Jonan was thrown back into the cell, clutching his stomach, which was aching severely. After him, the small girl was thrown too, who was sobbing continuously.
The old man, noticing the absence of others beside Jonan and the small girl, just shook his head in resignation and muttered under his breath, "I knew it, there is no escaping from this godforsaken place."
Jonan could only sit there dumbly, his eyes widened with terror, just what did any of them do to deserve this, they were just trying to escape, was there a need to kill all of them, and why was he and the small girl spared.
He just couldn't understand why are the bandits toying with them, what fun they could possibly get from doing so.
Recalling how he saw the others being killed, the twins were similar to him in age, and no mercy was shown for them.
Can these bandits even be called humans at all, we kill beasts because they are our enemies, and even for humans who go to war, they might kill, but what is this senseless killing.
He also recalled the enjoyment plastered on every bandit's face, he also remembered two of those were the ones whom he spared.
Is this his reward for sparing his enemy, who go on to continue in killing innocents.
The old man noticed Jonan's darkened expression.
"You must be furious and scared right, it's not like you or any one could have changed the outcome."
Jonan looked towards the old man.
"Do you know why I didn't go with you on your escape, why I was sure that you would all fail."
Jonan just shook his head in resignation.
"It's strength... while the plan was good, it had one major flaw, all of you were too weak, that wretch Shakaan might not look like it, but he is someone whose strength is equivalent to a grade two beast, and worst of all he has those hunting dogs who can follow you to the ends of earth, by following your smell."
Jonan's face turned pale, he knew that facing someone with the strength of grade two will not be possible for him, and he was stunned that the old man knew so much.
"Why didn't you say all of this before? If you had let us know, then we could have prepared accordingly."
"Huh," scoffed the old man, "I didn't tell them because those two had already known all of this. Despite all that, they were still willing to take the risk of making their escape, I don't blame them; it's better to die than to sit still."
Jonan felt that the old man's words were contradictory, but from this, it can be seen that even Jonan was in the dark, he foolishly believed their words and went on with their plan.
He thought he had already learned his lesson when he spared the bandit's life, which led to him getting captured, and now he was ruthlessly slapped in the face again, where he wasn't even aware of such details, which led to the failure of their plan.
He had decided that from now on, he will not be accepting anything at face value; he will question everything from now on.
The small girl who was seated beside him now was sobbing continuously; her eyes were bawling out.
Jonan looked at her with pity; while he was older than her, he was still frightened by this experience, he wasn't able to contemplate what this girl must be feeling, that chubby man who kept her close was also dead.
While Jonan didn't say much in his mind, he was furious with his cohort, he could understand that to train him, they didn't interfere much and wanted him to find his way out of this predicament.
They should have at least saved the innocent people who were butchered mercilessly by the bandits. Why were they so ruthless and indifferent to human life?
Most of all, they were members of one of the greatest family, and they should uphold the family's honor by protecting those who are innocent.
Jonan decided that when he goes back to his home, he must ask his step-mother just what kind of cohort has she paired with him, it would have been better, if he was with his elder brother.
When Jonan was a child, he used to hear his elder brothers tell their adventures, they were so fascinating with comradrie, honor and protecting those who were innocent and weaker than them, but what is this, why is he facing such horrors, when his elder brothers used to say different.
Jonan was tired of everything. Now that he was captured again, he couldn't fathom how he would get out of this hellhole.
Looking at the small pitiful girl, he gestured towards her to calm her down and asked, "What is your name, miss?"
The girl whose eyes were red with tears was gasping for breath and replied, "M-my... my name... is... Astrid," she choked out, tears streaming down her face.
Jonan just sighed. He was regretful that he couldn't help anyone and was captured back again, but the old man was right; we were too weak to face the enemy.
For now.
But that would change. It had to change.
The silence of the cell pressed down on him, broken only by Astrid's muffled sobs. He looked around the dimly lit space, the stench of damp earth and decay filling his nose. This was not where he would die. He refused.
Somewhere out there, his family still existed, his brothers, his stepmother, his entire legacy. If they thought they had sent him here to learn, then he would take that lesson to heart—but not in the way they had expected.
Jonan would rise from this pit. He would claw his way to freedom, even if it meant breaking every rule he had ever been taught. Strength was what mattered. And the next time he crossed paths with Shakaan and his bandits, he would not be the one kneeling in chains.
"Astrid," he murmured, looking at the girl who had begun to quiet down. "We will get out of here."
She looked at him with wide, uncertain eyes, her lips trembling. But there was a glimmer of hope there. Just a spark. It was enough for now.
He would not fail again. He could not afford to.