"On it!" Verhedyn turned his head towards Jinn with a nod, before bolting towards Orin.
He then began to wrap his arms around Orin's body, gripping it tightly before hauling her away.
"Let me go—you idiot!" Orin thrashed her body like a caught animal, twisting and turning while flailing her arms around. "That man has my necklace!"
"Urgh!" Verhedyn groaned as his muscles started to strain from Orin's attempts to break free from his grasp.
"Calm down you idiot!" Verhedyn held on to Orin's body with all his strength.
"Now's not the time to be doing this! I'm sure Jinn has some sort of plan!"
"Tch!" Orin calmed down as she stopped her flailing, before shrugging Verhedyn's hands in annoyance.
"Fine…" She muttered under her breath.
Chests heaving and breaths raggedy, both Orin and Verhdeyn walked back in line—together with the others.
"What was that for?" Vox inquired, raising a brow in confusion as to what just happened.
Verhedyn took a huge exhale before turning his head towards Vox to reply.
"It's her necklace—she found it."
"What!?" Exclaimed Vox as his eyes widened—along with the rest that was listening in the conversation.
Verhedyn shifted his gaze towards Orin. "The thing is—it's on the hands of another individual that we don't know."
Kain leaned in. "T-Then what do we do?" his voice had genuine concern towards Orin and the necklace.
Orin glared at Vox, making him flinch. "What do you think!? Let's bash the man's head and take it!"
Orin then felt a hand on her shoulder, It was Jinn.
"You need to calm down Orin, we have a lot of time to retrieve the necklace."
Jinn's voice was reassuring, before continuing. "Trust me on this one."
Orin exhaled, a sign of defeat. "You're right… you're right Jinn."
She then exhaled slowly once again, her words fading until she went completely silent—yet anger still lingered within her mind.
Biyo, who was beside the children, managed to hear their conversation—shifting his gaze towards the adult man who was lined up at the other line opposite of them.
"That man…" Biyo muttered under his voice as he stroked his beard as he narrowed his eyes—before shaking his head.
"I'm sure that was not him." he shook his head as he dropped the matter.
===
After a few minutes, the slaves had been organized in a line of two, each being led by a soldier as they exited the cell. As they went on, each different group of slaves either lined up in front of them or at their rear—ultimately maintaining the formation of two lines.
At the front, Jinn could see the silhouette of the warden—well, Evakhell—who was leading them.
Their footsteps echoed across the hallway as they walked, during the time Jinn started to observe his surroundings—he started to notice that their numbers had significantly dwindled compared to when they first marched outside.
Jinn's expression hardened, "Seems like a lot had died in the first ritual." he muttered under his voice.
And a lot more will
As they continued to walk, Jinn turned his head towards Vox, which was directly at his right side—on the line directly parallel from him.
"Vox, what exactly is a public viewing?" Jinn asked, raising his eyebrow in intrigue.
Vox shifted his gaze to the left and right before putting a hand on his mouth, as he replied with a whisper.
"It's when the public are able to meet and observe each slave."
He then leaned closer to Jinn, before he continued.
"The nobles will be there as well!" his voice haunting.
Orin scoffed. "Ooh! That makes me so excited!" she whispered mockingly, flailing her hands around as she managed to hear their conversation.
She then hardened her expression. "They're probably scouting for their new set of toys no doubt." her hands turned to a fist, shaking. "I'll never forgive the Zerafhon for what they had done to my sister!"
===
As the slaves marched, Jinn began to notice that the surrounding scenery was far from the civilian area that they marched back then. No, this was more of a militarized area, dozens of barracks and watch towers at each corner of Jinn's vision.
The sounds of loud bangs and clashes of swords filled the surrounding. Multiple small fighter ships flew across the air, along with large cargo vehicles that travelled across the roads.
From the each side, Jinn could see hundreds of soldiers marching through the roads along with their commanding officers.
Zerafhon truly is a warring empire Jinn thought as he scoffed.
The slaves continued for a while until they had arrived at what seemed to be a humongous open field encampment.
The encampment stood in front of the slaves like a menacing giant with towering transparent walls that Jinn could see through. The walls offered no privacy, only for exposure as these was not created for protection—but for display to whatever is within.
Inside the large encampment stood many individuals that both wore intricate and military clothing, some had fans while some had swords and rifles. Their sharp gazes seemed to be fixated on the slaves, seemingly waiting for them.
"There they are… those bastards…!" Orin furrowed her eyebrow in anger as she glared at the nobles in front of them.
The gate made a sudden metal thud before steadily opening.
"Enter!" The warden exclaimed, prompting the soldiers to herd the slaves inside the encampment.
One by one, each group of slaves were forced inside the gate, their feet dragging as they were herded inside the encampment.
With a loud click from his boots, the warden stood at a podium for all the individuals inside and outside the encampment to see and hear.
"For today and the next four days, all slaves shall remain here—for public viewing as usual." The warden's voice rang clear as he spoke on the microphone.
He then turned his gaze towards the civilians watching outside the encampment. "Civilians may observe the slaves as they please. However any interference with the activities of the nobles inside will not be tolerated."
The warden swept his gaze back towards the slaves, making them flinch in fear as they locked their eyes towards him.
"Each and every one of you shall obey the nobles' commands without question and without refusal. If summoned to accompany them outside the encampment… you must comply."
He then pressed the data pad attached to his arm, creating a subtle beep.
"All slaves are to return to the encampment by the end of the fourth day—just before the second slave ritual begins."
A cold pause filled the air momentarily before the warden swiped a gesture with his hand.
"Let the public viewing commence!"