67. Raid on the Slave Market (3)

As she sniffled with a pained heart, he smiled reassuringly and turned around. Then he removed his mask and shouted loudly. Now that the raid on the secret auction house had begun, Darius needed to command the soldiers.

“Secure the safety of the traded slaves and don’t let any of these lawbreakers escape!”

“Y-you bastards! Do you know who I am, putting your hands on me! You lowly northern scum!”

“Yes, yes, the king of these lowly northern people is ordering us to arrest you right now. We’ll escort you to prison with the utmost courtesy.”

The guests who had been entranced by the mermaid’s song slowly began to regain their senses.

A new commotion broke out as the vile crowd who had just been chanting “mermaid, mermaid” panicked at the ropes binding their bodies.

“You there, didn’t you boast that this auction house would be safe even if monsters attacked?”

“Eeeeeek!”

The secret auction house staff who tried to escape while abandoning their customers in the chaos were also captured on the spot.

New anger was added to the place that had been filled only with the sorrow of slaves.

“You crazy bastards! How dare you tie me up like a filthy slave!”

“Gag that mouth.”

Darius flicked his eyebrow. Only after stuffing cloth into the mouths of customers who couldn’t accept the new reality did the situation somewhat settle down.

Meanwhile, Barbarossa swaggered around, thoroughly emptying the customers’ pockets.

“Dear customers, we’ll be confiscating your illegal funds.”

“Mmmmph!”

“Thank you, we’re even more grateful!”

‘That born scoundrel. Thank you. I’ll give you some pocket money later.’

Sir Lucion was looking at distant mountains as if in pain, deliberately ignoring Barbarossa’s looting.

“Sir Lucion, how did you know to put cotton in your ears?”

Even I, who was present at the scene, was helplessly entranced without knowing what would happen when the mermaid sang.

When they raided the auction site, all the soldiers had cotton in their ears without exception, allowing our troops to handle the situation smoothly without confusion.

“If you hadn’t thought of that, something truly terrible would have happened. You were really quick-witted.”

“Ah, that.”

“Mmmmmph!”

At that moment, the bound customers wailed as if trying to answer.

Ah, right. We were still in the middle of cleaning up.

“I’ll tell you later.”

When Darius just nodded his chin, Sir Lucion removed the cloth that had been stuffed into the mouth of a man who had been particularly disruptive.

“Cough, cough! You wretched Inkheart bastards!”

“Well, well. An unexpected person.”

A sneer spread across Sir Lucion’s face as he removed the hood and confirmed the man’s identity.

“My lord, Count Fairy from the capital has come all this way. The one who spat in our faces saying that his moral standards had hit rock bottom, so he’d look after slave traders.”

“Eek! You think you’re something by capturing me!”

“Ah.”

Darius swung his scabbard. Whack.

“……I didn’t mean for you to hit him.”

“Hit him?”

Darius said calmly.

“I simply gave a small warning to someone arrested in an illegal slave auction house not protected by Inkheart’s laws.”

“Hmm, when you put it that way, it seems like a very trivial matter.”

Sir Lucion changed his perspective and then joined Darius in kicking Count Fairy.

“A country bumpkin lord from nowhere! How dare you lay hands on a real nobleman’s body!”

“There have been rumors that Count Fairy believes in black magic and buys human hearts, but I never expected to confirm noble family gossip here.”

“That’s an interesting story. Should we spread it throughout the empire? It would spread very quickly if we borrowed the mouths of mercenaries traveling from territory to territory.”

Barbarossa snickered.

“For a long time, we in the North have tried very hard to eradicate the slave industry, but because of pigs like you, we couldn’t root it out, and the industry has been running smoothly. I think it would be good for you all to experience that position today.”

You think you’re something by capturing me?

Of course we are.

It felt incredibly satisfying to arrest and force to their knees the nobles who had been so arrogant in the capital.

They confirmed the identities of the customers and methodically recorded their crimes. As the situation regarding punishment seemed to be wrapping up, the next step was liberating the illegal slaves.

「You can remove the cotton now.」

To free the beast-people, they needed to be cautious of the mermaid’s singing. As she was looking for something to block her ears more tightly before approaching the mermaid, Sylphid spoke.

「I’ll talk to them. There should be someone who understands my voice.」

Although beast-people rarely communicated with humans, those with high spirit sensitivity could converse with spirits, so Sylphid sought out such beast-people to explain the situation.

Of course, he expressed sympathy for their unfortunate capture by slave traders and explained that the newly arrived humans were trying to overturn this slave market and free the slaves.

“Inkheart feels sorry for all of you. It may be difficult to trust humans again, but if you need support to forget these painful memories, please say so. We will always do our best.”

Darius, who had been watching me communicate with the beast-people through Sylphid, suddenly said,

“Please convey this as well.”

“He says so.”

I asked Sylphid with a playful smile.

