Chapter 21

As it turned out Eri, the girl that had been harassing me with Lyca and Tia, had been getting pretty close to one of the older village boys. The two of them were regularly seen around town, holding hands and laughing together. She believed that they were close enough that it would be safe to tell him what she really was.

She was wrong. The boy had shouted at her, calling her all manner of names and then ran off to report her to their guards. Tia and Lyca, who were spying on their friend's date, tried to get her to run back to the house before they showed up. But the impact of having someone she trusted so dearly betray her left Eri in a shocked state and she practically had to be dragged along by her friends. They were too slow however, there was no way Tia and Lyca would be able to get their friends back to the house in time and, sure enough, the guards were able to catch up to them.

So, the two girls had a choice to make: Leave their dear friend behind and save themselves, or stay and get captured.

Lyca did not get captured.

And now she was balling her eyes out, begging the group to save her friend.

“Well, at least she’s not the only coward.” I thought as I eyed the group, who were now slowly backing away. Already some of them had slipped into the corners of the house, trying to ignore the problem until it went away. Even Benson was nowhere to be seen. Eventually the only ones left standing before Lyca were Merry , Scratch, and myself.

In desperation Lyca grabbed my hands and said “Please…please…you’re strong, you can do it! Please Illumen, I’ll do anything you want, just save my friends! I beg of you…”

My eye twitched. Ordinarily I would have brushed this girl off and maybe even said something derisive to her. But this time…this time was different. There was something in her eyes, the same something I had seen the first time I met Merry. And the first time I had met Rickurd.

Loneliness.

“…Tch. Very well, I will retrieve your comrades.”

Despite the fact that she was the one who asked me to help, Lyca couldn’t help but look shocked. “R-really?!” she said “Illumen-oh gods, thank-”

“Save your thanks, I’m not doing this for you girl.” I said, gritting my teeth with annoyance at the situation I had gotten myself into.

“Wha…? Then why…?”

“…Because when I was crying, no one came for me. No matter how I begged and shouted, I was alone. I don’t care about you or your annoying friends, but that doesn’t mean I can just leave something so pathetic laying there on the ground.” I looked over at Merry “Isn’t that right?”

She looked quite happy about my decision, even draping her arms around my neck in and embracing me. I was not about to start helping them with every single problem that they had. But, to keep from having to forsake my past self, I would help this sad creature to not be so lonely anymore.

“Now, tell me, where are your friends?”

****

An hour later I was hidden behind a merchant's stall on the far side of town. Across the street was the town’s jail, where criminals were punished. It was also where runaways were kept until the day they could be taken and sold at the Capital.

I found the idea of a ‘jail’ odd. Why not just remove those who broke the rules from society permanently? They could simply be banished to the forest- or killed. That was how the dragons did things at least, but perhaps the humans believed that it was more cruel to keep those people under lock and key, restrict their movement to a small cell, feed them slop, and treat them like trash. Or who knows, perhaps they believed it was compassionate.

Whatever the case, Lyca was certain that the jail was where her friends were being kept. The building itself was a large, simple stone structure with a single entrance, barred windows, and several guards standing at attention outside of it.

The first plan that had popped into my head was to just kill everyone inside and extract the girls afterwards, but somehow I figured that Merry would not appreciate me using such methods. Therefore, I was forced to rely on trickery to do the deed.

Fortunately, I had all the skills I needed to do the job.

-A skill granted to those who have run a total of 500 miles

You are the wind, you are speed, you are the master of the land! Let nothing slow you down as you move forward unto this world!

-The User’s weight is reduced 50% while this skill is active.

-(Locked)

-(Locked)

-(Locked)

-Can only be wielded by predators.

-Can only be wielded by those who have obtained the ‘’ skill

Deadly as the dagger, Insidious as poison and silent as the grave, eliminate your target with all the grace of a master assassin. And leave no trace.

-The User’s movements become muffled. Those without surveillance skills and those with low intelligence become less able to detect the User. This ability scales with Dexterity.

-(Unlocked at Lv.5)(Assassinate) Attacks done while in stealth mode deal 50% more damage

-(Locked)

-(Locked)

-A skill granted to those who have reached the maximum level of the skill

-Cannot be used by those with less than 120 intelligence

-Cannot be used on enemies who are not sentient

For those who seek the truth, knowledge is everything. Let no one keep their secrets from you, for they are the right of the brilliant.

-The User gains the ability to read the thoughts of anyone with a lower intelligence stat.

