Ch.86School NPC (1)

“So, you’re saying he’s a human trafficker? One who only kidnaps kids with magical power?”

“…I can never forgive that.”

I gave a brief explanation about the guy. That he’s trash who kidnaps kids with strong magical power. Not a single lie there, so it’s perfectly accurate, right?

“So, from now on, we’re going to ‘clean up’ Neity.”

“Brother, you’re cleaning? I want to help too!”

“No. Ira has a very important job today. Only your brother, Gor, and Ray will do the cleaning. Ira needs to run an errand, can you do that well?”

“Yes!”

After hugging Ira, who couldn’t understand metaphors yet, I placed the addresses and locations I’d extracted from that guy earlier on the table.

“Here and here. Ray will take these two places. And here and here, these two are for Gor. I’ll handle the remaining three.”

“Yes! Should we ‘completely’ clean them?”

“No. We’ll ‘sort the recycling.’ But don’t put yourself in danger doing it.”

We’re not killing them yet. We will kill them all eventually, but if we kill them right away, that principal might notice and do something. For now, we keep them alive and then take them all out at once. As I was sharing this plan, Ragni, who had been listening, tilted her head and spoke up.

“Um, what about me?”

“You and Ira have the most important job.”

Yes, you two are the most important. Nothing is more important than this.

“Ragni, take the academy recommendation letter and go with Ira to register for the exam, then organize the house we rented.”

After all, it’s preparation for Ira’s academy enrollment.

*

Endless groans echo through the underground. Men stare blankly at those who continue to moan below.

“Hey. Why are they so weak? Have you been feeding the kids?”

“We have. They’ve been like this for two months already. You think eating will give them strength?”

“Geez. These young ones are so pathetic.”

The “children” described as young respond to the adults’ chatter behind them with even louder groans, as if feeling wronged.

One year after entering the academy.

Some commoner children from the elementary division who had shown a bit of talent were in the middle of forcibly contracting a low-level fire elemental by injecting magical power into it.

The children’s eyes were all sunken as if they hadn’t slept for weeks, their cheeks hollow, and some couldn’t even moan, just opening their mouths with an “ah” sound.

These commoner children from the elementary division, who had caught the eye of the Elemental Studies department head and were tricked by promises of higher grades and tuition coverage if they helped with research, had been repeating this painful task for two months without a single day of rest.

-Thud.

“Oh, hey. That one just collapsed.”

“Ah, shit. We let that girl sleep two days ago. Why is she being dramatic again?”

People who talk like that while they sleep every day and eat proper food, while giving us only two days of sleep per week and feeding us their leftovers.

But the children here no longer have the strength to defy these men.

If they had known it would be like this from the beginning, they might have resisted with their magic and magical power. But at first, they were deceived into thinking it was research, had all their magical power squeezed out to the last drop, and when they asked for a little rest, they were all beaten and forced to wear [Collars of Subjugation].

How did slave collars that should only be used in the Empire get into the city of Neity? Unfortunately, the commoner children lacked both the means and knowledge to understand this.

As the children continued to pour magical power into the elementals despite the collapsed girl, one of the men approached the fallen child who appeared to be in her early teens and began kicking her.

“Get up, you bitch! It’s an order, get up!”

“Kuhuk?! Kuhuk?!”

“Fucking bitch. Pretending to be dead? I can still feel your magical power, why are you being dramatic? This is an order. From now until tonight, you will continue putting magical power into the elemental without pissing or shitting yourself.”

When a girl collapses, instead of letting her rest, they beat her, curse at her, and force her to move her trembling body with commands.

Seeing this, the other five children, who appeared to be in their early to mid-teens, all squeezed their eyes shut.

Some still thought that if they could just get out of here, they would kill all those bastards. But for most, it was just an instinctive desire to look away from their reality.

Once they put on the [Collar of Subjugation], they became unable to resist. And being smart enough to enter the academy, the children understood one thing:

They would be exploited here until they died.

-Bang bang bang!

“Huh?”

“What’s that? Who’s coming?”

“What is it? Was there a supply delivery scheduled for today?”

In the underground of a hidden building. The method of coming here is top-secret information. Another man, who hadn’t thought at all that an outsider would come here, approaches the loudly banging iron door.

-Bang bang bang bang!!

“Who is it?! Stop banging!!”

[Gibson sent me.]

“Huh?!”

“Ah. Must be personnel reinforcement.”

