We treaded slowly, trying to reduce the amount of noise we produced as much as possible. The tunnel was, unsurprisingly, dark, with barely any illumination provided by very sporadically placed torches. We could, however, clearly hear voices up ahead, namely someone shouting out various orders and the distinct sound of pickaxes repeatedly hitting the hard rock. Before we arrived at the source of the commotion, we stumbled across a fork, with the other arm leading into a dimly lit room. There was hushed chatter coming out of it. We couldn’t quite make out their conversation but I could pick out at least three distinct voices. I sent one of the soldiers closer to check on the room and he returned fairly quickly with a report:

-Five bandits, lightly armed. They seem to be somewhat drunk. The room itself appears to be a storeroom of sorts. Crates, a table with a couple of chairs, some food and drinks. No other tunnels leading out of it that I could see.

-Can you guys handle them?

-If we're swift, we should be able to subdue them before they make too much noise, Sir.

-Okay. Liyanne and I will keep an eye on the main tunnel. You guys, deal with them. Retreat immediately if anything goes wrong or if there turns out to be more of them. Don't try to be heroes.

-Yes, Sir.

The five soldiers gave a quick salute and started sneaking up towards the sideroom. Meanwhile, Liyanne and I each hid on either side of the tunnel, ready to ambush whoever decided to come through. A few seconds later, the muffled sounds of struggle could be heard from the other tunnel. One of the bandits managed to let out a short shout that quickly died down. My heart stopped for a moment, as I listened for any reaction from deeper into the cave. Several seconds passed and things appeared to continue as normal. If those bandits were drinking, there was a good chance the others would disregard it as a toast or the start of an argument between the drunkards, if they even heard it among all the mining noises in the first place, so we might be in the clear.

The soldiers joined us back within the next few minutes and quickly relayed what they found in that room. Most of it was just food and beverages, some crates contained clothes and fabrics too. There seemed to be nothing else of interest there. Between all the bandits, two have been successfully subdued and tightly tied up. The remaining three were killed in the assault. This was already a better result than what I expected. I could almost bet that those soldiers would just murder all of them at the first chance. Taking prisoners even when they weren’t specifically instructed to either shows really good discipline or some very sadistic tendencies from them. I’ll let myself believe the former to be the case.

We slowly proceeded forward, gradually closing in towards the origin of the sounds. Without any further surprises on our way, the path opened up into a bigger room. Unlike the previous one, this one had a number of supports reaching for the ceiling, indicative of the fact it was mostly artificially constructed, likely as a result of mining operations. There were a number of smaller tunnels branching off, some of them echoing with the sounds of mining. In the room itself, several bandits were loading a crate with what looked like raw metal ore. That's also where someone looking like the leader of the bunch stood, towering over the other rascals as he leaned over his massive battle axe. He was also the one shouting out orders at others. Both his equipment and physique was much better than that of the mob around him. If there was anyone we should be worried about in that crowd, it was almost certainly him.

The space in front of us was fairly vast and should allow us to easily utilise a larger number of units in an attack. As such, I sent one of our soldiers back to bring a few more men to help us. As we were standing now, we would easily get overwhelmed by the enemy. Luckily for us, we haven't been spotted yet and the reinforcements arrived quickly and without making much noise, so we still had the element of surprise on our side. In the meantime, I tried to devise a good attack strategy but however I wanted to formulate it, it would just come down to a chaotic melee in the end due to the nature of the terrain and the perceived troop cohesion of our adversaries. After thinking about it for a while, I finally decided that since such a melee was unavoidable and we held an ambush position, a quick blitz to annihilate them as soon as possible simply seemed like the best option here. Liyanne seemed to agree with me here, as the strategy was close enough to the “just go in and kill them” way of thinking people of this world were too used to. Besides, it’s not like those soldiers are trained to the point where they can perform any order or any formation without a hitch on command, even if they have never done it before. The same goes for me, though. I was nowhere near the strategist I would need to be to issue them orders like that on the fly.

