Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic

Freedom Regained Pt. 1 *Mindy*

*AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS TAKES PLACE A LITTLE BIT BEFORE CHAPTER 3*

A little bit away from Flamvel City, the capital of Flammel Kingdom, there was a large carriage, one that merchants would use. Sitting in the front seat of the carriage, were a pair of coachmen. One was pudgy, and the other was thin with rotted teeth.

"Okay, best bet. How much do you think we'll be getting with all these merchandise?" the coachman with rotted teeth asked.

"Enough for a big, fancy house, that's for sure. And getting those teeth of yours check," the pudgy coachman answered, taking a bite of some meat on a bone. "Not one of those things in there better lose their value, or there will be hell to pay."

The 'merchandise' he spoke of were the creatures hidden in the carriage. Creatures that came in different sizes, and were chained and bound deep within. Most of the creatures were quite small and frightened, while the rest were big and seemed quite fierce.

Amongst them was a certain little girl, she who had her arms and legs all bandaged up, and a ribbon on her head. This little girl only had her arms wrapped around her legs, just as frightened as the other girls about her current situation, especially as this was not the first time she was sold away as a slave. 

She had been bought by various rich houses, and was sold away by those very houses for various reasons. Most of the time, it was due to finances. Throughout all her time in those houses, she had been abused by her many masters, beaten or tortured for no reason, even though she had tried so hard to not get on their bad side. When she was sold away to the traders, she constantly hoped that a good master would be willing to buy her, only to be bought by twisted rich people in the end. Being in this situation for so long, she lost all hope of ever having a happy life, especially if a human is involved.

"I don't like this..." came a gruff voice next to the child, as she glanced up at a bare-chested man next to her, and one of the few adults amongst them. The man had his mouth in a muzzle, arms completely chained up, horns on his head, and his lower half is that of an ox's. "It is one thing to sell adult purebreds as slaves to the rich and wealthy, but children as well?! These damn humans have gone too far!"

"It can't be helped," said a thin man with scales and a snake's tail as his lower half. "To these humans, we purebreds are nothing but monsters. It doesn't matter if there are children amongst us; all monsters are the same to them."

"But even so... Damn it. There is no way I will ever accept this."

Just then, a heavy clang rang in the cage, causing many to cover their ears in fright, especially the children and frightened.

"Hey, you stupid beast! Shut up in there!" the pudgy guy shouted.

The ox purebred could only growl in response, as he looked past a gap in the cover and saw the carriage approaching the gates to Flamvel City. He then looked at the bars, noticing how rusty they seem, as opposed to the chains placed on them.

"I have an idea..." he then muttered. "If I can get at least one kid away, surely there is a human sane and decent enough to help them. And if that city is what I think it is..."

The snake purebred turned to the horned man with a raised brow. "Where are you going with this?"

"I have learned much about this kingdom before my capture. Considering how these guys are talking about high riches, there is a possibility that the city we're heading is the capital of this kingdom, where the king and the strongest duke live. They are supposedly the most reasonable of nobles; surely if they see us purebreds, especially the children, they will see that we're people, too. Or at the very least, they'll spare the kids of this fate."

"Bah. That's not possible. All humans see us purebreds as monsters, more monstrous than the crossbreeds."

The child, who is a purebred like everyone else in the cage, looked down at the snake man's words, silently agreeing with him, especially after all she had gone through with various of human families.

"I refuse to believe that," the ox purebred argued. "I will see to it that these children will be free from that fate."

"And how, pray tell, are you going to do that?" the snake purebred questioned.

The ox purebred looked past the gap once more, noticing the carriage passing through the gate. "... When you see an opening, lead the kids away from here."

Before the snake or child purebreds even wondered what he meant, the ox purebred raised his hands to his muzzle and managed to move it upwards over his nose, enough to free his mouth from below. With his mouth free, the guy bit into his hand, much to their shock, especially the snake purebred's.

"i***t! If you were to do that-!" 

Before he could finish that sentence, the ox purebred suddenly grew bigger and more muscular. Black fur emerged out his bare body, and his face morphed into that of a bull, his eyes glowing red. As his head changed, it forcibly removed the muzzle off him, allowing the guy to let out a loud bellow in relief. The ox man then swung his arms around, much to the children's fright as they shied away from him, and he rammed his arms into the rusted cage.

The commotion inside brought every passerby's attention to the carriage, as the two monster traders had their horse to come to a complete stop and turned to their covered cage.

"Hey! What the hell's going on in there?!" the pudgy guy demanded.

Next anyone knew, the cage was destroyed, as the ox purebred went out rampaging in the city. Civilians were all frightened when he suddenly came and attacked, and ran in fear, while the soldiers nearby tried to restrain the transformed purebred.

The snake purebred, on the other hand, comforted the children to the best of his ability, upon seeing how frightened they were. All except for one, that is.

The bandaged child purebred could only stare at the ox purebred, as he fought against the many soldiers trying to restrain him. From his red eyes, she could see him staring at her and the rest of the purebreds. She could see him wanting them to take this chance to run away from the area. The child had met plenty of purebreds throughout her time as a slave, but never was there one so willing to sacrifice himself for a fellow enslaved purebred.

