Should Have Let Me Die

Chapter 138: Magic Paper

After Buddy returned with Mesh and another box of Nappy Darts, I launched the four of us into the air. Since I had made this trip so many times, I took only brief seconds to arrive back in the square. The place was now packed and three stands were set up with long lines of people waiting to squeal on the slave masters.

"Wow, it's quite the operation they have going already," I mused as I looked over at a large group of slaves and some other finely dressed people, slave masters.

I turned to Mesh and Buddy, giving them a nod, making them both head over to the three booths set up to collect info on the girls and the other slave masters that hadn't shown up. I had called for Elise to come with Karma and together, made some quick sketches of the sisters that we would be hunting. Karma was also able to make several more copies almost as fast as she was handed a paper, and now we had hand-drawn photos for ourselves, and to hand around the city.

These girls were assassins, born and trained only to kill, so they all might be a little loopy, and I made this point very clear to Buddy and Mesh before we left Dreams. They left to go and talk to the information stand, and I turned to Wendy. I had to admit part of the reason I brought her with me was to show the people of the city my view of Beastfolk.

"Hey, I know you're really not the type, but do you mind acting cute with me in front of the people?"

"Umm...I guess so, but why? There are a lot of people here and they might think" Wendy trailed off with an open-ended statement that was the reason for my request.

"Exactly, I want them to see that we are a couple of equal standing. Wendy, I love you and I am not afraid to shout it out to the world, but I want the world to understand this. Little actions like this and my magic will help bring all the races closer together."

"Okay! That's a better reason than I thought you were going to give me, hehe," Wendy joked, but I narrowed my eyes at her, causing her to blush slightly.

"What did you think I was going to say?" I asked in a questioning tone, while still squinting at her.

"N-N-Nothing! I wasn't think about you saying anything rude or inappropriate!"

"Oh, you dirty little girl! Come here!"

I pounced on Wendy and peppered her neck with small kisses, sending her into a fit of laughter as she tried, ineffectively, to push me away. When I finally stopped, both of us were out of breath and laughing; times like this were always, and a nice break from the real world problems. I turned my head to the crowd and they were all staring at us with open mouth amazement. 

I turned back to Wendy and placed my hand on her cheek. I leaned forward then to place a kiss on her forehead, and then I took her by the hand. The two of us turned and walked over to the group of equally stupefied slaves and masters. This had to be strange for them to see our casual interactions and the way we regarded each other. 

"So, before we get started, I would like all the slaves to come to stand on the other side of me. Then I would like to start talking with the masters, while my wife, Wendy, will explain what will be going on when you all get to dreams. Also, would Carine, and Janeta, please come and speak to me of your own free will, or else."

I didn't make a threat, Wendy was protected from my planetary magic shield, but I was focusing it all on her, so it smelled like shit real bad. I was also leaving myself open, but they didn't know that, but they didn't know about my shield, so it was a moot point. I had been looking for the girls, and made sure I spotted them all

"Got one!" 

I whipped around to find a girl with blonde hair on the ground, taking a dirt nappy nap it seemed. Wendy was standing over top of the girl with the spent Nappy Dart launcher twirling in her fingers. She looked good in that proud position, so I gave her a wink and blew her a quick kiss, before turning back around.

Both girls were standing with their heads down, both wearing hooded black cloaks. They were both short, only ten and twelve if I remembered what Elise said. I touched the tip of each nose with my left index finger, taking the magic away like it never had existed in the first place. 

Both girls let out small gasps, and then I placed a hand on each hooded head changing their black robes into white ones that fit better. At the same time, I unthreaded every piece of cloth on their body, while keeping them fully covered. Knives, throwing stars, and curved daggers fell out from under their robes, catching them with telekinesis before they hurt the girl's legs or feet. 

This got a reaction out of both of them, Janeta started to cry, I guess finally truly understanding what was happening, but Carine dove at me. Okay, she made the motion, but I was more than prepared to deal with violence. Janeta though

"BABE! Come here please!"

I had no idea what to do to help this one. Carine had already been knocked out from one of the five Nappy Darts I had taken from Wendy, but Janeta was a mess of tears and snot. I punched things and made inspiring speeches, but crying little girls were not my specialty. 

Besides trying not to make them cry in the first place, I wasn't really sure what to say to her. Not like I could tell her it was going to be all alright because I didn't know if it would. I was worried that some of the girls wouldn't ever be ready to go back out among people.

"I'll take her, Hyde. Let's go. What's your name honey?"

Wendy was already leading her away, and I was about to mention to her about not letting her guard down, but then I saw she had a Nappy Dart in her free hand aimed at the girl. I sighed with relief, having her take this seriously was a big load off my back, and I turned back to the crowd of slave masters that had lined up.

I was very surprised to find that over half of them were women, all human, but still women. Hard to believe that they would have the stomach for something like trading slaves, but maybe there was a reason for this. That's the reason why I was talking to them all, to find out which were doing this for pleasure or because of circumstance.

"How long are you going to make nobles such as ourselves stand and wait on you?"

I just looked at the speaker, a man four people back in the line, and I was sure I had noticed him bully his way to the front. This was the shit I didn't have any patience for, and I just flicked a finger and he was gone, to the moon. Well, I aimed at the center of the moon for an end destination, so he was a frozen grease spot now.

The slave masters around him all shouted or screamed at the abrupt disappearance of the shouting man. Then they all look at me with fear, well most of them, there were some women with hungry eyes, and they would be the hardest to gauge. I cleared my throat and everyone quieted down.

"Listen, because I don't want to say things again. You are no longer nobles, you are my prisoner until I deem that you are either of use to me or no danger to the people around you."

"And what if we don't?" Another noble male challenged from farther back in the lineup.

I flicked my finger and created another crater on the moon's surface.

"I don't know if you can tell or not yet, but I really don't give two flying fucks what any of you have to say until I ask you a question. I also despise people that think there are better than others and use their strengths to oppress the weak. Remember that when you are talking to me, but do not lie to me. A lie will get you with the other pair of flippant idiots, do you all understand?"

I got a unison call of "yes," and began to speak with each person as they came. While I was talking to them, Mesh and Buddy hauled back four more girls, then left again after visiting the information stands to get updated. I watched these exchanges, between the humans, and Kin

At first, they had been hesitant to get close to the men, but the second time they had gone to exchange info, more than one woman was willing to give them the info. I chuckled internally, thinking that I might be adding more wives to their list before the day was over. I returned my focus back to the current slave master.

Bridagon was a chubby man, and short, but dressed in nice clothes. He was explaining that the slave trade has been a family business for many years and regarding the common mindset, figured it was best to stick with the family business. He also made it clear that he didn't enjoy the work, and that he was more than happy to quit and be of any help he could.

"What kind of magic do you have, Bridagon?" 

"Uhh, well, it's really not that useful, but I can create small pieces of paper that are almost impossible to destroy,' Bridagon explained while creating what could have been mistaken for paper money.

I was shocked, this was big. The whole trading thing wasn't working out and there were a lot of loopholes. I took the paper from Bridagon, pulling and twisting it using considerable force, but it stayed together. Finally, I used some of Karma's ink magic and my memory of a twenty-dollar bill, not the new ones but the old green-tinted non plastic money. 

The ink went on perfectly and I threw it on the ground and stopped on it and ground my foot into it, but the bill was still in perfect shape, and the dirt actually fell off it when I picked it back up. Yup, now came to the biggest issue, What do we call them?