'…selling people like material goods…treating them like cattle…children…raped women…whippings…starvation', all those things went through my head after I walked away from Her Excellency, Augusta.
'What kind of monsters… they must be to have so little empathy for another human being…', I had distanced myself after knowing the reality of the situation of those we had just freed, but I couldn't, I couldn't assimilate that the daily life of these people is suffering.
'...children...who could be used...however anyone wished...if they simply...paid a price...such a monstrosity', Rage was consuming me just thinking about it, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I saw the looks on those people's faces, talking about 'slaves' as if it were the norm.
And I didn't think the situation had been any better in the rest of these lands, if the electric air was any indication.
I knew Augusta would ask about our location; we'd talked about it while Valentina went to find the translators. I also knew she would ask about the culture and political situation in the nearby towns and cities.
If she could... with these 'barbarians' so restless, I didn't think she could learn much in such a short time.
And my prediction was right.
"Khalisee!" I heard them repeat that word several times, as the young women in the group went to meet Her Excellency, carrying some things in baskets and on looms.
"It seems you want to kill someone... Avidius", I heard Julius's voice approaching.
"...just a few...", I said mockingly. I really wasn't in the best mood, given what I'd just learned.
"...it seems we're not in the best situation, huh?", he said, understanding that I had learned something bad.
"You have no idea, haaa…", I sighed at the accuracy of his comment.
"… I want to know?", he asked doubtfully, and I nodded in response.
"Yes, in fact, everyone should know about this, although Her Excellency, Augusta, will probably tell us when she's finished with these people", I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice as I gestured toward the people with Augusta and the translator.
"... Is it about the girls or about them in general?", he asked.
"In general, and maybe even more", I replied with resignation.
"Haa…, then tell me. It's better to know beforehand, so I can soften the blow a bit, if it's as bad as you make it seem", he said after a sigh.
"It's horrible, Julius. We heard that the people who were imprisoned are seen as products and assets, which can be sold to anyone", I said bluntly, and a moment later, the surrounding temperature rose a little, only to return to normal almost immediately.
"...I can understand how you feel, Avidius", he said seriously, then placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed in a gesture of camaraderie.
"I've seen you act properly and with good morals, and I see how enraged you are. I am too, but...", He stopped speaking, seemingly planning his next words.
"...if you think about it, in Septimont, we had something similar", he said seriously, making me look him in the eye in disbelief.
"We had something similar? What are you saying, Julius? We've never treated people like this!", I said, almost screaming at him in indignation. I had never seen anything like this in Septimont.
My answer made him look at me in bewilderment, but his serious gaze returned.
"… Avidius, until a few years ago, the Bloody Agon was still practiced, and don't say that people weren't treated like products. The great families practically pay for talented children. Sure, they treat them much better than we've seen among these people, but even so, we gladiators were products of the great families", he said with finality, making me freeze.
"…you, that's not true, all gladiators were treated with honor and respect! It's nothing like what happens here!", I responded vehemently. I knew that families adopted talented children, but they cared for them, gave them shelter, education, and training. It wasn't the same…it wasn't…no…
"…your face tells me that you understood what I told you, haa…" Julius said with sadness in his eyes, "look, I'm not one of those who likes serious talks, but I'm telling you this with all honesty".
"Everyone has corpses in their closets, even though Septimont has improved for everyone, thanks to Your Grace, Augusta, It used to be much more brutal, which is why some of us left for the Sanguis Plateaus, to do something other than dirty our hands with our compatriots", he said solemnly, patting me on the shoulder and turning to the Titus and Gaius.
"So try not to judge them too harshly for the moment, Avidius. There's still a chance we can find something good, or maybe we have some things in common. You never know", he said as he walked over to them.
'Things in common… but… haaa…', I thought reluctantly. His words had exhausted me. I hadn't expected him to think about child adoption like that, and about the Bloody Agon…
'It wasn't even in my memories…damn it!' And the rage returned again, but with a different purpose.
'What he showed me in Murmurstown, my…altered memories…even now, the faces of my…'companions' from that time are…blurred'.
'...no...they're not blurry...they were fabricated...', I clenched my fists, as the weight of what I had glimpsed grew, but..., 'no...this isn't the time for that...', I stopped before falling into that, that madness.
"...haaaa…", I sighed slowly, slowly calming down.
"First our situation, then, then my memories…", I murmured softly, and looked up at Her Excellency, who seemed to have mesmerized the women with her.
'It seems she's already won them over', I thought with some astonishment. Although I expected it, I didn't think it would be so fast. The women were attentive to her words, well, the words that the translator, Haela, was repeating, who also repeated their words to Augusta.
"That was fast…, hmm?", I thought, but then I looked up a little further, and the sun had already passed mid-afternoon.
"I really got a lot of it in my head, haaa…"
Then I felt my terminal vibrate.
'Hmm…, Your Excellency?', I thought as I turned my gaze towards her, and saw her putting her terminal on the floor to begin her transmission, so I did the same.
"Attention everyone, until a moment ago, I was meeting with the locals to find out where we are and about the socio-political environment, what I found is not pleasant nor will it lead to an immediate cessation of conflict, so I ask everyone to keep their guard up during the following days, especially after I give my orders to the hostiles within the next hour", she said, while I lamented, it seemed that Julius's hopes would be shattered, and the situation was worse than what I had managed to hear.
"Their way of life… is not one we can accept without questioning our morals, and anger may cloud our minds, so just as they will have to accept my orders on how to behave, you, my people, will have to behave and react with the greatest discipline possible, and I say this now, to each and every one of you, …we are not butchers…, so we will not behave as such" Her Grace ordered us, while I thought about what could be so bad, for her to call us out like that, and it seemed, that we would have to keep this order in mind for the continued future.
"...but..., we are Septimontians, we are warriors, and if the situation demands it, we will be judges..., we will be jurors...".
'What happened, Your Excellency? What did you know to make you so determined to use violence against these people?', I thought with dismay.
If the first part was to warn us not to behave like animals, this other part was to prepare us to use all our power against these people, or perhaps others.
"... We will be the executioner…", Her Excellency finished, leaving a heavy silence in the air.
'It seems we will have a lot of conflict in the near future...', I thought as I finished listening to Augusta's words. I trusted Her Excellency. If she believed that we will have to be the force after reason, then we will be prepared to exercise it with justice.
'...So that no more innocent people suffer...', I promised myself.