"Someone's been watching us." Redgar told me.

I frowned after hearing that. " Have you seen them?" I asked, in order to see if he's picked up anything.

Redgar shook his head hopelessly. "No, I haven't actually seen a single thing, but I can feel it. That someone is observing me. Their intent." He said, explaining his unfounded suspicion.

I put my hand up, waving it off. "No need, I understand. Usually one's instincts are the best solution. More importantly..."

Who's watching us?

I quickly consider the possibility of it being one of their elders before the thought quickly dissipates. No, If their elder is of high enough rank, they should have no problem observing quietly beyond their observation.

For all I praised their abilities as C-level monsters, they were still only C-level. Generally speaking, a B-rank monster or higher who specializes in stealth, like many of the skarpan race, should have no problem evading attention of mere C-ranks.

So this indicates other people.

Either we've pissed someone off inadvertently, or the elves tracking the high elf Willow are finally here.

But that feels weird as well. If that were the case, why would they send such low level spies? Even C-ranks could find them, the B-rank Servante and Lenore could easily find them?

Was this a chance encounter from a fringe spy?

Whatever the case is, I think we should report this to Servante and Lenore.

Dammit, I just sold my second basket. I was hoping to sell a few more for such a good price.

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Hearing my suspicions, Servante's face becomes solemn, as does Lenore's.

"That was quicker than we'd expected." Servante said grimly. "I thought the radio silence would've confused them for a little longer."

Lenore shrugged. "Maybe they had soul candles, or perhaps death switches to indicate the deaths of their agents. Or maybe even someone from the royal family exposed our soul candles. Regardless, it doesn't matter. We have to prepare to move."

I agree.

The skarpans wish of salesman can continue elsewhere, but if we stay here, it'll just become more dangerous as our foes converge upon us.

Perhaps this was merely chance, but whatever the case is, we need to pack it up before things begin to escalate.

Thump thump thump thump thump

The sound of approaching footsteps fills me with ominous premonition, one that unfortunately plays out, as two of the skarpans we know, Damil and Borsch, the ones who were meant to go out today with Redgard come back gasping, injuries clearly present.

Damil has clearly take the brunt of it, as he rests on Borsch's side.

"It's Redgar! They've kidnapped him!" Shouted Damil hoarsely as he leaned on Borsch.

Crapbaskets.

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"Where am I? Groaned Redgar as he got up, his head spinning.

He immediately begins to take notice of his location, behind bars.

This is bad. Has he been captured? Hed heard how goblins were often captured, skarpans specifically, to serve as forms of entertainment, but he'd never thought he'd be captured for being elf!

Which was an obvious thought in hindsight. Elves were probably even more popular than his kind.

"You've been captured too yeah? How many elves does that make?" A weird, raspy voice appears,but not alien. Redgar knows this form of voice.

"0y! That'd be the 15th we've seen so far!" Another higher pitched, yet clearly raspy as well sounds off, before being followed by another, more dramatic scaly voice, filled with boom.

"Elf on elf! What's this world coming too!"

"Shut up you three! The new guy's coming back to his senses. " A fourth, harsher, and seemingly more senior voice comes out, forcing the other three to quiet down.

Even with his groggy mind, he can identify those kind of voices.

Turning his head right, he can see them.

Kobolds.

4 of them, with the last to have spoken being the biggest amongst them.

Most kobolds were rather small, being at the size of the skarpans initial form, but this kobold was large, and brawny as well. It easily towered over the elven form.

He looked at Redgar patiently, yet there was also a sense of disdain from the large kobold.

"Elves." It snorted ruefully. "Quick to turn on each other as always."

Redgar shrugged with a lack of interest. He wasn't elven anyway.

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He wasn't alone either. There was a group of elves in this very same cage. The elves were in poor condition, and looked like they were a breath away from death. To be beaten that badly, by their own kind? Perhaps the kobold was right.

"Where are we?" He asked the large kobold. Though it disdained elves it did not seem adverse to communication.

Redgar did not find it reasonable to change back to his skarpan form, as doing so might invite more danger only for a chance of not being the creature's target of disregard.

"Underground. Looking at the architecture, and the state of the area around us, I'd say its a mansion basement. Well protected too." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Expected, given the operation around us but I can't help but think there's more. Too many formations and magic circles for a mere illegal merchandise area."

Redgar looked at him thoughtfully. "You seem to know a lot about architecture." before wincing, as the pain all over his body caused him to react painfully.

The kobold shrugged. "I dabble in it. More of a blacksmith myself."

"Okay. Next question: why are you talking to me? I can tell you're not a fan of elves."

The kobold nodded in acknowledgement. "I don't like elves, yes. I think they're a bunch of sanctimonious, hypocritical, and annoying bastards." He turned to look at him gravely. "But that doesn't mean I'll abandon them to a life of slavery."

"Hmm?"

"We're planning a breakout. These cages are etched with formations to ensure that we can't break out, and it blocks our magic. In your case, it's coded specifically for elven magic. Normally, it'd work for your average kobold, but for me?"

The kobold grinned as he took his claw and scratched it slowly across the cage.

It was a light scratch, but all it took was a light scratch for Redgar to understand the implication.

