The room was dark.
In the darkness, naked boys and girls squirmed with anxious expressions on their faces.
Each had different beast ears.
Seven children total, all young.
Four girls, three boys.
About my age, give or take.
All of them naked, shackled, muzzled, with beast or elf ears.
Their hands were cuffed behind their backs, and they huddled together in fear.
Young girls, naked, in shackles.
I never thought I'd actually see something like this.
This wasn't just a feast for the eyes—this was the Goddess of Mercy in her youth.
This was a paradise.
No—this was heaven.
Had I finally reached heaven?
But I hadn't found any green babies yet!
I was on the verge of celebration when I noticed.
All except one had tear tracks on their faces, and several bore dark bruises.
My head cooled instantly.
They'd been crying, screaming, and got punched for being noisy.
It was the same when
In this world, there was no such thing as restraint when it came to treating kidnapped children.
And
No wonder he couldn't hold back.
At first glance, at least, there were no signs of sexual assault.
Was it because they were still young? Or because their resale value would drop?
Either way, it didn't matter—a silver lining in an otherwise grim situation.
Normally, seeing naked girls, I'd think something like "a quick squeeze of the chest is probably okay," but at the moment, my perverted instincts were a bit suppressed.
I'd just changed my class to Sage before getting off the boat.
Not that my actual intelligence had gone up any.
The boys and girls sat helplessly.
Three of the girls were crying, still sobbing weakly.
Two of the boys looked at me with fear. One had collapsed and was barely breathing.
First things first—I cast Healing on the collapsed boy, then removed his shackles.
The muzzle was tied tight.
Couldn't undo it.
So I burned through it with magic.
It gave him a bit of a burn, but there was no helping that.
He was a boy—he could tough it out.
I cast Healing on the other two boys as well and removed their shackles.
"Um... who are... you?"
It was the Beast God Language.
Being suddenly addressed in a foreign tongue caught me off guard.
But I'd properly learned the Beast God Language.
I recalled my conversations with
"I've come to rescue you. The three of you, watch the entrance to this room.
Tell me immediately if anyone comes."
The three exchanged uneasy glances.
"Boys should be able to handle that much, right?"
At those words, their expressions hardened with determination, and they nodded before running to the door.
I meant nothing offensive by that.
I didn't want to keep only girls in my field of vision or anything.
Ruijerd was causing a commotion upstairs.
So no one should be coming.
But you never know.
Before entering the room, I activated my Foresight Eye, set to see one second ahead.
But it doesn't work if my back is turned, so I kept watch.
Precaution against surprise attacks.
I went around removing the girls' shackles.
Some were bigger, some smaller—there was no hierarchy among them.
I admired them all equally, and then I freed their shackles.
I absolutely did not touch them needlessly.
I want everyone to know that tonight's
And I cast Healing on the ones with bruises from being beaten.
It was fun time togeth— *ahem.* It was time for treatment.
Healing required physical contact.
So there was absolutely no ulterior motive.
There was a girl with bruises on her chest area, but truly, absolutely no ulterior motive.
Oh no, this girl has a broken rib—that's terrible.
And this one has a fractured femur.
How cruel could these people be.
"......"
The girls stood up, covering their bodies with their hands.
They'd removed their own muzzles.
The cat-eared girl, who seemed to have the strongest personality of the bunch, was glaring at me—or so I felt.
"Thank you for saving us... hic... thank you..."
The dog-eared girl shyly hid her body while expressing her gratitude.
Of course, it was in the Beast God Language.
"I just want to ask one thing— You can understand me, right?"
I asked in the Beast God Language.
Seeing everyone nod, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I could actually talk to them.
Now then, how was Ruijerd doing?
I couldn't exactly bring them to a massacre site.
It might plant some serious trauma.
So I'd stay here a bit longer and enjoy this scene...
No—I'd ask them some questions.
"Can I ask why you were brought here?"
"Nya?"
I asked the cat-eared girl—the one who seemed toughest of the lot.
