"Yeah, the royal mages should've deployed the anti-illusion sentries already. They should be gone now so we can hunt for materials safely." A tall female human adventurer named Cordia rambled as she walked with her party around the Great Forest of Illusions.

"This place isn't as creepy without those Illusions huh." A short female human named Issa hummed as she led the way through the thicket, she seemed to be on guard and carefully observing her surroundings.

"Right? Until a few weeks ago not even B-Class adventurers could trek through here. I can't believe that this forest would look like some sort of paradise after that curse was lifted." Mandel, a female human mage, was looking around in curiosity and wonder. "Apparently the monsters around aren't that strong either."

"Well they haven't been able to touch the inner parts of the forest so there might be some kind of terrifying monster hiding deep inside." Issa maneuvered through the thick foliage.

"Anyway, how much are we getting paid for this subjugation quest anyway?" Issa asked Cordia, who was walking right behind her.

"Fifty gold per child. There should be ten children that escaped from the army, if we can get them all then we'll be able to live comfortably without working for five years." Cordia said.

"The previous divorakks that the kingdom captured a while ago must have all dried up if they're willing to pay fifty gold for immature magic-borns." Issa sighed.

"True. We should go faster, we're not the only ones going out for a hunt. Getting at least one child is going to be a massive help." Mandel spoke up.

The other two nodded as they continued their hike through the forest.

It was a relatively safe hike, there were monsters here and there but as E-Class adventurers they weren't really in any danger. In fact, they felt as if everything was way too easy for a forest that's known to be a Danger Zone.

Normally, Danger Zones have at least C-Class monsters, and those who can enter them are restricted heavily to only C-Class adventurers and above. These zones are known to have extremely thick mana polluting them, so the animals and monsters usually mutate and become stronger forms of their previous selves.

So the three were quite pleasantly surprised when the Jija Kingdom announced that the only real danger in the forest was its illusions, and that, once the illusions have been purged, it wouldn't be any different than your average forest.

Once the forest's Illusions were dealt with, numerous commissions flooded the Adventurers Guild in the town that the three called their home. These commissions ranged from foraging to capturing quests of rare animals.

The latter, of course, included several magic-born, including divorakks. Divorakks aren't seen as humanoids in the Jija Kingdom, they're seen as nothing more than magical beasts that serve as convenient batteries for the innovation and progress of their so-called magitech. So no Jijian would bat an eyelash at the regular kidnappings that divorakks experience, in fact, they cheer for it.

"I really hope we end up finding at least one child, 50 gold can buy us that house and a year's worth of adventuring supplies." Cordia was muttering to herself.

The three walked silently, navigating through the forest and keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any disturbances. They wanted to be able to sell at least one child, so they were putting their best efforts into making sure they'll get one.

This continued on until sunset, they never stopped moving until then, trying to find clues or tracks that might belong to the lost magic-born. By nightfall, they've already passed through numerous burnt villages.

But their hard work paid off, as they finally found tracks belonging to a small child.

They found it alongside a river, they followed it into a small clearing where the hooves of an earth carabao made distinct markings on the ground suggesting that it was trying to kill the child.

Fortunately for them, however, they found that the tracks belonging to the child managed to escape. They didn't know how exactly a small child could have escaped an earth carabao, but they believed that it was by pure luck

That said, these tracks are pretty old, the only reason they've been preserved is because the child was leaving behind a trail in the form of volatile and unstable mana that eroded the ground beneath them in an odd way, while the earth carabao's tracks were still there but only barely. The only reason they're still there is because of the charging the earth carabao did, if the earth carabao walked with the divorakk then they wouldn't have known a thing.

They set up their camp here, intending to follow the tracks as soon as they can. They put up a small tent and started a small fire, not big enough that it would have been noticed by someone that wasn't in their immediate vicinity, but big enough to provide warmth for all of them. They huddled together and planned out their moves for tomorrow, and how they'll be catching the child.

The moment the first rays of morning light shone down on the forest, the three had already packed up their tent and put out their fire, and had already set up a few traps around the predicted areas where the child could be. During this they managed to even have a very close encounter with the child, they watched from the bushes as they stalked the small boy playing with an earth carabao and a water snake.

Seeing as the little boy didn't look to be old enough to live in a forest full of monsters, divorakk or not, they wondered how exactly the child didn't look the least bit starved.

