A Benevolent Evil Dragon

I ignore the nightlife this time around. I shouldn't be too surprised about this, really. Slavery in itself is legal around here, so trafficking people is really just a frowned upon business. I bet the only reason the guards are getting pretty tight with security is that they're not getting their share. Well, now it's my problem and nobody is getting a share anymore.

The kids are apparently good at more than just sitting around, looking cute as they learn from the nun. They spend most of the day wandering around, begging or doing tiny tasks for a few coppers. Wandering around means they hear things and they have some ideas of where the traffickers are.

First stop, as always, a brothel. Edith steps in, dressed for a battle rather than a tumble, but I do not miss the way her eyes follow a particularly pretty lady. The bouncer, or rather the ratty scoundrel that passes for one tries to stop her before she flashes her pouch with a few silvers and even a gold coin, just to show that she's rich enough for them to want her there, but the sword right next to it shows she's armed enough to make taking the money by force a problem. The little flash of heat that she lets out is the final bit of deterrent needed to make the man back off fully.

"Ah, what can we do for you this fine night, your ladyship?" I happen to enjoy the night more than the day since it doesn't take me straining to hear them through the walls. This one is likely the madam of the place. If anyone knows about things, it would be her, but I doubt she'll talk just like that. So instead, we aim for an easier source.

"I have some… particular tastes. I like to break them in. I hear you have some fresh girls nowadays. Cheap girls you might not miss if they break too much." I can feel the undertone of disgust in Edith's tone, but it doesn't register to those that don't know how she usually is. The madam, to her credit, mimics a shocked expression.

"Why, that is such a rude thing to say! We are not that kind of establishment… Unless… Did the good lord welcome you?" Now, anyone would be tempted to reply with an affirmation, but her sly tone is enough to make me have doubts outright. Thankfully, one of the kids, a young girl that just barely escaped being dragged in here herself, heard a minor noble reply to this very question.

"On the contrary, I'm blessed by Her Majesty." Answers Edith with a similarly blunt tone.

Well, the hardass noble is a role she can follow at least, and it's easier than pretending to be into what she's implying. Clearly, it's enough to pass the check because without another word she is beckoned into the back and down into the basement. I can't see the others. Humans, though they have some minimal mana, are at best slightly bigger whisps, or at worse so small I mistake them for a part of the static-like outline of things that the weak ambient mana makes.

Still, with her as a beacon, I sort of distinguish the few faint orbs and see that there's a lot more people down there than I thought. I hear rattling chains and a clump of shivering orbs all locked in a singular room. I strain my eye until it burns and imagine an outline for each and every one of them. Seven child-sized, three adults. Not all of them were women, if the voices were any indication. I hear some cries, then a soft shush and I am just about ready to ravage the whole brothel, but I can't yet.

"Hmm, I will take that one. I don't like them too young. It's too easy." Once again, Edith speaks in an almost emotionless tone, getting more and more worked up under her mask of stoicism. Thankfully, the madam is more focused on the silver than on her voice, so it slips by.

"Feel free to enjoy her. Ah, but it is a bit more expensive if you leave her unable to-" She gets silenced by Edith flinging the gold coin at her. That would probably be enough to fully buy all of them, but it's clear the madam doesn't bother mentioning that little tidbit. "Ah, thank you for the patronage~ Feel free to take the room at the end of the hall. It's our most silent room, perfect to enjoy the screams without having the guards knocking on our door."

Edith simply grunts in approval, then takes the woman by the arm. I can hear weak sobs drown out as she enters the mentioned room. Thankfully for me, I have other ways to do things. The alley right next to the damn brothel is as empty as it gets, likely because the ratty man scares away anyone loitering around. All the better for me since it lets me dig into the ground without worry. I scoop out a chunk of earth, then make my way into the me-shaped spherical hole, putting just a small surface layer of ground while leaving some holes to breathe. I am keeping my senses focused around me so I don't get snuck up on, now that I can just cut a hole in the wall to listen and see what happens with Edith.

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"Alright, good, please don't scream now, I am not going to hurt you." Instantly Edith breaks her mask, pacing around the room, breathing heavily. "Bastards, the lot of them! Children… Gods damned children! I should burn down that wrinkly woman's face and make sure no one ever dares do something like…" She is a healthy amount of angered, but I need to stop her.