I ordered the troops to move about, setting up an about equal stack on each side of the tunnel. The idea was to try to sneak into the big room and then rush at the enemies, cutting down as many as we can while they’re in the confused state before engaging in actual combat. As such, once the troops were in position, we came out of the tunnel, formed two wedge formations and, with a war cry that echoed through the cave, charged the enemy. The bandits barely managed to draw their weapons and even fewer managed to raise them up to defend themselves before a good part of them was cut down. The sounds of clashing steel and screams filled the tunnels, rising to almost deafening levels of volume really quickly. I was keeping in line with the units, tanking an attack from one of the bandits, while Liyanne was moving in for the kill, when something odd, off to the side, caught my attention. The bandit leader seemed to be chanting something, a mysterious dark fog rising up from the ground around his feet. He then shouted something I didn't understand and pointed his hand towards Liyanne. Instinctively, I jumped forward, raising my shield, readying myself to tank the hit, not even sure if I could deflect or defend against magic like that. But when I should have felt the impact on the shield, I instead felt a chill run down my spine. I suddenly found myself in an empty space surrounded by a cloudy, purple wall. In front of me stood the enemy leader, laughing loudly as he was slowly walking closer towards me, brandishing his axe.

-Well, well, well. I was aiming for that girl since she seemed to be pretty strong and the leader of your bunch. But who would have thought she had such a devoted lapdog at her side. Thinking saving her will give you any favours with her, hm?

-I’m sorry to disappoint but she’s not our leader. And I'm not exactly interested in scoring favours with anyone either. So what's this, some sort of a "one-v-one me, bro" spell?

The bandit leader stopped as he digested what I just said. After a few seconds, it finally occurred to him I was mocking him, even if he didn't understand what I said exactly, and readied his axe, spinning it in his hand a few times to try and intimidate me a bit more.

-Either way, we're here and the only way out is by me killing you. So no hard feelings, kid, but I hope you said goodbyes to your mom.

-Wish I did. Can't now. Not like it matters, though, the coffin with my name hasn't arrived yet. Yours did, by the way, so did you write a will already?

I smirked. While I was mocking him, the bandit leader walked up to just over three metres away from me. Now, he stopped, spreading his arms out in order to try to cause fear in me. Since his words couldn’t intimidate me, he hoped his stronger posture and confidence will. This was exactly what I was waiting for, however. Without further ado, I dashed forward, shield raised and the sword pointing forward in a thrust. But then I noticed a distinct smirk on the bandit's face. One that immediately caused me to stop dead in my tracks and jump back. A split second later, the massive axe flew by where I was just standing, only narrowly avoiding me. I thought people in this world played fair by Skills, or something, and don’t attack an attacking person like that. That was my job here! Although, I guess he was a bandit, and their leader no less, so I couldn’t expect him to play fair by any given set of rules. Still, his reaction, and especially its speed, surprised me a little.

I jumped back one more time, hoping to get some distance, but my opponent pushed forward, delivering another devastating blow from the top. He was surprisingly fast with a weapon this massive. Was he really that strong or was it thanks to his Skills or some strengthening magic, like in Liyanne’s case? Either way, I instinctively knew that tanking a hit like that would end poorly for me, even with a shield. If I was to block his strike and walk out with just a broken arm, I’d consider myself extremely lucky. Those swings looked extremely powerful. After a very quick consideration, I let the shield slip down my arm. I caught it at the last moment and flung it towards my opponent’s face. He managed to raise his axe and deflect it but this left him open to a low attack. Right after throwing the shield, I dashed behind it and slid on the ground cutting at the bandit's legs. I scored a good hit but it seemed my opponent wasn't particularly moved by it and simply swung the axe at me again. I managed to dodge it but with the massive guy still standing as if nothing happened, I was temporarily out of options. I retreated a couple steps to catch my breath and reevaluate the situation yet again.

-Hm, you're quite cheeky with the way you fight. Regular soldiers would stand their ground and try to play heroes. Just who are you?

-A kid with a dream.

-Ha! It does seem so.

The bandit leader was completely relaxed, walking around me with his arms open, taunting me, not even trying to close the gap and finish me off. He was certain of his victory. Understandably so, too. However you looked at this, my chances were pretty slim. This gave me an idea, though. But I'd like him a little more distracted before I try to pull it off. He has already shown he is quite fast for how massive he is, so I couldn’t take any chances and had to ensure the most optimal situation for myself.

