My Dungeon Life – Chapter 2826-2828

Chapter 2826

Hope and I traveled through the night, the dense forest giving way to rolling hills as we approached Valley City. The moon cast an eerie glow over the landscape, and the awkward quiet persisted into the morning. Hope, despite her smaller stature, kept up a brisk pace, but I couldn’t go my supersonic speeds as long as she was leading the way. Since unlocking the dungeon system, I didn’t need her to lead the way, and I could have easily outpaced her, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her behind.

As we neared the city, the first light of dawn began to break over the horizon, casting a warm golden hue over the stone walls and towers of Valley City. Hope, surprisingly, didn’t seem tired at all. I still decided to break for a bit.

“We should keep going,” Hope said, stopping in her tracks. “Let me refresh you.”

“Ah, no…” I protested, but she ignored me.

She placed a hand on my shoulder, and a warm, tingling sensation spread through my body. I felt rejuvenated, as if I had just woken from a deep, restful sleep. I had nearly forgotten about that skill. With a soul world, my body didn’t get tired like a normal person. Yet, months of sleeping had caused me to miss the feeling of a restful sleep. Hope saw me frowning and her eyes sparkling with amusement.

“You don’t have to act tough to impress me, you know,” she teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Who said I was trying to impress you?”

The two of us continued onward, reaching the main road and joining numerous other travelers as they lined up to enter the city. As we reached the front gates of Valley City, we were stopped by a pair of guards, their expressions tired and vacant. They took one look at us and immediately broke into their speech.

“A young couple fleeing the countryside, are we?” one of the guards said. “You won’t find any inns available, and the prices are skyrocketing by the day. You can starve in here or be eaten to death out there. Your choice.”

I raised an eyebrow, surprised. “You know about the undead?”

The guard snorted. “How could we not? The whole valley is in an uproar. They say anyone who dies comes back as a zombie. No exceptions.”

I frowned. “Anyone? They don’t have to be bitten or infected? Isn’t that how the undead work?”

“Not these undead.” The guard shook his head before spitting to the side. “It’s just a matter of time. Anyone who dies, no matter how they died, comes back as one of those things. That’s why the city ain’t any safer. We’ve had three outbreaks since last night.”

I hesitated for a moment and then leaned forward. “What about resurrection? Can’t you resurrect them?”

“We only got one priest with resurrection. He has not been able to resurrect a single person who has died since the outbreak.”

His words caused me to become lost in thought. This was more serious than I had hoped. People weren’t just becoming undead, but they couldn’t be resurrected. I couldn’t help but think about all of the villagers I left behind. The guards had been watching me carefully.

“Why is some villager worrying about resurrection?” the other guard asked.

“I’m sorry.” Hope suddenly grabbed my arm tightly. “My husband just reads too many books. You’ll have to excuse him.”

She immediately pulled me into the city. The guard looked after us, but soon a carriage approached and he became too busy to follow up. We were already lost in the crowds of the city before he could turn back.

Chapter 2827

As we entered deeper into the city, we both pulled our hoods up and blended into the street. I didn’t expect to be noticed by anyone here in Valley City, but I also wasn’t willing to take any risks. Apparently, Hope was the same way. The air was thick with the scent of sour body odor. The city was incredibly crowded, and even the two of us struggled to progress down the chaotic streets. Like the guard warned, this city really was bursting at the seams.

People were huddled in doorways, their eyes hollow and desperate, while others pushed and shoved, trying to get ahead. We moved through the mob, our shoulders brushing against strangers, occasionally picking up a conversation here or there.

“Did you hear about East Village. They refused to pay taxes, and the lord sent his army and sacked the entire place. All of the villagers were put up for auction.”

“Was that any worse than Mountainside Village? They gave up their entire livelihood to cover the taxes. The village head had no choice but to order his people to abandon the village. Most of them are now homeless and starving on the streets of Valley City.”

“Are there any villages even left in the valley? I think everyone is moving to Valley City these days.”

“In some ways, that’s for the best. With the dead rising, it’d only be worse the more people outside these walls.”

