Chapter 23

“So” I said, turning to Eri and Tia “I imagine you have some questions?”

“U-Uh huh” Eri said, looking dazed

“Yeah…”Tia said, nodding her head.

“Well save them for later. Come, we must find Merry.” I said. I crashed through the doorway on my way downstairs. I was already halfway down when I realized the two girls weren’t following me.

Irritated, I turned around and said “What are you two waiting for?”

“Y-Y-You’re a…” Eri stammered.

“A what? A Dragon? A Demon Prince? What of it, I have no intention to harm either of you. At least, as long as you don’t try and attack me.”

“Y-Yeah, but still…” Tia whispered, staring at me.

“Ugh, very well then.” I said, casting Mimic on myself again. After a few moments I was back in my human form. “Happy?” I asked

Unfortunately, rather than calm down, the girls became even more agitated, as Eri said “H-How are you doing that? Are you a human or-”

“I already told you to save your questions until after we’ve saved Merry. If being near me is too much for you to handle then run away. Or stay here until someone arrives to put collars back around your necks. Either way, I’m going.”

The two girls exchanged glances and then nodded at each other. “We’re going with you.” they said in unison. The prospect of being rounded up and sold frightened them more than I did.

I grunted and started descending the stairs again, this time with the brats in tow. It irked me, but I did not wish to see these two come to any more harm. It wasn’t that I liked them of course, it was just that I did not hate them. There was no reason to let someone I had no hatred for suffer, so it was worth it for me to deliver a swift kick in the rear to get them moving.

We searched the first floor of the house for a few minutes trying to find a door to the basement and eventually we found a cellar door behind the house. There was a chain on it but I was able to easily snap the iron with my bare hands, much to the fright of the girls.

As we descended into the underpart of the house a rather musty smell came wafting upward. Unlike the house above, this place had a simple design of stone and mortar with pillars that propped up the building above. There was an area against the far wall that was allocated to the storage of a bunch of miscellaneous objects, paintings and bookshelves and the like, that had no place in the manor. Against the other walls there were large shelves full of aging wine. And in the center of the room there was a stone pillar, chained to which was…

“Merry!” I shouted, sprinting to her.

“Illumi?” she asked, smiling that beautiful smile again. She didn’t seem to be hurt anywhere, thankfully but…

“Merry, why did you allow yourself to be captured?” I asked cautiously. I didn’t want to get into another argument with her-especially after all the frights I had trying to find her, but I just couldn’t discern her thinking.

“Well I figured if I let myself be taken to the Capital I would be able to find the slave markets and destroy them. I take it, since you are here, that Merlmire is dead?” she asked innocently.

For a moment I felt my temper rising again, but then I just sighed. There was no point getting mad at her. “He is. You’re really serious about freeing this lot, aren’t you?” I asked.

“I am. And not just them, I’ll unchain everyone so that they can fly free- just like us.” she said, smiling. Despite the betrayal of Benson and Merlmire her spirit wasn’t dampened one bit.

The others, however, were not so motivated.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before” a voice on the other side of the pillar spat. Walking over, I found Scratch. Unlike the rest of the slaves here, he was bruised and bloodied all over. “Benson used to say crap like that all the time, and in the end he sold everyone out. And I’d bet you’re no different, since I don’t see any chains on you. There’s no way we’ll ever be free.”

“Yes, it does sound like nothing but idealistic nonsense. You can’t expect other humans to do the right thing for the right reasons. In fact, you can’t even expect them to do the right thing for the wrong reasons.” I said, musing over the idea. Merry stiffened and I could feel her reproachful look, but I wasn’t finished.

“But I suppose that is the consequence of relying on someone else to do your dirty work for you. You lot do want to be free, do you not?” I asked.

The children, who were still chained to the pillar, all nodded and said yes.

“Well then-” I tossed a ring of keys that I had found at the bottom of the steps leading into the cellar at Scratch “Why don’t you free yourselves instead.”

Scratch looked at the keys, and said “Even if we free ourselves we’ll just be captured again.”

“Then fight.”

“We’ll just lose if we fight…”

“Then become stronger, or die. Surely either of those options are better than being at the mercy of the whip for the rest of your lives? The world is not so nice a place that you can expect others to be decent for your sake. Making your own choices and fighting your own battles are both part of being free, and if you refuse to do so then you might as well stay a slave.”

Someone who just runs and hides for their whole life, desperately trying to escape enemies that want to hurt you, capture you, kill you, is little more than a slave. Freedom meant leaving your confinements, be they chains, metal bars or…or even the safety of the woods.

I looked over at Merry, who was free of her chains despite not having the keys, and found her beaming at me again.

“In the end I was a slave to myself. But now I think I’d like to be free.”

I looked down at Scratch, who seemed to have taken heart in my words. His downcast eyes now stared up at me, as if he had never even considered my way of thinking.

“I don’t want to be a slave, and I don’t want to die.” He said “I want to become stronger…but how can I do that?” he asked.

Now it wasn’t just him staring at me. All of the children were looking with wide eyes at this strange boy who had just barged into their lives and told them they had to obtain freedom with their own two hands.

I wondered, should I? But one look at Merilyn’s encouraging expression told me my answer.

