Upgrades Chapter 74 (Patreon)

I gave a mental hum as I looked around with interest as I felt my mind drain ever so slightly with the use of my new Mage Sight Skill. It manifested with my blue eyes glowing slightly and I could see strictly magical signatures glowing slightly within my vision.

Which... Although wasn't exactly the greatest thing ever, it was still a valuable thing, as it allowed me to see if anyone I was fighting had a magic sword, a cursed weapon, or likewise any enchanted gear on them.

Other than that, the skill didn't allow me to see 'How' to cast magic or anything... Its not like it was a Sharingan after all though the thought of being able to copy mages Falna based spells would be fucking hilarious especially if I could copy like Alfia's magic.

But either way... I succeded and after a while of experimenting and making sure I didn't grow eyeballs on my brain or my toes turning into tentacles or something, I heard a soft thudding noise ringing out before the door to my workshop opened up.

"Jake, Eris the Sword Maiden is here... With a lot of nuggets?" I heard Tina call out clearly with confusion coloring her voice.

My head tilted to the side as I muttered. "Nuggets? Why the hell would Eris bring a bunch of chicken nuggies?" 

I quickly ran up the stairs after I made sure Alfia's elixer, and the Astraea familia members' weapons were in my inventory and as I came up I heard the sounds of soft arguing ringing out.

And as I came outside the manor I saw the Astraea familia was up in arms over in front of Eris who was unrepentantly dragging a couple dozen men and women by soft ropes tied around their forms with many of them struggling and bleeding in their bindings.

While in front of Eris being pushed in a cart was the nuggies... The nuggets Tina mentioned was the masters obviously that Eris had went after.

And they were aptly named... As they had their mouths gagged, their four limbs cut off and the wounds burnt closed with the well-dressed men and women were covered in blood staining their uniforms. 

To say nothing of the smell of their bodies going into shock and making a mess.

'Good thing I didn't buy a slave.' I thought with a grimace at the sight before refocusing as Eris spoke coldly. "Lady Astraea, this is Hera Familia business. The slave trade in all civilized nations are illegal and punishable by the whims of their divines and Lady Hera has charged me with culling the evil of Melen."

But Astraea stood with her back unbowed as she spoke calmly. "They still deserve a proper trial. There is an accounting of justice that needs to be done, not merely having their guts dragged through the streets for all to see."

Eris gave the goddess of justice a look before stating frankly. "They live for now, only at Jake's request to see if the bonds of slavery may be shifted, removed, or destroyed by freeing slaves and giving them back their free-wills. Your opinion has no weight in this Astraea."

I exhaled and with a pop of my neck I walked forward and clapped my hands loudly making everyone look at me and I spoke sternly. "Alright! Here is what is going to happen here and now. Lady Astraea you wish for them to face justice... Then fine, ask the masters of the crimes of enslavement, in abuse and other horrors they have brought on their fellow men while you question each master. I will be curing their slaves to give evidence of their actions."

My actions made Astraea raise an eyebrow but after a moment of thought she nodded and she looked at Alise and Kaguya and said calmly. "Alise, Kaguya, sort them out via their slaves please."

And while they went to do so I looked over at Eris the Sword Maiden and saw that her sword was still painted red with blood, the hem of her long dress was splattered with red... And I knew that she had to have left a fuck load of bodies on the ground tonight.

As level sixes don't get messy killing civilians or even up to level three's which weren't too common here in Melen without making literal puddles of blood they couldn't help but step into.

"Is this just a trial? I thought there would be more slaves?" I asked with a small frown as I realized there was only a couple dozen people max struggling in the bondage of soft ropes... Except for a form that was bound completely in chains so that they couldn't struggle in besides aggressively wriggling around.

At my words, Eris grimaced before her face went cold as she said. "As I broke into some of the estates, more than half of the slaves who were wearing special vests attempted to blow me up with some kind of highly explosive alchemical reaction..."

And in the background, I heard Lyra, a Pallum like Tina who was one of the executives of the Astraea familia mutter. "Huh, and here I thought the explosives was just some Far Eastern merchants having fun with fireworks with how no one was screaming."

"No one screamed as no one survived long enough to scream if I came within their sight." Eris reported calmly and my lips twitched at the stone-cold way she said she butchered everyone who came across her path.

Either way, I took a breath as I realized something crucial actually. Those suicide vests were the trademark of Evilus as they loved to use disposable troops to jump onto higher-tier adventurers and blow them up.

The only reason why Evilus wasn't much of an issue here in the days of the Zeus and Hera Familia's was simple... The two ruling familia's were far more brutal and would rip out the roots of their foes unlike the future ruling Familia's.

I looked back through the slaves and I blinked as I recognized two of them. One was a young elf girl, I saw on the flesh auction catalog... And likewise, the second one was the daughter of the cat beastkin mother-daughter duo and at that realization, I looked down and I think that the chain-bound form was her mother maybe?

Bringing out the eldritch helmet from my inventory, I walked over to one of the men and I pointed at him and called out. "Lady Astraea, lets get this guy free first, get his master up and lay out the questions you want to ask to determine his fate as the goddess of justice."

Astraea gave me a look of warning for ordering her about but she sniffed and nodded as I leaned towards the man and spoke. "When I put this helmet on, you have to kill the weakness inside you alright, and when its done shake your head forward and backward and I will remove the helmet alright?" 

The man slowly nodded but with confusion clear in his eyes even as his body struggled in the ropes that bound him. No doubt due to the orders his master had given to him that put him on a murderous 'rampage' 

Though it wasn't like he could rampage worth a shit with Eris being able to fold him in half like a soggy fish stick.

I carefully pushed the helmet onto his head and my lips twitched seeing it's whalebone exterior breaking open to expose glowing red flesh as the helmet expanded to fully clasp over the man's head with Alise whispering in disgust. "Ewwww!"

But naught even thirty seconds later the man shuddered violently and I steadied him for a moment as he went limp and then as he seemed to regain consciousness he slowly nodded his head up and down in a clear signal to me to pull off the helmet.

And as he breathed fresh air... I saw the light in his eyes as he squirmed slightly before the light of joy hit his mind as he realized he wasn't bound in the orders he previously had!

So I cut him free and pointed him out to Astraea and said. "Go ahead and list all your master's crimes, I got more people to free." 

And the man understanding I needed to keep a move on to the others gave a shaky nod before he whispered. "Thank you... I will never forget this."