Kenneth walked to Brandon's door, knocked on the door but didn't respond, so he went up to the balcony on the third floor, and sure enough, he saw Brandon leaning against the railing and blowing the night breeze.

Kenneth came to Brandon's side, didn't look at Brandon, and said, "Bran, you're here!" Haha, the weather is nice today~"

Brandon glanced sideways at Kenneth, shook his head and smiled, "What are you doing here?" ”

"Come on...... Athletic sports! With that, Kenneth pretended to stretch his muscles.

"Come on, don't worry, I'm fine." Brandon scoffed.

Kenneth glanced at Brandon, put his hand on the railing, and then asked tactfully, "Bran, you seem to hate Auston?" Is it because of the pre-school incident? ”

Brandon was stunned for a moment, but then shook his head and said, "Although that eldest young master always makes things difficult for me, and I do annoy him, I don't hate him just because of that little thing, right?" Do you think I'm such a cautious person? ”

"Then why do you keep arguing with him?" Kenneth wondered.

Brandon spread his hands and said, "Because I hate him." ”

Kenneth gave Brandon a helpless look, then asked, "Then why do you hate him?" ”

But Brandon fell silent, and the expression on his face stiffened.

Kenneth put his arm around Brandon's shoulders and said, "We're going to live together for four more years in the future, since sooner or later we have to know the bottom line, it's better to say it earlier, don't you say?" ”

Brandon cried and laughed, "What kind of crooked truth are you?" Why don't you say that people are going to die sooner or later, so it's better to die early? ”

"Eh, it's all the same meaning, as long as you can understand it. Anyway, if there are outsiders here, it doesn't matter if you tell me, don't worry, I promise I won't tell anyone else. Kenneth patted his chest and reassured.

Brandon saw that Kenneth swore so much, and regarded Kenneth as a brother, so he let out a sigh and said with some difficulty: "Actually, our family is not an ordinary farmer, but a ...... Serf. ”

Kenneth was stunned, then looked at him sympathetically.

Serfs were in fact slaves, nothing more than slaves who were specially commissioned by the aristocracy to engage in farming. Serfs had no personal freedom to speak of, and more than eighty percent of their farm income had to be handed over to the nobles throughout the year. Although Kenneth's family also made a living from farming, the status of a freeman allowed him to pay only 10% of his income, and he could have a surplus in a year, which was naturally much better than that of a serf family.

Before the establishment of the empire, serfdom was very common, but after the establishment of the empire, Theo II announced the abolition of slavery in the empire, which naturally included serfdom, at first many nobles did not obey, especially the conservatives led by the Duke of Geraldine had an extremely tough attitude, believing that human beings could survive from antiquity, relying on the absolute obedience of most mortals to the elite, and resolutely opposed the abolition of slavery, so the abolition process of slavery was not smooth.

However, due to the protection of the Four Holy Mountains, wars were reduced and human life was calm, so more and more slaves were dissatisfied with slavery. At the same time, in 89 of the Theocalendar calendar, a generation of legendary Achill Aldrich attracted many people with lofty ideals with his legendary adventurer strength, established the Adventurer Association in the Arthur Region of the Northern Region, and his own slave status also promoted the abolition of imperial slavery. Due to the low threshold for becoming an adventurer, for a time, many slaves in the north joined the Adventurers' Association to become adventurers, getting rid of their slave status, and even some southern slaves fled to the north after hearing the news, Kenneth's father was one of them.

The loss of slaves caused dissatisfaction among the imperial aristocracy, and even some of the nobles who had previously held on to the abolition of slavery began to resist the abolition movement, and the most radical of them, the Duke of Geraldine, even called Archill a traitor in public, and Achill was not to be outdone by calling him a traitor. In the end, in the face of the serious slave escape phenomenon under his rule, Duke Geraldine finally couldn't bear it anymore, and united Duke Andwa of the Southern Region and Duke Hilda of the Southeast Region to put pressure on the emperor, hoping to list the Adventurers' Association as a "bad party" and ban it immediately, otherwise he would not mind taking matters into his own hands to eliminate harm to the country.

At that time, the scale of the Adventurers' Association was far less than it is now, and the three southern regions were especially known for their military force, so they had no chance of winning if they fought hard.

Seeing that the Empire was on the brink of civil war, the Hexagram Council stepped forward and declared its support for the Adventurers' Guild. The Wizards' Guild also issued a public statement, announcing that the Wizards' Guild would cooperate with the Adventurers' Guild to face possible dangers in the future. The statements of these two organizations that occupy the top combat power of the empire have undoubtedly determined the course of history. Although Geraldine's military strength is the strongest among the Nine Regions, and when combined with the other two Southern Regions, it is enough to compete with the other six regions, but it is an assessment that counts one's own mages into the combat power, and once the mages are lost in the battle, it will naturally become a battle with no chance of winning. Sure enough, as soon as the two announcements were announced, Duke Geraldine immediately lost the support of Duke Andvar and Duke Hilda, and his intention to destroy the Adventurers' Guild was in vain, and the empire was spared the scourge of civil war.

