“What did you bring today?”

“Heh, you will be surprised, since I'll be your superior next time we meet.”

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

It appears that he reached his destination, as he brings me past the doorkeeper. I use the wind magic to observe the building. With three floors total and at least ten rooms per floor, it is certainly the biggest one I've seen in this district. There is a large room at the top floor with an overbearing beastman inside, which should be the boss.

'Shall I go there right now?'

I have to deal with the one who is carrying me first, and with other beastmen around, it will cause a commotion. Since I didn't manage to find anything that looks like a treasury, it should be better to keep low key for now.

“Stay there for now.” The bag I'm in gets thrown into a room. Inside the dirty room that looks more like a cave, there are children glaring at the beastman.

'They are all humans.'

There are 5 boys and 3 girls total. Their vivid expression must mean that they have been caught recently. Some of them start trembling as the beastman takes a glance at them, and others step in front of them. Anger, fear, anxiety... their eyes aren't those of someone who has given up. However, I sense a distorted flaw of mana inside their bodies.

'They are sick. Three... four of them.' I inspect them closer with light magic.

'Poison.' It's not really anything serious. I've had lots of those when I didn't know what was okay to eat. It also helps raising the level of poison resistance, so it's not all that bad once you get used to it.

'Ah..' But they can't cure themselves, and I'm not sure how dangerous it can be if it's left alone.

'Their bodies are so frail, is it because of malnutrition?' Inspecting them more closely, I think it can actually be fatal in those conditions.

Is it because they have no poison resistance at all? It's regretful that they have to suffer from such a small poison.

'They look like they are in pain. But more than that, they look scared.' There is no doctor here, and it will only get worse. They must have instinctively realized this, and that's why they are lying helplessly on a corner.

'I guess not all of them.' There is one boy, who glares at the beastman as he walks out. I didn't notice at first because he looked fine on the outside, but I can sense the same poison inside him.

'He doesn't have any resistance neither.' His conditions are the same as others, and I notice him grimacing as he walks towards the bag I am in.

'Is he trying to hide it from the others?' The bag is on the other side of the rest of the children. Naturally, they can't see his expression as he is heading this way.

“Are you okay?” I can hear his voice as the bag opens.

“Can you stand up?” Although the room is rather dark, the light coming in from the window is enough for my eyes to see that his pained expression has disappeared. With his worried gaze fixated on me, I grab his extended hand, and he helps me standing up to get out of the bag.

“How pretty...” The children who were sitting on the side start approaching me.

“Wait a moment.” The boy gestures them to stop.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Seriously, how can they throw a little girl like you?” While hiding his own conditions, he says words of concern for me.

As I stand without response, he tightens his lips.

“... You must be scared right now. But it's okay, since we will find a way out of here!” As he declares, I see the expressions of the children around getting brighter as well.

'Is he doing this in order to encourage the other children?' It's a good thing that they still have the energy, but I can't help wondering if they have an actual plan.

“So don't give up! As long as we stay alive, a chance will come when we will be able to escape.” He grabs my hand.

'It's cold.' His illness is draining life out of him, and this is one of the results.

“I'm Leo, nice to meet you.” In his strong gaze fixated on me, I notice a slight wavering.

'He is pushing himself.' I thought of the possibility that someone was going to come for their rescue, but there seem to be no such thing.

“You are a quiet one, aren't you?” A girl pushes him away. Her eyes are filled with curiosity as she observes me.

'It is unlikely that they can escape.' The children's conditions are deteriorating quickly, and even if someone creates an opportunity for them to escape, it has to happen soon.

'No, even if that happened right now, they can't bring everyone.' Half of them can barely move, and the rest are also weakened. In such conditions, they can't even get out of this district.

“I'm sorry if he scared you, he is a bit noisy sometimes. As he said, we will definitely get out of here together, so don't worry too much, okay?”

She pats my head while kindly looking at me. Even among the sick children, I can't find any trace of despair. They are filled with curiosity and excitement.

'How?'

It is a desperate situation. Their chance of escape is too small that I would have been overwhelmed if it was me.

Yet, they are able to stay positive. Leaving others behind isn't even an option, and instead, they are able to encourage me.

“Your hair is so silky! And the color is beautiful too! Can I touch them?” Another girl joins in, and starts fondling my hair. Even though their hands are dirty, their caress feels pleasant.

