It simply was not right!
That was why I had been struggling to find a way to free those children.
Two weeks had passed since we left the island.
Over the time, I managed to learn a few things.
Maran was the captain of Soarer. One of the infamous pirates in the Varunian Sea.
The captain was a good friend to Maran since they used to work as deckhands together for a trading ship long ago.
Maran was the one who introduced Jerinthal to the captain.
Jerinthal was the cloaked man and the reason why we were all this way down south.
He used to be a mage for the Tower of Circle but was then kicked out because of his smuggling crime.
Now Jerinthal stayed true to himself and performed odd jobs of finding and delivering illegal goods for his shady clients.
The mage hired Maran and the captain to capture the Tsamudran children and escort them to the port city of Chanlin in southern Tsatu.
There Jerinthal would meet with his client and pay Maran and the captain the money he owed them.
Originally it was Maran who was supposed to escort Jerinthal and the captives.
But the mage insisted that they hired another ship just in case Maran's Soarer was lost.
And just as Jerinthal said, the three Tsamudran children decimated Soarer and most of its crew, spare its captain.
I did not manage to find out how exactly Jerinthal and Maran managed to capture the Tsamudran children in the end. But I bet it was due to the mage's trick.
But, when I was serving the captain, Maran, and Jerinthal at dinner, I was able to overhear more about the cage.
Apparently it was a powerful magic artifact which rendered its prisoner powerless.
The prison could not be broken from the inside. Something about the cage absorbing the prisoner's force.
And apparently you could not cast any magic from within it. Could the Tsamudran children cast any spell?
At any rate, I could see why the Tsamudran children did not bother do anything to escape despite how powerful and deadly they were from what I was told.
It really was the ultimate cage.
And for that reason I tried my best to discover how to break the prison open.
Fortunately, after drinking a lot of wine, Jerinthal started to let his tongue run loose.
"You need this bangle to open the cage."
He said while raising his left hand, showing a gray bracelet composed of two rings banded together.
"All you need to do is bring the bangle close to the cage and rotate the two rings in opposite direction."
He said to the captain and Maran as chugged another cup of wine.
The mage really loved his alcohol.
Upon learning of the prison's key, I started to think of a way to get it to my hands.
Jerinthal always wore the bangle. He never let it out of his sight.
I needed to make sure he let his guard down enough for him to take it off at some point.
After that dinner with the captain and Maran, I volunteered to attend to the mage.
"So you've finally come to your senses."
Jerinthal said as I massaged his feet in his cabin.
"Yes, sir. After hearing how they killed Captain Maran's men, it's hard not to see them as monsters."
"Exactly. Just think of us capturing some exotic animals from Phirdaus. No need to torture yourself with your conscience. In another two weeks, we'll arrive in Chanlin and you sailors will get your money that will set you for the rest of your life."
For the past while I had been trying to seem agreeing with him about the Tsamudran.
If he thought everybody on the ship was afraid of those children, then he would not need to worry of someone freeing them.
Hopefully it would make him take off the bangle sometime later, even just for a moment.
After attending to Jerinthal, I made my down toward the storage where the Tsamudran children was imprisoned.
It was time for their meal.
Apparently Tsamudran ate raw fish despite living underwater. Though we, regular humans, also ate things that walked on land like lamb and chicken.
Anyway, nobody liked seeing the deadly Tsamudran folks. So it was up to me, the newest deckhand to care for them.
For the first week, the children refused to eat anything I gave them.
I supposed they were being wary of anything given by their captors.
But fortunately they gave in in the end.
First it was the youngest. Then the boy a couple of days later. And finally the oldest started eating her food yesterday.
I made sure to bring extra portion since I knew all three would be eating.
The door leading to the cabin where their cage was kept was unguarded.
Everybody was already scared enough of the Tsamudran. And the ship's crews had been eager to get their reward after delivering the children to Chanlin.
Nobody would think there was someone on the ship who would be trying to free the Tsamudran. Fortunately for me.
I entered the space and made my way to the special cage Jerinthal used to imprison the children.
The three Tsamudran had been expecting me given how they had been leaning onto the cage's peculiar stone bars.
After seeing me not being hostile for a number of times already, the children had stopped glaring at me.
They were now regarding me with curious eyes instead.
As I passed them the tuna we caught today, I whispered to the children.
"Eat your meals. You need to regain your strength if you want to escape."
The three Tsamudran exchanged frowns with each other.
I knew they understood my words. And this would be the first time of them hearing about my plan to help them.
"It'll be another two weeks until we reach land. I plan to get you out of here before then."
Their frowns persisted. They found it hard to believe me.
I could not blame them.
Given how I looked and my actual position in the ship's hierarchy, I would not trust myself either.
"Just keep eating your meals. I'll get you all home. I promise!"
I said before I left them.
I knew that the captain and the crews and, most of all, Jerinthal would kill me the moment I tried to save the Tsamudran.
But it was not right to keep those children locked up. Let alone selling them to be studied like some animals.
It was not right!