Chapter 26 – Showing Tail, Hiding Fangs (part 1)

The next day, I decided to revisit the Secret base before I got busy preparing for the kitchen knife order discussed previously.

Upon arrival, I was surprised by the sights I saw. First, the number of goblins had increased to 15 and some of them were helping to take care of the Secret base. The first goblin that became my Familiar skillfully instructed the other goblins to do their work.

It's a good thing that something like this has happened before, the increasing number of beasts in this place that even some of them have somehow become part of my Familiar even though I have never met them before.

Another thing that surprised me was one of the skeleton knights who was currently casually taking care of some beasts that I had seen for the first time in this place, what was even more unique was that the skeleton knight was wearing a straw hat and gave him the impression of not being a knight but someone who worked to take care of the fields and livestock in the village.

His ability to take care of beasts was quite good, there were currently about 10 horned rabbits, 8 wild chickens, 2 forest goats, 4 bush pigs and 2 brown boars being taken care of by him. 

When I checked their status, of course none of the beasts were my Familiars. Doing animal husbandry in this area certainly seemed like an impossible feat, yet he casually managed to do so.

Wild chicken, forest goat and bush pig are harmless beasts that are quite difficult to encounter because they are sensitive to the presence of other predators and choose to hide once they sense it. But what I saw this time, they were calmly in one area without worrying about their surroundings.

The skeleton knight noticed my presence who was looking at him, he turned to me, greeted and approached me, he then wrote something on the ground to explain something.

According to him, horn rabbits can be used to check the area around here, and they can also act as bait to trap beasts when necessary.

Then brown boars, those can be used as transportation for skeletons including himself. Given the state of the forest that is unstable for horses to pass through, brown boars can be relied upon when we need a ride while in the forest.

After I finished seeing the two new things, I also went around to see the others and after that there were other things I wanted to try while I was here,

“ share sense’s “

One of the abilities beast tamers have that allows one to see and hear what their Familiars see and hear.

'It feels a little strange to use slime for this. '

I was currently using this technique on one of the big slimes that could divide itself. The big slime's main body was near me, while the other parts of it were exploring the forest by utilizing horn rabbits that had been trained as mounts for beasts smaller than them.

Something caught my sight, I saw two people who were being attacked by another group in the forest here. The two figures I saw were people I knew well, Fitz and Emon who were currently injured by the group that surrounded them.

'Tck, hopefully I'll still make it in time!'

I rushed off towards Fitz and Emon's location, unfortunately the image I received was from one of the slimes that didn't have enough fighting ability, while the others were in a position far away from where they currently were.

When I managed to get to their place, the condition of the two was not so good, I used intimidation to surprise the attackers. Taking advantage of the opportunity created by the surprise, I immediately attacked those people without holding back.

Using the blunt side of my sword, I took out the men one by one. Their abilities, they were so weak! No wonder despite their numbers, Fitz and Emon were still able to hold on. They were just relying on numbers to do something stupid like this.

Some of them groaned in pain, even with the blunt part of my sword but it was enough to make some of their bones broken or cracked and some just lay unconscious.

I immediately rushed to check on Fitz and Emon, fortunately they were still breathing, although the injuries on their bodies were quite severe. I gave them first aid and also used lesser potions on them. I immediately took them both to Yui's clinic and explained what happened to them.

After that, I returned to the forest to capture those people and brought the bandits to the city of Rockaxe. Upon arriving in Rockaxe, I immediately handed over the bandits to the knights and explained what had happened. One of the knights said he would deal with the bandits and afterward I rushed to the church to tell the head priest what had happened to Fitz and Emon.

After hearing the news of the two young men, the head priest informed me that some children who were staying with Fitz not long before I arrived, reported that some of their sisters had also disappeared today. 

My hunch told me to visit the merchant's guild immediately. By the time I was at the entrance, someone was already waiting for me. Roderick, the merchant guild clerk who always served me gave me two pieces of paper and left me there.

' The whereabouts of mister Dalmore and his entourage are currently unknown, the guild will inform if it hears of their whereabouts. however, one thing is certain, Dalmore will be in Draga town one month from now. '

"Tck! That guy is indeed involved in this! If things go like this, I'll lose track of them if I don't move fast. "

I tried to find information about the merchant throughout the city. I managed to find the lodging used by them and according to the information, he was going to visit the city in the east, the bandits interrogated by the knights said they were asked by someone they didn't know to eliminate two adventurers while they were hunting in the forest and upon further investigation the people who ordered the bandits were quite skilled at eliminating their traces. I gathered all the information I could get in Rockaxe city and immediately rushed back to my home in the village. I called Pochi and asked him to track down the people related to Dalmore and the missing girls, using his sense of smell to trace the odor of the things they had used such as bedding and other things that had come into contact with their bodies.

As is well known, dogs have an excellent sense of smell. Utilizing that as well as support magic to enhance his senses, Pochi managed to track the scent of them on the road heading east.

The darkness of the night helped us, and I directed Pochi not to go near the roads that humans used.

As we retraced their footsteps, they changed their route and headed towards the area southwest of Draga town. We finally managed to find the place where Dalmore was heading. A villa in the woods with guards around it.

I took Pochi who was currently formed like a puppy and infiltrated the villa. It was already past midnight, most of the people inside were fast asleep and only the guards were wandering around and awake.

"Haaa... the newly arrived girls are all beautiful. Especially that one, I can't bear to look at her... "

"Don't think something nonsense. They are all products to be sold, and the master brought them at the behest of their buyers. Besides, I remind you, the Dalmor Trading Company takes care of the quality of its merchandise. "

I heard the conversation between the two guards and went back to check the situation in this place. I had heard some interesting information about them, they were planning to hide in this place for a few days to eliminate traces. It seems like they have some victims that they just captured by kidnapping or deceiving them.

I also briefly checked the basement and found the place where the goods were stored and where the slaves were gathered. 

The prison cell-like room contained humans, elves and demi-humans divided by gender and age. Most of them were dressed in nothing but rags to cover their bodies and they only slept on the cold floor with the same rags.

When I saw the cells where the children were, my heart felt sad that most of them were huddled together, I heard some delirious calling their parents. 

In a separate place I saw some girls who were crying, it seemed like they had just been brought to this place, making sure that what I was looking for was safe, I went back to check this place more thoroughly while still hiding my presence.

After checking a few things I returned to the slaves' room and made sure everyone was asleep, I put up a few ofuda to make sure they were safe when I left.

I also asked one of the ombra dogs to bring a squirrel-type Familiar to this place. I told the squirrel to hide near the slaves' room. In addition to the squirrels, Pochi and a few other squirrels stood guard outside the villa and only then was I able to leave the place in peace.