Mushoku Tensei

Volume 4 Chapter 6 - Children of the Beast Race

Part 1

The room was dark.

In the darkness, nude young boys and girls with worried faces were twisting their bodies.

Each of them had different beast ears.

Seven of them, all children.

Four young girls, three young boys.

Their age is about the same as me.

All nude + handcuffs + gags + animal ears or elf ears.

All of them have handcuffs behind their back while curling their body up.

Young girls nude with handcuffs.

Impossible, I couldn't have possibly imagined that the day would come where I really get to see this.

It's nowhere near a sight for sore eyes, Kannon-sama of the young days isn't it.

This is Shangri-la.

No, it's heaven.

I've finally arrived at heaven.

Even though I haven't found something like a green baby!

Then while feeling delight I realized.

Excluding one, all of them have traces of tears and a number of them have bluish black bruises on their faces.

My head cooled down.

They whined and cried and were probably hit for being loud.

The time when Eris was abducted was something like that as well.

In this world, in regards to abducted children, they really don't hold back.

And then that unrestrained torture, Ruijerd heard it all from two rooms away.

That would be the reason he can't wait.

For the time being, judging from a glance, it doesn't look like there are any traces of sexual abuse.

Maybe because they are still young or because it lowers the value of the product.

Either way is fine, it's a blessing within misfortune.

Normally, after seeing nude young girls, I would think I'd be forgiven if I grope them once or so.

However, the current me is just a bit low on lust.

Just before on the boat I did change jobs to Sage after all.

Although, my wisdom hasn't risen at all.

The destitute young boys and girls.

Among the girls, three were shedding tears even now they're still making crying sounds.

Among the boys, two of them are trembling in fear while looking at me and one of them has fainted on the verge of death.

For the time being, I cast healing on the fainted boy.

Then I release his handcuffs.

The gag is tied on tight.

I can't get it off.

There's no helping it I'll burn it off.

I might burn him a bit, but it can't be helped.

He's a boy after all, he'll have to endure it.

I used healing on the remaining two boys and released their handcuffs.

"U…umm? You are?"

It was Beast God language.

I hesitated for a bit after suddenly being spoken to in a different language.

However, I had already properly learned Beast God language.

While remembering my conversations with Ghyslaine I started to talk.

"I've come to save you. The three of you please keep a look out at the entrance of the room. If any one comes please quickly tell me."

The three of them wore worried faces.

"If you're boys you should be able to do that much."

After saying that the three's faces tightened up, they nodded and went to the door.

There was no ulterior motive in those words.

There wasn't any sort of intention to do something to the girls after they're out of view.

Ruijerd is raging upstairs.

Since that's the case no one should come.

However, there's that 1 in 10,000 chance.

I've been using my demon eyes to check the situation in the room.

It's set to see one second ahead.

But, I can't see behind me with it.

It's a counter plan for surprise attacks.

I move to remove the girls' handcuffs.

There's big ones and little ones, there was no ranking there.

I appreciated them all equally and then removed the handcuffs.

By no means did I meaninglessly touch them.

I would like to think tonight's Rudeus is a gentleman.

And then I used healing on bruises from being beaten.

Oh, time for some fun? [Cough]

It's time for treatment.

I can't cast healing without touching with my hand.

Therefore, there's no ulterior motives.

There's bruises around their chest, but I really have no ulterior motives.

It's bad this child has had her ribs broken.

And then this child has had her thigh bone broken, hasn't she.

Really, they do some horrible things.

"……"

The girls used their hands to hide their bodies as they stood up.

I told them to remove the gags themselves.

I have the feeling that the strong willed cat ear girl was glaring at me heartlessly.

"You've come to save us? Hikku. Thank you."

The dog ear girl gave her thanks while hiding her body embarrassed.

Of course it was in Beast God language.

"I'll ask for now, but you can understand my words, right?"

Let's see if they can understand my Beast God words.

I felt relieved after all of them nodded.

It seems we'll be able to properly talk to them.

Now then, it doesn't seem like Ruijerd is done yet.

I can't really go bringing them into a scene of massacre now.

I wouldn't want to end up leaving them with some sort of weird trauma.

Since that's the case, I'll stay here for just a bit longer and watch this scene.

Or not… listen to their story.

"Is it fine if I ask how you ended up being brought here?"

"Nya?"

I asked the cat ear girl who seemed to have the strongest will power among them.

Among the seven of them she was the only one who didn't have traces of crying.

