The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Rescue Raid

"I found most of their parents... it's not good news," Ibara reported after being given permission to speak. "Eri's mother is a slave to one of the Mirrim nobles. Her father is the one I couldn't find. Fuwa's mom is a slave commonly used by Mirrim nobles. Her father has... passed. Haneyama's mother ended up in Karab as a slave to a Misshapen warlord. Her father is supposedly a warrior slave in Fearis, but he could be dead by now with how violent the conflict is."

Izuku sighed. He wanted to hear the news alone first. "Haneyama's mother shouldn't be too difficult to retrieve. Nor should her father if he's still alive. But stealing from Mirrim is another thing. And Fuwa's dad..." He brushed aside his hair as he tried to mentally prepare to tell her. "Were there no leads on Eri's father?"

"That's the strange part. Not a single person had even heard of him. But I could ask several different slave trading groups who knew about Eri and Fuwa's mom. Same with Haneyama's family. Say what you will about slavers, but they are good at keeping track of their product. Which means he was either never a slave to begin with, or he's being hidden for some important reason. And since Eri doesn't really remember her father's appearance, we don't have anything to go off of."

"And how did Fuwa's dad die?"

"Defending her mother from the slavers."

Izuku shook his head and put it in his hands. "Fuck." He let slip a rare f-bomb in frustration. He had hoped they were at least all alive, but that was naive. Even still, these were his sisters. He knew the pain of losing a parent, or parental figure. He didn't want them to go through that.

Just because the three girls barely knew their parents before being snatched away didn't make it any better. They still had to suffer that knowledge.

"What about where the girls were taken from in the first place?"

"Haneyama comes from a rather poor town on the edge of Shadel's borders, right by Enterion. Her mother had scars from something, so she was shunned by Palegard's society. Her husband followed her and they ended up in Shadel before being captured. Fuwa, as far as I can tell, was actually born in the Faded nation of Fearis. Meaning that both her mother and father were slaves there when they conceived her, and at least her mother was subsequently moved to Mirrim. Or... it's possible her father is not actually her biological father and that Fuwa's mother was impregnated by one of her owners." Izuku meekly nodded at such a disturbing report. "Finally, Eri was born in Palegard. Her mother lived a relatively normal life before apparently meeting... somebody, no one knows, and giving birth to her child. Not long after, Mirrim conducted a raid on Palegard - although they deny that - and kidnapped them. The girls were all traded around until they reached Chisaki. And the parents were auctioned off on several separate occasions. Only Eri's mother never changed places. She's been in Mirrim since being captured."

"So it's been nearly 14 years trapped in that castle with those people..." Izuku had seen a lot of vile things. He'd experienced a lot of vile things. But even he felt ready to puke at that information.

"You're seriously considering it aren't you?"

"Of course I'm considering it," He replied. "They don't deserve to just be left there."

"And what about all the other slaves? You save a handful, but there's thousands more. Are you going to spend every waking moment stealing slaves from castles?"

"So what if that's what I decide to do? I know I can't save everyone now. I need time, I need support, I need the throne. I'm going to prioritize for now. Is it selfish and hypocritical? Yes. But there's only so much I can do."

"Good for you," Ibara replied, apparently proud of the way Izuku reacted to that test. "But I would absolutely tell your advisors before attempting such a raid... aside from Kaina."