66 – Meruru, Disappearing
Following the wheel and footprints on the ground, I ventured deeper into the forest along the road.
It was starting to get dark.
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This is bad.
It’ll be difficult to follow the trace once it gets dark.
But since Sippy went to request support from the guild, I can consider it as insurance in case of emergencies.
Ideally, I want to find Meruru quickly on my own before the guild sends reinforcements.
The night in the forest arrives much faster than in the city.
Just when I thought the sun was about to set, the surroundings suddenly became dark.
But did I really witness not only Meruru but also a beastman in a place like this?
They said there was a shadow that looked like a beastman standing in the center surrounded by monsters, right?
If people really saw that, they would have been scared and run away without looking back.
And there was no guarantee that it was Meruru’s sister.
Beastmen are not the only race on the Helvetika Island.
Even though it’s difficult to see beastmen in this area, it doesn’t necessarily mean that every sighting of a beastman is connected to Meruru’s sister.
There was a good possibility that the two beastmen seen in the two places were different individuals.
No, rather, it’s more likely that it was witnessed in a contrasting situation during a similar time.
I understand that Meruru pursued the rumors of the Suin tribe sighting and conducted the investigation alone at night.
Anyway, it means that monsters also appear in this forest, so I should be more cautious of my surroundings and go check it out.
Damn it, it’s too dark now, I can’t even tell if there are any marks on the ground.
In this state, it’s impossible to track Meruru’s traces.
I thought about attaching flames to my sword and using it as a torch, but that was too risky.
After obtaining strange magic in Einblad, I couldn’t properly control the magic.
The moment I create flames of magic on my sword to light up the surroundings, the flames might spread uncontrollably to the nearby forest, regardless of my will.
If I don’t solve this problem someday, it will be a headache.
Perhaps it was too much to track Meruru alone.
Should I go back to the guild and gather people to come back?
Just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly saw a firelight in the distance of the forest.
It was quite far away, but it was clearly visible due to the darkness that settled around.
Come to think of it, I learned this from the military.
Be cautious even when lighting a cigarette in the darkness.
In pitch-black darkness, even a small light is more visible than you think.
The distance was quite far, but judging by the size of the firelight, someone had definitely lit a bonfire or something.
In this situation where it’s becoming harder to chase after Meruru’s traces anyway, it was necessary to check it out once.
“Shari.”
I called Shari in a soft voice.
“Hey, can you see that light over there? Can you go take a look and come back?”
Upon my request, Shari swiftly flew into the darkness and disappeared.
And before Shari returned, I also moved closer in the direction of the light.
After a moment, Shari returned from her reconnaissance and unfolded the scenes in my mind.
* * *
On the erected carriage was a narrow iron window just big enough for a person to squeeze into.
And inside that window, the beastkin girl, Meruru, was trapped, huddled up with a gag in her mouth.
It’s strange, I thought.
Unoa had said that if she wore the robe she gave her, no one would recognize her as a slave.
And that had always been the case.
In the center of Kuber, many people knew Meruru, and there was a guild, so it didn’t matter.
But when she ventured out of Kuber like this, Meruru always wore that old robe that Unoa had given her.
Of course, there was also a clean robe that Unoa had bought for her just before she became a receptionist, and other clothes that Tina had given her.
But whenever she ventured out of Kuber alone to investigate various places, Meruru always wore that old robe.
Because it was the robe that Unoa had given her, covering her ears and tail, she had an unfounded belief that she would be safe even when she went far outside the city.
A superstition of her own making.
Meruru could never have imagined that this strange belief would lead her into this situation.
“hehehehe! After causing a ruckus in two cities in a row, who would have imagined such luck! Who would have even thought that there would be a beastkin wandering lost in this forest?”
“You seem to be in a good mood, Sauld.”
“Of course, I’m overjoyed! Hey! Do you know how much a beastkin as pretty as her can fetch? Even the beastkin I sold for 50 gold in the past was so ugly that you couldn’t even tell if they were animals or something, but this one is worth calling a fortune!”
Underneath his nose, a man with thin, long beard shouted as he drank alcohol in front of a bonfire.
And right in front of him, a man who appeared to be his subordinate wiped his palms and prepared to fill the glass with alcohol.
Sauld, the slave trader.
He traveled around the kingdom’s cities, kidnapping and selling slaves that would fetch a high price.
While passing through various villages on his way west, he discovered Meruru here.
His job was to gather slaves that would sell well from all over the continent, go to the trading post in the capital city of Pifnel, and sell them.
The underground waterways of Pifnel formed the largest slave market on the continent.
The guests who visited there were diverse, including influential people of Pifnel, nobles, and even corrupt clergy.
But their common point was that they all had a lot of money.
The slave market, which included high-class customers, could make a lot of money once a deal was made.
Furthermore, Sauld was different from the mediocre slave traders that were scattered around.
“Indeed, you are correct, my brother! There is a reason why you said you would become the king of slave traders, overthrowing the Silver Adventurer! I will trust and follow only Sauld hyung!”
In response to his subordinate’s flattering words, Sauld lightly tapped his subordinate’s head with an empty glass.
“Hey! It’s not Silver, it’s just before Gold. It’s not that I couldn’t become one, I just didn’t want to. If I had the determination, I would have made a name for myself as the greatest and strongest adventurer on the continent.”
“Oh! I apologize, hyungnim!”
“But you know, being an adventurer doesn’t pay. Haven’t you all realized at some point while rolling around in a guild or mercenary group that dangerous work doesn’t make any money? Even if you work hard, you can become an excellent slave trader like me, so watch and learn.”
“Yes! Hyungnim!”
Sauld smiled contentedly and drank his alcohol again.
