In this world, kidnappers and human traffickers could generally get paid twice.
The first and most obvious one was the person themselves. However, this actually tended to be what they sold second later on, unless they had set up a buyer ahead of time.
The second was the clothes and belongings of those they kidnap. Clothes were a valuable commodity here alone, not to mention anything else they might have that could go to a trading post, general store, pawnshop, or other similar shop. As such, any kidnap victim was stripped bare almost immediately and then restrained by tying their hands behind their backs and their ankles were tied together too, and then their arms were tied around their torsos and their thighs were tied together as well. Sometimes these knots were then tied together to restrain their movements further. After that, their belongings were collected to be evaluated by whatever criminal contact the criminal had to determine their value, and then they would be sold, typically to someone who didn't ask questions if not an outright fence.
This was also to serve as a way for them to evaluate the goods. Making sure there was no sickness or blight anywhere on their bodies, as well as overall evaluating their appearance to see how much they can mark up the price. Examining the quality of their skin, their muscles for physical labor, seeing what they were sensitive too. Plus it made them easier to clean up and wash to make more appealing and presentable to their sellers. Naturally, the victims themselves had no say in the matter.
That was what Kuroki and Riku had gone through before they were thrown into a cage in the back of the wagon. There was some sort of magic that prevented sound from getting in or out, and seemed to create a fake view of ordinary merchandise if anyone looked in. Furthermore, in addition to the usual restrains, they each had a collar placed around their necks. The moment they were thrown into the cage, the driver decided to do a test. In an instant, it zapped them with a furry and intensity that made them cry out in pain and spasm, before it was finally deactivated. A warning to try not to escape, surely.
The two of them were not the only ones in the cage either. There were three other boys, one of them being Zak. The second boy appeared to have orange, messy hair that looked like it was supposed to be a bowl cut, and the other boy had long blue hair that went well past his shoulders and just went past his nipples. He also had pointed ears that Kuroki got a glimpse of through the air, indicating he was an elf. All of them were restrained in similar fashions. Given the sun had already set, and that the cage wasn't covered and the wagon didn't really provide any thermal insulation, all of them were feeling a bit chilly right now. All of them were completely naked as well, and most of them were very much afraid of what was going to happen.
Zak meanwhile, just looked uncomfortable by the whole situation. Even though he had a body of a child, and even the physical brain of one, which caused him to be more expressive then he probably realized, he still had at least some sensibilities as an adult. And his adult, police officer who specialized in crimes against children mind was extremely displeased by being locked in a cage naked with four kids who were also naked. Even though he surely went to bathhouses various times which surely also had kids there as well, Kuroki figured he was just that kind of person.
Well, at least it let Kuroki know he was at heard a good guy. Maybe a bit too much of a prude since the situation was way too serious to think about this stuff though. Kuroki was way more worried about what might happen when they arrive at wherever they were being taken to.
"You know, there are other things to be concerned about..." Kuroki pointed out to him. The other two boys were crying, and even Riku was really afraid and worried. Unfortunately, the collars around their necks prevented them from using magic, so Kuroki couldn't do anything either. He kept trying, but then it would shock him rather violently as well as stop him from using mana.
"Says the one who keeps trying to use magic knowing what will happen" Zak mentioned as he saw Kuroki writhe on the floor again. "But its okay...well, probably. Actually I am concerned for a different reason then you are thinking. Well, it might be both, but still".
"What exactly did you do? I was as flashy as possible and no help ever arrived".
"Yeah. Cherry Road reacted stronger than I expected. I guess they didn't like failing on two fronts".
The other boy, the blue haired one, looked at them confused. "Two? I overheard three".
This caught Zak off guard. "Wait three? Then did...oh...I must have missed something. Certainly that might explain things, maybe. I need to know the details though".
Kuroki frowned as he managed to get himself sitting up again. For better or worse, he was used to getting himself back up while being both in pain and unable to use his limbs fully. His experience with his shitty father was thanks for acquiring that strange skill.
"You are way too calm".
"Well, I am worried on if he will reach us in time true. If our rescue doesn't arrive before the Auction is over, we could be seriously screwed".
"The Auction? Rescue?"
"Yeah. They are in serious moneymaking mode. They were only paid to kidnap you by this point, but they got permission to do as they pleased with all of us after the abductions. So they plan to auction us off in a black market auction in secret. Its horrific, demeaning, and violates so many laws the people behind it will probably get executed if they survive".
