After several days...
Alfonso was mostly lying down, barely conscious since the day the guard returned him. His body had worsened due to extreme lack of food and water, and his internal injuries hadn't improved. In fact, his temperature would rise every few hours and then drop until he became as cold as a corpse.
He was barely clinging to the rope of life, struggling with all his might to survive.
"I... I... I must survive... I must survive no matter the cost. I won't die like this, damn it," he muttered with difficulty as his eyes regained some awareness. Then, with effort, he clenched his teeth and tried to stand.
But his body betrayed him, and he fell after only getting halfway up.
"Ahhhh..." a painful sound escaped his mouth as he tried to stand again, but his body failed him once more.
"Ahhh..." he fell again, but this time he tried to crawl in a certain direction... he was heading toward a shadow lying in the corner. With all his strength, he dragged himself toward the shadow.
"Albert... Albert..." he said in a weak, exhausted voice, the words barely leaving his mouth properly. But Albert didn't respond — he was deeply asleep like all the other prisoners.
Alfonso didn't try to wake him again. Instead, he dragged his body closer to Albert, and with all the strength he had left, he bit Albert's hand. Albert was wearing a tattered shirt, his long white hair cascading over it, along with a white beard covering his entire face.
"Aaaaah!" Albert screamed loudly and jolted up, trying to figure out who was trying to eat him — perhaps the hunger had finally reached its limit.
"Kais... what are you doing?" Albert replied curiously, with surprise in his voice. He had been trying to get Alfonso to respond for days, but he hadn't.
"Albert... I have to get out of here," Alfonso spoke quietly, trying not to draw attention.
Albert leaned in quickly to prevent anyone from hearing. "You know I can't. If I could, would I stay here another second?" Albert whispered.
"I don't want you to get me out of the Colosseum. I just want you to get me to the room where they store the plants and food, that's all," Alfonso replied weakly, trying to stay conscious with all he had.
"Even that's impossible," Albert replied, trying to avoid any trouble that could get him executed... Sure, he wanted the reward, but not at the cost of his life.
"Just tell your client that I want to prepare medicine to heal myself — and he'll get to see the proper way to do it at the same time," Alfonso said, trying to convince Albert with what little clarity he had left.
"...Fine, I'll present the idea — but I don't remember anything," said Albert before approaching the cell door to knock.
At the same time, the rest of the prisoners were awakened by Albert's knocking.
After a few minutes, the door finally opened, and the bald, dark-skinned guard entered.
Albert whispered in his ear for a few seconds before the guard took him and closed the door behind them.
Alfonso continued writhing in pain silently.
An hour later, the door opened again, and Albert and the guard entered. They both held Alfonso by his arms, supporting him, and then took him away, closing the door behind them.
In the narrow corridor, they kept walking, passing several doors, then at the fork where the morgue was, they took a narrower path, barely lit by any torches.
Eventually, the three reached the door of a narrow room, where the guard stopped and pointed.
"I'll stay here to keep watch outside. You two go in," the guard said before resting his arm on his sword and standing upright, while Albert opened the door and brought Alfonso inside with him.
Inside, it was a dark room lit by several torches hung on the black walls.
The room was filled with shelves where vegetables, plants, and even smoked meat were stored. Albert approached a wide table that had several candles, papers, ingredients, utensils, and more on it.
Albert placed Alfonso on a chair and leaned toward him. Alfonso whispered the ingredients and herbs he needed, but Albert only recognized a few of them.
Alfonso stood up from his place, leaning on Albert while the latter prepared what was needed.
Meanwhile, the bald guard stood silently outside until he heard footsteps approaching. A shadow appeared from the other side of the hallway — a pale man in his mid-thirties with short black hair, an average face, and amber eyes. A scar ran through his right eye.
The man approached the guard with a polished shield and a sword tied at the hilt with a dark red ribbon.
"Gustav... I didn't know you'd been transferred to storeroom duty, haha," the man said lightly after spotting Gustav in front of the storage room.
"...Haven't seen you in a while, Yalbas. I thought you left the guard to become a family man," Gustav replied sarcastically while eyeing the ribbon on Yalbas's sword.
"Ah, Karol tied this ribbon for me," Gustav said with a hint of interest.
"Yeah... Beautiful, isn't it? She doesn't leave my side these days — she barely agrees to stay with her grandmother while I'm working," Yalbas replied with a glint of sincere love and deep sorrow.
"Yeah, that's how kids are after losing one of their parents. They cling to the other out of fear of losing them too... At least she's no longer having nightmares or crying at night, right?" Gustav spoke with sorrow in his voice.
"Yeah, she's been improving lately and regaining her energy," Yalbas responded cheerfully and hopefully, as the memory of his daughter's smile flashed before him.
Thud-thud! Suddenly, they heard the sound of something large falling, followed by movement from inside the room.
"...!?" Yalbas heard that and placed his hand on his sword, but stopped when he saw Gustav's tense and desperate expression.
"He's your son, isn't he?" Yalbas said as he stood straight again with a hint of understanding. He knew his friend wouldn't get involved in something like this for money or greed.
"...His condition is getting worse. He can't breathe well anymore. Sometimes he coughs up blood. He doesn't eat or drink. His eyes are sunken... Do you know what it feels like to be a father and watch your own flesh and blood die before you, powerless?" Gustav said with emotion, bowing his head as tears welled in his eyes, though he stopped them and lifted his head forcefully, ready to attack or even tie up Yalbas if necessary.
"It was probably just a rat," Yalbas said as he walked away. He knew Gustav's pain well — he himself couldn't do anything to save his wife.
"Yalbas... thank you," Gustav said as he watched Yalbas's retreating back.
Yalbas didn't reply. He just kept walking... Today, he saw and heard nothing. He never even passed by here.
Inside the storeroom, Alfonso continued preparing the mixtures with Albert's help.
...
Three hours later, the storeroom door opened, and a tall, thin man with an average face and neat black hair entered. He had brown eyes and wore spotless white clothes. He approached Albert and Alfonso confidently.
"Honorable Lord Crinos," Albert stepped forward to greet the man, but a sharp voice interrupted him.
"Shut your mouth, insect," Crinos said with a look of disgust as he approached Alfonso.
"Show me what you've prepared, rat... Maybe I'll bless you with my generosity," he said with confidence and authority.
"I ahghghghg—" Before Crinos could finish his sentence, something sharp pierced through his lower jaw and into his skull.
"...!? Whaaamm!?" Albert was shocked by Alfonso's action. Before he could react, a cloth-covered hand clamped over his mouth, and then his vision and consciousness became hazy.
"...Alright. Let's begin," Alfonso said as he moved his hand away from Albert's mouth and placed it on Crinos's pierced face.
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