Dulcuddle.
The carriage rattles and rolls.
Another carriage trip. The only difference this time is that I didn't take a carriage enchanted with an anti-rocking enchantment to save money.
The second is that Mirabelle, who was sitting across from me, staring at the ground, is now perched on my thigh.
Even when I told her to sit more comfortably, she absolutely stuck to this position. I don't know if it's because she's comfortable or because I can cuddle her.
I wrap my arms around her slender waist and hold her like a teddy bear, while I suck up all of her ingredients.
Meanwhile, Mirabelle was making the most efficient use of her time, flipping through the Soul Tome to learn magic.
I wondered how she was learning magic.
I was curious.
"Do you know what you're looking at?"
"Well, when you look at it, the knowledge flows into your brain and you realize it on its own. Just like when you look at an apple, you realize, "This is an apple." When you look at magic, you realize, "This is this kind of magic."
"And that's how you learn to romanize?"
"When you look at an apple, you can draw it, right? It's the same thing. You draw the knowledge of magic in your head, and then the magic comes out."
I'm not a magical person, but I know that's not normal.
Not every drawing of an apple is the same.
If I draw it, it's just a red color and a spigot, but somebody else will add dimensionality and contrast.
It takes work to get to that point. But Mirabelle skips the process and draws an apple that looks exactly like the one in the photo.
"Does that make sense?
Even though I want to, it's a classic. The game is a skill book, and it's easy to learn, it just takes a minimum amount of time.
"But, master, what does this have to do with getting revenge on him?"
"It interferes with the soul, which means it can cause infinite pain even after the other person is dead."
"Aha. I see, master."
Mirabelle nods, satisfied with the simple explanation. Then she turns back to her book and begins to learn the spell with more enthusiasm than before.
You're serious about bullying Dad.
Well, anything is good if you try hard enough.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here~"
The carriage pulls to a stop, and the coachman announces our arrival. I get out of the carriage with Mirabelle in my arms.
"Well, here we are. Destination Fraxhoe."
With a voice and gestures packed with exaggeration, I showed Mirabelle the sights of the city.
At that moment. Mirabelle's mouth opened tiny, her eyes dizzily fluttered, and the hand that held the Celestial Oath trembled.
Far from admiration, it was more like panic.
Her lips twitched, and she blurted out the words.
"My lord, this is...."
"I've been informed that this is Miss Mirabelle's father, he must be around here somewhere, but... what's with the look on your face?"
I said in a smarmy tone, trying to sound sophisticated. Meanwhile, the corner of my mouth twitches uncontrollably at the response I've been waiting for.
"Of course. You're surprised. Of course you're surprised.
Here.
This is where Mirabelle was abandoned by her father.
***]
I walked with Mirabelle into Fraxue.
Mirabelle, who used to hold my hand as we walked, now clung to me like a stick of gum. At the slightest sign of movement, she snapped and turned her head, showing signs of anxiety.
The trauma of the day had kicked in, so much so that I bought a brown robe from a clothing store and dressed Mirabelle in it.
As if that wasn't enough, Mirabelle begged to be held, and I did. Mirabelle wrapped her arms and legs tightly around my neck and waist.
We walked through the plaza.
Two rotting skeletons were on display in a crowded area. They must have been capital criminals.
We passed them and found the slave market.
Slaves screaming in cages.
Slaves in shackles and handcuffs being moved in rows.
Slaves being beaten for rebelling.
Slaves being stripped naked and baptized with water.
It's a scene straight out of a fictional slave market, and it's quite disturbing to modern eyes. I'm synchronized with a slave trader, so I feel right at home.
As I wander around, a woman approaches me.
"What brings you to the slave market?" she asks.
"I'm here to run a few errands."
Our gazes meet.
I recognize the woman, but not for the first time. A familiar face.
I mean, this woman. She's the slave trader NPC from Fraxu who tells me more about the story of Mirabelle's liberation.
I'm pretty sure her name is Camilla, right?
"Oh, no, she's a business partner~"
Camilla, on the other hand, doesn't give you any details, but you guess her occupation right away.
Slave traders are connected by a collar, so I can tell just by looking at her eyes: 'Ah, you bastard. You're a slave trader, with that greedy look in your eyes.
"What brings you here, selling or buying?"
I looked at Mirabelle, who was hugging me like a koala with greedy eyes as she said these words.... I was about to say something, but I held it back.
"Haha, it's an attachment doll or something, so I'm not selling it, I'm just here to look at it. Oh, excuse me, I'm like this."
I held out my Slave Traders' Guild ID to Camilla. Camilla's pupils dilate momentarily as she takes it.
"You must be the rumored slave reaper! I've heard so much about you, I'm a huge fan."
"Haha, thank you."
I'm popular around here, after all.
"I love that one, the one where he built a tower of a hundred men and set them on fire, creating a tower of flames. And the flames reached the moon?"
What are you talking about?
