A young man at the age of sixteen with orange fur, fox ears, a fox tail, an athletic physique, yellow eyes, wearing comfortable pants and a shirt without shoes, and 15 years left to live.
A young girl, sixteen years old, with long white hair, cow-like demon horns, a slender physique, red eyes, dressed up like a witch, and two hundred eighty-four years left to live.
A not-so-young man at the age of forty with black hair that has started turning grey, a beard, a muscular physique, green eyes, wearing worn-out clothes that indicate years of traveling, and a hundred and sixty-three years left to live.
A young man, eighteen years old, with brown hair, a muscular physique, green eyes, wearing clothes befitting an aristocrat, and two hundred and fifty years left to live.
And their crew were all out in the open seas.
"Master Dam, we will reach the port of thieves in fifteen minutes."
Benjamin reported to his master.
"Thank you, Benjamin."
Dam said.
"What is the port of thieves?"
Hannah asked.
"During the oldest recorded tournament, five hundred years ago, there was a great purge of all the magic users, and they were outlawed. Because of this, many stopped caring about the consequences of their actions and attacked large populations of people. All the magic users who were captured but couldn't be executed were gathered on an isolated island, so they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. After a while, they established a city. This city has no set of rules, and crime is common there. So people call their harbor the Port of Thieves."
Dam explained.
"If it's so dangerous, why do we stop there?"
Hannah asked.
"We went out on this journey in a rush, so we are short on food and water."
Dam answered.
"Hey! We reached the port!"
Shu shouted to his friends, and they all turned their heads to the front of the ship.
They saw a massive city covering the entire island. There were also floating islands and many witches flying around on their brooms. The city seemed to have a medieval architectural style, but the largest of the buildings reached an unrealistic height, by medieval standards, of fifty-five levels.
They went out of the ship to the dock and walked on a road paved with black bricks.
The buildings were cramped and built from dark materials, which made them look menacing. Walking through the streets was dark, cramped, and claustrophobic.
They reached a large market where many different things were sold.
"Hey, you there! You seem like you'll be interested in what I have to sell. Would you like to check my merchandise?"
A sketchy shop owner said and bowed to Hannah. He was a stocky old man, probably a descendant of dwarves, with glasses, a small mustache, and a smile that called for suspicion.
"Is it okay?"
Hannah turned her head toward Dam and asked.
"Benjamin, accompany Hannah and Shu and make sure they return to the ship on time. You have money, right?"
Dam said.
"Yes, sir."
Benjamin answered.
"Then it's okay, have a good time."
Dam said and went to restock on supplies with Thomas and a few of his men.
********
Hannah, Shu, and Benjamin all followed the sketchy vendor.
He told them that his 'work name' was Jefferson.
He led them through a street that looked more like a back ally than the main road. Something that sounds impressive once you consider how cramped and dark the main road was.
They entered a building that used expansion magic to make it bigger on the inside.
"Seeing that you already have one, I don't know if you want more, but you can check around and see if you want anything."
Jefferson said while not even throwing a glance at the two men standing by Hannah's side.
Hannah looked around the place.
It was a giant space filled with many cages. In each cell, she could see either beastmen, humans, demons, many other species, and even angels.
"Hey, you there! Young beastman! Tell your master to buy our freedom!"
An old beastman shouted at Shu. He resembled a hybrid between a lion and a human.
"Old man, What are you talking about? There's no way he would help us. Can't you see he is one of them?"
Another beastman said. This fellow resembled a zebra.
"It's bad enough he is a Canine tribe kin, so he wouldn't do anything that might count as disloyal to his master. But this fellow is a kin to the Vulpini branch, a disloyal scum who would only help himself and won't risk a hair on his tail to help us."
Another beastman said and then almost hit Shu with his spit. This Beastman resembled a bear.
"Hey, kin of the Vulpini! Do you have nothing to say for yourself?"
A beastman that resembled a crow said.
"Sir, it's hard to see in this lighting. Can you please provide a light source?"
Hannah requested politely.
"Yes, ma'am"
Jefferson said, and the room brightened up in an instant.
'We keep the light low only because many of the merchandise are sensitive to light...'
Jefferson thought to himself.
With the room illuminated, it was even clearer how dirty the cages were and badly treated the 'merchandise' was.
"His fur is orange! He is a member of the Redfox family!"
A demon shouted as he noticed Shu's fur.
All the beastmen in the room stopped shouting curses at him, and some even bowed their heads.
