Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 219 The Half-Elf's Struggle for Survival
"Raya~Raya~ Wake up, wake up! What are you doing here? If Lord West sees you like this, you'll get a good beating."

Under the vigorous shaking of the boy, a half-elf girl who looked only seven or eight years old slowly opened her eyes.
"Brother Saloyan, what are you doing here? Raya~ Raya is so sleepy~~"

Seeing the half-elf girl's face flushed red, the half-elf boy Saloyan anxiously tried to pull her up, but the moment his palm touched her body, he felt the burning heat emanating from Raya.

Startled, Saloyan quickly reached out and touched the little girl's forehead; it was indeed burning hot.
"Oh, Raya, you're sick."

Faced with this situation, the half-elf boy was clearly at a loss and didn't know what to do. As slaves owned by the Duramoy family, the largest slave owners in the area, Saloyan knew from birth that his fate was to work and grow up in the slave camps designated by the Duramoy family.

Then, after growing up to a certain age, they will be put on slave collars and auctioned off in the auction market, where they will become lifelong slaves of a certain family during the long lifespan of a half-elf, which lasts for four or five hundred years.

Saloyan was well aware of this outcome, and the young Saloyan always appeared very pessimistic about it. He had made corresponding efforts, and for a long time before, Saloyan did not want to appear too intelligent when he was teaching something to the subordinates arranged by Lord West.

Saroyan initially showed considerable resistance, but after witnessing several half-elf youths who were even more resistant than himself being executed, Saroyan, who still wanted to live, dared not continue to show too much resistance in this regard.

They could only seek the opportunity to live freely in fear and trembling, but such an opportunity was obviously quite slim. As this batch of chicks gradually matured and were further trained by the slave owners, they showed good performance in music, dance, and poetry. In order to sell them for a higher price, their food supply was also quite generous and reasonable.

However, the more this was the case, the more pessimistic Saloyan became, knowing that this was just the Duramoy family trying to sell them for a better price. And then, when Lord West arrived with a group of people dressed in human noble attire, those well-dressed people would nod and comment on them, these little chicks.

Saloyan knew that the day when his batch of chicks would be sold had finally arrived, and an even more unknown future awaited them.

Therefore, Saroyan chose to break his own arm while working again, which allowed him to successfully avoid that deal. The period of recovery from his arm injury was the happiest time for Saroyan.

Since Saloyan performed well among the chicks and only had a minor injury—a broken arm—it wouldn't affect his sale after a few months of recovery. Therefore, slave owner West didn't intend to kill the chick but instead sent Saloyan to manage and receive another batch of chicks with his henchmen.

This opportunity allowed Saloyan to successfully meet the elf girl Raya in another camp. At their first meeting, Saloyan felt as if he was drawn to the little girl in the crowd, not for any other reason than that the little girl looked a bit like his deceased sister.

Therefore, Saloyan would always take advantage of his position to give Raya some limited help, but such happy times always passed quickly.

Two days ago, Mr. Sweet, who usually only appeared when the chicks were being brought into and out of the pen, suddenly showed up. His expression was no longer as calm and relaxed as before. He looked extremely anxious and restless. His deep dark circles and heavy eye bags indicated that this slave owner had not been having a good time lately.

Once all the henchmen had gathered, the slave owner West stood on a simple wooden platform and spoke loudly.

As a half-helper, Saloyan could only stand far away and listen, but soon his relaxed mood of the past few months was lifted again.

Slave owner West said that a rebellion had suddenly broken out in the territory of the Duramoy family, and the main group of rebels were the half-elves. They were now not far from the camp. Slave owner West ordered his minions to act quickly, gather the chickens in the camp, move them to another place, and deal with any chickens that were not up to par or had problems on the spot.

This terrified Saloyan, who now understood what was about to happen. He was far too familiar with what slave owner West had said about how to deal with Saloyan, having already witnessed firsthand how those henchmen disposed of worthless chicks.

I have to escape~~~

Saroyan thought this in his heart, and his body acted accordingly. As a half-elf boy who had always longed for freedom, he had prepared the supplies and equipment he needed for his escape during the long days and nights. Now he just needed to find Raya, the half-elf girl who was like his sister, and he would take her away from here.

Live on~ Live on~~
As Saloyan weaved back and forth in the chicken coop, he silently encouraged himself while searching for Raya. Normally, this well-behaved half-elf girl would wait for him among the chicks. Whenever he shared some of the fruit he had earned with her, Raya would eat it in small bites and look at him happily with her crescent-shaped eyes, finally calling him sweetly, "Brother Saloyan!" This sweetness made Saloyan feel that life in the slave camp wasn't so unbearable.

'Where did you go? Where did you go? Where did you go?~~'

After searching several chicken coops, Saloyan felt his anxious thoughts were about to overwhelm him. Fortunately, after repeated questioning, the other chicks gave him a general direction. One of the half-elf boys said that last night, Raya said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to go up the mountain for some fresh air.
The half-elf boy mentioned that Saroyan knew where the mountain was. It was to the east of the house built by the slave owner West on a hillside. For Saroyan, who had never left the slave camp since birth, that mound, which was more than ten meters high, could already be called a mountain.