Only a madman would do such an atrocity.
"And what else?" Oh, right. I heard you stole Count Briaan's daughter recently."
"Huh?"
"You pretended to return her, but you only took the heirloom. Wow, you're really something. That's not easy to do against a nobleman."
No, I didn't.
I'm pretty sure I saw the emotional hug between her parents.
"I heard that caused a stir at Count Brienne's. Be careful. He's got a bounty on your head. If it was anyone else, I'd call the Templars right away, but they won't report you because you're a partner. Slave traders stick together."
Camilla rambled on and on about things we didn't know. I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding right away, but there was an urgent matter at hand.
"Thank you for the information, but we've gotten sidetracked, and I have a question for you."
I handed Camilla a silver coin. It's basic common sense that if you want information on this floor, you have to pay for it.
"What is it? I'll tell you what I know."
"A few months ago, there was a big incident in Fraxho, wasn't there?"
"There are cases every day, everywhere. What, like what?"
"Well, for example, a man sold his daughter, a witch, into slavery?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, Camilla gave me a slave trader's smirk.
She stares at me with snake-like eyes that seem to see right through me. His voice is low.
"How did you know that, you're one of the few people in Fraxu who knows that."
I don't answer, just give her a meaningful smile.
Camilla soon realized what I meant and returned the silver coin I had given her. Only then did I give her the answer she wanted.
"Why not find out? Carrying a witch around with you could get your head blown off, and as a slave trader, that's information you shouldn't need to know."
"...You're right. Hah, I panicked and lost money."
Camilla puckered her lips as if she'd been defeated.
It's my money, bitch.
"But why is that? It's not really a topic I want to bring up."
"What do you think happened?"
"Don't even talk about it. Someone reported a sighting of a witch being sold to a slave trader, so the Templars swooped in and snatched up the girl slaves, and you know that girls, especially children, sell for more."
"Of course I know."
"But they've been threatening to execute us for witchcraft if we refuse, and we can't stop them, and they've been treating us so badly, and when we get them back, none of them are normal, and do you have any idea how much we've lost?"
Camilla frowned, as if she were having a terrible nightmare.
"So what happened? Did you find him?"
"I found it, yes. Among the slaves. They had a public execution in the square. You saw it on the way here."
Camilla said nothing more.
She flicked a gold coin at her, this time, and Camilla deftly caught it.
"Oh, a gold coin. But why this one?"
"More of what I'm hiding."
"You're hiding something? That's all you have?"
I didn't answer, just gave her a modest smirk and made eye contact. Camilla responded with a similar smirk, but it didn't last long.
"Wow...you're not a slave reaper in form, I'm really impressed with what you just did, how do you know?"
After muttering those words, Camilla whirled around and whispered in my ear.
"It's top secret...but I'm lying when I say I found it, because one of the slaves taken by the Templars never came back."
"Isn't she a witch?"
Camilla shook her head furiously.
"Her adventurer parents died on an expedition, and she was enslaved for stealing bread, so she could never be a witch."
"You're switching."
"Sort of. People would be uneasy if they knew they'd missed a witch, and the Templars' honor would be in tatters."
In other words, they'd use a slave for show, someone they wouldn't mind killing.
"And the real witch?"
"I don't know about that. There's more than one slave trader in the world. She could be hiding somewhere in the city, or she could have gotten out. Anyway, end of story. I got more than my money's worth, honestly."
He flicked another gold coin at Camilla, who turned away, not wanting to talk anymore. It must have been a blind spot, but she snatched it up like a money-crazed ghost.
"One more question," she said.
"You're very generous. What is it?"
"Do you know if the witch's father is still alive?"
Camilla smirked at the question.
It was also mocking.
"You're surprisingly resourceful, wasting money on something so obvious."
Camilla turns her head and looks back down the path we've taken.
"It's always one, says the one who cloaks the witch."
*** The
The end of the commonly known story of Mirabelle's liberation.
We've already passed it. Despite knowing everything, I deliberately stopped at the slave market to draw out the story.
"You can hear the narrative for a gold coin, and you put up with this?
There were no voices except for the main character.
Full dubbing would have been too expensive.
It was just text, but if you give me a coin, you can hear the voice of the character. I couldn't resist.
Well, this was partly to fulfill my selfishness, and partly to let Mirabelle, who was hiding but keeping her ears open, catch up with the story.
"Now she knows what she needs to know.
It's dawn, the sun has set, and even the lanterns are out.
I stood in the central square with Mirabelle in my arms. The square, which had been bustling with activity at this hour of the night, was dead silent.
In the center of the square, on a tall pillar, two skeletons were displayed.
The smaller one was that of a slave girl who, the slave trader said, had died playing the part of a witch.
The side of such a skull.
Black eye sockets filled with endless darkness. Mouths closed tightly, as if holding unspeakable secrets.
A small plaque at the base of one such skull read.
-Hiding a witch, a traitor-.