The King, Mahiro, hadn't expected Takeshi to act so quickly, but the sooner the better, as the children could face danger every day.
Swish!
Takeshi spread his wings and flew out the window. Since the other party was from the Troll Kingdom, he would head there.
Soon, he saw the figures of ten Giant children heading towards the Troll Kingdom. Behind the children were people from the Giant Kingdom. Takeshi quickly flew over.
"Who's there?"
Takeshi's sudden appearance startled the people from the Giant Kingdom.
"I am a Mage from Fairy Tail... Eh? Ayla?"
Takeshi saw a familiar face among them, it was Ayla, the first Giant he had met in the Albaf Kingdom. However, Ayla's expression was very anxious, clearly indicating she had encountered something.
"You are... Takeshi?!"
Ayla looked at Takeshi, somewhat unsure, as his change was quite significant. However, she recalled how Takeshi had transformed when using magic outside the city, so it wasn't entirely unbelievable.
"It's me."
Hearing Takeshi's confirmation, Ayla finally recognized him.
"Takeshi, this is bad. Buli has been abducted by an evil Mage." Ayla said anxiously.
Takeshi looked towards the children and indeed, among the ten children, one was Buli, who had caught him earlier that day.
He asked, "What happened?"
"I... I don't know either... We had all gone to rest, when suddenly I found Buli missing. I rushed out to look for him, and this is what happened."
"No matter how I called him, he wouldn't respond. When I tried to pick him up, he would suddenly go berserk, even biting me. I was afraid something would happen to him, so I could only let him go."
Ayla was very scared now, not knowing what to do.
"Ayla, don't worry. Buli is probably under some kind of magic control. I will bring Buli back safely. I came here because I accepted a quest from the King."
"Really?! Thank you, Takeshi."
Ayla's hope rekindled upon hearing Takeshi's words.
"The King will arrive soon. You all should meet up with them first. I will handle the rest."
After speaking, Takeshi quickly flew towards the Giant children. The Giant children all had eerie smiles on their faces and their eyes were vacant, as if they had been hypnotized.
But this was good. He was worried about not finding their location. Having someone lead the way made it more convenient.
Takeshi hid in Buli's clothes pocket. The Giant children, controlled, walked onto a wooden bridge.
This was a bridge formed by a fallen giant tree over a thousand meters long. On either side of the bridge were the Giant Kingdom and the Troll Kingdom. This bridge was also the only passage connecting the two countries.
Even though Takeshi had grown accustomed to the large scale of things in this country, he was still awestruck by this giant bridge.
At this moment, on one side of the bridge, Mahiro had already arrived with his soldiers.
"Your Majesty, are we just going to watch these children go to the Troll Kingdom like this?" A general anxiously asked.
Mahiro said, "Takeshi told us to wait here. He will bring all the children back here."
"Can that human mage really do that?"
The general didn't quite believe that such a small human could possess such ability.
Mahiro said with a serious expression, "He is a member of Makarov's guild. Since Makarov sent him, I believe he is capable of doing it."
"Makarov?! Is that the human mage from sixty years ago?"
The name Makarov was still very famous in the Giant Kingdom. He was the human hero of the Giant Kingdom sixty years ago, and a close friend of the King and the Queen.
...
After a while, Takeshi saw the Trolls. The Trolls had very ugly faces, dark green skin, and ferocious fangs, looking like demons. Their stature was even taller than the Giants.
The Trolls locked all the children in iron cages, then rode an unknown monster, carrying these children towards the capital.
After a period of frantic travel, they arrived at the capital.
The city walls of the Troll Kingdom's capital were similar to those of the Albaf Kingdom's Capital, both very tall. However, the interior was much simpler compared to the Giant Kingdom. Rather than a capital city, it looked more like a tribe.
The monster carriage carrying the Giant children quickly drove into the palace. Then they were led into an underground prison.
Click! Click!
Each child was fitted with an explosive collar, then locked in a cage.
At this moment, all the Giant children woke up and were bewildered by the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Where is this?! Why am I here?!"
"Waaah! Mom! I want my mom!"
...
All the Giant children cried out, their loud voices making the entire prison very noisy.
Suddenly—
A voice rang out and a human walked over.
"All of you! Shut up!"
"You brats! Listen to me! From now on, you are slaves of my cult. You must follow all my orders, understood?"
Takeshi glanced around. There were many humans here, all wearing mysterious black robes. This gave him a very familiar feeling.
Hearing the other party's words, he understood the source of this familiarity.
Black magic cult?
Takeshi's eyes narrowed slightly. 'These guys are really persistent, they even have a branch in a place like this.'
"Slaves?! No! I don't want to be a slave!"
"Waaah! I won't be a slave!"
"Dad! Mom! Save me!"
Many children burst into tears upon hearing they would become slaves.
"No crying! If you cry again, you'll be punished!"
"Waaah!"
The children ignored the threats and continued to cry loudly.
Boom!
A magic bullet struck the child who was crying the loudest.
"Waaah!"
A wound immediately appeared on the child's leg, as if struck by a bullet.
The other children were terrified by this, trembling.
Takeshi clenched his fists, killing intent rising in his heart. These beasts actually used such heavy force on a child.
"Do you see? This is the consequence of disobeying orders. From now on, you will behave yourselves, and then you will get food and avoid punishment. If you don't listen, don't blame me for being ruthless."
"Also, don't even think about escaping. Do you see this?" The person said, taking out a collar.
Then, he threw it aside, and pressed a button.
Boom!!!
The collar exploded with a roar.
This immediately startled all the Giant children.
"The collars around your necks are like this one, but ten times more powerful. If you try to escape, the collar will be detonated and blow you to pieces."