-(Locked)

-(Locked)

-(Locked)

With these skills active, my infiltration had begun. With my weight reduced and stealth activated I was able to nearly erase my presence while also taking in a steady stream of information from the guards by reading their minds. From them I had already learned where the girls were being kept, as well as when the guards would be switching their watch. I had also learned some…less than savory facts about how the girls had been treated.

But, they were still alive, and that was good enough or me to be able keep my word.

It was almost time for the guard to change.When the moon reaches it’s zenith the facility will be mostly empty, save for the half a dozen or so men who guard the place until sunrise. I snuck across the street and jumped up on top of the building next to the jail. A few moments later two new guards approached the group guarding the entrance.

“Oy, you lot are off now.” One of them, a man with only half of his teeth, said

“Yep, we’ll take over till morn.” the other, a rather horse faced man said.

The group of guards nodded and stretched, clearly relieved to be free, and left the two newcomers to their work.

“Oy Diz, Fenton, make sure you leave the goods alone! Mess ‘em up anymore and we might not be able to sell ‘em!” one of the guards said, chuckling.

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry mate! But you know you gotta teach those runaways what’s what. Might have some fun with the blond one, but don’t worry! We’ll be gentle, heh heh.”

That prompted a laugh out of the retreating guards, but their banter seemed to have ended there and a few minutes later they had all dispersed to their homes.

“Now’s my chance.”

First I remotely built a clay golem behind a building on the other side of the street using magic. Up close it was rather simple looking, but from far enough away it looked like a child. Next I cast a locomotion spell on the golem which, after I gave the signal, would cause the golem to start running around of its own accord. Finally, I set a small magic explosive inside of it that would go off when I sent a different magical signal at the golem.

“And now…” I thought, holding up a small rock. I threw the rock at the building my golem was sitting behind. There was a loud CRACK as the rock bounced off of the wooden wall, alerting the two guards.

“The hell…?” the toothless man muttered, raising the spear he was carrying. He looked at the horse faced man, who nodded, and then went off to check the disturbance for himself. As expected, he searched the perimeter of the building before seeing, in the shadows, my golem which Immediately took off running.

“OY, Diz, I think there’s another runaway over here! Help me catch them!” the man, Fenton, shouted.

“We’re s’posed to be guarding the merchandise we already have.” Diz replied, scratching his head.

“Like hell they’ll escape in the state we left them in, now come on!”

Diz couldn’t really think of a good retort to that, so he took off running after Fenton.

“Excellent.” I thought, jumping over to the jail and then onto the ground in front of the wooden doorway.

I cracked open the door, peeking inside to see if the coast was clear. There was a single lit candle inside of a lamp sitting on a desk in the center of the room. Fortunately there were no guards in the room and I was able to slip inside without incident. From what I could tell, the first floor of the jail was a sort of unofficial headquarters for the town's guards. There were cells here, but they were mostly for holding late night drinkers and the odd pair of brawlers.

It was the basement dungeon where the real criminals were held. On the back wall was the door to the dungeon , and unlike the door I had just come through, this one was made of iron and required a key to open.

Or at least, it would require that If I wasn’t an accomplished sorcerer. I could have just broken the door down, or melted it if it wanted to, but that wouldn’t exactly be stealthy. Using magic the tumbler and lock gave way almost immediately, granting me entrance to the holding cells below. There was just one more obstacle in my way.

At the bottom of the stairway was another gate, this one made out of iron bars, and behind that door…

“Oy, who’s that then?” said a face peering through the bars.

The man fell forward onto his face when I opened the gate. I kicked him in the head hard enough to knock him out and continued on my way. It was fortunate that there was so little light, as I was pretty sure he hadn’t seen my face. If he had, I would have had to kill him.

The cells were as one might expect, rooms with metal bars that stretched from floor to ceiling. They were also mostly empty, making my search blessedly easy. At the very end of the row of cells a pair could be heard. One was sobbing, and in between her cries could be heard shouts of “mama” and “Tia”. The other wasn’t crying, but she certainly didn’t sound well, as her breathing was shallow.

Of course it was indeed Tia and Eri, the latter of whom suddenly shouted “N-No, please! Leave us alone! If you hurt Tia anymore she’ll die! Y-Y-You can d-do whatever you want with m-me, but don’t kill my friend…please…please…” she sobbed

Judging by what those men had said earlier, they were planning on doing something quite vile to these girls, and Eri knew it too. Yet she still chose to offer up herself in place of her friend.

“Hmph, admirable…” I thought begrudgingly.

“You still talk too much.” I said, causing Eri to start at the unexpected child's voice.

“Wh-who is there?” she said.

I grabbed an unlit torch from one of the wall brackets and lit it with magic.

