After many hours, Estefan was kicked out from the carriage which carried him. He coughed before opening his eyes while groaning in pain. His eyes with dried tears saw large walls in front of him, it was the temporary walls set up in front of the grey zone by the soldiers.
The area was under the direct control of Angeras' knights who were controlled by Grandmaster Mason who was part of those who had betrayed him. So he practically have no hopes in surviving here, it was clear that they might as well have pre-planned his obvious demise already. All he had to do was now just walk in the path they paved for him towards his death. Especially when there was no life waiting for him even if he somehow managed to escape and there was no way to escape.
A new life which would end in an inevitable death, Estefan stood in a queue of prisoners like him. There were criminals from other lands as well, as if the other nobles wanted to use this as an excuse to remove their prisoners as well. Also those who they dislike since no one would question it.
A group of knights present across the queue were watching the prisoners walking in the line and one of them commented "Would you look at that? A child." Another soldier joined in "I wonder what he did to end up here." The Captain was sitting on a chair near them while holding a couple of papers which had the identities of the prisoners and answered his subordinates curious question "Seems like he isn't just a normal kid."
They were all curious to know what the boy did and the Captain answered "He is apparently a rapist, raped a girl and then tried to murder her by hanging her." The soldiers were shocked and one of them named Keane said "The rapists are welcomed here with a ceremony... Looks like he'll be the youngest to get it."
The Captain stood up and looked at Keane "He is a child... No need to do that to him." But Keane refuted "He is a rapist, a criminal.. he must be treated like one." But the Captain stood against it. "Too harsh, also he is a ten year old brat.. anything other than that." Keane slammed the table out of frustration which was loud enough to startle the prisoners including Estefan who looked at them.
One of the soldiers asked "What's his name?" The Captain read the paper and answered "Estefan... Just Estefan, no surname so probably a commoner." Another soldier asked "If he is a commoner, won't it be like he was framed.. Nobles does have an habit to frame others especially considering its a rape and that's a ten year old boy."
Keane shouted "So what if he isn't? Are you gonna feed him, treat him like a baby..." The Captain grabbed Keane's soldiers "Behave Keane, we are here to defend.. not torture, I allowed you to attack others because they were adults and proven criminals... This is a child, you must learn to control your impulses, just because your family had to suffer similarly doesn't mean you should attack every single one of them, even those who have not been proven criminals." After listening Keane asked "You said that I can do anything else to him right." The Captain sighed "Go ahead."
Estefan after his arrival, realised a couple of things about this area. The entire region was under the control of the Knights. They have constructed a long wall standing at a height of twenty feet with multiple fortresses to oversee it. The prisoners were held in a large prison, they would send a hundred per unit but only after the previous unit was fully wiped out.
Each Prisoner was forced to wear a collar which had a rune, the rune can notify the knights whether the prisoner is alive or dead inside the grey zone. The prisoners are sent out with old weapons and less armour because the survival rate of prisoners was never meant to be bothered with. In fact, the Duke never wanted to recapture the territory but rather used it as an excuse to execute people.
The soldiers were whispering about how the prisoners were practically sent there to die without any hope because they deserve it.
Estefan accepted it because unlike him, many others did commit crime but what about people like him who were falsely accused. Well, no one cared about it because what mattered was that they died as painfully as possible.
After Estefan received his collar, he was taken to the prison but on his way a couple of soldiers gathered him and a couple of other prisoners. They were taken to a larger tent which had many others waiting for them.
A man with blue hair, Estefan saw this same person while he was at the queue. One of the soldiers who gathered them walked to the blue haired man "I got them for you Keane, tell me when you are done with them." Keane then told his men to make the prisoners stand in a horizontal line in front of them.
Keane begins to walk in front of them while announcing "You all have done one of the worst crimes a man could commit. Destroying a woman's life, for that crime you all will not just be sent to the demons to be killed but before that we have to ensure that you all know how it feels in their position." Right after he said those words, a couple of soldiers with larger physiques walked in, they were half naked with their penises out to show the criminals what was about to happen.
They screamed realising that they were about to taste the same thing their victims felt, Keane grabbed Estefan by his hair and pulled back so Estefan could watch from a distance.
It was a disgusting sight, those criminals deserved it but Estefan forced to watch could only feel nauseous. The stench and the sounds of pain was too much for the boy but Keane whispered "Why do you look sad? You did the same to that girl and tried to kill her." Hearing those words Estefan figured out that they brought him here to punish as well.
Estefan tried to break free from Keane's grip but Keane pushed him to the ground while laughing "A rapist at the age of ten... The world truly is becoming a hell." He finished his words by beginning to stomp the boy's crotch harder and harder with every intention of crushing it.
After multiple stomps, Keane sat beside Estefan who was barely conscious due to the pain inflicted on him. "You deserve what they are getting but our Captain doesn't want to because he thinks you could have been falsely accused but then again I don't care... False accusation or not, in my eyes you are a criminal and you don't deserve to have a good life. You'll die faster in the grey zone anyways so enjoy yourself." He exclaimed before kicking Estefan's guts.
Estefan fell unconscious and was taken to the medic, they used several low tier options on him since those were the ones granted to be used on the criminals. Along with some spells, the Chief Doctor walked out from the medical tent and met with the Captain.
The Doctor shouted "How cruel is it? The boy is young and they crushed his penis and testicles to absolute mush." The Captain asked "Will he be alright?" But the Doctor simply shouted once more "Alright? Not even close. We were able to save his life but the low tier potion cannot fix it any more."
The Captain gasped "Does that mean it won't work anymore?" The Doctor rubbed his forehead "Yes, he won't be having any kids anymore. I hope that bastard Keane is happy with ruining a child now." The Doctor walked off cursing because Estefan was after all a child.
The Captain sighed "Put the kid in cell number five." The soldier behind the Captain saluted in response to the order and walked into the tent to grab Estefan.
Estefan after some hours woke up, he no longer felt any pain due to the potions but he felt cold behind him. It was the cold walls, a dark tiny room. He walked over towards the iron bars and looked around to see many other cells all with people inside, chained up and looking like they hadn't been fed for years.
Tears began to fall from his eyes "No one will come to save me... I don't have anyone... Truly alone and will rot alone... Mom... I couldn't even get revenge for you... I couldn't even get revenge for myself... What a failure." He sobbed knowing how well he had failed in doing anything.
Estefan suddenly got shocked when he heard some movements behind, startled the boy fell and crawled back into the wall.
It was dark so he couldn't see who it was there, he could hear the movements of chains a bit. It was rather scary for the young boy who for the first time in his life ended up in a prison and also experienced quite brutal things while having to watch disgusting stuff. He did not know who it was there but all he could feel was his heartbeats.
The cell room became silent, only his heartbeats could be heard. Estefan tried to muster some courage up and walked forward but when he saw the person.
He fell down, in absolute shock while saying "No... Impossible, how can this be? How could you be here."