Chapter 2: Go Go Rescue Operation!
"To think there was such a place so close to the castle..." I mentioned mindlessly as I saw the abandoned armory. Around the castle, both inside and outside the walls, were countless structures. Towers, buildings, things like that, built long ago but now abandoned. And this place was the one that had been pointed out to me after I "questioned" the head assassin.
I also got some other details. It appears they had kidnapped a child and his sister, in order to use him for this operation. Apparently, he possessed some sort of special power or such. They were even using slavery collars to force them to do what they wanted.
And so, I decided to come and save them, beat up the bad guys, maybe get some answers, and such. It definently wasn't to also show off! In no way was it so that I could look cool and maybe make some new friends! It was for justice! Justice I say!
Besides, assassins that could breach my defenses in mere seconds, I didn't want to let them escape. Even though I had a lot of cheats, apparently the enemies are insanely high level! If I had not made that request, and gotten those cheats, I would have died on day one!
Thinking about that, there could be more dangerous people in here. Therefore, I decided to reconstruct all my barriers once more, apply an additional wind barrier on top of that, and then enable an Auto-Counter Fire attack spell. With all that done, I then added a skin layer physical barrier, and used my entire MP to strengthen it.
After that, I drank a full MP restoration potion I got from a supply closet, and decided I was ready. I did a few stretches first though, to avoid cramps. After that, I used my Radar, focusing it in front of me to try and scan the building. It was a bit tougher to get readings from inside of a building while outside, but since I focused my search to hostages, it should work.
And thus, my radar brought back some information, although odd. It registered the lifesigns of both hostages as in a weakened and bad condition.
It seemed I did not have much time, and the situation was fragile. Only one thing to do then.
I applied a multi-layered physical reinforcement, physical boost, speed boost, and perception boost on myself, and then charged right in. Two people got up almost immediatley, but I shot them both with lightningbolts to stun them and render them unconscious. Then, I broke through the wall in front of me, the wall after that, and every wall following it that was in my way towards the room with the hostages in it.
After all, why risk taking my time navigating the building, even with Speed Boost, when I can just make my own route! My power level is well over 9000!
And so, like that, I broke into the room the hostages were in and immediately used Thought Acceleration. Combined with my perception and speed increases, I was able to easily examine the room in the instant. As time appeared to be frozen, I examined everything.
The first thing I saw was an unbelievably cute black haired boy with wolf ears and a wolf tail, completely naked and restrained to a wooden circular lid. His hands were shackled right to it, along with his torso, and he was soaking wet. Furthermore, below him was a barrel full of water. Right now the water level was only at his thighs, but the lid could easily be lowed onto it. This would submerge his entire body inside, and would cause him to suffocate to death. He looked to be about my age, maybe a year or less older.
And then, there was his unbelievably cute sister, who was also naked and restrained in the same way he was. She also had black hair, black wolf ears, and a black wolf tail. She was also soaking wet, and it appeared she could be tortured in the same way.
I remembered reading something like this....it was called waterboarding or something like that. It appeared the two of them were being tortured in such a way. Furthermore, both of them had collars on, but they were different from collars from this Kingdom. They were slavery collars, ones not native and even outlawed in the Ryzamer Kingdom.
In the Ryzamer Kingdom, Slavery was allowed, but it could not be considered the slavery one would normally see done by evil empires. There were two ways to become slaves, through debt or commiting a crime. However, not just debt, but even Criminal Slaves still had rights, and once they had paid off their time or debt, would become free. If a family fell into debt, anyone seven years or older would be made a Debt Slave, and all of them would have to work until they paid it off. However, they were not allowed to be mistreated or neglected, they had a right to education, they could not be given work that is too difficult or impossible for them, they could not be forced into acts of sex or even be forced to fight against each other for other's amusement. They also had to be paid enough for reasonable accomodations, three square meals a day, and could not be made to work if they were sick, although they would not progress towards paying off their debt either.
