Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!

I looked directly at the sheep beast man elder and gave him a look of understanding. As a parent, sending your children to a place that they could never escape from, a place as dirty and cruel as that, will be tantamount to the feeling of death. If you are a good parent, you will never say yes to that type of arrangement.

The whole meeting hall was pin drop silent as each of us digested all of the information that has been presented by the three tribe representatives. I inhaled and exhaled deeply as I think of my next steps regarding the beast men race. I was thinking of having a peaceful meeting or perhaps a deal with the leaders of Lyartaim but if they allow such a rule to exist to abuse their own kind, I don't think most of them deserve any respect from me. I thought only the elves and heralds will give me this type of headache but here we are, aren't we? Awful surprises really come one after the other.

After a few minutes of silence, I spoke with a tone that does not show any hint of the anger I am feeling inside as of the moment. I simply asked the rest of the people in the hall, "Do any of you have information on the specific number of people that are currently staying inside that separate village? Do you think they will all come with us willingly if we go there to rescue them?"

Pelle, the youngest of the deer brothers stepped forward and with a soft voice he said, "I once sneaked into that place out of curiosity Sorry, eldest brother." I saw Payton glaring at Pelle from the side. Boys will always be boys but I understand that Payton simply worries for his safety. I smiled at Pelle and said, "If you could give me any piece of valuable information, I will provide you and your brothers some resources of your choice as rewards."

Pelle's eyes widened in surprise then he looked towards Payton smugly. I saw Payton sigh, roll his eyes at his younger brother then look away dismissively. Pelle looked at me again and continued, "One of the kind men inside saw me sneaking in. He carried me and then we ran away. He then hid me inside the cave where he lives. He was a leopard beast man named Artak. He scolded me because I naughtily sneaked in and chose to visit such a dirty and hellish place."

I nodded at the child and smiled. I prodded for him to continue, "Did you ask Mr. Artak anything about the village or why he is in that cave?"

He nodded his head and continued, "He said that he lives in the cave to hide from guests. It is also the reason why he keeps himself dirty, smelly and unpleasant. He said that there are now only less than 50 men inside that place but they were originally more than 80. He said most of the men either got sick, died of hardship or injury from servicing guests or killed themselves rather than ending up being stained by that place."

My eyes widened at what the child said with such a milky voice and an innocent face. He looked at me with conviction and said, "He said that most of them keep themselves dirty and smelly so they won't be chosen by guests. He said that not only beast men visit there but also other races, even very rich humans. He said that men sent in that place were nothing but prostitutes for rent and the payment of their services all go to the leaders of Lyartaim. I felt his anger and said that if he, by some unfortunate turn of events, is chosen by a guest in the future, he will kill the person that chose him and then commit suicide as well."

I nodded at the child and tried to divert his act of reminiscing that time period. It was supposed to be traumatic to hear but this young boy, forced to mature quickly by his circumstances, was telling this story with an emotionless face. I tried to change the topic a bit to something a bit lighter and asked, "What did the place look like? Did you have a chance to check ot talk to the other people living there?"

Pelle looked up as if remembering what he saw then replied, "The village looked clean if you look at it from the gates but it was really dirty as you go towards the area at the back. There were some men that looked blankly forward all day like they have lost their souls. There were also those that have their legs broken. Artak said that they were punished for trying to escape. Some are so thin that you can see their bones through their skin. He told me that those men were starving themselves to death since they were not brave enough to end their lives in a quick manner. All in all, most of them looked deranged or sick?"

I smiled at the innocent looking child. I nodded at him and thanked him for the information he shared. I then said, "The information you gave us was quite good. You and your brothers can make a list of 10 things you want or need. You three can go and have a small meeting later to agree on what to write down on your list. It can be anything that you can think of as long as it is something I can buy from somewhere. I will send it over to you once I have them. This will be your reward."

I looked around and asked, "Is there any other useful information any of you want to add? Does anybody know an insider or perhaps have a map of the place by any chance?"

One of the cow beast men answered, "My name is Gyan. I have a good friend who is tasked to guard that place. He said that most men there are quite strong so they had no choice but to break their legs to avoid escapees. If anybody escapes there successfully, the guards on duty at the time of the escape will all be sent inside that place as well so they do not have a choice but to follow orders from above. When the elders said that any man has to abide by those rules, those included men who are previously working as strong soldiers, fierce hunters, highly intelligent citizens, skilled workers and even those that are member of the rich families but were not heir to the leadership of their households. Their families either did not fight to keep them or they were thrown away since the family had other children anyways. Most of them are angry and want vengeance. If they were given the chance to escape or someone rescues them, they would definitely want to leave that place."

I stared in disbelief as Gyan went on and on about what he knew. Which leader in their right mind would throw away skilled people that can help his territory prosper? After these people have worked for Lyartaim for several years, you will just throw them away because of a rule that you can easily change? Treating your loyal citizens like that is akin to betraying their trust and loyalty towards their territory and their kind.

I nodded at my latest informant with a promise of rewards later. I then looked around if there are anybody else that are willing to share information. Sadly, only those two had information since the place is practically off limits to everybody else except the guards on duty. I gave everyone a smile and then declared, "We'll plan a rescue to get those men out. Even if their bodies or minds have been broken, there is nothing in this world that I couldn't fix. If I had to kill the people that abused them to make them feel better, heal their injuries until they are as good as new or erase their painful memories, I can do all of those."

Everybody looked stunned at my declaration. Some of the citizens started whispering amongst themselves and looked at me with determination in their eyes. I believe that these people know at least one person in that place that they think deserve a better life. If Lyartaim doesn't want to utilize their people to work for them based on their expertise, I will take them in and have them help me manage my properties instead. They think these men are trash but I see them as treasures.

I whispered to the wind, making sure that none of these people would hear what I said. Along with the inaudible whisper are my instructions for Noir and Void to get me more information and the latest updates on the targets before we finalize our plans for the rescue.

The people in the meeting hall looked at me curiously since they noticed that I said something. They chose not to ask though as respect to me. I smiled at everybody and adjourned the meeting. I advised them to keep mum of the things we've talked about for now and simply focus on building the houses of the new citizens as a priority. I promised to give them updates once it is the time to make our move.

I bid them all a "See you next time" and admitted that I have other things lined up on my end besides my visit today. I have previously planned to do other things to clear up my mind as much as I can. The more tiring the tasks that I decide to do, the more help I can get to making my mind calm and clear.