The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

＜ I started living as a slave (protagonist; Jinyoung Jeong-Rudy) ＞

* * *

The slave trader took him to the back where the tents were lined up.

‘What is that?’

In the clearing behind the tent were several people who had been taken as slaves.

There are men, women, and old people.

They were all bent forward, their hands and feet bound with ropes.

The ropes that tied the people were firmly fixed to the poles that were driven at regular intervals.

I couldn’t stand or walk, so even if the rope wasn’t tied, I wouldn’t have been able to escape.

Jeong Jin-young’s face hardened on its own.

It’s not winter, but at night the temperature drops close to freezing.

Last night, I slept inside the building, in the arms of my nanny, but it was cold.

If you are tied up like this outside, you might freeze to death in the worst case.

No, I will definitely die.

If you’re of the same size as when you were on Earth, there’s a chance you’ll be able to endure it, but this body is young and weak. too vulnerable

‘Think about it, Jung Jinyoung. Think about how you can survive.’

My mouth was dry from my nervousness.

Jung Jin-young, who was rolling his eyes as he checked the surroundings, saw three or four women in his field of vision.

The women stood behind the tent as if hiding.

With a tired-looking face, one had a bloody bruise near his neck.

Even here, I could see that it was a chi mark left by someone.

The women seemed to be checking each other’s necks and backs for wounds.

The slave trader clicked his tongue and grabbed Jeong Jin-young by the back of his jacket.

pull hard

Jeong Jin-young stumbled and was dragged into his hand.

I choked my neck as my clothes pulled upward.

I can’t breathe properly.

If I made a mistake, I thought I would break my neck and die.

However, Jung Jin-young showed signs that he would not rebel by relaxing his body as much as possible.

If you act rashly and get hurt, your chances of survival will be even lower.

The slave trader dragged him over to the women and asked quietly.

“Have they not gone yet?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Didn’t you just say you were leaving?”

The women’s faces darkened at the slave trader’s words.

“Another child came to clear the dishes and stopped…”

“Tsk tsk, I started over after seeing the new girl.”

“Yes, sorry.”

“done. It’s embarrassing to get caught making strange quibbles, so you guys just have to worry about catching their mood.”

“…”

The slave trader glanced at the woman’s neck and asked.

“Was that wound from the Ten Commander?”

“no. The soldier brought by the captain…”

“Tsk tsk. It’s worth drinking all night, even the visible scars are put on the product. It’s especially aggravated by alcohol.”

The slave trader frowned.

Jeong Jin-young stood quietly listening to their stories and looked at the cloth in the hands of the women.

The wet cloth had some blood on it.

In front of the women, there is a wooden water container with several small pieces of cloth hanging around the edge.

“…”

maybe this is an opportunity

Jung Jin-young took a few steps slowly so that people would not react in surprise.

He walks away and soaks the edge of the cloth hanging in the bucket with water.

I raised my head while trying to look as cute as possible.

“sister! Heal your wounds.”

Jung Jin-young raised the cloth with both hands and stood up.

The woman with the chisel around her neck opened her eyes wide in surprise and smiled.

She lowered her body slightly, gently placing a cloth on her neck and gently pressing it to wipe it off.

The woman across from me muttered.

“Oh my, this kid is smart. You don’t even rub it, look at how you press it down so it doesn’t hurt.”

“It’s cute, Master. Who is this child?”

“Could it be the master’s child?”

“Can it be?”

The slave trader sighed lightly.

The atmosphere of the women, which had been dark just a moment ago, softened a little.

I thought it might be a relationship where the slave trader is vicious and the women tremble in fear, but it doesn’t seem like that.

Jung Jin-young wiped the other woman’s hand with a wet towel and looked at her with sparkling eyes.

“Sister, your eyes are pretty.”

“Oh my, what is this child!”

The woman laughs like she’s crazy.

OK, the atmosphere seems to be fine.

Jeong Jin-young glanced at the slave trader and spread a wet towel in both hands. Approach the slave trader and smile.

“Master, wash your hands!”

“…Are you the son of a servant from a good family somewhere? You seem smart for your age.”

The slave trader looked down at him and said to the women.

“This child, stay in the tent until the next carriage departs. You guys just have to run errands.”

The slave trader looked down at him and grinned.

“Little boy, don’t even think about running away. Then you will suffer more than death.”

“…”

The slave trader said that and turned away.

Watching the slave trader go back the way he came, Jinyoung secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Only later, I think I can avoid freezing to death at night anyway.

“Little boy, what is your name?”

The woman with the scar on her neck asked in a low voice.

“It’s Rudy.”

“Rudy…”

The grinning woman smiled softly and placed her hand on his head.

“Soldiers came to the tent. It’s best not to make eye contact and not talk. Even if you hit them, no one can help. So be careful.”

Could it have been thirty?

He didn’t seem strong enough to do this. It had eyes like dried, twisted leaves.

“Shall we go in now?”

The woman raised her skinny body.

“Oh, it’s boring.”

Someone muttered abruptly.

The grimaced woman shrugged her shoulders and frowned. The wound seems to be painful. The area around the teeth marks was stained red.

“It can’t be helped. If we don’t go in quickly, the kids inside will suffer.”