Not wanting his sacrifice to go to waste, not wanting to live out as a slave for another second, the bandaged child took off from the wrecked carriage. Unfortunately, due to the chains on her wrists and ankles, her escape was heard by the monster traders.

"Hey! Come back here, you damn monster!" the rotted-toothed trader shouted, as she heard footsteps chasing after her.

'I have to run... I have to get away from here... I don't want to be a slave!' she thought, slipping into an alley, one small enough for a child to fit into, but not an adult.

The bandaged child continued being on the run, while the two traders went around different routes to find and catch her. Though the little girl kept giving the two adults the slip whenever they came close to retrieving her, due to her chains weighing her down, she was starting to lose stamina fast. However, her determination to not return a slave outweighed the weights of the chains, as she pushed past her limits and continued to kick her legs off the ground in a dash. That is... until she collided with someone.

"Oof!" the person cried out, followed by the sound of things being dropped.

The girl looked at the person she bumped into and saw it was a human child. This human had on a black cloak, the hood over her head to conceal her dark teal hair and light blue eyes. Under the cloak, she could see the girl having on a simple white shirt with a black and brown dress over it. 

“There she is!” came the rotten-toothed trader's voice.

The bandaged girl looked behind her and saw the two men rushing to her. She panicked upon seeing them, and hastily got up and ran. A little into her run, she suddenly felt a hand grab her arm and drag her into an alley. "This way!"

The girl did everything in her power to get her arm out of her captor's grip. Though she did not know who this person was, though this person was a child, she was still a human. And the bandaged purebred knew from experience that humans- even children or elderly- could not be trusted.

The girl dragging the purebred stopped and faced her. “Do you want to get caught by those guys?!” she questioned.

The bandaged purebred paused at the question, looking up at her captor in fright. Didn't this girl plan to return her to those horrid monster traders? Or was this just a ruse?

“I saw them head this way!” came the pudgy man's voice, causing the purebred to flinch and inch closer to the cloaked girl, frightened that she will get caught by the monster traders. Next she knew, the girl dragged her away from the scene once more.

As they exited out of the alley, however, the cloaked girl came to a complete stop, causing the bandaged purebred to bump into her, and looked over her shoulder to see a grown human with red hair and amber eyes standing before them, wearing a uniform quite like the guards at the gate, only a little more fancier.

“Why are you here?” the man asked, specifically to the cloaked girl.

As she was about to let out a gasp, the cloaked girl quickly covered her mouth, much to the purebred's confusion. Did they know each other?

“There's that monster!” they then heard.

The purebred looked back in the alley and saw the monster traders rushing towards them once more. Frightened, she hid behind the cloaked girl, when the soldier stepped between the two groups.

“What is going on here?” he demanded, as the monster traders came to a stop.

“What's going on is that you have our monster merchandise behind you, punk!” the pudgy man exclaimed.

“'Monster'? Are you referring to the two kids behind me?”

“One of them may look like a kid, but she is a definite monster! Now if you would so kindly give us back our product, good knight, we will be on our way!” the rotted-toothed guy said, reaching towards the purebred, who stayed hidden behind the cloaked girl, when the soldier grabbed him by the wrist.

“I don't know what your deal is, but it seems neither of you know the rule of this kingdom, outsiders,” he coldly said, tightening his grip on the trader's arm.

“Ow, ow, ow! What the hell?! Let me go!”

“Why you punk! Let him go!” the pudgy trader exclaimed, as he tried to throw a punch at the soldier.

The redhead smoothly placed the other trader in front of him, using him as a human shield for the punch. He then kicked the dazed man to his companion, causing the latter to stumble down.

The pudgy guy glared at the soldier for his actions. “You damn brat! Who the hell do you think you are?! You are nothing but a mere pawn in this kingdom! Once I find out whose family you belong to, I will-”

“You will what?” the soldier interrupted, conjuring a large, dangerous fireball in his hand, leaving both the conscious trader and the purebred in fear. “What were you saying you will be doing to the Anberibca Family?”

While the purebred tilted her head in confusion for the family name, the pudgy guy let out a shrieked gasp at the question. “Y-Y-... You're... an Anberibca...?”

“So you know my family. And yet you have the gals to threaten us? You even called me a 'mere pawn' earlier.”

“N-N-Nothing of the sort! I-I was just saying-”

“Do not bother talking your way out of this. Flare Binds.” The fireball the soldier conjured made its way to the pair of traders and tied them up like ropes. “Struggle, and the flames will slowly burn you alive.”

“Wait! You have it all wrong! That thing behind you may look like a girl, but she is a bonafide monster!” the pudgy guy said.

The purebred could only cower in response at those words, while the soldier questioned, “And where and how is this child a monster? All I see is a frightened little girl cowering in fear of slave traders. If you two truly are monster traders, we would be having a different conversation. However, you have a frightened child here, hiding in fear from the two of you.”

“No, I swear she is! Just take that ribbon off her head-”

“No need to. Even if she has animal parts, it changes nothing. Do you even know of the population in this kingdom? Who resides in this very city? It matters not if they are man or crossbreed; in this kingdom, both sides are equal! For an outsider like you to come here and dare break this promise, I will make sure you will be ruined, both in body and in spirit.”