'I want to help them.' I close my eyes to enjoy this warmth a bit more.

Being overrun by the despair, I couldn't do anything when it counted. I still don't think there was anything I could have done. However, unlike me, they are able to smile even now. It could be an optimism or stupidity, but it doesn't matter. Because they aren't cowards like me, I can't help wishing for a better outcome for them.

“We all come from the same village, how about you?”

With my light magic, I can easily heal them. Once their illness is gone, all I need to do is create a large enough commotion for them to escape.

“It's okay if you don't want to talk about it.”

'But is it alright for me to do so?' I decided that there was nothing I can do with all the slaves I have seen, so I have turned a blind eye on them.

“Your skin is so smooth! It's like a princess from a fairy tale!” After touching my hand, one of them starts squeezing my cheeks.

'Do I have any right to help them?' I have been only thinking about how to kill better. Such person probably doesn't deserve to help people.

“You don't hate it, right? Then let me to do this...” One of the girls starts rubbing her cheeks against mine.

All the sadness I have created, I know it too well. Even monsters have families and care for each other. Even though my studies were to find a better way of killing them, it allowed me to better understand how they think.

“Not fair, I'll do it as well!”

Beastmen are too similar to the humans. Am I going to break their peace in order to help those children?

“Stop, she doesn't like it.” A boy tries to stop them.

'But that's what I have always done.' I automatically studied how their army functions. I might have always considered them as potential enemies.

“No way, she isn't struggling, see?”

Then this is just the same as always. I will be killing in order to raise my level, and that is all I'm going to do.

“... I can't tell with her expression, to be honest.”

And in order to approach the boss more easily, I'll show off a little bit of my ability.

I push away the girls around me, and walk towards Leo who is sitting next to a wall.

“No way...” She looks like she lost something important to her, but I ignore her.

“I told you, you were going too far!” The boy retorts her.

I lean towards Leo who is looking up to me. I put my hands around his cheeks.

'It's cold.' Even though he tries to hide it, his life is fading away. For a boy who has been giving hope to everyone even in this desperate situation, I want the warmth to come back to him.

“Huh? What did you just do...?” His eyes become round as he stands up. I leave him behind as he starts moving his body with a surprised expression.

“Who are you...?”

I heal the sick children one by one. I can easily heal them all at once without moving a single finger. However, this is how I want to be seen, so it's an act I'm putting up.

“Did you get better? What a relief!” The children start hugging each other to celebrate their recovery. It's a good sign. The beastmen should be able to notice this and raise my value. They are putting up a good work as my pawns to achieve my goal.

Leo turns me around by grabbing my shoulder.

“You... was it you who did all that?” Unable to hide his surprise, his hand trembles slightly.

I nod to him, and look up to him.

“Argh, why are you brats so noisy?” But before he could say anything, the door opens and my kidnapper enters the room. At the same time, I see the children walking up in front of me as if they are trying to hide me.

“Aren't you energetic?” Leo tries to kick him, but his leg gets easily grabbed, and he gets lifted upside-down. Their levels are too different for a surprise attack to work. No, even if the attack connected, it wouldn't have achieved anything.

“Guys, run...” Before he could finish the sentence, the beastman punches him in his belly, and throws him into a wall.

“I dare you to try if you want to end up like him.”

“Take this!” Three boys rush towards him trying to grab his legs and his arm. However, he easily kicks them away. Grabbing the neck of the boy who went for his arm, he glances over us.

“It's weird, I'm sure I gave you the drug.” Apparently, he was the reason for their poisoning. The trembling girls walk in front of me, trying to hide me from his vision.

“Could it be...” His eyes narrow as he finds me behind them.

“Hahaha! How fortunate! I might even get a double promotion with this. Come here little girl, the boss wants to see you.”

I push away the girls who are trying to fight back as he approaches, and walk up to him.

“You can't go! Nightmane is...” One of the girls tries to stop me and starts trembling, unable to finish her sentence. However, there is no need for injuring more people. The beastman is going to lead me to my destination, and the children should reserve all their strength in order to escape.

“Bye.” I wave my hand towards them as the beastman drags me out of the room.

“Where are you bringing her? Stop right there!” The beastman closes the door while the desperate cry from Leo can be heard from inside.