It was silent for a while, and then Shu started talking.
Jefferson noticed how valuable Shu seemed, based on the other slaves' reaction, and was about to suggest a trade to Hannah, but Hannah shot a look at him that scared him shitless.
"What do you know about my family?!"
Shu roared at the big room, but no one dared to answer.
Generally, he didn't care much about his origins. He was the son of George Adom, and that was it, but this beastmen seemed to know his heritage and even judged him for it...
Then, a young half-demoness and half-human girl with goat-like horns, golden hair, and eyes as blue as the deep sea started talking.
"You are kin of the Vulpini tribe and have orange fur. During the great hunt two hundred and fifty years ago, the Redfox family protected almost all the beastmen who survived, so all the beastmen in this room are indebted to your family. And as for how we know that you are a son of the Redfox family, your orange fur gives it away. They are the only Vulpini who have that fur color."
The girl explained.
"And why did you curse me for being a Vulpini?"
Shu asked.
"A Vulpini was the cause for the hunt."
The girl answered.
"Okay, I think I understand now. I have three things to say. One! I'm not a slave. Both Hannah and I are participants in the tournament. Two! I have no reason to help you. Risking myself only to get more crewmembers is not worth it!" Shu said, "and it's not as if he deliberately wants to kill you..." Shu mumbled to himself and resumed his 'speech' "Three. Hannah, since this merchant doesn't see me as a buyer, can you please buy this girl?"
Shu requested.
"Y-yes"
Hannah was surprised by how rational he was under the circumstances. And she had never seen him this ruthless.
"Great timing. I have another buyer coming soon to check this slave as well. If you can pay more than him, I will sell her to you."
Jefferson giggled. He hit the jackpot!
As if on cue, a man, who seemed to be in his forties, walked into the room with soldiers and guards behind him. He wore a fine suit and had a magician's hat. The guard closest to him held what looked like a plain stave.
"Hello, Young Lord of the Ashir family. I'm sorry for not warning you, but someone else wants to buy that 'item' you were eyeing."
Jefferson said, and the young lord looked with anger at Hannah.
"Surely, we can agree on a better deal. Maybe I will buy your entire stock at double the price? My hunting ground always requires more animals."
The young lord said, and Shu's ears started twitching.
"Sorry, young lady, but I can't argue against such a great deal."
Jefferson said and walked toward the young lord to shake his hand.
Shu started laughing with a broad smile on his face.
The young lord's people, the young lord, and Jefferson all looked at him with apprehension. What was this slave planning to do?!
"You are in luck!" He claimed loudly to the slaves. "As I said earlier, as long as his deals don't deliberately kill you, I won't intervene. But as you just heard, they do." Shu explained and looked at the young lord with killing intent.
He launched at the guard closest to the lord, the strongest opponent.
The guard was knocked out in an instant.
Shu took the guard's stave and knocked out everyone who tried to kill him.
Most of the servants and guards didn't care much for their duties. So it was pretty easy to reach the last two enemies.
Mr. Jefferson and young lord Ashir.
He knocked them out quickly.
"If any of you want to follow me instead of this man, then free the slaves and loot all the people I knocked out. If you don't, then just run away."
Shu said.
Out of thirty servent and guards, only five joined him, and they did as he said.
"What I said about them qualifies for you as well. If you don't want to join me, you can run."
Shu said to the freed slaves, but none of them moved.
The lion beastman went forward, bowed, and said.
"As our ancestors are indebted to your family, we are indebted to you."
Shu didn't like that, he did not want to stand above them, but he could deal with that later.
"If that's what you want, let's head back to the ship."
Shu said.
********
They returned to the ship, and Thomas and Dam were stupefied by the number of people who came with them.
"Not counting Hannah, Shu, and Benjamin. You brought forty-eight people with you. Where will we keep them all?"
Dam asked.
"It's okay."
Hannah said, and then, even without an incantation, the ship expanded from the inside to be four times the size it was before.
It was bigger on the inside!
"And how will we feed all these people?"
Dam asked.
Again, Hannah used her magic to make an area of the ship into a fully functioning farm.
"Well, since this solves our food problem, I'm okay with this."
Dam said.
Hannah was happy to hear that because these two spells completely drained her. For mortals, not using magical items for expansion magic was quite exhausting. The only reason she could do it was her potential of three hundred.
They set out of the port and went back on their journey to the new lands.