The air was thick with the scent of blood, metallic and sharp, cutting through the eerie silence of the village. I walked over the dead bodies without a second thought, stepping around them like they were nothing more than obstacles. The kids huddled in the corner, eyes wide with fear as I moved through the chaos. I must've looked like something out of a nightmare—pale skin, silver-white hair, walking over the fallen bodies of their captors as if they didn't even matter.The village that was basically a ghost town this morning was now dead silent—except for the scavengers and crows, of course, who were living their best life, munching on whatever was left of the chaos. I mean, if you're a crow, this is basically an all-you-can-eat buffet.Humans are surprisingly fragile, I didn't even need to break a sweat. I didn't bother with the big flashy spells. Next thing I know, I'm standing in the middle of a scene that looked like a butcher's shop gone wrong. It was too easy, like slicing through butter... if the butter had, you know, arms and legs.In one corner, a group of kids who'd been ordered to check on the slaves earlier were huddled together, their eyes wide with fear. I glanced at them, my voice flat as I asked, "Where are you hiding the slaves?"They didn't answer. Not a single one of them moved or spoke.I sighed. "I'll count to three. If you don't answer, you'll end up like them."I didn't exactly look like a heartless monster (okay, maybe I did), but I wasn't about to let these kids get away with pretending like they didn't have blood on their hands. They'd helped lead others to their deaths, after all, all in the name of survival. I get it, but that's not an excuse.Maybe I'm being hypocritical, especially after I just wiped out an entire town. But you know what? Some humans are worse than monsters, and I was just doing what had to be done. Honestly, I'm starting to sound like one of those main characters who gives a dramatic monologue right before they save the day. I should probably throw in a "For justice!" or something."One," I said.The kid, shaking like a leaf, finally spoke up. "Th-they're in the storeroom. The low-grade ones... only the low-grade ones are left. The high-grade ones were sent to the empire.""Take me there," I said, but they didn't move. Just stayed there, heads bowed, like they were trained to be subservient.I raised an eyebrow. "Were you slaves too?""Y-Yes," the kid muttered, their voice barely above a whisper. "Before we pledged allegiance to the slave town."I scanned them more closely, my gaze lingering on their necks. It didn't take long to spot the tattoos—marks that screamed "ownership.""What's that?" I pointed at the inked marks.They froze, eyes wide like they were caught in a lie they weren't ready to tell. "Th-th-that's the slave contract."I narrowed my eyes, crossing my arms. "So you were forced to capture unsuspecting people? That's your story?"They didn't answer, but they nodded, the movement quick and desperate, like they were waiting for a punishment."Right." I gestured to the bodies scattered around us. "What about these people? Who are they?""They're slave traders," the kid stammered, voice shaking. "They were part of a big organization. A lot of different people came and went, taking and selling..."I raised an eyebrow. "So, this isn't all of them?"The kids shook their heads, looking down at the ground like they were ashamed.I was about to ask more when one of the children, the smallest one, stepped forward, voice cracking as they spoke. "We didn't have a choice..."I looked at them, intrigued. "What do you mean? You're telling me you just went along with all this?"The kid gulped, eyes welling with tears. "We had to bring food for the slaves... the ones they kept locked up. We didn't even get to eat much ourselves. We were always hungry." They paused, choking on their words before continuing. "They said if we didn't bring food, we'd end up just like the others. Nobody wanted us, so we had no choice. We worked, so we wouldn't get killed."I frowned, feeling a weird tug in my chest. The story was tragic, and I wasn't expecting to get all emotional about it. These kids weren't villains—they were just doing their best in a world so messed up, even a cockroach would think twice before sticking around. They didn't even have the power to choose their fate. It was like they were stuck in a game they didn't even want to play. And here I was, a walking disaster with silver hair, judging them. What a mess.I knelt down to their level, softening my tone. "So, you just... worked for these people so you wouldn't be killed?"The smallest kid nodded, wiping their eyes. "Yes. They told us, 'Do what we say, or you're next.' So we brought food, cleaned up, did whatever they asked... just so we didn't end up in those cages."My chest tightened. This was worse than I thought. These kids weren't the villains here—they were the victims, caught up in this whole mess. They'd been feeding the slaves like they were just doing their best to survive in a world that wasn't giving them much of a choice. It hit me harder than I expected.I took a deep breath and stood up. "Okay, I get it now. You were just trying to stay alive in all this chaos. