Sugar Dark:Volume 1 Chapter 1 Preview

Below his feet, he could feel the moist soil. His ears could hear the rustling sound of leaves and birds chirping.

Finally, after a long time in the wagon which strongly smelled of old leather, the fresh air in his lungs make him felt so fulfilled. Even dating back to before his imprisonment, he couldn’t recall when was the last time he breathed such pure air.

“Get moving, prisoner No.5722.”

His name being called, he obeyed the order given. Due to his distinct height that is above average and his sturdy physique, his shadow looked like the one of a man. Yet seeing his mouth and evenly tanned skin, as well as the lack of body hair, revealed that he is just a boy.

(What is this place? No, rather……where are they taking me?)

The boy mumbled to himself in a low voice.

After getting blindfolded at the camp, and spending several hours in the wagon. Nobody had told where he was taken to, and he didn’t dare ask. Even if he asked he would not get a serious answer. Maybe he would either get hit or ignored.

Walking while being blindfolded was quite difficult, but the path he was walking on was unexpectedly even. Since he can’t rely on his vision, he need to rely on his other senses to compensate for his lack of vision to gather the information of his surroundings. In front of him a prisoner guard was walking pulling him by the rope which was tied to the handcuffs. Apart from himself and the guard there was no presence of other people.

On his skin, he could feel the sensation of the gentle sunlight of early summer while his nose breathed in the pleasant air. From time to time he stepped on roots, but never tripped over. Apparently it was no unexploited path.

But……something was odd.

(What kind of place is this?)

He felt a bad premonition.

He can’t find any fitting words for it, but he felt that this placed seemed different from any other places he had been to in 16 years of his life.

In his mind he recalled various memories, places he had gone to ---- the cypress forest in his hometown, the city’s paved road, the nameless covered snow road, the dug up trenches, the endless track of tanks, the stench of horse’s manure. The traces of explosion which had annihilated the position. The smoke …… as well as the reek of burning corpses.

Droplets of sweat that continue to gush out fell on to the choker which prevented him from escaping. He suddenly felt an intense urge to scratch his neck, but he needed to resist it since the handcuffs and choker were restraining his movement. Although his feet weren’t shackled still it gradually became harder to lift, even his footsteps had become so heavy.

…… I don’t which to go any further.

In the darkness behind his blindfolded, he was suddenly overcome by such an incentive. The ground he treaded on with his lace-less shoes didn’t seem as sparse as his beard anymore.

(It’s like……I’m walking on.)

The rope on his handcuffs stretched. He heard the guard stopped and clicked his tongue. As he anticipated another beating his body strained up. But, the pain never came …… on the contrary, his blindfolded was removed roughly. As he had become accustomed to the darkness, the early summer’s sun rays violated his eyes. As if being beaten, he covered his faces with both hands. The guard silently laughed nearby him.

“Look up, brat.”

While blinking, he followed what he was told.

One tombstone here, another one there, tombstones were all over the place. Beyond the edge of forest stretching before him, there were countless monuments of the death. The shape and size of the tombstones varied from one another, the distance between them were also oddly irregular. From one to another only 10 steps separated them apart. Most of them were in the forest. Some were made from new granite, some were corroded away by the rain making the letters inscribed on it hard to decipher. They were all placed without any sense of uniform.

“Could it be ……”

The boy asked the guard with a tinge of fear in his voice.

“Could it be that you want to save the trouble of transporting my dead body?”

The man laughed and asked back:

“If it is as you say?”

“Then it would be due to false accusations.”

He was kicked in the stomach.

His body bent forward painfully, the boy then let out a smile full of anguish. Since he had been sentenced to life imprisonment, he hadn’t thought that he would be killed here.

(Well, if that guy arbitrary killed me here he wouldn’t get out of this unscathed.)

“Well, that is the place you were to be taken to.”

The prisoner guard used his bony index finger to point toward the direction they were advancing through. That is in a corner between the border of the forest and graveyard the wall of a white mansion could be seen, concealed by the dense line of green of leaves. That is the only place in his view that people might be living.

