Chapter 125 – Let’s stab the higher up~♡
Chapter 123
The stairs leading to the basement of Bonaparte City were quite long. Going down the long stairs, I saw a door guarded by some men.
“…What, is it already time for guests to enter?”
“Maybe not?”
“Then what are they?”
In response to the suspicious voices of the men, Estelle played her princess and said.
“A man named Maxbell said it was okay to go in first. If she’s a princess, she says it doesn’t matter, right?”
“…Mexbell said that? She’s that stupid bastard… Wait, princess?”
To the surprised man, Estelle showed her identity card. It’s very natural.
After checking the ID card, the man made a noise and hurriedly lowered his head.
“Oh, Princess! If you knew you would visit like this, it would have been nice if you had let us know in advance!”
“I came here because I was suddenly curious…Sorry, I was not considerate enough.”
“I will guide you. Hey, I’m guarding you here.”
“Yes.”
The man guided Estelle through her door. And as I was about to enter, the man said.
“Ah, you can leave your weapons behind. This place is completely managed by us, so there will be no threat to the princess’s safety.”
“…I am an escort driver. Tell the escort knight to put down the sword over the person he serves?”
“But, in principle, there are no weapons…”
“I am an escort knight given to me by my father. Could you please allow me just this once?”
At Estelle’s request, the man looked a bit troubled. But he couldn’t overcome the force of power, he said with a nod of his head.
“Okay. Come in.”
When the man opened the door, there was a slightly musty smell. The smell of dampness in the basement. There seemed to be no windows to ventilate.
After following the man, there were solid iron bars built on both sides of the road. And several people were imprisoned inside the cage.
They all looked different, but one was all the same. That he was shackled on his hands, feet, and neck.
“…That’s a lot. Where do you get all these slaves from?”
At Estelle’s one word, the man proudly spoke in an excited voice.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of it, too. They are migrants living on the periphery who do not belong to any country.”
“…Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Aren’t they the people of a country that used to live as a nation, but was destroyed during the heyday of the Mars Empire?”
“That’s right. Because they are so big and strong, they are suitable for use as workers. That’s why it’s popular when you get it as a slave. They also pay a high price.”
If men have been airlifted like that, what about the rare women?
“Are you saving everyone like that? I think there are women too.”
“Oh, that’s not it. There are foreign slaves like that, and there are also slaves brought in from the Kingdom of Diana or the Mars Empire. And there are people who have been sold because of debt.”
“…Is it for sale? Where?”
“What…Here and there. In any country, this happens often. Isn’t it an obvious story about borrowing money and not being able to repay it, so you bring your daughter in law? Even those parents are stupid. I wish I hadn’t used debentures from the beginning. Thanks to that, we get pretty slaves, so it doesn’t matter.”
…It’s hard to listen. But Estelle hadn’t given a signal yet, so I had to put up with it.
“…But the slave trade is banned in this country, right? It would be a big deal if the slave accused the buyer.”
“That’s all, there is a way, princess.”
The man explained fluently.
“First of all, all slaves here are commoners by registration.”
“…Yes?”
“As you said, the kingdom of Vesta is a country where there are no slaves. The only way to cross the border is to register as a commoner. How to deal with this slave registered as a commoner. You can think of it like a human resources office now.”
“A manpower office?”
“We receive money from the buyer and provide manpower. The buyer now has the manpower he bought from us, whether it’s a servant or a maid, in the way she wants. That way the deal is done. That way, there is no need to manipulate the ledger, and there is no reason to be suspicious. Of course, this method has the downside of having to pay the slaves…But that’s okay. In the end, the money is supposed to go back to the owner, and we get a bigger profit from the transaction.”
It was said that the slave trade was turned into a legitimate manpower trade. When slaves were sold as human resources, the wages they received were taken back by their masters.
…Are these bastards really people like me?
“By the way, is it okay to put a slave like this in the passage? What if someone takes pity and helps the slave?”
“Oh, that’s fine. There’s no way to help because we’ve collected all the weapons anyway. This is a kind of exhibition. This is to show customers that the quality of the products prepared today is like this.”
“…I see.”
The man said as he opened the large door at the end of the street.
“I see. This is the auction house where we trade slaves and metamorphic stones.”
“…Byeonma-seok?”
“Oh, I guess you haven’t heard that far.”
…Do you trade metamorphic stones here?
Wait, then did the duke also have a hand in the distribution of metamorphic stones? Didn’t you simply close your eyes?
“That’s interesting…Are there people looking for metamorphic stones? It’s a dangerous thing that turns people into monsters.”
“Of course it is, but as you know, the research value of the metamorphic stone is high, isn’t it? In particular, metamorphosis stones are useful for research related to alchemy or magic. So there are quite a few people looking for it.”
“Isn’t there a separate amount of distribution allowed for research purposes in the country? Is that not enough?”
“It seems to be lacking. I don’t know that field too well… Ah, they’re bringing in the transformation stones over there.”
In the corner of the auction house the man pointed out, other gang members were putting down a box full of transformation stones. The man said as he approached it.
“Hey guys, everyone say hello. This is Princess Bathory.”
“Ew? Why did that precious person come here? Is this a message from the duke?”
“If there was a message, he would have sent someone as usual, would the princess have come? He came because he wanted to trade slaves.”
“Ah.”
The big, stern-looking man laughed and said to Estelle.
“Today, we will put the stalwarts on stage. I hope the princess is satisfied.”
…Tensil?
