Following the direction on the map that James gave us led to the slum district where the poor live.

"So is this the slum district?"

The area was filled with run-down buildings and trash littered in every corner.

"Poor people.."

The girls walk through the road with a few people who have rags as their clothes, and they look at us with fear.

"Is that girl a mercenary?"

"I think so, let's stay away from them."

The residents of the slum district left whenever they saw the girl, and some even hid inside worn-down buildings.

"Are these people really that scared of mercenaries?"

*This could be because of their past interactions with other mercenaries.*

"Oh"

The girl continued walking to the area pointed out with a red marker all over the map as it led us to an empty area.

"Is this the area? But there is nothing here!"

The girl looked around and saw nothing at all in the area.

"Could the guard accidentally point to the wrong area?" Mizi said, "This is confusing."

*I don't think so; I can sense some magic nearby. Why don't you check that area first?*

"You think so? Alright"

Mizi walked to the corner I was referring to and began to examine it carefully.

"I think the master's word is true. "I could now sense some magic now that we were closer," said Nina.

Mizi eventually manages to spot a small magic string on top of the roof.

"Master look! "I found a small string; could this be the one emitting the magic?"

*It 100% is that string. Can you sense it too, Nina?*

"Master word is correct; I sense the same magic from the string too."

"Should I slice it, master?" Said Mizi

*This could be a trap, so be careful.*

"Alright"

Mizi unsheathed her sword behind her and sliced the string, a big light started to shine on the ground as an entrance appeared.

"A door has appeared!"

The girl inspects the door on the ground to see that it is covered with defense magic.

*This is probably their hideout. We need to destroy that defense magic first.*

"Yes master!"

Mizi slices the door infused with defense magic hard enough for the magic to be dispelled.

"That was easy."

The girl opened the door to see that it led them to another place.

"No way a warp door?" Nina was surprised.

*Warp door?*

"Warp door is an expensive item that only 100 exist in the whole world before the maker was assassinated. "The door is imbued with space distortion magic that can lead you to a different place just by walking through it!"

*Wow, the mastermind must be rich, then.*

"Let's go in now."

The girl entered the warp door, which led them to a dark hallway with torches. It was also very smelly, as we can see bone and dried blood on the stone wall.

*We don't know who might be inside, so just hide stealthily just in case.*

"Ok"

Nina applied invisibility to herself and Mizi as we went inside the long hallway. It was very long before we met other humans inside the hallway.

Mizi and Nina hide in the corner, watching the two men talk to each other while they are walking.

"I can't believe our leader caught a young dragon!"

"You know right, we are going to be rich if the leader sells her to the underground auction!"

The men were laughing at each other.

"Not to mention, we also capture over 100+ children from the slum district alone."

"Especially with most of them being pitiful little girls! I'm definitely going to have so much pleasure with them."

The bulky man laughs with a perverted face as they chat endlessly.

"Master, can I kill them?" "They are making me pissed, seriously."

*Go have at it, but just make sure to keep one alive so we can extract information about where they are kept.*

"Alright"

Mizi unsheathed her sword in the shadow as she prepared to slice open the bulky man in one slice.

"Mana sword slash"

*SCHIING!*

While the bulky man was still talking with the short man, suddenly the bulky man's head went flying as the body fell to the ground. His buddy was very shocked by this and unsheathed his sword.

"Who are you? Sh-show yourself!"

The short man pointed his sword in front of him as he fearfully backed down to a wall, until Mizi came out of the shadow with her sword and a cold eye as she walked toward the scared man.

"St-stay away from me! My leader will kill you.

With a flash, the man's arm went flying before he could finish his sentence, and he saw his arm had been decapitated instantly as he fell to the ground, crying about the pain.

"AHHH! MY ARM!"

Mizi walked closer to the limping man on the ground with her sword in her hand, preparing to slice his head off. The man looked at Mizi with those fearful eyes as he tried to back away but was cornered by the wall behind.

The man realizes he can't escape Mizi decides to get on his knees as he stands with his hand waving around.

"Spare me, please! "I will do anything you want me to do!"