The camp Saloyan had just passed through was now filled with commotion; it seemed West's henchmen were starting to move. After hesitating for a few seconds, Saloyan resolutely jogged towards the hill. After dodging several enemies, Saloyan finally managed to climb the hill and found Raya unconscious in a warehouse.

As he carried the half-elf girl out of the warehouse, the chicken coop in the distance had already begun to burn. The smell of smoke mixed with the cries of the chicks echoed throughout the slave camp, but at this moment, Saloya couldn't care less about that. For him, escaping with Raya and surviving was the most important thing.

More and more places in the slave camp were ablaze, thick smoke obscuring the sky. Screams, cries, and pleas for mercy turned this place, which was not even touched by light, into a complete hell.

There were too many chicks, which was West's biggest worry right now. Although he had made arrangements in advance, it was still very difficult to take away thousands of chicks at once. As a member of the Duramoy family, West still couldn't understand how his family's knights had been so easily defeated by a group of half-elves. This made the blood-stained slave trader curse incessantly until this moment.

The chicken camp he had painstakingly built, which had provided so much funding to his family, had turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of fat, greasy-faced bastards who were as fragile as paper. They had been driven into his territory by a group of half-elves who couldn't even afford proper armor. Now, these half-elves were coming to kill him and were forcing him to relocate. Standing on the hillside, looking down at the burning camp below, West felt his heart bleeding.

"Damn it, you bunch of idiots, hurry up! If you dawdle any longer, those half-elves will come and chop your heads off to use as tree roots."

Hearing the boss's frantic voice, the henchmen moved even faster. No one wanted to risk trouble at this moment. The chicks, driven by the henchmen, ran towards the back door amidst their cries. For the chicks that were slower or fell down and couldn't get up, the henchmen's solution was very direct: a single cut silenced them.

Huff... huff... huff...
The sweat seemed endless. Saloyan lost count of how many times he had wiped it away. Raya on his back radiated a scorching heat, muttering incoherently. Saloyan had never felt so tired before. The exhaustion was relentlessly crushing him, and he wished he could collapse by the roadside and fall into a deep sleep the next moment.

But the intense heat from behind made Saloyan grit his teeth and persevere. He couldn't bear to watch his sister die like this again. With his strong willpower, Saloyan finally brought Raya to a high wall made of stones.

After placing Raya on the ground, Saloyan, who was already beyond his physical limits, felt as if he was about to die. The feeling of extreme weakness was something Saloyan had never experienced before. Even though he hadn't run very far, he couldn't care less about the flames hundreds of meters away. He gulped down several mouthfuls of water from his water bottle and then poured the rest of the water over Raya's head.

After the water from the kettle was poured over her head, Raya's face, which had turned red, seemed to be in more pain. Saloyan looked at the half-elf girl with concern, reached out and touched Raya's head, then picked up the iron rod next to him and walked towards the high wall.

Over the past few years, he has come here to dig whenever he has time. Thanks to Saloyan’s continuous efforts, the one-meter-thick wall is not far from being dug through. According to the original plan, he should be able to dig through the hole in a few more weeks, and then he can leave with Raya more at ease.

Unfortunately, plans never keep up with changes. In this situation, he can only take a gamble. Digging the entrance before attracting the minions is Saroyan's only option. As for being transferred with the other chicks, not to mention whether he, who is injured, will be killed, the possibility of being unable to escape after being transferred to a new place is unacceptable to Saroyan.

As Saloyan clanged and banged against the wall with his iron bar, the half-elf girl placed beside the boy was also undergoing constant changes. An invisible energy fluctuation emanated from the girl's body, and the large tree she was leaning against seemed to be scorched by this energy, rapidly decaying and shedding handfuls of yellow-green leaves.

After the leaves fell to the ground, they quickly withered and turned into a pile of powder, as if all their energy had dissipated. As their energy continued to be released, the half-elf girl's face softened from blood red and gradually became rosy.

With a cheer, an excited Saloyan emerged from the hole in the wall and, ignoring his bleeding hands, rushed to the half-elf girl's side.

"Raya~ Raya~ We can escape now~~"

But the half-elf girl, still unconscious, showed no sign of waking up. Without thinking, Saloyan touched the little girl and found she was still breathing. He picked her up and ran towards the cave entrance.

Saloyan, who had just placed Raya beside the cave entrance, was about to turn back to get his escape gear when a black light appeared in his peripheral vision. Immediately afterward, the half-elf boy was sent flying backward. When Saloyan struggled to his feet, he saw an arrow stuck in his shoulder blade.

A moment later, with a soft rustling sound, West emerged from the jungle, protected by a group of henchmen. He looked disheveled, and the burly men surrounding him held a black longbow.

"My lord, my lord, there's a gap over there. We can leave through that."

Following the direction the burly man was pointing, West saw a large hole about a meter wide at the bottom of the stone wall. Without thinking twice, he shouted:
"Damn it, damn it, block it for me, block it for me! Mangu, make the hole in the wall bigger for me. When I escape back, I'll reward you handsomely."

With West's approval, Mangu once again raised his black longbow. Enveloped in his battle aura, the arrow flew like a meteor, hurtling towards Raya, who was leaning against the cave entrance, amidst Saloyan's desperate screams.

(End of this chapter)