-And you? Why dream so low and be a mere bandit?

-Freedom, why else? I can take whatever I desire from whoever I find. I can kill whoever I want for no reason. My strength is recognised here as well. What more could I want?

He turned around as he was saying that, spreading his arms out even more as if saying "I'm the king of the world" but he stopped midway through, likely realising we're in this weird prison of his and we can't see any of the actual world. This, however, gave me just the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. I quickly fell down to my knee, dropping my sword next to me as I flung the crossbow over my shoulder and into my hand, placing a bolt in the groove of the till at the same time. The bandit heard the sword fall and turned around but not in time to be able to even attempt to dodge the shot. I pulled the trigger, knowing damn too well that hesitating now would mean my death, and managed to score a hit, placing the bolt square in the bandit’s chest, just a fraction of a second later. As he wasn't wearing anything more than just regular padding, the bolt cut clean through it and lodged its whole shaft in his chest. He stumbled, surprised and shocked, as I immediately started cocking the crossbow again. Before I finished, however, my opponent wobbled and fell to his knees. As I finished preparing the crossbow, the bandit smiled at me, blood starting to sip through his teeth. With difficulties, and spitting more blood with each word, he hailed me.

-Clever. A disguised weapon. Strong, too… I was wondering what… That weird pickaxe was… We could go places... together… kid… if only…

He didn't finish his thought before collapsing face first. As he hit the ground, the weird fog started to dissipate, releasing us from the magical arena. The battle at the cavern was still ongoing but it was just a few bandits doing the last desperate stance against the soldiers. Liyanne, who, to my surprise, was not among the fighting group, ran up to me as soon as she noticed me.

-Edward! Are you alright?

-Yeah, yeah, I am. What's the status?

-Those are some of the last bandit forces, they came from some of the tunnels. We expect there may be more but their numbers should be relatively small now.

-Alright. Once this group is dealt with, we'll leave a couple soldiers to watch the exits and start clearing the tunnels one by one.

I said that and let out a heavy sigh. I slung the crossbow back over my shoulder and, just as I was about to take a step forward, all my strength suddenly escaped me. With great effort, I managed to wobble over to some crate nearby and lower myself to a sitting position on the ground.

-Are you...?

-I'm fine! I'm fine.

I cut Liyanne out as I tried my best not to throw up. My head was spinning, I couldn't focus my eyes, my stomach was in my throat... The moment I relaxed even a little and some of the adrenaline wore off, the scene of the battle and the fact of what just transpired, hit me with the force of a speeding truck. The cavern was laid with bodies of, at least, twenty or so bandits and, what looked like, three of ours, all in pools of blood, some with wide cuts, their limbs dislodged and bent at weird angles or intestines spilled on the ground. And among all that, the body of the bandit leader, who I killed myself, with the bloody bolt sticking out of his back, right between his shoulder blades. It wasn't my first kill, there was also the guy in front of the cave, but back at that time, the distance between us, the adrenaline, the pressure of time, it all helped desensitise it. Here, with the bandit leader, it all happened right in front of me. And now, when the battle was nearing its end and I was starting to calm down, the stench of blood and the horrific visions caught with me. The haunting vision that I, myself, was directly responsible for the death of another and indirectly of two dozen others, plagued my mind.

With a shaking hand, I reached down to the water bottle on my belt and brought it up to my lips. I took a bit of water into my mouth and spit it out nearly immediately. I was already used to the warm, musty water but with the nausea I already had, there was no way I will be able to drink any of that, so I gave up on that idea and instead spilled some of it onto my hand and spread it across my forehead, hoping it will help elevate at least some of the headache and fever I was feeling.

Liyanne observed me for a moment, a mix of disgust and concern painted across her face. But she seemed to recognise the effort I was putting to not just throw up there and look completely helpless in front of the other soldiers. Once the bandits were dealt with, she did as per my suggestion earlier, sending a four person squad to the first of the tunnels and having the rest of the guys secure the perimeter and check what spoils we got. The soldiers seemed very eager to loot the bodies and check the crates laying around. Some even started to bicker about who killed who and who is entitled to what loot. Seeing all that didn’t help my nausea one bit.