Many conversations were filled with discontent. More than once, the pair of us encountered a riot. Someone would start screaming, and soon people would throw stuff. A group of guards would appear, and things only ended when someone died. They wouldn’t even try to see if he was still alive. They’d instead immediately destroy the head, making sure he didn’t come back as one of the undead.

“It’s not fair! The lord lives in his mansion like a king while we all starve! The Imperial Cloud Meadow has no sway here!”

“Watch your tongue or lose it!” a guard snapped back.

One man, in particular, wasn’t so easily silenced. “That bastard lord took my daughter! My sweet little girl! What did you do to her? Bring her back to me!”

His voice was slurred, and he had been drinking, but no one doubted his words. The only thing spoken about beyond civil unrest and the undead was the lord’s insatiable appetite. He had taken countless pretty women into his mansion, and none came out again.

Guards appeared, and while the man tried to fight back, they quickly beat him down to the ground. He was lucky in that he submitted while he was still conscious, and they had stopped beating him. If he had not been able to groan in protest, showing he was still alive, they would have finished him off.

“If you wish to continue, pay the toll,” a voice interrupted us as we approached a second gate.

I pulled out a coin purse, and as soon as I did, the man reached out and took the entire purse.

“That’ll do! Don’t cause trouble in the inner city!”

My mouth twisted, but I didn’t say anything as I entered an area that stood as a stark contrast to the area outside. The streets were cleaner, the buildings more well-maintained, and the people less desperate.

We walked for a few more blocks, and then I came upon a familiar sight. There was a group of people in damaged clothing. They were lined up on a stage, their heads bowed and their expressions vacant. Some were young and healthy, while others were older and weathered by hardship. A few of them I instantly recognized.

“People from our village? What are they doing here?” Hope demanded.

“They’re being sold,” I responded bitterly. “It’s a slave auction.”

Chapter 2828

Hope stared at the stage, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “These are the people from our village? They’re being sold as slaves?”

I nodded grimly. “How did you think it worked? They take people, declare them slaves, and then sell them off to the highest bidder.”

Hope’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Slaves are supposed to be criminals or debtors. People who had done something wrong or owed money they couldn’t pay back.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “They are criminals. The crime? Not doing exactly what the lord wants, maybe? Disobeying, resisting, or simply existing in a way that displeases him.”

“You!” Hope gave me an angry look, but I met her gaze steadily.

“What do you expect?” I shrugged. “If you want an excuse to own someone, you can say whatever you want. ‘They’re criminals.’ ‘They owe a debt.’ ‘They’re less than human.’ It’s all the same in the end.”

Hope’s expression darkened, and she turned away. “Is that what you did? Did you force your girls into slavery?”

I glared at her, and I spoke through gritted teeth. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hope crossed her arms, her eyes flashing with challenge. “Then explain it to me. I’ve heard you have tons of slaves at your beck and call. What’s your excuse?”

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady. “Every person I enslave is a slave by choice.”

Hope scoffed. “That’s bull. No one chooses to be a slave.”

I shook my head. “There was a time when I thought that too. I never wanted them to become my slaves, but things sort of just ended up that way. So, I tried to give them their freedom back. I thought they didn’t know what they were saying when they begged to stay with me. I knew better.”

She hesitantly looked my way. “Then what happened?”

“I met Lord Bastion, and I saw what a bad slave master looked like.”

“You know him?” Her eyes widened.

“I met him.” I shrugged. “He taught me there were different ways to see slaves.”

“Different?”

“Slavery, at least as we knew it in our world, was actually a rather modern construct. All of human history has had what we know as slaves, but it wasn’t always like a commodity. Sometimes, the relationship between master and slave was more like… well, the master and slave of a hard drive. It was a bond. A relationship. An agreement. You give me your life, and in exchange, I will give you purpose. It wasn’t all that dissimilar from a knight and vassal.”

Hope was silent for a moment, processing what I had said. “Is… is that what you say to justify your actions?”

I let out a sigh. “Nothing I say can justify my actions to someone else. We all have our own world views. A fish will never understand the feelings of a bird, or vice versa. Even if they both enjoy the occasional worm, they live worlds apart.”