Arc 22: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Chapter 195: The Curse and the Slaver’s s.h.i.+p
After that, we leave the dungeon after that. I then take all three kidnappers and transport them to the castle’s prison by myself.
I will obviously stand out no matter what if I bring those adventurers through the transition gates. If the compatriots of the slave merchants see them, they would escape with their respective s.h.i.+p, which would be troublesome.
I also contact Rerisha-san and report to her the details of this matter. Of course, those three will have their registrations erased aside from their guild cards being confiscated. From now on, they won’t be able to register again even if they use aliases. They’re out of the adventurer’s business.
The punishment from the adventurer’s guild goes till there. From here on out, they will be punished by the country.
They have been trapping new adventurers who don’t know anything and selling them off to slave merchants after depriving these adventurers of everything. This is considerably a serious crime. By the way, the punishment for this crime would without a doubt be the death penalty if we apply the laws of Regulus.
There’s no death penalty in Brunhild however regrettable(?) it may be. Rather than saying there is none, it’s mainly because I haven’t created one. Now, while I’m worrying about what I should do, I recall an ancient magic that I read in [Library].
The magic of dark attribute is basically summoning magic, but in ancient times there were other magics of the dark attribute.
That magic is death magic that steals lives of others which is the opposite of recover magic from the light attribute.
Of course, it isn’t easy to make the other party die. Such magic demands the will force, vast quant.i.ties of magic power, and the skill from its user. To be honest, I feel that someone like me can do it, but I’m not very motivated to try it.
I’m not saying that I’ll use this death magic on those kidnappers. I’m talking about using another magic derived from that death magic.
The magics are part of the [Life Absorption], [Disease Outbreak], [Fear Conferment], and [Mental Confusion ] systems.
Those magics are [Curses] to say it simply. No, calling them [Curses] is an exaggeration, but rather, they’re more of a [Promise] to say it even more simple.
This magic is a kind of promissory magic similar to [~ you mustn’t do that] or [you have to do this~] kind of promise. A punishment will be given should the promise be broken in any kind of scenario. This is [Curse] magic. It has a pen name that is similar to [Make a pinkie promise and if you break the promise, you have to drink a thousand needles] kind of magic.
「Oh Darkness bind them, bestow punishment for their sins, Guilty Curse」
I invoke the curse on the three people inside the prison. The conditions are simple. [Do not commit crimes that can hurt people]. Each time they break this curse, even with small crimes, their fingers will be paralyzed one by one. Their arms will eventually be next one at a time, followed by their legs.They will then lose their five senses if they continue even further. The last one will be having their hearts paralyzed, and they will part from this world. If they commit big crimes then it’s a goodbye in one go.
Incidentally, this magic is similar to the [Enchant] type of bestowal magic wherein the effect will not disappear even if I die. In other words, the curse cannot be lifted.
I thoroughly tell the details of the magic bestowed on the trio. [Hurting people] doesn’t only mean physical abuse. It will still activate if they verbally abuse other people and those people get hurt deeply. The same will happen if they steal things and the owner will mourn his loss. Rejecting a woman’s confession will still cause the curse to be invoked should that woman be hurt deeply inside. There’s no leniency on what can trigger it.
I’ll have them shoulder that much responsibility even though it has turned into a capital punishment since their lives were saved. They have to try to become the best people that exist.
I believe it’s impossible to continue living without hurting others. Though it may be possible if they live self-sufficient lives in a secluded place. Only their lives will be saved by that however, but I would like them to think “I’m glad this country is different from the other countries like Regulus”’.
The trio who heard the contents of the punishment turned blue and couldn’t stand up. The pattern that’s the proof of the curse appears on their foreheads.
Fatty eventually rebukes Lanky saying that [We’re suffering like this because of you!]. A~ah, haven’t those guys heard the explanation just now?
「Uah!? Uah!? I-I can’t feel my finger! It’s not moviiiig!?」
Fatty sheds tears while pinching his finger. It’s obvious. You deeply hurt Lanky with what you’ve just said, and that’s the punishment~. (TL: Wow, this is worse than I imagined)
Well then, it’s about time I bid them farewell and banish them outside the country since they’ve seen the effect of the curse. That’s right… Shall I send them to Yuuron? I think those three may be able to receive sympathy from the people there because many people in that country say a lot of bad things about me.
I then transfer the trio to a suitable location in Yuuron with [Gate]. Alright! With this, one case is closed. Oops, I guess it’s not yet over, right? Now I have to do deal with the slave merchants.