When they heard the disgusting name of the middle school Elemental Studies department head, the children’s faces darkened with even more despair. Surely another child had been deceived in the research lab above and was being brought down to wear a collar of subjugation like them. That door only bangs when another child is brought in or when “their” meals arrive.

“Wait. I’ll open it now.”

As the noisy banging on the iron door stops, the man unlocks the multiple locks on the door to reveal a gray-haired man staring at him with a blank expression.

“Huh? Who are you?”

“What’s this? A new recruit?”

“Hey. How many kids are in here?”

“What?”

“This guy. You’re new but your words are short? Which research lab are you from?!”

“You’re asking which lab I’m from?”

The gray man, who entered almost pushing aside the man who opened the door, continues speaking while looking around.

“I’m the department head you all know well, you bastard.”

“Gasp?!”

“D-Department Head, sir?!!”

“So, how many kids are in here, I asked.”

The two men, who didn’t know another department head was involved in this research besides Gibson, immediately changed to respectful postures and answered the man.

“S-six children, sir!”

“They’re all working at full capacity! Those children over there are all of them!!”

“I see.”

After seeing the dirty, filthy children, the man sighed deeply and approached them.

“Children, don’t worry anymore. I’m here now.”

The children, who had been sinking deeper into despair thinking that the academy’s abyss was too deep when this man who approached them claimed to be a department head.

He gently placed his hand on the head of the girl who had just collapsed and was trembling while putting in magical power due to the order, and smiled refreshingly at all the children.

Like a gray sun rising in this dark underground laboratory. The children all stared at him blankly, feeling that way.

Seeing this, the men sensed something was off and politely addressed him again.

“E-excuse me. May I ask which department you’re the head of?”

“Me?”

“Yes, w-we’ve been working as assistants in Neity for almost two years, but we’ve never met you before.”

Both men, judging the gray man’s behavior as strange, slowly began drawing up their magical power and becoming wary. The man turned his back to the children, shrugged, and approached the two men.

“I said I’m the department head you know well, so why wouldn’t you know?”

“What on earth.”

“What do you mean…”

“Satan Unemployment Research Department Head. I’m Jack.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

After saying that, the man raised the corners of his mouth and instantly thrust his fists into the solar plexuses of both men.

*

The fact that wracking my brain resulted in dialogue from a hero in a manga from my past life makes me wonder if I really am someone with a past life.

But what can I do? At the place I visited before coming here, all the kids started crying and making a huge fuss as soon as they realized they were rescued.

I had no choice but to figure out a way to calm the kids down in advance.

“Ah, ugh… D-Department Head?”

“Just call me big brother.”

“B-big brother? Where is the Satan Unemployment Research Department?”

“Why do you want to know that?”

“Sir! I-I want to join there too!!”

What are these kids talking about? I made those guys use their own mouths to remove the [Collars of Subjugation] from all six weakened children.

I put the collars on those guys’ necks and ordered them to remove the collars from the children.

At the place I raided earlier, I had to figure out how to free the kids when dealing with bastards who refused to listen even if they died, so I decided to give them a taste of their own medicine.

But now the kids are asking where the Satan Unemployment Department is with sparkling eyes? This is crazy.

“There’s no such department. I said that because these bastards are so evil they could make Satan unemployed, and I’m here to stop that.”

“Oh!”

“Ah, that’s too bad.”

These kids are genuinely disappointed? All the weakened children are sitting on the floor with drooping eyebrows.

Why on earth would they want to join something like that?

“B-because I thought there might be kind people like you there, big brother!”

“I thought it would be a department full of strong and cool people like you, sir!”

I feel like the kids’ misunderstanding is deepening. I’m not even from the academy in the first place, children.

“I need to go rescue other kids who’ve been captured like you at the last remaining place, okay? I’m sorry, but could you watch these men here? Don’t open the door for anyone, and I’ll be back within two days.”

I want to let them go right away after rescuing them, but there are still accomplices left, and if they notice something’s wrong, they might run away or the other captured children could be in danger. After explaining this, all the kids nodded vigorously.

“Yes!”

“Leave it to us!!”

I gave the kids the food and drinks those guys had stored, and even shared all the potions I had with them, making the kids look refreshed.

Yes, children should look refreshed.

“Hey! Put in your magical power more properly!!”

“Put in more, you bastard!!”

“Trash! Don’t piss or shit ever again and just put in magical power!! Don’t sleep either!!!”

The refreshed voices of the children that I heard just before closing the iron door and turning my back were so refreshed that it was a bit scary.

I should tell our Ira not to make friends with them.