I don’t even want to think about how long they have been abused for, or what they have been through. If they are not stark raving mad, then they are a lot stronger than they have any right to be. As I am working on the restraints, I explain what is going to happen next and what options they have.

Those that are close and can hear me quickly turn and pass the information to those farther away. Once new people stop arriving at the town square, I spread out my mana over the town. When I sense a life signal, I send one of the freed slaves to go check it out.

I am expecting the signals to lead to more slaves that were locked up somewhere. Asuna shows up with two dozen more slaves from the ship, but they are already freed. I quickly put her in charge of searching for any slaves that were missed and send her off.

After that, I start getting the slaves organized into groups depending on where they want to go. Those that don’t have anywhere to return to, or that don’t feel safe returning, I offer to take them to the peninsula. This time, a majority of the beastmen want to go to the peninsula instead of returning home.

3,684 Assorted Humans defeated! 1,027,852 Exp gained!

Exp: 52,428,800/52,428,800

*DING*

Level Up! Level 19 → 20 (Max)!

Bonuses: +10,000 HP, +5,000 DP, +100 to all stats! All Class Spells +1 Level!

New Ability: Summon Angel (Limit 1)

It looks like everyone finally finished burning and it also looks like I wasted some exp. However, it doesn’t really matter since now I can finally summon my angel. It does kind of suck that anything I kill from now on won’t give me any exp at all.

I will just have to hope that I can find another way to get a second class so I can keep leveling. Right now, my only viable options are to use the commander’s trial or make the goddesses stronger. The problem with the second option is that I have no idea how much stronger they need to get.

I have found several ways to make them stronger, but it isn’t like I have a set goal to aim for. I don’t think they even know how much stronger they will need to be, but I can ask. Although, I should probably just ask Krenocia, Seronia is going to be a little pissed at me.

I am working on freeing the last group in the town square when Asuna returns. She has two dozen more slaves with her, but what worries me is the cage she is carrying. It is far too small for a humanoid to be inside, which means it is probably a beast.

I am not against freeing beasts, but I am also not looking to add another kid to my tribe. However, seeing the look of excitement on Asuna’s face, I am guessing I don’t have a choice. She comes running straight to me with the cage held out in front of her.

Asuna says “Dad, dad! Look what I found!”

When Asuna reaches me I obediently bend down to take a look inside the cage. At first, all I see is a wrinkly red ball, it takes me a minute to see the shape of it and recognize it. It is a puppy, a very, very young puppy, it doesn’t look more than a week or so old.

“Where did you find this?”

Asuna says “One of the mansions had a ton of beasts locked up in cages. I freed the others and let them loose on the island, but this one was different. I couldn’t open the cage no matter what I tried.”

When I take a look at the cage I find it has both a strong physical lock and a complex magical one. In fact, the entire cage is heavily enchanted, more so than I would expect to find. I analyze the cage, the lock won’t be a problem, but the enchantments are keeping the puppy in stasis.

Asuna says “Is it special? Did I find something good?”

“It would seem so. The cage is keeping it in stasis, whatever it is. It looks like a puppy, but I have no idea what species it might be. From all the effort that went into the cage, I am guessing it is either really rare, or really dangerous.”

Asuna says “Does that mean that I get another younger brother or sister?”

“Possibly. Do you want another sibling?”

Asuna says “Yes! I love having so many siblings to play with! Are you going to open it now?”

“No. I think it would be best if we wait until after we help all of the slaves. It might not like waking up surrounded by so many people.”

Asuna says “True, I wouldn’t like to wake up surrounded by strangers!”

“We will open it somewhere quieter. You hold onto it for now.”

Asuna says “Okay!”

I quickly finish freeing the last of the slaves and then use the pouch to feed everyone. While they are eating, I go back to the mansions and sniff out some more gold. I plan to keep the gold I had for spending and this gold I am looting will become my bed.

That way I can just leave it in the cabin and don’t have to take it out of my pouch every time. Not that I mind playing with the gold, for some reason it is really relaxing. It is probably another effect of becoming closer to being a real dragon.

After doing some looting, I return to the town square and open a large gate back to Vex’s palace. Lin and Mercy are already waiting on the other side with most of the palace’s servants. They quickly take charge of the slaves as they come through and get them organized.

The ex-slaves will get baths and new clothes courtesy of King Vex before I send them wherever. Of course, the ones from King Vex’s kingdom will be taken care of directly. Mercy takes charge of all those that are going to the peninsula since she will be going with them.

I decide to delay their departure until the morning so that I can have one more night with Mercy. Besides, the slaves have been through a lot already and could use a little rest. It will also give the other rulers a chance to talk to those of their people among the slaves.

That and I plan to summon my angel as soon as possible and I’m sure Mercy would like to be there. Although, that does mean that I am going to need to come up with a name for the angel. I am pretty sure that if I try to name it Angela that Lizzy is going to try to bite me.

It would be nice if it ended up being a male, but I am not really expecting that. Asuna and I are the last ones through the gate and by the time we cross things are already sorted. King Vex’s people are really organized and efficient, but that could be Lin and Mercy’s doing.