The wolf girl who saw Ren's scary looking expression cowered behind Valdel. Noticing the mood was getting worse Valdel stood in front of the scared wolf girl.
"Val, I'll ask again, what did you do?" Ren was really pissed off this time around. He thought that he somehow lessened Valdel's heroic impulses while training him. Yet it seems like he was wrong.
"It's nothing, I just saved this girl who was being chased by some bad men. I mean look at what they did to her, they chained her, and this collar on her neck has a very complicated rune structure. She will die if I forcefully remove it. So I was hoping you could remove it, Ren."
"What happened to the men that were chasing her?!" Ren had no time for Valdel's nonsense. They needed to act fast.
"I killed them," Valdel said this with an ice-cold tone. Even though he believed that there was good in everyone, Valdel was also hammered with Ren's philosophy. So even though Valdel didn't like killing he would still do so, if necessary. If a person reaches a certain point of no return in Valdel's eyes, he would kill them. To Valdel this is a sort of release so that they could try again in the next life, or that is what he convinced himself to think of while killing them.
"Tsk, we have no time. Show me where the bodies are." Ren finally noticed what was wrong. Valdel's action of killing the Slave traders was okay and something Ren himself would do. The problem was Valdel didn't have any knowledge about slaves or slave traders. This was a mistake on Ren's part, he should've explained this while they were still on the road going to Grenton.
Valdel, on the other hand, didn't say anything anymore and piggybacked the wolf girl while running. Ren and Lara followed Valdel with relative ease. While they were running Ren started to explain to the two about slaves, and slave traders. Hearing this, as usual Lara had no visible reaction but deep inside she was having such evil thoughts.
Valdel, on the other hand, got even more angry at the slave traders.
"Did they kidnap you? Or were you sold to pay a debt?" Ren suddenly asked the wolf girl who was being piggybacked by Valdel. The wolf girl hesitated to answer Ren, but after thinking for a bit, she eventually answered.
"They burned our home and took all the women and children. They killed all the men..." The wolf girl looked like she was about to cry, but stopped herself.
Hearing the wolf girl's story made Valdel feel even more outraged than before. He shouldn't have killed those slave traders with mercy, he should've tortured them to death. This part of Valdel's personality was influenced by Ren, but this part of his personality only appears when he gets really angry.
"I see." Ren, on the other hand, started to think of what to do next. Then an idea came to him, this situation could be very beneficial not for him but for Valdel.
...
After a few more minutes, Ren's group finally arrived in the place where Valdel killed all of the slave traders; and as Ren expected the other slave traders along with their men were investigating the scene.
When the slave traders saw Ren's group alongside the wolf girl they looked at each other and surrounded Ren's group.
"You kids that child over there is my property. I suggest you give her back. If you do so, we will kill you as painlessly as possible. If you do not comply, well we will kill you slowly and r*pe that girl with you in front of your eyes. Well, either way, she will become a slave so it doesn't really matter."
A man who looked to be the leader spoke to Ren's group. He was wearing leather armor, that covered his not too big but still bulging belly. The wolf girl who got down from Valdel's back was trembling in fear when she saw the leader.
Hearing what the slave traders leader had to say, both Valdel and Ren got angry. Valdel was even ready to attack but Ren stopped him. At this moment Ren really wanted to kill the guy, but he needed this man alive for the moment.
"You can kill everyone else, except that guy." Ren pointed at the leader of the slave traders. Hearing what Ren said, both Lara and Valdel nodded.
"Don't worry stay here, and it will be over soon," Valdel reassured the wolf girl that he doesn't even know the name off. The wolf girl hearing Valdel's confident voice felt secure somehow.
"What the hell are you talking about?" The leader of the slave traders was confused as to what Ren's group was babbling about. Did this kid really think he and his friends could deal with him and his twenty-plus men?
While the leader of the slave traders had this thought, Lara and Valdel attacked first with the spell [flame wall]. Those who were able to evade the literal wall of flames was attacked by either an arrow or a sword. It didn't even take Lara and Valdel ten seconds to kill all the enemies.
The leader of the slave traders, as well as the wolf girl, looked at the scene stunned. Even the wolf girl who Valdel was trying to protect got a bit frightened by Valdel's group. The leader, on the other hand, couldn't comprehend what he just saw, while in this state of shock he saw Ren slowly approaching him with a sinister smile on his face.
The leader of the slave traders wanted to flee, but his shaking legs won't listen to him. He stood there trembling until Ren was finally faced to face with him. The smiling Ren looked extremely menacing.
"So what were you saying? Who is going to die? What are you going to do to my woman?" Ren's tone was mild and gentle, but this made it even more frightening than if he just shouted.
"No, I'm sorry! I must have gone crazy! Of course, I wouldn't be able to do anything! I'm nothing more than a pig in human skin. Please have mercy on me, please don't kill me. I was just doing as I was told. I will give you anything you want, money, women, anything just don't kill me."
It was quite a hilarious sight to see the haughty leader of a slave-trading group beg for mercy.
"Don't worry I won't kill you, as long as you tell me everything about your slave-trading operation. Oh also remove that girl's collar."
"As you wish, as you wish." The leader then scurried towards the wolf girl who was visibly afraid of him. Valdel who was beside the wolf girl held her hand, which for some reason calmed her down. The leader took a key from his pocket and used it to remove the collar from the wolf girl.
"Good, so now tell me about your organization." The leader hearing Ren's request started to tell everything he knows. Hearing everything the leader knows made Ren feel amazed by how deep the influence of the underworld was in Grenton. Valdel on the other hand just got angrier and angrier as he heard the leader explain about the organization he was in.
"There I told you everything, will you please let me go."
"I'm a man of my word. I won't kill you... Lara finish him off." Before the leader could say anything Lara's mana infused arrow had already pierced his skull.
The wolf girl seeing this scene felt scared again. Valdel who noticed this, held her hand again, which truly made her feel calm. The wolf girl just couldn't understand why she felt so safe when Valdel holds her hand. It was at this moment, Ren looked at his companions and smiled.
"So how about we take over Grenton's underworld."