Kuroki frowned, but even moreso when he looked at Zak's smugness.
"You are getting a bit too smug there, given the situation".
"...listen okay, revealing the truth and crushing criminals, especially those that target children, happen to be some of my favorite things in the world".
"But we are literally about to be sold by those people to others! We can't even do anything right now!"
"Ah, but I already did something".
"Exactly what did you do? Who is coming to rescue us?"
"I sent a letter to your teacher, Amyris, ahead of time of course. I made sure to add in plenty of details of what they might do to us. Granted I didn't expect them to come after me as well, nor for them to go after you the way they did. That will probably amplify things".
Riku and Kuroki immediately looked at Zak in horror, as they recognized just how much anger and spite he might actually hold right now.
"...you...you sure that was wise?"
"We wont die in the crossfire right?"
"Nah, we will be fine. Oh, and for safety reasons, I sent one to Riza as well".
Kuroki and Riku both went pale, while the other two boys had glimmers of hope.
"The Magician of the Silver Hour and Shining Hope?!"
"Yeah. So long as they make it there before the Auction concludes, we will be fine. I didn't actually know its location, cause they keep moving it, even after all my investigating, but yeah. This is why I am so calm. I think the odds are in our favor".
"But how will he find us?"
"Honestly, I don't know how...but keep in mind who we are talking about here. Frankly, I am more concerned they will forget to hold back" Zak said, as he sat back and relaxed a bit.
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Amyris was looking at a letter sent to him by an anonymous source. His face showed no sign of expression, and yet that in itself gave an uneasy feeling to the two senior apprentices behind him.
"...to think they got kidnapped when we were finally able to meet properly" the fourteen year old boy magician, Lyrian Bell, mentioned. Like Kuroki, he had a Grimoire, but he also had a wand as well. He was wearing a blue cloak with silver trimming, as well as a green shirt, black shorts that went past his knees, and nice and sturdy brown boots. "Still, we should act fast. If they get sold before we get there, we might never find them. Course we still need to find the auction itself".
"Lets just kick in all the usual places and beat down anyone who might know till they tell us!" his counterpart, the sixteen year old girl said. Her name was Saphiril Danes, and she was wearing a similar cloak, along with a silver-white shirt, long black pants, and crimson boots. She had a staff with her, but the bottom end was also a blade, so it was also a spear.
Amyris meanwhile seemed to stare at the letter for a moment, before standing up proper.
"We will exterminate them all".
"Teach, capturing them alive will let us get information from them that could lead to other human traffickers, and free children in other cities as well" Lyrian said, using both logic and emotion to calm his teacher.
Amyris processed what he said, and then nodded.
"Very well. We will leave some of the grunts and leadership behind. Mainly the ones who might actually talk. The clients...well, we wont go out of our way to kill them, nor spare them".
Lyrian let out a sigh of relief. He had managed to avoid the worst case scenario. Still, he had to be sure of one thing.
"Perhaps you should open with that spell, to ensure no hostages can be taken?"
Hearing those words, Amyris nodded at Lyrian. Meanwhile, Saphiril looked ready to go.
"So, shall we smash in doors till we find them?"
"This letter mentions informing Riza as well, so that will be easy. We just need to find him and see where he rampages".
"Awww, can't we rampage as well?"
"Riza has an uncanny ability to find people and appear at the right time, unlike myself who always seems to be late" Amyris said, sounding depressed. When Anna got cursed, he had been too late, and she had to petrify herself. It was a major weight on his conscious, and it fueled his rage.
He then turned towards the door.
"We are departing now. Lets see if we can find Riza first, or the Shadow Auction first".
Those were his words, as the ground beneath him seemed to freeze. He was already beginning to cast and layer spells.
Saphiril looked ecstatic to get some action in, while Lyrian sighed and resigned himself.
"Very well. I guess its up to me to make sure no one goes overboard then...provided I can" he muttered, as his own magic began to be formulated and layered ahead of time.
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At the same time, Riza had jumped up to the highest point of the city. The Lord's Tower, the tallest watchtower from which a city lord had loyal watchers keep watch over the city, looking for any sign of suspicious people looming throughout, as well as covering the approaches to the manor itself. It had perfect vantage points on countless different crossroads, as well as all paths that led to the manor. If one wanted to search a city quickly, and they had either telescopes or eyes that could see from countless meters away, this was the place.
