Traveler: Derek Walker 22
“Unnie! The other unnies are back!”
A girl with deep blue hair cascading down to her chest cried out on tiptoes, peering through the glass window. Her voice was clear and bright, rolling off her tongue like jade beads on a tray. Just hearing it lifted one's spirits; she could've joined a choir and charmed everyone.
In response to the blue-haired girl's shout, a girl with light purple hair came over carrying a basket of towels and a tray of cool water. Balancing it all like a top waitress, she moved toward the entrance, her face beaming with joy. The two girls were identical twins, save for their eye and hair colors.
Screeech! The rickety wooden door swung open with a grating noise.
Several girls, clad in tattered leather armor haphazardly thrown on, dragged their exhausted bodies into the rundown house that matched their own sorry state. Fatigue was etched into every one of them at a glance. Not a single pair of eyes held any spark of life. It was like watching a procession of ghosts.
The gloomy aura they exuded could wilt even the freshest blooms.
The light purple-haired girl held out the towel basket.
“You all worked hard, unnies. Have a cool glass of water.”
Most of the girls brushed past the girl offering the basket without a glance. They didn't spare her a look as they headed to their own dilapidated rooms. The light purple-haired girl watched the weary stragglers with pity in her eyes. She didn't dare ask what ordeals they'd endured.
Only the black-haired bob-cut girl took a towel from the basket. She gently stroked the purple-haired girl's head. Her hand was filthy, crusted with dried dark red blood, but the purple girl felt no disgust. If anything, she wished this moment could last forever.
“You must be really worn out. The other unnies seem even more drained than usual,” the blue-haired girl said worriedly, approaching the black-haired one.
Normally, they headed out at dawn for aura training and returned late at night, their bodies always covered in bruises and cuts. Today had finally been their real combat debut.
They made it back safe, so they must've won, right? The blue-haired girl thought, gazing at the fatigued black-haired girl.
The black-haired girl gave a bitter smile and slowly spoke. “Today was especially rough. Ugh!”
As she clutched her head and groaned, the purple and blue girls rushed to support her on either side.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit dizzy. I'll go wash up. Lilac, Delphi—head to your room.”
“Okay... Hang in there, unnie! That slave trader definitely said we'd be freed as free citizens after three wins!”
At Lilac's—the light purple-haired girl's—words, the black-haired girl's face twisted into the grief of someone witnessing a lover's death. Lilac flinched, wondering if she'd said something wrong.
The black-haired girl's expression soon returned to normal. Forcing a smile, she replied, “Yeah. I'll do my best.”
With that, she retreated to her room. The two left behind stared at each other. They couldn't shake the feeling of being mired in muck.
This listlessness was familiar by now. But the heart-wrenching pain it brought? That never got easier.
The two girls went to their room—a tiny storage shed. Originally for cleaning supplies, it was so cramped that lying down filled it completely. Delphinium, the blue-haired girl, was glad she hadn't grown any taller.
“They said the knights are definitely coming today, right?”
“Yeah. The unnies said to lock ourselves in and play dead.”
Lilac peered through the door crack into the living room as she spoke. Knights from Bastrey Barony were visiting the dorm today. Lilac had a vague idea what that implied.
What reason would these lusty, depraved knights have to visit a girls' dorm? The purpose was obvious.
Lilac hugged her twin sister tight. To survive cursed days like this, they had to lean on each other. Like the other unnies had said, she held her breath.
“Ah! Right, my fairy tale book!”
Twin sister Delphinium suddenly remembered she'd left her book in the kitchen. She grabbed the doorknob.
Lilac seized her wrist. “Don't go out.”
“I need my fairy tale book.”
“Just hold on a bit.”
“No... Without it...”
Ignoring her sister, Delphinium turned the knob. Slipping free, she darted out.
“Ack! Delph!”
Delphinium scurried to the kitchen. There, by the small hearth, was her fairy tale book. Well-read countless times, its cover yellowed and pages torn, but it was one of her most treasured possessions.
Delphinium sighed in relief and picked it up. More important than the prince on the white horse was her unnies.
Screeech! The front door opened.
Delphinium felt her blood run cold. The unnies were all home already. Which meant these newcomers were them.
She held her breath instinctively.
Quick, to my room...!
Delphinium hurried to her tiny hideout. But the living room was already filling with rough-faced men clustered in groups.
Seeing these utterly immoral, savage knights—who lacked even a speck of decency—Delphinium reflexively dropped her fairy tale book with a thud.
The knights' eyes turned to Delphinium emerging from the kitchen. A grin spread across the frontmost one's face.
“Whoa! What's this bitch? New face? Did we ever train a girl like her?”
“Heh! Fresh meat? She looks young—bet her hole's prime.”
“Virgin maybe?”
