In the residential area for the slaves inside the walls of the slave-run mine… in the village of slaves, the most important, decision-making figures among the Titan slaves had gathered together.

Normally, there would be eyes observing the residential area and the Titans would never be allowed to gather together unless instructed, so that they couldn’t plot rebellions. But all of the soldiers that were posted as guards right now were behaving like dolls.

“Levia-sama… isn’t that Levia-sama?”

“Yes, she looks a little different from how I remember, but there is no mistake. How could I mistake Levia-sama for anyone else?”

“So, it was true that you would bring Levia-sama here…”

Seeing the Titans’ eyes open wide in blank amazement with tears streaming from them, Levia’s flames flickered in her happiness, but at the same time, her hand was placed over her chest in sadness.

“Everyone… Thank you for staying alive until this day. I failed to protect you and made you suffer,” she said.

For Titans, who had lifespans of three hundred years, two hundred years was a long time. Those who had been elderly individuals during that time had perished long ago, and most of the adults of the time were also gone. Those who had been children back then were now adults.

Until the age of fifteen, Titans age at about the same rate as humans, and after that, they age slowly, their bodies reaching their peaks at around the age of two hundred. From the age of two hundred and fifty onwards, they start growing physically old. For this reason, few Titans actually have an aged appearance.

“It’s fine; everything is Duke Hartner’s fault, the one who betrayed us. Levia-sama, you kept us in your thoughts even after you died, didn’t you? That is more than enough for us.”

“And you’re helping us like this now. That’s more than enough. Nobody, not my mother, not my grandfather, not my younger brother, would blame you, Levia-sama.”

The Titans were all extremely thin and had bad complexions. Many of them still had whip-marks and burns remaining on their arms, legs and faces.

Their treatment at the mine had been somewhat mild compared to how other criminal slaves were treated, but they were still treated cruelly; the soldiers had done whatever they wanted, thinking, “It’s fine as long as they don’t die,” and, “It doesn’t matter if one or two of them die.”

In fact, all of the elderly had died early, and quite a few of the women and children had also died because they were unable to endure this treatment.

Their spirits hadn’t been sealed away magically by anything like a champion’s barrier; many of them had already vanished from the mine long ago.

“I don’t know how you did it, but the soldiers watching over us are like dolls right now, and you’ve brought Levia-sama to us,” said Gopher, Borkus’s daughter. “Everything you said was true. I couldn’t believe the words of a midget like you at first, but… then, does that mean that it’s true that you’re going to rescue us from this mine, Van…?”

“It’s Vandalieu, Gopher-san,” said Vandalieu. “I don’t mind if you call me ‘kid’ like Borkus does, though.”

He had blended in among the slaves and used the Mental Encroachment skill to reduce all of the soldiers into vegetative states, one by one.

“But please don’t call me ‘midget,’” he added. “I’m overly conscious about that.”

Races like Titans and Beast-people had a sense of values where they believed that size was equivalent to strength and being small meant being weak. Even if this weren’t the case, Vandalieu, who was small even compared to other children of the same age, probably looked unreliable to the Titans whose women could reach heights of 2.5m.

Death-Attribute Charm wasn’t working after all; communication with living people was difficult.

I’m really glad I brought Princess Levia here,

Vandalieu thought.

Gopher gave him a wry smile. “It’s just like that Oyaji to be so energetic even when he’s dead,” she laughed. “I won’t be calling you ‘kid.’ Levia-sama is calling you ‘Your Majesty,’ so isn’t it strange for me to call you that?”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” said Vandalieu. “Anyway, at this point, I’m thinking about freeing everyone from this mine.”

“But that’s not as simple as it sounds, is it?” asked Gopher. “We have slave collars on our necks.”

Slave collars, collars of servitude – they have various different names, but they are Magic Items that ensure that slaves do not disobey the wills of their masters.

If slaves try to cause harm to their masters or make an escape, the collars cause them suffering by suffocating them or releasing an electrical shock.

There are numerous ways of removing them, but the masters’ approval isn’t the only thing that is needed. In addition, normal curse-breaking spells cannot undo them; special spells are required, but they are kept secret.

“You won’t be able to remove them even if you defeat the governor of this mine,” said Gopher. “Even you couldn’t simply –”

“I can remove them,” said Vandalieu.

Before he could even hear the Titans surprised cries, he released black death-attribute mana that surrounded Gopher’s collar, which unfastened with a click.

“N-no way…”

Gopher and the other Titans were dumbfounded as the heavy collar hit the floor loudly, but Vandalieu had previously used his Mana to brute-force his way through a seal left by a champion. Something like this was simple for him.

“H-how many times can you do that in one day?” Gopher asked. “There are over five hundred of us in total.”

“It costs about a thousand Mana for each person, so I can handle three hundred thousand peoples’ worth and still have some left over,” said Vandalieu.

“You can really do it?!”

“Sorry, but time is also a problem, so it would help if you kept that number below ten thousand.”

“Alright, I under