Ranier marched naked, with blisters on his feet as he was chained together with several men all in a row. 

They had chains that linked their necks and their hands were also chained together.

From a distance, he could see the other prostitutes, including Jasmine and his maids Monica, Annebelle and Anita equally naked and chained behind one another. 

He could see that all of them had been raped as their faces looked miserable and many of them were bleeding. 

Anita looked at him from afar, but Ranier could see Monica scolding her not to look his direction. 

He understood, they didn't want him to be discovered. 

The men were all loaded into a cage, mounted on a wagon that was pulled by 2 horses, while the women were loaded into another caged wagon. 

There were only 5 men in the men's wagon, while the female one was cramped with over 15 girls. 

Ranier looked at the other 4 men. They were young and good looking, and he guessed that they would all be sold as male gigolos.

While reading their stats, he could see they were all around his age, with the youngest one at 17 and the oldest one at 23. However, unlike him, they all were between levels 13 to 19 and had basic fighting skills.

The most skilled of them was a knight's squire, one was a blacksmith's assistant while the other two were farmers.

Unlike the female cage, only Ranier was naked in the male cage, as the others at least had pants on.

--

The journey was rough and bumpy as the hard metal cages were painful to sit on.

Their captors barely fed them nor gave them water, and several of the females had already died on the journey. 

Many of them also died from the repeated rapes and abuse, with Annabelle being among the dead girls which were dumped along the way. 

Ranier tried to make contact with Monica or Anita, but they ignored him, pretending not to know him at all to protect him. 

Over the following days, as they were carted through Acturia towards Argabad Ranier observed the country as he passed by.

Indeed it was a beautiful country filled with lush greenery and forests, but was now ravaged by war. 

He noticed from the day he was captured, that the soldiers of Argabad indeed used firearms, but they were olden style flintlock pistols like those from the 18th century. 

But as he was carted out of the capital of Acturia, he saw cannons used by the enemy too. 

No wonder his country's forces lost so badly. It was literally a technology gap between them!

Knights against cannons and muskets? They didn't stand a chance. 

The road forked into two directions and the cage with the males went one direction while the one with the females went the other path 

Ranier started to panic when he heard Monica's voice just shout "Survive at all costs!" 

From afar he could see her being dragged out of the cage and being beaten. 

He could not turn his eyes away as the soldiers threw her bloodied body back into the cage. It was unclear if she was still alive or not. 

--

The following weeks passed by like a blur as Ranier did everything he could just to stay alive. 

Before even reaching Argabad, 3 of the other males died on the journey. 

Ranier ate whenever they fed him, he drank whenever they gave him filthy water, even if it did give him diarrhea. 

As he entered the enemy country, he saw the vast difference between this country and the one his parents ruled. 

While Acturia was still a beautiful pristine land that looked like it came from a fantasy world, Agrabad was at the cusp of an industrial revolution. 

They were developing steam engines and their soldiers were armed with rifles and pistols. 

Finally he was sprayed down with water and brought up into the auction stage. 

It was uncomfortable, standing naked and in chains in front of hundreds of people, but Ranier remained calm. 

His goal was to survive no matter what. 

The price got higher and higher, but eventually a strange old man bought him. 

As he was led away in chains, Ranier heard the customers at the auction talking and pitying him. 

"He was sold to Nicodemon. He's going to meet an awful fate. Too bad, he was quite handsome and I wanted to buy him for my wife too." one of the men said. 

To his shock, Ranier was packed in a box that was shaped like a coffin and the cover was nailed shut. Fortunately there were breathing holes, but he could barely see out of them. 

He was loaded behind a carriage and he felt the horses starting to move. 

The journey took a long time and Ranier was forced to stand in the box the entire time. 

He grew weary and fell asleep, leaning on one side of the box. 

The carriage eventually reached its destination and Ranier was jolted awake when he felt the box being lifted up. 

"Wai.." Ranier yelled before he fell on his head as some one picked up the box and carried it upside down. 

He was bracing inside the box, upside down on his head and back as the box was carried carelessly before being dumped in a dark room. 

The box was opened and Ranier heard the door slam shut and was locked. 

Slowly, he climbed out of the box and looked around. 

He  was inside a small bedroom and there was a double bed at the end of the room. 

But on the bed was a beautiful blonde naked woman, and she didn't have any arms!

She had a black collar on her neck, which made her look like a slave. 

"Er.. hello?" Ranier said, walking over to her. 

But she stared at him blankly and barely breathed, as if she was a doll. 

He looked at the stumps on her arms, as everything from the elbow down were missing. 

It looked like she had been through a horrific accident of some kind. 

"I'm Ranier" he said, wondering if he's met her before. She looked incredibly familiar. 

She looked at him, then stared straight ahead. 

"Anyway, I hope you don't mind if we share the bed. I haven't had any sleep for a long time" he said and sat on one end of the bed while she sat on the other. 

He didn't know what was in store for him, but he might as well have a good rest while he was able to. Perhaps an opportunity would arise for him to escape.