"Edith. There's a woman with her arms tied together, currently terrified by the fact that you could hit her at any moment to vent out your anger." My voice makes the woman let out a small scream, before collapsing and looking towards the dark hole I cut in the wall. Clearly, my singular glowing eye that's a quarter the size of her head does not corroborate the whole 'We're not evil' thing. I should not have dropped the darkness spell, but I do want to conserve energy, or else I won't be able to finish the job in one night.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry. Damnit. Uhm, miss…? Please give me your hands. Again, I will free you, please don't scream or try to run, things will get bad for the both of us if you do." It takes a moment, but she switches to a soft, calming tone and moves very slowly and carefully.

"I… that's a monster…" She does at least offer her hands, but then seems surprised as Edith actually unlocks her cuffs and throws them away, though her focus changes back to me. I don't even bother hiding my eye, since she already saw it. "I am Mareha. Is that… Is that your monster?" Well, that's one way to piss off a dragon's instincts.

"Nononononono! Shush, don't insult him, please!" Even Edith looks my way a bit worried, but I sigh, which lets her know I'm alright. "Uhm, that's Heart, he's a good guy, please don't insult him just because he seems odd, he saved my life many times and he's here to save everyone else's too. He doesn't like seeing innocent people hurting."

"Additionally, a child walked up to a veritable cloud of darkness that mangled four bastards in front of him and begged it to save his sister. I simply cannot walk away from that without feeling like a monster." I don't know if it's my raspy voice, my half angry tone as I say the word or the way my eye narrows, but the woman flinches and whispers an apology.

"Y-yes sir.. ma'am… How can I help?" She steels her resolve quickly, catching on to the situation. "You overpaid just to have me in this room, so….?" Edith looks my way and I take over.

"We need you to tell us everything you know about the activities of this brothel, any other place that might have people like this and where the main place of operation of the smugglers is. Also, we will need you to convince the others to evacuate quickly once I start dealing with this place." She gulps at the implication, but nods.

"I don't know much… I was gagged, had a sack tied around my head and simply got dragged through places. But… I heard that there were two brothels and a few mansions that received "goods" from the gang… As for where they are… South-east of here somewhere. Around an hour walking, I'd say. took them a bit longer to drag me and a few others here by cart, so that sounds about right. Ah, but that's just inside the walls. They have another base, way out into the forest. I don't know where, they got me here in the middle of the moonless night…" She looks down, as if ashamed that she can't give us more, but this is already plenty.

"Do you think we can…" Edith begins, herself quite unsure on how much we can do with just that but I am more than happy.

"We can find out the estates from the base of operation. As for said base, I think I can find it with the rough location. For now though, I need more about the brothel. Do you know anything about the working girls upstairs?" Really, I already made up my mind on the madam and the few guards this place has. But I wanted to be sure before I went on a rampage.

"They're… Part of me wants to hate them because they get the normal clients… but I don't. They're unlucky women stuck forced to do this kind of work because of one issue or another. Every now and again they sneak us better food, when the madam isn't looking, but that's all they can do. They'll get cut down just the same as us if they try something…" I am actually relieved by that. Less blood on my claws.

"Good. I will need you to handle two things for me. You need to make sure that the other captives don't scream or run, instead they need to come here and climb out, to be safe. We have a wagon parked a bit away, you will need to go in there. Edith will take you to a church where you will be safe, then come find me to hopefully take away the rest of the captives. I will also need you to convince the girls up top to trust in the bloody cloud of darkness and the girl that looks like a noble." The woman nods for a moment, then something strikes her as odd and looks in Edith's direction.

"Looks like?" Edith doesn't seem to care about keeping her secret, probably because I gave myself away a bit, and pulses some of her mana into her arm, showing her charred limb for a moment. Mareha seems surprised, then nods as if she understood, then looks my way. Clearly she knows that the time for pleasantries has come and passed. Unknowingly I flash a smile with far too many teeth as I widen the hole, activating my shadow shroud to keep her from realizing my full appearance.

"Now that all is said and done, here is how we will be doing this."