*Let's ask him about the information about the captured children.*

"Alright master"

Mizi, look at the crying man. "Answer my question, or if you don't, I will kill you."

"If I answer all of the questions, will I be spared?"

"Maybe" Mizi lied.

"First, where are the children kept?"

"They are over there." The man's eye was filled with fear.

The man pointed his arm toward the hallway.

"Alright, second question, how many guards are inside?"

"I think around 20+ guards?"

"Ok, here is my final question. Did you mention a dragon?"

The man was shocked for a second.

"Yes, we did. Our leader captured a young dragon from its home a few days ago."

"And where is the dragon being kept?"

"I don't know; only the higher ups know of the room where the dragon is being kept."

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"Alright, thank you for the information."

"Does that mean I’m spared?" The man's eye was filled with joy and hope.

"When did I agree to your request?" You are still a bad person anyway. So just die."

"Damn it! "You never have the intention to spare me!"

The man died instantly from Mizi's fast attack with no sweat at all. I even think I raised a maniac now.

*Anyway, how did a dragon get captured here?*

"I did hear once that dragons live very high on top of mountain spikes, and their materials are very expensive and rare to the point people would capture the newly born dragon for its materials." Said Nina

*Isn't that very cruel?*

Mizi sneaks in on the conversation: "There is no law about killing a newborn dragon because the various mage around the world all needed the dragon material for their research and to craft powerful weapons."

*I feel bad for the newborn dragon.*

"That is just the way of life. Dragons used to be friendly with humans, but due to humans killing their newborn, they have become wary and aggressive toward humans, so this case is very normal."

*Let's save that dragon from being killed!*

"Yes!"

We rush toward the direction the man was pointing earlier instead of taking the sneaky path; we also kill all the guards that got in our way while protecting the room.

"THIS LITTLE B*TCH"

"AGH"

Unfortunately, they stood no chance against Mizi's sword slash, as their corpses littered the hallway.

*I see a bunch of cages in the far distance! We are getting closer!*

Mizi walked as fast as she could in that direction until the girl arrived at a room filled with a cage full of children from different races that included humans, beastmen, elves, and lizardmen.

From what I could see, the children inside are very malnourished, as I can see the ribs showing from their bodies. They have no strength to even look at us.

"Poor children!"

*Can you destroy the cage, Mizi?*

"Let me try."

Mizi infuses her sword with a ton of mana as she slices the bar, but to Mizi's surprise, it didn't even scratch it.

"My attack didn't work!"

*Looks like that bar is infused with defense magic; it looks like your sword won't work against it.*

"Then how can we break it open?"

*I can do it.*

"Master?!"

I jumped down from Mizi's backpack and started walking toward the cage.

*Just watch me.*

I activated my size manipulation skill as my body began to grow larger until I was equal to the cage. I then latched on to one of the bars and pulled it until it was bent to the point the children could pass through.

*Alright, this should be good enough for the children to pass through. You can tell them to walk through it now.*

"Alright"

Mizi walked over to the frightened children when they saw my size.

"It's alright, children; you can have your freedom now and don't worry about that monster! "It's familiar, so he won't harm you."

"You promised?" One of the beastman children asked

"Yes!"

The children then began to come one by one until the first cage was empty. Nina began to heal their infected wound from the abuse from the kidnapper.

"Thank you so much, miss!"

*stomach growl SFX*

"Ah"

They probably haven't eaten food for a day now; do you have any leftover ingredients?

"I do, let's me get them out."

Mizi takes out a large pot, cooking utensils, a knife, and a bunch of ingredient variants, from meat to vegetables.

"Ok, I will cook now!"

Before Mizi can start cooking, Nina suddenly grabs her hand.

"Um, can I be the one cooking instead?" "I want to give the kid some food that I make."

"Sure!"

Mizi handed Nina the cooking tool and a whole bunch of ingredients as she began cooking, while Mizi and I went to more cages and freed all of them until there was nothing left.

"This is weird; I didn't see a single dragon. Could the man's information be true?"

*No wait, I can sense the same magic nearby; it could be the same as the door last time.*

I walked to the corner that have the same magic I was sensing.