And Riza was one such person, who had used magic on his eyes that he learned from Amyris. This spell, Raven's Gaze, would let him see through darkness and from incredibly far away, and his natural eyesight was already good, which made it even more effective.
"Now, its likely they have already been brought to the building by this time. The letter was sent in advance, but the signs of conflict I saw were an hour old. Certainly, this is a large city, but its not the largest. With a carriage, they could have gone from the ambush point to any point in the city. So, where would I begin?"
He doubted he would see them. These people were illegally capturing children to sell, there was no way they would operate in the open. Considering no one saw the capture or the final part of the battle, they had at least one mage working for them. He figured they probably utilized some sort of Isolation Sphere, or perhaps even a full blown Realm.
"This is a criminal organization at work, given the numbers I heard about. Which means, they are skilled enough to operate undetected for decades. More then likely, they wont be easy to spot. Even I regularly go against these organizations, and yet they always slip through my fingers. Amyris too. They dont need fancy magic to be elusive after all".
Yes, that was the major problem of his. It wasn't like he, Ozlo, and Amyris just ignored these people before this. They had fought these kinds of people countless times, but they were good at compartmentalizing information. Even Necromancers couldn't get much. If they made such easy mistakes, they would have crushed Cherry Road long ago.
And yet, because it was Kuroki and Riku who was taken, they couldn't just ignore things. However, the letter he had gotten from his anonymous source had mentioned some things. While the location and methods keep changing, this detective sounding person had mentioned a few things of note. For one thing, apparently Baron Rizlit was involved. And one of the Logistics auditors for the Merchant's Guild, Emilli Froyst. Furthermore, there was even a plant inside the City Government's Property Management Office. Also known as the Tax Office. The exact person wasn't clear, but it was narrowed down to three names.
This made Riza's objective far more clear. He cross referenced properties the merchants guild had been asked to refurbish but not sell yet, compared it to the tax records audited by those three, and find out which vacant properly was being kept in limbo at this moment. By having the building appear to be repaired and taxed, but without anyone actually claiming it, if you did the purchase and sell orders right, you could make it effectively invisible from records and taxes. Basically, someone would purchase it but then immediately foreclose on it and it would go back to the tax record. But if the purchase order gets processed after the forecloser notice, then it enters a state of legal limbo. According to records, it was shut down and returned, but then purchased afterwards. However the purchaser was the one who foreclosed it first. This caused the fire to be audited normally, but if you had someone in the office, it could get "misplaced". It happened all the time, so no one would think twice, especially if the property was in a more isolated backstreet location.
If it sounds confusing, thats the whole point of this little scheme. In truth, there were other aspects as well, but Riza couldn't be bothered to think through it all. Especially when he found his target.
"A theater. Four stories, and a basement. The property is in legal limbo, even more complex then normal. Apparently, its been maintained to avoid a fire...but it was handled by a private third party. So that is how they did it. We cant access government documents that are currently under dispute, but with no one actually disputing the case, it just gets stored away. No one would bother to look for it since its not an active or abandoned property".
Riza lamented this annoying bureaucratic sized hole in their investigative ability, but this was the kind of thing one would only be able to notice if they checked every file individually and then also went around and checked every location in the city individually, and compared it to every single aspect of paperwork.
But for someone to point us right to it, they must be one hell of an investigator.
And that was when he spotted something. A few people who had connections to some of the suspects. They were not moving together, but they were moving in the same direction. The direction of the theater he uncovered thanks to the tip. To make matters more interesting, there were fresh carriage tracks leading to a large door meant for wagons to be moved in and unload cargo. Probably meant to be used for large props for the theater, but this also let them unload human cargo out of sight.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Found you" he muttered as he stood up on the very top of the roof of the watchtower. He spotted a familiar bird passing by, and nodded. "Try to keep up Amyris. These criminal organizations have pissed me off a bit too much. I can't promise my stress relief will leave you with anything to do".
