"Calvin, if you're tired, sit down and rest! I'll keep watch for you." Jellal Fernandes suggested quietly, his eyes filled with concern as he looked at the sweating and panting Calvin Unknown.
"Huff, no need—" Wiping the sweat from his forehead and propping his shovel on the ground, Calvin felt a warmth in his heart as he met Jellal's concerned gaze. He forced a smile despite his exhaustion and said, "On the contrary, you must be exhausted after working for so long, right? Come on, take advantage of the fact that those bastards aren't watching you, and take a quick rest. I'll keep watch for you!" As he spoke, he wiped another bead of sweat from his face.
It was mid-day, and the scorching sun beat mercilessly down on them. Having done hard labor all morning, Calvin was completely worn out. Large drops of sweat covered his entire face, and his hair and clothes were soaked through.
Despite Jellal's kindness, he refused without hesitation! Are you kidding me? Although his current body was that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old kid, his soul was that of a real adult! Furthermore, he could clearly see that Jellal was in no better shape than he was; the boy's panting made it look like he might collapse at any moment. How could he, an adult, shamelessly take a rest and let a child keep watch for him? He simply couldn't stomach it.
It had been over a week since he was brought to this island. Every day, starting at dawn, he was forced out with Jellal and the others to do hard labor, which lasted all day. Those despicable Dark Mages were truly awful! Not only had they put magic handcuffs on him, but they also made them "work" until late every night before allowing them to sleep! Then, they were woken up before sunrise to continue the seemingly endless work, and if anyone slowed down, they were beaten by those thugs…
And that wasn't all. The food they were given was not only disgusting and difficult to swallow, but it was also strictly rationed!
Think about it: a person doing heavy labor for long hours every day, eating very poor and minimal food—not even meeting basic nutritional needs—combined with chronic sleep deprivation. Even if that person were made of steel, they wouldn't last! He figured that soon, his body would simply give out.
Calvin was facing exactly this situation. After just a week, although he wasn't skin and bones, he was fatigued, weak, and utterly drained. He reckoned that if things continued this way, he'd be saying Say goodbye to this world soon.
And the most critical point was that his current body was still in its crucial developmental stage! If he couldn't change this lifestyle immediately, even if he managed to escape or was miraculously rescued later, it might be too late; his physical potential would likely be ruined.
So, the same conclusion stood: he had to leave this damned place as soon as possible! He had to do it even if only for the sake of his future body…
However, without a good opportunity for escape, all he could do was silently wait.
Calvin wasn't entirely without gains, though. After spending a week together, he had made friends with several "peers" introduced by Jellal. By relying on his maturity and steadiness, which far surpassed that of others his age, he had successfully become the "big brother" among the group!
Ignoring his soul's true age, based on the fused memories, his current body was slightly older than theirs anyway. So, taking the role of "big brother" was both logical and well-deserved.
"No, you rest instead." Jellal shook his head, insisting seriously, "I have been working here for a long time, and my body has already adapted to this high-intensity work. But you, Calvin, are different. You haven't been here long, so the person who really needs to rest is you, not me!" His tone was sincere, as he could clearly see that Calvin's body was rapidly approaching its limit!
"Uh—" Calvin was speechless, looking quite embarrassed. Jellal was absolutely right! His current body was still developing, and its physical fitness was nowhere near what he was used to back on Earth. Plus, he had been a pleasure-seeking otaku, so his mental tolerance was much lower than a normal person's. At this point, his body was already trembling, and he knew he couldn't keep forcing himself for much longer.
Just as he was about to say something, a supervisor spotted the two of them slacking off and immediately started yelling.
"Hey! You two kids over there! Do you have a death wish?! How dare you slack off like that?!!" The supervisor yelled, hurrying towards them, pulling his red demonic hound along.
"Damn it! We've been spotted!" Calvin inwardly groaned, knowing another severe beating was inevitable. He regretted that he had dragged Jellal into this. He cast an apologetic glance at Jellal.
Jellal, however, seemed unconcerned, apparently already accustomed to such situations. Or perhaps he had just gotten used to being beaten—ugh…
But halfway there, the supervisor unexpectedly tripped over someone.
"Ouch—" The supervisor cried out in pain, landing on his backside. Seeing that everyone around was looking at him with schadenfreude, he immediately roared in frustration, "What are you looking at?! What are you looking at?! What's so interesting?!! If you want to watch so badly, I'll make sure none of you sleep tonight! You'll be working all night, you motherf**kers!! Everyone get back to work now!!!"
Frightened, the laborers who had been watching quickly resumed their work. Having toiled all day, they definitely didn't want to stay and work "overtime" tonight.
Seeing that everyone had stopped looking and dutifully returned to their work, the supervisor stood up, his face dark with rage. He glared at the blonde child who had tripped him, raised his whip, and lashed out fiercely!
"Aah—" The magic whip, crackling with electricity, struck the back of the blonde boy, who screamed in pain.
Calvin and Jellal both frowned, about to rush forward to intervene, but someone was already ahead of them. A person dashed forward, blocked the supervisor, grabbed the supervisor's right wrist just as he was about to swing the magic whip again, and, to the stunned surprise of Calvin and Jellal, executed a flawless shoulder throw, slamming the supervisor hard onto the ground!
"Wha—" Calvin stared blankly at the scene. He had only seen a flash of bright scarlet before his eyes. As soon as he recovered from that striking red flash, the supervisor had already been slammed down! The action could be summed up in three words: Fast, Accurate, and Brutal!
His shock was compounded when he realized that the owner of that scarlet hair was just a young girl, about eleven or twelve years old, possibly even younger than Jellal!
Who the hell is this girl?
But now was clearly not the time to ponder that question, because the scarlet-haired girl was clearly in deep trouble.