She was the only one among the seven with no tear tracks.
In exchange, her body was covered in bruises.
Contusions and fractures everywhere.
Not as bad as Eris that one time, but she was the worst off among them.
The runner-up was the first boy I'd saved.
Unlike the boy though, the girl's eyes hadn't lost their light.
She might be stronger-willed than Eris.
No—she was probably older than Eris at the time.
If they were the same age, my Eris wouldn't lose out either.
Yeah, why was I comparing?
For the record, this girl's OP power was the second highest among all seven.
I predicted she'd grow up to be quite the handful.
The number one in OP power was the dog-eared kid from earlier.
If he was already this level at his age, he'd turn out absolutely shameless in the future.
Truly outrageous.
"We were playing in the forest when suddenly a weird man grabbed us, nya!"
I was stunned.
Nya!
Sentence-ending nya!
A real nya!
Not like Eris's imitation.
This was the real deal—a genuine beast race cat-nya.
It wasn't just because of the Beast God Language.
She genuinely added "nya" to the end of her sentences.
Berry good. I wanted to squeeze her chest.
No—I meant— "So that means all of you were forcibly kidnapped?"
Suppressing my emotions, I asked calmly, and everyone nodded.
Good.
If they'd been living hard lives and sold by their parents— Or sold themselves because they couldn't survive— Then what we did would have been an unwanted favor.
Thank goodness.
This was a rescue mission.
And thank goodness it didn't end up being a betrayal of the smugglers who'd done their job properly.
"I'm done," Ruijerd said, returning.
At some point, the marimo hair was gone, and a bandage was wrapped around his forehead.
His clothes were clean.
Not a drop of blood splattered on him.
Impressive.
"Welcome back.
While we're at it, let's find them some clothes.
They'll catch a cold like this."
"Got it."
"Everyone, please wait here a moment."
We split up to search for clothes.
There were none that fit children, though.
Had the kidnappers stripped them and thrown away their clothes when they took them?
Why?
It made no sense.
The reason for stripping children naked was equally mysterious.
Eventually, we found some clothes that looked like smuggling merchandise.
The sizes were way too big, but should we put them on the kids?
No—items like these could be traced.
Better not.
No clothes.
This was dire.
Without clothes, we couldn't even go to a clothing shop.
I glanced out the window. Bodies were piled up outside.
Every one of them killed with a single stab to the heart and throat.
Once, seeing this would have horrified me, but now it was almost reassuring.
There were more than I expected, though.
The smell of blood was overwhelming.
Monsters would be drawn to this.
Better burn them quickly.
Thinking that, I stepped outside the building.
Facing the corpses, I conjured a fireball.
A fireball.
About five meters in radius should do.
Fire magic seemed to increase in size when you cranked up the firepower—I wasn't sure why.
I didn't want to smell roasting flesh.
So I burned them to charcoal in one blast.
But the fire was too intense, and it spread a little to the building and surrounding area.
I quickly extinguished it with water magic.
That was close—I nearly became an arsonist.
"Rudeus. I'm done," Ruijerd called.
I'd been burning bodies when Ruijerd came out of the building with the children.
The children were properly dressed.
Dressed was a generous word—they wore something like feather cloaks.
"Where did you find those clothes?"
"I cut the curtains."
Huh. Smart thinking.
A regular fountain of grandfatherly wisdom, wasn't he?
--- We lit the torches that had been at the building's entrance and gave one to each child.
For the route to town, I decided to take a different path than before.
Running into other smugglers would be a problem, but that previous road was probably built to avoid monsters.
It didn't matter to us.
"Nyaa!"
Suddenly, the cat-eared girl cried out.
Nyaa, nyaa, nyaa—her voice echoed through the darkness.
"What's wrong?"
Trying to tell her to keep it down, I asked anyway.
"Nyaa! Wasn't there a dog in that building we were just at?!"
The cat-eared girl grabbed onto Ruijerd's leg.
Her expression was desperate.
"There was," Ruijerd said.