My head went blank for a moment, but after understanding the man’s words properly, I was filled with anger. To whom now…
“…Not worth listening to anymore.”
“Yes?”
Estelle’s cold voice. As soon as I heard that, my eyes lit up. Quitting acting meant that was a sign.
My blessed body was so fast that it was impossible to react unless it was a monster. The Holy Sword, which was quickly pulled out, hit the man who guided us in the neck.
Paak!!
“Kuk…!”
“What, what!?”
“Thank you. Thanks to the explanation, I don’t think I need to hear more.”
Estel threw off her mask. That she revealed her hidden face. It was no different from not wanting to leave people in this position alone.
The man checked Estelle’s face and said slightly surprised.
“Everyone, who are you…”
《 Sacred Chain 》
Charleung, Cheolkeong!
A chain of light was ejected from the air. And I hit the backs of each of the guys caught by Estelle.
“Kuk!”
“Billion…!”
“Abel, wake up one of them.”
“Yes.”
As Estelle said, I left one person and put everyone in the room to sleep, then I approached the remaining one.
The same man who threw a dirty joke at Estelle. He was losing his temper, bound by chains of light.
“Keugh! Release this, you son of a b*tch!”
“If you can solve it, solve it. That’s because even high-risk monsters can’t solve it.”
“…What?”
What kind of nonsense was the look in his eyes. But what if it’s true?
“But is it a bit noisy? Do you not understand your situation now?”
He said, thrusting a sharp blade into the man’s neck.
“Huh…”
“Quietly answer only what I ask. If you understand, just nod your head.”
The man looked at the sword and at me alternately, then snorted.
“…What does a guy who has never killed a person say?”
“What?”
“I know just by looking at your eyes. You’ve never killed a person, have you?”
…What the f*ck, are all these people mind readers? How do you know just by looking into your eyes?
“Those who have killed people are different, starting with their eyes. Know?”
“…Is that so?”
When I asked, the man said something a little taken aback.
“…That, yes. So it’s obvious that you haven’t killed anyone.”
I really didn’t know. You see something like that.
From noble mtl dot com.
“…Come out, Abel.”
“Yes?”
《Holy Blade》
Kwajik!
“Uh, uhhh, uhhhhh!!!”
“Ugh.”
Estel cut off the man’s thigh with a sword made from her s*x technique.
…Wow, that’s terrible. I’m sick of everything I see.
Estel said as if intimidating the man.
“It would be better to answer in a good way. I have no intention of keeping you alive. If you don’t want to die right here, can you answer me well?”
“Keep off…”
I wonder if Estelle’s threat worked, or if my thigh hurt too much, the man answered my question very well.
The ledger of those who were secured that way. There, as the man who guided us said, the ledger was drawn up as if slaves had been sold as human resources.
As expected, the duke of Batory was written on the ledger where the manpower was purchased. Even quite a bit of history. After all, it seemed that the duke was looking after them and using his manpower as an excuse to purchase slaves.
“…Seeing so many details, there must have been slaves among the servants I saw.”
“I guess so.”
That’s right…
Also, there was a change magic stone ledger, but when I saw that ledger, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“…Estel, it says the source is Thracian?”
“…Yes?”
Estel listened to me and looked at the ledger. And Estelle, who confirmed the source of the metamorphic stone, frowned at him.
“…Let me know first.”
“Yes?”
“It’s still hard to just look at this and see that the Mars Empire is involved. Since we need more evidence… This time, it would be better to weave only those related to Duke Bathory.”
It was not the right time. Certainly, there is no guarantee that the Mars Empire was involved, saying that the source of the Metamorphic Stone was Thrace. Wasn’t the metamorphosis stone illegally circulated in Athens as well?
“I’ll have to find out later.”
“It should be.”
I looked into the ledger. With this, you should be able to save Elfriede and Elena. I took care of the ledger and told Estelle.
“What do I do now?”
“…Isn’t it obvious?”
Estelle said with a grin.
“We have to bring down the duke.”
“So how?”
I have to teach you how to move in line with it.
When I asked how, Estelle said with her characteristic cheeky smile.
“Do you remember what I said to Abel in Athens? Abel, who is like a goldfish, may not be able to remember it, so to put it another way~♡”
“…You mean that I have the right to judge things related to monsters like the shift stone?”
“Oh, do you remember? What is it ♡”
“Heh heh.”
I don’t remember that much! I know I’m a real fool
“So if the Duke is involved in the distribution of the Metamorph Stone, then Abel has the right to judge him.”
“…Aha.”
That’s right. At that time, I was able to decide the punishment for Anais, who caused the incident using the metamorphic stone. Considering Chloe’s future school life, Anais’ disposition was handed over to the school.
“The evidence is clear, and there are witnesses here, so the conditions are met.”
“Can these guys be my witnesses?”
“I think you will know better what will happen if you say no♡”
…I’m scared.
“Abel, go back to the mansion first.”
“Huh? What about Estelle?”
“I… Have a place to stop by. Should the slave distribution be punished as well?”
“…You want to go to the Bonaparte City Guard? But after all, the guards are people under the Duke.”
“Of course I don’t go to the guards. Do you think I’m stupid like Abel~?”
“…Then what are you going to do?”
Is there a group with security forces in this city other than private soldiers under the duke?
Estelle giggled as I made an expression of incomprehension. When she smiled like that, she remembered the old woman who teased me every day and laughed happily.
Estelle kept her smile and she gave me her answer.
“I have to stab the upper line~♡”