“ha.”

The women sighed and moved slowly.

Beep, beep, beep…

I heard a bird chirping somewhere.

Thinking that he didn’t fit well with this situation, Jung Jin-young followed the women to the tent.

Right before entering the tent, the woman with the scars turned her head.

“Rudy, whenever you have a break, eat a little food. Be careful not to let others see you. Otherwise, I won’t eat anything all day.”

“Yes, sister.”

“…”

The woman smiled slightly.

‘From now on I am Rudy.’

Rudy is the name of a cat.

The face of the cat from my previous life came into my mind and then disappeared again.

From that day on, Jinyoung Jeong, no, Rudy stayed in the tent and did simple jobs.

Standing in the corner of the tent, when you see the dishes you have finished eating, take them out one by one, look at them, and then bring a wet towel to the women.

If a soldier beat a woman badly, he would sneak out and tell a nearby slave trader.

Then the slave trader I met at the beginning came and watched the situation outside the tent for a while.

If a slave trader thought that a woman was beaten too much, he would go inside and offer a drink, or whine that the product would be ruined.

Rudi took breaks to eat or rest, as the woman with the scars said.

He didn’t know why she was being nice to him, but after hearing a few people, he knew why.

Sold by her parents at the age of 10, she worked in a wealthy merchant before being sold again to a slave dealer.

At that time, it seems that the child who broke up at the shopping center was the same age as himself.

I tend to have people by my side most of the day, but there were times when I could go to the bathroom or be alone for a very short time.

Each time, Rudy took out gold coins or jewels from the cloth bag he had wrapped around his stomach and pushed them into the seams of his jacket and pants.

It’s not very difficult.

Cut the thread of the seam allowance to make a very small space and tie a knot.

Rudy made a hole where the coin could pass through, and whenever he had a chance, he pushed the most valuable thing into it.

Since the space for the seam allowance was not wide, it took a lot of time to push it inward.

However, it was rather fortunate that the coins did not collide thanks to this.

I wanted to know how much I could put in, but surprisingly, I went in a lot and was able to hide all the money in the cloth pocket.

I thought I would be able to work here as it is, but it didn’t work out that well.

Three days later, Rudy was put in a wagon with the slaves who were tied up outside.

There were four wagons in all.

The sides were studded with thick wooden boards at regular intervals, and the back was a thick wooden door with a padlock.

Even the roof was made round with wooden planks, so it seemed to be able to withstand a certain amount of attack.

It may have been to prevent escape rather than to prepare for an attack.

The only breathing holes were the small semi-circular space between the roof and the front and back doors, and between the wooden boards on the sides.

Rudy, who was short in stature, seemed to have difficulty breathing among the adults.

The slaves’ hands were still bound, but their feet were freed.

Rather than being a slave, it seems to be because it takes up a lot of space when your hands and feet are tied.

Like a crowded train, the inside of the carriage was so densely packed with slaves that there was no space to sit down.

As Rudy got into the wagon, he burrowed between people’s legs.

Pushing his body forcibly, Rudy was able to succeed in occupying the corner space that was in contact with the side.

Some slaves stayed outside for days and then died in captivity.

Those who died were older or those who were wounded from the start and were captured.

It is said that such people were not even given porridge, which was rationed once a day. Maybe that’s why it would have been easier to die.

Because no one checked the dead slave until right before loading it into the wagon, it remained rigid in the same posture as when it died.

They were left as is.

I heard that there is a place to dump bodies somewhere nearby.

There were also a few slaves who could not get into the carriages because there were no seats.

All of them were slightly ill.

Among them, there were people who were not particularly injured or old, but died from diarrhea every day.

They say they wait here until the next wagon departs.

But those left behind will die slowly, like slaves who have already died.

As if he knew this, he cried and begged for a ride, but he was beaten.

It was around the time that the carriage in front began to move slowly.

A battered woman came out of the tent.

It seems that the soldier who was with him left the tent and managed to get out.

A battered woman came up to the wagon and grabbed his hand through the wooden planks.

A few small pieces of beef jerky were hidden in the woman’s palm.

“Sister, thank you.”

When Rudy whispered, the woman smiled and turned around.

Unbeknownst to anyone, he slipped pieces of beef jerky into a cloth bag wrapped around his stomach.

With a rattling sound, the wagon Rudy rode in also started to move.

My body jumps into the air as if I was on a roller coaster.

It didn’t seem like he had stepped on a stone in particular, but the wagon rocked tremendously.

The thought of having to go through this over the next few days makes me terrified.

But after a while, I couldn’t even think of that.

My body swayed from side to side up and down, and nausea surged up.

The stench from the carriage itself and the people was also unbearable.

It seems that someone could not stand motion sickness and vomited.

The pain increased as the new smell was added.

But as the day went on, I realized that there was a deeper underground beneath the ground.

Slaves don’t get off the wagon.

Once a day, thin porridge was rationed, but had to be eaten in the wagon.

Humans are animals that excrete when they eat.

Of course, slaves also made sh*t and urine.

But it all had to be done in the wagon.

I learned with my own body that slaves in this world are objects, not humans.

＜ I started my life as a slave (main character; Jinyoung Jeong-Rudy) ＞ End