"Why didn't you save it, nya?!"
Come to think of it, there had been one.
Wait—was that a dog?
It had been pretty huge, though.
"You guys were the priority," Ruijerd said.
Accusatory looks were directed at him.
Hey now.
You were the ones who got rescued by him—don't give him that look.
"I should mention— He was the one who said we should rescue you."
"We're... grateful for that, nya. But..."
"If you're grateful, at least say thank you."
When I said that, each of them bowed their heads.
Good.
They had even more to be grateful for.
"I'll go back now and rescue it.
Ruijerd, take them to town."
"Got it. Where should I take them?"
"Wait somewhere just outside town."
With that, I turned back.
Take them where, exactly?
Hmm.
This was a tough one.
How could I ensure Ruijerd's illegal border crossing went undetected, that the smuggling ring didn't learn he was alive, and that the children were safely returned to their parents?
What if I submitted a quest to the
The kids could be left at the Adventurer's Guild.
No—wait. That wouldn't work.
A quest that prominent would tip off the smuggling ring.
Quest submissions always left the requester's name on file.
If they traced it back, they'd discover we'd used the smuggling ring.
What about handing the children to the guards and leaving town quickly ourselves?
No—the interrogation would expose Ruijerd and me.
And the smuggling ring would find out.
Besides, I'd heard the rainy season was coming soon.
Even if we left town, we'd have nowhere to go.
Should I just go all in and destroy the smuggling ring entirely?
No—we didn't even know the scale of their organization.
And before all that, we could even be mistaken for the kidnappers ourselves.
Hmm.
This was...
I might have acted too hastily.
Should I frame someone else?
Yeah.
That might actually work.
If I wrote "Demon Emperor
Kishirika had told me to call on her if anything came up, after all.
"I'm here," I said, arriving at the building.
In the end, I hadn't come up with a plan.
What to do...
--- I moved to the room where I'd seen the magic circle.
When I entered, it greeted me with suspicious eyes.
No tail wagging. No barking.
It just lay there limply.
"It really is a dog."
Chained in the middle of the magic circle was a puppy.
Puppy was the right word—you could tell at a glance it was young.
But it was enormous.
About two meters long.
Why were all dogs and cats in this world so big?
At first glance, I thought its fur was white, but it was actually silver.
Or was it the lighting? It seemed to shimmer and sparkle.
A silver Shiba Inu, large edition.
It had a rather refined and intelligent face.
"I'll get you out now... ow!"
As I stepped into the magic circle, I was repelled.
It wasn't a sharp slap exactly.
More like... it directly stimulated my pain receptors.
The magic circle apparently functioned as a barrier.
When it came to barriers, they were a type of healing magic.
I knew absolutely nothing about the theory.
"Hmm."
I circled the magic circle, observing.
It emitted a pale blue light, dimly illuminating the room.
If it was glowing, that meant magic power was flowing through it.
Cut the supply, and the circle would disappear.
The standard method for dispelling magical traps.
The source of magic power would be magic crystals.
But I couldn't see anything resembling magic crystals.
No—they were probably there. I just couldn't find them.
They'd be hidden somewhere.
Probably underground.
Should I use Earth magic to extract the magic crystals from below?
With traps like this, if you forcibly dispelled them, anything could happen.
I'd need to remove them cleanly...
Wait.
Hold on.
Think simpler.
How had they originally planned to get the dog out of this circle?
Judging from the corpses, there hadn't been a mage among them.
There had to be a simple method that even beginners could use.
Think about that instead.
First—the location of the magic crystals.
I'd assumed they were underground.
But if they were underground, the smugglers couldn't reach them either.
A place they could reach...
But still a spot that could supply magic power...
"Hmm, if not below, then above?"
I went up to the second floor of the building.
Directly above the magic circle was a small magic circle and a wooden lantern-like object.
In the center of the lantern was something that looked like a magic crystal.
Perfect.
Lucky to find it on the first try.
I carefully lifted the lantern.
The magic circle on the ground floor vanished instantly.
