Chapter 15

                                    

                                          
"Wha-... What is this place?"
Both my feet froze as the dark hallway turned into a vast place. The walls and supports seemed to be made of shimmering blue crystals. Even though it was underground and unlit, these crystals seemed to have a light of their own. Is this the hidden place?
I really felt like I was in another world. This place felt cool and bright. But these crystals weren't made of ice. It's just that it feels cold. Never thought that there was a place like this in the real world, not even in Marley had there been anything like this before. Given the Marleyans' penchant for research, I'm sure if they found this place, they would scrutinize every single crystal grain. 
My consciousness returned as I heard the voices of several men laughing, the smell of alcohol was strong in all directions. Happy laughter like a sinless human also echoed through this place. It made me want to put a gun in my hand and shoot them in the mouth so that no more laughter would disturb my pair of ears. 
I slowly approached, not forgetting to look around and saw that the children were far away in the corner, behind bars. Their limbs were chained and their eyes were covered with black cloth. Their condition was pathetic, and some of the children were suffering from hunger pangs. It could be seen from their thin and dry physical condition with distended stomachs. Did they not even feed those children?! 
"Yeahh, I won!"
"Damn you, Georg! I won't give you 20 gold coins worth of a fucking beer!" The man who lost was furious, throwing his cards in all directions to make them fly freely. Meanwhile, his other friend just laughed. 
"Huh? That's the deal! Are you sure you'll oblige us for the offense you'll commit if you don't hand over your beer, mate?" The man with the dark brown hair responded casually, unknowingly making his drunken friend even angrier. 
"You bastard!"
And eventually they started fighting, even the friends who weren't there just cheered them on. This was my chance to grab the gun that was leaning against the bottom of the stairs. I quickly checked the bullets, and they were more than enough to finish them off. As soon as I picked it up, I ran straight to the front and shot them brutally. 
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! 
They didn't even have time to put up a fight. The three pitiful bodies fell down and shapeless, the fresh, thick red blood contrasting with the crystal blue of the floor creating an unexpected art. I approached the corpses, looking for the key to save the poor children. I could see Annie who was also silent in the cage, with a guess that she was sharpening her hearing and processing what was happening to the guards. The children also seemed to be cowering in fear. 
"Annie!" 
My shout made Annie reflexively turn her head, looking for the source of the sound. " ... ?"
I frantically ran over to the cage and opened the door, not forgetting to unlock the chains that bound Annie. Annie impatiently pulled her blindfold and mouth shut as soon as she saw me. 
"We have to get out of here!"
"How did you get here?" 
"Most importantly, you should be free soon. I'll tell you about this later! Because one thing is for sure, Bertholdt is not doing well out there!"
Annie nimbly unlocked their chains. Some of the children were able to stand up, but there were three children who couldn't stand anymore because of their hunger pains. "B-big brother, you can go without me."
But I immediately carried one of them, seeing that the children who were still strong finally helped me carry the sick child. We were finally able to go upstairs and managed to save them. Blindfolded, the children waded through a pool of blood to reach the foot of the stairs.