Chapter 3:

  The Siege

  The sorceress and Baron Royce meet at the barracks and begin marching to the stables, to check on and interrogate the slaves, see if they know anything about what's going on.

  “Blast it, Selene! I gave the guards orders to have you meet with me, for a reason! We've got someone, possibly beast-kin commandos, taking out our troops and you go off on your own to inspect the barracks?!”

  “Hehe! You're almost a century too early to lecture me, you brat! Those missing men? You can kiss them goodbye. We're dealing with a very, very talented, if not experienced, alchemist, and they, along with their gear, have likely been looted for parts.”- Selene.

  “Damn it! I knew that rabbit girl was going to be trouble the moment I saw the defiance in her eyes! I should have...”- Royce

  “Baron! What did you do, ya brat?! Don't tell me ya let the men have their way with the girl? Please tell me you didn't kill her, ya oaf!”- Selene

  “Of course not! I just had her beaten! Can't have the filthy beasts defy orders! She needed to be taught her place! Should have just killed her and be done with it! Set a nice example...” -Royce.

  “Oh, ya blathering idiot! The only beast-kin slaves we can get in this country are marked with the (POW) tag. Sure, we can have them do heavy labor, but if we lay hands on them for any reason except 'self-defense' or mandates of internationally accepted military discipline, we become war-criminals, costing us all rights and protections under The System. This entire mine and everyone in it have become legit military targets, as your stupid orders have drawn first blood!”- Selene

  “All that over a mere beast?! Surely, you've gone senile, you old hag!”-Royce.

  “This...this mentality is what's going to doom the kingdom! The beast-kin are not beasts! They're people, you heavily inbred twit! Always have been, but you oh so enlightened nobles, so enlightened you've got only two brain cells competing for third place, and so mighty, you have to have slaves doing everything for you, have decided to tell yourselves you know better!

  “So to prop up your completely unfounded sense of superiority, you tell each other, and anyone who is forced to listen to your drivel, that they're nothing more than unruly livestock who have somehow convinced themselves they're human and need to be reeducated!”-Selene

  “Well, they are and they do!”-Royce

  “See, and that's why you're nothing but an inbred ass! And I mean donkey! I hate to break it to you, but all other factors being equal, a beast-kin versus a 'human', one on one, results in the beast-kin's overwhelming victory, each and every time, in every subject, except maybe lifespan! The only reason the nation of Furcadia, and it is a nation, unlike what you 'enlightened' fools think, hasn't come down on the kingdom and 'reeducated' every last one of you, is that they don't have the troops to do that and hold off every other nation on the continent who is eagerly eyeing their many natural resources. So they make an example of every raider they catch in their country and send commandos to rescue as many of their people as they can, and if they can bring down the wrath of The System on the slaver network, so much the better. And now, by trying to make an example of the girl, you gave them an engraved invitation to raze this place to the ground and really hurt the duchy's, if not the nation's economy!”-Selene.

  “HAH! Shows what you know. Oracles' dreams and visions aren't admissible in court, even with The System!”-Royce.

  “Oh, but magically scribed recordings are, and Oracles have gotten real good about doing that lately, which you'd know if you spent half as much time keeping yourself informed as you do in gorging yourself, smoking like a chimney, and trying to drown yourself in fancy booze. Funny thing that. You always balk at spending any coin on me, your men, or running this mine, but you always seem to have plenty to spend on fancy meals, booze, and cigars, eh?”-Selene

  “Mind your own business and do your part of the [Contract] that mandates defending us from attack!”- Royce

  “Insolent brat! I'd be well within my rights to cane you for that attitude alone, but yeah, we've got an infiltration team to deal with, so that comes first! Then, if we survive, there will be a reckoning!”-Selene

  “Crazy old coot! Your only authority here is the [Contract] with the mine. Your quasi-noble status was stripped away by the crown for offending them with your sanctimonious nonsense! When will you learn your lesson?”-Royce.

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  “Nonsense you say? I know you think I'm an arrogant, entitled, and lazy bitch, but you're just projecting. And considering the rest of the 'esteemed' nobility thinks like you, this country's doom is just a matter of time. Of course, thanks to you, if not my old age, I'm not likely to be there to see it!”-Selene

  “Blah, blah, blah! Give it a rest, you hag! We're here! Guards! Open the stables. Let's see what our new livestock's been up to!”-Royce.

  No sooner does the lead guard open the stable door than jagged shards of rock erupt from the ground radiating back from the entrance, impaling the lead guard and all the squad behind him, all were wearing metal armor, head to toe, but it didn't help. Then the corpses disappear.

