Lives

Huvel was displeased with the news he just received. Apparently, there was human trafficking in his territory. He did not hear anything related to such trade from the elder he subdued so the possibility homo trafficking taking place in his town did not cross his mind until then.

However, according to Karl's report, the soldiers led by Karl accidently discovered the warehouse where people who were about to be traded were kept.

"That elder did not mention anything about human trafficking when I interrogated him. It seems like this trade is not related to him." Huvel voiced out his thoughts.

"If Brandan did not say anything even to you, then it must be the elder from Blue Hippogriff Kingdom." Chance agreed with Huvel. "Slavery is basically legal there although it is strictly forbidden here."

"Hmm." Huvel looked up at him. "Who is this 'Brandan'?"

"…" Chance smiled awkwardly before he answered. "It was that elder you just spoke of. He is also the chief of 'Red Tree' Merchant Group in case you forgot it as well."

"So, it's his name." Huvel replied offhandedly. "Anyway, how many… people were held captive in that building?"

"There are eight people, detained in iron cages," answered Karl. "I left the soldiers there to stand guard outside the building and rushed here to report to you, master!"

Huvel nodded to Karl. "Well done. Human trafficking is a big crime in this kingdom. We can't let the news spread or else. Issue an order to the soldiers you led today to shut your mouth and bring those captives into the castle."

Karl was about to respond but Chance spoke up and interrupted him from doing so. "Master, although you can order them to shut their mouths, I'm afraid this matter would still get into others' ears. It would be hard to shut their mouths completely since the incident is too big. Why do you want to hide about this matter in the first place? Will it not be easier to punish the nobles involved in this matter after the investigation? And they would find fault with you later for not informing them despite knowing the matter."

"That won't do." Huvel replied. "If the palace gets the news, they would send people to investigate this matter. Then, everything about Boswel would be discovered by them and they will move me to another deserted town. It'll be a great loss to me!"

"This town is quite valuable indeed. But since there are a lot of travelling merchants here, I think we cannot hide the matter for long." Chance pushed his opinion.

"Aside from the soldiers, no one else has seen the people in the cages, right? So, it will be fine if I make the soldiers unable to talk!"

"Master, are you thinking of killing all of them?!"

-----

"Cheers!"

"CHEERS!!"

Karl threw a small party for the soldiers that followed him after moving the captives into the castle under the cover of the night. He even took out the beer barrels from the castle storeroom. As the night became darker, the soldiers fell down one after another.

"Master's drug is taking effect!" Karl murmured and got up from his chair to report to his master.

He added the drug given by his master to the beer before the party started. It was not poison but just a sleeping drug. Even if he did not add the drug, the soldiers who let loose themselves might drink until they were wasted and fall asleep.

Huvel came to the party place secretly and moved from one soldier to another to erase a day's worth of their memories. Although their mental resistance was weak after they fell asleep, it was still tiring for him to use spells repeatedly for 40 times. He ordered Karl to warp things up appropriately and went back to his bedchamber.

The next day, he went to see the people Karl rescued. Although they were 'rescued', Huvel could not let other people see them so they were placed in the dungeon under the castle.

"This dungeon is quite disgusting. The smell in the air is awful!" Huvel complained as he went down the stairs.

"They said the dungeon was shut off for a long time until yesterday." Karl who was walking ahead with a torch replied. "Some monsters used to be kept here before so a part of the foul smell might be from the remains of their wastes."

Soon they reached the place where people were kept. There were eight people just like Karl reported but one of them was not human. It was a hucarnis child. He was quite small. He looked like a human child of ten-year-old except for his pointed dog ears on his head and a fluffy tail.

"This one would be the most troublesome," thought Huvel.

The among the rest, four of them were female, three adult and one underage. Huvel had a headache thinking what to do with them. He would like to help them since they were luckily rescued from the hands of human trafficking traders but if words were out that he had slaves in his castle, he would get into trouble. As such, he decided to wash his hands of them.

"I'm the lord of this castle." Huvel introduced himself to the frightened people in the jail. "I'm sorry for your misfortune. I won't ask you how you get yourselves into this. And I don't have the power to help you more so I'll give you two choices."

Huvel looked at the distracted people. They did not seem to be mentally stable but he had to say what he must. "First option: you have to become servants of this castle and work in this dungeon. I'll feed you to your full and pay your monthly wages. But you can't get out of this dungeon for a few years since your former owner might recognize you."

Some eyes were starting to become alive and looked at Huvel with some hope. Even pheasants were envious of servants of a lord's household because they never starved, even in the harshest winter! For people that were sold as slaves, being a servant of the lord was only a wishful dream. However, being unable leave a dark and dirty dungeon did not seem much different from being slaved so everyone had a mix feeling of hope and doubt.

"The second option is," Huvel continued, "you have to leave this kingdom and flee to Blue Hippogriff Kingdom. I'm sure most of you are originally from there. But if you choose this option, you can only rely on yourselves to survive. Whatever happens to you in the future has nothing to do with me once you leave this castle.

Now, choose!"