[Ch. 39] It's Just Research (Past)

I stood in front of the two of them dressed as a young teenage boy.

In this world, crossdressing was considered a very big taboo.

Anyone caught doing it became social outcasts in almost all of the nations. In the Kingdom Sadon, people would rudely shun anyone who didn't fit the norm. Even though the Phoenix nation valued individuality, they were uncomfortable with the idea of things of this nature. They wouldn't punish those who committed it, but there would definitely be disdainful looks.

The Dragon clan led sheltered lives on their island. Most of their women dressed like their men so Korph didn't find it strange to see me dressed as a man. However, there was one thing that he did find strange, "Where'd your hooters go!?"

My face twitched, "...My hooters?"

He motioned to his chest, "Yeah! Those giant knockers you are always flaunting around!"

I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.

I grabbed them by their collars and pulled them inside the room. The door slammed shut and I released them before rushing over to a side table filled with papers. The room was relatively empty but had lab benches along the wall covered in either vials or papers. It looked more similar to a room of a mad scientist than to a room belonging to the daughter of a Baron.

Raylon stared at the benches, "What is all this?"

"My research."

Raylon peered at the documents I was reading in my hands, "Oh? What kind of research is that?"

I gave him a sheet, "This is my most recent."

I turned away and began to search through drawers. Raylon started to read the notes and felt his face heat up, "A-Are, are you trying to-"

He stopped unable to finish his sentence due to embarrassment. Korph reached over and grabbed the papers out of curiosity. He burst into laughter, "You're trying to permanently shrink your chest? Why? Aren't your big breasts your only decent quality?"

Raylon cleared his throat trying to swallow down his embarrassment, "I do have to agree. I don't think they are bad."

I glared at him.

He quickly changed his words, "What I mean is, why is it so bad? Why are you trying to change your own body?"

I went back to searching as I explained, "I have to put up with lecherous looks and unwanted sexual advances. Not to mention back pain."

Korph nodded meaningfully, "I guess that makes sense. After all, the clothes of this kingdom really draw attention to women's chests."

I frowned in agreement, "It's truly disgusting."

Korph looked around the room, "But, where did they go?"

"They?"

"You know... Your-"

I shook my head at his stupidity, "I succeeded in making a tape that'll shrink them momentarily."

Raylon scratched his head, "So… Why are we here? I'm not sure we can help with THAT..."

I pulled out two necklaces from one of the drawers. They were silver with a six-point star dangling off of them. I turned to the two of them and handed them the necklaces.

Raylon looked at it closely, "What are these?"

"Put them on." Once they did so, I dragged them to the center of the room. "Hold the star and you will turn invisible. They drain your stamina so use it for emergencies only."

Korph gave it a lick and made a disgusted expression, "Why do we need them?"

I ignored him and pulled them to the center of the room where we stood over a magic circle. Raylon studied it as he tried to make sense of it. It had a very complex design which meant it was high-level magic. A purple light spread out around us, engulfing the entire circle. Everything went dark as we lost all of our usual senses. Our bodies were stretched and twisted as we passed through the dark space. An explosion of purple light filled our vision and our senses returned to us.

We were now in the middle of a field.

Raylon gasped, "What... Was that?"

"Teleportation."

Korph bent over and puked.

"First time?" Raylon and Korph groaned at the same time. I handed them two maps, "The nausea will pass. Here."

"Hong Guang's nation?!" Raylon shouted in disbelief.

I quickly shoved my hand over his mouth to silence him, "This is top secret. You can't be seen by anybody nor can you be caught."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small vial. I uncorked it and used my finger and dabbed it against the substance. I drew on their foreheads and then on my own. Korph tried to look at his forehead, "What's this?"

"A disguise spell. Just in case you are seen, they won't know it was us."

Raylon grew irritated, "Can you explain what is going on? I don't enjoy being kept in suspense."

I met his eyes, "Would the Phoenix nation accept illegally freed slaves even if they weren't citizens?"

He eyed me suspiciously, "Yes. They would be treated as refugees."

I turned to Korph, "And your people will be happy to have their missing brethren returned back home?"

"What kind of question is that?" Korph nodded his head quickly, "We would be much more than happy."

"Good." I looked over at the distant houses, "On those maps are areas where you two will go. I assume you're both good at sneaking around?"

"We are the best there is!" Korph stated proudly and Raylon nodded in agreement.

I didn't waste time explaining. I pointed at the distant buildings, "Those locations are the slave quarters. In an hour, the slaves will be moved there for the night. There will be a shift change soon and you need to make sure you open the back door while they are switching guards. The guards will be too distracted by the change to notice the slaves leaving out the back door. Then, you need to lead the slaves here to the circle. They will be magically transported to the location I selected. Any questions?"

Raylon muttered, "Too many."

"Just follow the instructions on the map and nothing will go wrong. If something does, just the safe word."

"The safe word?"

"Potatoes."

Without another word, I pulled out three letters and tossed them into the magic circle. A bright purple light shined as it swallowed the notes. At the same moment, the rulers from the Nords, the Phoenix nation, and the dragon clan saw a paper slowly drifting onto their lap. They read the only line on the paper:

Prepare for refugees.

I griped Korphs shoulder, "Your people shall be returned home." I gave them both an encouraging nod before disappearing into the night.

Raylon looked at Korph, "Alright. Let's go free some slaves."

Korph nodded in excitement before they hurried to their locations marked on the map.