“Virgin!? I'll pop that one first!”
“Fuck off, you got a virgin last round too. No manners? My turn!”
The men's hands were callused thick, their faces scarred like tattoos. One had chipped front teeth, another a glass eye. Their common trait: brutish savagery devoid of intellect or refinement. Even mercenaries haunting taverns looked more civilized. Who'd believe these were a barony's knights?
“This girl's been marked by the lord.”
The black-haired girl emerged into the living room, stark naked without a thread on her. The men's lecherous gazes snapped to her. The one-eyed man licked his lips, throwing a filthy leer.
“Ah, you're that Delphinium bitch or whatever? Tch! Stuck with bad luck.”
“You know what happens to those who cross the lord's fancy, right? Even knights aren't exempt.”
“Don't get cocky, you sex slave slut. We know.”
“That newbie who touched the lord's picked slave got eaten alive by monsters, right? Starting from the limbs, nice and slow.”
“As much as popping cherries is fun, it's not worth dying for.”
“Waste. Once the lord's done and tosses her, we can have her, yeah?”
As the men spewed vulgar filth, the black-haired girl gripped Delphinium's shoulder and whispered, “Get inside quick. Curl up in unnie's arms and count flowers. Got it?”
At the angelically soft voice, Delphinium nearly teared up. Nodding, she bolted to her room.
The knights crossed their arms, displeased. “Damn! That fresh young thing's my type.”
“Any from this batch raped by goblins? Eating those is the best.”
The black-haired girl didn't flinch at their crude obscenities.
“I have words for you knights. The slave trader promised freedom after three wins. But today, I heard it's changed. What's going on?”
The one-eyed knight chuckled. “Promises change, don't they? Kyahaha! Don't worry. Suck our cocks right tonight, and it'll go back to normal. So do it proper. You have no idea how long we've waited to fuck you sluts!”
“Don't tense up, it's your first time! Heh! Big bros'll make it comfy.”
“We'll wreck those two holes of yours! Time to stock up on pussy today.”
“Sex slaves daring to order us around? You weren't goblin-raped thanks to our training!”
“Hey, no need to bitch with your mouth. We're already this hard! Haha!”
In the tiny shed room, Delphinium shut her eyes tight and plugged her ears.
Lilac placed a hand on her shoulder. “It's okay. It'll all be fine, like always.”
They were nobles' toys—disposable trash below human. Sold to the arena due to circumstances, they'd endured hellish training to become gladiatorial playthings. Now, they'd be knights' fucktoys, destined next for monster rape shows for spectators' amusement.
The twins survived only due to Bastrey Baron's greed. He'd declared he'd take both their virginities on their eighteenth birthday.
To him, they were mere display dolls in a case.
Delphinium counted flowers. Her method to endure the horror. She pictured a vibrant flowerbed in her mind. Counting blooms with the prince dismounted from his white steed, she weathered hell's time. Her life was pockmarked with such hells, so she lingered long in that imaginary garden.
In a few days, that'll be me.
Her eighteenth birthday loomed. After that, she'd face knights' violations alongside her unnies. Raped by monsters for crowds, like them.
Should I just die?
She wanted to. Plenty of unnies had suicided here. When the last shred of humanity shattered, hope gone, they ended themselves.
But Delphinium fought suicidal urges by reading her fairy tale book. The worn tome—her mother's last memento, killed by bandits—gave her hope. Fairy tales ended happily. Maybe hers would too, some vague hope.
“Heh! Fuck, sluts. See how hard your masters are? Suck! You ain't chickening out on your first, right? Heh!”
A vulgar voice unfit for any knight boomed.
Lilac bit her lip, hugging her eyes-closed, ears-plugged sister tight. Without her cute dongsaeng or kind Meisi unnie, she'd have killed herself long ago.
Like Delphinium drew hope from fairy tales, Lilac drew hers from sister and unnie.
“K-Knights! Knights! Emergency!”
As if answering the twins' desperate prayers, an urgent voice rang from outside. It was a page boy—the young servant assisting knights before squirehood.
The knights, about to have fun, glared murderously at the page. The one-eyed one bellowed savagely.
“What the fuck? Interrupting this moment? If it's some dick-sized bullshit ruining our fun, you'll get beat to death! No, just die!”
“A mysterious intruder in the arena! The baron's ordering everyone to the arena now!”
At the page's words, the knights scrambled into their clothes. The arena was Baron Bastrey's prized business. Trouble there meant big trouble.
“Fuck! Driving me nuts! Right when it's getting good, this shit!”
“Lucky day, huh? You sluts, keep those cunts spread wide! We'll fuck you raw after!”
Even leaving, they spewed lowlife curses.
Once gone, the black-haired girl sighed in relief. She didn't know what happened, but it was a blessing for them.