Reincarnated as the Strongest Dragon

Chapter 6: Sidetracked I

Finding the hideout proved to be harder than I thought. Even if I knew the general area, the forest was overgrown and you could easily miss things from the sky.

For a world where you have your own [Status] window like almost every RPG it is sorely lacking some quality of life features. How about a minimap? Or a compass? Or even a clock? If it weren’t for my [Biomagic Radar] I would have never found the hideout.

My [Biomagic Radar] picked up three signals up ahead and after a short distance I found a small cabin and landed outside. I cancelled [Erase Presence] and opened the door. The two men that sat by a table looked at me with a startled look.

“Who are you?!” Shouted one of the men as he grabbed a knife that was stabbed into the table.

“Julius sent me.”

“What for?” The other man asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“To pick up the Priestess,” I said nonchalantly.

“What? We aren’t even done with the drugging,” Said the man with the knife as he stood up.

“Oh good, that means I made it in time,” I said with a smile, "Now kindly wait here for a bit.”

I quickly cast [Magic Tether] on the two men. The one still sitting got bound to his chair while the one that stood up was less fortunate. His arms and legs got bound together and due to his struggle to break free he fell face first on the floor. They shouted some harsh words while I walked up to one of the two doors in the cabin where my [Biomagic Radar] showed a signal.

“Hmm, the door is locked,” I said and looked back at the men, " I do hope you forgive me for this.”

I gave the door a push and the wood around the lock splintered and the whole door fell off the hinges.

The shouting stopped abruptly after they witnessed me breaking down the door as if it was made of paper. I looked around the room and saw a girl with long blonde hair sit in a corner with bound hands and feet. She seemed to be in a daze or something, her gaze was empty and she didn’t respond to my showy entrance.

Hmm, now this doesn’t look pleasant, talking and snapping my fingers gives no response. They said they weren’t done so I should be able to do something about this. Let’s have a look with [Inspect] first.

The girl flinched but remained otherwise catatonic.

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Name: Mira
Gender: Female
Class: Priestess
Status: [Intoxicated] [Poisoned] [Confused] [Weakened] [Hallucinating] [Debilitated]
*********************************************************************************************************

Yikes, what the hell have they been feeding this poor girl. Can I even treat this with magic? [Detoxify] should be good for the [Poisoned] and maybe [Intoxicated]. But the other four, [Restore] maybe? Damn, since I’m immune to most debuffs I never paid much attention to those spells. Oh right! I should still have plenty of Elyxire, they don’t spoil in my [Inventory] after all.

I grabbed a thin vial from my [Inventory] and tilted her head up while pouring the contents in her mouth. After some effort she finally swallowed. A few seconds went past until she blinked a few times, locking eyes with me.

“Huh? Where am I? Who are you?” Mira asked and looked around confused, clearly not remembering what happened.

“You were kidnapped and held in this house in the middle of the forest. I came to pick you up and bring you back to Baruda,” I said with a reassuring smile, "This might feel a bit uncomfortable but bear with me.”

I used [Inspect] again and saw Mira flinch.

*********************************************************************************************************
Name: Mira
Gender: Female
Class: Priestess
Status: [Weakened]
*********************************************************************************************************

Hmm, everything got removed except for [Weakened]... It’s probably due to lack of sleep or food.

“What was that?” Mira asked and looked at me suspiciously.

“I had to check your status to make sure I got rid of all the bad effects. They had fed you some pretty nasty drugs so you were in pretty bad shape.”

“You can check the status of someone else?” 

“Only parts of it. Can you stand?”

Mira stood up and staggered forward before I caught her. After a few more steps she seemed to be able to walk on her own.

“Now where can I find what I’m looking for?” I looked around the room and laid eyes upon a crate that had its lid on the side, "Oh, what is this?” I picked up one of the potions that still had liquid in it, "Let’s have a look.”

Item name: Mindflayer Extract
Effect: ???????????

Wait, WHAT? My [Identify] is level ten! Even if it somehow had [Identity Block] at level ten that would still only block out level nine and below. How is it possible that someone made an item I can’t see the stats of? What about that [Analyze] spell? No, I never finished it because I thought it was redundant. But how is that possible? Magic as a whole seems to have declined since my last awakening but somehow this item surpasses it? My interest in the drug was purely curiosity but now it's personal. I have to find out exactly what it does and how they make it.

