The Value of Freedom (1)
By the time we reached the source of the shouting and commotion, the situation was far worse than I’d imagined. Countless humans lay sprawled across the ground. Two Grade 6 magic beasts. Karud and Solader. One resembled a lizard, the other a giant rat. Two bear beastmen were locked in desperate struggle, each grappling with one of the monsters. A man lay collapsed nearby, bleeding heavily while screaming at the bear beastmen.
“Block them! Hold them! Even if it kills you, hold them! You useless bastards! Argh!”
Even as he bellowed, the man’s hands shook violently while he poured a high-grade potion over his own stomach. Half of it spilled uselessly onto the dirt. His face was twisted in agony.
But that wound wasn’t something a potion could fix. If a hole like that in the gut could be healed by a high-grade potion, no one would ever buy supreme-grade ones. This was a meaningless act, and he knew it. He had to know how futile his efforts were.
“Ar!”
Since the situation was critical, I set her down almost like throwing her forward. The moment her feet touched the ground, Ar charged straight at the Karud held by one of the bear beastmen.
If it had been just the two of us, I would have used Berserker without hesitation. But casting it now risked Ar attacking the bear beastman before the magic beast. So I made a swift judgment and cast magic on the bear beastman restraining Solader. He would need to endure while Ar handled Karud.
“Strength!”
The bear beastman holding Solader suddenly felt power surge through his body. His expression changed instantly.
“Krrraaaagh!”
With a roar, his massive hands clamped down on the rat-like Solader’s neck. Bear beastmen were already strong by nature. Amplified by my Grade 13 Strength spell, the force was beyond comparison. A sickening crunch echoed. Something in Solader’s neck snapped. The beast let out a final shriek.
In that same moment, Ar raked her claws across the head of the Karud held by the other bear beastman. The monster couldn’t move, trapped in the beastman’s iron grip. Ar’s claws sank into its skull with a wet thud, unimpeded. The bear beastman, sensing the creature’s resistance weaken, tightened his hold as if urging her to keep striking. Ar obliged, driving her claws down again and again.
I waited anxiously for my mana to recover. The tide had clearly turned in our favor, yet standing here unable to act felt incredibly powerless. I kept checking my mana even as I watched the fight. All I needed was to count to three hundred, but time seemed to crawl.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to cast anything else. The bear beastman who had received my Strength spell simply snapped Solader’s neck. At the same time, Ar had shredded Karud’s head completely. Both magic beasts were dead.
The battle ended faster than expected. I had no idea why two Grade 6 beasts had appeared together, but with both of them eliminated, we should be safe for a while.
“Ugh… hack.”
Meanwhile, the man with the hole in his stomach had dropped the potion bottle and was breathing in shallow gasps. It was a miracle he was still alive. The high-grade potion he’d sloshed over himself had bought him a little more time, but that time had run out. He stared into empty air, weakly lifting a trembling hand as if trying to grasp something.
The two bear beastmen approached him. Only then did I realize who they were. They were the beastmen Ar had been watching when we first arrived in Hapim. Now I understood. Both bore numerous wounds, yet their faces remained stoic as they stared down at their former master. Their expressions held no emotion whatsoever.
That told me everything about the relationship between these two beastmen and the man. How he must have treated them. I had assumed they received decent treatment, but apparently not. Then again, the way he’d screamed at them earlier made that obvious.
Ar came to stand beside me. She pulled out a handkerchief and calmly wiped the blood from her hands. The two bear beastmen glanced at us, offered a slight bow in thanks, then turned their emotionless gazes back to the dying man. The gratitude they had shown us a moment ago had already vanished.
It was a strange scene. They looked almost like they were waiting for him to die. They simply watched in silence, making no move to help or hasten his end. Once this man died, the control magic binding them would vanish. They would be free.
It was the first time I had witnessed anything like it. Normally, beastman slaves were considered extremely valuable “property.” If their owner was a noble, the slave would usually be passed down to an heir when the master grew old or ill. But this was clearly not that kind of situation.
So I wondered—what would they do now?
A short time passed. The man drew one last rattling breath, his body convulsing violently before going still. The two bear beastmen let out deep sighs almost in unison. One of them turned to us and spoke with quiet dignity.
“I am Tide of the Matar Tribe. Thank you for saving us. This is Treder, from the same tribe.”
They must have been under some restriction before—probably ordered not to speak freely to anyone. That would explain why they only spoke now that their master was dead and they were free.