While the pudgy guy could only sweat a fall at the threat, unable to say another word, the purebred continued to cower behind the cloaked girl. After all, the soldier said it would not matter if she was a human or a crossbreed, but nothing about a purebred.

The redhead soldier then turned to the two girls. “As for you two... Let's see... From the looks of it, the slave has no home or parents to speak of. I will have my hands full on these two idiots behind me, and it will not do my family any good if word gets out we have a slave in the household. Considering how you got yourself in her situation, girl, I trust you will take her in.”

“... Yes, sir...” the cloaked girl uttered out, taking the bandaged girl by the arm and helping her stand up.

“Wait.” The soldier knelt down to the disguised purebred. “Raise your arms.”

The girl shyly did as ordered and raised her bandaged and chained arms. When she did, she looked down and saw the soldier's hand on his sheathed sword. Before she knew it, he unsheathed his blade and cut the chains and cuffs off her, freeing her from her binds.

“Wouldn't want you to be the only resident here as a slave,” the soldier stated, putting his weapon back in its sheath.

The purebred looked at her now free wrists, cradling them as tears formed in her eyes. “Th-... Thank... you...” she said with a hoarse voice.

The soldier only nodded and approached the bound guys, bringing them to the authorities. As he did, the cloaked girl dragged the newly-freed girl away from the scene.

******

After helping the girl getting some groceries she had dropped when they collided earlier, the purebred followed the cloaked girl to her home. The walk was quite long, causing the newly-freed slave to look down at her bandaged arms, slowly feeling exhausted from the walk. If the bandages were off, she could just fly them to her home. Heck, she could just fly away altogether if she could. Unfortunately, even if the bandages were off, her wings were... underdeveloped at the moment to do any good flying.

“This is where I live. Sorry for the long walk,” the cloaked girl spoke.

The bandaged purebred could only nod in response to her words, following her new caretaker(?) into the house.

Once they entered, the girl removed her cloak, and the purebred suddenly felt a strong breeze hit her for a brief moment. The latter was taken aback by the unfamiliar breeze, briefly glancing at her caretaker, and quickly looked away before she was seen staring. As the human put the groceries away in the kitchen, the disguised purebred sat on a sofa, looking around the place to see if it was something else that caused that breeze earlier, only to see nothing out of ordinary.

”Hey...” the human called out, getting the purebred's attention. “... Do you want to take a bath?”

The purebred was a little nervous at the question. For one thing, she never had a bath during her time as a slave. The closest thing to a bath was a quick splash of cold water doused on her. But... then again, from what she could see, this girl was not like her previous masters, especially not when she went out of her way to help her. Although, that could be because she has yet to know of her true identity...

Deciding not to anger nor annoy the human any longer in delaying her response for too long, the purebred finally nodded, allowing the human to lead her to the baths.

******

The second they got to the bathroom, the human went to get the tub ready for the purebred to use. The sight and sound of the water running made the latter's mouth water, reminding her of how thirsty she was. Not only did she run away from the monster traders, but she also had ridden on the carriage all day today and yesterday with very little food and water, and there was also the long walk to this house. 

As soon as the tub was filled, the human turned the water off and went to check the cabinets, whereas the purebred went to drink the bath water. 

“Whoa, wait! What are you doing?!” the human suddenly shouted, surprising the purebred as she choked on the water.

The human then dragged the purebred to the toilet, where she forcibly made her cough out the water she had just drank. Sure the water was not as clean or good as river water, but she was really thirsty.

“How about I get you some nice drinking water?” the human offered, in which the harpy nodded to, as she took in some clean breaths.

As soon as she responded to the question, the human left the bathroom. The purebred was not sure if the girl would really return with the water as she claimed. Instead, she removed her ribbon and bandages off her body, as well as her rag of a cloth, revealing her wings, ears, and legs in full. As she took a dip in the water, the purebred stared at her wings with saddened eyes, specifically the lack of feathers she had. It was not that she did not have any feathers on her wings, as it was more that they were not in a good condition to do any flying, a work done by her most recent former master. She then lifted and looked at her bird legs, specifically around the ankle, where it was red from her shackles earlier. 

As she was about to rub and soothe her ankles, a knock was then heard by the door, followed by a call. “Hey, I'm back with the water.” Next the purebred knew, the human opened the door, and saw her true form.

The harpy flinched as soon as her caretaker found out who and what she really was, extremely frightened with what she would do with this reveal. As much as she wanted to fly away, as stated earlier, her wings were in no shape to fly. And she could use her magic to knock the human out, but who knows how powerful this human really was. After all...

“... Here's your water. It's way better than the bath water. Believe me,” the human said, a small smile still plastered on her face, as she approached and gently handed the cup of water to the harpy.

The purebred did not expect the human to say that, as she slowly and cautiously took the cup out of the human's hands. As she drank from the cup, the human went back to the cabinets and took out a bottle and a bar of soap.

“I'll do your hair while you do your body. Okay?” she offered, surprising the harpy even more. Despite her surprise, the purebred still hesitantly nodded.