  “So, who's the crazy one now, eh? I told ya there's a powerful alchemist on their side, but no, you thought they're all lowly animals who are oh so much inferior to you! And this one's armed with an alchemic rock-hurling wand the likes of which I haven't seen since the last Traveler.. Wait, you girl, are you a Traveler?!”-Selene.

  “A TRAVELER?! You gotta be shitting me! What the heck is one of them doing here? There's no Demon Lord to fight, civilization's been going at a good clip, and there's no great social ill...”-Royce.

  “No social ill, you say? Tell that to all the beast-kin your people have been kidnapping, murdering, and enslaving, you bloated walrus in human skin! Oh and I'm not a Traveler, but there is one in our company, and he takes an extreme dislike to slavery as a whole. Esteemed Elder, I go by the name Allura. May I be so bold as to inquire your name?”-Allura

  “Hehehe! And the girl knows her manners! So who's the beast and who's the person, eh, Baron Royce?!”-Selene

  “I SAID SHUT UP, YOU HAG, SELENE! DO YOUR DUTY AND KILL THAT BITCH!!”-Royce.

  “I'm a rabbit not a dog, you walrus! And Elder Selene, I'd rather not kill you, but if it comes down to you or me, I vote ME!”-Allura

  “Oh, dear child. I'd love to take you as my apprentice, but things being what they are, I'm under System Enforced [Contract] to protect this place from all threats to the best of my ability.”-Selene

  “So what if you can't fight, what happens then?”-Allura

  “Aw. Hell! As always! I gotta do everything myself! Selene Cover me! I'm going in!” Royce draws his enchanted sword and goes running for Allura, only to slip on a hidden patch of black ice and fall to the ground, face first. The sword scatters away to land at Allura's feet.

  “Hey! The adults are talking here, you spoiled brat! And how pathetic was that, rushing in head first without a plan to literally fall flat on your face?!”-Selene

  “Oh, what's this? An enchanted sword? Wasted on such a bloated walrus of a man. I've got enough MP to try and take it, but I'm not confident I could bring it out again, at least not with any enchantment on it.”

  A ball of flame comes hurtling at Allura as she's distracted and it gets absorbed by Jade's [Analysis] ability, turning it to mana which he converts to MP.

  “You know. That's annoying. Why don't you take a nap, Selene?! Allura, I'm going to need to borrow control of your body for a bit.”

  “Eh? What? Oh.... Yeah.”-Allura.

  “Allura, dear, what are you doing? Oi! What's with your facial expression?! Don't come any closer, I swear, you won't like it! STOP!!!”-Selene

  She hurls fire, ice, lightning, and pure energy and none of it helps. In a moment, Allura and Selene are face to face. Without warning, the elderly mage starts giggling uncontrollably and collapses to the ground, unconscious.

  As they're heading back to the stables, Allura grabs the baron and drags him by his collar, throwing him unceremoniously back to the ground in front of all the slave pens.

  “Now, Baron Royce, was it? Since you seem to like enslaving 'animals' so much, let's see how a walrus of a man like you handles being on the receiving end!”-Jade in Allura's body.

  “Wait. Who are you?! Show yourself, coward!”-Royce.

  “Silence. Animals don't get to speak 'human' you filthy beast!”

  Now Baron Royce gets slapped into the slavery collar that was previously placed on the little girl who now goes by the name Allura, and a Status window appears, visible by all.

  System Message:

  You have been enslaved as a POW by a foreign power. Your name, origin, and background have been summarily erased from System Records. Your level has been reset to one and locked. You will remain a slave until such time as the conflict between your nation and the external power is settled or the governing body of said power decides to free you. Attempting to escape this by other means can and will result in perma-death.

  STATUS

  Race: Walrus-shaped humanoid. (Not beast-kin) Age: 35

  Home Country: [Redacted]

  Name: Nameless (Locked): Level: 1 (Locked)

  JOB: SLAVE (POW) (LOCKED)

  HP: 50/10 (Excess HP from previous level)

  MP: 0/0 (Unable to use magic since birth)

  STR: 20/10 (Boosted by rage, Strength Potion, Enchanted Armor)

  CON: 6/12 (Intoxicated, Tobacco Addiction, Overweight)

  INT: 5/10 (Enraged, Confused, Bigoted)

  WIS: 3/8 (Inbred, Bigoted, Intoxicated)

  DEX: 1/5 (Overweight, Intoxicated, Overburdened)

  LUK: 50

  “How dare a filthy beast try to enslave me, the great and mighty XXXXX?!” Confusion and terror comes across his face as he realizes he can't even say his name, and is quickly forgetting what it used to be.