【SLAVE】 Chapter One
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Baiya Ifir Chlorome, the daughter of a great noble family in the Kingdom of El, was born with noble and royal blood so close that, in a sense, she was an imperial princess. The king himself recognized her as his foster daughter. She had a carefree childhood and was destined to marry the kingdom’s grand general in the future.
When she was fourteen, the king of El passed away. The nobles supported Prince Xize, but he failed to ascend the throne. Instead, Prince Yelong took the crown. Prince Xize was assassinated in secret, and the wealthy merchants and nobles who backed him suffered misfortunes one after another.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, some nobles sold off their assets and abandoned their noble status. They fled with their savings and families to the territory of Carn. However, even there, they could not escape the new king’s vengeful wrath.
Under the pressure of the new King Yelong V of El, Carn was forced to send troops to capture the noble family and hand them over to the new king.
The nobles were executed for treason. Except for the youngest daughter, Baiya Ifir Chlorome, all her siblings were sent to the guillotine. Baiya was dragged by soldiers to witness the gruesome execution—the separation of her brother’s and sister’s heads from their bodies. From that moment on, a seed of hatred was planted deep within her heart.
King Yelong V was far from merciful; calling him a ruthless wolf was no exaggeration. He spared Baiya’s life only to make her suffer the sins of her family and to ensure the Chlorome name would be utterly destroyed beyond redemption. Baiya became King Yelong V’s slave, enduring constant abuse and torment.
But Baiya’s suffering was far from over—it had only just begun.
As if tormenting Baiya wasn’t enough, to inflict even greater pain, King Yelong V sent her aboard the slave transport ship of the powerful nation Amidal during their slave conscription.
Yelong V believed Baiya would die before reaching that country. The transport ship suffered a daily death toll of three thousand slaves, forcing it to repeatedly stop at various coastal nations to forcibly recruit more slaves. Onboard, various entertainments were held that exploited the slaves’ lives—they had to risk death to please the nobles.
Within days of arriving on the ship, Baiya was chosen to be a gladiator in the Arena. As a girl almost powerless, her life was likely to end in the brutal fights of the Arena.
During her confinement in the stone chamber used as the waiting room before battle, Baiya befriended a little girl who shared an unfortunate fate. The girl was sold by her fallen noble father to pay debts and sent onto the transport ship as a slave. These two girls, bound by tragedy, became close friends in that stone room. They talked about everything, warming each other’s hearts with light conversations before death could come.
They had no hope of survival.
However, after watching two consecutive days of the Arena battles and fully understanding the cruelty of the Arena and how horribly she would likely die, fear and hatred solidified Baiya’s resolve to live.
On the day Baiya and the girl entered the Arena, Baiya betrayed her friend.
She betrayed the trust of the girl who believed in her. Using the girl as bait, when a monster bit the girl’s arm, Baiya plunged her dagger into the monster’s heart. She killed the monster—and she survived.
She looked at the girl’s shattered body but did not shed a tear.
When the emotions inside began to shut down, leaving only hatred, Baiya heard the sound of cannon fire.
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“So that’s why my viewpoint dropped by thirty centimeters.”
“So that’s why my voice became so gentle.”
“So that’s why my greatsword disappeared.”
“So that’s why, so that’s why.”
Baiya kept nodding her little head, sometimes supporting her chin with her hand, wearing a look of slow realization.
“So that’s it—I’m a slave, I’m Baiya Ifir Chlorome, and I’m the protagonist.”
Baiya twirled the white hair on her shoulder with her fingers. Her complexion was somewhat pale. As her brain accepted that she was a girl, the memories of Baiya Ifir Chlorome and the first chapter of 【SLAVE】 narrated by the Creator God Fia flooded into her mind, nearly overwhelming her. She immediately fainted.
Later, the girl called for the guard, who splashed water on Baiya’s face, waking her up.
Baiya understood one truth.
Creator God Fia made her the protagonist so that she could change the ending of the novel. Indeed, the story’s course is decided by the protagonist, so Fia’s method was correct.
But—
“Why is the protagonist modeled after me a girl? With such a soft voice, how am I supposed to shout fiery battle cries? Losing my greatsword—how can I still be the best player? This is a fraud, wah…”
Baiya tilted her head back, tears seemingly invisible running down her face.
“I don’t want it! I don’t want it! I don’t want it! I don’t want it! I don’t want it!…”
She hugged her head, rolling back and forth on the ground, her voice soft and spoiled.
“It’s decided—I’m breaking out!”
After saying that, Baiya stopped rolling and sat up. After a moment, she seemed to think of something, lowering her head as she suppressed a chuckle.
“Hmph, hmph hmph, hmph hmph hmph.”
A fierce fighting spirit flickered in Baiya’s eyes!
“That’s enough! That’s… enough!”
A pained voice came from the corner. Baiya looked over in surprise. The girl was hugging herself tightly, her eyes filled with jealousy, hatred, and confusion.
“Why, why, why even after knowing everything, do you still not despair, sister?!”
The girl shouted her inner feelings at Baiya, then, afraid of Baiya’s anger, she hugged her head.
Baiya scratched her cheek and smiled lightly.
“In this world, some things cannot be carved into stone. In our hearts, there’s a place that cannot be locked away—that place is called hope.”
Baiya stood up. To the girl, her small frame seemed enormous. This young girl radiated an undeniable brilliance, like a hero.
“By Andy Dufresne’s* oath, I will break out! I will escape! I will make sure you live!”
Baiya placed one hand on her hip and pointed to the sky with the other, speaking boldly. It’s worth noting that she completely ignored the content of 【SLAVE】 Chapter One.
Andy Dufresne is the protagonist of the world-renowned novel The Shawshank Redemption, who spent twenty years digging through a prison wall with a small pickaxe and successfully escaped.
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