"Being cautious, I see," he smiled. "Put these on," he handed a neck collar and chains to tie around my hands and feet like the other people in the cage.
"Why would I do that?"
"To blend in. You don't want to be the black sheep here, do you?"
"Thank you, but I'm waiting for an opportunity to break out. I don't need these."
"There's a fun show about to begin. You don't want to miss that."
"What's the show?"
"Put these on and you'll find out," he offered the collar and chains again.
"Just tell me, old man."
"What's the fun in that, world outsider?"
I stopped and looked at him, frowning, "How did you know?"
"Oh so I'm not wrong! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
"How did you know?" I asked again.
"I did not until just now. I had a suspicion since your power is so foreign. Adding the fact that you seem to know nothing about this world. I gamble to see if my theory is right or not. I guess I won this bet."
I nodded. His reasoning was solid. "Very impressive. You can reduce that much with so little information about me."
"It's nothing," he brushed my compliment aside. "Tell me, what is your world like?"
I thought for a while and replied. "A place where swords stand above all."
"Swords stand above all, eh? Interesting," he smiled.
At that moment, our conversation was disturbed by the guards outside. They came and banged the cells, frightening the prisoners inside.
"It's about to start, put it on now."
I finally nodded and put on the collar and chains. "This man is not normal. I'll stay with him for a while, maybe I can learn more about the world through him."
"What now?" I asked.
He smiled happily. "Nothing. Follow what they tell you. Whatever happens outside, don't say a word, don't move a muscle. Just observe, see for yourself what this world is like."
I shook my head. "I don't understand what you're saying. It's like coded language."
"You'll figure it out soon enough," he reassured.
"STAND UP!" The guards yelled. "One by one, step out of the cell, forming a single line!" they ordered. Don't do anything stupid."
Both of us stood up and got in line just like they ordered. I was standing fourth in the line, with the old man behind me. Before me was a child, a woman, and a person I had seen before, the man with fish scales I stumbled upon earlier.
"Alright! Move to the backstage!"
I followed the people in front of me backstage. There, we saw a speaker on the stage wearing a ridiculously pink dress. He held a microphone and was speaking to the audience.
"My dear customers and nobles! Today we have a very good batch of goods that I guarantee you will be happy with any one of our merchandise. Let's not wait anymore and start the auction with item number 1!"
The audience clapped, and one of the guards dragged the child standing in front of the line out to the stage.
"I don't like where this is going," I frowned and whispered to the person behind me.
"Oh? You know what this is? Does your world have this, too?"
"Yes."
"And what did you do about it?"
"I ended it."
"The industry?"
"The customers."
"Ha ha. This is going to be interesting."