John woke up to a feeling of sweetness in his mouth. A strange liquid was in his mouth. Colorless and odorless, it took him a moment to realize that it was water. Yes, the water felt sweet to this thirsty man. He felt so dry that he would drink it, even if it were horse piss. Luckily, this kind merchant had poured him some water. The merchant was looking at him with stagnated eyes. Ignoring his unwelcome eyes, John showed his gratitude and said: "thank you."
This middle-aged merchant was named Vincent. His eyes lit upon hearing John's words. As a slave trader, he caught young men and women and sold them to the rich. He was hesitant to save John as he looked weak, but his luck was with him. This brat, he uttered Gods’ language. It’s an ancient language that was supposed to be used by the Gods. Even the nobles knew only little of it as it was almost extinct. This language was a status symbol among the nobles, hence they, always, uttered whatever little words they knew.
‘This brat must be the son of some noble. Or, maybe he is the youngest prince of the empire.’ Vincent thought.
Vincent had once heard that the youngest prince of the empire was on a mission in the southern desert.
‘His clothes are a bit tattered, well he must be undercover, also the desert winds are unforgiving. This prince brat must have lost his way, returning him will surely gain me some wealth.’ Thinking this, Vincent made scorn.
“Who are you?” He asked John.
John couldn’t make out the language Vincent uttered. He twitched his eyebrows and replied softly: “sorry, I don’t understand your language.”
He asked while making hand gestures: “What do you mean?”
Awestruck, Vincent stared at John amazedly. In all his life, he had never heard anyone speaking the Gods’ language thoroughly, that too with such fluidity. Not even the emperor knows this much of the language. This shabby looking man just uttered several words that he doesn’t understand. Judging by his tone and the way of speech, it was surely Gods’ language. Vincent immediately realized that this man was not from the empire, but fortunately, he could be a gem worth more than the prince. Vincent helped John on his feet and at the same time nodded to the other guy who stood behind John. That man struck John’s head with his scabbard, and John lost his consciousness.
He recovered his consciousness only after an hour came past. He looked around and realized that his surroundings had changed. He tried moving his arms, but they were tied back with iron chains. Looking around, he saw a lot of women, of all ages, from eight to thirty-eight. It took him only one look to realize that he was in a cage filled with slaves. He painfully realized that he was in the carriage that he saw from afar. His kind rescuers were the not-so-kind slave traders. John wanted to yell out, but he soon gave up on the wasteful idea. Opposite to him sat a woman in her late twenties with a child of about ten in her lap. They were wearing ragged clothing which showed signs of a struggle. It could be easily made out by their appearances that they were mother and daughter. He realized he was an idiot for even thinking that he will find someone nice here. His stomach grumbled violently, declaring his hunger to him and all those around him. Hearing this, the little girl who sat opposite to him looked up and whispered something in her mother’s ear to which she nodded. She then got up and walked to where John was chained. She pulled out a little red apple from her clothes and held it near his mouth as she sat near him. John stretched his head forward and took a bite of what he felt like the most delicious apple in the world. His eyes teared up in gratitude towards the poor little lass that fed him perhaps the last pleasant meal she would ever have.
“Thank-you” John muttered, but to his surprise, he spoke a language he had never known before.
“You’re welcome elder brother:” the little girl muttered back in the same language which he understood clearly now.
“H-e-l-l-o...” he whispered to himself, this time in English to check whether he remembered it.
‘Hmm, it seems alright’ he thought and let out a sigh.
The last thing he wanted was to lose his sense of identity. Thinking back, he concluded that he knew the language after he ate the apple. “…flesh of this land…” someone whispered in his mind. He had tasted the flesh of this land; no wonder he knew its language.
‘It’s one of those isekai thingies.’ John sighed inwardly. He leaned back and closed his eyes to rest his tired body.
John slept for almost an hour before he realized that he had entered a loud surrounding. He gazed at the women in the carriage; they were sighing loudly now.
'We must have reached the city.' He thought as he sighed along with the women.
In a few hours, John's life would also change. He may become a slave too! Light entered his eyes as the veil around the cage was slowly lifted. He saw that he was in a go-down, which resembled a tent.
A skinny man holding a whip was standing near the cage along with Vincent. He commanded his men to open the cage as he looked at the women in it with lustful eyes. He commanded his men to open the cage while staring at them with lustful eyes. The skinny man squeezed the tits of every woman who got down from the cage. He didn't spare even children.
John stared at this vile act with vengeful eyes and shouted: “let me go, you, motherfucker.”
Whenever John became stressed, English naturally came to his tongue.
The skinny man's face tightened hearing John, he didn't know English, but he was sure that John just uttered it.
“What shall we do with him?” he asked Vincent while he pointed at John.
“Gag him up and close the gate, he’s going to fetch a large price,” Vincent replied unhesitatingly.
The skinny man entered the cage while looking at John curiously. John, who saw that he was about to be gagged begged one last time in the native language of the people “Dear sir, please let me go.”
His anger had turned into tears by then. The skinny man hesitated for a second before pushing the cloth in his hand into John’s mouth tightly. He then quickly got down the cage while slamming its gate shut.
However, at a corner of the tent that was bathed in darkness, unknown to Vincent and the skinny man; a pair of eyes stared at John curiously before they vanished.