Second World-Novel

"First, we need to find out more information," Jack finally said. He had been thinking about using his incorporeal state mana sense to scout the place, but the mansion which was the target was too far. If he got closer, he faced the risk of getting stumbled over by patrolling demons when he was out of his body. He needed a more traditional approach.

"Do you happen to know any of the satyrs that were working down there?" He asked Tenka and Yrin.

"I can't tell. It's too far away to see clearly," Tenka said.

"We did have some villagers missing," Yrin said. "Considering this place is not too far from our village, the missing ones may be among the captured here."

"Let's go down to have a better look," Jack proposed. Although his dragon eye allowed him to be able to have a good look at the satyrs down there, he couldn't describe every satyr's appearance. Not to mention all of them looked almost the same to him.

"Try to make as little noise as possible," Jack warned them. He was not worried about himself because of his ranger's silent step skill.

"Don't worry," Peniel told Jack. "Satyrs had a natural ability that is similar to ranger's silent step."

"I see. Good. But still, watch your steps and be aware of your surroundings," Jack said. "We will advance slowly. We go that way. I see more satyrs in that area."

The others went down with Jack on the lead. Although Jack could move faster, he adjusted his pace so his two companions didn't have to move too fast.

They hid behind a mound of soil from the ground that was dug nearby. They peeked out from there. Yrin and Tenka looked at the working satyrs while Jack watched the demon guard in charge of that section. When the guard was looking in their direction, he signaled Yrin and Tenka to hide.

They continued using that method while moving to get a look at the other sections. Luckily, Yrin finally identified two of the satyrs that were working there.

"Those are uncle Yokui and his son, Wotai," Yrin informed Jack. "They had been missing from the village for around two weeks. So, they have been captured and taken here."

Jack peeked out and looked at the two satyrs Yrin mentioned. He then looked at the demon guard. Luckily, only one guard was watching this area.

"Wait here," Jack commanded Yrin and Tenka. He didn't want the two to get identified by the captives here.

Jack rushed out when the demon guard was looking the other way. With his speed, he was already close to the guard when the captives around started gasping and making noises after sighting him.

The guard finally turned around after the commotion. Jack was running and casting at the same time. His Magic Bind spell was completed before the guard could react. He also used Sword of Light and Swords of the Brave back-to-back.

One crescent light and ten golden swords landed on the surprised demon guard. Jack followed with the burst attack of his sword art once arriving. The demon was just a level 55 special elite, so he was killed by the end of that burst attack.

Without wasting a second, Jack came to the two satyrs mentioned by Yrin. His mana sense identified unusual mana on their anklets. He then noticed that every worker wore the same anklet. Jack surmised those must be some kind of a shackle that kept the workers tethered to this place.

Jack slashed his sword and accurately struck the anklets without hurting the wearers. The anklets were not so sturdy. It broke after one slash. Jack immediately grabbed Yokui and Wotai and carried them while they were still confused. He had no problem carrying two satyrs with his strength.

Some of the other workers called out, asking Jack to free them as well, but Jack ignored them. The other guards would soon come after the commotion, he couldn't stay for long.

Jack summoned Pandora and then jumped onto her with the two satyrs on his shoulders. Pandora then rode away.

Jack had asked Yrin and Tenka to retreat to the rocky outcrop atop the hill and waited for him there. Pandora rode in another direction before Jack unsummoned him and then ran to the hill still carrying the two satyrs. If the guards came following Pandora's flaming trail, they would head in a different direction.

Arriving on the outcrop, Yokui and Wotai who was still confused finally saw familiar faces. They called Yrin and Tenka in relief. However, an outburst from Tenka caused them to freeze. They then realized Tenka's outburst wasn't directed at them.

"What did you do?!" Tenka shouted at Jack. "You let them see Pandora! The workers will surely tell the demons and this will make them search around for another nightmare. They might widen their search and come to our village."

"I did it intentionally. It is needed for my next plan to infiltrate the manor," Jack returned. "You will have to move your village away anyway after we rescue Luna. They will still come searching when that happens. The most important thing is that they don't identify you two, so they won't have a specific target. As long as all of you moved away, you should be fine."

Tenka contemplated after hearing Jack. He didn't consider what will happen after they saved Luna. No way the underworld empire would just stay idle if they succeeded in doing what they wanted to do here.

"Let's deal with the current issue first," Jack said and turned to the satyrs he had just rescued.

"Yokui and Wotai, is it?" Jack asked, to which the two nodded. "How long have you been forced to work down there?"

The older satyr made a pondering expression while the younger one said, "I… I think it's two weeks already. We're not sure how long we have been taken."

"It has been fifteen days since we last saw you two," Yrin informed. "What happened?"

"We are taken by the demons when we are…," Wotai stopped when Jack waved for him to stop.

"You can chat later. Right now, we don't have much time. We need to limit our discussion to only the essential information," Jack said. He then pointed to the mansion at the center of Hraghshu's manor. "Are you allowed inside that building?"