Criminal slaves also had most of those rights. The only thing was that they were given slightly less money for accomodations and food, and depending on the nature of their crime, the courts could rule to revoke other rights as well. Some criminal slaves, such as children who had simply stolen a noble's purse or helped smuggle in illegal goods, could get only two years of Criminal Slavery with decent rights, and even education. Sometimes education was even forced on them, to try and make it so they would be more likely to become productive members of society. Others, such as rapists and mass murderers, would likely be given very few rights, and be strictly monitored. Likely, their slavery collars would include an Obediance Enforcement Enchantment, unlike Debt Slaves who would be less likely to have one.
However, while the collars on those two were certainly given Obediance Enforcement, I could also easily tell they had a Death Command registered, meaning the collars could kill them in an instant. Well, not quite an instant, it would be rather painful, a design so they would be an example. However, that feature is strictly outlawed in the Ryzamer Kingdom. Furthermore, it was obvious to me that there were Torture mechanics built into the collars as well.
With that, waterboarding them was not even necessary. Which means...they did it for their own personal pleasure.
I still had some time left before Thought Acceleration would wear off. First off, I had to destroy those collars instantly. Before anyone in the room made a word, I had to disable them so the torture or kill mechanics would not be activated to use against me. For that, precision would be needed. I examined my own knowledge database, as well as my magic and the collars themselves. They had measures to prevent the collars from forcibly being taken off. Rather, if that was attempted, it would explode and kill them.
But, something that goes on must come off. In that case, I would need to trigger a disarm command to the collars, or a release function. But I didn't have that...but, there was another spell I could try. There were a bunch of warning labels attafched to this skill, but it couldn't be helped. I could figure out the specifics later.
That left the weirdly elite assassins and the barrels. Unlike the collars, those were a bit simpler, so I came up with some ideas easily.
And so, normal thought speed resumed. Immediately I released two discs of energy from my hands, and both flew towards the hostages. The moment either one hit the collar, both the disc and the collar disappeared immediately.
"Start Punishment!" one of them said, but it was a second late. In the next instant, a strong gust of wind was cast from me, and pushed both of the lids away from the water and to the ground behind the barrel, stopping them from pushing them in to submerge them to distract or bait me.
A bunch of assassins then lept in from behind. I released another Fire Nova, and knocked them all away, but one managed to slip under it and come at me. His blades clashed with my barrier, so I put my index finger to his forehead and unleashed a large scale zap, stunning him and rendering him unconscious.
The guy who appeared to be the "owner" of the collars ran towards the two, probably to try and use them as hostages, but I moved too fast for him, kicking him in the chest and sending him flying away. I then proceeded to smash the wooden lids. I didn't have the time or opportunity to take off the shackles themselves, but with the wood broken the nails had come out, so now it just looked like they were naked except for metal belts and bracelets.
"How the...wait, shouldn't you be dead?!"
"Eh...wait....eh?!"
The black haired wolf boy looked at his master, who was standing up with some scratches on him, and then the one who rescued him. Rather, the boy clearly remembered that the one who rescued him was also supposed to be the assassination target that his master's organization, who had kidnapped him and his sister, were going after.
I simply smiled at him, and gave him a thumbs up.
"Its okay! I am here to save you both!"
"To...save us?" the girl said, looking at me with big eyes full of hope. I had no way of knowing this at the time, but something in her heart began to stir. Meanwhile, the boy was simply grateful, and also full of hope.
"Tsk...to think that you would still be alive...and this strong. The heroic blood is stronger then you then expected".
I thought what he said was strange about heroic blood, but then I remembered that my mother was someone who went off to fight evil dragons, demons, krakkens and such. Apparently, it was decided I had inherited my power from her.
"...I had heard she once fought off a legion of ogres when she was seven, but to think her child was the same level of absurdity..."
And then I heard something even more absurd. Did he just say that she fought off a legion of ogres when she was my age? From my memory, aren't those super strong, super tough beings capable of using magic, and could bring down an entire small kingdom if they grouped up enough, organized, and worked together?
And she beat a legion of them?! At age seven?!?!
She is a reincarnator right? Or a summon? Maybe both? A reincarnated summon?
I dont think even I could do that!
Either way, its not like I had time to think about it. I had two unbelievably cute wet wolfkin children behind me, and my desire to protect them motivated me greatly!
