Time seemed to slow as I struggled to process what I had just been told – the pain around my neck adding further to the fog in my mind. I had practically been given a more convoluted version of a death sentence. The giant holding me turned to face the soldiers. I could tell that he had barked some orders at them, but my thoughts were too preocuppied to discern any useful information.

A sudden rush of air filled my lungs as I was ungraciously thrown back to the floor before being apprehended once again by the soldiers around me. They dragged me back outside in the direction of what I could only assume was a caravan of merchants. Carts of varying shapes and sizes were lined up facing towards an imposing set of gates. My feet scraped against the ground as I tried to walk for myself as this time the soldiers had not bothered with theatrics and instead chose to simply drag me with one taking each of my arms.

Before I could truly process what was happening, I was unceremoniously shoved into a sturdy, iron cage. Had I been standing up; I would’ve needed to crouch as to not hit my head. However, even while sat, I still needed to tuck in my legs. With every second that went by, my regret for having not tried to escape grew. I resolved myself not to let this be the end of my story.

The crackling of a whip could be heard, signalling the departure of the caravan. A thick sheet was tossed over my cage, and I was once again alone in the dark. This time, the only thing binding me was the rope, still tied taught against my wrists. To my own surprise, my lips curled towards my ears. A sonorous laughter escaped mouth, slowly growing more deranged.

I couldn’t help but find the whole situation ridiculous. If I was not mistaken, this was the third time that this group of people bound me and took away my ability to see my surroundings. Instead of the fear I had been feeling up until this point, amusement filled my heart. It had finally dawned upon me the true absurdity of my quandary. My laughter was sporadic – the bumping of uneven roads causing my voice to shake.

“What the fuck kind of shitty isekai is this?” I said between convulsions.

“Those bastards are so unoriginal it hurts! Seriously? Again, with the tieing me up and keeping me captive?” What had started as a giggle that belonged to a woman transformed into the cackles of a wild beast.

“Fuck this! I’m the victim here you assholes!” I screamed into the the darkness of my cage. My amusement turned into anger – I had previously been apprehensive about causing severe pain to myself in a feeble attempt to escape but now I was fed up. A plan to get out captivity began to form in my mind.

I bent my hands as much as I could and attempted scratching at the rope with my clawed fingers. This was the first of three ideas I had to remove it from my wrists. The latter two I did not entirely want to resort to yet, despite being fully prepared to. I was barely able graze the rope even after multiple attempts from several angles. Inhaling deeply, I raised my hands as far to the side as I could and steeled myself.

“Time for plan B.” I wheezed with a grimace before slamming my hands with as much force as I could into the opposite side of the cage. The effect was immediate. White hot, searing pain shot up my arm. I knew I had a very small window of oppurtunity before I began to heal so I mustered all of my willpower into frantically pulling my newly shattered hands through the now much looser ropes.

My plan was a success as mere milliseconds after pulling my hands free, a far more intense pain grew. I bit my tongue to prevent myself from howling in agony; warm blood trickled from my lips. What couldn’t have been more than several seconds felt like an eternity.

Holding my filthy hands in front of me, I rejoiced. In the interrogation room I was afraid of leveraging my Curse to escape, and now, having finally done it, I no longer held that same fear. There was still some apprehension, and by no means could I imagine doing something significantly more drastic for a similar result, but still – the feeling of control over myself and my situation finally beginning to return was a joyous moment.

Without wasting any time, I enacted the next part of my plan. Grabbing the rope, I loosened the knots on it and carefully slipped it back around my wrists. This time, I could easily slip my hands in and out of it. I was not so delusional as to think I would be able to break the bars on a cage as thick as the one holding me, nor did I think I would be able to do so quietly enough as to not alert the coachmen; so instead, I waited.