CHAPTER 56: SAVE OR SLAVE

Grandpa Jaya looked at the two people with firm eyes, "I think I know where Satyo took Gara," he said.

"You do?" A spark of hope lit up in Wina’s eyes.

Grandpa Jaya nodded. If he couldn’t help save Gara, then at his age—nearing the end—he would not be able to die in peace.

"Please show us the way, Elder," Madha said politely, though his hands were clenched tightly, holding back his rage toward the maniac who had taken Gara.

"Wait!" Wina stopped them. "Before that, we need to go somewhere else first."

...

Gara’s eyes slowly opened. He held his neck, which ached painfully. His arms also throbbed, probably from lying on something hard.

When he finally sat up and looked around, his eyes widened. He found himself inside a metal cage in an otherwise empty room.

Inside the cage were four other young men. One of them was sobbing, another stared gloomily ahead, and another showed no expression at all.

All of them wore metal collars, each embedded with a crystal at the center. Gara realized he was wearing the same collar too.

The collars were most likely meant to suppress their Talents, because he couldn’t access his power at all now.

Besides the collars, the other thing they had in common was that all of them were strikingly handsome or rather, beautiful with delicate features.

One in particular caught Gara’s attention: an elf.

He had long, slightly messy blond hair, probably due to lack of care, pale and smooth-looking skin, pink lips, and gray irises. He was beautiful but somehow also masculine. Gara hadn’t seen them stand yet, but he guessed this elf was the tallest among them.

The elf noticed Gara staring and turned his head. Gara quickly looked away, slightly flustered by the intense gaze from such a beautiful being.

Still, he continued stealing glances at the elf because earlier, the heart icon above the elf’s head had shown 0%, but after that brief eye contact, it suddenly went up to 5%.

He waited for a while, but the number didn’t rise any further.

Just then, Gara heard a familiar squeak.

"The white squirrel!" His eyes sparkled as he spotted the small creature slipping easily between the iron bars of the cage before leaping onto his open palm.

The tiny white squirrel chirped frantically, its round black eyes blinking repeatedly.

"We’re in an underground chamber and it takes a hidden path to get here? You have to go find my mom and lead her to this place," Gara whispered, issuing the command with urgency.

Without hesitation, the white squirrel jumped down, darted through the bars, and scurried out of the room.

Last night, after rescuing his mother, Gara had known they couldn’t report anything to the authorities without solid evidence. And if they simply stayed quiet, Satyo would continue his vile deeds unchecked.

So, he chose to play along with Satyo’s plan.

Thanks to the white squirrel—who, oddly enough, he could understand—he learned that Satyo had already prepared a carriage to take him away. The shady people lurking around his house the day before? They were Satyo’s men.

Gara made it look like Wina hadn’t come home, giving him a reason to go water the fields alone. That way, he’d make himself an easy target for capture.

Meanwhile, Wina would follow later once the sun had risen. The squirrel’s job was to guide her.

And since Gara didn’t know what kind of noble power was backing Satyo in from county, he figured it was best to involve someone with more influence. Langga, from the capital.

Langga had once mentioned he’d stay in town for a few more months. Considering his attraction to Gara, the boy was fairly certain he’d help.

Still, Gara couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that things wouldn’t go according to plan.

A man dressed in black entered the bare chamber, dragging a tall wooden coat rack behind him.

"Change into these," the man barked. No one moved.

"I want to go home..." whimpered a young man with soft pink hair, who had been sobbing quietly until now.

Without warning, the man unsheathed a baton from his sash and struck the pink-haired youth across the ribs.

"If any of you disobey me, I’ll beat you to death," he snarled.

The pink-haired boy was still crying, but said no more. He stepped forward toward the rack. One by one, the others followed, including the elf.

Gara noticed then, there was an emptiness in the elf’s silver-grey eyes, like someone who had already given up on life.

With a weary sigh, Gara also approached the rack.

The clothes hung there were made of fine fabric, in bright and alluring colors. Clearly, Satyo and his crew weren’t being generous. This indeed was a preparation. These young men were being dressed up to be sold off to nobles.

Gara quietly picked a simple white outfit, one without flashy details, hoping to avoid drawing any unwanted attention.

They began to change right there in the room.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gara caught a glimpse of the elf’s body. He nearly had a heart attack. The elf’s frail frame was covered in scars, his bones jutting sharply beneath his pale skin.

What happened to him before he ended up in this place?

Gara’s nose burned. A mixture of sympathy and fury swelled inside him. He would not let this go unpunished. Whoever had done this would pay dearly.

"Hurry up and get dressed!" the man barked again, pointing the baton directly at Gara.

Gara quickly pulled off his shirt and slipped into the new clothes. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the man’s gaze lingering on him with a hungry and possessive stare.

He clenched his jaw, pretending not to notice.

So much for avoiding attention... The white top he’d chosen was, in fact, a crop top, cut short above his navel. And the bottoms were low-waisted shorts that clung tight and dipped low enough to reveal his sharply defined hip bones.

In that outfit, he looked more sensual. Seductive.

Even as a woman, I’ve never worn something this revealing,

He made a bitter face, raking his fingers through his hair in frustration.

...