Shadow Slave

Other the next five days, Sunny mostly stayed in his room while his shadow stealthily prowled around the castle, spying on people and learning their secrets.

Slowly, he began to understand the undercurrents that flowed beneath the seemingly peaceful surface of life in this pristine white fortress.

Of course, in reality, things weren't peaceful at all — and as far from pure as one could imagine. But that was to be expected from a place where hundreds of lost youths lived with no hope of ever finding their way back home, away from all the restraints of civilization.

He wasn't surprised at all. If anything, it was strange to see some semblance of law and order, no matter how detestable and revolting, persevere despite all the obstacles that stood in the way. Somehow, the inhabitants of the castle were able to coexist with each other in a fragile balance.

The system was cleverly built in a way that allowed the abused to dream of a better life and restrained the abusers from going too far. Better life meant winning Gunlaug's favor, while going too far meant losing it and being banished into the cold darkness of the outer settlement.

Both fear and hope were created and firmly grasped by the Bright Lord. Their mere existence kept people in their places. Sunny suspected that the same dynamic, just substituted for a different kind of reality, reigned in the slum outside of the castle walls.

The outer settlement seemed to exist separate from the castle, but in fact, both were simply parts of one large ecosystem.

on the inside dreaded being exiled to the outside. Because the possibility of a better life — or a worse one — existed, they were distracted from the fact that, no matter

settlement created a closed cycle of exploitation and abuse that,

was nothing

course, Sunny wanted no part

them shared the same status. There was a complex hierarchy in place, separating people into different castes. Some of these groups had a

were Guards, Hunters, Pathfinders, Artisans, and Handmaidens. Ruling over them were five lieutenants who answered

the largest of these groups, consisting of around one hundred and fifty men. They were in charge of guarding the stronghold and enforcing

Guard, and although their training was rather rigorous, actual opportunities to experience combat were few and far between. That was not to say that

monster was anything less than terrifying and absolutely

was led by a morose giant of a man named Tessai, who was one of Gunlaug's most trusted lieutenants and perhaps the oldest Sleeper on the Forgotten Shore — he was just two

combat Aspect, rich battle experience, and sharp wit to make use of both. There were around fifty of

the impregnable marble walls and ventured into the harrowing maze of the Dark City to hunt and kill Awakened creatures. It was thanks to their efforts that people in the ancient stronghold had food

a Hunter was a dream come true. That was because these professionals enjoyed plentiful rewards from the lord, such as living in a room of their own as opposed to cramped barracks, better food and

often