“Illumen! Wha-How did you get in here?” She asked. She seemed more surprised than relieved “No-it doesn’t matter. Illumen, you have to get out of here, the guard will be back down this way any minute!”

My eye twitched again. Now this girl was trying to protect me?

“I’ll give you credit, you’ve got more metal than most of the humans I’ve met.” I said unconsciously.

“Wha…?“

“It’s nothing. Anyway, it will be difficult for the guard to walk over here at the moment, given the fact that he’s unconscious.”

“Uncons-! But how? Did you…?” she left the question hanging.

“Like I said, you talk too much. Now-” I finished unlocking her cell door “Come on, Lyca is waiting for you.”

“Is…is she the one who asked you to save us?” Eri asked uncertainty

“Yes, and I ask that you don’t hold her running away against her. She made the right call.”

“I know that but…”

“Tch, if you must be angry about it then be angry later, we need to go.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! But I don’t think Tia can move right now! Those guards…they came in here and…and tried to force themselves on me. But Tia protected me, and in the end they beat her pretty badly. I’m sorry Illumen, but can you help her?”

I sighed, and then kneeled down next to Tia. It was as Eri said, she was hurt quite terribly. Several of her ribs were broken, as well as her left leg. It could all be healed, but that required either time, or magic.

“…Eri?”

“What is it Illumen?”

“Listen carefully. What you are about to see, you can not tell anyone. If you do, I will be forced to…silence you. Do you understand?”

Eri looked frightened for a moment, but her determination to save her friend overtook her fears and she nodded.

“Good.” I said, and then I extended my hand over Tia’s body and cast healing magic. A faint glow emanated from my hand and the light enveloped her, spreading from head to toe, concentrating on the injured spots it came across. I was by no means an expert when it came to healing magic-in fact I was quite bad at it. But I could heal most of the cuts and bruises that covered Tia and steady her breathing. If it were Merry casting the spell it probably would have completely healed her, but I had decided to come alone, as I felt that more manpower was unnecessary for a stealth based mission.

Tia was slowly regaining her senses as I cast my magic, But Eri seemed to have lost hers, as she said “Illumen! Th-Th-That’s m-m-m-magic, isn’t it?! You…you’re a wizard? I knew you had some Skills, but to think you were also a wizard…”

“I’m not a wizard, I’m a sorcerer. Though I’m not quite as talented when it comes to magic as Merry.”

“She’s a-!” but then Eri stopped herself and a thoughtful look came onto her face.

I was just about finished healing Tia when she said “Illumen, you and Merry aren’t really slaves, are you?”

She didn’t look upset by the fact, she just seemed to have come to an understanding about it.

“Don’t you think you already know enough?” I asked, frowning at her.

The two of us stared at each other for a moment before a third voice broke the silence.

“Eri…Illumi…did they capture you too…?” she asked.

“Not quite” I said, standing up “I’m the rescue party. Now if you can get up I would recommend you do so, we’ve got to get out of this place.” I said.

Together, Eri and I hauled Tia to her feet, but then her knees buckled and she almost fell over again. It didn’t seem like she would be able to walk so I picked Tia up and carried her myself. I had neither the time nor the patience to wait for her to feel better. It was quite helpful for me as well, since it meant that Tia wouldn’t be able to see my hands glow as I casted my healing magic. I was able to stop the spell before she woke up earlier and if I could I would like to keep my abilities a secret from as many prying eyes as possible.

Especially those of that old man at the ex-slave house.

We were able to reach the entrance easily enough, though I nearly tripped over the unconscious guard laying at the bottom of the stairs. The two men outside were still running around chasing my golem so I decided to put the very last part of my plan into action.

I slowed the golem down, enough so that both men could easily catch up, and when they did…

BOOM

I set off the explosive trigger. Both men were blown back by the exploding golem and knocked out instantly.

“Now’s our chance.” I said, pushing the two girls out the door. The explosion drew a crowd of bleary eyed people out of their houses where they found the two men laying face down in the dirt. If we were lucky the two me would serve as a distraction for the other three guards stationed around the jail.

And admittedly, I did find those two men distasteful.

There was no one to see us on our way back to the ex-slave house, and when we got there all was quiet. I carefully carried Tia through the door and set her down on one of the worn out threadbare rugs. I looked around, but I couldn’t seem to find anyone.

I suddenly got a terrible feeling in my chest. The children might have all decided to fall asleep without bothering to see if I’d come back, but Merilyn would have sensed me coming.

Merilyn would have been waiting for me when I came through the door.

Merilyn should be here.

“Where is Merry?” I said, unable to sense her presence.

“WHERE IS MY MERRY?!”