Most of them certainly won’t live through the lesson, that is kind of the point of it. Their deaths will teach the entire north of the empire that beastmen are not to be messed with. It will be a lesson written out in blood, the only kind that humans pay attention to.

  Not that there are many people left to learn the lesson, the other kingdoms already know better. With the empire falling apart, there shouldn’t be anyone left who allows slavery. The Free Union has already been dealt with by Pol and the kingdom by Mercy.

  At this rate, it shouldn’t be too hard to get slavery made illegal on the entire peninsula. Of course, that is going to depend on who ends up ruling the empire, but if it is me then it won’t be an issue. That is the one thing that is the most tempting about the idea of unifying the peninsula, I could outlaw slavery.

  I could even go a step further and make the taking of slaves punishable by death. There is a lot that I could do as the ruler of the peninsula, I just don’t know if it is worth the hassle. It would be about as annoying as it is to have thousands of people beating on my barrier.

  They can’t get through it, but I feel every impact on the barrier and it is really annoying. It doesn’t hurt, but it is like an itch that you can’t scratch and that won’t go away. It makes the time drag by slowly, but it is still passing and with every minute, more slaves are evacuated.

  Now the only people coming from the other side are the soldiers returning after helping move people. Other than them, the entire army is already on this side of the gate and ready to fight. The only thing stopping them from starting the battle is that the slaves aren’t safe yet.

  It is worse for the soldiers, most of them were slaves in the empire that were freed recently. This situation is a lot more personal for them than it is for me and they are having to wait too. I am impressed by how well Leonarr is keeping them under control considering everything.

  Having only recently joined the army, most of them have only had the most basic of training. That means that their discipline is not ingrained by training, but completely based on respect. For him to have earned their respect so quickly means that he is a very good commander.

  That means that when he gives the order to attack, all hell is going to fall onto the northern soldiers. It is enough that I almost feel sorry for the soldiers, but not enough for me to spare them. Probably not all of them deserve to die, but they are in the minority based on what I have seen.

  Unfortunately, there is no way to pick the few good ones out of the crowd and spare them. It is a little sad, but I would rather kill a few good ones than spare the majority which deserve to die. I am not going to feel too guilty about it either, they chose to be soldiers, they knew the risks.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  By now, the entire barrier is surrounded and there are ten thousand soldiers outside it, maybe more. Luckily, for the most part they have stopped attacking the barrier and are just standing around. They are probably waiting for their commanders to figure out a plan and issue new orders.

  I hope that it takes them a while, the crystal is running dangerously low on mana. Once that runs out, all I have is my own mana and that won’t last more than a few minutes. At least for the barrier, I will cut it off before I run out of mana to maintain the gate.

  Having a way to get the slaves out is far more important than keeping the barrier up. If the barrier goes down, it will just mean that the battle will start early and the troops will have to protect the slaves. If the gate goes down, then it will be a long, long walk to get the slaves somewhere safe.

  Luckily, if that does happen, we have already gotten the worst injured of the slaves out already. Those that remain are at least capable of walking on their own, they are just a bit weak. They are mostly malnourished, with some bruising and poorly mended injuries.

  As they line up and wait their turn to go through the gate, I can see their conditions improving. I didn’t know my aura would work on anything besides wounds, but apparently it does. The fact that I can lessen their pain, even if just a little, makes me really like this aura.

  Most of the time I forget that I even have it, but now I am thinking I should put some effort in. Although, since it is always on, I don’t really know what I could do to help it level up. In the past it leveled up on its own, so I don’t think there is much that I can do.

  For now it is enough that it is helping the slaves and making things a bit easier on them. It also seems to be helping the line move a little faster, the number of people waiting is going down quickly. At this rate, I just need to hold the barrier for another ten or fifteen minutes to get everyone out.

  Unfortunately, it seems that the enemy is also tired of waiting because several attacks hit the barrier. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but these are magical attacks and they hit the barrier a lot harder. The barrier holds, but it takes a lot of mana to keep it up against the magical attack.

  I was not expecting the enemy to have mages, the barrier isn’t going to last long at this rate. I quickly call Leonarr over and inform him of the updated situation. As soon as he leaves, I start seeing troops move into positions just on the inside of the barrier.

  They form battle lines then hold those positions and wait for the order to attack. They are all fully armed and armored, they look really fierce and ready for a fight. I think that if the soldiers on the other side could see them they would be running like mad.

  For a second I am tempted to allow them to see through the barrier, but that would ruin the surprise. The surprise and fear that the first sight of them will create will give my troops an advantage. I can’t give up an advantage that could keep more of my people alive, no matter how funny it would be.

  Besides, I just have to be a little bit more patient and I will get to see their reactions. With combat about to break out, the freed slaves start moving a bit faster through the gate. It is mainly because the worst injured have already gone through and are no longer holding up the rest.