In exchange, her entire body was covered in bruises.

Her entire body was covered in blows and bone fractures.

It's not much better from Eris some time ago, but she was in the worst condition here.

Number two was the boy I saved at the start.

Just, unlike the boy, the girl hadn't lost the strength from her eyes.

Her will might be stronger than Eris.

No, she's probably older than the Eris of that time.

If they were the same age, our Eris shouldn't lose.

Yeah, exactly what am I comparing here.

Incidentally, this child's OP power is the second highest among all of them here.

I can imagine she's been raised quite cheeky.

Incidentally, the number one OP power is the dog ear girl from just now.

If she's already at that level at this age, then in her future she should be considerably lax.

"We were playing in the forest when all of a sudden strange men captured us nya!"

I received a shock.

Nya!

She used nya!

A real nya!

It's different from Eris' fake nya.

This child has a real beast race nya.

It's not like I'm hearing it just because it's in Beast God language.

She certainly just added nya to the end of her words.

Very good. I want to grope her breasts.

Or not.

"In other words, that means all of you were forcefully abducted right?"

After restraining my excitement and listening they all nodded.

That is good.

If their lives were horrible and they were sold by their parents.

Or they couldn't live and they sold themselves.

If that was the case and they were in those sorts of circumstances then this would be an unwelcome favor from us.

That's good.

This is an act of mercy.

That's really good.

I'm really glad that our work in betraying the smugglers is going to end with only that betrayal.

"I'm done."

Ruijerd came back.

At some point the Marimo on his head had disappeared and he had returned to a bowl head.

His clothes were quite clean.

It seems he didn't get hit by any blood splatter at all.

As expected.

"Thank you for your work. We should look for their clothes. They'll catch a cold like this."

"Understood."

"Everyone please wait for just a bit."

We split up and went looking for their clothes.

However, we couldn't find any sort of children clothes.

I wonder if they threw away the clothes after they stripped them at the time of abduction.

For what reason?

I don't really get it.

The reason they would strip children nude is a mystery as well.

For the time being, we found some suitable clothes among the smuggled goods.

The size is too big, but they'll have to make use of this.

No, these sorts of clothes might trip up their feet.

We shouldn't use these.

There's no clothes.

How serious.

If you don't have any clothes you can't go into a clothes shop after all.

Suddenly I looked out the window and I noticed a heap of corpses.

All of them had a single stab to the throat or heart.

In the past when I saw Ruijerd do something like this I thought it was frightening, but now I feel it's reliable.

However, the number is surprisingly large.

The smell of blood is amazing.

It seems like monsters might come.

I guess I should burn them soon.

After thinking that I went outside of the building.

I created a fire ball before the corpses.

Fire ball.

The size should be fine around 5 meter radius.

When it comes to fire magic when you raise the power of the heat for some reason the size increases as well.

I don't want to smell the scent of burning flesh.

I'll go with burning them into ashes in a single blow.

Then because the power was just a bit too strong, a bit of the fire spread to the building.

I quickly extinguished it with a water technique.

How dangerous, I almost became an arsonist.

"Rudeus. It's done."

After I finished burning the corpses, Ruijerd came out from the building.

Along with the children.

After taking a good look at the children they were properly wearing clothes.

Rather than calling them clothes it felt more like robes.

"Those clothes, where did you find them?"

"I cut the curtains."

I see. Smart.

It's an old man's bag of wisdom I guess.

Part 2

We lit some torches and left through the entrance of the building, then gave one to each of the children.

As for the route to town, we decided to take a different one than the one from just now.

It would be a problem if another smuggler found us, that path is most likely used so they won't be attacked by monsters.

It's got no relation to us.

"Nya!"

Then the cat ear girl suddenly raised her voice.

Nya? Nya? Nya? the voice echoed in the darkness.

"What's wrong?"

They didn't really make too much noises, after thinking that I listened.

"Nyaa! Wasn't there a dog in that building just now nya?!"

The cat girl was clinging onto Ruijerd's leg.

Her desperation could be understood from her expression.

"There was."

"Why didn't you save it nya!"

Come to think of it, it was there.

That was a dog, huh.

It was considerably restrained.

"You guys are first."

Eyes of blame gathered on Ruijerd.

Hey-hey.

Even though we just saved you guys, there's no reason for those eyes.

"I'll just say this, but the one who wanted to save you was him."

"We…we're thankful for that nya. However…"

"If you're grateful then please give a word of gratitude."