I went downstairs.
The circle was gone.
Good, good.
"Woof...!"
When I approached the dog, it glared at me with threatening eyes and growled.
I'd never been good with animals.
Same old story.
I observed the puppy carefully.
It was growling with all its might, but its body clearly had no strength.
It looked completely drained.
From hunger?
No—those chains were suspicious.
Looking closer, there were patterns carved into them.
Should I remove them?
But what if it was dangerous?
If these chains were suppressing the dog's power, removing them could unleash an attack.
If it bit me a little, Healing could fix it, but...
"How can I get you not to bite me?"
I murmured without thinking.
The puppy seemed to understand my words—it tilted its head, going "Woof?"
Hmm.
"If you don't bite, I'll remove this collar and return you to your owner. How about that?"
When I said that in the Beast God Language, the dog stopped growling and obediently lay down on the ground.
It understood language.
This other world was really convenient.
I used magic to cut the chain.
I felt the dog's strength return immediately.
It tried to stand up and run, but I stopped it.
"Hold on—the collar is still on."
The dog looked at me and obediently lay back down again.
I struggled to remove the collar.
There was no keyhole.
Without a keyhole, I couldn't use Unlock.
That was strange—how had they planned to remove it?
Maybe they hadn't planned to remove it at all?
After some trial and error, I found the clasp.
It seemed like a snap-type—just needed to be popped off.
"I'm going to remove it now, so don't move."
Carefully, I used Earth magic to generate soil between the clasp joints and pried it open.
It snapped off with a click.
"Done."
The puppy shook its head vigorously.
"Woof!"
"Whoa there."
Then it planted its front paws on both my shoulders and, with its considerable weight, suddenly knocked me flat.
I rolled pathetically on the ground.
It licked my face enthusiastically.
"Woof!"
No no no, puppy, I have a wife and a husb— I tried to push the silver furball off me.
But it was surprisingly heavy, and soft and fluffy.
So incredibly fluffy.
That was nice and all.
But heavy.
My chest creaked under the weight.
Moving it seemed difficult.
I gave up on getting free from the licking and decided to enjoy the feel of its fur until it got bored.
Yeah. Fluffy.
In today's youth slang—mofu-mofu.
So soft...
Dude, you used fabric softener, didn't you?
No way, I didn't use any~!
--- "What are you doing to the Sacred Beast?!"
"Huh?"
I was enjoying the furball when I was suddenly shouted at.
A surviving smuggler? I looked up from where I still lay on the ground.
Chocolate-colored skin. Beast-like ears. A tiger-like tail.
Ghislaine...?
No.
She looked very similar, but it wasn't her.
The musculature and hair were similar, but slightly different.
The biggest difference was the chest.
No chest at all.
It was a man.
The man held his hand over his mouth.
A Uraa-ra pose.
Oh no.
Something was going to happen.
I needed to run.
But I couldn't move.
"Puppy, get off—I can't escape from him!"
The dog moved.
I scrambled to my feet.
I activated Foresight.
I saw the vision.
<The man holds his hand over his mouth> He's not doing anything?
That thought had barely formed when the man roared.
『URRRRRAOOOAAAAARRRR!』
Overwhelming volume.
Several times louder than Eris's shriek, at least.
The sound seemed to have physical mass.
My eardrums buzzed.
My brain shook.
When I came to, I was on the ground.
Couldn't stand.
This was bad.
Healing...
My hands wouldn't move.
What was this—some kind of magic?
This was bad.
Bad bad bad.
I was going to be killed.
Could I still use magic?
Concentrate the mana... no good.
The man grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up.
Looking at my face, the man frowned.
"Hm... still a child.
Too young to kill."
Oh, I might survive after all.
Thank goodness.
Being in a child's body had paid off.
"Gwess, what happened?"
Another man appeared.
Also resembling Ghislaine, but with white hair.
An old man.
"Father. I've incapacitated one of the smugglers."
"......A smuggler? Isn't he a child?"
