Berserk: The Prophet

Madwood?

Cardi's arrangement was so sudden that Green didn't even have time to react. He only knew that the sentry who had been hiding for seven years was called by that name, but Green felt that he had been on the island for much longer than that.

More like...a local?

After the demonic man vented his pent-up rage, the entire corridor of the secret chamber became extremely quiet, with only the sounds of chains and shackles being removed and the almost imperceptible sounds of corpses being handled.

Even the guards patrolling back and forth were the same group of people Green had seen at night—strange figures covered in animal fur dyed dark brown and dark gray, who didn't even make a sound as they moved around.

With his eyes closed, Green couldn't sense where he was or what Kadi wanted him to do. The children who shared a room with Green had already huddled together because of hunger and cold.

Their height is not much different from Green's. As a northern ethnic group, most of them are physically robust, but they are slightly malnourished.

It was a really cold night. The totem on his chest seemed to sense Green's plea, and a warm current seemed to flow through his body. He quickly adapted to the temperature.

Soon, the man named Madwood gave instructions to his men to carry out the task the man had given him.

He went to Green's cell to test whether Green was qualified to be an important part of the mission, but he only glanced at him coldly and left.

He said nothing, but soon shadowy figures came behind him to distribute limited food and water to each cage.

A loaf of black bread and a bowl of some kind of porridge, with vegetable leaves floating on top, and a small piece of smoked fish.

For growing children, this is just enough food for one person to eat.

The children, who had been hungry all day, suddenly brightened up and eagerly grabbed whatever they could hold and began to gnaw on it.

"That's mine!! Don't take it!"

"Nonsense, it's mine!!"

The children fought fiercely over the food. Although everyone was hoarse from hunger and long-term malnutrition, their eyes were filled with a thirst and excitement for survival. The conflict escalated again when the bowl of soup was spilled on the ground during the fight.

"...It's all your fault!!" With their only source of water cut off, the children started fighting each other, completely forgetting how they had been cuddling together for warmth.

Although Green didn't want to get involved in the brawl, the room was so small that there was nowhere to find peace and quiet. Even though he had moved to a corner of the cell, he still got elbowed in the face by some clueless kid.

fed up...

"Get out of the way and fight!!" Green mustered all his strength and kicked the blind kid hard into the middle of the most heated argument.

The children fell silent as they stared at Green, who was a head taller than them. He was well-nourished, clearly from a good family, and had faint muscles on his arms. He was obviously not someone to be trifled with, and no one wanted to offend this formidable fellow. The cell fell silent, with only a few children occasionally arguing. The food was quickly devoured by them.

Green leaned against the wall, coldly observing the children. He knew this was a dog-eat-dog world, and if he wasn't strong enough, he would be bullied just as easily.

At that moment, Green noticed a child in the corner who wasn't fighting for the food. He went over and found a boy who looked even smaller than the other children.

His face was somewhat pale, but he still craved food. However, he no longer had the strength to fight for it. His lips were dry and cracked as he swallowed his saliva, and there seemed to be a deep despair in his eyes.

Green knelt down in front of the boy, took a small piece of wheat bread that he had previously stored in his spatial storage from his waist pocket, and handed it to him. The boy looked at Green with great surprise, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

“Eat it. You look like you need it more than I do.” Green’s voice was calm and firm, despite the chaos that still raged in the other cells.

The boy hesitated for a moment, then took the bread. His eyes welled up with tears, and he whispered, "Thank you."

The other children were intimidated by Green's muscular build and menacing aura, and none of them dared to snatch the bread, even though they were surprised to find that Green had food on him.

"What's your name?"

The moment Green opened his mouth, the other children in the same cage looked at each other in surprise, because his accent was heavily influenced by the Juda dialect.

"...Hanks."

The boy answered while wolfing down his bread, quickly finishing it all. He seemed to choke a little, and since there was no water, Green patted his back to ease the discomfort.

Although Cardi didn't tell him what he was doing following that Madwood guy, Green wasn't going to sit idly by. He needed to find out more about the situation. Green's intuition told him that the boy named Hanks seemed to have been here for a while.

"...You don't seem to be a local." Hanks couldn't help but speak up when he saw Green deep in thought.

“...Yes, I’m not from here. I was wrongly arrested,” Green replied.

The cage was silent, for they too were children captured by those shadowy figures. Except... they were all Grantians.

“You’ve been here for a while now, haven’t you? Do you know something?” Green asked.

Hanks lowered his head and thought for a moment, then looked up and said, "I don't know the specifics either, but I know that we're likely to be sent to be slaves."

Green frowned. How could Cardi have gone to such lengths just to send him here as a slave? He couldn't accept this fate.

"However..." Hanks hesitated, then stopped himself.

Green asked anxiously, "But what? Tell me quickly!"

"I heard that if you perform well, you might have the chance to become a Shadow Hand." Hanks' words made Green fall into thought.

Are they the "Shadow Hands" who only serve the Grant royal family? It is said that they specialize in doing shady things, and their methods are even comparable to those of the Bakirakka.

This was part of the intelligence Grimm had seen; the "Shadow Hands" should only serve Grand Duke Hokun in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Grant. Could he already be in Grant's capital, "Nordkahuatti"?

The man named Mad Wuxiu seemed to be their leader, as did the demon-like man. Their identities were not hard to guess; the man talking to Mad Wuxiu was none other than Grand Duke Hokun Grant of Grant.