After I said that each of them lowered their head.

That's good.

They should be more grateful.

"I'll go back now and save it. Ruijerd you continue to lead them towards the town."

"Understood, where would it be good to lead them to?"

"Please wait just before you enter the town."

After saying that I returned down the path.

Where should we take them to, huh.

Hmm.

It's a difficult question.

We have to keep it from being revealed that Ruijerd was smuggled in, as well as prevent the smuggling organization from knowing Ruijerd is alive, as well as finding a method to return the children to their parents.

For example, how about making a job with the Adventurer's guild, "We are looking after some children's well being, we're looking for their parents."

It would be fine if we could just leave the children with the Adventurers's Guild.

No, that's no good.

If we make that grand of a job then the smuggling organization will notice it.

If you place a job, the name of the job offerer is always left after all.

If they manage to arrive there they'll eventually realize we used the smuggling organization.

How about if we just leave the children with some guards and then we quickly leave town.

No, while listening to our circumstances they would find out about Ruijerd and I.

The smuggling organization would find out.

Also, there's the talk that the rainy season is coming soon.

Even if we leave town we have nowhere to go.

Might as well just eat the plate along with the poison.

We could finish annihilating the smuggling organization.

No, we don't know the scale of the opposing organization.

In the first place, before that, there's the possibility that they could mistake us as the kidnappers.

Hmumu.

This is just a bit…

It might have been a bit rash.

Might as well just blame someone.

Yeah.

That seems like the best option.

If I write something like "Great Demon Emperor Kishirika Has Arrived!" on the wall or something like that, they might surprisingly believe it.

Kishirika did say to rely on her if anything happens after all.

"Oh…"

I arrived at the building.

In the end I couldn't resolve my thoughts.

What should we do about it?

Part 3

I moved to the room where I saw that magic circle.

After I entered the room, that dog looked at me with suspicious eyes.

Without waving its tail or howling at all.

It was completely exhausted.

"It's certainly a dog."

What was chained in the center of the magic circle was a puppy.

I recognized it as a puppy at a glance, but the size is considerably large.

It's at least two meters.

I wonder why all the cats and dogs of this world are so large.

The first time I saw it I thought it was white, but it seems it was silver.

Probably because of the light, it looks like it's sparkling in the light.

A silver mame shiba, on the large large size.

It's quite refined with a pretty clever face.

"I'm about to save you now… Ow?!"

Then the magic circle in the prison shined a bit.

It wasn't a ching sort of feeling.

How do I put it, it was as if my sense of pain directly received the stimulus itself.

It seems that this magic circle is some sort of barrier.

If we speak about barriers then it's a variety of healing magic.

I don't understand the principle at all.

"Hmm…"

For the time being, I'll circle around the surroundings of the magic circle and observe it.

The magic circle is slightly lighting the room as it gives off a pale blue light.

The fact that it's shining should mean that there's magic power flowing into it.

If I remove the source of that magic power then the magic circle should disappear.

That's something I learned from Roxy.

The typical pattern for a magic like trap release method.

If we're speaking of sources for magic power supply then it would be a magic crystal.

However, I can't see anything that looks like a magic crystal.

No, it's probably just that it can't be found.

It's probably hidden somewhere.

Probably, underground.

Removing the magic crystal from under the ground with earth magic, huh.

If I forcefully remove the magic circle I don't know what might happen.

I wonder if there's some way to cleanly remove it?

Hnn, wait a second.

Wait-wait…

Let's think more simply.

In the first place, how would they remove the dog from this magic circle?

Judging from the corpses it didn't seem like there were any magicians among them.

It should have a simple release method that even an amateur can do.

Think about that.

First, the location of the magic crystal.

I would have put it underground.

However, if it was underground then they wouldn't be able to retrieve it.

A place they can retrieve it?

Also a place that you can supply magic power from?

"Hmm, if not below then above I guess?"

I went upstairs to the second floor of the building.

The room just above the magic circle.

There was a small magic circle and something like a torch made out of a tree sitting there.

In the center of the torch was something I suspect to be a magic crystal.

Very well.

Finding it in one try is good luck.

I carefully tried picking up the torch.

Then, the magic circle on the ground disappeared.

Then I went down to the first floor.

The magic circle had disappeared.

Alright good.

"Wu…!"

After I got near the dog, he groaned at me and made a threatening face.

Since the past animals have never seemed to like me.

It's the same as usual.

After carefully observing the situation of the puppy.