Also, I kicked that guy right in the center and sent him flying into a stone wall, yet he only had a few bruises. Clearly he was annoyingly tough. We stared right into each other's eyes.
"Shadow Strike!"
Suddenly he appeared behind me, to strike at my back. He broke through a few barriers, but the multi-layered one caught him. I then proceeded to kick him right in the groin this time, however...
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Nice try, but wrong gender".
"No way! You cant be female!"
He was still sent backwards, but the damage was not as much as I had intended. No no, more like what the hell. That face and body is clearly masculine. There are no boobs on his chest, nothing like that! There is no way that is a girl!
"Looks can be decieving" he, or rather she, said.
"No no no, even if you say you are unbelievably flat chested, or have masculine like looks...that still wouldn't be enough to convince me! Was it cut off? Someone just cut it off right?"
A few of the assassins around us started to get up, so I raised my wariness. That said, I had two people to protect, so this would not be easy.
"No...dont mind us, just run away and save yourself!" the boy said, tears rolling down his unbelievably cute face. That said, it was obvious they were using his sister to make him do this, so why would he...
Oh...so thats it...I see, I suppose there was that...
"No! I wont abandon you, unbelievably cute wolfkin siblings!"
Although my true thoughts leaked out a little, the assassins were not phased at all. Although, such a declaration did draw their attention, so that was something. Still...
"Don't think you can protect them!" the slave master said, appearing not only behind me, but behind the siblings as well, sending a blade to their necks. I was unable to stop the blow, and so the blade made contact...only, the wolf boy's neck, and then the whole body, seemed to turn into a black mist.
Yes, it was the power they had been borrowing, or rather stealing, from him, the whole point of him and his sister being here. The entire time I had been talking, he had created an illusion while simultainously concealing him and his sister, making the illusions take their place at the exact same time they were concealed. Because of that, they had already ran outside, while all the combatants were now in this room.
I smiled a bit devilishly, as I took out what appeared to be rubber balls. They were also in the storage closet. Apparently, Dog Beastkins shared more then appearance traits with dogs, but that was besides the point. Because these were not to play fetch, but rather they had been enchanted several times over on the way here.
And once I released them, they moved at high speeds, easily surpassing 150 kmph, as I put a special barrier around the room. The rubber balls were enchanted with something that would make them be repelled by this special barrier without doing or recieving damage, and would keep bouncing around the room. With the siblings outside, the only people they could hit was me and the assassins. However, I had a special barrier around myself too, so they would not do that either.
Still, one of the assassins got close to me, and unleahsed a large scale flame spell. I quickly created an extra barrier to block it, but the heat still came through. Half of my shirt was burn off, as well as pants of my shorts. My collar was unharmed, but my boots were practically singed.
"To think you would be able to take an Inferno Flare at close range" he muttered, as some of my clothes were already falling off. However, he then moved behind me in an instant. "but it seems it does have some affect!"
And then he hit my back with it. I was sent flying, but landed on my hands and feet. All my clothes had become ash now, except the collar.
Hold on hold on! Leaving aside the fact I am naked...all Royal Clothing is made with various layered protective enchantments! Also, this spell pierced all of my barriers like it was nothing! Something that, after piercing all of my barriers, exceeded the limits of my clothing's protective enchantments...doesn't that mean if I hadn't had those protective enchantments, I would have been reduced to ash?!?!
In truth, I had an elemental resistance skill, but all of my skills such as Enhanced Body Durability, Rapid Recovery, all of that, only affected my body. As such, several defenses are only applied at skin level, and my clothes were not as protected. So a direct hit to my body would not damage me as much, but...it was true without my protective clothing, I would take more damage then before.
Still...the assassins clearly had their own defenses. Although the rubber balls were slowly wounding and weakening them, and a few were already unconscious due to bad luck, a number were still standing, including the boss.
Okay...I cant think about this right now, but later, I am seriously taking a look at the rest of my clothing and seeing what protective enchantments I can add to them.
