Asher the Insane

24 - Asher the Ex-Slave

The underground of the 'Underground' was a real labyrinth.

My cell and a few other areas were familiar to me from my prior imprisonment, but, ugh, I can't

seem to navigate myself around in this place at all. I get twisted up from just taking two wrong turns and then ending up somewhere I didn't expect to be.

Maybe I just have a bad memory? It feels like I was kind of getting forgetful these past couple of months.

How many people were imprisoned here, I wonder? I have no trouble picturing a few hundred.We had a fair range of slaves here, quite a broad selection, so at least the slavers weren't overly prejudiced about whom to take as a slave.

Every form of beast race, young or old, elf or dwarf, all the demi's, and everything in between.

I painstakingly opened up every cell single-handedly, just ripping up the cell bars or doors to make openings big enough for even the most rotund to squeeze through.

Some of the liberated slaves came to help me release others.

Even if they took a while with a single cell, it was the thought that counted.

Camaraderie could come from anywhere.

A few moments later, to save time, and brain space to not have to remember the layout of this place, I started just to bust through every wall I found.

There was no rush, but what would people think of me if I did nothing but laze around while they were jailed?

I sure hope that the good news will spread around.

Wait, these guys don't even know who I am.

After busting through another wall, I stopped and turned around.

There were a few dozen people from every race behind me.

"Slaves- uh, I mean Ex-Slaves. My name is Asher Burell. Remember that name well. Tell your buddies who set you free, okay?I think I have done enough for one day, don't you? You guys can go on and free the remaining slaves on your own, right? I'm a bit tired actually and just to clarify, unlike every other isekai protagonist, I will not buy, or keep, a slave girl, no matter how cute she is. I tried to fix this as best I could with my own hands and now that you guys are on your own feet, you can deal with this for me. Overall, I think that slavery is a bit distasteful in a story, isn't it? Only if it's presented as a really bad thing then it's alright, but stuff like Death March and Shield Hero come to mind where it isn't, really; got a limited pool of things to choose from that both are isekai and have slave harem girls at the same time. I generally avoided those kinds of shows cause I thought they were going to be shitty. Don't know how those ended. Also, just because your character is a NICE slave owner doesn't make it okay. I guess because Japan, or East Asians, do not have the same view or connection to slavery as western countries.Additionally, I'm not much of a fan of harems. You know? It's not like I have something against girls. It wouldn't even matter if they were girls. I wouldn't be against traps or twink or just outright bears. My issue is simply that the plot does not advance as a result."

The expressions of everyone who was following me were filled with confusion.

"All right, I think I lost you guys there.
Let's continue.
I suppose most of the guards are gone. I've seen that Faye is really effective in, uh, dispatching the enemy. Yes, let's use that term. So, there isn't much holding you back from either freeing the rest or not.
Do what you want.
Anything else?" I asked them as a last thing.

None had anything to say and after just a moment, most of them dispersed to do their own thing.

Escape, free more slaves, maybe steal some stuff, everything is alright by my standards.

Though one girl was still standing there.

She was very small, with pointed ears and long, dirty green hair, an elf girl.

I got a bad feeling about this,

"Mister Burell...," she began.

No.

"Could I stay with you... maybe...?"

NO.

"If you want, I could be your slave... I don't know anything else..."

NO!

"Shut up, shut the fuck up," I told her directly to her face.

She was so little, but even though she looked so young because she was an elf she was probably older than me.

"Shut THE FUCK UP!" I pointed at her, "you're a stupid fucking idiot, did you not hear what I just said? Slavery is not OK. Do you get that? IT IS NOT OKAY."

She was on the verge of crying.

"I would have considered a request to join me and my party but because how you worded that was so fucking stupid," I paused for a moment to calm down, "what's your name, girl?"

Wiping away tears, she said, "it's Orithana."

"Orithana, you're a stupid little baby," I sighed heavily, "but at least you're free. Go, go" I shooed her away, "seriously, fuck off from my sight and join the other freed slaves. Goodbye, hope next time we meet you're smarter."