“I’m Theo. This is Ar. Are you both all right? Those wounds look serious.”
Tide flinched slightly at my words. But it wasn’t because of his injuries. He was staring straight at me.
“Why do you speak to a slave with such respect?” he asked carefully.
Now I understood why he had flinched. It was because I had used polite speech. I had even addressed them formally.
“Slave? I don’t see any slaves. Only two warriors of the Matar Tribe standing before me.”
Tide shifted his gaze to Ar. Then his previously stiff expression softened into a small smile as he looked back at me.
“You are an unusual man. It does not seem like the typical relationship between master and slave.”
“We are forced to maintain the appearance for practical reasons. But I consider Ar my comrade. Not a slave.”
At my words, Ar gently tugged at the hem of my clothes as if to confirm them. Tide’s smile widened slightly when he saw it.
Hmm. I hope he doesn’t get the wrong idea.
“I see. That is fortunate. And enviable.”
His gaze moved to the dead man, then to the other corpses scattered around us. His face hardened once more.
“How did two Grade 6 magic beasts end up attacking together? Did one of them drag the other across territorial lines?”
“No. It was one of that man’s bad habits. He would pit two Grade 6 beasts against each other, then strike when they were exhausted.”
“Is that even possible? It doesn’t sound easy.”
“There was a method. But it failed this time, which is why things ended up like this.”
No matter how skilled a magic beast hunter, Grade 6 monsters were no joke. I didn’t know the exact details of their plan, but one mistake would have catastrophic consequences. That was exactly what had happened here. I had a rough idea of the situation now.
Time to ask the important question.
“You two are free now. The control magic has disappeared. What do you plan to do?”
For a brief moment, killing intent flashed in both Tide’s and Treder’s eyes before vanishing. It was probably for the same reason Ar had once felt it. Beastmen taken as slaves rarely experienced a peaceful process. Thoughts of revenge would naturally cross their minds.
“Hoo… You are Theo, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then, Theo, what would you do? You have just witnessed two former slaves regain their freedom.”
“I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to say, but I want to congratulate you. And if you run into any trouble because of your newfound freedom, feel free to call on me. I can testify that you obtained your freedom through no dishonest means.”
In truth, there shouldn’t be any problems. Even if the dead man’s family or children appeared to claim ownership, imperial law would not recognize it. Provided, of course, that no illegal methods were involved in their liberation.
“Sigh. If all humans were like you, we would not have come to hate your kind so deeply.”
Tide let out a long sigh. Perhaps because he was older, his words carried a heavy weight of regret. It was the kind of emotion forged from countless sorrows and pains, weathered by long years. Even feeling it indirectly like this was heartbreaking. I couldn’t begin to imagine how much pain these two carried inside.
“What do you plan to do from now on?” I asked, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
Tide glanced at Treder before answering with a bitter smile.
“I do not know. In truth, we have longed for this day for as long as we can remember. But now that it has arrived, I feel lost about what to do next.”
“Where is the Matar Tribe located?”
“The tribe… It was near the Gray Mountains, beyond the Pliad Forest.”
That was far away. One would have to travel west across the Empire, then through several kingdoms beyond it. Also, he had spoken in the past tense. That likely meant their tribe no longer existed. A situation similar to Ar’s, then.
“Do you plan to return there?”
“In my heart, yes. But in reality, it would be impossible.”
“It might be possible. The Emperor has forbidden the hunting of beastmen.”
“We are aware. However, that does not guarantee that slave traders will simply stop their activities.”
He had a point. Those bastards had never been known for strictly following the law.
“Still, we intend to return. Now that we have found freedom again, we must protect it dearly. Because we know what it means to lose it.”
Ar tugged lightly at my clothes. When I glanced down, she opened her mouth and spoke with unusual clarity.
“Is there no way to help them?”
Her voice was clearer than usual. This was also the longest sentence I had ever heard her speak. Was it because they were fellow beastmen? She seemed unusually determined.
“There is a way. They could pretend to be my slaves and leave the Empire. However, if they are discovered, it would cause significant problems. They might not want that either.”
“Of course not,” Tide said firmly. “We cannot put our benefactor in danger. We plan to head west through the Belota Mountains as we are. That will be the safest route.”
“Through areas with lower-grade magic beasts?”
“Yes. We will move at night. Few people enter the mountains after dark.”
It wouldn’t be easy. It would be a long and arduous journey. I wanted to give them some kind of help. After all, I didn’t want them to lose the freedom they had only just regained.