"But he was attacking the Sacred Beast."
"Hmm."
"He was petting the Sacred Beast with a lecherous grin on his face.
He may not be the age he appears."
No no no—I'm eleven years old!
I am absolutely not a forty-five-year-old man in spirit!
"Woof!" the dog barked.
The man called Gwess knelt before the dog.
"I apologize, Sacred Beast.
We should have arrived sooner, but our rescue was delayed."
"Woof!"
"To think the Sacred Beast would fall into the hands of such a man... ugh..."
"Woof!"
"Hm? You don't mind? How generous..."
Were they actually communicating?
It was just barking, wasn't it?
"Gwess—I smell Tona and the others from the room below.
They were definitely here."
The old man spoke.
Tona—who was that?
From the sound of it, probably one of the beast race children.
"......Let's bring this boy back to the village and interrogate him."
"There's no time. The last ship leaves tomorrow."
Gwess gritted his teeth.
"......We have no choice but to give up.
At least we managed to rescue the Sacred Beast."
"......What do we do with this one?"
"Bring him back to the village. He might know something."
Gwess nodded and pulled a rope from his waist, tying my hands behind my back.
I was slung over his shoulder.
The dog trotted along behind Gwess, looking up at me with worry.
It's okay.
Don't worry.
These guys apparently weren't smugglers.
They'd come to rescue the children from earlier.
So if I could just explain, they'd understand.
I just needed to wait until I could talk.
"Hmm..."
Once outside, the old man sniffed the air.
"There's a smell."
"A smell? The blood scent is so thick, I can't—"
"Faintly. It's Tona's group.
And there's another smell—that of the demon race."
At the mention of "that smell," Gwess's expression darkened.
"You're saying that demon was here and took Tona and the others?"
"Who knows. Maybe they were actually the ones who rescued them."
"That can't be... no way..."
It seemed they'd picked up Ruijerd's scent.
"Gwess. I'll track the smell.
Take the boy and the Sacred Beast back to the village."
"No—I'm coming too."
"You're too hot-headed. This boy might not even be a smuggler."
The elder's words certainly had weight.
Correct.
I was not a smuggler.
Please let me explain.
"Even so, he was touching the Sacred Beast with those filthy hands.
The boy reeks of aroused human scent.
He was sexually aroused by the Sacred Beast—unbelievable."
PIGYAA!
No!
I wasn't aroused by the dog!
It was the naked girls from the innocent...!
No—wait, that was also bad!
"Then lock him in a cell.
But don't touch him until I return."
"Sir!"
The old man nodded once and sprinted into the dark forest.
Gwess watched him go, then turned to me.
"Hmph. You got lucky."
Yes. Truly.
"Then, Sacred Beast. We'll be running a bit—I know you're tired, but..."
"Woof!"
"Right!"
And so I was carried on Gwess's shoulder, deep into the forest.
--- — Ruijerd's Perspective — We'd made it close to town, but Rudeus still hadn't returned.
Had he gotten lost?
No—if that were the case, he'd have fired some kind of magic into the sky.
Something must have gone wrong.
I'd eliminated everyone in that building.
But reinforcements could have arrived from elsewhere, and they might have run into each other.
Should I go back and check even now?
No—Rudeus wasn't a child.
Even if enemies appeared, he could handle it somehow.
He was still young and a bit soft in places, but he wasn't the type to be careless behind enemy lines.
Eris wasn't with him either.
If Rudeus used magic at full power, no one could beat him.
The problem was his reluctance to kill.
If he held back too much, he could end up getting killed instead.
Rudeus didn't worry me, but...
Still, this was a problem.
Taking the children into town like this gave me a bad feeling.
Something similar had happened before.
I'd rescued children from a slaver, taken them to town, and they'd thought I was the kidnapper.
My hair was shaved now, and I'd hidden the eye on my forehead.
But I was bad with words.
If the guards stopped me, I wasn't confident I could explain things well.
If I just left them in town like usual, the townspeople would probably manage.
But what would Rudeus say about that...