It took me a few minutes to calm myself down. I was honestly hoping I would be able to stomach this better than I did but there's no helping it. At least I managed not to throw up in the end. This small victory over my own body made me feel a little better about myself. I got up, dusted my trousers off and walked up to Liyanne, who was discussing something with two of the soldiers in the corner of the cave. Before I got there, they both saluted her and ran off towards the outside. Next, the princess started talking even before I made my presence known. I wasn’t sure how she managed to spot and identify me, though. While I wasn't sneaking around, I wasn't exactly stomping either, so I had to praise her senses.

-I'm sending them to see if the outside team has things under control. We're down here for a while already.

-Good thinking. One of the last things we want right now is getting rear-charged. We took those bandits down like that, it would be ironic to fall the same way.

Liyanne nodded and turned towards the tunnels. Coincidentally, a soldier ran out of them just a short moment later.

-Where's the commander?

The guards he asked pointed towards us and the soldier sprinted over. He saluted and, with a single deep breath, started talking:

-Lady Liyanne! Sir Edward! We require your immediate attention. We have found people.

-People?

I asked but the soldier was already leading us towards the tunnel. I shook my head but followed up. Liyanne’s expression darkened as she paced behind the guard. It looked like she fully understood what this was all about and didn’t like it one bit. Since the soldier didn't respond, she did in his place:

-Yes. He's most likely referring to slaves. It's not impossible that the bandits were trafficking some. To the right people, they're worth a lot of money.

-Slaves, huh? I was hoping those guys will only be interested in material goods.

-You mentioned it once that where you came from, slavery has been considered a crime for quite some time now, right? I'm sorry, but you'll have to deal with it here.

-I know. I might find this custom terrible but it's not like I agreed with every policy of the country I lived in in my own realm either, let alone foreign ones. Still, I'm making no promises. If possible, I'd rather set those people free and support them in getting home. If they have no place to return to, settle them in Katerial.

-We'll see what can be done about it.

The tunnel was fairly long and dipping quite steeply until it opened up to a torchlit cave. The first thing we saw in there were a few crates of various supplies, however the big, metal cages behind them became apparent quickly after. Within them we found several people. However, Liyanne scolded me for my suggestion to free them immediately as it was possible some of those people were former convicts or debt slaves. I had to admit that I might have jumped the gun there a little and then refused to elaborate on what a gun is and how to jump it. After searching the crates, we found a registry of all the slaves. This registry compiled papers issued by the slave guild proving that the person was, in fact, an actual slave and not simply a kidnapped person forced into slavery, at least officially. As it turned out, some of the slaves were, in fact, debt slaves or people who sold themselves into slavery. Those were offered a chance to settle in and start a new life in our kingdom and they all agreed, which made me relieved. A few people we found turned out to be former convicts and I agreed with Liyanne that the best course of action would be to send them to work the mines. Neither of us wanted to risk criminals walking around the city and Katerial didn’t have a proper prison to hold them, so this just seemed like the best option for the time being. Quite a few people turned out to actually be just simply kidnapped villagers that had been illegally entered into the registry. Of those, most wanted to return to their homes, which we promised to help with as much as we could, while the rest requested the right to settle in Katerial, which we also permitted. However, there turned out to be one more problem. Liyanne had to focus on directing the transportation of the slaves and cargo, and as such, I was left to tackle it by myself.

-It's those two, Sir. They're not in the registry.

A soldier showed me to a cage at the very back. Inside I could see two figures cuddled together, a smaller one, shaking, either from cold, fear, injuries or any combination of those, and another one, taller but still relatively small in posture, defensively covering the first. It was hard to make out in the dim light but they both seemed to be women. Perhaps a mother with a child?

-What are you waiting for, then? If they're not formally slaves, they should be safe to release, right?

-About that, Sir... They seem to be from a Red Wolf Pack.

The soldier seemed to think that this would tell me everything I needed to know but it just so happened that it was the first time I've heard this name. However, the model knight continued standing at attention and I really lost interest in asking him. Somehow I had a feeling I would only get another half-assed general answer that I should have known from birth, or something like that. So, instead, I turned to the cage.

-Don't be afraid, I don't mean you any harm.

