Chapter 26: Zovir

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Zovir

The threat to chop off his hand failed to make the boy change his story.

"Sir, I’m not lying to you."

Zovir’s expression was remarkably sincere, to a degree that would be hard to fake.

But Lu Wei was no Furen. He wasn’t about to believe him so easily.

’Who says kids don’t lie?’

’Kids are the biggest liars!’

"I hope so. Let’s go."

Ignoring Furen’s anxious look, Lu Wei reached out and untied the rope around Zovir’s body, but he left the knot binding his hands intact.

This was a necessary precaution to prevent him from running away.

Although it seemed humiliating, Zovir himself didn’t seem to mind.

But the nearby Furen couldn’t take it anymore. He suddenly stepped in front of Zovir and shouted indignantly:

"Lu Wei, I can understand you not believing him!"

"But you can’t treat him this way! It’s an insult!"

"If he’s seen on the street, people will think he’s a criminal!"

?

’Do you even hear yourself?’

Lu Wei stared at Furen as if he were an idiot. "Is he not a criminal?"

"He..."

Furen froze. His righteous momentum instantly evaporated as he finally realized how stupid he sounded.

To be honest, he still believed the ragged boy in front of them.

But Lu Wei’s caution wasn’t wrong, either.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, he could only turn to Zovir and explain in a low voice:

"Please understand. We can’t fully trust you until we meet your companions."

"But if it turns out what you said is true, I will apologize to you on my friend’s behalf."

"Also, I can cover the rope with my clothes, so other people won’t see it."

His tone was sincere and gentle. As he spoke, Furen had already taken off his backpack and was about to remove his jacket to help Zovir hide the ropes binding his hands.

Lu Wei didn’t stop him, though deep down, he considered such compassion incredibly foolish.

A flash of astonishment crossed Zovir’s eyes, and he quickly shook his head.

"There’s no need, sir. You don’t have to do that."

"No, it’s about showing you respect."

"But I’m a slave. I’m already used to this sort of thing."

Zovir looked down at the bindings on his hands and said with a wry smile:

"You probably don’t know, but before the ’Slave Protection Technique’ was decreed, we had to wear shackles even while working."

"Every time our work on a plantation was finished, the Slave Master would tie us together in a line and march us to the next job. They wouldn’t even untie the ropes for us to eat on the way."

"So you don’t need to worry about me."

"Because slaves have no dignity."

...

...

Honestly, Zovir’s tragic description of life as a slave didn’t stir any strong emotions in Lu Wei.

As a "modern man" who had crossed over, he was certainly repulsed by such a backward feudal phenomenon, but he mostly saw it as a product of historical progress.

When productivity, social systems, and ideology have not yet reached a certain level, the existence of slavery is inevitable.

And likewise, when history progresses to a certain stage, slavery will naturally come to an end.

This is actually an inevitable result of the progress of civilization; it’s just that people often like to attribute it all to a certain "Hero."

True, these Heroes possessed extraordinary character and charisma, but their actual impact was negligible.

So Lu Wei never thought about being some Otherworld Lincoln.

Because he knew very well that overthrowing all this was not something that could be done by killing a few Slave Masters, burning a few brothels, and starting a few revolutions.

In comparison, it would be more useful to try inventing the steam engine.

After all, when the cost of machines falls below the cost of labor, he believed the Slave Masters themselves would "awaken."

’It’s all just a cost-benefit analysis.’

’Otherwise, how come you never see anyone pitying goblins?’

’They’re a Sub-human Race too, and green-skinned at that, yet their treatment is worlds apart from that of Beastmen.’

’Isn’t that just because Beastmen are a little smarter and can be used as laborers and soldiers?’

’It’s the same reason Elves are so sought after.’

’After all, they’re all natural-born Rangers and Mages...’

Ten minutes later, as they walked toward the edge of town, Lu Wei was lost in thought, his mind wandering from slavery to racial status in a sudden sociological reflection on this Otherworld.

In contrast, Furen and Clara, who had tagged along for the excitement, clearly didn’t share his intellectual depth.

Furen’s life experience wasn’t deep enough for him to see the true nature of things, so he spent the entire walk muttering complaints to Lu Wei.

His complaints were basically—

Slave Masters are too despicable.

The lives of slaves are hell on earth.

If the Kingdom continues like this, it will be finished sooner or later.

Clara, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about slaves; she was still debating whether to buy a cow or learn to write first.

She agonized over it for ages without coming to a decision, so in the end, Lu Wei made it for her.

"Knowledge changes destiny, so buy the cow first."

"Alright, I’ll listen to you."

Probably because she thought Lu Wei was smarter, Clara went along with his advice, even though she sensed the logic connecting the two halves of his sentence was a bit off.

Then, she slyly begged the "not-so-smart-but-very-kind" Furen to teach her how to write in his spare time.

In return, she would provide free beer.

One yearned for knowledge, the other craved alcohol. The two quickly reached an agreement and naturally became friends, and the atmosphere gradually relaxed.

It ended up making Lu Wei feel like a bit of an outsider.

’Don’t tell me those two are hitting it off...’

After a puzzled glance at the laughing and chatting Furen and Clara, Lu Wei shifted his gaze back to Zovir, who was leading the way.

He walked with a limp; his left leg must be injured.

’Small and scrawny. I bet his combat power is lower than a goblin’s.’

’But since he managed to steal Furen’s coin purse, even with Furen being drunk, it proves he’s got something out of the ordinary about him.’

’At least his hands are steady, precise, and quick.’

’Probably got that from picking cotton.’

The thought suddenly popped into his head. Although Lu Wei knew it was offensive, he couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from curling up slightly.

Just then, Zovir stopped walking.

"That’s the place."

He turned and pointed toward an abandoned mill.

There were no signs of activity from the outside, but considering this could be a "criminal hideout," Lu Wei and the others didn’t barge in. Instead, they had Zovir call the others out.

Zovir nodded obediently and called out several names.

Then the three of them quickly saw five or six small, skinny children carefully crawling out of a hole in the wall.

Every one of them was filthy, proving Zovir hadn’t been lying.

"Oh, gods, this is heartbreaking..."

Furen froze, his eyes instantly filling with grief and indignation as his inherent kindness—that inability to bear seeing the poor suffer—welled up once more.

Lu Wei, however, figured the Slave Master who had just lost a group of slaves was probably the one who was truly heartbroken right now.

"Alright, it seems he was telling the truth."

Turning to look at Furen, Lu Wei shrugged.

"So what do you plan to do with them?"