"Maybe the boy just eats anything he could get his hands on? So far there haven't been many poisonous plants and berries around, and with divorakks being blessed by the forest maybe he just instinctively knows what to eat?" Issa whispered, her voice was so quiet that if the other two weren't literally sandwiching her, they wouldn't have heard anything at all.

Their guess was wrong, though, Clailip doesn't know anything about foraging. In fact, not many Dianian Divorakks actually forage. Dianian Divorakks are horrible at foraging as most of them hunt animals and grow their own plants to eat with magic. Even with the blessing of the forest, they still can't reliably pick apart what berry is poisonous and what isn't.

The day went on and they stalked the little boy as he trained, they were fascinated by his use of water magic, and his experiment with wind magic. They, too, weren't affected by the wave of sound, but it did startle them. But due to the chaos of the animals in the forest, the rustling of the bush they were in was ignored.

They stared at the boy as he cried, they didn't really understand what he was saying as it was Most likely the language of divorakks. It DID have some of the universal language's words, but they still couldn't figure out what the boy was crying about. They watched as he started going in the direction of a trap they set. They didn't like the idea of capturing and selling a crying child, but they brushed it off, justifying their actions by saying that divorakks were just sentient monsters.

A loud snap resounded throughout the forest as the boy stepped on the trap, he was caught up in a net and struggled to break free. Thrashing around violently and groaning as he tried to rip the net into shreds, Clailip had a look of panic, fear, and confusion painted onto his face.

The boy tried to use magic to free himself but quickly found that his mana was being restrained by the net. He desperately kept invoking water magic but it would quickly flicker out of existence even if he did manage to successfully push his mana out of his body.

"I guess divorakks being rabid beasts aren't a rumour after all." Mandel said as she came out of the bushes to collect the net containing the struggling child.

"Who are you calling rabid!? I'm perfectly healthy!" The boy yelled in the universal tongue, he continued trying to slip out of the net.

"Oh it can speak the universal tongue." Issa said in wonder, she's never seen a divorakk this close before. She looked at Clailip like he was some sort of animal, a glint of human greed showed in her dark eyes as she thought of the money that they would be reeling in with this boy's capture.

"Don't worry, magic-born, you'll be with your family soon. Don't struggle too hard." Cordia tried to comfort the boy, as she did, she glanced at the boy's eyes, making eye contact with him. She tried to pry them off the pair but she just couldn't, there was something about his eyes that dug deep into her soul.

When the boy looked at her with hate and disdain and broke eye contact, she felt a sudden pain in her heart. She would most likely liken it to a younger sibling or your own child telling you they hate you with all their heart. She had experience in both departments so she could confidently say that it could be likened to both.

He started gnawing on the net, not knowing it was made of cheap, but durable hexensteel. A material known for its strength and anti-magic properties.

"Let me go! KABAO, NAWA, FIND SIMOY AND LAWOD!" He yelled desperately. He spoke the latter half of his statement in the divorakk's language, Divoniac, to prevent the three adventurers from preventing the two animals from running.

The two creatures hurriedly ran away, skedaddling into the deeper parts of the forest. The adventurers ignored them, thinking they just got spooked and ran away from the chaos. They did wonder why an earth carabao was playing with a divorakk child, knowing that they were pretty aggressive creatures.

"Your eyes are really pretty, you know." Mandel remarked as he picked up the netted boy, since divorakks weren't very physically capable, she wasn't very cautious when she did so. She held the boy, still entrapped inside the net, by the armpits and inspected his green-orange eyes. "I can't blame the nobles, gouging them out and eating or putting them on display, if they grant magical power and look that pretty.

"Do you understand how lucky you are? If we were bad people we would have gouged them out and sold them you know. So you should just sit tight and let us do our work." Mandel spoke in a threatening voice, trying to scare the child. She might be the guardian and older sister of five siblings, but she didn't like handling rowdy children. It's a blessing her wards were polite and behaved. Though, she wondered why a sudden guilt started forming inside her.

"I'm not scared of you, take my eyes if you want, I don't care!" Clailip stuck his tongue out, he then proceeded to try and bite at Mandel's hands, who had him in a grip tighter than what he found to be comfortable.

"Stop threatening him, Mandel. Let's just go." Cordia wanted to turn the boy in before she started getting second thoughts. 50 gold was a very big amount of money, she doesn't want her conscience to flare up now of all times.

"Where are you taking me? Hey!" Clailip did his best to be the hardest piece of luggage anyone could carry by squirming around the net. He didn't care if he was accidentally dropped, as that would most likely give him a chance to escape.