As he was pulled closer along the rope, he could see that the wall was not painted, but it was made out of branded-new quarried marble. He also noticed that the building wasn’t that large. The place was enclosed by black-iron fence which a single stain of rust was nowhere to be found. The top part of the fence posts were sharpened, such that they looked like spear. Finally the gate which was hardly distinguishable from the fences was shut tight, naturally no one came out to greet.

The boy wondered whether that someone lived in the estate or not. On account that it was void of all signs of living things to the extreme. The yard was between the fence and the building was kept clear of weeds, yet it was void of other things as well. No fountain, no sculpture, even the rope use to dry clothes was not in sight.

Instead, a mechanical bell and a telephone receiver was next to the iron gate. Such things couldn’t belong to low-class people, especially if they were at the entrance. Although he had seen telegraph countless times during his time in military service, but it is the same as armored vehicle in that it was only for the high-ranking officers to use. There was no chances for them as “disposal soldiers” to get to use it.

(What luxury.)

The guard was unfamiliar with the bell so he picked up the telephone nearby instead.

“I am Filbard police officer, Warrant officer Barida, escorting prisoner No.5722.”

After a while, a hoarse voice of an old man came out.

“I had you wait for so long, must be troubling for you.”

The voice coming out of the telephone was so loud that even the boy behind the guard could hear it clearly.

“Your job had finished warrant officer, please leave the rest to us, no need to fret over it anymore. May you have a safe trip back.”

Listening to this the officer face distorted in anger, regardless of the other side politeness, but this way of speaking like dismissing a salesman heavily damaged the officer’s pride. Hence, the man snapped, and said:

“But I have the duty to confirm that the prisoner is escorted to the correct destination. Open the gate, aren’t you being rude.”

“I apologize for that, but we don’t reveal our face, the contract of employment already had ours and yours signature already. Also it doesn’t state that we must face each other in a direct contact.

“But------”

The man still want to continued his speech, but it was interrupted by the voice coming from the other end.

“Excuse me, are you from the La Cassandra Detention Facility in East Filbad, Warrant Barida Clemence?

“……Yeah, that’s me.”

Suddenly being confirmed his identity the officer replied back confused.

The voice from the other end sounded so earnest.

“Please excuse us for our actions, at the “Scratching Cat Ears” at the foot of the hill we have already prepared women that suited your tastes. The food and drinks inside will be on us. Also we have contacted the camp, because of our side your return will be delayed by one day ------ like this, what do you think?”

“……”

This is blatant bribery, facing this tempting offer, the officer’s eyes grew round. The hoarse voice continued to speak as if already achieved victory:

“And……the choker is on his neck right?”

“Well……”

The officer didn’t hesitate for long.

“Ok, I also don’t want to stay so long at such a terrible place.”

Slowly putting down the telephone, the man mumbled in his mouth an excuse.

He then turn around to met the boy eyes for a moment, on his face showing a disgusting expression. However he then realized that the other side was just an insignificant prisoner, so he spat out saliva nearby his feet.

“Oi, don’t think you can run away! You who killed your superior!”

After that the officer proceeded to discarded the rope he was holding like a bomb going off.

“Every month there will be a checkup, if you cause any problems you will be immediately sent back to the camp! In case if the employer is discontented with you, he can always take off the choker on your neck at any time. You have nowhere to escape.”

The boy then reply back with a smile:

“What if I hide under the ground then nobody would be able to find me?”

Hearing the reply the officer broke out in laughter, he found it much better than a few minutes ago. Perhaps he was looking forward to the unexpected temporary leave.

The man then produced a key from his uniform’s pocket, and throw in the courtyard. After that he briskly walked toward the direction of the escort vehicle.

……Like that, he left the boy with the handcuffs still on in front of the iron gate.

As for what he should do afterward nobody told him.

(Well, there won’t be any good things anyway.)