It was a growl with power behind it, but it seems like there's no power in its body.

It gives off a dead tired impression.

I wonder if it's from hunger.

No, those chains are suspicious.

After approaching to look there's some sort of pattern carved into them.

For the time being should I try removing them.

No, maybe it's dangerous?

If these chains are restraining the power of the dog then the moment I remove them it might suddenly attack me.

It's fine if it's just being bitten enough that I can still heal but…

"How can I do this without being bitten I wonder?"

Of all things I tried speaking to it.

And then after I asked if it understood my words and the puppy tilted its head with a "Wu?".

Hmm.

"If you don't bite me I don't mind removing that collar and returning you to your owner, what will you do?"

After saying that in Beast God language, the dog stopped groaning and laid down on the ground obediently.

It seems it understands words.

Being in another world sure is convenient.

For the time being, I'll cut the chains with magic.

Then, I felt power returned to the dogs body.

It seemed like it was going to quickly stand up and start running, but I stopped it.

"Wait wait, the collar is still left."

And then the dog looked at me and laid down obediently again.

I'll have to try my best to remove the collar.

I can't find a key hole.

Without a key hole, how do I unlock it.

Strange, exactly how do they remove this?

Was it never intended to be removed?

Then against all odds.

I somehow managed to find a connecting part.

It seems like it's the type you have to do very carefully otherwise it fails.

"I'm about to remove it for you, don't move."

I carefully used earth magic to fill in the gap and force it open, then released the lock.

There was a bing sound and the collar came undone.

"Alright."

The puppy shook its neck.

"Won!"

"Uou."

And then it put its forelegs on my shoulders and with that heavy body weight pushed me over.

I who fell over unsightly,

had my face licked all over.

"Won!"

Ahn~, you can't do that doggy, I have a wife and husband…!

I could just try pushing aside the big ball of silver fur, but it's surprisingly heavy as well as soft and fluffy.

It's soft and fluffy.

That's fine.

Heavy.

My chest is being crushed.

It seems like it will be difficult to remove it.

I can't help being licked so I gave up, I decided to enjoy the sensation of the fur until the dog gave up.

Yeah. It's fluffy.

If I were to put it into the "now" and "young" terms it would be, mofumofu.

It's soft…

Are you using some softening agent?

Ehhhh? ~~ I'm not using one~~ ?

Part 4

"You bastard, what are you doing to Holy Beast-sama!"

"Eh?"

Just as I was enjoying myself I suddenly heard a yell call out.

I thought it was survivors from the smugglers, so I looked up while laying down.

Chocolate skin, beast-like ears, and a tiger-like tail.

Ghyslaine…?

No, that's wrong.

It looks a lot like her but it's different.

The muscles and the hairy parts are the same, but slightly different.

The number one big part is different.

The chest.

There are no breasts.

It's a man.

The man hit his mouth with his hand.

Urara pose.

Ah, that's bad.

He's going to do something.

If I don't run. i????????????????????d. ????o????

However, I can't move.

"Doggy move away, I can't run away like this!"

The dog moved.

I stood up in a panic.

I started my foresight.

I could see the vision.

<The man hit his mouth with his hand>

He's not going to do anything.

Just at the moment I thought that, the man let out a howl.

"Uoooooon!"

An overwhelming volume.

It's a volume that's several times greater than Eris' scream.

I felt that it had a mass as well.

My eardrums are making a bing sound and vibrating.

My brain is shaking.

Just as I realize it, I fall to the ground.

I can't stand.

This is bad.

I need to use healing.

I can't move my hands.

What is this, some kind of magic?

Danger.

Danger danger danger.

I'm going to be killed.

I can't use magic.

I need to focus on the magic power but I can't.

I was picked up by the man and raised to his chest.

After seeing my face the man raised his eyebrows and was offended.

"Hnnn? Still a child. It's not very tolerant to kill him."

Ah, it seems I'm saved.

I feel relieved.

Thank god I have the appearance of a child.

"Gyes, what's going on?"

Then another man appeared.

As I thought, they look quite similar to Ghyslaine, but with grey hair.

It's an old man.

"Father. I've incapacitated one of the smugglers."

"Smuggler? Isn't it a child."

"However, he was attacking Holy Beast-sama."

"Hmmm."

"He was stroking and hugging Holy Beast-sama while wearing an indecent smile. It could be possible that his age doesn't match how he looks."

Tha…that's wrong. I am 11 years old.

I am absolutely not a mental age 45 year old man!