He jumped forward with almost superhuman strength, mana particles coming off his entire body as he landed on the rooftop of the manor and ran across it. His target was in his sight, and he was able to leap across entire streets with a single hop. His physical abilities clearly defied both logic and reason, and yet he was clearly controlling it. He never did any real damage on landing, maybe cracking or displacing a tile or two at most from tiled rooftops, or leaving a minor crack in wood and stone despite the force and gravity of his landings.
To anyone watching, they would have been baffled by this superhuman display. Even Amyris, who watched through his familiar, was alarmed by this.
His abilities truly do exceed himself. He should really stop putting off the Rank Up test already.
While thinking that, he and his two apprentices used magic to close the gap, and meet up with Riza.
If Cherry Road saw this, they would probably piss themselves, but they used magic to block perception of them. Now all that remained to see was if they would make it in time.
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At the same time this was happening, Kuroki and others had ended up being shoved onto their feet. The bindings around their ankles and legs had been removed, and they were forced to walk onto a stage with bright lights shining upon them. There was quite the crowd in what appeared to be a theater, but it wasn't totally filled out. That would have been absurd after all. While the number did indicate there were a severe number of truly depraved and disturbed people, or those representing them, it wasn't like every single person like them had the connections to this group. There were other criminal organizations that existed after all. And those who were unable to attend due to being busy at the moment.
Still, all of the victims were very uncomfortable and disgusted by this. It was one thing to strip of your own free will, but to be stripped and put on display was considered very embarrassing in this world still. Something about the difference between free will and it being taken away.
Kuroki right now was having his own issue. The Darkness inside of him was surging forward, he had a strong urge to kill. And given the situation, the Darkness inside of him wanted him to go on a murder rampage. Kuroki was not sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate right now the collar around his neck prevented him from using magic, because as much as he wanted to escape, he didn't want to give into the Darkness. He didn't want to submit to this artificially enforced murderous impulse, yet he was having a hard time arguing against it right now.
The criminals wasted no time either, as they brought the blue haired elf boy on stage first. There were now twelve of them in total, and apparently being an elf jacked up the prices a lot. It quickly went into gold coins in no time, before finally the bidding ended at 16 medium sized gold coins. The moment that was done, Riku was dragged onto stage next. As a Beastkin, the price also went quite high for him rather quick. Kuroki was seething, while Riku who was in the spotlight just felt worry and despair. Eventually, the price settled at 18 gold coins, and he was dragged away.
After that, Kuroki was brought onto the stage, and everyone oohed and aahed.
"He looks quite healthy".
"I wonder if he is older then he looks, given that".
"What an interesting specimen".
Kuroki went red in the face, half from embarrassment and half from anger. That anger fueled the Darkness, especially as he heard Riku being dragged away still, to be packaged into a box as they tried to make him take a sleeping drug.
Chills went down his spine as rage swelled within. He was standing completely naked on a stage as well, and the temperature was still going down after the sun had set, so there were normal chills as well. Even his breaths full of white hot rage became visible vapor as they exited his mouth, as he felt like it was freezing.
Wait, hold on...it can't be THAT cold. We are approaching summer! So this means...
Before Kuroki could complete his thought, the doors from the entrance behind the audiance seats were smashed open with such force that they went flying. They actually went so fast they hit two guards, killing them instantly with their sheer force. At the same time, ice began to spread among the room, as it began to cover the floors, walls, and ceiling.
The mage that had captured them seemed surprised, but quickly adapted. She had her large vines come out of the ground to attack them, but then several rings of light emerged from behind and cut through them all instantly, vaporizing the parts that were cut off as Lyrian Bell stepped forward.
"If you all surrender right now, you won't die. At least most of you. Mind making this easy for us?"
Naturally, everyone here knew that this was a bad look for them. At minimum, some of the leadership would be executed. And that was the minimum. Crimes against children could be punished with very harsh and brutal punishments. There was no guarentee their executions would be immediate or painless. They might be stoned, beaten, tortured, or such into giving information, and then killed. Or if someone else talked and gave all the information they had, they would be forced to suffer such treatment until they died.
Perhaps some of the leadership would make deals and reveal sufficient information to get off with imprisonment. Also if they were not directly related to the harming of any child. The buyers at least could claim they just wanted servant labor. But the guys in charge? Crimes against children were punished with extreme prejudice, and they took a good look at the motives and considerations of each case. In this world, justice was not blind, and could see quite well.
And of course, that was provided they survived the actual arrest. The other three didn't look particularly merciful.