Focusing back on the battle, I readied myself. These guys were clearly trained, focused, experienced, in full battle mode. Without my protective clothing, and since they had abilities that could break through my barriers, this would be tough. Therefore, I went with a dark, deep forbidden plan, to be used for emergencies like this. And so...I changed my posture!
And suddenly, my cheeks became flush, I tried to hide my boyhood with my tail while looking bashful and embarrassed, and my arms were in a position where it seemed like I was trying to hide or cover or cower myself.
And I maxed out the cuteness charm!
"Please...I'm...i'm innocent! Pweese dont huwrt mwe!"
Such a completely illogical declaration, and such a sudden change in behavior. Even the professional assassins, who had experienced many tricks and hardened themselves, temporarily stopped and found themselves dumbfounded, seeing such a strong opponent do that. Their brains all just had a sort of "What?!" stopgap to them. It was just too stupid and unrealistic for that to occur.
Unfortunately, while not stopping them totally, it dulled their movements, and so the original threat, the bouncy balls going faster then a speeding truck, proceeded to smash into them. Several assassins who were dumbfounded and forgot to dodge, and whose movements had slowed, were taken out in an instant. Only the master, who was the most experienced, had avoided that fate.
"...the hell was that? Was that really an act?"
"Ehhh....what can I say, I am a complicated person".
The master looked down below my waist, apparently confirming my gender.
"...so you are definently a boy".
Oh? Did I act too feminine there? Well, I didn't remotely act like that in my previous world....although, if a cute boy did something like that in front of me, I totally would have had a nosebleed...wait, could it be?
I checked my own nose, and I had indeed given myself one. Between that act and the cute work beastkin siblings, it seemed my otaku dark nature had triggered such a reaction.
The master was still avoiding the balls, but with everyone else gone, I was able to focus on her. I created two discs of magic in my hands, and this time used it offensively at her. Or rather....I needed to know something!
It hit her clothes, and those vanished as well! She really didn't have one....and she really did have an unbelievably flat chest. Like, there are some people who like flat chests, but...thats flat even for a flat chest.
But...that was the only thing feminine. It was like someone put those on a male body, that guy had no feminine features. I even used a magic to analyze bone structure and the results told me it was masculine.
"....really?"
"Thats disturbing on a whole number of levels" I replied, throwing another disk at her. This time, it hit her, only instead of disappearing, soemthing appeared instead. Around her neck, the two slavery collars.
"Now, sit" I said, and she then sat on the ground.
"Okay, stay here, dont move a muscle aside from breathing and life important stuff, do not leave this room, and obey all the words the guards say. You cannot commit any more crimes or hurr any more people, and you cant lie or avoid a question. Oh, and you cant say anything about this fight to anyone, or give anyone information about me".
I didn't plan to hide my abilities fully, but...I didn't want to let anyone get information about my specific abilities and then use that information to kill me. That was no good.
Either way, I headed outside, and the two siblings who were waiting there for me saw my condition.
"Erm...you okay?"
"So cute!"
The boy asked I was okay while his wolf tail wrapped around his waist, clearly embarrassed. The girl's tail was wagging though, and her eyes looked at me in a way I was fairly familiar with.
Ah...erm....looks like I triggered some sort of romance flag, maybe...
"Ah...I will be fine" said as I grabbed both of their arms. Suddenly, all three of us began to float into the sky. "Anyways, lets go home and let my family know everything is good! After some relaxing and a few pictures, of course!"
"Eh?"
"Pictures with Cute Prince? Yay!"
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By the time the enemies were discovered in the hall, and it was noticed I was not around, the castle went into a panic. However, before going full panic mode, the King, my father, and my siblings went to my room to check.
And when they came in...they saw a magical device known as a Photoscope, which was basically a camera, as well as an enchanted automatic painting board, taking various pictures of the three of us while our painting was done. Incidentally, no one had gotten dressed yet, but there was a randomly floating object obscuring just the right areas to avoid any of those showing.
As both things had just finished, my family looked dumbfounded, and then looked at the wolf siblings, and then me....and then all of my siblings ran over and tacklehugged us!
"Ah! Zyr, where did you make such cute friends?!"
