Chapter 13: See? I knew you were a villain too!

“…So inside, there are five adult men, all males. It’s possible some have gone out and not returned yet. No guns have been found for now, but there are plenty of weapons like machetes…” Tom sketched a rough floor plan on the ground, marking the positions of the men.

“Are there any children locked inside?” Levid asked.

“Yes, all of them are on the first floor, in that small room on the left. There are eight children in total,” Tom pointed to the smallest room on the floor plan.

“To cram eight children into such a tiny room… they’re monsters,” Levid frowned.

Tom said nothing in response but urged hastily, “I suggest we send the snakes in first to attack. They’ll panic, and then we can slip inside and finish it quickly… It’s getting late; we still have to go to Diagon Alley today!”

“Alright, let’s do that,” Levid said without further ado. He followed Tom through the alley, circling to the back of the standalone building.

There was a back door, but it was locked.

Tom picked up a stone and handed it to Levid. “When things get chaotic inside, we smash the lock and rush in.”

Levid glanced at Tom, then casually tossed the stone aside.

“Why did you throw the stone away?” Tom asked, puzzled.

“Tom… we’re wizards!” Levid murmured, lightly brushing his right hand over the lock.

“Click!”

The lock silently sprang open.

The book *Complete Guide to Basic Spells* detailed a lock-opening charm.

Tom stared in disbelief as the lock was neatly undone. “You… you actually know that?”

“I figured it out myself,” Levid said vaguely. “Let’s get started.”

Tom didn’t press further and quickly issued the command in Parseltongue.

Soon, Levid heard rustling sounds all around.

Snakes began crawling out from the grass, eaves, and sewers nearby, slithering swiftly through cracks in the door and windows!

After a while, terrified screams came from inside.

“Now’s the time!”

Levid and Tom pushed the door open and charged in.

…

Minutes later.

Tom crouched over a man lying on the floor, removing a grass snake from his face.

He poked the man’s stiff skin. “So… how exactly did you do this?”

He had barely made a move, yet Levid had turned these men into “statues.”

“I just guessed, maybe I happened to cast a petrifying attack spell?” Levid said as he pulled a large handful of cash from a small box he had found.

“So, these bills can really be exchanged for wizarding currency? Wizard money is very different from what we’ve seen before…” Tom said, tying up the stiff traffickers with rope.

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely exchangeable. Our existence proves not all wizards come from wizarding families. That means there must be a way to exchange money… Besides…” Levid turned the box to show Tom.

“Even if the bills can’t be exchanged, these definitely can…”

Tom looked inside to see the bottom of the box stuffed full with more than ten small gold bars.

“Gold is hard currency no matter where you are.”

Tom looked at Levid, surprised. “You really know a lot…”

“Cough, cough, I used to read a lot of books… Anyway, enough about money. Let’s not forget our real purpose here.”

Levid packed the box into a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Heh, I thought you’d forgotten,” Tom said sarcastically.

In his mind, Levid was no better than a scoundrel; his acting was just better than Tom’s! This rescue mission was really about money.

“Of course I haven’t forgotten! You better pull back your snakes—don’t scare the kids. They’re not like us,” Levid said cheerfully, not bothered by Tom’s snide remark.

For Levid, apart from a hefty sum of money, there was also a substantial amount of merit points to gain.

The two made their way to the small room at the corner of the first floor.

Though small, the room had a sturdy iron door with an outrageously large lock.

As Levid approached, he could faintly hear panicked voices from behind the door.

Clearly, the noise outside had been heard inside.

Levid placed his hand on the lock.

Tom watched closely, hoping to learn something.

But before he could see anything—

“Click!”

The lock opened effortlessly.

The heavy iron door creaked open, and a foul stench wafted out.

Tom covered his nose and stepped aside in disgust.

Levid peered inside to find seven or eight children huddled trembling in the corner, staring fearfully at the doorway.

“You’re safe now. Hurry and leave this place!” Levid called out loudly.

The children looked at each other, frozen.

Levid’s expression hardened. “Get out here and line up! Or I’ll have to punish you!”

At his command, the children scurried out.

Tom looked at Levid with a knowing smirk. “See, I knew you were a scoundrel too.”

“Shut up, Tom!” Levid glared.

He pulled out some bills and handed them to the trembling children.

“Those traffickers have been taken care of by my people. You’re free now—go home!”

Only then did the children notice the vicious traffickers were all tied up like bundles.

Only then did they believe Levid’s words.

Except it was a bit odd there were no adults as Levid had claimed…

“Oh, one more thing. Are they all here?” Levid asked.

“There’s still one man and one woman missing,” a timid boy said boldly.

“Oh, a tall, burly man and a hoarse-voiced woman?” Levid asked.

The other children nodded.

“Well, then they’re all accounted for…” Levid said, noting their curious expressions. “They’ve already been captured. Now go home quickly. And don’t forget to report this to the police so they can arrest these scoundrels.”

The children nodded in agreement and quietly thanked him, clutching the money as they left the den of horrors.

“Ding! Detection: Host has destroyed a human trafficking den! Rewarding host with 1,000 merit points!”

“Ding! Detection: Future Dark Lord’s life trajectory altered due to host’s counsel promoting good deeds. Rewarding host with 100 merit points!”

Levid smiled warmly as his merit points balance showed 1,400.

“All right, we should leave now. We still need to get to Diagon Alley!” Tom urged.

Levid waved him off. “Don’t worry, Tom. This time we have money for the ride…”

“Boom!”

Before Levid could finish, the floor suddenly shook violently!

Levid grabbed the nearby sofa for support.

Caught off guard, Tom fell hard onto the floor.

“Rumble rumble…” The ground trembled again.

Tom’s eyes widened. “Something underground is breaking through!”