"So, Amyris, it looks like there are about eighty people here in total. How about we each kill twenty each?"
"...please at least give them the chance to surrender first" Lyrian muttered, as a guard came at him from behind. However, in the next moment, several swords made of light appeared from behind Lyrian and flung themselves into the guard, despite completely being in his blindspot. Each one held enough force to pierce through his body completely, spilling his blood and whatnot everywhere as he got hit in the head, torso, lower torso, and each limb.
The others also raised weapons, apparently having no desire to go to prison or be killed. One of them grabbed Kuroki and put a blade to his neck, and several others took Riku, Zak, and the other children hostage.
"Make any moves, and we kill the children".
"No, you won't" Amyris said, as mana surged from his body. It intimidated everyone, but what happened next sent them into despair and dismay. A large Clocktower was constructed in the air in front of them, floating. The hands both pointed upwards, indicating midnight. The Clocktower was not solid, but a blue translucent that could be seen through. Furthermore, it was something they all recognized.
Amyris had already chanted his spell ahead of time. Kuroki looked on the tower with wonder, instinctively sensing the power and complexities it held. He was so eager to see what would happen, as Amyris chanted the final trigger.
"Silver Hour".
The Magician of the Silver Hour utilized his namesake, and Kuroki's world was engulfed in light.
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The moment the spell was triggered, things changed drastically for the worse. Suddenly, Kuroki and the other children had all disappeared. Every hostage they had was gone, and magic seemed to seal away the exits as they became frozen shut. Furthermore, they now knew who was here. They knew who was after them.
A famous adventurer and knight who had saved countless people, who despite being an old man in his sixties or seventies had the appearance of a young thirteen year old boy.
A cool headed young magician who appeared around fourteen, who seemed to be the voice of reason and yet had as much of a habit of going overkill as his master, given the fact he used multiple swords against a guard that only needed one. He seemed like the type who took responsibility a bit too easily too.
A hot headed sixteen year old female magician whose staff was also a spear, who seemed ready to fight everyone here without holding back.
And then, of course, the one they feared the most. Amyris, also known as the Magician of the Silver Hour. A famous adventurer who had protected all the civilians of entire cities during crisis, using his signature spell, Silver Hour. While it was active, the innocent could not be harmed, and could not even be present on the battlefield. It allowed him to not only resolve hostage situations in an instant, but it also let him protect civilians who were in danger and let knights and warriors focus on defending themselves rather then others. The Blue Translucent clocktower was something that filled allies with hope, and enemies with dread.
After all, it confirmed everyone here was an enemy now.
"So, don't you all want to surrender? If you do, I am sure only a few of you will get executed" Lyrian told them. "We might even keep it as low as fifty percent!"
Despite his cheerful voice, that number raised concerns with everyone. One even had to question that.
"Hold on, they rarely execute that many for this kind of thing!"
Lyrian however just looked at him with a shrug.
"I mean, I saw their bodies you know. I am pretty sure I saw evidence that you dosed them a bit to make them more appealing, that confirms, as proof, that you intended to sell them for sexual reasons. That is an instant death penalty. Furthermore, any buyer who bought them will likely be found guilty as well, which means instant death penalty. Their security will probably be arrested, but depending on what is found at your residences, such as other children you have purchased in the past, and any signs of those activities forced...well, again, death penalty. Granted, the more you give up and testify, and the more money you have to pay for reparations, might let you avoid a death penalty, but honestly? Everyone is going to hate your guts. Some of your cell mates might kill you, and then they might get released early for good behavior".
Lyrian told no lies and they knew it, but that last one concerned some of them. He did omit that was only if they all got the maximum sentencing, which was unlikely, but he wasn't in a good mood after seeing that many kids like that. Still, he more or less just confirmed they might even get killed if they went to prison.
"Of course, keep in mind that if you resist, at least eighty percent of you might die. So you know, you have the odds of being in that surviving thirty percent".
Lyrian was actually a bit pissed off, so he was inflating the numbers to the worst possible case for them, but he didn't care. He normally stayed cool headed, but this scene brought up unpleasant memories for him. He remembered when he stood on a similar stage, for a similar reason.
Riza meanwhile looked at the clients.
"Tsk. The targets I really wanted to see aren't here".
"No Valiance at all?"
"Not a single member of his house. Even the errandboys".