*Found it*

Mizi sliced the magic string until suddenly the wall in front of Mizi began to move like some kind of contraction as it revealed a secret room with one singular cage.

*Looks like this is the area where the dragons are kept. *

Mizi walked to the secret room as she inspected the big cage and unveiled the rag covering it to see a weak girl with a visible horn and tail inside.

"Master, there is a girl in here!"

*That is probably the dragon girl they mention.*

I bent the bar so that Mizi could come in and bring the dragon girl outside.

"Are you okay? We came to rescue you."

The dragon girl looked at Mizi with a tear in her eye.

"Please save me."

The dragon girl tried to stand up and walk but fell to the ground because she hadn't eaten anything.

"Let me carry you onto my master's back."

Mizi brought the dragon girl up onto my back while Mizi walked beside me as we both walked to Nina while she was cooking. Mizi grabbed the dragon girl to have her sit near the fire.

"Thank you so much."

"It alright"

The kid near the girl began to back away as they were frightened by her horn and tail, and the girl looked at them sadly as they were scared of her.

While she was looking down and sad, suddenly one of the beastmen brought his hand forward.

"Hey girl! "Do you want to play with us?"

The dragon girl looks at the male beastman and asks, "But is it fine for me to join you?"

"Yeah, is it fine?" "You are no different than the rest of us."

The dragon girl stood up as she grabbed the boy's arm as he brought her over to his friend to play with their hands. Initially, the kid who was scared of the dragon girl realized that appearance doesn't matter to them personally and began to play with her.

Mizi looks at the girl playing with the other kid while sitting on my back as I lay there waiting for Nina to finish cooking as the elves only eat vegetables while the humans, lizardmen, and beastmen eat meat.

As I’m laying down, some of the kids begin to play with me; some even climb up on my back, and some slide on my smooth tail as they play happily.

"Master, is it right for the kid to play on your body?"

*Yeah, I don't mind, I have nothing to do anyway rather than laying around lazily.*

The dragon girl joined too, as she slid down my tail and sometimes even played with my teeth.

"You look so cute! "You remind me of my father." The dragon girl laughed happily.

While the kid was busy playing with me, Nina finished cooking the food.

"The food is ready, everyone!"

"Food!"

All the kids began to gather around Nina with a hungry look on their faces.

"Alright kid! "Line up with your respective race!"

"Yes Miss!"

The respective races began to line up with the human, elf, beastman, and lizardman races in order to be served their respective foods.

Mizi and I also helped Nina hand out the food to the line.

"Ouch, the pot is so hot!" Mizi's hands glow red from the heat emitting from the pot.

"You should grab them by the handle instead," Nina said, trying not to laugh while holding her pot carefully.

"I got it."

Mizi brought the pot toward the elf, filled with vegetable soup, while Nina brought the meat pot toward the human. As I walked to the beastman and lizardman with the two meat pots on my back, I barely felt any heat from the dangerously hot pot because of my scales.

*Here is the food, kid; grab it by the handle or you will get burned from the heat!*

"Okay"

The representative from their race stood up and carefully grabbed the pot by the handle and handed it to their friend.

"Me say thank you to the monster."

Nina grabbed a special pot she made just for the dragon girl, as she was a different case.

"Here is a food made specifically for you."

"So much food!"

The dragon girl eats the food with pleasure as she grabs the stew with her hand without feeling any heat.

"This is so delicious! "It's way better than my father bringing me a huge dead bear for breakfast!"

While the dragon girl was still eating, I asked her some questions.

*May I ask what your name is?*

"Ah?" The girl's mouth had food everywhere.

"Ah, I forgot! "But my name is Fina Flymedarth!"

*So how did you end up here?*

"I think it happened a few days ago. I was casually playing after my parents left for a dragon meeting, but suddenly some man put me to sleep and captured me here."

*Since you are a dragon, why didn't you brute force your way out? I’m sure you can destroy the place in one fell swoop?*

"Well, the humans forcefully put this collar on my neck that disables my magic and does not allow me to turn back into a dragon."