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook for, you know... being involved in this whole mess."They flinched, eyes wide, probably thinking I was about to give them a one-way ticket to the afterlife. I immediately regretted being all tough on them. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just need to know how to get rid of those creepy slave contracts on your necks."Hope flickered in their eyes like a dying candle. The kid who'd been talking earlier looked like they might pass out from sheer nerves. "The contracts can't be broken unless... unless the owner dies. But if they die... we die too."I blinked. Well, that's a fun little twist.I sighed dramatically. "Great. So you're basically in a 'live by the sword, die by the sword' situation, huh?"The kids just stared at me, wide-eyed and hoping I had a magic solution to all of this. Part of me wanted to hug them and tell them it'd be okay, but the other part—the realistic part—knew they'd had a hand in all of this mess.One of the kids spoke up again, voice shaking like a leaf in the wind. "The contract... it can't be broken without the owner's permission. But if they die... we... we die too."So... they were gonna die anyway? Well, that made things simpler."Did your owner die?" I asked, trying to sound casual, like I wasn't about to send a bunch of people to meet their maker.They all looked over at one body that was, let's just say, very dead. No one's making it out of that one alive."Alright," I said, giving them a nod, "Can you just show me where the storeroom is? I promise I won't bite."They slowly stood up and led the way, all of them practically glued together like a terrified little pack of puppies. They didn't look back at me, though, which was probably for the best. Who could blame them? I might not be as terrifying as I felt, but hey, when you've just wiped out a whole group of slave traders, you probably seem like the scary one.-Hundreds of people were crammed into this huge, depressing room. When the door to the storeroom finally creaked open, every single pair of eyes turned to me. Most of them looked like they were ready to check out of life—like they were one bad day away from becoming actual ghosts. A few had the energy to glare at me like I'd just ruined their lunch plans. The thing they all had in common? They looked like walking skeletons, covered in dirt, barely holding on. And the smell? Oh, God. Imagine a rotten egg crossed with a porta-potty on a hot day. I had to slap up a barrier just to keep out the smell"The people who captured you had all died, so I'll leave this door open; it's up to you whether you want to leave or not; there's also food inside the houses, so feel free to rummage through them," I said before walking away, leaving the massive door open.-As I looked around the town, I couldn't help but remember stumbling upon that magic shop this morning. If this place was really some kind of bandit/ slave hideout—or whatever the heck it was—then all that stuff in the shop was probably stolen too, right? Not that I had a problem with taking it off their hands.So, I quickly rushed back to the boutique I'd visited earlier. I grabbed a bag and started stuffing it with clothes—because, hey, might as well take what I could, right? After rummaging through the place like a pro, I made my way over to the magic store. Inside, I found three spatial rings, each with a 100-item capacity. Score. Slipped them on, stored the bag of clothes in one, and felt pretty good about it.Then I spotted a shiny enchanted staff tucked in the back of the store, along with some enchanted armor, weapons, and—hold up—poisons? Okay, I definitely wasn't about to leave without a few of those. Wouldn't want to be caught unprepared.I took the enchanted staff to my hand and activated dragon eyesI tried to look closely at the enchantments and found that the staff had a mana of its own, it even had a consciousness but it was sleeping. Aside from that it also had quite useful enchantments, like lowering mana consumption by 10% when generating a spell using the staff, reducing spell cool down to 50%, Increasing mana regeneration by 10%, strengthening spell by 30%The staff suddenly wiggled in my hand, and for a second, I thought I was just hallucinating from lack of sleep. I mean, who wouldn't after everything that's happened, right?I tried to focus on the enchantments again, but then—bam—something totally unexpected happened.A pair of eyes with eerie, yellow reptilian pupils suddenly appeared on the staff. At first, I thought it was just my exhaustion playing tricks on me, but no—these eyes were too real, too vivid, staring directly at me, like they had a mind of their own.I froze, my heart hammering in my chest. My fingers spasmed, and I instinctively let go of the staff. I thought for sure it would fall to the ground with a heavy thud—but it didn't. Instead, it hovered in midair, suspended as if held by an invisible force, gently swaying like it was alive.The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. My stomach twisted with unease.And then, as if to make everything worse, the first notification I'd received since breaking free from the seal appeared in front of me. The words were short, simple, and deeply unsettling:[The item is looking at you]