"Nyaa, mister, I'm sorry about earlier, nya."
While I was agonizing over this, one of the girls slapped my thigh.
The other children also looked apologetic.
Just looking at them like this made me feel saved.
"It's fine."
It had been a long time since I used the Beast God Language.
When was the last time?
I'd learned it during the
"The Sacred Beast is the symbol of our tribe, nya.
You can't just leave it somewhere like that, nya."
"You're right. Even though I didn't know, I'm sorry."
The girl smiled warmly.
It was nice not to be feared by children.
"Hm..."
At that moment, my 'eye' detected something approaching at high speed.
Fast and powerful.
Coming from the direction of the building.
Reinforcements from their group?
A highly skilled fighter.
Had they defeated Rudeus...?
"Stay back."
I moved the children behind me, leveled my spear, and stepped forward.
First strike wins.
Take them down in one blow.
But the figure stopped before entering my reach.
A beast race man.
He carried a thick, machete-like sword.
He eyed me warily, settling into a calm stance.
He was old, but I sensed a deep, grounded power.
A warrior.
But if he was one of those people's allies, I'd kill him.
Any warrior who let his own kind's children suffer like that was beneath contempt.
"Oh, grandpa, nya!"
The cat girl cried out and ran toward the old warrior.
"Tona! You're safe!"
The old warrior caught her as she threw herself at him, relief washing over his face.
Seeing that, I lowered my spear.
This warrior had come to rescue the kidnapped children.
I was sorry I'd suspected him.
He was a proud man.
The dog-eared girl seemed to know him too, running over.
"Terseena, you're safe too. Good..."
"That person over there saved us."
The old warrior sheathed his sword, came before me, and bowed.
He still seemed wary, though.
As expected.
"So you saved my granddaughter."
"Yes."
"What is your name?"
"Ruijerd..."
I was about to answer "Spelledia," then hesitated.
If he learned I was of the Sperd race, he'd grow cautious.
"Ruijerd. I am Gustave Dedordia.
I will certainly repay this debt. First, I must see the children safely returned to their parents."
"That's right."
"But it's dangerous to let the children travel by night.
I'd also like to hear the details."
The old warrior said this and started walking toward town immediately.
"Wait."
"What is it?"
"Did you see inside the building?"
"I did. The smell of blood was enough to make one's spirit sink."
"Was anyone there?"
"There was one left—a man who looked like a child.
They said he was petting the Sacred Beast with a lecherous grin."
I instinctively knew that was Rudeus.
That man sometimes wore that kind of smile.
"That was my companion."
"What?!"
"Did you kill him?"
Even if it was a misunderstanding.
If they'd killed Rudeus, I would have my revenge.
Before that, though, I'd get the children to their parents.
Eris too.
Right—Eris was alone right now.
I was worried.
"I captured him to get the location of my other companions.
I'll have him released immediately."
Rudeus, you fool—caught off guard.
That man was always too soft.
His mental fortitude was first-rate, but...
No—I shouldn't say that.
I had no right.
Even that fortitude of his, mine was third-rate.
I'd intended to turn a blind eye to everything this time, but I couldn't endure it.
Children being tortured—I couldn't stand it.
Rudeus getting captured was my fault.
Should I go rescue him immediately?
...No.
"Rudeus is a warrior.
As long as he's alive, there's no rush.
Let's prioritize the children first."
The beast race didn't do the kind of torture humans did.
At most, they'd strip you naked and toss you in a cell.
Rudeus was a man who didn't mind being seen naked.
Just the other day, he'd said something incomprehensible like "Don't stop Eris if she wants to peek at me bathing."
He could endure it.
And there was Eris to think about.
Rudeus often asked me to guard Eris.
He was more worried about her than himself.
If that was the case, I should protect Eris too.
I'd put a little more burden on Rudeus.
"I have my reasons and cannot reveal my identity.
I'd like you to take the lead in finding the children's parents."
"Hmm... understood."
Gustave nodded, and we headed for town.