Eote - Chapter 19

The arrival of a thirteen-year-old child covered in blood set off waves across the food hall as all within clambered over each other in an attempt to avoid him. There was no obstruction as Rykar walked through the mass of people who had only recently finished their shifts.

Reaching the counter, the staff had staggered backwards until their backs pressed against the wall, refusing to even make eye contact. Seeing a plate already placed on the side, Rykar didn’t make it difficult for them, taking the plate and taking a seat at a table without caring for the food’s previous owner.

Compared to the amount that Rykar would usually overload his dish with, the food on the plate seemed sparse and desolate in his eyes but this didn’t matter. Picking at it slowly, he shivered occasionally after swallowing. Soon after each bite made its way down his throat, his stomach would churn while threatening to eject its contents.

Eating this plate of discomfort, Rykar’s mind was running over the events of the last seven cycles. The abuse and pain he had been put through and the rational behind his actions. He had more than enough time to think it out and he understood exactly thy he had done what he did. Only, now that he had passed that point, he was struggling to decide whether what he had done was right.

The effect he wanted had come, the punishment would come as expected. Even if it was worse than Sir had explained, he no longer cared. His mind was muddled to the point that he mechanically ate the food without even registering the taste of it.

‘But was the pain worth his life?’

While mulling over the question, he had long since been surrounded by guards with large statures, many of which he had seen as him and his brother were first brought into the camp. Feeling a large hand clasp his shoulder, he jumped at first, before putting down the food in his hand and getting to his feet.

“I won’t try anything, lead the way.” He said plainly before making his way out of the hall within the centre of the encirclement. It only took around fifteen minutes of walking to get back to the isolation area from the food hall, but the entire journey was tense and uncomfortable for the guards. Despite the short walk, they already had a light film of sweat decorating their foreheads.

As if oblivious to this, at the centre, Rykar continued onwards with a vacant expression on his face, totally unaware that for the entire walk, he had been murmuring to himself. Many of the words were too quiet to be heard by those surrounding him, but those that they could would cause them to shiver.

“Deserved death Painful Not fair How dare Slice Victim Darkness… Silence Sleep… Hunger” The words tumbled out without end as Rykar’s turbid eyes stayed glued to the ground just a few metres ahead of him. Despite his pace being on the slow end, the guards had simply taken shorter steps rather than order hm around.

Despite this causing them to stay in this unnerving atmosphere for a few more minutes, they felt no qualms in leaving good enough alone.

“I’m guessing you’re not the smart one, so I take it you’re the demon.” As they entered the isolation space, Sir called out towards Rykar while standing atop a platform. “Truth be told, I didn’t think id be seeing either you nor your brother so soon. Although, I’ll admit you’re still just as pleasing to the eye.

“Are you not enjoying my camp? I told you the rules very clearly so tell me, what is the punishment for murder?” Sir asked while looking down at Rykar. Despite the teen still having his eyes still concentrated on the ground, Sir continued to ask without clarifying whether he had his attention or not.

Either way, failure to answer would result in punishment. He seemed to be aware of what resulted in punishment and Sir wouldn’t mind harshly indulging him in the least. It was a rare day where he was feeling relaxed, he had time to spare.

“The punishment for harming another worker is being whipped and three days in isolation.” Rykar replied. Although his eyes were still slightly glossy, he responded clearly and precisely to Sir’s question.

“That’s the punishment for harm. I asked what the punishment was for ‘murder’”. Sir reiterated.

“You didn’t mention a punishment for murder in the induction.” Rykar stated. By this time, his eyes had become focused again, clearly looking up at Sir without faltering.

“Do you think that the rules for murder and the rule for injury are one and the same?” Sir asked as his eyebrow quickly raised. Contrary to the serious topic of conversation, a smile was slowly making its way onto his face.

“As far as I know, they are. Isn’t murder just a more serious injury? Besides, it wasn’t murder. I was defending myself.” Rykar corrected.

After all that happened, Rykar would no way stand for being accused of a baseless murder. He had already long since understood the reason for the manager to have focused his attention on him and had debated whether it would have been more effective to lash out on the manager, or directly on the source.

“Hmmm, you have a good point. To be honest with you, there is no punishment for murder. That’s because there haven’t been any cases of workers murdering each other, they’re generally sacred enough of the rule against injuring one another.

“Although there have been some cases of guards fatally harming managers, with managers doing the same to workers, this isn’t something that travels up the food chain. Do you know why that is?” Sir paused for a moment before taking Rykar’s silence as an indication to continue. “Its because of the value that you present to me. The best workers would have caught my attention, therefore won’t be harmed. The worst workers won’t make enough of a difference on my efficiency, so they simply eat more than they are worth, which doesn’t impact enough on my efficiency for me to care. Understand?

