I'm Not an Earthworm, I'm an Earth Dragon

I flung the brick pieces at the fatso in front of me, hitting him in the Adam’s apple, solar plexus, and forehead before he could even say anything, knocking him down.

The girl next to him stared blankly at the fallen man, seemingly not understanding what had just happened, then looked at me and, as if coming to her senses, ran away with a frightened expression.

To be precise, I stopped midway. Even after fainting, the man still held tightly to the girl’s leash. A skinny girl who looked like she hadn’t eaten properly wouldn’t have the strength to free herself.

If only I could tell her to calm down. Since I didn’t know those words yet, I strode up to the girl, placed my palm on her head, and spoke as clearly as possible.

“Here, wait. I, not dangerous. You, movement, dangerous.”

I was already in a bad mood, and seeing something unpleasant made it worse. I was going to smash it. It’s not a bad thing, so even if Myungho asks, there’s nothing to be concerned about. Freeing slaves is a good thing, right?

Just in case he woke up, I manipulated the ground to bind the man’s hands and feet, sharpening the inside so that his wrists and ankles would be cut off if he moved.

If the thing on his neck wasn’t just an ornament, he wouldn’t move recklessly. Now, I patted the head of the girl, who was also shedding tears, and headed inside the door.

How moved must she be to cry like that? She looked like a child who should still be acting up under her parents’ care, so it was heartbreaking to leave her like that.

The girl Akash? That’s an exception. Those people are all crazy. Even if they’re girls, it’s better for the world if they disappear. It’s a shame that their cooking skills will be gone, though.

I stomped my foot hard to create vibrations. I wanted to see if there were any hidden escape routes or such paths in the building. There were about two places, so I collapsed them entirely to eliminate all escape holes.

As it collapsed, a loud vibration occurred, and I felt the vibrations of humans rushing to find out what was happening.

And some were heading this way. Quite a lot were coming. I detached a step from the stairs, rounded it, and kicked it to roll down.

It was a size that wouldn’t kill them, so it would probably end with some broken bones here and there. Loud screams were heard, and the vibrations coming up turned into vibrations going down in order.

The difference was that it wasn’t the sound of footsteps but the sound of rolling around and hitting each other. I calmly detached stone pieces from the stairs and walls and floated them in advance.

In such a narrow place, using magic might not be a good idea… but if I could, it would be destructive.

It would be dangerous if they rushed in with a death wish, but now I had a cloak that made it impossible to know where to rush. Thirty seconds isn’t a short time, is it?

I could at least knock down half of them and start.

As I went down, I could hear the red color that seemed freshly painted on the wall and the sound of a confused crowd. I poured the magic I had been circulating into the cloak, and it began to shimmer from my fingertips.

Thirty seconds from now.

I ran down the stairs. I trampled on the guys lying on the stairs and gathered the stone pieces around me.

Finally, when I reached the bottom, a slightly wider room appeared.

It was divided into those who were muttering as if discussing what to do while gloomily wrapped in cloth, those who were aiming at the stairs with weapons, and those who were staring blankly into the air with eyes that seemed to have lost all hope in the iron cages.

“N-now! Everyone, calm down! The guards are making a way, so it will be safe! Damn it, you bastards! Dig even if your arms fall off!”

The stones became invisible from the moment they were affected by my ability. But I could definitely feel them. It might be because they were small, but I liked it.

Should I spare their fingers instead of their wrists? I thought so. But time was almost running out, so I decided to think about it later.

I carefully aimed each stone and pulled up my magic to fire them all at once.

Guards, customers, auctioneer. More than half of them collapsed on the spot after being hit in the head or vital points by stones. Some of them even had blood splattering…

Well. There is no Well. There is no mercy for those who are on the fringes of humanity. Just then, the cloak’s time ran out, and my invisibility was released, revealing my appearance, but I didn’t care much.

“Damn it, is it that bitch?! Charge! She’s alone, even if she’s gold rank!”

I grabbed the blade of the rushing guard with my hand, pressed his head to the ground with the other hand, and struck the one trying to grab me from behind with my tail.

