“Hey, wake up.” - The prisoner who had been struck by the Supervisor was waking up from a coma. The blow from the Supervisor had been very hard. It knocked the prisoner unconscious. The one waking him up was Shard.

  “Ow, what happened?” - “You took a pretty hard hit to the head, that’s what happened.” - Shard was teasing the prisoner a little, but inside he was glad that the prisoner was okay.

  The prisoner looked around. Everyone was gone. The only people around him were two prisoners guarding the prison gate and Shard. The man who had just woken him up.

  “Yeah, yeah. Everyone’s already inside. While you were in a coma, the supervisor explained how things work around here. Then he sent me to you so I could explain it to you too. Buuuuut first, tell me your name, yeah?” - “Of course! Sorry I didn’t say it earlier… my name is Lapis!”

  “Lapis? Well, that sounds like a pretty noble name. I assume you’re not just some ordinary folk. But hey, same here. I’m Shard!!” - Shard extended his hand toward Lapis in greeting. - “Waitttt, I won’t be shaking hands for a while now.” - Shard laughed at Lapis’s joke and instead of a handshake, lightly slapped his hand. - “Come on… I’ve got a lot to tell you.”

  Shard and Lapis walked along paths covered in snow. Around them were prisoners carrying building materials. Prisoners clearing snow from the paths. Prisoners bringing food to the workers in the prison. Prisoners taking care of animals, and so on. Suddenly, Shard stopped in front of a wooden structure. This building was the largest one in the prison area.

  “So! Our first stop is the main building. The supervisor said it’s called the Tavern at the end of the world. This is where everyone eats. Prisoners, workers… everyone. Workers can come here anytime, while we only can after we finish our time-based work.” - “Time-based what?”

  “Damn it, I can’t remember exactly how he said it, haha. But yeah! Basically, you get work in the morning, at noon, and in the evening… when you finish the work for that time period, you can go eat! Oh, and as for water. We get it all the time, but in limited amounts. Here!” - Shard handed Lapis a leather canteen.

  “Here’s your daily water ration. You can refill it every time you finish your work.”

  So basically, we’re slaves. I didn’t expect anything better from a prison, but it’s still a shame. I hope that I can find my b... - Lapis’s thoughts were interrupted when Shard continued the tour and called for Lapis to follow him.

  Shard and Lapis reached the underground section of the prison. In the underground section were rooms, each with two beds and two small cabinets.

  “So! This is where we sleep. We’re not allowed in here until all daily work is finished, but once everything’s done, we can go lie down. Supervisor said the two of us will share a room…so hopefully you don’t snore!!”

  Lapis and Shard walked from place to place, and Shard showed Lapis what each location was for. The commanders’ base, which is where people like the supervisor live. Small stone houses where the workers live. A large board where jobs for prisoners are written down, and so on. Every time Shard and Lapis moved from point A to point B, they talked.

  “So Lapis, tell me… what did you do that got you sent here?” - “Well, I… beat someone up. Not brutally, but it was a beating, you know.” - “That’s it?? People beat each other up all the time!” - Shard was very surprised. Is the bar for getting into prison really that low?

  “He was a very important man, you know…way more important than me.” - Shard stopped and looked at Lapis.

  “Yeah, I’ll tell you this. The more you talk, the more questions I have. But just asking questions is rude. Is there something you want to know?”

  “Well hey, I’m not really interested in how or why you got here. I actually heard a bit about it. I’d rather know what kind of person you are… what your interests are, you know.” - Shard widened his eyes. Walking away from a serious conversation like that. Lapis is a very interesting person.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Well then. I like fencing, once I even had the honor of fencing against Horw and his friend. I left my dog in the Capital… I really miss her... I used to take her out a lot and stuff.” - “So it’s true.” - Lapis cut Shard off.

  “The son of False. But don’t worry… I’m not the type who thinks ‘like father, like son’ or anything. I know some parents can be very bad at parenting!”

  Shard looked at the ground for a moment. A tear passed through his eye, which Lapis didn’t see. - “Thanks, Lapis. I don’t think my father was bad at parenting tho… murders are obviously horrible, but I loved him. Let’s keep going.”

