Akatsuki Translations

The atmosphere inside the prison room where the defeated soldiers of Murakumo were held was somewhat murderous. Since the day of the festive commotion a few days ago, the supply of water and food had abruptly stopped, and no one came to check on them anymore.

As food and water had been supplied in barely enough quantities to stay alive, the anxiety of the prisoners who had not been able to put anything in their mouths for a whole day had reached its peak.

“Hey! What about the food?! Don’t mess with us, hey! You’re listening, aren’t you?!”

A former mercenary, unable to endure any longer, shouted at the guard who should have been outside the prison room, with bloodshot eyes on his sunken cheeks. Eventually, those who sympathized with him appeared and banged on the iron bars, raising angry shouts.

Borge, in order to soothe his hunger and parched throat, kept a small pebble that had been rolling around in his mouth and just silently crouched down, watching their behavior.

After a while, unable to endure the excessive noise, the guard appeared for the first time in a day. A cheer-like sound rose from the prison room.

“You’re so noisy, I can’t even take a nap!”

The guard, appearing with a short spear in one hand, struck the iron bars with all his might, and someone appeared at the forefront, raising a voice of protest. Looking closely, it was a mercenary man named Sanji by those around him, who had been in Shuou’s unit.

“Hey, what’s happening with the food and water?!”

The guard laughed vulgarly.

“There’s no more food to feed you or water to give you. His Excellency the Commanding General has decided to dispose of you in the near future. As one of the offerings at a banquet, he himself will skin you alive. It’s disgusting… I don’t particularly want to see it because it’ll make the food taste bad.”

The prison room was filled with murmurs. Borge instinctively raised his voice and asked the guard.

“What about Shuou—that gray-haired, big-eyed, eyepatch-wearing man who was supposed to fight Ba Ryouki?”

The murmurs stopped abruptly, and everyone waited for an answer. The guard twisted his mouth as if amused.

“That man was released by Lord Ba Ryouki’s generous treatment.”

A cacophony of various emotions, including anxiety, doubt, and anger, rose up. Borge shouted, restraining them.

“Shut up! …Being released means he won, right?”

“Ha, of course he lost. There aren’t many swordsmen who can beat that Sword Saint Ba Ryouki. But it was a good match, and among those who saw it, he’s reputed to be the real deal in terms of skill. If he has that much skill despite having a turbid stone, he has more than enough qualifications to be forgiven, unlike you lumps of shit.”

The guard said mockingly and turned his back.

“By now, he’s probably safely escaped and returned. At best, he’s probably going around Murakumo telling them about the generosity of Lord Ba Ryouki and our Coral soldiers.”

As the guard left the room, laughing loudly, everyone suddenly lost strength like puppets whose strings had been cut.

No one tried to open their mouths. Borge sensed the flickering of an invisible flame of jealousy towards Shuou, the only one who had been released alive.

Suddenly, a cold laugh rose from inside the prison room. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the source of that laughter.

“Heh, see… That’s the kind of guy he is…”

The man who said that, distorting his face with resentment, was Hario, one half of that lazy duo.

Hario stood up weakly, his gaunt face shadowed, and rolled his yellowed, cloudy eyes. Ironically, his expression was the most lively it had been since he was put in here.

“Despite saying things like he’s worried about us, he’s the kind of guy who’ll survive on his own without a care in the world! I bet he licked the boots of that general called Ba Ryouki. He probably said to save him in exchange for the lives of all of us!”

It was a groundless, incoherent accusation. However, the starving prisoners who had been sentenced to death were listening intently to that nonsense, which no one would have paid attention to under normal circumstances. There were even some who began to nod strongly in agreement and interject.

“It’s always been like that! He set others up, took credit for everything, and even got promoted without a care. Listen up, you guys listen well, I—”

In the middle of Hario’s continued speech, Borge’s fist violently punched his face. Hario, falling onto the dirty ground while breaking his front teeth, fainted with his eyes rolled back. A worried voice rose from his partner, the other half of the duo.

Everyone’s gaze was focused on Borge, who had knocked out Hario with a powerful blow. Borge, clenching his blood-stained fist, said to the unconscious Hario.

“If he was the kind of bastard you say he is, I wouldn’t be alive and here right now.”

Borge shouted at everyone who was silently watching the situation.

“If any of you want to whine pathetically, step forward. I’ll put you to sleep for a while! He told us to wait. You guys just need to shut up and wait, you idiots.”

No one tried to make eye contact with Borge, who was glaring with eyes like a starving beast.