"Won!"

The dog let out a howl.

Then the man called Gyes knelt in front of the dog.

"Please accept my apologies Holy Beast-sama. Normally we would have run straight to your aid, but a bit of a small problem caused us to be late."

"Wan!"

"It can't be that Holy Beast-sama's body by this mans hands… ku…"

"Wan!"

"Eh? You don't mind? How tolerant…"

I wonder if the conversation is being understood.

It just sounds like wan wan.

"Gyes, there's the smell of Tona and others from downstairs. There should be no mistake that they were being held here."

Then the old man said it.

I wonder who Tona is.

Going by their conversation one of the beast race children I guess.

"Take this boy and return to the village. We'll listen to his story."

"We don't have that kind of spare time. Tomorrow the last ship will leave."

Gyes made a "Gu" sound while grinding his teeth.

"We have no option other than to give up. It's good fortune that we at least managed to save Holy Beast-sama."

"What should we do with this guy?"

"Take him and return to the village. He might know something."

Gyes nodded and took a rope off his waist and then tied my hands behind my back.

Then he started carrying me on his shoulder.

From behind Gyes I could see the dog toddling along.

Looking up in a worried way.

It's alright.

Don't worry.

It seems these guys aren't the smugglers.

They've come to save the children from just now.

Therefore, as long as I talk they'll understand.

I just need to wait until they're willing to listen.

"Mu…"

After we got outside the old man started to sniff around.

"There's a scent."

"Can you smell? The scent of blood is thick so I can't…"

"It's faintly there. It's Tona and the others scent. And then one more person, that magic race's scent."

After hearing about that scent, Gyes's expression turned grim.

"That magic race came here and abducted Tona and the others?"

"Well then. He might have unexpectedly saved them."

"There's no way that could be the case."

It seems like somehow or other they knew Ruijerd's scent.

"Gyes. I'll follow the scent. Take that kid and Holy Beast-sama and return to the village at once."

"No, I'm going as well."

"You have too quick of a temper. In regards to that kid, it could be possible that he isn't a smuggler."

As expected of someone who is elderly, the way he thinks about things is different.

That's right.

I'm not a smuggler.

Please listen to my defense.

"Even if that is the case, the fact that he was touching Holy Beast-sama with his dirty hands is no mistake. I could smell the scent of a human race's sexual arousal coming from this boy. It's unbelievable for him to be sexually aroused towards Holy Beast-sama."

Pigya!

That's wrong.

I wasn't feeling any lust towards a dog!

Just the nude and helpless young girls…?

No, that's dangerous as well!

"In that case, throw him into the prison. However, don't lay your hands on him until I return."

"Yes!!"

The old man nodded once and started to run off into the dark forest.

After Gyes saw him off he said a single line to me.

"Hnnn, you barely escaped from death."

Yes, really.

"Now then Holy Beast-sama. We'll be running for a bit, I'm sure you're a bit tired, but…"

"Wan!"

"Right!"

And then I was carried deep into the forest on Gyes's shoulder.

Part 5

Ruijerd Point of View

We made it close to the town, but Rudeus hasn't come back yet.

It can't be that he's lost, could it?

No, if that was the case then he would have launched magic into the sky.

Then, what if there was some sort of trouble.

I eliminated all of the humans in that building.

However, if more troops came from a different location they might have run into each other.

I wonder if I should return and confirm right now.

No, Rudeus isn't a child.

Even in the case that enemies appear, he should be able to deal with them somehow or other.

Since he's still young he still has some parts that are naive, but he's not such a naive sort of man that he would let his guard down on enemy ground.

Right now Eris isn't around the surroundings.

If Rudeus seriously uses magic, then he shouldn't lose to anyone.

The problem is that he has some resistance against killing people.

If he does a bad job of going easy, the probability that he could be killed in return is high.

I shouldn't need to worry about Rudeus…

However, I'm in trouble.

If I take the children like this and bring them into town, I have a premonition that only bad things will happen.

Similar things have happened a number of times.

Save a child from a slave dealer, then bring them to a town, then they come to the misunderstanding that I was the one who abducted them.

Right now my hair is shaved and I'm hiding my 3rd eye.

However, I'm a poor speaker.

If the guards were to call out to me, I don't have the confidence I could explain it well.

If I just leave them behind in the town like usual, someone from the town should usually do something.

No, if I do that then I don't know what Rudeus will say.

"Nya, older brother, sorry about before nya."