This slave trader group, including Sauld, consisted solely of former adventurers.
That’s why, unlike other slave traders, they had their own combat power and were able to continue this work for a long time.
“Tsk, if it weren’t for that cursed boar, we would have arrived in the next village by now.”
Sauld looked at the cart carrying Meruru, trapped behind the iron bars, and spoke.
Originally, they had a carriage, but it was destroyed by a monster attack in this forest, and the horses died.
So, using the carriage parts, they made a makeshift cart to transport Meruru.
Once they reached the next village, Sauld planned to buy another carriage and head straight to the capital.
“Ugh, I’m tired. But… I’ve never seen such a pretty merfolk before. It would be a waste to just sell her.”
“I’ve never seen one either, sir!”
“How about we play with her a little? It’s also a job to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the merchandise.”
“Sir! May I touch her a bit too?”
As soon as his subordinate spoke, an empty drinking glass flew towards his head.
“You idiot! Of course, you can’t. Well, it’s fine to just look. It’s not like anything will happen from seeing her naked.”
“Thank you, sir!”
With flushed cheeks from the alcohol, Sauld slowly turned towards the iron bars where Meruru was trapped.
Meruru heard their conversation and trembled, bowing her head deeply.
* * *
Finally, they found Meruru.
Among the scenes Shari showed them were people who appeared to be slave traders, drinking while sitting around a bonfire, and the sight of Meruru trapped behind the iron bars.
“Hmm, so that’s how it is…”
It was fortunate that they found her before it was too late.
For some reason, the iron bars that held Meruru were not on a proper carriage but on a shoddy cart.
If they had been a proper carriage-driving slaver, they might have gone too far and been late.
According to Shari’s information, there were seven members in the slaver group: one who seemed to be the leader and six subordinates.
In total, seven of them.
They all had their own weapons, but they were just slavers at best.
They wouldn’t be a match for me, an adventurer.
As I approached the campsite, my footsteps became faster and I drew my sword, starting to run.
And as soon as I arrived at the campsite.
“hehehehe!”
“Ooowoo! Ooowoo!”
Along with the unpleasant laughter of the man who looked like a slaver, an incredible sight unfolded.
They were pulling Meruru out of the iron bars and tearing off her clothes.
Meruru, with a bit in her mouth, couldn’t resist properly and her clothes were being torn off.
It was pitiful to see her weakly folded ears and her attempts to free herself by wriggling her limbs.
I immediately rushed forward and forcefully kicked the perverted slaver who was clinging to Meruru.
Thunk!
“Ugh!”
The slaver was hit by my kick and made a strange sound as he rolled on the ground twice before collapsing.
I immediately stood in front of Meruru, protecting her.
“What, what is it!”
“Sauld, are you okay, sir?”
Saul, the perverted slave merchant, straightened up and glared at me.
“What are you, all alone?”
“……”
I didn’t answer and tightened my grip on the sword.
It felt strange to fight someone who wasn’t a monster, and the thought of cutting them all down with my sword brought up a strange sense of reluctance.
Should I just disable them all and hand them over to the guild?
As I was thinking that, Saul burst into laughter.
“hehehehe! An adventurer, huh? Ah, I see. You must have taken a commission from those merfolk. But to come here alone, you’ve got some guts. We’re not merchants who would be intimidated by adventurers.”
“Saul, sir! You’re looking well! You’re truly amazing, sir! What should I do with this brat?”
“What should you do? Get rid of him!”
As soon as Saul gave the order, his subordinates surrounding me all charged at me at once.
I immediately infused my sword with magic and swiftly parried their weapons.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
After a few consecutive metallic sounds, all the weapons that clashed with my sword broke and flew away.
There were many openings, and I could have easily slit their throats multiple times, but for now, it seemed better to just neutralize them one by one with a punch.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Ugh… Gwak….”
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“Urgh….”
The weapons broke, and the guys who were punched in the stomach knelt down, making sounds as if they were about to vomit.
Some of them even ended up spewing out dirt onto the ground.
Those guys, who had lost their strength in their legs, couldn’t get up and attack again.
Now, only that guy Sauld is left.
After quickly taking care of his subordinates, I stared at Sauld.
Then, Sauld raised his sword and charged at me.
Swish!
I blocked Sauld’s sword just like I did with the others.
“Hmm?”
But this guy’s sword doesn’t break.
That means Sauld also infused significant power into his sword.
“Die!”
Twisting the trajectory of the sword he clashed with, Sauld aimed to stab my chest.
I quickly moved my body back and narrowly avoided the attack.
Normally, I wouldn’t have been hit by such an attack, but I didn’t expect the opponent to use this level of power.
It was my mistake for being too careless.
I made a mistake thinking that just because the opponent is a slave trader, they wouldn’t possess strong magic power like an adventurer.
Why does this guy have such talent but chooses to be a slave trader instead of an adventurer?
But now that I’ve avoided the attack once, I won’t let it happen again.
The magic power contained in Sauld’s sword was as impressive as that of most silver-ranked adventurers, but it felt far insufficient against me.
I’ll finish this in one go.
I took a step forward to subdue Sauld.
But at that moment.
Boom!
A mysterious black shadow fell rapidly behind Sauld from the sky.
Then, with the sound of tearing flesh, Sauld’s head flew off, spraying blood everywhere.
Sauld’s body, suddenly without a head, slumped forward weakly.
What on earth just happened?
Is it a demon?
As Sauld’s body fell, the identity of the black shadow behind him was revealed.
There was a woman who resembled a fox, with pointed ears and a full tail.
She wore a lightweight fur outfit that barely covered her chest and lower body, exuding an immense wildness.
“A werewolf?”
* * *