========================Scene Change=====================
I head to the forest near the dungeon again while waiting for night time. There’s no excuse to the fact that I’ve made those four rookie adventurers wait in the forest till now. If the four of them, who should have been captured, were wandering around, I don’t know when or where would our coverup collapse.
I’ve left Rin with them just in case, so they likely won’t’ be attacked by magic beasts.
From there, I transfer everyone to the island where the slaver’s s.h.i.+p is being anch.o.r.ed with [Gate]. All four people were surprised at their first transfer.
「Now then, leave your weapons to me. It will be strange if someone who should’ve been caught still has their weapons, don’t you agree?」
As all four people obediently hand me their weapons, I put them temporarily in [Storage] and take out ropes and mouth gags in their place. I then bind the four with them. Of course, I tie them in such a way wherein it’s possible for them to immediately untie those ropes.
I then call out the summoned beast which looks like small house mouse and have that mouse hide inside Ropp’s pocket. I’ll also know to some extent the situation onboard with this setup.
I use [Mirage] for the final touches and change myself into one of the three that I’ve sent to Yuuron, the thin baldie. …This guy, by elimination, has the closest physique to mine…
「What do you think?」
「Exactly the same……. As expected of the King-sama, you are amazing……」
Ropp gives me his straightforward impression. I project the remaining two to my left and right in the same way with [Mirage].
The four of them bite at their own gags, and I make the illusions of Fatty and Lanky carry swords while standing behind them. It should look like as if the four of them are being threatened and taken away with this.
「What will you do, Rin? Would you like to be caught in the same way?」
「I’ll decline that. I’ll just keep watch so no one escapes from the s.h.i.+p」
Pola raises both her hands in a rolling pose. Alright, shall we then head to the slaver’s s.h.i.+p?
A s.h.i.+p is floating on the north bank of the island below a steep rock cliff while making sure to hide in the darkness.
Two boats are tied on a nearby beach. Near those boats are four men grilling fish while minding the bonfire. Three of the four people are slaves.
Those three robust men are probably battle slaves. The remaining one has protruding snaggleteeth on his lower jaw. He is somehow similar to a Kansai performer. We then start approaching these guys after leaving Rin and Pola behind in the forest.
「Ooh. Good job today as well. Four at once? You did your best, didn’t you?」
The man with snaggleteeth notices us and frivolously steps up toward us with a loose smile.
That man with snaggleteeth goes around us once while he appraises the four people tied by the ropes.
「Two gold coins for men, five gold coins for women. I’d say they cost this much」
「That’s fine. Give us the money」
「Huh? You ain’t gonna be haggling today?」
「We are in a bit of a rush」
Or rather, I may be exposed if I speak too much. However, did he just say 2 gold and 5 gold coins? The total cost will approximately be 200,000 and 500,000. Are they buying other’s’ lives for this much? These guys.
Later, they will probably sell them several times the price to a rich person. I receive the gold coins from the man with snaggleteeth who raises an unpleasant laughter. Then, I turn around and get away from that place.
I will end up beating him if I see that face once again.
I return to the forest where Rin is waiting and cancel [Mirage] returning to my original figure.
I expand my eyesight with [Long Sense], watch the four people as they finish eating the fishes, put a pair of captured adventurers on each boat, and start rowing off the coast.
「First of all, I guess I can say that infiltration has succeeded」
「I hope they get in touch with the other captured adventurers later though. How many people have you said that died?」
「There seems to be ten people after confirming it with Rerisha-san. Apparently, those whose guild cards that had been discovered in pools of blood were treated as dead. Umm, I think there was “four men and six women”?」
「There are a lot of women」
「Isn’t it because they are easier to catch and they can easily fetch more money? Every one of them seemed to be amateurs with a black rank」
I heard that rookie bullying is also present in the guild. The bullies forcibly make the newcomers join a party and use them as decoys to lure out magic beasts. They even take more than half of the newcomers’ rewards as the so-called tuition fee. Of course, the rookies who had that done to them leave the guild and reach the point where they hunt solo to avoid further troubles. It’s a disgusting story.
There’s always someone who looks down on beginners and newcomers in every world despite that they themselves were originally newcomers too.
Anyway, I hope all 10 people are safe. I don’t believe they’ve killed them because they can sell them as slaves. To call them “safe” because they haven’t been killed, it just means it’s yet to change.
