword, as if they were examining it thoroughly.
"Hey, what are you doing? Don't touch that, it's going on the auction as well. Our boss will come soon and get the goods, so unless you want land up in one of those cages yourself, stay away from it."
"I-I'm sorry." Taro heard a clear female voice. He hadn't been sure because she had been wearing a black cloak which covered her whole body. A big hood was hiding her face away.
"A female? That's a first for me. Well, I do not mind at all though!" He slapped the girl on her butt, while roaring out a bestial laugh. Taro was sure the action wasn't appreciated by the girl, but she didn't react. She was probably too scared of the repercussions. Taro could not blame her. She was just another cog in the system, one that was easily replaceable. That one reaction might be the difference of being outside or inside those cages.
The girl walked towards him, held down the bowl with one of her hands and poured water in it with the other. Then, she continued to the other cage, doing the same for the other captives. As instructed, she did not touch Yukina's bowl. After she was done, she finally left the room. For a moment, Taro could've sworn he saw something glittering inside the hood, around the position of her ear. He did not get a clear view to see what was.
Now that the girl had left and the guard had gone back to his table to sleep, all that was left was a depressive stillness, as if they were inmates waiting for their death row. Taro was sure that the fate that was waiting for them, was not much better...
He silently ate the hard bread and the uncleansed water. They both tasted awful, but his hunger surpassed his sense of taste. In the other cage, everyone else seemed to gratefully devour the nourishment. Everyone, except for Yukina. The piece of bread was still lying in front of her, untouched. Her silent tears had already stopped falling, but they had yet to dry up. Taro wanted to talk to her, but it was better to leave her be for a moment. She probably needed to organize her thoughts, especially since she still seemed to be in a state of denial. But the longer this would take, the harder her fantasy world would come crashing down.
..?
Taro felt something thin on the edge of the bowl when he put it back down. He tried to feel again, and the same feeling recurred. It was long but firm. When he looked at what he was touching, to Taro's surprise, he could not see anything at all. It was as if he was touching a thread made of air...
He attempted to pull it. A small scraping sound could be heard, but it came from far away. He pulled again, and that same scraping sound echoed through the room. Taro looked at the guard, but he didn't seem to have noticed. He was clearly moving something, but what?
After another few pulls, he finally managed to determine where the sound came from. Taro couldn't believe his eyes: his sword had moved about ten centimetres into his direction. So the scraping sound he had heard earlier, had been his sword being dragged over the floor. But how? Even though Taro had no explanation for the phenomenon, there was one certainty. Whatever was attached on his bowl, was also attached on the sword. Which meant...
He might have gotten a way out!
Taro continued to slowly pull the sword towards him. Even though the scraping sound was clearly distinguishable, the guard seemed be in a deep sleep. He did not know how they had managed to stall someone like that on a post like this, but it worked to his advantage now. If he kept going at this tempo, the sword would be inside his reach in no time. Cutting the bars would be tough, but maybe if he could cut the wristbands of one of those people, they might be able to break them out. Or they might surprise the dumbfounded guard and somehow beat him down, after which they could steal the keys from him. Either way, getting the sword was the first step.
A little bit more... The sword had almost moved in range. Some of the others had also realized what he was doing, and were looking with hopefulness at the moving object. Just when he was about to grab the weapon, the one and only key to their freedom...
*BAM*
The door slammed open, and a person entered the room. Taro pulled hard on the invisible cord, but it was too late. An earthen needle emerged from the ground, blocking the sword's path. At the same time, Taro felt a snap, breaking the connection between the bowl and the sword.
"I don't think so."
A man, dressed elegantly both in terms of clothes and jewelry, had slammed a heavily decorated sword into the ground. Taro immediately realized he was a noble, probably the boss in charge of this place. This was the worst of the worst situations. Not only did he fail to get his way out, he got caught in the act. If only he had pulled a little harder, or that person would've stayed away for a little longer. Why did this always happen to him...?
But the noble did not react how Taro expected him to. The first thing he did, was to walk towards the guard, taking his sleeping head and slamming it forcefully on the table. Logically, the guard did not awake pleasantly. A few curse words escaped his mouth, until he realized who was standing in front of him. His tone quickly shifted to a submissive one, but it was not enough to calm the waters.
