While riding through the town's stone-paved paths, the carriage was surrounded by laymen, merchants, and even children. They cheered in an uproar at the mere sight of Snow's familiar face.
'This town is saved' some hollered, 'Guide us young lord' the others prayed.
"They're all so excited to see you well, master Snow," Asuka smiled looking back at Haruki.
However, his attention was taken by something else entirely. Gazing through the carriage windows, he had picked up on something slightly dubious. From what he's been told, slave trade was a punishable offense in the dukedom of Laria and yet amongst the bystanders, there were many people who held onto chains binding demi-human slaves.
"If slave trade is banned, then why do we have slave in this town?" Haruki mumbled to himself.
"M-master?" Askua's tone clearly reflected her confusion.
'Slave trade being banned doesn't mean people can't bring in their slaves from other towns.' Snow's answer left Haruki slightly annoyed.
'Then what's the point of banning the trade?' He questioned.
'An outright ban is harder to implement and the people who already own slaves might end up revolting.' While Snow's logic was sound, and yet Haruki still wasn't convinced.
"Never mind, I remember now," He let Askua know so as to drive her confusion away.
The very next instant, the carriage began to slow down before halting completely.
"We're by the gates, young master," announced the coachman.
Haruki reached for the door handle to step outside, but Asuka instinctively grabbed it before he could open it.
"Ekk! No! I-I mean, let the guards open the door." She seemed genuinely terrified by the fact that Haruki was about to get the door himself, but giving it a brief thought he understood why she would be worried.
"Okay," he replied and a moment later a few of the guards escorted them out of the carriage.
"Please follow us," One of them advised as they surrounded him from all sides.
After a nearly successful assassination attempt, the extensive security made perfect sense. In fact, both Haruki and Snow would've been extremely suspicious if the security level remained unchanged.
"There's no need to worry about your safety master Snow, each one of these men are rank B at the minimum," The guard who seemed to be in charge of the battalion declared proudly.
"I wish I can increase my rank from D soon," Asuka blabbered, not realizing that she was speaking out loud.
Following the guards, they finally reached the town's gate. The whole dukedom of Laria was encased inside a mountain tundra, and thus to protect the villagers from the spine-chilling cold, they had boxed the habitable place inside gigantic stone walls. After passing through a small gate right beside the main one, Haruki was led outside.
There he noticed a long line of carriages dragging behind them blanketed cages. And at the very front of it, was yet another carriage even more extravagant than the one Haruki had travelled in. Holding her dress up with pinched fingers, a beauty of a woman dislodged the front carriage. Her long auburn hair bounced with each step she took towards them, and her glaring red eyes resembled a ripened cherry.
Untying a lace over her bountiful breasts, she heaved a relieved sigh as their weight subsided. Handing the lace over to a servant following her, she stood in front of Haruki and the guards.
"Are you done flaunting your chest?" The leader of the guards growled at her.
"Why don't you try chastising your body with formal clothes and tell me if you can wear them all day?" Giving him a sharp look a devilish smirk appeared on her face. "Oh wait, you're just a guard who can't even afford a haircut without the kingdom's subsidy."
"That's enough!" Haruki interjected, or so he thought at least. "Sir Michael is supposed to be here anytime soon, I don't wish to waste more time than I have to."
While the words came out of his own mouth, it seemed Snow was the one talking. Somehow, after that long-winded silence, he had managed to save up enough energy to take back some control of his body.
"Very well, young duke," She bowed, lifting her dress a bit as formality. "I'm Moriyana Malice, a generational slave trader, and I feel gratefully humbled to meet you."
'With a last name like malice, how can anyone trust this woman?'
"What's your business here? Slave trade is a punishable offense in Laria," Snow replied in a commanding voice.
The woman seemed unaffected and simply returned a smile directed at him. Turning around, she held her right arm directed towards the cages.
"I know, young duke, however, my slaves are tired from a long journey and they are in desperate need of respite," Turning to Snow once again, she kept up the facade of innocence. "You wouldn't turn them away now, would you? Some of these slaves are a lot younger than your own."
Saying that last part, her vision shifted toward Asuka. Just from those words, Haruki could feel Snow's blood steaming from anger.
"Move along," He replied with a deep frown on his face.
"You'd be signing the death of at least a dozen of my commodities," The smile on her face faded in an instant. "Or is that something you can't care less about? You know, just the way your father did."
The guards drew their swords and held them to her neck. As if it was a regular occurrence to her she rolled her eyes before brushing off the blades with the back of her hand.
"Your inaction is your biggest crime, banning slave trade in your territory while knowingly ignoring everywhere else doesn't make you a moral person," Squinting her eyes, she glared at Snow with her razor-sharp gaze.
"I couldn't care less for the words of a criminal," Snow shot back trying to shoo her away.
'Why not let them in? If they really will die, then what's stopping you?' Haruki's question to Snow was left unanswered.
"You really wanna know?" replied Moriyana, leaving both Haruki and Snow in a state of shock.
Holding her hand in front of him, Moriyana offered Snow a handshake. The twist in the conversation confused the guards. And when Haruki tried to shake her hand, he realized that Snow's influence over the body seemed to have taken over.
'What the hell are you doing?!' Haruki's consciousness began to float away.
'I'm not a hypocrite, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!' Snow's reply left Haruki dumbfounded.
"Very well then," As soon as those words trailed out of her lips, Haruki's mind completely slipped away. The very last thing he felt before disappearing was Moriyana' s fingers wrapping around his fist. "Let me show you, your purpose, your memories, the reason for your hate, and the desire for revenge. Don't you wanna know, oh woeful warrior?"