I picked up the crate and shoved all the bottles, both full and empty, in my [Inventory]. “I got everything I need, are you ready to get out of here?” I looked over at Mira who was looking around the room.

“I can’t find my equipment in here,” She said with an anxious expression.

“Hey you two!” I shouted through the door to the two men in the other room, "Where is her stuff? Be good boys now and you might even see the sunrise.” I sent the tiniest amount of bloodlust I could towards them. If I went all out their heart would stop on the spot.

“Eep, W-We sold it!” The guy on the floor managed to squeeze out, "We have a fencer that transports items that we can’t sell here to the Troadis Kingdom,” The other one quickly followed up with, trying to make himself useful.

“Hmm, doesn’t sound like you will get it back,” I said and looked around the room, "You boys got any money around here?” I said and glanced at a leather pouch on the table.

“Everything we have is on the table!”

I picked it up and poured the contents in my hands. two big gold coins, seven smaller gold coins, twelve silver coins and a few copper coins.

I have no idea if this is a lot of money or not. I probably should have asked Liz about stuff like this while we were flying.

“Is this enough to buy your new gear?” I held out my hand towards Mira.

“Probably not. Maybe if I settle for a worse staff.”

Now what to do? I don’t really feel like rummaging through all the stuff in here and my [Expose Mind] is still on cooldown so I can’t force anything out of them that they might be hiding.

“We will have to figure something out when we get back to Baruda. What do you want to do with them?” I asked and pointed at the terrified men.

“I… I don’t remember much of what happened here.”

“Uhm, well…” I shifted my gaze, not knowing how much I should tell her.

“Tell me what they did,” She said and gave me a serious look.

I suppose it’s better to tell her now than her memory coming back later on.

“Basically they kidnapped you and fed you some drugs to break your mind. Then they were going to sell you as a sex slave to some perverted kaydossan nobles after doing some kind of training to make you addicted to abuse so you would be obedient.”

Mira stared at me with wide eyes and then glared at the two men.

Yeah, those guys are so dead. Nice knowing you, or not. If you want to blame someone, blame Julius.

“So what do you want to do?” I looked at the two men and then back at Mira.

“Can we take them with us back to Baruda?” 

“It would be difficult.”

I can’t carry three people without shifting back to dragon form and honestly I would just prefer to kill them. They would probably join their friends in the gallows either way.

“Then...”

Considering that she partied up with Julius and his squad she is probably C or maybe D. She is also a Priestess which is a support class that focuses on helping her party instead of attacking. My guess is she hasn’t killed another human before.

"You can go outside and wait while I… Ask them something” 

“But…” She looked like she wanted to say something more. “Okay.”

Looks like there was an internal struggle between justice, innocence, benevolence and vengeance going on in her head.

“It won't take long,” I said as I channeled a [Mana Blade] from my left hand.

“W-Wait! You said you would spare us if we talked!” The man on the floor yelled.

“Fairly certain I said that I might.”

After Mira left the house I did two swift movements and silenced the whimpering men, returning the house to peace and quiet.

I honestly never understood why [Mana Blade] wasn’t ever popular. Sure it takes a whole bunch of mana if you want it to be effective but it looks so cool. Also as an added bonus I don't get blood on my hands and clothes compared to just punching things.

I left the house and found Mira sitting down on a log outside. She looked pretty pale. Being drugged for days and not being familiar with death would probably do that to you.

“Are you ready to go home? Liz is waiting for you.”

“Liz is?” She stood up with an unsteady motion.

“Yeah, she is the reason I came here. Coincidences made us cross paths and well, now I’m here.”

“Thank you so much, uhm, you never told me your name.”

“I’m Luna, pleasure to meet you.”

“I don’t really remember anything but considering what you said, I owe you my life and more. Thank you, Luna.”

“Don’t worry about it. Shall we get going then?” I said and moved next to her and swooped her off her feet, "You seem to be in a weakened state so I will carry you. You can get some rest.”

It looked like she wanted to decline but accepted and put her arms around me.

I guess the fatigue hit her. Just to be safe I should use [Sleep] on her. I don’t want to walk back and if she falls asleep by herself she might wake up while we are flying which would be another heap of trouble. But still, I woke up today and already carried two princesses in my arms, aren't I the popular one.