That’s when it happened.

Splash, splash. The beautiful mermaid trapped in the large tank showed her face again.

The mermaid opened and closed her lips.

「The child of water says she’s sorry for almost hurting you earlier.」

Sylphid lent his voice on behalf of the mermaid.

「She says she will return the favor for not letting you lose faith in a species.」

The mermaid took out a jewel from among her rainbow-colored scales. It was an opaque raw stone resembling an hourglass.

「This is a promise between merfolk and humans. Mermaids will not harm humans. Humans must also not harm mermaids. As long as humans do not harm mermaids in the name of Inkheart, mermaids will trust human goodwill.」

Swoosh.

The mermaid shook the water droplets from her tail. Despite her elegant appearance, her attitude seemed quite playful.

Darius and I being peace ambassadors between humans and merfolk? That’s a heavy responsibility.

Like inheriting the Earth, protecting the environment, or some campaign like that.

* * *

Aaron, the little boy sold at the slave market, was unconsciously rubbing his reddened wrist. Usually, the slave traders kept his arms bound, but today, for some reason, they had freed them, saying he “needed to make a good impression on someone.”

His wrists hurt where the bindings had chafed, and the freedom felt strange, so Aaron kept touching the wounded area.

“If anyone asks, make sure to say you’re sixteen. If you answer wrong, I’ll break your arm.”

Not only that, the slave traders had firmly instructed Aaron. Aaron’s actual age was thirteen, which according to Inkheart regulations meant he couldn’t be sold as a slave.

But such principles being upheld for slaves was a luxury.

‘The food today is good too.’

Aaron’s eyes widened.

During the time the slave trader kept him, even the porridge given just to keep him alive sometimes didn’t appear.

But today, suddenly all three meals were provided, and the quality was good.

‘I should hide one piece of bread.’

Aaron had family who had been sold with him.

“Everyone, attention!”

Thud. Aaron’s hand froze as he secretly slipped bread under his clothes.

Roll, roll.

The round bread rolled under the table and stopped at the slave trader’s feet.

The slave trader looked at Aaron with a face turning red and blue, as if asking what he was doing at this important moment.

I’m going to get hit!

Anticipating the familiar violence, Aaron tightly closed his eyes.

However, what he heard was not the slave trader’s punch but an angelic, gentle voice.

“There’s plenty of bread, so eat another piece instead of that dirty one.”

I’m not… getting hit?

Aaron carefully opened his eyes. Amidst the slaves who had all stood up with stiff faces during their meal, a woman was entering with a bright smile.

“Ah, but it’s a shame to waste edible food. You eat this.”

The woman roughly brushed off the dirt from the bread Aaron had dropped and offered it with a nonchalant face.

“You’re not eating? It’s a waste.”

“Ah, no……”

“This is bread offered by the lord’s wife, after all.”

The slave trader couldn’t refuse and reluctantly ate the bread given by the woman.

The slave trader’s face hardened as he chewed the bread with sand in it.

“This is the meal eaten by slaves you care for as if they were your own children, right? It would be a waste to throw it away just because it fell.”

Crack. A tooth-grinding sound was heard, perhaps from accidentally biting on sand.

Aaron found this scene fascinating. The slave trader now eating dirt-covered bread with a face like he was eating excrement had been particularly cruel to female slaves.

“Are you hungry? You’re staring at someone else eating.”

“Yes.”

The slave trader’s eyes widened at Aaron’s answer.

“Ah, no. I’m not… hungry.”

“Hmm, do you always have meals like this?”

Gulp. Aaron could now understand why the slave traders had been so insistent about being careful with their words and treatment, better than usual.

“Yes, yes.”

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen, ma’am.”

“Who are you trying to deceive right now?”

This question wasn’t asked by the woman.

“Darius, you’re scaring the child.”

One of the men who had come with the woman asked, and he too was dressed more luxuriously than anyone Aaron had ever seen.

Aaron immediately lowered his eyes.

“Well, they say it’s because I couldn’t eat properly while growing up.”

Aaron answered in a shrinking voice. The slave trader had prepared an answer for this question.

“But you just said you have meals like this every day. The portions look plenty generous.”

The woman still asked Aaron with a gentle smile.

“Did you not eat properly while growing up, or was the food terrible? Ah, while I’m asking, I’d also appreciate an explanation about those wounds on your arm. Everyone seems to have wounds on their arms.”

“He’s skinny because he’s a picky eater! We try to feed him well, but he doesn’t eat…ugh!”

“The lady didn’t ask you.”

The woman’s gaze, which had been kind, turned cold the moment she looked at the slave trader. It was a gaze like looking at a bug.

Eek.

Aaron hiccupped at the temperature difference.

“Would you like to talk with me? I’m curious about how you ‘really’ lived here.”

The story they heard after completely separating Aaron from the slave trader was surprising.