A Snake’s Life Ch 86

Chapter 86

 

The sound of footsteps faded, and the door closed. I waited until there was no sign of the slave trader’s presence, then began to act. I gathered my strength to form a droplet of water, shaping it into a thin, sharp blade. With a flick of my fingers, the blade spun in the air. Just brushing against it seemed enough to cut.

Carefully, so as not to injure my hands or feet, I brought the water blade to the shackles and smoothly sliced through them.

“It’s done!”

A cheer escaped me without thinking. The heavy burden lifted from my limbs, making me feel light. I leapt lightly and then, swinging my arms freely, slashed through the prison bars with confidence. The bars, propelled by gravity and my force, crashed to the ground with a loud clatter. I flinched at the sound. “What was that noise?” murmurs of disturbance arose around me.

I scratched my head sheepishly.

“Oops… I should’ve cut them quietly.”

A girl on the opposite side of the cell widened her eyes when she saw me slash through the bars.

“Oppa, how did you get out?”

“With this thing, just a quick swipe.”

I showed her the water blade that could cut through metal and, telling her to stay still, I also sliced through the shackles on her hands with ease.

“They’re off…”

The innocent tone of the child and the sound of falling bars caused a commotion around us.

“They’re free? They’re really free?”

“Hey! Help me too!”

“Me too! My husband and child are waiting at home!”

Voices clamored all around, each pleading to be freed. The noise was too much; if people came down after noticing the commotion, it would be a disaster. I quickly climbed over the broken bars.

“Shh! Quiet! People are coming!”

Standing in front of them, I put my finger to my lips. The shouting stopped as they quickly covered their mouths. At last, silence. I let out a long sigh.

As expected, others who had been captured like me were trapped inside their cells. Judging by their ragged clothes, it was hard to tell how long they’d been here. Anger toward the slave trader surged, but escaping was the priority. Before freeing them, I firmly repeated my warning.

“I’ll release you all, so please, be quiet. If the trader finds out, we’re in big trouble.”

As the people nodded seriously, I created water in the air and used it to slice through shackles and bars. Taking care not to repeat my earlier mistake, I caught the falling bars immediately after cutting them. Ugh… heavy…

The sharper ones followed my lead, catching the bars and gently placing them on the ground. Instead of the crashing noise from earlier, now there was only a dull thud. I tried to keep noise to a minimum, but since they were made of metal, I couldn’t completely prevent the ringing when they hit the floor.

Because it was a quiet basement, the echoes made me nervous, worried someone might come down. I rescued the prisoners one by one.

By the time everyone was free, a considerable number of people had gathered. Even several children were among them. All of them looked at me with desperate eyes, full of hope. Just then, a little girl tugged at my sleeve. She was the one who had been crying on the opposite side of the cell earlier.

“Oppa?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Please save my sister too.”

“…What? Your sister’s here?”

But I had already freed everyone I saw here. Thinking I might’ve missed someone, I quickly looked around. One of the people spoke up.

“Lad, that girl’s sister was taken away… A well-mannered, beautiful young lady. They said she’d make a fine product and dragged her off to the auction…”

An older man shook his head with a pained expression.

“Auction??”

“Yes, it’s probably about to start soon…”

“Is there anyone else who was taken like that?”

“As far as I know, only that young lady.”

This was troublesome… There were already too many people here, and even if I could fend for myself, protecting all of them while escaping was too much. And now, one more person whose whereabouts were unknown… The child kept tugging at my clothes, her eyes pleading desperately. My heart softened.

“Hmm… Is there anyone here who knows this place’s layout?”

We couldn’t even attempt an escape if we didn’t know the way out. My question was met with a long silence. These people had been kidnapped like me—of course they wouldn’t know the geography. I swallowed my disappointment. Kneeling down, I gently patted the girl’s head to reassure her.

“Don’t worry. This oppa will definitely bring your sister back. But first, let’s get to safety.”

I didn’t even know the exact location, so recklessly combing the area would be pointless. As sorry as I felt for the girl, rescuing her sister immediately wasn’t realistic. It would be much safer to ask Paul and Wol for help and bring Zerpell here. While some nations might permit slavery, I had never seen one myself. And I didn’t believe Zerpell would condone such a system either.

I clapped my hands lightly to gather everyone’s attention.

“Now, is there anyone here confident in their strength?”

“Why do you ask?”

“We need someone to guard the rear. We could be ambushed, and we need someone to watch for deserters. I’ll lead and find the way. Any volunteers?”

A man raised his hand sharply. It was the same man who had shouted boldly at the slave trader earlier. He was burly and muscular, clearly not someone who’d be taken down easily. As he clenched his fists, a cracking sound echoed.

“I’ll do it. Those bastards… I won’t let them off easy!”

I asked for more volunteers, but no one else came forward, so he was appointed. His eyes burned with determination, and he seemed trustworthy. I calmly organized the situation and addressed the crowd.

“Figuring out what’s happening outside is our top priority. Let’s avoid harming others as much as possible.”

Then, one of the trembling women asked,

“But no one knows the way out… What do we do?”

The group began murmuring with anxiety. I clapped again, drawing their eyes back to me.

“Don’t worry. If there’s no path, we’ll make one. Just run straight. I’ll clear everything ahead.”

I confidently showed the droplet of water again. Having seen me cut through metal, it was enough to earn their trust.

“I’ll draw attention. You all just focus on escaping. Men, please surround the women and children to protect them. Do not stray from the group.”

The crowd began to move. Once they formed a line, I signaled them to huddle close, then motioned for silence as we approached the door.

I quietly lifted the door the slave trader had exited from. It was pitch black beyond, nothing visible. But there was no sign of people and no immediate danger.

“Okay, let’s go?”

Everyone nodded nervously. I opened the door, and we walked quietly, minimizing our footsteps. After some cautious walking, another door appeared. I gently opened it to find an entirely different scene. Lavish gold decorations adorned the space, and people bustled around busily. Alarmed, I immediately shut the door.

“There are more people than expected… Let’s wait and assess the situation.”

Snippets of conversation came through the door—something about the auction starting soon and people being told to hurry. If the auction started, the girl’s sister would be in danger. I could hear people rushing beyond the door, but going back wasn’t an option either. More importantly, I heard someone being told to fetch a slave for the auction from downstairs.

That meant someone among us had already been selected for auction. And before the girl’s sister was sold, I needed to get help from Zerpell. We couldn’t avoid confrontation with them. Swallowing dryly, I turned to the others and said,

“When I open the door, run with everything you’ve got. I’ll take care of anything in the way. On three.”

I counted silently, and at three, I threw open the door.

“Run!!”

The group scattered and bolted forward like a stampede of cattle, eyes fixed ahead. The hired hands who had been preparing for the auction stared in shock. Amid the chaos, someone shouted, “S-Stop them!” But I used water to sweep them aside.

Those chasing from behind were helpless against the strong man, toppling over as he defended us.

“A-a slave is escaping! Catch them!!”

Even as they fell, the hired men shouted that we must not escape and desperately tried to stop us. We pushed forward, aiming to break free. I created slippery puddles behind us or formed water globes over their heads to make them unable to breathe. While they gasped for air, we slipped past them.

Startled by the strong resistance, they began to fumble. I smashed through the wall ahead without hesitation. But it didn’t take long before we had to stop running. Those following me also came to a natural halt.

My brows furrowed deeply. What lay before us was a playground of nobles.