124 Escape (1/2)

Li casted [Tranquility] over both beastwomen as that was his bread and butter healing and debuff cleansing spell, and as the A ranked magic swept over the two women in rivulets of shimmering green power, the old wounds on their bodies etched out by fangs, claws, and weapons faded away entirely.

The pentagonal marks on their necks crumbled away into dust, and awareness and focus returned to their eyes. Two pairs of bestial eyes blinked several times as they flitted about before settling in on Li.

A rustle of sharp movement.

Ada and her husband had retreated, their backs to the opposite wall as they stared ahead in fear. Li was far more nonchalant, making sure his expression was neutral as each of his hands held onto the beastwomens' wrists, holding back bared claws and muscles trembling with exertion.

”Relax,” said Li, his Allspeak translating simultaneously into both the language of the Feli and Serpi. As he spoke their tongue, the beastwomen, their expressions wild and fierce, their fangs bared, softened just a little. ”I'm here to help.”

”You lie!” said the Serpi, her forked tongue flitting from her mouth. Her free hand opened up and pointed towards Li, the glimmer of magic swirling around her fingers. ”Just as all the other humans have.”

The Feli was no less aggressive, her long golden hair rising as her innate power flared out. She also took her free hand back, the claws on it extending even further. ”You will not deceive me by speaking my own tongue. I will never submit to control under your like again.”

Li sighed. He had half expected this. Lore painted out beastmen as fiercely individualistic and combative, and that combined with the high stress environment of being ferried around as a slave were the perfect ingredients to concoct a potent brew of tense anxiety and aggression.

”Let's talk later,” said Li with a nod, casting [Sleep Spore], his least invasive and damaging way to put down the weaklings of this world.

The Serpi flitted her tongue out, smelling the air, and almost immediately, her fierce expression softened. The magic around her free hand dulled, and the strength in her arms slacked like a cut rope. Her long black lashes fluttered as her eyelids became heavy.

The Feli's golden hair began to settle down as her nose twitched, the invisible spores circulating through her body. Her yellow tail swished from side to side in lethargy, and she let out a small mew as she opened her mouth wide in a yawn.

Li let go of their hands, and they slumped to the ground in sound and docile sleep. He stooped down and slung each of them over one of his shoulders. It was a little awkward to carry both of them as they were almost up to Li's height, but his superhuman strength managed.

He turned to Ada and her husband. As expected, they were terrified. Understandably so. The duchy was intensely anti-human, every single temple priest espousing an ideology that humans were superior with heroes at the pinnacle of human achievement. An useful ideology in this world, too, as the duchy stood in opposition against the vastly larger Republic composed entirely of non-humans. There was nothing more motivating than fear of the other.

But still an ideology that bred silly ignorance, as was the case with these two, though it seemed far less so with Ada herself. Considering her father had been taught to respect all life, it stood to reason he had passed down some of that to his daughter.

”They're a little tense from being treated like slaves,” said Li matter of factly. ”You'd act much the same in their circumstances, I'm sure.”

He passed by them, going down the end of the low hallway where the magic bound sliding door was.

”What're you goin' to do with em'?” said Ada as she and her husband tentatively followed behind Li.

”How long are slaves kept here?” asked Li, ignoring her question for now.

Ada shifted on her feet. ”Well, I never really kept count. I shut their crimes out of my sight.”

”Two to three days,” said her husband. ”I kept track the first few times to see if I could get any details to report them on. But the men are masked and look tough as nails.”

Li nodded. ”And how long has it been since these two have come here?”

”Just a day, I reckon,” said the husband.

”Then you have one or two days. How fortunate,” said Li.

Ada and her husband looked at each other, and when they saw that neither of them knew what Li was talking about, they gave quizzical expressions to him.

”Take your daughter, father, and the most precious of your belongings and leave if you value your lives. I'm breaking these two beastwomen out of this hosue, and Chevrette will wonder where his product has gone.”

”But where will we go!?” said the husband, panic rising in his voice.