I synchronize my vision with the house mouse I’ve made Rob hold onto. I can see the dim deck of the s.h.i.+p. It seems like they got on it safely.
Furthermore, my hearing has also been synchronized and I hear voices around them. By the way, synchronization only goes this far. I had tried to synchronize the taste once but it became a terrible experience. I didn’t want to know the taste of insects.
「Javel-sama. I have four people today」
「Hooho? Aren’t they quite good? Both men and women are young. They will likely sell at a high price」
The snaggleteeth, who brought the four along, approaches the plump man who is on the deck rubbing his hands. Apparently, this guy is the slave merchant.
He is wearing a woolen jacket, a silken obi wherein a dagger decorated with gold is hanging, a pair of curved shoes bending forward and something that looks like an unbalanced turban on his head. He looks like a fat bogus Sinbad the Sailor.
Javel, they say, huh? I’d say he’s a slave merchant from the Sandora Kingdom in eight or nine cases out of ten. And an illegal one to boot.
The Sandora Kingdom tentatively prohibits the kidnapping of other people to turn them into slaves even if they recognize slavery. Speaking of slaves, the people who become one are those who’ve committed crimes and those who’ve desired to be sold at their own volition.
However, that’s only their official stance and there are many ways one can fall down to be a slave. People who corner others through debts or make others commit a crime on purpose to drop the victim into slavery. There are even those who kidnap people without even batting an eye.
Nothing a person says will be recognized once that person has been degraded to the level of slave whether it’s because he knew what he was doing or was talked into it. He won’t be released from being a slave even if he makes noise about being kidnapped or being deceived.
「Come on, this way! Don’t be slow!」
Snaggleteeth is pulling the tied up Ropp and is leading the four people into the s.h.i.+p.
All four people are pushed into a narrow jail located in the bilge, the lowest level of the s.h.i.+p. There are two jails, one for men and one for women. Inside those are four men, and six women. They must be the kidnapped adventurers. Ropp’s group is divided as well and put in their respective jails.
Ropp, Clause, Fran and Ion turn to ask the names of everyone who has been placed in their respective jails together with them after confirming that snaggleteeth has left the bilge.
I was then able to confirm that all of them are safe since the kidnapped adventurers have told their names.
Some of them don’t feel good due to them losing their physical strength, but it looks like they didn’t receive any violent treatment for the time being.
「It looks like everyone is all right. If that’s true, I should be able to easily resolve this situation if I move all of them with [Gate] right now」
「You should allow these kids to stack up experience as well」
「Experience, you say… Even if it’s only about escaping from the s.h.i.+p?」
「Ara, it’s an important experience to prevent enemies from finding you out, to be watchful of your surroundings, and to act after confirming the state of affairs to a certain extent, you know?」
Rin smiles while talking. Well, she might be right.
Ropp’s group begin their preparations to escape while being inside the bilge. I’ve previously given each of them two items.
The first item is a small folding knife with 5 cm edge. Naturally, it’s not just an ordinary folding knife. They’ve been made from the crystal fragments of the Frazes. It’s a knife that can cut through anything. It will be a simple matter for them to escape if they have those knives.
The second item is a measuring tape about a meter length. If they pull it out and stretch it, they will be able to use it as a whip capable of applying the effects of [Paralysis] bestowed through [Enchant]. (TLC: A tape? seriously?) (Airs: Measuring tape he said… will it hurt for sure that one) (BlackSwordsman1721: I’ve seen my fair share of weird weapons, but a measuring tape?) (Kilroy: Mouth gags and now measuring tape? Touya sure does have some weird hobbies)
There are battle slaves inside this s.h.i.+p as well. There’s no chance for those four to succeed if they fight fair and square. Furthermore, even those battle slaves might have been made as subordinates against their own will.
Ropp’s group immediately cuts down the locks with the knives and slip out quietly from the jail so that they won’t make any noise.
「Now then, it’ll soon be my turn to act too, right? Doing so should make it easy for those kids to move too」
「Have fun」
I jump out of the forest after cutting off the synchronization with the house mouse and after Rin sends me off. Then, I extract Brynhildr while standing still above the slaver’s s.h.i.+p, load the cylinder with weak [Explosion] bullets instead of paralysis bullets, and charge them with bursting bombs (the weak version).
「Now then, shall I begin?」
I, having decided to aim at the mast of the slaver’s s.h.i.+p, then pull the trigger of Brynhildr.