Old Raily stood in front of the gathering rescued kidnappees in full gear, the other guards were standing around in strategic positions. They didn't have that many guards, so they were trying to use them the best they could. Old Raily hoped that the fact that they took down the people holding them hostage would be enough to keep those rescued slaves in line, at least till they weed out the problematic elements.

  "As you might have already realised," he started after one of the guards -Leonard, from his size- nodded at him. "We have dealt with the people keeping you here, all of them are dead, and if any managed to escape the net, we will find them. I know that many of you are wondering what is going to happen to you now, and you don't need to worry. We will be taking you off this island soon, we just need to deal with a few things here before that. For now, you just need to follow instructions and all is going to be alright.

  "Next, we will be calling you one by one to talk to you. It is just part of the process, so just follow along, come forward when it's your turn for a couple of quick questions and you will be free soon after it. Are there any questions?"

  With no one raising any questions or inquiries, Old Raily nodded lightly before turning around and heading to where a wooden table was set. Next to the table stood two of the guards in their full gear, while behind it sat Kathy. The Helping Hand wasn't wearing a bulletproof vest or a helmet, but she had quite a few defensive charms on. That plus the protection from both the guards and Old Raily was going to make sure nothing would happen to her.

  Old Raily knew that the person who should have been sitting there was his wife, Agatha, but due to the risk and how hard it would be for her if things went south, Kathy volunteered to take her place, and for that Old Raily was truly grateful.

  The reason the deckhand could take his wife's place was because of a skill she got a few levels back, Jack of all Trades. It was a skill that let her copy certain skills from the person she was helping. Those skills could either be from the system or ones the target acquired normally. That was how she managed to join the attack on the island, by copying the skills of George the ex-soldier.

  The skill she had copied from his wife was Empath, which let her feel the emotions of people, even when they were lying. In the situation they were dealing with, such a skill was a must.

  "First person, come here," Old Raily shouted into the crowd.

  The kidnappees were arranged in an orderly square and were told to advance to the table one after the other.

  Old Raily watched as someone separated from the group. He looked to be a timid young man, thin as a stick and wearing what could only be described as rags, his hair was long and sticking to his forehead. His face and skin weren't any better, with clear signs of long periods without thorough cleaning.

  "You can sit," Old Raily made sure to make his tone gentler when he saw how uneasy and scared the young man appeared.

  At the same time, Old Raily looked at the group of rescued slaves, his eyes not stopping at anyone, as if it was just a casual glance. As he returned his attention to the young man at the table, he went through what he had noticed a while before, a few amongst the slaves looked much better-fed than the others. They wouldn't be called fat or anything like that, but they weren't just skin and bones like almost all the others were, and they also had better, cleaner clothes and personal hygiene.

  Old Raily knew that if any of the island's guards survived and were hiding amongst the slaves, they would hold such signs. That wasn't the only explanation for such an appearance though, they could also have been just slaves who cosied up to the guards and turned on their own people. All in all, they were people of interest and he had already asked the guards to keep an eye on them.

  "What is your name and age?" Kathy smiled as she asked the young man kindly.

  "M-Mason, 21 I-I think?" the young man answered, stuttering.

  "You don't have to worry, we are just asking you these questions for bookkeeping," Kathy comforted him.

  She then held her phone and took a picture of him, before writing his name on it. After that, she took a pen as she wrote 1- followed by his name and age.

  "Where were you kidnapped from?" She asked.

  "The Empire, Lochsage," Mason answered. Old Raily noticed him eyeing the phone Kathy used to take a picture of him, but she made sure not to let him see the screen, so the young man wasn't that worried, just a bit apprehensive at the gesture.

  "What did you do before you got kidnapped?"

  "I was just homeless," the young man said, his head lowering.

  "And what is your Class?" Kathy asked again after writing all his answers.

  "I'm a Miner," he said, "I was kidnapped and sent here quite young, after years here, I finally got the Miner Class."

  Nodding, Kathy wrote that down before glancing stealthily at Old Raily. Giving her a light nod in assurance, Old Raily prepared himself for the coming questions.

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  "Now, I just have to tell you again," Kathy said seriously, yet in that same calm and gentle tone, "You don't have to worry about anything, just answer the coming questions truthfully, no one will hurt you."

  Getting a shaky nod from him, she went on:

  "Did you notice any of the guards hiding amongst the slaves there? Or do you know where any of them might be?"