He plunged a sword into a nearby guard for one of the buyers, pissed off. This action caught them off guard. Another tried to go after him, but a second sword appeared in his hand and he cut the man's head off. A few more guards of the criminal syndicate came after them, but Amyris simply took a step forward and suddenly they were all encased in ice. It was much faster than what Kuroki did. In fact, no one even saw the attack happen at first. They were just instantly encased in ice.
Riza charged around and began lopping off heads, focusing on anyone who looked like they didn't know anything. He was using his intuition, but his intuition had gotten him out of danger many times and was honed from decades of experience.
Saphiril meanwhile seemed content with just cutting through them in any which direction. She seemed to not have much personal motivations, but she clearly wasn't a fan of them and was a fan of action. Perhaps a bit of a battle junkie, she was careful to leave anyone who looked important alive for questioning.
Of those that survived, Lyrian restrained them, although the restraints hurt like hell. Any time someone restrained directed rage or anger at them, or tried to take any action to run away or fight, the bands of light that had come around them gave them a healthy electric shock. This was matched to the exact same duration and intensity that the collars they put around the children's necks had been, so it was giving them a taste of their own medicine. Including the fact he sometimes shocked them just cause he felt like it, just like they did to their illegally acquired slaves. Lyrian didn't do too much of an excess despite his rage, unlike the others. One might say "Isn't he so nice and fair".
"Silver Hour is so nice" Riza said, as he gutted someone who he had spotted licking his lips at the children earlier. "I don't think Kuroki and Riku are ready to see such a sight yet".
"I agree completely. While we should prepare them to kill people eventually, they need not witness such a bloodbath so soon. For now, killing the monsters who are enemies of all humanity is sufficient".
"Certainly, we wouldn't want to show them their heroes covered in blood, talking so casually, as they butchered a bunch of lowlives, perverts, and illegal slave owners" Lyrian agreed with Riza and Amyris.
"I guess that might be a biiit too much of a first impression".
To the criminals, this was a horrifying conversation that sent chills down their spines and made them understand how screwed they were. The more people who ended up corpses, the faster they ended up surrendering. Lyrian would then restrain them with his magic, creating countless rings of light to fully restrain them. The fact that he made the bindings way tighter then necessary was total coincidence, incidentally, and certainly not intentional. Wink wink. Lyrian was a good and responsible boy after all.
Saphiril meanwhile was diligently making sure to clean up the trash. While she was haphazard about her strikes, her spear would twist into a sword, and then occasionally just bend and strike at her foes. Occasionally she impaled them with flaming lances, and other times she had the earth eat them whole, their screams echoing from the abysses she sent them into. Whenever an attack was made against her, a magical hexagon barrier appeared, blocking it rapidly and precisely despite the fact it was clearly a reaction after she noticed the attack. The reaction speed was just that fast. Wasn't she so diligent with her combat training? Truly someone should praise her!
By the time the battle was over, blood was everywhere. They had let it spray all over the place, except themselves. All of them were eerilie clean around this, and the only ones left alive were those who surrendered or who they wanted to keep alive to question.
"Riza, the spell will end soon. Can you drag them into another room for questioning?" Amyris asked. "I need to clean up this room for when they return".
"Ah, sure. Make sure you get rid of the smell as well! Riku is sensitive to that".
"He isn't the only one" Lyrian chimed in.
"Ah, Lyrian, can you help make sure my questioning still remains within dubious legal guidelines?"
"Sure" Lyrian said, following him out. The prisoners were not exactly happy with how that was phrased however.
Amyris looked at the room they had thoroughly messed up, and then the clock.
"Alright, time to get to work".
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By the time the light faded from Kuroki's gaze, they were still in the same room as before. They were still naked and collared and tied up, and nothing about them had changed at all.
Furthermore, the room looked exactly as it had been. Nothing changed with any of the seats, they all looked completely undamaged. The carpet was all there, with no signs of blood or anything. A few spots were damp though for some reason.
However, there was one big difference. Everyone other them Amyris and Saphiril was gone. No corpses, no prisoners. Everyone else had vanished.
Amyris quickly went onto the stage, knelt down, and hugged Kuroki.
"Its okay. It's all over now".
"R-right. Master, what happened?"
