It was my first mission for Dragon’s eye and with master’s plan, I was told that my mission was to infiltrate a slave trade. I did what I was told and successfully done so with additional merits but my arms hurts and the bruises on my body ached, and most of all, my stomach hurts from hunger. The sobs and rare screams from the quiet prison shows how pitiful my current situation is.

“H-here.”

A male wolf pup offered half of his hard disk-like bread, he blushed slightly as he held his tattered shirt while looking away. I was touched, so I smiled at his sweet gesture.

He reminds me of Andi. Hehe...

“Thank you.”

I smiled at him and patted the hay beside me, asking him to sit. Our group arrived a little later after dinner so we couldn’t get anything to eat. It was nice of him to offer food when he himself is hungry.

I tried to munch on the hard bread to at least fill my empty stomach but it was so dry that it ended up drying my mouth instead. Then the wolf pup them sat beside me, probably seeing as he wasn’t coming back, the other cubs ran towards me and sat with us. There were 5... no, 6 of them that sat around me.

“Hey sis, do you know that mister?”

Mister? I flinched when I realized who he was talking about. It was just after Andi’s proposal so many discussed what to do.

Does he mean Andi?! Well, I do... but I shouldn’t say so right?

“W-well... no... not exactly...?”

I panicked and held onto some of the hay I was sitting on. I felt my palms practically dripped with sweat. I tried to think of an excuse but, their stares! Those round curious stares felt like knives stabbing through my heart!

Then one of the scents of the pups seemed familiar. Like someone I knew? I moved closer and sniffed to find the familiar scent. And there on the group, a dogman? Or a half at least? One of her parents must be from my clan.

Hmmm... a very familiar scent... whose?

“The scent—...? Yess! The scent! He... he smells like someone I knew! That’s it!”

I made a frantic excuse when I saw the other women look at me curiously. My back was damp with sweat and I felt like screaming, I was clearly cornered so I wanted to run away.

Why does it have to be me?! I’m no good at lying!

While my inner wails reached no one, the door opened again and the pups hid behind me. It wasn’t Andi nor it was the guard with him earlier. No, this person’s smell was different, a revolting smell. It was different from the smell of these dungeons, it’s a mixture of wine, fat, sour sweat and blood.

The person was silent the whole time, but I could hear his breathing as he pants excitedly while looking at each of the cells. The monsters snarled at him from the cages but he brought out a whip and hit the cages of those who dared.

One by one, he shines light over each cell, looking and scanning those inside. When he reached our cell, the women huddled in caution while the pups hid in fear. The light was too bright for the dim dungeons and behind the blinding magic lantern was a stubby pig with a bulging stomach and a lecherous grin.

He peered into the metal bars, seemingly counting each of soul inside each cell. The pi— man, wore luxurious clothes with golden embellishments and on his stubby fingers that carried the lantern, were golden rings with stones of dwarf knows how much it costed.

He must be Andi’s target?

After a while, he moved on to another cage and soon stopped at one, before he began to call out.

“ELAINE~? Are you here darling?”

His gross tone made my fur stand on end. I heard the cell from next door open and countless quiet screams resounded. Then his whip hit one human female and her screams filled the whole dungeon. The pups quietly cried holding onto me, covering their ears in fear.

I too, was scared. I was paralyzed. I felt tears falling from my face, flinching at every lash of the whip and hugging the pups tighter and tighter at every scream. I unconsciously imagined being on the receiving end of that whip.

Then... silence. Not a sob nor a scream came from the female, but the lashes didn’t stop. It kept on and on and on until the man panted loudly.

“Hah... now... Elaine?”

He called slovenly. The others then screamed at his every step while he tried to reach for another victim. I imagine them scrambling to hide themselves.

“STOP YOU PIG!”

A loud voice screamed amidst the chaos. I know that voice, it was a nice calming voice, but now, it was full of both rage and fear. A surprising turn from the sweet lady that took care of me when I was caught. It was miss Elaine’s voice.

“Oh Elaine! My sweet Elaine! Come my dear. I’ll get you out of this revolting place!”

I hear them arguing from the other side with their feet shuffling in the damp hay.

“NO! Get your filthy hands off me!”

They probably struggled as their argument escalated to screaming. Those who were curiously brave tried to take a peak through the bars, but most of us kept to the corners of the three walled cells.

Soon, I saw them pulling at each other, a weary miss Elaine and a drooling pig who was Evaris stopped in front of our cell. I wanted to help, but I was too scared to even voice anything. If I called to them, I will definitely receive a lashing from that man!

“LET GO OF ME!”

In her last scream, Evaris lost his grip to her torn dress. She gathered herself with a huff, ready to scream once again.

“I will not go to the likes of you! Jordie has already come and he will definitely save me!”

She yelled at him with eyes closed and with that, I was dumbfounded, so was Evaris.

How could she reveal that? After all the planning master Lu did and all the trouble Andi went just to get that guard’s help. What should I do?

I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. The pups were curious with my reaction. Should I run up there? Should i try to kill Evaris now? How? What do I do?!

[Calm down.]

A deep voice filled my head. It was loud, but it was firm, firm enough to be a scolding. I remembered a silent dark blue daemon that always carried me when I got tired. Treating me like a pup, the same way the master did.

[P-Plynii...?]

I felt like crying. I completely forgot that he was here, I wanted to run to him and hide but I can’t!

[What do I do Plynii?]

Miss Elaine and Evaris continued their argument while tears fell from my eyes. Evaris laughed at the information he heard and a sinister smile painted his face. Miss Elaine then finally realized her mistake and panicked on what to do. In the end, she ran back to the cell, leaving Evaris laughing and plotting.

[Tell Andi.]

Plynii calmly said while I bit my lip to stop the tears.

R-right! I should tell Andi!

I wiped the tears away and hugged the nearest pup who continued to cry in fear. Soothing the rest with a pat, I resolved myself. Because as nice as Andi was most of the time, he’s scary when he’s angry.

[Andi?]

It was late, but I was sure he was still awake. And soon enough, a reply came.

[‘Sup?]

He often says that when we call, saying it’s their country’s way of asking what’s going on. I hesitated, because what miss Elaine did could interfere with the plan and will anger Andi and he’ll definitely be angry at miss Elaine. To tell the truth, I was more afraid of Andi getting angry than that pig with his whip, because I know he’d hit anyone who angers him.

[Umm... you see...]

I told him what happened. I also heard Plynii confirm what I said but to my surprise, Andi doesn’t seem to be angry. Why?

[Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m pissed. But, isn’t more fun to see the bad guy squirm than just one-sidedly killing them? Gives them a sense of control, then when it’s time, that shocked look of despair is amazing. Murdering insects is a great way to KILL time, right? Haha!]

His voice sounded merry but it sent shivers down my spine and something swirled within me telling me to never ever anger him. I held on tightly to the pups hugging me.

I knew it, he’s as scary as Nadi!

Andi said that we’ll do it tonight, so the whole plan was pushed ahead of time. I got ready and took Nadi’s cards I hid under my long brown hair. Thus, begins my first mission for the Dragon’s eye. Chapter