Chapter 2: In Forest
Cold wind brushed against Veder's body. Because of the chill in the air, the ground felt damp beneath his feet. Veder was heading toward the Kingdom of Disail. Evening had fallen, and the sun was slowly sinking beyond the horizon.
He was walking through the forest where the Aizen Prison stood at its center.
Aizen Prison was the place where criminals—thieves, murderers, rapists—were brought. Their punishments were decided according to the severity of their crimes.
Veder had now reached the heart of the forest. As he walked, the sword at his waist swayed with every step. The leaves of the trees rustled in the wind, and even his tied hair moved slightly with the cold air. Gradually, darkness began to spread through the forest.
The icy wind touched his skin, sending shivers down his spine.
"Hah… hah… it's so cold…" Veder muttered.
His teeth chattered as he spoke. To fight the cold, he rubbed his palms together, sometimes bringing his hands close to his mouth and breathing warm air onto them.
"…Where is this disgusting smell coming from?"
Veder covered his nose and looked around while walking.
Then he saw it.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere.
"Oh… right. These are prisoners who tried to escape," Veder said quietly.
His gaze stopped on one corpse in particular. The foul smell was coming from it. Veder halted.
"This is the same man… the one who escaped from the prison a few days ago."
Every year, thousands of prisoners attempt to escape from Aizen Prison. But only a handful ever manage to make it out of the forest alive.
That was because soldiers of the Ocean Organization guarded the forest day and night.
Any prisoner who attempted to escape was hunted down and killed by those soldiers. The Ocean Organization never spared fugitives. This created deep fear among the prisoners—forcing them to think twice before even considering escape.
Veder resumed walking.
The prisoner's name was Ford.
He had been imprisoned for theft. A few days ago, his wife had died, but his sentence was not yet complete. Desperate to see her one last time, he chose to flee the prison.
He never knew that day would become his own last day.
A patrol unit of soldiers stationed in the forest spotted him. They surrounded him from all sides.
"Receipt," one soldier said coldly.
Ford froze. His feet stepped backward in fear—until he crashed into another soldier's chest.
His breathing became erratic.
"I… I… I don't have the receipt…"
His hands trembled uncontrollably.
The moment those words left his mouth, all the soldiers thrust their swords into his body at once.
Ford screamed.
His scream echoed through the entire forest.
Blood poured out of his body like water as he collapsed onto the ground. One soldier checked his breathing.
"He's dead."
"Let's go. We'll have to report this to Mr. Sien."
---
"I don't really care… I wasn't that close to him anyway…"
"I don't care if my people die…"
Veder's father's face surfaced in his mind. Rage burned in his eyes.
As night deepened, the cold grew harsher. The forest was unnaturally silent. As Veder walked, even the crunch of crushed leaves beneath his feet sounded painfully clear.
"It's so quiet here… too quiet. It's making my head spin," Veder said.
Inside the prison, there were always sounds—soldiers marching, prisoners screaming. Silence there was as rare as water in a desert.
After walking some distance, he stopped.
A tree shaped like the letter V stood ahead. Veder approached it, leaned his sword against the trunk, and sat with his back resting against the tree. He gathered a few fallen sticks nearby and struck two stones together.
Sparks flew.
Fire was born.
"Feels better now," Veder said, holding his hands out toward the flames.
He stared into the fire. Silence surrounded him.
"I've been doing the same thing for three years… nothing ever changes. Every day feels exactly the same."
His sword gleamed in the combined light of the fire and the moon. For the first time in many days, stars appeared in the sky. Beyond the fire's glow, the forest was swallowed by darkness.
"Something has to change," Veder said.
His stomach growled.
"I haven't eaten anything since morning."
He stood up, strapped his sword to his waist, and set out to find food. The forest was filled with fruit-bearing trees.
"This cold…"
Veder walked while holding a torch. He could only see as far as the torchlight reached.
"In a forest this huge… where am I supposed to find fruit trees?"
As that thought crossed his mind, he noticed a faint torchlight in the distance.
"Those must be soldiers… they should have food," Veder said.
He walked toward the light.
---
But when he got closer, he realized—
"They're not soldiers…"
"…They're bandits."