One of the shapes seemed to shift slightly, however I couldn't notice the exact movement they made. I had a feeling, however, that someone is observing me now with attention worthy of a patient predator watching its prey. It made me instinctively gulp at the feeling, my hand moving towards the hilt of my sword on its own but I somehow managed to keep my composure and rest it on my hip instead. I took a deep breath and continued, trying to sound as natural as I could and hide away the nervousness that started to eat away at me.

-I would like to talk and get to know who I'm dealing with before I can set you free.

-Set us free? For what, to just hunt us down and enslave again? You humans are a disgusting excuse of a species.

The female voice that reached me, low and growling, and clearly pissed off, was filled with so much poison that it was almost enough to kill me on the spot. The soldier next to me took a step back, taken aback by its suddenness and strength, but quickly composed himself, glancing over at me in embarrassment that he had shown any sign of weakness. I managed to withstand the pressure and, although it did terrify me a little, I continued to speak in a calm and sincere manner.

-Excuse my rudeness but I've only arrived in these lands recently. I come from far away where slavery is frowned upon and I don't yet fully know or comprehend local customs. As such, could you explain to me what did you mean exactly by that remark?

The girl didn't respond immediately but when she did, she almost sounded like she was mocking me.

-Is that so? I don't quite believe you but let me still tell you. It's because that's what you people do. You hunt us simply for who we are. There's no other reason for it. You treat us as monsters, not human beings. We're nothing but playthings to you, you sick bastards. And I swear, one day I will kill all of you. Every, one, last of you.

The soldier next to me took offence in that and reached for his sword but I managed to silence him before he did or said anything stupid. I decided to send him off and have a conversation with my mystical speaker alone from now on.

-Quite a tall order. Still, if they're really hunting you down and enslaving just because of your origin, this is something I am not intending to tolerate. Humans are humans, no matter where they come from or what differentiate them. Something like this simply shouldn’t be allowed and that racist notion should be exterminated.

-You really aren't from around here, huh? Or is this your way of having your perverted fun? Mocking us like this? Trying to gain our trust before betraying us? Is this what you're getting off to!?

-Gosh, you're placing me so low. You really have to be a psychopath to be into that. If I met someone like that, I'd probably cut them down before they were finished telling me about it. No, I really think that what is happening to you is inhumane and I want to remedy it. It won’t be easy but I'm against slavery and racism as a whole and would like to work towards getting rid of them altogether. It’s nearly impossible, though, if I’m being met with this amount of prejudice from the other side too. Understandable, to a degree, but unhelpful.

The girl didn't respond immediately. I could feel her eyes on me. She seemed to whisper something to the smaller shape before standing up and walking over to the bars of the cage and into the light of the wall-mounted torch. I couldn't hide my surprise when I saw a girl younger than me, probably around twenty years old, wearing nothing but a tattered rug for a shirt that was just barely long enough for her. The other slaves all wore  a lot more decent clothing than that, but this wasn't the biggest shock. To that I had to attribute her physique, and not just the odd ears and tail, both wolf-like and in a shade of something between dark red and brown. She was thin, malnourished, but even in this state I could see well developed leg and arm muscles. She was strong and I had a feeling that even in this state she would be able to overwhelm me in moments and with relative ease if given a chance. She was standing just short of me, being taller than I originally assumed she was. Her long hair, in the same colour as her ears and tail, was reaching halfway down her back and spilling over her shoulders. Her dirty face was showing clear disgust but there was a hint of interest behind the green eyes that were ripping a hole right through me. Staring at her in shock, it took me a second to register that she said something to me as she approached me.

-What's your name?

-Edward.

-Edward, why do you think you can change the world?

-Because I'm not okay with the current situation and the people behind enforcing it. I came from a place that, I believe, does things better. Now that I’m bound here, isn't it only natural that I want to improve the situation here, too? Plus, you're just a regular human in my eyes, you don't deserve to be treated differently to others based solely on that metric.

-A regular human, huh? That's rich.

-So what if you have a tail and different ears? You're essentially 98% human. You should be judged based on that 98%, not the other 2% you had no influence over.

-...you really do mean that, huh? You're a weird one. Do you have a monster girl fetish or what?

