I sat on one of the chairs and started eating some of the snacks on the table while I thought about the intel I got from Scum number two.

  Based on what I learned, they are a small, or rather, relatively small trafficking ring. They used to own two apartment buildings that they used as underground brothels and brought women from a number of different East European countries to work in them.

  On the other hand, they also used several different methods to trick women—usually in London—and kidnapped and later trafficked them to other countries, selling them as sex slaves or working them in brothels elsewhere.

  Recently however, due to the governmental investments in increasing awareness among the public as well as a crackdown on modern slavery, their business had suffered greatly.

  This, along with the pressure from the bigger mobs and trafficking rings in the area, had finally forced this particular group to abandon all their bases in the UK.

  This building isn't very far from where I was kidnapped, and it's also their last base. They were planning to smuggle everything they owned through a private ship that would arrive tonight at a small harbor along the Thames.

  After spending a couple of minutes to catch my breath and prepare myself, I went down a narrow corridor. There were two more metal doors leading to rooms full of wooden crates, but thankfully there were no more people in the other ones.

  I ignored the storage rooms and reached a wooden door at the end of the corridor. After opening it, I was faced with a set of stairs going up and loud noises coming from the top.

  At the top of the stairs was another door, which was a weird architectural choice. Why would you need two doors? 'Focus.'

  With my empathy—which honestly deserves a better name considering the things I've used it for, let's say telepathy—I took stock of the number of people near me.

  I know the layout of this place thanks to Scum number two. Beyond this door should be a hallway extending from the front door and leading all the way to the kitchen and the back entrance. Based on the presence of the minds I can sense, out of the total sixteen scums that should be here, ten are on the first floor, and four on the ground floor with one missing.

  Since I knew there's no one in the hallway, I opened the door, still minding not to make it creak. Tiptoeing to the living room entrance, I looked in to see the back of two scum as they watched TV on the couch.

  Now I'm in a conundrum. On one hand, I want to kill them instantly to not alert the others. They also all have guns, and while they won't affect me with my current getup, the sound might attract the police or something else.

  On the other hand, diving into Number two's memories showed me how much practice I need with my telepathy, and for that I need live test subjects. As that same dive also showed that it could be dangerous, I might not encounter this quality of lab rats for a while.

  After a couple of moments, I decided I'll take care of the ground floor for now and use the upper floor ones for practice.

  I once again used transfiguration to turn the two's brains into glass beads. Actually, this method of killing them isn't very efficient, mana-wise, but it's the only instantaneous one in which I won't have to deal with any blood.

  Going past the now-dead scum, I looked at their expressions. The two were laughing, with drinks in their hands, watching a rerun of a Charlie Chaplin movie. There were boxes here too. It looked like they had just sat for some rest after a morning of packing and moving things.

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  For a moment, I was about to question whether I did the right thing, or should I have just called the cops and let them deal with this, but right then I heard laughter and clapping sounds from the dining area next to the kitchen.

  Hiding behind the wall, I poked my head out little by little. At first, all I could see was a guy with a camera pointed to somewhere I couldn't see yet.

  "Dude, I can't believe you're into this," the camera guy said, though he sounded like he was used to this. "Isn't it cold and hard? You might as well use a toy."

  "Hah, first of all," the other guy said, sounding like he was physically exerting himself, "I like the coldness and it's not hard. Second, no I can't use a toy. The whole fun is that it's not a toy. And third, do you know how much money I'm gonna make from that video you're taking?"

  By this time, I had already crept close enough to see what exactly was happening, and what I saw killed any shred of doubt that had crept up to me in the living room.

  A couple of steps from the camera guy was a dining table on which was a naked woman. Behind her was the second scum I had heard, and the clapping sounds were from him having sex with her.

  The woman didn't struggle, she didn't move or even make a sound. She was dead. If the fact that I couldn't sense her mind hadn't given it away, the big pool of blood dripping from the table and onto the tiled floor would.

  I laughed in my head at my own na?veté. I had almost felt sorry for this? These pieces of shit? I once again renewed my resolve. I'm not a hero or a vigilante. I'm not gonna go out in the middle of the night to stop robberies or scare crooks into behaving. Hell, I didn't even stop the thieves from picking pockets this morning, but this? This I can't let go.

  This is a world of magic and I know ghosts and souls exist, both thanks to the movies and Morgana's experiments and rituals. 'I don't know if lingering ghosts exist but if you can hear me, don't worry, I will avenge you.'

  Even with all my rage, I didn't rush ahead. Though unfortunate, the woman was already dead anyway and I couldn't do anything for her that would change her situation.

  In the end, I had to wait for five minutes until the camera guy passed behind the other piece of shit, stepping right in front of a couch they no doubt used for other sick stuff.

  As he did, though, I took advantage by turning his brain into glass, then using telekinesis to slow his fall to the couch, making sure there was no noise.

  By the count of them up till now, Scum number six, was so lost in his own world he didn't even notice his friend suddenly got quiet.

  I got a little closer until I was right behind the couch, and for the second time I used transfiguration not to kill him, but to make his face go away. 'Hmm, should I say erasing his face?'

  The charm was swift. One moment he was grunting and being all gross, and the next? Bam, no more face or orifices.

  For the first time, the distress and the terror tasted—for lack of a better word—delicious. It was like eating bacon for the first time or hearing your favorite tune.

  Normally, the emotions I feel are quite neutral for me. Whether they are happy or sad or any of the other more complicated ones, they don't normally affect me very much.

  This situation, however, is anything but normal, and this scum's terror and pain right now was sweeter than any music to my ears.

  As he panicked and fell, his hand caught on some of the boxes that were present even here, causing them to fall.

  "Hey! Roy! What're you doing down there?" a gruff voice came from above. I didn't waste any time either. I dived into the scum's mind but this time for another purpose. I didn't want to dirty my thoughts by looking through his memories. This time, I tried taking control of his body—or more specifically, his mouth. After reopening just his mouth, "Everything's fine," I yelled using the guy's mouth. I have to say it was much harder than I thought. "I hit a box but nothing's spilt." I continued, looking at the flood of papers on the ground. Well, it's not like they're gonna need them after today, so there's no sense in worrying them about it.

  "Just take your bloody video and be done with it," the gruff voice said again, thankfully not any closer than before. "There's still work to do."

  I didn't answer him this time. I didn't want him to die yet, so I couldn't close his mouth again, but I didn't want him to make a ruckus either. At first, I just wanted to cut his spinal cord at the neck, paralyzing him from the neck down, but then I got a better idea that would help with my telepathy training too.

  It took even more concentration and effort than having to forcefully control his body, but not worrying about consequences certainly helped. After roughly two full minutes of intense concentration, I did it. I forcefully made him get the locked-in syndrome.

  Afterwards, I undid his face erasure, making sure he could completely feel, see, and hear everything I was about to do to him.