There is no difference!

After those words, he stood up and slashed with a blade none of them could even see. One of the enslaved people was cut loose. Liam pulled him up.

"You look like a somewhat innocent guy, but will you tell me what was done on this trip?"

He nodded, frightened.

"…" Liam didn't say anything and just watched.

"We started about ten days ago…" he started to tell the tale but was stopped.

"You're stalling. Your death is certain. You, telling me this, will just determine what kind of death you will have. For example, quick and easy or slow and painful." The chilly cheerful sound of his voice penetrated deep inside everyone who heard his words. The man in front of him seemed to have locked away all emotion.

The slave's breath hitched.

"A-a s-scout found them an-and reported back to the main group." He managed to say.

"Where is the scout?" The slave hesitated but still pointed at the person.

Liam pulled the slave up and dragged him to one of those pillars. The slave didn't resist. His hands were pulled up and tied on top of the pillar. He was forced to kneel, legs on either side of the pole, and tied behind it.

Liam walked away, leaving the slave half hanging to the pillar. The slave already thought he was dead, but now he felt some relief wash over him, even though he knew he would die either way.

He cut out the scout and stared at him. Liam didn't say anything but the slave started to speak, "Sir, I was ordered. I reported back that I saw three kids sleeping with the Black Menace. I dared not approach them and just ran back to the group and … reported everything I saw." The man was trembling like a leaf in the wind. Tears were staining his cheeks.

"What are you thinking right now?"

"My wife will die if I return without that noble, and she will die if I don't," he said honestly without even thinking. "She is pregnant," he said bitterly.

"If you had a choice, to save one or the other, who would you choose?"

The slave looked up at the man, eyes wide.

"There is no choice. I have no choice."

"If I say there is a choice, then there is one. But you will die either way. Who will you choose? The unborn baby who might have a limitless future or your wife who will become a widow and leave the child once found that you have perished?"

"Sh-she wouldn't do that…."

"Really! She is a slave like you. What choice will she have when her husband doesn't return?"

"No, no, no…" he started sobbing, repeating that single word like a prayer.

"Tell me," Liam was in a weird place right now. He couldn't see these people as people anymore, but as for the people they were attached to. He could see them. Liam didn't want to harm them just because one man's greed was bigger than what he could swallow. To Liam, all these people were guilty, and he had to punish them.

"Baby."

Liam pulled him up, tied him to the pole, and left him there.

Similar things happened with all the other slaves. Many of them were orphans or without family. It was best to live like that, without any attachments. They could die at any given moment, so why would they look for happiness if they could ruin the other person's happiness just by dying.

Sure, some were selfish, like that man with a family. He wanted to love by being loved and had found it, but what now? He was ruining the love he had. That woman, his wife, would be widowed. She'd have little to no way of raising that child.

Done with the slaves, Liam started with the Free or the Commoners.

He wasn't that merciful with them. They had a choice but were also devoured by greed.

But a commoner going against the wants of a Noble was also akin to death. So, they had similar circumstances. The difference lies in their choice. He asked them.

"Why did you choose to come on this trip?"

They mostly answered the same, to curry favor with the Noble. They were honest. It didn't matter if they lied. It wouldn't do them any good. They weren't getting out of this anyway.

There was one exception, who had no choice. A young man, free though shackled by it. He collected money so he could free his sister. He had no other way to get her free, but he was one of the only people of the Free that didn't do any harm to any. He had hunted in the forest for creatures and was basically there to provide food for everybody.

He was a chef.

A muscle twitched on Liam's face. Finally, he'd found something worthwhile.

He was still pissed about what the people had done, but he returned to himself slowly. He knew he would slip up at some point, especially at the end, but right now, he took the chef to a pillar and tied him up there. He was the last of the Commoners.

It was time to start. Liam pulled the Noble up and tied him like the others.

"Stop crying, you idiot, and look around. All of you, look around. What is the real difference between you all?" His voice suddenly rose, and all of them could hear.

They did what he asked and looked around.

What was the difference?

Nothing there was no difference.

"There is no difference! This Noble thing is just something they forced on you, and you, like sheep, took it all in as they wanted. This man has no real power, especially out here!" A grin formed on Liam's cold face.

"Now, I told some of you something before!"

"Begin!" He roared, and a few people suddenly got up and moved.

The others looked at the scene in front of them. Four slaves had stood up and closed in on their targets. Every one of them had one target they despised above all others. Those four people were given a chance to exact revenge. Whether they would take it, it was up to them.

There was a rule, though. They weren't allowed to kill.