"You. Did you think you got this job because you could sleep all you want? So you could let the prisoners escape while you were dozing off?"
"Escape? Wha-" The noble's finger pointed towards Taro's sword. The surprise on the guard's face was filled with hints of fear.
"How... Wait, it was over there, I swear! There is no way he could've-"
"Take him." The noble signaled to someone outside. Three heavily armored guards came in and took the -probably former- guard with them. He quickly disappeared from sight, yet his pleas for forgiveness were still audible moments after he'd left the room. The noble took up Taro's sword and examined it shortly, after which he gave it to one of his guards. After that, he walked around and inspected the prisoners one by one. He stopped by Yukina, who finally seemed to have regained her composure. However, she still did not dare to talk after what had happened before.
"He did not even properly feed the goods. Normal punishment won't be enough for this scoundrel... Strip him of all his belongings, and send him to the third district."
"Yes, sir!" One of the guards who had apparently been waiting outside, walked off. This guard had acted on his sense of superiority at the wrong time, and he was going to pay a heavy price for it. This clearly showed that the city, or at least this part of it, was merciless towards the people with a lower standing. And in those terms, they were at the very rock bottom of that. If that guy got sent off to the so-rumored thrash dump for one mistake, he wondered what was going to happen to them...
After one of the guards had brought Yukina some fresh water, fortunately for her this time in a decent cup, she drank it all in one go. All her talking definitely hadn't helped with the thirst she'd forced herself to hide. Slowly the life came back into her eyes. She still looked a bit fazed but she had definitely recovered from the initial shock.
"I'm sorry..." Yukina whispered to Taro, after the noble had left. A few guards were standing by at the entrance, Taro's sword positioned right next to them. That road to escape had been closed off completely now.
"If only I had come up with a better idea..." She was clearly blaming herself. For some reason, Taro had expected she would be down, but he hadn't anticipated this 180 degrees mood swing.
"Don't wor-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, before Yukina interrupted him with another barrage of words and completely making him regret that earlier thought. Her mood hadn't turned 180 degrees, it had turned a full 360.
"But no fear, because now the real Yukina is here! Our plan A has failed, but we still have a plan B. Escaping from this place might be nearly impossible, but that doesn't matter. They will surely bring us somewhere else soon, and then is when we strike! If I can get this annoying wristband off somehow, I'll be able to get us out of here. And when we're moving, I'm sure a chance will present itself where you can tear it off! Isn't that an amazing plan! Ohohoho!"
Taro had no words. Not only was that no plan at all, but he was sure the 'tearing off the wristband' part would not go as easy as she expected, especially not if he had to do it with his bare hands. If he had his sword they might have a chance depending on how those wristband things worked, but he feared that would be a hopeless endeavor. Maybe the earlier guard would've been stupid enough to let him reach his sword twice, but the new guards and especially the noble wouldn't take that risk. He already found it strange that they hadn't moved it outside the room. Either way, cutting through the wristbands wasn't possible with what they had to their disposal. Maybe, Taro hoped, they would encounter a miracle along the way...
"Hey, Taro, after this trial is done, I will reward you handsomely. Money, fame, whatever. Everything a boring guy like you would want. Well, not everything of course, but you get the point..." She blushed for no apparent reason. Taro decided not to go into that. The girl clearly still thought this was a trial for her. In other words, she thought the guard's action from earlier had been all an act. Taro slowly felt the insanity returning, and the last thing he wanted, was to make it even worse.
Not much later, a couple of guards opened the cages and guided them outside, one by one. It was still dark outside. They all got forced inside a small carriage, almost glued to each other due to the lack of space. Somehow, Yukina had landed up next to Taro, grinning at him as if they were about to enact a master plan. The insanity had worsened after all. He wondered if they would arrive their destination before his mind had been completely broken.
Slowly, the carriage started moving to an unknown destination. Taro already had a good idea where they were going to, from the things he had heard from the so-called princess. But he knew that there was only one way this carriage could be going. The lowest of the low. Hidden away in the darkness, yet enjoyed by people that stood the brightest into the light. An assembly of greedy merchants and evil desires. According to rumors, it was called the black market. A place where you could buy and sell anything you want. And this time, the goods that were about to be sold off, were them...
