Six Of Foxes (Six Foxes)
Ken 2's
Inside the prison wagon, Ken awakens because his thigh was pulled down. The body felt ice-cold, while the atmosphere was pitch-black. The body was clinging around him, pinching him from behind and from the side. He drowned in a sea of corpses.
"Ken." A whisper.
He shuddered.
His father was again stabbed.
"Ken." Krista's Voice. Ken tried to breathe deeply through his nose. She felt that Krista was avoiding her. Somehow, in a crowded wagon, the girl was still able to give him space. Ken's heart was pounding.
"Speak on" said Ken Parau.
"What?"
"Just keep talking."
"We're passing through the prison gates.we made it through the first two checkpoints."
The information made Ken fully aware. They've been through two checkpoints. That is, they are counted. One has opened the door - not once but twice - perhaps even holding it, and he does not wake up. He could have been robbed, killed. A thousand ways to fetch death he had already imagined, but he never thought he would die while sleeping.
Ken checked himself out to breathe deeply, even though body odor was poking his nose. He was still wearing gloves, which could have been noticed by the guards, and the act was actually a form of recognition of his defeat, but if not gloved, Ken sure could have lost his mind.
Behind him, he could hear other prisoners whispering in different languages. Although the darkness aroused fear in him, he was at once grateful. He can only hope that his crew, who are hooded and burdened by each other's concerns, does not catch the strangeness of his behavior. He was dumbstruck, slow to react when they ambushed the wagon, but that was it. Ken could have made up a story to explain his incompetence.
He hated to see Krista in this state, seen by anyone in this state, but another thought immediately came to light: Mending him over the others. Ken believes from the bottom of his heart that Krista won't talk about the incident just now to anyone, that she won't use that knowledge to harm Ken. The girl relied on Ken's reputation. He wouldn't want Ken to look weak. But it's not just that, is it? Krista would never betray him. Ken knows that. She's feeling nauseous. Although he had entrusted his life to Krista many times.trusting disgrace to the girl was too much more frightening.
The cart stopped moving. The cross was moved and the door opened.
He heard the words in the Barchen language, then the sounds of friction and baldness. His collar was removed from the hook, then he was led to get off the wagon through some sort of turret along with the other prisoners. He heard a creaking sound like a gate opening, then they were led forward, limping about in shackles.
Ken narrowed his eyes as his hood was suddenly pulled open. They were standing in a large field. The almighty gate connected to the outer wall had been lowered, accompanied by a series of clanging and creaking sounds as the gate struck the stone. When Ken looked up, he saw the guards stationed along the roof of the field aiming rifles at the prisoners. The guards below were herding the shackled prisoners, trying to match them with the default files according to name or description.
Reader had detailed the Royalemerald's layout in detail, but little was said about the place's true appearance. Ken thought the building was old and damp - dark gray stones, solid like forged by battle. Instead, what now surrounds Ken is precisely the marble that is so white that it almost glows blue. Ken felt like he was wandering into the dream version of the cruel northern land they had been exploring. It is impossible to tell which one is glass, ice, or stone.
"If this is not the work of Fabricator, then I'm the queen of forest spirits" Silva said in Kalterville.
"Tig!" the orders of one of the guards. He slapped a rifle into the girl's stomach so Silva immediately bowed in pain. Reader kept turning her head, but Ken did not miss that her posture was tense.
The Guards were flipping through the files, trying to match the number and identity of the prisoners with the entourage before them. This was their first time, completely exposed, a moment that was beyond Ken's control. Choosing the prisoners they replaced was too dangerous and time-consuming. The risk was calculated by Ken, but now he can only wait and hope that laziness will solve the rest.
While the guards followed the line, Krista helped Silva stand up.
Silva slowly straightened himself up. "I'm okay" he whispered. "But, I don't think we need to worry about Rav Frederic's team anymore."
Ken followed Silva's gaze to the top of the outer wall, far above the field, five people had been sulked at the stake like satay to be baked, their backs bent, their arms and legs twitching. Ken had to squint, but he knew Erost Astard, Frederic's most skilled man, who broke into keys and safes. The bruises and streaks of punches he received before dying appeared deep purple in the sunlight. Ken could vaguely see a black mark on his arm-tattooed Deal Astard.
Ken looked at the other faces - some were swollen and dead, making them hard to spot. Maybe one of them is Frederic? Ken knew he should be relieved the other team had been eliminated, but Frederic should not, whereas the discourse that his crew had not made it through the Royalemerald gates just shook Ken's heart. After all, if Frederic were to die at the end of the Barchen stake.... No, Ken defies that possibility. Rav Frederic is his.
The guards were now fighting with sais, while one of them pointed at Krista.
"What's wrong?" ken whispered to Silva.
"They claim that the files are not accurate, that one of the prisoners was a Zemeni girl instead of a Shu boy."
"What did sais say?" ask Krista.
"He kept telling them it wasn't his responsibility."
"That's it," Ken muttered encouragingly.
Ken noticed they were arguing back and forth. That is the beauty of the multilayered experience and the anti-bobol method. The guards always thought that they could rely on others to catch mistakes or update mistakes or fix problems. Laziness is always unreliable like greed, but laziness is still powerful enough to boost their chances. After all, the anti-problem here is the prisoner - who is chained, besieged from all directions, and about to be thrown into a cell. People who are harmless.
Finally, one of the guards sighed and gestured to his comrades. "Diwescements."
"Sana," Silva translated, then continued as the warden spoke. "Take them to the eastern block and let the next guard turn sort them."
Ken allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief for a moment. As expected, the guards divided the group into male and female, then led the two rows, their chains clashing, into a nearly round hallway that was the shape of a gaping wolf mouth.
They entered where an old woman was sitting with her hands chained, flanked by guards. Eyes empty. Each approaching prisoner was gripped by her wrist.
Human wave amplifier. Ken knew Silva was working with the skilled Knoulbar when he left Mudik Island in search of a Knoulbar that could be routed to the Second Army. Wave boosters can feel Knoulbar's magic through touch, while Ken has seen them staked in high-stakes card games to ensure that no Knoulbar comes into play. A person who can tinker with the pulse of another player or even raise the room temperature will gain an unfair advantage. However, the Barchens used them for other purposes-to ensure that no Knoulbar penetrated their walls unidentified.
Ken watched Silva approach. Ken could see that the girl was trembling as she extended a hand. The woman pocketed her fingers around Silva's performance. The petals moved for a moment. Then the woman dropped Silva's hand and waved to let him go.
Does the woman know but not care? Or did the paraffin they had slathered into Silva's forearm work?
As they were guided through the bow on the left, Ken caught a glimpse of Krista disappearing into the bow in the opposite direction along with the other female prisoners. Ken felt his chest ache and instantly flinched so deeply that it was a panic attack. The one who awakened her from the craziness in the cart was Krista. The girl's voice had brought her out of the darkness; krista's voice then became a kind of mooring rope that Ken held tight and he used to drag himself into sanity.
The male prisoners were led up the dark stairs to the metal platform, their chains getting louder. To their left stood a smooth white wall which was the outermost part of the wall. To the right of the titian, a large glass cage was almost half a kilometer long and high enough to load a merchant ship. The cage was illuminated by a large iron lantern that swirled from the ceiling like a glowing cocoon. As he looked down, Ken saw a line of armored vehicles topped by a gabled dome. Each has large wheels that are connected to each other by thick chains. In each vehicle, the muzzle of a great-greater firearm - larger than a rifle but smaller than a cannon - was extended to where horses were usually mounted to carry the carriage.
~Next Ken 3