I sighed, and said “Come with me then, I’ll teach you some tricks.”

The children all gasped, unwilling to believe that there was someone who would do something so kind for them. Then they all let out a great cheer. Scratch quickly undid his cuffs and passed the keys around to all of the other children. I didn’t realize it, but Benson and Lyca’s betrayal had hit the children hard. From their point of view, it was like their own older brother had sold them right back into slavery. The despair they were feeling had caused many of them to turn inward, and as such, they were untrusting of someone offering them help.

But that was not what was doing. I had told them to help themselves, and that was what the children needed to hear to break down the jaded walls they had erected.

Well, I still didn’t want them relying on me too hard.

“Listen up runts! I don’t plan on making anything easy for you. This isn’t going to be like the time you spent at that house, this will be hellish. Some of you might actually die if you don’t give 100%. Are you sure you’re prepared for that? You could always just run away.”

It was counterintuitive to what I just said a minute ago, but I wasn’t joking around.

“I have no interest in playing nanny to a bunch of brats. This will be a difficult road if they choose to walk it.

“Hey…” said the oldest of the group, the other slave knight who was hanging around Benson

“And you are…”

“Balor. I don’t mean to rain on everybody’s parade, but you don’t exactly look like the warrior type. How do we know you can even teach us anything?”

Ah, that was a fair question. An idea came to mind, but before I could carry it out Eri shouted “Illumen rescued us from the town jail all by himself, he’s got tons of skills and he can even use magic!”

That drew in quite a few gasps from the children and Balor even raised his eyebrows and held up his hands in defeat.

“I guess everyone is on board, huh boss?” Scratch said, offering a little smile.

“Yep, that’s good enough for me boss.” Balor said.

“Um, I know you said it would be hellish, but go easy on us boss…” Tia said, smiling concernedly at me. She and Eri seemed to have gotten over their fear quickly enough, given that I was no longer in my true form.

But still, one thing was irritating me.

“I am not your boss, you damned brats. You’re not in my employ, nor are you my servants. I am your teacher, and you shall call me Master, as I did for my Master.”

The children looked slightly taken aback by that, but in the end they all complied.

“Yes Master!” They all shouted in unison.

I sighed.

It was by no means certain, but with a little help I could probably drill some skills into these children. and shouldn’t be too difficult to learn, and I could probably teach a few of them the basics of magi-

Requirements met. Demon Skill Obtained

A Skill granted to a User who has met the required conditions.

-This Skill can only be learned by a Demon Prince

-The User must be acknowledged by another as their Lord and Master

-Those who acknowledge the User (hereby referred to as Acolyte’s) must be unwavering in their loyalty to the User.

Note* Those who are unfaithful the User will not receive the title of Acolyte, nor any bonuses that come with it.

Worship the Lord with gladness, and come before him with songs. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Lord lest he be angry, yet perish by the way though his wrath be kindled but a little. Love the Lord, for he is good and he will provide you with succor.

-The User can bestow the title of [Acolyte] to those who acknowledge the User as their Lord.

*Those with the [Acolyte] title gain an increase in all stats and face decreased requirements for learning skills.

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? It felt like the gods were playing tricks on me. How auspicious that I obtain a skill for tutoring underlings as soon as I gain some underlings.

“Or perhaps this sort of thing is completely natural…either way, I’m a bit more excited now that I get something out of training these kids. Well, something more than my Merry’s approval.”

I elected against telling any of the kids about Acolyte however, communicating it’s existence to Merilyn only. Best not let them know they have a leg up on their enemies right away, lest they decide to do something rash.

“Alright then, we’re moving out!” I shouted, leading the kids to the cellar entrance.

“But, uh, where will we go?” Balor asked

“Somewhere Merilyn and I can train you lot without being disturbed. Then, once you are good and ready, we’ll start our campaign in Elmbrook. I doubt it will go smoothly, but with the proper planning anything is possible.”

The children nodded approvingly, some even excitedly chattering at the prospect of becoming stronger. In a way they reminded me of Merry and I when we were under our Masters tutelage.

“Master Carmen…” I thought, wishing she were here. With her knowledge, we would certainly be able to accomplish Merry’s ideal.

Once the very last person was out of the cellar I had everyone stop so I could give them a little demonstration. If I was going to bother training up a bunch of humans, I might as well enjoy myself where I could.

“Now, watch and learn.” I said as I, very slowly, traced the pathways of my magic and cast one of my weaker flame spells.

“Conflagration.”

All at once the brilliant Manor was engulfed by a sphere of flame that had expanded from somewhere in the center of the building. Within moments the building was nearly completely incinerated, leaving only a few melting stone columns standing on the first floor.

I turned back toward the kids, about to ask them if they had any idea how a spell like that was cast. But, rather than the attentive faces that I was expecting to see, I found a sea of awe and fear.

“Bo-Master…what did you just do?” Scratch asked.

I raised my eyebrows at their surprise, and said“Don’t be so impressed by minor magic like that. By the time I’m done with you, you will be able to cast spells like this as well.”

Scratch looked at me then, not smiling, not hopeful, not even fearful, and said “ Master, are you some kind of god?”

…Something told me that this would be a challenge.