While I was worrying one of the young girls came up and tapped on my thigh.

The other children as well look quite apologetic.

Just by seeing that I feel like I'm being saved.

"Don't mind it."

In any case, it's been quite a while since I last used Beast God language.

I wonder when exactly it was that I last used it.

I learned it during the Laplace campaign, though I don't remember using it very much.

"The Holy Beast-sama is our family's symbol nya after all. We can't just afford to leave it in that place nya."

"I see. Even though it was something I didn't know, I'm sorry about that."

After saying that the girl laughed a bit and smiled.

After all, it's nice when children aren't afraid.

"Mu…"

Then at that moment, my "eye" captured the presence of something approaching rapidly.

It's a pretty strong and fast presence.

It's coming from the direction of the building.

One of their allies?

He's quite skilled.

It can't be, was Rudeus defeated?

"Stand back."

I had the children stand back, prepared my spear and moved in front.

First move is certain victory.

I'll finish him off in a single blow.

Is what I was thinking, but he stopped his feet before he entered my reach.

A beast race man.

He was using a sword that was heavy with death.

After I saw that my vigilance increased and I silently prepared myself.

He might be elderly, but I feel a strong and composed dignity from his presence.

A warrior.

However, if he's an ally of one of those lot from just now, I'll kill him.

Someone who would allow those sorts of things to happen to their own race's children, I can't allow for such a thing to be considered a warrior.

"Ah, grandfather nya!"

The cat girl raised her voice and rushed over to the old warrior.

"Tona! You were alright!"

The old warrior caught the girl who jumped at him and made a relieved expression.

After seeing that I lowered my spear.

It seems this warrior had come to save the abducted children.

I'm sorry for suspecting he was someone who can't hold a wind towards warriors.

He's a man with great pride.

The dog ear seemed to be an acquaintance as well, so she too rushed over.

"Terusena is alright as well, huh. That's great."

"That person over there saved us."

The old warrior lowered his sword and bowed his head in my direction.

However, it seems he's still alert.

Naturally.

"It seems like you saved my granddaughter."

"Yeah."

"What's your name?"

"Ruijerd…"

Superdia. I hesitated a bit to answer that part.

If they know I'm of the Superd race they will be vigilant.

"Ruijerd, huh. I am Gustav Dedorudia. I will surely repay this gratitude. For starters we must return the children to their parents."

"That's right."

"However, it's dangerous to have the children move at night. I'd like to hear more details about the story."

After the old warrior said that, we soon started walking towards the town.

"Wait."

"What's wrong?"

"Did you go into the building?"

"Hmumu. I started to feel depressed because it was filled with nothing but blood."

"Was there no one there?"

"There was one remaining. It seemed like a man who was pretending to be a child. I heard he was stroking Holy Beast-sama with an indecent smile."

It's Rudeus, is what I understood intuitively.

Those sorts of smiles occasionally appear on that guy.

"That is one of my allies."

"How could that be!"

"It can't be that you killed him?"

Even if it was a misunderstanding.

If they killed Rudeus then I would carry out revenge.

Though before that I would see that the children are returned to their parents.

Eris as well.

That's right. Then Eris would be alone.

I'm worried.

"I had him taken prisoner in order to tell us the location of his other allies. I'll quickly have him released."

Rudeus, you let your guard down, huh.

That guy is always too naive.

His preparedness is first rate, but…

No, there's no need to say it.

There's no point in me saying it.

In regards to that preparedness I'm 3rd rate.

This time, I even intended to close my eyes to all their crimes, but I couldn't endure it.

I couldn't resist it anymore after the children were tortured.

The reason Rudeus was captured was because of my selfishness.

Should we quickly go off to save him?

No.

"Rudeus is a warrior. It's fine not to hurry as long as he isn't dead. First of all we should put priority on the children."

The beast race don't use torture like the human race.

At most they would strip him naked and throw him into prison.

Rudeus is a man who would not care about being seen naked.

Just the other day he said, "It's fine if you don't stop Eris from coming to peek on me when I'm bathing." Some things I don't really understand.

I'm sure he can endure it.

Besides there's the matter of Eris.

Rudeus often asks me to guard Eris.

Rather than himself, he's more worried about Eris.

In that case, I should make sure to protect Eris as well.

I'll have to burden Rudeus for just a while longer.

"I can't make my identity known due to some circumstances. I'd like you to take over charge of returning these children to their parents."

"Hmumu… I understand."

Gustav nodded, and we started to head towards the town.