60. Romance Fantasy Means Festival, Festival Means… (2)

Knock knock.

Around the time when the meeting was expected to run longer, a servant knocked from outside.

‘Who could it be?’

“Ahem.”

“Rose, please step outside for now.”

Everyone’s expressions became subtle, as if this was a pre-arranged appointment. Sir Lucion even sent Rose out with a somber face.

“Who’s coming that you had to send our lovely young lady out?”

“Grand Duke, this might be a bit uncomfortable for madam to hear……”

“That’s right. This person is not worth madam’s time.”

Someone muttered, avoiding my eyes. This was the first time I’d received such treatment.

“Excuse me?”

Creeeeak. The door opened.

“I’m deeply indebted to you again this year! Your Highness the Grand Duke, and everyone at Castle Inkheart.”

This happened before I could even ask who could possibly warrant such a reaction.

A man with a bright complexion hurriedly rushed into the meeting room. He had run in so hastily that beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

“I heard you’re going to stop our business. I couldn’t believe it. Haven’t we been doing well all this time? This profitable business!”

“You should know that we haven’t been allowing your ‘business’ all this time because we wanted to.”

“Is our development contribution to the territory insufficient? Slavery is absolutely necessary. All those who care about appearances think so.”

Wait a minute, slaves?

“Textile products made by slaves, agricultural products harvested by slaves—you live comfortably taking these while not understanding slave trading! Somewhere in the world, slaves exist. To say we must stop slave trading now! Let me tell you clearly, this is a decision you’ll regret.”

“Rigolus. You must have made a lot of money from slave trading all this time. Your tongue has grown fat.”

Darius blinked.

“Regret?”

He smiled.

“Just where do you think you are?”

Shing. The gathered knights simultaneously drew their swords from their scabbards. As about a hand’s width of the blade was revealed, Rigolus visibly flinched.

“Y-Y-Your Highness the Grand Duke! Turning a blind eye to slave trading within Inkheart has been a promise since your predecessor’s time!”

He shouted urgently.

“The North has always been a gathering place for slave traders due to its rough terrain! The kidnapping of territory residents, human trafficking damage caused by illegal slave traders! Weren’t all these resolved after our company officially took charge of slave trading!”

“True. After your company officially took charge of slave trading, cases of missing territory residents disappeared.”

“See! Legalized slave trading has many drawbacks……”

“I hope you didn’t cause those incidents and accidents to get permission.”

“W-what are you saying!”

The slave trader’s face turned red.

“I was young ten years ago, but not anymore. As you said, I remember my predecessor’s promise, which is why I’m letting you be. It was only a ten-year promise from the beginning, wasn’t it?”

“Ha!”

The slave trader named Rigolus sighed as if he truly couldn’t understand.

“Grand Duke, we don’t mind not doing business in the North anyway. That slave trading, I can’t hold my head up high anywhere doing it…… Yes, the money is good. So if I say I’m setting up a slave market in another territory, everyone would be desperate to bring it to their territory, wouldn’t they? But I’m saying I’ll stay here because I have an attachment to the North……”

Swish.

Not even the sound of a sword being drawn was heard. In the blink of an eye, Darius’s sword was in front of Rigolus’s eyes.

Cut hair fell to the floor.

“Urgh!”

“Haven’t you considered that I’m sparing you now because I also have a connection with you?”

“I’ll cut this man’s tongue. When his mocking tongue is gone, he might learn some manners.”

“He seems to have sold his manners along with selling slaves.”

Shing. Sir Daniel and Sir Lucion were drawing their swords from both sides. Tears welled up in Rigolus’s eyes from the trained killing intent of the knights.

Step by step, his feet gradually retreated.

“You’ll regret this. You’ll regret driving away this source of money!”

The slave trader left the room as hastily as he had entered. The only difference was that unlike when he entered proudly, his back was now slightly hunched.

“Slave trading?”

I, who had been like a borrowed sack of barley throughout, looked around at everyone.

“What is this all about?”

* * *

Evangeline covered her mouth at the atrocity before her eyes. People were being treated like animals.

“Someone please save us.”

“God, p-please save……”

“My goodness!”

Though she had been driven out from the temple, Evangeline was still a person who served God. Evangeline urgently grabbed and shook the rusty iron bars.

“Are you alright, brothers? How could this! Hey! Come here and look at this!”

“Hey, miss!”

The thug guarding the iron bars laughed at Evangeline.

“This is all business done with the territory’s permission. These aren’t pitiful people, they’re just slaves!”