"First things first" he said, as he touched the collar. It sparked a bit, hurting Kuroki, before opening up and falling to the ground deactivated.
He then proceeded to do that to all the other captured children, freeing them instantly. Most collapsed into tears of joy and relief, some went and hugged Amyris as they were full of gratitude and joy. Zak did neither, instead just sighing with relief.
That guy really needs to improve his acting skills.
Leaving that aside, Lyrian came in soon after, levitating a huge crate.
"Hey, I think I found everyone's clothes and such, but let me know if not everything is here! There is a lot more crates in the other room and its possible they didn't keep it all together!"
As he said that, the children immediately went to reclaim their belongings, including Zak and Kuroki. Everyone tried to cram in all at once of course, which got a little chaotic and shovey with everyone slamming into each other. The sight caused awkward looks from the three older mages. Eventually however, they got their stuff out, and they all got dressed. However...
"There are some sets of clothes in here that dont belong to any of us" Kuroki noted.
Yes, the numbers did not add up. That meant there were others who were sold recently, before their belongings could even be sold off.
"They must have been capturing and selling people off in a hurry. But to do it so brazenly...they must be trying to build up money desperately for some reason".
"Ah, I think I can answer that" Zak mentioned. "I heard now from a few people, including other victims, that multiple kidnapping attempts failed last night. Apparently, three whole teams went missing or were outright butchered. It seems they are under the impression a rival organization is coming after their turf, so they must be securing funds to use against this perceived threat".
Kuroki stared at him. "And, tell me, what were you doing in the forest last night again?"
"Just doing some nighttime requests is all" Zak said, but Kuroki didn't buy it at all.
Amyris meanwhile seemed more concerned about the missing children. Going by potential outfit combinations, there were at least seven of them still out there. This stuff usually got sold to a pawn shop fast to avoid leaving evidence, so this was recent, within the last twenty four hours.
"If the buyers are in town, we wont be able to trace them so easily" Lyrian said. "They could have sent intermediaries or changed hands. However, if they were selling to locals during this auction, chances are they might have not been sold, but transported to a bigger commercial city to be sold there. In which case, they should still be in transport. There isn't any city within a day's travel from here, even if they kept moving all day and night".
Riza came rushing in, wiping something off of his sword before making it disappear. "Its transport. They had already promised their 'goods' to another city. No way they would hold two auctions in the same place normally, this second one was an emergency set up. To gather funds locally".
"You got it from the suspects?" Amyris asked.
"Yes. I also confirmed what route they were sent on. Apparently, they left twenty two hours ago towards the city of Rithil".
"Damn it. That is way too far away".
"Certainly, it would be...if we had anything to worry about".
Amyris looked at Riza's smile.
"What do you know?"
"A division of the Order of the Silver Wind is stationed in that city".
At those words, Amyris smiled in kind.
"I see. Shall we send a few carrier birds then?"
"Just what I was thinking as well. They will be able to meet that caravan in advance and show them some wonderful hospitality".
The two began to laugh a bit, but a scary laugh that sent shivers down their spines.
Kuroki looked over to Lyrian. "By the way, what happened? You all disappeared, and then the battle was over".
"That is the effects of the spell, Silver Hour. For an hour, all civilians and non-combatants are removed from the combat area. This allows all defending forces to not have to worry about them, and provides relief for the forces during a monster invasion. Furthermore, when the spell ends, if the areas they were in before are not safe, they will be sent to the safest area possible in the range of the spell".
"Wait, so basically he just excludes people outright for an entire hour?"
"Yes. This spell has let him defend this city against countless threats. A big part of city defense is civilians you see. Especially during the first breach. By removing that issue for a full hour, everyone can make full use of counter attack measures without having to worry about civilian casualties. Furthermore, if its really necessary, he can just cast the spell again. He has enough mana for a few casts in a row".
"...yeah okay, I can see how that would help a lot".
It reduced the burden on the defenders when all the civilians and non-combatants were no longer a factor. Furthermore, even if it ended and he couldn't recast, they would be guaranteed to reappear at safe locations. Silver Hour wasn't so much a combat spell, but a utility and support spell. But the effects were so amazing, Kuroki could understand why it became a core part of his title. Magician of the Silver Hour...it was a title bestowed upon him because he could keep an entire city population safe using such magic.
Kuroki hoped one day, he might be able to use such grand magic as well.