“There’s simply an order of importance. Guards are more important than managers. Managers are more important than workers. Better workers are more important than worse workers. But that’s also open to interpretation.

Let’s compare this guard next to you for example.” Sir pointed to a guard with short hair and a large frame. As Rykar looked over, he shuffled slightly on his feet. “This man, the big one. I don’t even know his name, so he obviously doesn’t have much of a value to me. However, he is still a guard so it’s safe to say he is worth more to me than a worker, right?

“BUT, the best worker under me is able to harvest three hundred spirit fruit in the four hours while still having time to go and eat dinner early. Do you think this guard is worth as much in my eyes as that worker?” he asked with a smirk, insulting the guard without qualms.

“So, if we work well then we are untouchable?” Rykar asked.

“‘If we work well’? Is it just me, or do you seem to be under the impression that you’ll still be working beyond today?” Although it seemed like a question, Sir’s tone made it come out like a sarcastic statement. As Rykar came to understand the meaning of the question, his eyes widened for the first time as he broke out into a cold sweat.

“If there isn’t any rule against murder then I don’t see why this should be made a special case.” Rykar began to speak quickly as his mind turned. He fully well understood that he had to show his value now, even if that was just as a target of entertainment. “Also, even though I was being attacked throughout my shifts on top of being sleep deprived, I’ve filled the quota every time. I would be able to work at a much higher pace now that he’s gone.”

Rykar’s reply caused Sir’s face to light up for a moment has he looked down at his desperate reply in amusement. “True, you would be work much faster without the obstacle, however you also eat around four times as much as the other workers. Wouldn’t it be easier for me to bring in four more workers and just replace you?”

“I don’t know how much those essence fruit must be worth, but the food we eat can’t be worth anything much in comparison seeing as its always there for the taking There’s already too much of it for everyone to eat before being thrown away. It would make more sense to have one good worker than four crap ones and you could just get the four extras while I work on top.” Rykar countered once again.

“I see, your logic is slightly flawed seeing as I simply like good workers, I don’t NEED them.” Sir paused before continuing, “But I like efficiency, one worker doing two peoples work is much more attractive than four people doing four peoples work.”

Rykar let out a deep breath at this point. Without any clothing covering his upper body, his skin was visibly shining due to being slick with sweat. It was taking all his energy just to stand straight and avoid wobbling in the presence of this man whose mood was too unpredictable for him to understand.

In planning, he had prepared himself for violent repercussions and an angry mob that was just as scared as they were angry. Instead, as soon as he arrived, he was thrown into a verbal battle with a snake in a smiling mask. He wasn’t sure if he was glad or not at such an outcome, but he was sure that it wasn’t something he found any easier to deal with.

While he was still catching his breath, Rykar heard Sir begin to speak again but in the direction of the guards rather than himself. “Don’t bother with the whipping, he’s already had plenty. However, put him in the ground for three days. Also, if I hear of anyone else taking bribes which directly impact my efficiency again, they will be isolated and then demoted. That way they can make up for it.”

Hearing that Sir used the word ‘bribe’ without him even having mentioned it, Rykar realised that the man had been keeping tabs on more than just his eating habits. Looking up, he began to re-evaluate the man who seemed to know about everything that went on between the thousands of people within the camp. He felt a certain nakedness under his gaze which didn’t just come from him being topless.

As he was being ushered away from the podium, he began to think back to the last time he had been into isolation. His heart began speeding up in anticipation, but he didn’t feel a rush of heat. In contrast, his blood ran cold as he remembered the darkness and hunger.

“Wait.” Rykar’s thoughts were interrupted just a few steps away from what his home would be for the next three days.

“I forgot to ask, are you the demon or the smart one?” Sir finished his question as he watched him with creased brows.

“Is there a difference? Rykar asked with masked annoyance. He had no problems with being called the demon, it even suited the image that he was working towards among the other workers. Being feared would result in him being left alone and that shield of fear would even extend over his brother. The attack on the manager was done only after taking this image into consideration.

What did annoy him, however, was that he was thought of as being dumb. He might be more straightforward and less cunning when compared to Loki but that was it. He wasn’t brainless or stupid, simply having a more direct way of doing things.

“No, I suppose there might not be.” Sir smiled before waving them off, indicating to continue with the isolation, before walking down from the podium and making his way out of the yard with a few guards in tow.