"We were so worried about you! Please dont disappear during times like this!"
"When we found assassins where we left you, we thought something bad might have happened!"
"Don't worry! I wont let anyhting happen to you until you become big and muscular and can protect yourself!"
Ah... the cuddling of my siblings triggered not just mine, but all of our ticklish spots. I think some were tickling us on purpose even! Still, they tend to be like this whenever it comes to me. Still, my father simply watched and sighed.
"I will want an explanation later, please" he said, having picked up that some weird events went on.
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"...and so, we flew back, and then because I thought we could all use a break to take away the tension and laugh, we ended up messing around and playing around in my room, and then we made a painting and a few pictures" I told him, my cheeks very red. Both sets of cheeks, to be exact, as I was kneeling completely naked in front of my father, who was in King Mode, along with the two wolfkin, who had finally told me their names, Izra and Izri. The boy was Izra, and the girl was Izri.
As for why we were still naked, and this time super embarrassed, it was part of my punishment, along with a rather extensive spanking that made me cry. I got one for "running off without telling anyone during an emergency and confronting the enemy myself", and they got them for "conspiring to kill royalty", which netted us each a solid 50 spankings overs my father's knee.
And now, we had to report, in detail, everything that happened to my dad while he was in king mode, as everyone in the royal hall watched and heard.
"...and you understand why you are being punished, right?"
"...because I ran off to fight the enemy without telling anyone foolishly, and then proceeded to do something super dangerous".
"...and..."
"...and for not at least bringing other backup with me" I said while remembering my still stinging rear.
"Yes. Even as royalty, it is not shameful to call for help when it is clearly the wise and reasonable thing to do, especially if it involves the lives and safety of innocents. That said...even if they were forced against their will, from what I understand from our interrogators, they were illegally brought into our empire. By international law..."
For the record, there are a set of laws made long ago that all the nations are supposed to adhere too. Not just friendly or neutral nations, even some of our enemies have them. However, often they cover up any abuses of these laws, while we honestly follow them.
"...we are supposed to return such people to their origin country".
The siblings grimenced. That was only natural of course, since it appears they were smuggled in from the Human Surpremecist country. Of course, there was no evidence that the assassins came from there. According to the interrogators, they were apparently a freelance group, and since that one person was not allowed to lie, it had to be the truth.
So, it was news that made all three of us sad.
"However, leaving aside that, we cant let criminals who, even under duress, tried to assassinate a prince go free" the King said with a smile. "And since it seems like my youngest son has a tendency to run towards trouble...Izra, your punishment will be to become the personal bodyguard of my youngest son, Prince Zyr. Repay the debt of his kindness by serving him and protecting him for the next twenty years at least, after which you can decide if you want to stay or go. Izri, you shall be one of his personal attendents, and will help cook food for him, bathe him, clothe him, and manage all of his needs. Check in with his other two attendents..."
As the king said that, he muttered something that was actually still audible by many...
"...and help make sure they are not overworked to death".
He then straightened his posture.
"And you....my youngest son, for doing something so incredibly dumb, brace yourself...for the next six months, you must do a lot of hardcore studying every day on various subjects!"
He then stood up, which signaled we should as well. We stood at full attention, our happiness coming our our feelings of embarassment.
"Understood?"
"""Yes, your majesty!"""
ANd just like that, the matter was settled. Since it was late, it was time to go to bed anyways, however...
"Erm...why are we back here? ANd where is my sister?" Izra asked, as I suddenly pulled him onto my bed. "Wait wait, shouldn't you put on a nightgown or something before going to sleep?!"
"Too warm...and stuffy...warm things are better for cuddling" I said sleepily, clinging onto him like I did the pillow. His face went bright red.
"Hold on...isn't this bad? I am your bodyguard after all!"
"Yeah...but what if someone attacks me in my bed? Besides, protecting my mind is just as important, and this soothes my mind".
Izra wanted to resist, but I began stroking his spine and tail, while petting his head while also constricting him. As such, he became powerless and incapable of resisting, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the figure of his sister looking wishful and jealous.
And so, the day finally came to a close.