  "N-No, I didn't see any of them hiding with us, and I didn't see where any of them might have hid." Mason shook his head, his anxiety clear to see.

  Old Raily kept his eyes on Kathy, seeing nothing, he awaited the next question.

  "Good." Kathy smiled at him comfortingly. "Can you please tell me if any of the other slaves were working with the guards? Tormenting you and the other slaves, making things hard for all of you?"

  "No!" Mason said hurriedly, his eyes darting around as if searching for an escape, "There was nothing like that."

  Again, Old Raily kept his eyes on Kathy, seeing her look thoughtfully at Mason and tap the table as if in deep thoughts, he got his answer. That had been a lie.

  "That's all," Kathy finally said with a smile, "Just follow the guard and he will send you where you can wait."

  Old Raily's eyes followed the young man as he timidly walked ahead of the guard. He didn't hold it against the man that he had lied, from what the young man said, he had been on that island for 6 years at the very least, since he was younger than 15. That he couldn't even tell them about his tormentors was enough proof of what he must have gone through.

  Calling for the next person to come forward, Old Raily watched a young boy who couldn't have been even more than 16 or 17 years old head towards the table. Old Raily felt his face twist into a heavy frown as he saw that, he had noticed that there were quite a few teens amongst the slaves. The fact that the people responsible for such atrocities were still free out there, enjoying the bloody money they made from this operation made his blood turn cold.

  After the first few questions and getting his picture, Kathy finally asked him whether he knew if any of the guards were amongst them, or if he knew where they might be hiding.

  "I didn't see any of them hiding here," the teen answered without any hesitation, "But last night, I saw three of the guards running to the main mine."

  "Are you sure?" Kathy asked, her expression serious.

  "Yes, I'm sure," The teen said, gritting his teeth, "I wasn't allowed to leave the mine for dinner because I hadn't finished mining my quota for the day, and while I was returning from the mine, I heard loud bangs coming from shore and three of the guards running to the main mine."

  "The big one there?" Old Raily cut in and asked.

  "Yes, that one."

  "Does it have another exit?" he pushed more.

  "No, only the main entrance." The teen shook his head.

  "Raily here, over." Old Raily brought his walkie-talkie when he didn't see the sign from Kathy that the teen was lying.

  "I hear you, over," Arnold's voice came from the walkie-talkie.

  "We got information that at least three of the guards are in the biggest cave of the island. Have the Voyager keep an eye on that area. Over."

  Old Raily had made sure that the translation skill didn't translate what he had said, just so no one but his people could keep up.

  "Were any of the other slaves working with the guards of the island?" Kathy continued once she got a light nod from Old Raily, "Did they torment you or hurt the other slaves?"

  "Yes," The teen didn't even hesitate to answer, hate clear on his eyes. "They were even worse than the guards sometimes, withholding the majority of the food and many of them even forced themselves on the women and even the other kids."

  "Are they the ones wearing better clothes and looking cleaner?" Kathy asked.

  "Yes!"

  After that, the teen was led away by the guard and one by one, more of the slaves went through Kathy, many of them giving the same information about the slaves who sold their fellow slaves, making them sure about who they needed to deal with. Finally, one of those people sat opposite Kathy. Old Raily made sure to glance at the two guards next to the table when he saw him coming, giving them a light nod when he noticed them removing the safety on their AKMs.

  The man was sweating heavily as he answered the first few questions. The blood drained from his face when she asked him if he had seen any of the guards or knew where they were hiding.

  "No, I know no such thing," the man answered, his mouth dry.

  Old Raily felt himself go stiff when he saw Kathy tap the table, it meant that he knew where some of the guards were, and he was choosing to hide them.

  That was the last question the man got. They didn't want him to realise that they had asked all those before him if anyone was working with the guards, who knows how he would react.

  "That's all," Kathy smiled at him. "You can go with the guard, we will talk to you later."

  Watching the man go the same way they had taken the previous slaves, Old Raily knew that his destination wasn't the same. The man would be questioned about the location of the guards he knew the whereabouts of before being dealt with later on.

  Things after that went smoothly, no one else knew the whereabouts of any guards, just a couple of the slaves saying they saw three of them running to the mine.

  "We found two of the guards," Leonard said to Old Raily after they were done, "They were the ones that filthy scum pretended not to know about."

  "That's good to know." Old Raily nodded. "Prepare yourself, you will join me at the mine, we will have to deal with the three there before anything else."

  "Okay."