Abel was actually about to learn something about the one thing that actually meant something to him; freedom.
He was in the presence of Iris, Bruno, Luna and Lena, and the dickhead Kane. A weird group that Abel would have to decide on whether or not he will be a part of.
He blinked making sure his ears weren't deceiving him. "W-wait did you say what I think you did? You guys are actually coming up with a plan to leave this place – like actually leaving?"
Kane crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, snorting. "Geez… what are you deaf or just plain stupid? If so then we're not going to waste our time repeating ourselves to a dumbass like you." He said, with a smug look on his face.
"The hell did you call me wiseass huh!? Come over here and say that again!" Abel growled.
Kane chuckled and looked away.
Iris sighed and began her explanation, all while the others stayed dead quiet and Abel listened very closely to what she was about to say.
"Alright shorty, you see every year the quota must be met to at least tenfold, that's how much drugs the Royal Estate has to ship each and every year, and in order to spread it across the world and their markets they need to move the entire cargo."
In that moment Abel's eyes snapped open and his mind raced, suddenly he had a flashback of the burning rain but most of all… "A ship! They need a ship to transport the damn drugs!"
Iris nodded. "Exactly."
Abel was now starting to understand how the system worked and he was starting to have an idea of what Iris's plan was. But before either one of them could continue, Kane snorted and added,
"Yeah they use a ship to smuggle the drugs – wow you figured it out genius," He grinned, making Abel bristle while he continued, "that said, drugs aren't the only thing they haul on the cargo ship."
Abel was confused; he didn't get what he meant by tilting his head and asked, "What's that supposed to mean… do they also ship food and drinks or something like that?"
Kane clicked his tongue in annoyance as he snapped, "No, you dumbass, they transport more slaves!"
Abel froze. "What?"
Kane was right. During the season, the Royal collects would travel to all sorts of villages and round up slaves. They would raze villages and take the youngest children back with them, all while spreading their corruption throughout the land.
Once Abel realized that, a thought crossed his mind. 'Now that I think about it, I just turned eleven… that would mean that they have been sailing and collecting slaves during that time. But that still doesn't explain how they were able to find our village… what if someone from the village told them and that's why they attacked when they did?'
The very idea of someone betraying the lives of hundreds of innocent people was enough to make Abel's blood boil, and as he clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth in rage he thought, 'I hope the damn son of a bitch who betrayed us is rotting in hell.'
That made the whole room shift and everyone could sense it. But Iris quickly cleared her throat and continued her speech. "Well just like Kane said… each year after they're done with shipping the drugs and destroying villages to enslave other children, they always return here to resupply and leave for another season. That's how it's always been for the last 13 years at least while we were still here to witness it."
Abel's burning anger was replaced with shock dwelling on how long Iris and the rest of the group had been slaves in the Royal Estate and how long they had been planning to escape.
Wait…
"IT TOOK YOU 13 YEARS TO COME UP WITH A PLAN TO ESCAPE THIS HELLHOLE!?" Abel yelled in utter shock a bit too loud for comfort.
"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT! YOU WANT THE WHOLE ESTATE TO KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW?! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION WE WERE JUST KIDS WITH LITTLE POWER AND TIME SO THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY FOR US TO ESCAPE, GOT THAT!!!" Iris snapped back, screaming just as loud as he was.
Lena sighed. "You're both being loud, so both of you shut it."
Luna nodded and added, "Yeah sis is right, you two need to shut it."
Both Iris and Abel turned their glares at them and shouted in unison, "OH PUT A SOCK IN IT YOU TWO AND BUTT OUT!"
Bruno leaned to Kane muttering, "Wow, those two are kind of alike, don't you think Kane?"
Kane smirked. "Nah, I don't see the resemblance, I mean one's obviously shorter than the other sooo…"
He was obviously referring to Abel.
Iris rolled her eyes. "Anyway the whole damn thing wasn't even my idea in the first place. Salo was the one who told me we should leave and then he suddenly had a change of heart and said he 'changed his mind' so yeah."
Abel was puzzled but asked, "Salo huh… I think that makes sense but… what exactly he does here. I still haven't managed to figure that out."
Iris paused for a minute and then answered him, "Well he's that Royal asshole's handyman, basically think of him as his loyal butler. He does everything that the bastard tells him to."
Kane scoffed. "More like a damn dog, loyal to his master – all he has to do is wiggle his tail and he gets a nice bone. How pathetic."
Lena sighed. "Yeah you're right, it is pathetic, but Salo promised us he wouldn't tell Royal about the plan so in a way he's helping us."
Luna nodded and added, "Yeah we can trust Salo, he's loyal but still a coward."
Bruno chimed in. "Come on you guys don't be so harsh, I mean he's keeping all of us safe by helping us keep our plan a secret."
Kane snorted. "Yeah whatever, he's still a lapdog to me."
Abel snapped. "Who cares! What I want to know is what the plan is – because all you told me so far is absolutely nothing!"
Iris nodded. "Right well the plan was – since it usually takes them 3 days to load and organize everything, we've decided we'd sneak in and hide in the ship, and once they are done we use the opportunity to escape. Since it'll dock in a nearby country or town, we can leave. So what do you think, Abel?"
"Hmm…"
He thought long and hard about it, but it didn't take much thinking to see that their plan wasn't very solid nor was it safe, so it had some major flaws and deadly risk involved.
He spoke up, using that moment as his chance, "First of all, I'm just gonna come out and say – your plan is absolute crap, not to mention completely reckless if you think about it."
In a way, he was right
"Sure it would probably be possible to hide inside the ship but with the guards you'd be caught in seconds. And let's say you do reach a port, what then? At that time, we wouldn't have a single coin or food to our name, so there's no way you'd survive. That's just how bad your plan is."
As a newcomer who hasn't even joined the group, Abel's opinion could have been ignored but they were a lot smarter than that, and his reasoning made enough sense for them to listen.
Kane sneered. "Okay genius, so what do you suggest we do, please enlighten us."
Abel didn't want to answer, but when an annoying assholes like him pushed him he had to bite back, and luckily he had a plan in mind. "It's a cargo ship right… so it should also have some lifeboats. If so, then you can just steal one of those and use it."
Kane laughed. "You're kidding, that's your plan? That's—"
Iris cut him off with firm words, "That's actually a good idea, shorty."
[System Notification]
[Proposed Solution Accepted: Lifeboat Theft]
Kane was stunned. "WHAT?!"
Lena and Luna also joined in. "Hey sister, sister, his plan's actually pretty smart, isn't it?"
"Yes sister it is, especially coming from a runt like him, I'm actually impressed."
Abel couldn't tell if they were mocking him or just making fun of him.
"Uhhh… Thanks, I guess."
Even Bruno was convinced. "Yeah I think it's a really solid plan, a lot better than the sneak-in one. That one seemed a bit stupid."
Iris shrugged. "Yeah I agree, after thinking about it I admit it was a pretty half-assed plan."
"It's a good thing you didn't go with that shitty plan of yours – it could have led you to sleep with the fishes." Abel smirked, rubbing in her face how wrong she was.
Iris groaned but raised her hands. "Alright okay, okay, quit rubbing salt in my wound. Anyway even though your plan is a good one, it might take us a year or two to fully put it into motion sooo…"
Abel understood but stubbornly didn't care. "It doesn't matter how long it takes – as long as I can leave this hellhole, I'll wait. That's final."
[New Quest Issued: Operation Lifeboat]
[Goal: Escape the Royal Estate within the next six years]
With that, the entire group had come to a silent agreement. May it be a few years or even a decade, their main objective was to escape.