“How can you buy and sell people with money?”

“Miss, you must not know because you don’t have money, but originally in this world, there’s nothing money can’t do.”

“Is money the issue?”

Evangeline gritted her teeth.

“Hahaha, are you going to buy all the slaves in this slave market? With that meager sense of justice?”

“Yes!”

The thug frowned. His expression showed he thought she was talking nonsense.

“If it’s money, I have it here! With this money, I’ll buy all the slaves here!”

Evangeline’s hands overflowed with gold coins. It was money she had wanted to use for the world, to help people, but had been at a loss as to how to spend.

“From now on, all these people are free citizens!”

Evangeline Stockwork’s eyes shone resolutely as she found a use for the massive amount of gold coins.

* * *

‘Ah, right. I remember now.’

How the slave market story unfolds in the original work.

“The North has been preferred as a slave market since ancient times because the harsh terrain makes it difficult for enslaved people to escape. After people began to outwardly despise the slave industry, the markets moved even more to the North to avoid their eyes.”

“Pushing everything they dislike to the North. An excellent example of the NIMBY effect.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. Please continue, Sir Lucion.”

“I don’t know what the NIMBY effect is, but anyway, since the largest slave market in the empire is held at the North’s harvest festival, this issue has been difficult to address since your predecessor’s time. If we considered slave trading illegal and punished it, the slave traders would certainly buy and sell people more secretly and covertly. And the kidnapping of northern people would be an added bonus.”

In the original work, Darius also treated the northern slave market issue as something that couldn’t be easily handled. Because of this, he was regarded as a cold-hearted Grand Duke by Evangeline, who despaired at the fact that people were suffering, causing conflict between them.

“The previous Grand Duke chose to place the slave market under the ducal family’s jurisdiction and manage it.”

The North is vast, which makes it easy to erase traces, but there are woefully insufficient soldiers to catch them.

“By defining who cannot be sold, he prohibited the trading of children and the elderly, and thoroughly verified how slaves came to the market to prevent slave trading through kidnapping.”

Thus, temporary legalization was chosen as the second-best option.

“In the legal slave market authorized by the ducal family, slaves cannot be whipped or killed arbitrarily.”

This was why Darius left the slave market alone in the original work, despite knowing about it. It was the best option at that time.

“In places within the ducal family’s sight, they conduct their business cleanly for all to see.”

Sir Lucion gave a bitter smile.

“The ten-year period promised by the previous Grand Duke ends this year. They want to extend it.”

Ah, I see.

There’s no benevolent Evangeline here to liberate the slaves.

But I have the massive amount of gold coins that Evangeline used to buy slaves. In the original work, Evangeline opened the treasury of the Grand Duke of Inkheart, and here, I opened it.

Huh? Wait. Gold coins? Don’t tell me they’re planning to use those gold coins to buy slaves again?

“No way!”

I shouted abruptly.

“What?”

“Pardon?”

Blink, blink. Sir Daniel and Sir Lucion blinked at my sudden outburst.

“The slave trader’s money!”

I exclaimed. How did Evangeline free the slaves in the original work? She emptied out all her gold coins to compensate the slave traders, saying that even their money was legally earned!

‘Evangeline, you fool! What legality or lawfulness is there in slave trading!’

I still remember how the Inkheart territory, which had shown signs of becoming wealthy due to Evangeline’s appearance, became poor again after purchasing all the slaves!

Of course, it’s good in the long run! Freeing slaves increases the population, tax revenue, and develops the territory! Territory residents with clean household registries through bulk purchase—naturally welcome from a lord’s perspective!

‘But where among romance fantasy slave traders is there a good one that you’d increase their wealth, huh?’

I can’t believe I forgot this massive financial loss, captivated by the wonderful scene of giving freedom to people who had never experienced it before.

“This is the last slave auction to be held in our territory this year?”

“Yes. But why did you suddenly mention Rigolus’s money?”

Darius, along with Sir Daniel and Sir Lucion, began to add explanations about Rigolus in a casual tone.

“That Rigolus won’t leave quietly even if we tell him to. He’ll claim the roads carriages travel on were paved by him and refuse to budge.”

“Even though he paved them to facilitate slave transport.”

“Exactly.”

“Since it’s dirty business, I’ve been thinking of giving him some money to get rid of him, roughly this amount should make him quietly……”

Riiiip!

As expected. I knew this would happen!

I intercepted the document heading toward Darius and tore it without even looking at it.