After that, the abolitionist movement was in full swing throughout the empire, and even developed into a wave of ideas, which gave birth to many famous abolitionist philosophers in later generations. However, even in this context, Geraldine still adheres to the tradition of slavery, and until now, the nobles under its rule still do not mind supporting the secret slave trade of the Empire, turning free people into their own slaves, just like Brandon in front of Kenneth.

Brandon unconcernedly takes off his shirt in front of Kenneth to expose his back, and sure enough, there is an owl-shaped brand on it, symbolizing Brandon's slave status.

Kenneth opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't say anything.

Brandon got dressed, looked at the sky in the distance and said, "I was branded with this when I was eight years old, and I still remember the situation clearly. It was my eighth birthday, and as soon as I got home, I saw two strange men and a very well-dressed little boy standing in the house, and my parents were standing aside and afraid to speak. I was about to ask who they were, but the two men grabbed me and took them to the courtyard outside the door, where the stove and soldering iron were ready. When they burned my back with a red-hot iron, my throat was almost hoarse with pain, but my parents could only stand quietly in the doorway and watch, and the only sounds I could hear were the sound of my back burning and the little boy's excited laughter. Later I learned that it was the 'master' of our family, the son of a viscount. ”

Even if he hadn't experienced it himself, Kenneth had already felt the pain of being a slave just from Brandon's calm narrative. So Kenneth just quietly listens to Brandon's past.

"I've been a slave since I got my birthday present, and my job is to take care of the Beasts for Lord Viscount." Brandon smiled bitterly, and then his face became even more gloomy, "It's hard to take care of the monsters, and you have to be very careful, because the Viscount's monsters are very fierce, and I didn't know what these monsters were used for at the time. ”

Brandon looked at Kenneth, who was curious in his eyes, and sneered: "It turns out that those Warcraft are used for the arena performances of the noble lords, and as for the performance project, it is to let unarmed slaves compete with Warcraft, and the result of each game is undoubtedly Warcraft cannibalism." And every time that happens, the aristocrats applaud. At that time, I hid next to the monster cage, and looking at the distorted faces of those people, I felt that they were more like monsters. Since then, I have vowed to run away from home. ”

"So you escaped from your home?" Kenneth couldn't believe it.

Brandon shook his head and said, "Although I have this idea, I don't dare. For in Geraldine, if a slave escapes from a family, the whole family is severely punished. In addition, I am the male of the family, and I can reduce some taxes for the family by helping the nobles raise demonic beasts, so I dare not escape. ”

"Luckily, I met Professor Tamiusen, who was visiting Geraldine at the time, and he discovered my talent as a magician and gave me the opportunity to participate in the Academy's entrance examination. I'm really grateful to him for giving me this opportunity. ”

"I see, and then you're leaving Geraldine?"

Brandon smiled bitterly: "How can it be so simple, after I told my parents about this, they wanted me to leave Geraldine, but the viscount refused to let me go so easily." He demanded that I return to Geraldine after graduation and continue to be a slave in their family, or else I would throw my parents and sister into the arena to feed the beasts. I had no choice but to agree and set up a document as evidence. ”

Speaking of this, a deep look of helplessness and hatred appeared on Brandon's face. Kenneth had never seen a person with such a poignant expression, and his heart became heavy.

"That's why I hate aristocrats. Although I knew that Auston was not the kind of annoying aristocrat, I still couldn't control my emotions, and some things couldn't help but come out of my mouth, which really made you see the joke," Brandon said with a sad face.

Kenneth smiled and put his arm around Brandon and said, "I'm sure Auston wouldn't care." Besides, Mick is also a nobleman, why don't you hate him? ”

"What? Is Mick also a nobleman? Can't see it? Brandon was surprised.

"Really?" Kenneth said with pride, "Mick is different from ordinary noble lords, he is gentle with people!" ”

Brandon nodded and admitted, "Indeed, he is completely different from that boy brother of Auston, and he doesn't break the rules so much. ”

Kenneth grinned and said curiously, "You said you have a younger sister?" ”

Brandon smiled, but frowned again and worried: "Yes, I am a very cute and sensible sister, and she spent three months making the straw sandals on my feet!" But next year she's going to be eight years old, and I want to bring her north. ”

Kenneth nodded, "yes, she's not a slave anyway, wouldn't bringing her here get her out of slavery?" Then why don't you just take the whole family over? To hell with that bullshit promise! By the way, isn't your sister beautiful? ”

Kenneth's first half of what Brandon sounded very reasonable, but when he heard it, he finally realized that something was wrong, and said angrily: "Kenny, what are you kid doing with your crooked brain?!" ”

"Hey, kidding, kidding." Kenneth smirked.

"You beast! My sister is only seven years old! Brandon laughed.

Then the two began to talk nonsense, and the silver-haired young man, who had been eavesdropping at the exit of the balcony for a long time, turned around and left with a complicated expression.