Seeing this, Redgar felt a glimmer of hope.

"My friends are likely going to come for me." Redgar decided to mention after some quick contemplation.

For now, they were on the same side.

The kobold raised an eyebrow. "How many?" He asked, and Redgar thought about it for a moment.

"5 adults, but 2 children he carefully revealed."

The kobold frowned and thought about it for a few minutes. "5 days." He said finally in that gruff voice. "Your friends have 5 days to show up or we're breaking out."

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"4 days." I said after finally deducing how long it'd take me to find and raid whoever captured Redgar.

We were sure it was capture.

After listening to the story told by the two Skarpans, this was what I'd confirmed.

It was clear that their priority was not to kill, but to capture.

Despite launching a heavy assault at an opportunistic timing, there was no attempt to kill throughout the attack

A group of C ranks, working in tandem to whittle down the three of them, even when they realized the group of them were C-ranks, they did not flinch and adapted accordingly.

It was premeditated, with a clear intent to capture.

"Do you think it's them?" I asked, and Servante looked unsure.

"It's hard to say for sure. It's not merely one group who's targeting her, but a multitude, any of which could be engaged in slave trade."

We'd come to the assumption of slave trading, as there were few reasons to kidnap, and not kill besides selling them. It could be a hostage situation, but that was ruled out due to foolishness. Would they really try to use one elf's life to bargain for that of a high elf? I would not think our enemies so foolish.

"But elven slave trade?" I asked back, and to this, both Lenore and Servante had complicated looks.

"Elves.. have a distinction when it comes to those who live inside the island and those who've abandoned it. It's not uncommon for them to engage in slave trade with continental elves?" Servante confessed. "I don't condone it, but I'd be a fool to not know."

"Do elves have such distinctions?" I asked, genuinely surprised. There was too little communication with the elves of the elven kingdom to comprehensively know this, so this was a surprise to me.

"It's complicated."

I left it at that, focusing on the situation at hand.

"If they're still scouting this place out, then I can probably track them in turn. It's clear this won't stop with one capture, unless they're truly just slavers."

I frown. That would be the real problem. If they were truly just people seeking slaves for the black market, then they might just be satisfied and leave. They'd be far harder to track then.

Theoretically, I could reach out to Anubis and ask him to look, but that's not only a risky plan, but one without guarantee. The god of thieves and merchants tends to be willing to block the prying eyes of the Gods, and if they truly are illegal slave traders, than the chance they worship him is high.

It might be bad wishes, but I really hope we're being targeted.

Damil looks angry as he curses loudly. "I don't care who they are! I'm going to find them and kill them!" He curses loudly, and Fenil looks rather upset as well, though she watches our reaction.

Borsch speaks up. "Are they perhaps... targeting you?" He asks unsurely as he looks at us.

"Probably. Unless you've made enemies at that stall." Servante notes.

The skarpans frown at that, but ultimately have nothing to say.

This was merely speculation, and frankly, they know they can't fight whoever has captured Redgar, so they can only rely on us.

Well that or their elder who's probably followed us quietly and is watching this all unfold, but that's more speculative, and not helpful to the current situation.

Essentially, we are now on the same boat. And it's also possible that they're just targeting elves in general and we just got targeted due to being a huge group of "Elves" though Servante clearly thinks otherwise.

Whoever it is they're our enemy now, and while we're in the light, they have the benefit of the shadows.

We must either lure them from the shadows, or enter the shadows ourselves, and find our enemies.

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Borsch is sent to continue the sales at the stall, while Fenil wanders around, "investigating". Realistically, there's no possible way we can play it off as if nothing happened. They'll know we'll be investigating.

Of course, she's not alone. She's with "Damil" and "Earl". It's a false copy, created by Borsch's own magicks. His inheritance included a clone spell apparently, wich is coming in handy now.

Damil is with me as we quietly follow behind Fenil, waiting to see if we can catch sight of our enemies. I've changed into turtle form, hiding within a basket, while Damil has put on a disguise to replicate a dwarfs look, relying on his short stature and elven ears to appear dwarfish, enough to be ignored, especially since he's wearing heavy gear, befitting of a dwarf.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.

An eastern proverb, that while it can be used philosophically, also describes our current situation.

We're the oriole, and as we've sent out the cicada to attract the mantis, the hope is that like the proverb, the mantis will be distracted enough for us to to successfully determine their numbers and group.

If we can capture them to interrogate about their base of operations, that would be to our benefit. If we can cull their

Obviously Servante and Lenore are staying back to watch the kids. If they're really from those elven clans, than this is all a distraction to lure us out, and we must be prepared to retreat into the shell and prepare for a prolonged battle.

We are in a town after all, and I have no doubt that the last incident has already attracted the attention of officials.

Even if there is corruption, if the group is attacked in broad daylight even a corrupt local government cannot so easily handwave the situation.

I know those bastards of Jorvus Mars. They may allow and tolerate corruption, but only within manageability. Too much and punishment comes swift. This would also benefit us, though it would cause its own fair share of problems.

That's a huge what if that I can only hope does not come to fruition. When they get involved, things get messy. And then clean. Disgustingly clean.

The trap has been set.

It is time to see whether the mantis pounces or not.