  Shard and Lapis reached the final point of the tour. The supervisor was waiting for them there. Shard knelt down and stared at the ground, and motioned for Lapis to do the same. It was looking like that the supervisor made clear that in his presents, the prisoners need's to lay low.

  “So, you showed him around?” - The supervisor asked. Shard didn’t respond.

  “I see you’re already starting to get used to the rules… and you’ve only been here a short while. Here, as promised. Hot soup.” - The Supervisor began handing the soup to Shard, but when Shard reached for it, the Supervisor poured it all over his face. Shard began screaming while Lapis watched the scene, not understanding what was happening.

  “What, you filth? You thought I’d give you soup just because you showed around another piece of trash??? My orders are obviousness… NOT A DAMN TRADE DEAL!”

  Around the Supervisor sat the remaining five prisoners who had arrived at the prison at the same time as Shard and Lapis. All of them had their heads lowered.

  “Well, you sure took your damn time. Since it’s your first day, I’ll only punish one of you with one whip strike and the other with two… you can decide who gets how many.”

  While Shard had his head buried in the snow to cool it after the soup was poured on him, he thought about what had happened after Lapis was knocked out and what he had done wrong. And then it hit him.

  Nothing… I didn’t do a SINGLE thing wrong. That man just loves hurting people. “Hey you! I don’t care what your name is, but your first task is to show that boy in the snow what I showed you.

  Meanwhile, this group of five useless creatures will prepare for their ‘initiation as prisoners’. My favorite thing.” WHAT AN ASSHOLE. Why do people like this exist… people who love it when others suffer for no reason. Sending me to this… this stupid prison just because my father killed someone… SO WHAT??? I didn’t kill anyone… I don’t deserve this.

  The supervisor pulled Shard out of the snow with one hand.

  “So? One strike or two?”

  Shard thought for a moment and then said one… and at that moment he spat in the supervisor’s face. - “You think you rule the world because you command, in your words… filth. Yeah, yeah… that’s not how it works, Mr. supervisor. You’re nobody.”

  The Supervisor stared into Shard’s eyes for a moment, then smiled. - “Yeah… nobody.” - Shard began receiving one blow after another from the supervisor. The other new prisoners just watched…

  they were afraid of the supervisor. Prisoners who were passing by and had already been here for some time also just watched… they knew how things worked here. This was normal.

  When it looked like the supervisor was about to beat the soul out of Shard, someone grabbed the supervisor by the shoulder. Vein VII.

  “What are you doing? Are you horny for violence again or what?”

  “Vein… damn it. I take care of the prisoners, you take care of the project. That’s how it is. Now piss off.”

  “Yes… I take care of the project. A project that needs manpower. Manpower that the prisoners are supposed to maintain. Prisoners who experience hell with you every single day! A new batch of prisoners just arrived, and you were about to beat one of them to death. Don’t piss me off. You’re the reason prisoners try to escape from here. Calm the hell down.”

  Vein shoved the supervisor away from Shard and helped him up. “Go get treated and then go lie down. Your job's done for today. I need strong prisoners… not half-dead ones.”

  Vein looked around and pointed at one of the new prisoners. The man who had been very excited when they arrived at the prison.

  “Go get me some meat from the Tavern at the end of the world. I’m damn hungry. Bring it to me at the Passage of continents… hope you know where that is. The rest of you newbies are done for today. I see you haven’t been initiated as prisoners yet, so that can be done tomorrow. From tomorrow on, no Vein will be saving you, so respect the supervisor, and maybe he won’t beat the soul out of you.”

  The supervisor looked like he wanted to explode, but he let all the new prisoners go. He had some respect for Vein.

  Lapis was approaching the underground section of the prison to go to his room. The other new prisoners were talking among themselves, but not Lapis. Lapis was looking around, searching for someone. Before Lapis found his target, the target found him.

  A mysterious person dropped the axe they were using to chop wood and ran toward Lapis. - “Lapis! What the hell are you doing here?”

  Lapis and the person hugged. - “Sorry I didn’t come sooner. You won’t be alone here anymore, brother.”