After recording their daily work, the slaves dispersed.
This brief moment was the only shred of freedom they got in a day.
Some used their reward coins to buy food, some bullied others for theirs, and others gambled them away in desperate bids for more. The rule was clear: return to the cells before dark.
Aires, still adjusting to his new reality, followed the crowd down the mountain road to a bustling cluster of stalls. The air hummed with activity—miners bartering for goods with vendors, and the vendors shouting their wares for customers.
The sheer number of people startled him. They had been far more than he'd seen in his cell.
He stopped at a meat stall, where a burly woman with a no-nonsense demeanor presided. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice gruff as she sliced through a slab of meat.
"I want to buy meat," Aires said, raising his single silver coin. As she prepared his order, he seized the chance to ask, "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