*Alright that all I needed*

"Ok"

The dragon girl went back to eating the whole pot again after I finished questioning her. I also took this chance to find out the dragon information.

[Name: Fina Flymedarth]

[Race: Dragon]

[Level:28]

[Age:105]

[Skill: Fire magic, flame breath, fireball, volcano, inferno, fire resistance, transformation, fly, regeneration]

*105 years old?! I thought she was a 5-year-old just by judging from her size! I guess I’m not that surprised anymore, just by how much time the world can surprise me.*

*I was noticeably surprised by her age, despite her having a young body. It's pretty weird to see her with a lower level than me while being a dragon, an ultimate species.*

I decide to forget about the low level and look at her skill.

*Her list of skills is pretty decent; some are very strong skills as well, mostly centered around fire magic.*

The girl also ate some leftover food from the pot while I was eating. After everyone has their stomachs full, we decide to get out of the room right away to see when the leader that the man mentioned is going to arrive.

*Let's get moving; who knows if the leader will come back here?*

"Yes!"

Mizi approaches the kid: "Let's get out of the room now. Everyone follow Nina as we will guard you from the back!"

"Ok!"

The children gather around Nina as they follow her everywhere she goes, while we guard them from behind with Fina. While the group of kids was still walking, suddenly a voice was heard behind them.

"Where do you think you are going?"

Mizi looked back to see a person with a giant sword behind his back while she was still looking at the mysterious man. Mizi suddenly felt pressure on her body as she couldn't move her limb.

*Mizi! Run now!*

"Agh, I can't move my body!" "The pressure is too strong!"

*Sh*t! Tell them all to run away !*

"Nina! Get everyone to escape to the door without me and the master! "You are no match for that man."

"But Mizi, what will happen to you?"

"Don't worry! "We still can talk with each other, so just escape now."

Nina took the sentence with a heavy heart and shouted to the group, "Everyone follow me to the exit quickly! "I will cast a shield for myself, so be sure to get inside my shield!"

"Fina, run away with Nina too. It's way too dangerous for you because he is probably targeting you, so just escape from here."

"But Mizi, I want to help you."

"You can't! "You are still chained by that collar on your neck; you will only be a burden!"

"Okay.."

Nina cast a big shield on her sword that covered a large area as the kid gathered inside and Nina ran away with the kid as the man got closer while Mizi was still talking.

He held his sword as he walked even closer, with murderous intent coming from his mysterious voice.

"I said, where are you going?"

"Why aren't you answering my question?"

While the man was slowly walking, I decided to look at his information.

[The user has blocked off the Detect skill].

*No way! Is he that strong that my detect skill was blocked off? I don't think Mizi can stand a chance against him!*

*Mizi, he is very dangerous! Run away now!*

"I can't move my legs!"

The man lunged with his sword at Mizi, who barely had time to react to the slash as I cast the shield in time to protect Mizi from the attack.

"You got some good reaction time, girl, so how about this barrage of attacks?" "Will you be able to keep the shield on?"

The mana attack became faster and stronger each second as my mana began to deplete very quickly.

*Cling* *Cling* *Cling*

*I can't keep up this shield!*

"Hahaha! Take this!" The man began to laugh like a maniac as he slashed the shield.

*I don't have much mana left! Get on my body and I will bust our way out instead!*

"Okay!"

I turned into my big self as I wrapped Mizi with my tail and brought her up to my back.

*Hold on tight, as I will not be kind with the speed!*

The man backed off when he saw my big body as I started to float to the stone ceiling. The man knew that we were trying to escape and jumped from the ground to try to stop us from escaping, but it was too late as I already broke the stone ceiling, which led us to freedom.

I got a lot of sand in my eye, but it was not effecting me in either way, and we were finally above ground, so while I was flying, I looked below me and saw not the city but desert and rainforest nearby.

*It seems like what Nina said is correct—it's a whole different place!*

I fly away to somewhere unknown after escaping from the underground area as the man looks at me from below. I fly away as fast as I could from the man until I disappeared from his sight.

*I just hope I don't meet that man again.*

To be continued