The boy neared in on the iron gate, leaves and branches sticking under his tattered shoes. At this time, a sharp “caw” sound rang above his head. Lifting his head up, he found out it was just a large crow on a tree spreading it wings. Its inauspicious cry made people hairs went standing up making people wondered why it belonged to the same family as the hummingbird and sparrow.

He then recalled the officer’s words “don’t want to stay so long at such a terrible place”.

(------Same here.)

The sensation before removing the blindfolded was still lingering. He looked around again. The sun was very bright; nevertheless the temperature wasn’t so hot. The early summer sun rays penetrate the forest, the green vegetation brought about fresh air, surrounded by these most people would feel delightful. Yet, the boy had the same thought as the officer. It was not solely due to the place being a graveyard, it felt like there was something that human can’t suppressed existing here.

He then used his eyes to confirm the ground he was standing on once more.

(Such an unpleasant place……it felt as if stepping on a corpse.)

As the figure of the officer disappeared over the other side of the graveyard, the iron fence door slowly slid open letting out a “kacha” sound.

About thirty steps away, on the side of the door with intricate patterns carved on it a black dog head protruded out.

This was probably the biggest dog the boy had ever seen. It stature was much like that of a wolf, the long fur was combed smoothly, its eyes showed that it had been well trained in addition to the calm presence it exuded. What’s more, when it walked there was no sound of footsteps giving off, and its posture gave off a graceful feeling.

The dog picked up the key thrown by the officer, and stared at where the boy was standing. It was neither hostility nor friendly, its expression couldn’t be read at all.

“……Please enter, prisoner No.5722. This dog will be your guide.”

Just when he was feeling confused at what he should do, he was brought back by the voice coming out of the speaker. This voice, it is like that of the person taking care of the place.

The dog slowly entered the entrance. No matter how big it was, it was just a dog, it was impossible to peek through the dimly lit room.

(Does it want me to follow, but……)

At present nobody was monitoring him, nor was there a person pulling him by the rope. Remembering the scene where the officer was being politely asked to go, the other side seemed too lax in preparedness.

(……No, perhaps he should be thankful for being fortunate enough for the dog not to be pulling him by the rope?)

Even though he is a prisoner, being pulled by a dog was too much. Naturally, a dog was unable to understand human.

The window-less room was very dark, going inside apart from the cold air he couldn’t feel anything. After waiting his eyes to adapt to the darkness, he found a dimly lit oil lamp in the depths of the broad corridor.

The dog waited for the boy to catch up, after that they continued to advance toward the corridor. The boy followed behind the dog. Looking at the floor a carpet with the same intricate patterns was laid on it causing him to feel that stepping on it was a crime.

"------Welcome to the mass graveyard."

As he walked into the room, the voice rang out. It was the hoarse voice that was talking to the officer before.

The glass oil lamp illuminate the living room, the interior decoration completely surpassed the boy sense of aesthetic. On the floor a human-figure statue with wing stretched out was placed, an oil painting of a woman with an animal at the lakeside, a golden candle-holder meticulous design engraved on it. At the middle of the carpet stood out a chair with a short hunchback old man sitting on it.

The boy to conceal that he is wavering open his mouth and asked:

"Are you the manager of this place?"

(It seems that it is not the same.)

His vision was suddenly drawn to the position where the old man's nose was.....no, actually it should be where the nose was supposed to be. It is like the entire of the old man nose was being scraped off by something, only that at the center of his face existed 2 black holes. Above that a pair of small eyes which was hard to discern its intent. The entire body was covered in swallow-tailed coat like that of what children wore in fairy tale.

"Apologies for the late introduction, my name is Daribedor. You may think of me as the manager of this place. Perhaps you already know, from this day forth you will be working here criminal-dono."

Even though the provocation from the opposing party against his identity failed, Daribedor from the beginning maintained his sincere attitude. It is truly the type he couldn't cope with, the boy felt like this all along. He then asked:

"So......to put it simply what should I do here?"

The old man face flashed a peculiar smile as he spoke:

"In this kind of place isn't there only one thing for a criminal to do?"

In the cavity of the nose-less face, came a humming sound of sarcasm.

Translator's Notes and References

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