The First Meal
Who is this guy?
Scarlet stared at the man who had offered them food with suspicious eyes. That man... he only offered food to us and hasn't touched any of it himself. 'He must have tampered with the food.' Scarlet had seen through his intentions. It made sense, after all—the dishes laid out before them were ones she had never tasted in her entire life, and the tantalizing aromas rising from each one relentlessly assaulted their senses.
'Ugh... I can't eat this...!' Those dishes were definitely poisoned. Otherwise, why would he give such delicious-looking food to the likes of them?
After staring at the food for a long while, the man suddenly pulled a plate toward himself. 'What? Is he going to force-feed us?' Scarlet tensed her body and watched his every move without missing a single detail.
The man picked up the food using two strange sticks. Without the slightest hesitation, he brought it to his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed.
'Is... is it not poisoned...?' Scarlet was bewildered by the sudden turn of events. It was as if the man was telling them the food was safe to eat. She looked back at the dishes. 'Gulp...'
The food was still steaming warmly. And the man who had just eaten it seemed perfectly fine. 'Maybe just one bite...'
Scarlet's internal conflict grew intense. The man pushed the food toward them as if delivering a checkmate. When she turned to look at Rita, her sister was already half-lost in a trance, staring at the food and swallowing her drool.
'No... I can't let Rita eat something suspicious, at least.' With renewed resolve, Scarlet grabbed a large handful of the food the man had offered and shoved it into her mouth.
"No!!"
When I dumped the food into my mouth, the man looked at me with an expression of pure horror and tried to stop me. 'What the—why is he...'
The food I had swallowed in a hurry was still piping hot. The scalding sensation burned my throat. 'H-hot...!' An unimaginable pain surged through my neck, as if it were being seared by a red-hot iron. I thrashed from the sudden agony, pounding my chest until the food finally slid down my esophagus into my stomach.
'Phew... I finally swallowed it...' It felt like I had taken a brief trip to the afterlife.
One... two... three...
Scarlet began counting from the moment the food reached her stomach. If it was poisoned, some reaction should appear within a few seconds. But even after dozens of seconds passed, nothing happened. Well, that wasn't entirely true—there was one abnormality.
Her stomach was already demanding more food.
"It's freshly made, so you shouldn't eat it so quickly."
The man looked at the two of us and spoke. He was truly an incomprehensible person. Why was he giving them such food?
"Try this. It's really delicious."
The man handed Rita a bowl of some unidentified liquid. It was filled with large chunks of meat and vegetables here and there—it clearly wasn't a simple dish. Rita looked at the yellowish broth he gave her and, just like me, tried to eat it with her hands.
"Wait!!"
Before Rita's hand could reach the bowl, the man shouted loudly. At the same time, he roughly grabbed her hand.
"Eek...!"
Rita looked at me, trembling in fear. I was about to unleash my fury at the man. 'How dare he lay a hand on my precious little sister?' While I was grateful for the food, that didn't mean his actions could be forgiven.
Just as Scarlet was about to lunge at him, the man lifted a strange object and said,
"When eating stew or soup, try using this."
The man showed us the item. 'Isn't that just a tiny shovel? It looks exactly like a miniature spade.' He was telling us to eat with something that looked like a small shovel. Rita stared at the object for a while. 'What is this... a harpoon?' I examined the bizarrely shaped tool in front of me. It had several prongs extending outward. It looked like a murder weapon.
Rita and I observed the unfamiliar objects with extreme scrutiny. While we were doing so, the man sighed and drew our attention, then demonstrated how to use these peculiar tools himself.
The one Rita was holding was called a spoon, and it was very convenient for eating liquid foods like soup. He then explained the item I was holding. It was called a fork, and it made picking up side dishes much easier and simpler.
After finishing his explanation, the man handed us new forks and spoons and told us to try it the way he had shown.
'Gulp...'
Scarlet drooled while looking at the various dishes laid out before her. With a fluttering heart, I stabbed my fork into the food in front of me.
[Thud.]
Scarlet lightly pressed down with the fork to secure the meat. I stared intently at the piece of meat before bringing it to my mouth. Scarlet slowly savored the meat in her mouth. As she ate, tears began to flow without warning. The texture of the meat was far softer and more delicious than the bread we ate every day.
[Drip... drip...]
Even with Rita right beside her, the tears wouldn't stop for some reason. It was the first time she had ever tasted anything like this. Scarlet tried desperately to hold back the flowing tears. Seeing her like that, Rita also brought a piece of meat to her mouth.
"..........."
Rita, too, began eating while shedding tears just like me. After that, my memories became hazy. The only thing I remember is that we ate like crazy people... We had completely lost our senses over how incredibly delicious the food was and devoured everything like mad.
'I'm so full...'
Today was the first time in my life I had eaten the most—and the most delicious—food ever. 'Well, if I die now, I won't have any regrets.' They say even ghosts who die after eating look happy. Since I had eaten my fill, dying now wouldn't feel quite so unfair.
After we had completely cleaned out all the food, we sat at the table digesting. The man looked at us with a sinister smile. Just as I suspected. 'Of course... it had to come to this...'
The man, his face flushed with excitement, led us somewhere. 'I'm scared...' On the outside, Scarlet pretended to be fine, but inside she was terrified. Both Scarlet and Rita grew deeply gloomy, as if accepting their fated end.
Eventually, Rita and Scarlet were led into the room the man had guided them to. The room was spacious and nice. There was more than enough space for two people to sleep without feeling cramped. The man spoke to us as we looked around the room.
"Then shall we begin what I've prepared?"
The man began speaking in a solemn tone, then continued in a cold voice,
"Don't worry. The pain will only last a moment."
As soon as he said that, he grabbed the iron chain around my neck. My body froze in terror, and I couldn't utter a single word. The man's rough touch... was utterly terrifying.
The man examined the shape of the chains from various angles. Then he moved his fingers a few times in the air, and the collar came off easily. I clearly remembered the men who had sold us bragging that it was enchanted with double protective magic and could never be removed. I had thought it would never come off, but this man was different.
The man also effortlessly destroyed the chains around Rita's neck with his hands and granted her freedom as well. The moment the restraints that had bound us disappeared, I felt so happy I could fly.
My movements were finally free. While I was lost in that blissful feeling, the man spoke again.
"You won't have to wear this ever again. Don't worry."
Right in front of us, he shattered the chains into pieces. Rita and I began to feel suspicious of his behavior. When slaves were sold, the first thing that happened was the deprivation of freedom—but that hadn't occurred with us. In fact, he had given us freedom.
The man took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said,
"And I'll be keeping the slave contract for now. It's not that I don't trust you two... but I think I should hold onto it for the time being."
He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In the end, although the iron chains around our necks had been removed, our souls were still bound.
As time passed and night fell, the man asked,
"There's one more unused room available. What would you like to do?"
He said it didn't matter whether we took the extra room or not, and to choose comfortably. Since I didn't want to be separated from Rita, I expressed that I wanted to stay with her until the end. The man listened to Scarlet's words fully and then stepped back.
And so, Scarlet ended up sharing a room with Rita. The two of them were lying on a piece of furniture called a bed that Luizen had brought. It was a strange, fluffy object that made their bodies feel languid and relaxed.
While lying in bed and staring blankly at the ceiling, Rita spoke to me.