Freedom
The Outer Region of Polskin.
The smell of sewage refuse filled the air, damp and sticky, as if you had just stepped into an dirty, polluted alley. The city was not kind to strangers, crimes were commonplace and degenerates practically ran the place. Politicians, as they like to call themselves, were merely gangsters with a semblance of order.
Delor Bar stood in an alleyway, made to be built as a church except the people decided they were not religious to anything except alcohol. The place looked dignified on the outside with stained glass of roses, but the inside is anything but.
People came to the bar for a little peace and quiet, granted doing illegal things, but chaos was not a thing here. The person who owned this place had been an exiled noble from some kingdom that vanished from the face of Eos.
The place was bustling, a man played music in a desolate corner with a female singer whose voice sounded drunk but melodious. Cigarettes strewn on the floor as the smell mixed with alcohol and aphrodisiacs.
Nothing to see here, this was normal.
But today was a bit different. When the noble, who called himself Kapfem, arrived in a carriage. A girl sat in the attic, whose only window provided a blurry view of the dim street. She paused and turned her back.
"Where is the girl?" the noble asked.
One of the staff carrying a bottle of alcohol bowed politely and said, "She is upstairs counting the dirua."
A smirk played on his lips, the slight greed in his eyes hidden as he turned away. "Alright."
The stairs were creaky and he could never be bothered to replace them. Investing in a backward city like Polskin did not seem worth it. Profits were the only thing in mind.
He reached the attic, which smelled of parchment and linen, a contrast from the intoxicating smell downstairs. The door had already been slightly opened. With a light knock, he pushed open the door and saw the girl counting money on a small desk next to a poorly made bed.
"You've spent the day counting dirua?"
The girl did not look up but replied, "It never stops coming. What have you come here for, my lord?"
Her tone lacked respect, but the man did not seem to mind and ignored it. He sat on a chair next to the door and crossed his legs.
"I will fulfill Hyrel's wish."
The girl's hands stopped as she finally looked up at him. In the reflection of the lamp, her brown eyes showed a sliver of hope.
"What made you change your mind?"
"I did not change my mind. I still have no intention of granting your wish. But circumstances have changed and I have no other choice."
The girl looked down again and continued counting the dirua.
"So it's not because of pity but blackmail. Is it because of his will?"
The man clenched his fist slightly, the grip on his hat tightening ever so slight. He held himself back as he swallowed and asked, "So you are aware of the will?"
The girl tilted her head. "I have spent five years in this place, doing your bidding without much complaint. My solace had been in books, which your grandson had brought to me every single day.
I was confused when you let him do as he pleased, knowing how much you hated me. But I know how much you adored your grandson. And so I endured the harsher punishments. Now that he's dead-"
"Shut your mouth!" the baron yelled.
The girl did not flinch nor did she stop counting the dirua. "So his will did manifest."
The manifestation of a will only happened when a person who possessed vitalis had a physical manifestation of their essence that would bind their words into a contract.
An iron will, so to speak.
"My grandson's will is not for you to mention."
"I remember you told me that if I had brought profits exceeding the million mark you would allow me to walk free."
The noble closed his eyes, agitated by the sight of the little girl. Despite her youth, she stood no taller than him, reaching up to his neck. The scars on her arms were evident of torture and her build suggested that she looked as fragile like glass.
Unfortunately that was not true, as she had numerous guards around her to make sure she did not escape, her build may look small but she was in no way weak.
No matter how much he wanted to strangle her to death, he could not. He was simply powerless to do so. Not unless he wanted to cripple himself, like she had with the others.
It was not as if he did not wonder why she stayed. Sure enough his hunch about dirua was correct. If there was one thing the girl had learned, it was that dirua made the world go round.
After toiling for years, she had to have her own assets to carry around.
"I will let you go. You will be free to walk away from this city unharmed. But if I ever see you again around here, I would not hesitate to kill you."
The girl finally finished counting the dirua and pushed them away from the table. Standing up, she turned away from him and walked towards the window.
"Kill me if you can, but right now you cannot. What makes you think you can when I come back?"
Her words ignited a flame in him. The man kicked the table away, knocking the dirua over, spilling all over the floor. He turned to leave and slammed the door behind him.
Meanwhile, the girl smiled. 'A little more and I can finally be free.'
Time had passed by in a dull manner. There were hardly any changes to the boring routine she had committed herself to for the past few years.
When the noble arrived with the parchment that held her fate in his hands and tore it up right in front of her, she did not hesitate to take the money she had hidden from him and promptly left the premises.
The staff, who treated her no better than the noble did, only nodded at her as she made her way downstairs and out the door.
"Pisky, remember to guard the place for me," the girl said as she bid goodbye to the youngest in the room. Pisky was an orphan girl hired as a bookkeeper in the bar. She had no education but turned out to be great at numbers.
She was older than her by 8 years and took care of her better than most. Pisky nodded with tears threatening to well up in her eyes. But protocol made sure that none of them were allowed to speak to her.
A simple nod was the best they could do and so as she walked out of that place without a single glance back.
She forgot the feeling of the wind in her face and how soft the ground beneath her felt. The girl only glanced back once she walked out of the city, escorted by the guards that had watched her since her imprisonment.
Once they were gone, she had finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Whatever she chose to do right now, there was no longer anyone else that would keep track of her every movement. The sun was about to set, and she could only think that maybe Kapfem did it on purpose so that she would have no choice but to stay the night in the city.
Unlucky for him, she had been dreaming about this day since she was imprisoned. A walk through the cold forest would set her off the arrive in a village not far from the region's border.
As long as she can make it out of the region alive, her chances of surviving would increase exponentially.
She had never walked taht far becfore, and having never used her legs for anything else other than beating people up or walking up and down the stairs, she worried about the toll it would take.
There was not much of a choice thought except to grit through the pain. She will worry about the pain later and do her best to survive the night.
However strong she may be, the naivety she possesses might be enough to kill her ten times over. With the lack of decent people in this region, no one would leave a girl like ehr alone once she's seen.