-Ugh, for the love of... would you stop accusing me of being some sick pervert, please? Gosh, I understand that you’re wary of strangers and have the full right to be distrustful about me but, please, at least don’t try to offend me at every breath you take.

I let out a heavy sigh as I finished my rant. The sudden, hearty laugh that I’ve heard right after that took me by complete surprise. I looked up and saw the wolfgirl looking at me, amused, as she was covering the smile on her face behind her hand. Seeing my stare, though, she quickly shut up, probably realising it wasn't helping her situation as a slave. In fact, it helped me realise just how deep in people's mentality this issue is rooted. I didn't want to change this world for “the better” too much, but slavery is one thing I find hard to tolerate. And if it is propagated by those pseudo-holy fanatics that summoned us here, as I assume it is, it is already aligning with my plans to eventually overthrow them. I crossed my arms on my chest and now took my turn to stare the girl down. I decided to play her game and made sure my voice is a bit deeper than earlier.

-So, let me get it straight. Even if I set you free, people will just enslave you again due to some messed-up mentality, right?

-I'm really surprised you keep up the act of not kn-

-Right?

The girl cowered a little when I repeated myself, this time speaking much more forcefully. She seemed to rethink her position and potentially realised that, no matter if I was truthful or not, she was likely overstepping the boundaries of my patience. If so, she was correct. I was genuinely trying to help them and was about to snap by being met by constant mockery in turn.

-...yes, they will.

-Alright. I have a strong feeling that I'm going to piss quite a few people off with this stunt but, eh, I'll just meditate with the old man afterwards and things should turn out relatively fine.

After saying that, I turned around and flagged down one of the guys that came down to help transport the next crate of goods to the surface. Noticing my signal, he immediately ran up to me and stood at attention, saluting me.

-Open their cage and take their collars off. Just be careful with them so that they don’t bite your wrists or shins off. I’m taking full responsibility.

The soldier seemed confused at first but when he realised I was dead serious, and comforted him with that last comment, he hesitantly agreed and went to look for the keys, likely questioning my sanity on his way. I turned back to the girl in the cage, once again switching to a stern voice, letting her know I’m not going to accept either refusal or mockery this time around.

-You two will come with us to the castle in Katerial. You’ll have to trust me on my word but you’ll be safe there. I promise that no one will lay a finger on either of you there. And if it’s the soldiers, I can have them punished if they even look at either of you funny.

-The castle? What are you planning?

-You seem to be reading me like a book, so go ahead, take a guess. I’m going to tell you this already, though: given your previous estimates on me, you're not going to get it right.

With that, I turned around and walked out of the tunnel. I stopped at the stairs and looked back over my shoulder, confirming that the soldier did, in fact, open the cage and proceeded to take the girl’s collar off. Once he succeeded and I didn’t hear him complain about being eaten alive, I once again turned to leave. I guess that feisty girl didn’t know how to act after what she just heard. Perhaps I managed to convince her to at least give trusting me a try. I guess we’ll see how that goes later.

We spent the rest of the day moving supplies out of the cave system and preparing to transport everything back to the city. About two hours in we received a message from a scout, who arrived by a boat, that the bandits that left the hideout earlier were found and beaten by the detached force further down the river, to the East. With that, the operation to bring down the bandits was ultimately a success. All that was left now was to bring everyone back to Katerial. However, while all of the soldiers are going to be celebrating the victory, I have one more battle I will have to fight. I know Gurthan is also against unfair slavery and the pricks from the Holy Alliance, however this issue wasn’t as simple as that. The way that soldier in the cave reacted, Red Wolf Pack smelled of trouble. I had to get ready to have to convince the king to accept my proposal. Worst case, I can demand it as a reward for the completion of the task to eradicate the bandits. If possible, I’d rather resolve this diplomatically and without underhanded methods, however I had to be ready for any possibility.

About an hour later, some extra boats arrived, and we started loading them up with everything we’ve got from here. Since it was already getting late, we set up camp in the valley, as no one was comfortable staying in that cave much longer, for obvious reasons. Some soldiers and civilians already started celebrating, opening some of the beers found in the bandit stash. I decided not to stop them, however, and simply tried to get as much sleep as I could. Tomorrow seemed like absolute hell.