Two hours had passed.
“The saying goes, ‘In rich households, wine and meat rot; on the road lie the frozen bones.’ This must be what it means.”
The petite soldier lowered her helmet, hiding her true face. Her beautiful white hair was deliberately dirtied and disheveled, so that when people caught a glimpse, they only saw a bit of messiness and quickly looked away. This made it easier for her next move.
This was Bai Ya disguised as a soldier. Under the dim sky and using a pre-planned excuse, she had tricked the city guards and successfully blended into the town.
This place was the stronghold of the nobles—or rather, hell itself.
On the streets, men, women, and children were collared like animals, their collars tied with red strings held by richly dressed nobles. The slaves were treated as pets, ordered around and humiliated at will. Stripped of hope, they kissed their masters’ toes, wagged their tails, and begged for mercy. Bai Ya could not bear to watch.
“Ugh, this dark novel setting is really unpleasant,” she muttered.
She quickened her pace, eager to reach the destination marked on her map—the headquarters of the most powerful noble. Although she sympathized with the slaves’ miserable plight, she was powerless to help. Her own situation was dire, and self-rescue was extremely difficult.
If she let her compassion run wild, she didn’t know what she might end up doing. There was no choice but to pretend not to see.
She didn’t want trouble, but trouble found her anyway.
Her hurried steps caught the attention of a tall, thin nobleman. He noticed he couldn’t see Bai Ya’s face clearly. What was the purpose of this soldier deliberately hiding her true identity? And why was she walking so fast and anxiously? What was she rushing to do?
He kicked the slave at his feet and signaled with his eyes for him to block Bai Ya’s path. The scarred slave nodded numbly. Crawling on all fours like a real hunting dog, he sprinted toward Bai Ya. As he pounced and landed, he tightly grabbed her pant leg, emitting a low growl from his throat to show his determination not to let go even in death. Failure to obey his master’s orders meant being dealt with!
No matter how desperate, the courage to face death head-on was something few possessed.
“Is this really human?” Bai Ya cursed inwardly, her gaze complicated as she looked down at the slave’s twisted smile. He looked… sad.
“Which noble are you under? Why aren’t you kneeling before me when you see me?”
The tall noble approached Bai Ya as the slave clung to her. He arrogantly raised his chin and questioned her. Bai Ya nervously pulled her helmet lower. She knew her disguise must have been caught somehow; she had to say something to cover it up!
“…” Damn! Her mind was a complete mess! Ahhh! This was unexpected!
The tall noble noticed Bai Ya ignoring him, clutching her helmet tighter. He grew more suspicious.
Leaning close to her ear, he said coldly, “You seem suspicious. You won’t say who you are. Tell me, can someone as short as you even be a soldier? Are you perhaps a slave who escaped? I got news today about a slave named Bai Ya Ifeir Clorom who broke out of prison. Could that be you, huh?”
“…” Bai Ya trembled. It was the first time she had ever been this nervous. Damn it, she wanted to beat this man up so badly.
“Hey! Answer me! Lift your head!” The tall noble’s cold command came as if he was certain.
No good! No good! No good! Is this what they call ‘starting the campaign and dying before it even begins’? Only minutes after entering the city and she’s about to be discovered? How unlucky was she!
“Lift your head now! Let me see your face! If you don’t, it proves you’re the escaped slave Bai Ya!” The noble’s face twisted as he shouted.
The commotion attracted the attention of others on the street, nobles and slaves alike.
This was bad! Very bad!
“Look at you, brat!”
Bai Ya swiftly drew the dagger at her waist and stabbed at the man before her without hesitation. At this point, hiding her identity was a lost cause. She had no choice but to fight to the death! Well, fight to the death meant only death—she could only make him suffer first, then try to escape.
Just as she made her stabbing move, a large hand knocked her to the ground. She had underestimated the noble’s reflexes; her fragile body was no match.
The dagger clattered aside. Bai Ya sat up, one hand wiping tears as she touched her swollen cheek. The burning pain wouldn’t subside quickly. She felt warm liquid trickling from the corner of her mouth—probably bleeding.
She had the feeling that two slaps like that might be fatal to this body.
While Bai Ya was dazed by the pain, the tall noble stepped forward quickly and roughly yanked off her helmet. Her beautiful snow-white hair spilled free like a blooming flower, spreading in the air.
“So you really are Bai Ya Ifeir Clorom!” the noble shouted excitedly, pointing at her.
This was bad. Really bad. This time, she truly had started the campaign and died before it began.
Bai Ya instinctively covered her face. Realizing it was just self-deception, she gave up struggling and stood fearlessly to face the tall noble.
The noble sneered at her courage. “You lowly thing, where did you find the guts to sneak into the inner city? And you even dared to attack your noble master? I suppose I was prepared for you. Slaves like you are never obedient—like wild dogs that must be guarded against, a bunch of reckless things who don’t know their place.”
“Hah, fine, I admit defeat. But before that, I’ve got one curse I’m not sure if I should say or not,” Bai Ya looked up at him with an expression that could only be described as lovingly idiotic.
“You really are a shameless wretch, daring to look me in the eye!” The noble’s face instantly darkened. Though he couldn’t understand her words, her fearless gaze made him want to kill her. A slave who didn’t panic and beg was a boring one.
“What are you looking at, punk?” Bai Ya raised a confident smirk. She seemed completely unbothered by the danger.
Her words successfully provoked the noble into attacking.
She quickly turned her head to dodge his furious punch and whispered “bingo,” snapping her fingers. Then, clenching her fists tightly, she threw all her strength into a blow to his abdomen.
The nobles watching were stunned.
“Honestly, you really are a troublesome character. Hmph, you blew my cover, damn it. Doesn’t this make the game harder? But I guess that makes it more interesting!”
Bai Ya shouted excitedly, only to be struck by a heavy palm that sent a gust of wind flying her several meters away. She rolled on the ground a few times and lay there for a while before getting up.
The tall noble wore a look of disgust, patting the spot where Bai Ya’s fist had hit his clothes, as if it was dirtied by something filthy. Her attacks had no effect on him.
“For a moment, I was actually scared of you, slave. I thought I’d be clutching my stomach and collapsing in pain, but it didn’t hurt at all. Is that all the strength you have? Heh. Now it’s my turn, you reckless lowlife.” The noble sneered and stepped toward Bai Ya.
“This is bad, really bad. It’s easy to bait an opponent with words, but my body is just too weak. If an average person’s fighting power is five, I’m barely three or four. Heh, I can’t make effective attacks,” Bai Ya wiped the blood from her mouth, her fanatic excitement undiminished.
The commotion had drawn all the nobles on the street to gather, pulling their slaves along to watch. In their eyes, Bai Ya was already a trapped pigeon. They just needed to leave everything to the tall noble and watch the show—the escaped slave would soon be abused.
“My situation now is pretty terrible. I didn’t expect to reach the destination so easily, but this is way too hopeless.” She said this, but it was hard to detect any despair on her face. “I’m surrounded, at least fifty or sixty people. No way to run. So I have to face it head-on. There are two solutions: take them all down alone? I wish I could, but it’s unrealistic.”