I lifted the fallen guard and swung him widely to shake off those approaching, then slammed him back down and threw him.

It seemed these guys were using cheap weapons, and my ability seemed to work on the weapons they were holding.

Not to the extent that I could float and throw them like rocks…

“Argh!!!”

But I could shatter them. I shattered the weapon held by the guy commanding from afar, incapacitating him. If he had been wearing armor, I would have crushed him with it.

It was good to incapacitate him, but I decided to stop shattering weapons because metal fragments could fly into the slaves’ cages.

The few remaining guards, rather than surrendering, foolishly rushed in as if they wanted to fight to the end.

If they wished to die, so be it. I slammed each one to the ground or smashed them against the wall.

Some did not get up again. What a pity.

Since the dangerous ones were dealt with… I looked around the now quieter room. There were customers cowering in the corner and slaves looking at me.

Surely they wouldn’t try to fight with just a dagger. I lightly ignored the auctioneer and twisted the locks on the iron cages.

One, and then another. Even when I opened the doors, they didn’t come out, so I had to pull each one out by hand.

“You, not dangerous. I, here.”

Hmm. I hoped the meaning was conveyed. I wanted to tell them to rest assured now, but unfortunately, I didn’t know the words for that.

So I just stood upright in front of them and tapped my chest with my fist. I wondered if they would understand this.

Well, I could do that later. I stomped my foot and built a wall on the stairs, the only exit, completely blocking it.

Where were they trying to sneak out? Some of them still held leashes. If I was going to release them, I had to release them all.

As I approached, they scattered like a swarm of flies, making it easier to retrieve the slaves. I snatched those who resisted with a punch. Some even offered them to me, making it easy to gather them all.

The auctioneer, or whatever he was, was looking at me with bloodshot eyes, but he didn’t have the courage to attack me, just holding a dagger and watching.

Unlike the others, he seemed to have a good head. At least he had the will to live.

Whether I should let him live… I didn’t know. If I released them now, wouldn’t they just start another slave shop?

Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate them all now? I thought. Dealing with them all myself seemed a bit much since they weren’t resisting.

Ah, that would work. I pulled the slaves’ leashes or pushed their backs, sending them to the stairs, then temporarily removed the wall to send them up and rebuilt it.

The exit wasn’t completely destroyed, so if they worked together, they could get out.

If they had the character to trust and cooperate with each other, they could survive and get out.

If not… they would just die like the fringes of humanity they were. It was their decision. Without looking back, I pushed the slaves’ backs to keep them going up.

They must have been treated harshly, as they stepped on the people lying around without any reaction, which made me feel sorry for them.

Maybe I helped them because I saw my own situation reflected in them.

Perhaps I projected my own helplessness from when I was young, swept away by the world without knowing anything, and felt pity for them.

Damn it. I got lost and wasted my energy on something weird.

When I came up, the man was, as I thought, unable to move his hands. He was barking loudly, but I solved that by lightly raising the ground to hit his solar plexus.

It was nice and quiet. After freeing the girl by cutting her leash, I freed the man’s limbs.

When he woke up, he would find a way to survive.

“I, don’t know the way. You, show me. The way. Outside.”

I asked the girl if she knew the way out. Even a kindergartener would understand this. The frozen girl asked me something back, but it was a language I couldn’t understand.

I just nodded and followed the girl.

The slaves seemed a bit relieved to be free and were talking among themselves.

Their expressions were still dark, but it would probably get better if they went to a bright place. I slightly pushed the girl’s back to signal her to guide me, and the child hurriedly moved her feet, heading somewhere.

It must hurt to walk barefoot like that. I was covered in magic from head to toe, so I was fine, but a little kid like her wouldn’t have that.

As expected, it seemed to hurt, as she was tearing up a bit, but she moved desperately. As I followed her, it gradually seemed to get brighter.

Oh, it seemed like we were really going outside.

As I chased the girl who was running as if fleeing, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Help me!! Please help me!!”

I ran to see if something had happened, and I saw the girl clinging to Akash and Myungho.

Huh.