Unknown: “—Who are you guys?”

 

A voice is thrown from one of the cells.

The one there was a lion type beast-man.

One ear was torn, and countless wounds were all over his body.

It was hard to see in the shadow, but it seemed like one eye was gouged out as well.

It was clear that he bore the marks of torture.

 

Garcia: “It’s not mealtime, the smell is different from the guy who usually comes… Ah, has that guy finally been caught too?”

 

He must have had a robust build originally, but now his muscles were withered, and his ribs were protruding.

Still, the light dwelling in his eyes and the strong tone of his voice let you feel his strong will.

 

Garcia: “I’m Garcia. You guys are… oh, asking for names while covering your faces is a bit uncouth, huh?”

Arata: “Who are the people here?”

Garcia: “As you see, guys who were caught.”

 

According to Garcia-san, they seem to be slaves caught for pet purposes.

Women and children are the main targets, and once they are contained here, they seem to be transported to the seller.

 

Arata: “Why is Garcia-san here?”

Garcia: “Well— A-, that was close. Can you use 【Appraisal】?”

 

Garcia-san, who had been speaking fluently until now, suddenly became silent.

Then, he showed the collar around his neck and told us to 【Appraise】 it.

 

【Item Name】 Collar of Subjugation

【Rank 5】

 

Again, an unproducible item.

From the description of the 【Appraisal】, the 【Collar of Subjugation】 seems to be an item that prevents the wearer from disobeying the orders given by the user.

 

Arata: “Can I have a moment?”

Aya: “What is it?”

 

Aya-san spoke to me in a low voice, so I paused my thoughts for a moment.

 

Aya: “That person said his name was Garcia, right?”

Arata: “What about it?”

Aya: “There is a prince in the neighboring country named Leo Garcia, and he looks exactly like the person in my memory.”

 

Come to think of it, I remember there being such a character.

【Leo Garcia】

Indeed, a general of the beastman tribe had that name.

The Beast Kingdom emphasizes military power, so the king and the dignitaries were all high-level NPCs.

My plans have been decided.

If he is killed here, war with the Beast Kingdom will be inevitable.

Then, I should help him and have him in my debt.

It’s not like I want to kill innocent people gleefully, so this is a welcome development.

 

Arata: “Then, we will help.”

Aya: “Let’s do that.”

Garcia: “Oh, is the discussion over?”

 

For the removal of the 【Collar of Subjugation】, considering the possibility that person wearing it was made to eliminate any enemies, we decided to do it before destroying the cell.

The rank of the 【Collar of Subjugation】 is 【5】.

This should be possible to remove with regular magic.

I raised the level of non-attribute magic to 5 and activated the obtained『Destruction: Magic』 on the 【Collar of Subjugation】.

It is a general counter-magic that cancels attack magic and dispels curses, but it should be sufficient in terms of rank.

The do-or-die attempt was successful, and the popped open 【Collar of Subjugation】 made a sound as it fell onto the dirty floor of the cell.

I destroyed the iron bars of the cell and cut the chains restraining Garcia-san.

 

Name: Leo Garcia

Lv. 478

 

Leo Garcia was a high-level NPC with a level of 900 in the story.

The current low level is either because this world is nearly several decades in the past from the story, or because it’s difficult to level up.

Either way, having nearly 500 levels means he is one of the top-class powerhouses in this world.

Garcia-san, who was freed from restraint, began to crack his joints, as if loosening the stiffness in his shoulders and neck.

 

Garcia: “Haah, I am free now.”

Arata: “Why was someone as powerful as you here?”

Garcia: “I was guarding against frequent kidnappings in the border areas. But ironically, I got attacked and ended up like this.”

 

According to Garcia-san, most of his subordinates were killed, and he was captured to be used as a test subject for the 【Collar of Subjugation】.

However, perhaps because his level was too high, it seems that he couldn’t be completely controlled by the 【Collar of Subjugation】.

After that, he seemed to have been tortured like this, with attempts to extract information about the Beast Kingdom.

Garcia-san’s tendons in his leg seemed to have been cut, which would hinder his escape in this state.

If possible, I would like to ask him to guard the people imprisoned here.

 

Arata: “Please drink this.”

Garcia: “Is this—an advanced potion?”

Aya: “It costs several hundred gold coins for one, you know? Where did you get something like this?”

 

It’s not an advanced potion, but a degraded elixir… Correcting it is troublesome, so I let him drink it as it is.

Garcia-san swallowed the degraded elixir.

As expected, even though it’s degraded, the effect of the elixir is wonderful, and Garcia-san’s entire body’s wounds began to heal with sparkling effects.

Of course, the torn ear, gouged eyeball, and severed leg tendons were also recovering.

However, it seems that the muscles that had deteriorated did not return, perhaps because they were not treated as abnormal conditions or part defects, and bad statuses such as 『Muscle Weakness』 and 『Debilitation』 remained.

Even so, the change

is remarkable compared to a few minutes ago when he was nearly mortally wounded.

But considering they were trying to extract information about the Beast Kingdom, does that mean they are planning to start a war?

In other words, the one behind 『Fenrir』 is—

 

Garcia: “What will we do with the people here?”

Aya: “I personally want to dispose of them, but…”

Garcia: “The kingdom doesn’t want to take them in, I guess. Well, I’ll take them with me out of sympathy, since we share the same circumstances.”

Arata: “May we ask for your assistance?”

Garcia: “Sure, I mean you guys helped me like this.”

 

I handed one of the weapons confiscated from 『Fenrir』 to Garcia-san, and we began rescuing the people imprisoned in the cells.

Even when he was imprisoned, Garcia-san seemed to have encouraged people in the same situation as him.

Therefore, he has earned their trust, and the imprisoned people follow our instructions smoothly.

 

Aya: “Is that everyone?”

 

Once we finished rescuing everyone from the cells, Aya-san asked Garcia-san.

 

Garcia: “No, there’s probably one more person.”

Aya: “Probably?”

Garcia: “I don’t know the details, but there were times when someone would go into that back area.”

 

Saying this, Garcia-san gestured towards a location with a thick iron door standing there.

It was a door that emitted a heavy atmosphere, different from the iron-barred cells where Garcia-san and the others were held.

The overly fortified place seemed suspicious.

I put my hand on the door and slowly swung it open.

 

—

 

A sensation of being swallowed by an unfathomable darkness.

A chill ran down my spine, and I instinctively held my sword in front of me.

It was a premonition of “death” that I have experienced only a few times since coming to this world.

 

Garcia: “What is this thing…”

Aya: “Let’s stop, it’s too dangerous.”

 

Garcia-san had all his hairs standing on end, and Aya-san was also breaking out in a cold sweat on her forehead.

The people who were imprisoned seemed to feel the change in the atmosphere as well, huddling together with anxious faces.

Should we leave it as it is and escape?

Or should we go check what lies beyond the door?

Beyond the iron door, there is an even longer corridor.

The darkness spreading there was wide open like a cave where an unimaginable monster lurked, ready to swallow anything that entered.