Unfortunately for him, Issa was extremely dexterous and could handle him easily. She knew what Clailip was trying to do, and she wasn't going to let the biggest catch of their lives go.

"You're only wasting your strength. Stop squirming if you don't want to get hurt." Issa said, she was trying very hard not to just hit the boy into silence or unconsciousness. It might lower the value they could sell him for if he was full of bruises after all.

This was the same for the other two women before they stared deep into Clailip's mesmerizing eyes.

"Tsk, I didn't want to do this but…" Clailip said in a voice as deep as he could muster, it was obvious he was only trying to be intimidating.

He started chanting, to normal humans this would sound like a curse that could dry up whole rivers and split the earth open to swallow up the sinful. But he was actually just reciting a popular tongue twister in Divoniac.

He did it with utmost confidence. The other three reacted with fear and anxiety at first, but immediately lowered their guard when they saw that the hexensteel net wasn't damaged in any way.

"Stop fucking with us you damned brat!" Issa yelled as she slammed the net Clailip was in, onto the hard ground, making the boy howl and whimper in pain. His left arm audibly cracked when he hit the ground and he coughed up blood, he desperately gasped for air as he felt his rib almost pop his lung. Issa then proceeded to vigorously and violently kick and stomp on the poor boy, with each battering, his small body endured a bone or two being broken. A testament to the fragility of divorakk bodies. With each kick and stomp the boy bled more, and with each drop of blood leaving his body he got quieter. By the end of it he was barely making a sound and could only make gurgled sounds, ones that sounded like he was drowning in his own tears, spit, and blood.

Issa wouldn't have stopped and most likely would have killed the boy, but the two restrained and stopped her after realizing that the boy was barely breathing.

"Are you stupid!? What if you accidentally kill him, huh? What the fuck are you going to do then?" Mandel slapped Issa across her face, red with wrath. 

"That kid is worth 50 gold! We can use that amount to pay off the debts that you owe, and still have enough to be living with no problems for months!" Cordia yelled at the short woman, who was silent. The angry Issa just stared at the boy whose face was covered in dirt and blood, listening to the soft cries and whimpers he would let out from time to time.

"Mandel, go heal the kid." Cordia ordered. Mandel went on over to treat Clailip, who wheeled with every breath.

Clailip was crying silently, there was a wet spot of puke, blood, and bile mixing into a putrid puddle all around her head. Mandel cast healing magic on the dying boy, she knew that it wouldn't be enough to save him, knowing that her magic wasn't the most potent. So she decided to use her Unique Skill too.

She had a unique skill called Physician, which let her boost her healing skills and magics to great heights, as long as the damage was caused by a physical attack or ailment. 

Thankfully, it was very successful. Clailip was now audibly wailing, so the woman tried comforting the boy. She didn't like the feeling that was forming inside her, watching the little boy cry like this.

She looked at Clailip's eyes and started comforting him the same way she would with her younger siblings back at the town. "It's okay, see? Issa's being yelled at now. Just don't squirm so much, okay? We're really sorry for doing this. We just really need the money." As she stared at those orange-green eyes, she found herself feeling even more guilty and attached to the boy. She quickly broke eye contact, the terrified eyes of the child were making the horrible feeling inside Mandel grow even faster somehow.

She stepped on over to Cordia, she felt very uneasy. She felt like she was scum for trying to sell a poor and innocent child who looked even younger than her youngest sibling, who was five years old.

"Cordia, I'm starting to really regret taking the boy. He looks like he's just starting to barely crawl out of toddlerhood. I don't really feel good selling him knowing what the army does to magic-borns, big or small." Mandel quietly muttered, but she made sure it was loud enough for the two to hear.

"..." Both women were silent. For very different reasons, Cordia almost wanted to agree, while Issa plainly didn't want to speak.

"Even if we did leave the child alone, I don't think releasing him back into the wild is an idea that would be better than letting him be a mana battery for the Kingdom. At least he'll have daily meals and could meet his family then." Issa said. She wanted her debts paid immediately, so she tried to convince the other two to sell the crying child.

"I guess…" Mandel agreed, she didn't think that it was a good idea to leave an orphaned child in the forest.

"...Let's get him to a safer place first before thinking about this. If we do release him, doing so at this part of the forest would only get him killed. Divorakk magic would be good, but it's hard to imagine a small child like him would be able to defend himself against predators." Cordia sighed. 'What am I even saying?' she thought.