Chapter Fourteen

"Father, do you really have to go to that place?"

Mikael lifted the bag filled with clothes and tied it on his back. "You've been asking me the same question since morning." He wryly smiled at his daughter. "Elaine, it's an order from the King. I have no choice but to go to that town."

"But what's the point of monitoring that garbage?" Elaine rolled her eyes and sighed. "I've heard from uncle Gerald that even Lord Drakus himself does not wish to be associated with that one."

After the declaration of the competition for the throne, Mikael, along with twenty-seven other knights, have been gathered in the throne room. The King personally assigned duties to each of them. The task was this: Disguise yourselves as ordinary citizens and evaluate the twenty-eight candidates for the throne. Of course, to do that, they would need to go towards the domain of the candidates themselves and monitor them closely.

"Elaine, even if it seems pointless, this is a task personally entrusted to me by His Majesty. I cannot fail my liege. I have to complete this task, no matter what."

He also knew that the candidate he was going to monitor had the least chance of winning the competition.

Mikael grabbed the skin flask on the table. Although he was a knight by profession, he no longer wore a plate armor. His beloved sword was now hanging on the wall of his room. Instead of an armor, what he was currently wearing was a dirty-looking tunic. The hem was filled with moth bites, and the leather belt around his waist was filled with cracks. Combined with the cheap-looking bag on his back, it would take no more than a glance to see that he was a serf of the Kingdom.

Seeing his father dressed like a rag, Elaine could not help but feel frustrated. After all, although they did not own a land, they were still a family of knights. A noble by title and peerage.

"This is stupid." Elaine shook her head.

At that statement, her father glared. "The decision of his Majesty is not wrong. Even though Lord Lark Marcus has been thrown away into that small town by his very own father, he's still a candidate for the throne. After all, he's still one of the sons of Duke Drakus."

"But father, His Majesty should have given you a better candidate to monitor, at the very least! You've heard the rumors about that one, right? If he treats priests and nobles like dirt, then how much more for the commoners?" Elaine was worried that since her father was disguising himself as a serf, he would be in danger once he arrived at that small town. After all, numerous bad rumors surrounded the noble called Lark Marcus.

Mikael placed a hand on his daughter's head, ruffling her hair in mischievous strokes. "Your father's a knight, Elaine. Even if I meet a band of thieves along the way, I'll survive. A mere noble kid won't be able to kill this war veteran."

Elaine knew that this statement was not simply baseless confidence. After all, the title of a knight was something bestowed only to those that have trained themselves in mana. Magicians were regarded as Sages, while the people of the Kingdom regarded Knights as God's Soldiers. After all, they were adept at both magic and swordsmanship.

Still, even though she knew that her father was strong, she could not help but worry.

"When are you coming back?" she asked, voice soft and soothing.

There was a small pause. "I don't know. I didn't get to ask his majesty about that. He only told us to secretly monitor the candidates and send reports every now and then."

"You'll send the reports personally, right?" Although Elaine knew the answer to this question, she still asked regardless.

"That's impossible. Blackstone Town is almost two months away from the Capital."

As expected, her father was going to use a messenger to send regular reports to His Majesty. Realizing that it would probably be years before they see each other again, tears started forming at the corner of Elaine's eyes. Ever since her mother died, Mikael had been her only pillar of strength. And now, he was leaving her behind to complete this task.

"My child will be born soon." Elaine touched her abdomen. "Can't you stay for a month more? Father, at the very least, see your first grandchild before you go."

Although Mikael was torn inside by this fact, he did not let it show on his face. He had already resolved himself to complete this task for His Majesty. He simply smiled and did not reply.

After a few more seconds of deafening silence, Elaine sighed, walked towards her father and hugged him tight. "I will miss you, father. Please, be safe."

Mikael thought that he had raised a good daughter. If his deceased wife sees her now, she would have been very proud. "Of course."

***

After leaving the inner district of the Capital, Mikael went towards One Stop Clop – the only company that accepted his request to travel all the way to Blackstone Town. Although the price was a bit overpriced, Mikael did not mind. After all, the expenses were paid beforehand by the Royal Palace.

The only downside, aside from the expensive price, was that the company would drop by all the cities along the way, before transporting him to Blackstone Town. This was because merchants were coming with the caravan, and those guys would need to stop and trade with the cities along the way.

"Ah, Mikael, is it?" said a fat merchant. He was the leader of the caravan and also the owner of One Stop Clop. "Ready to meet your old man in Blackstone Town?"

According to the script, Mikael was a serf traveling to Blackstone Town to meet his dying father. This was the reason why although a commoner, he willingly paid a hefty sum to the transport merchant. Since this was a task personally entrusted to him by the King, aside from his daughter, he told no one about it.

Mikael looked at the six carriages lined up in front of them. Workers were loading crates inside, while merchants wearing gaudy clothes facilitated the transfer.

"I'm really glad that you've let me join this caravan, sir." Mikael bowed his head. If his daughter had seen this, she would have reprimanded him for bowing his head to a mere merchant. Mikael could not help but inwardly smile at the thought.

"You have money. That's enough reason to let you in."

The logic behind merchants were really simple, and this was why Mikael found it easy to blend with their group. To the merchants, money was above the law. Even if Mikael was a fugitive, the transport merchant would still have let him in as long as he paid.

"Those are…" Mikael's eyes looked at the naked men and women boarding the fourth carriage.

The transport merchant looked at the direction where Mikael was looking at. "Ah, slaves. Caught by the Furtpert Syndicate. Nasty creatures, those guys, but really effective. Make them work for you and they won't even complain."

Mikael understood why the merchant called those slaves nasty. Even from this distance, he could clearly see the animal-like features of the captives. Unlike normal ears, theirs were those of a cat's or a dog's, some even resembled lizards and monkeys – Mikael was not sure. But he was certain that those slaves were beastmen.

Mikael narrowed his eyes. "Forgive my impudence, sir… but would there be people who'll buy them? I mean, they're beastmen. They're treated even lower than animals in this Kingdom."

The transport merchant chuckled. "Keep going west of here and you'll arrive at the Lion City. You wouldn't believe this, but the Lord of that city loves to collect Beastmen as pets. I've heard that he would sometimes kill them for the meat, not really sure 'bout that one, but who cares? It's good profit."

Mikael immediately connected the dots. He realized the reason why the One Stop Clop agreed on transporting him all the way to Blackstone Town.

So, this group's actually going to Lion City in the first place. They're selling those Beastmen there, huh? I'm a bit worried about the Lord of that city. Eating Beastmen meat? I should make a report to His Majesty about this.

Since the Beastmen were not considered humans to begin due to their semblance to the Demons, there was no law prohibiting anyone from enslaving them. Even if these merchants massacred these Beastmen, they would not be punished.

But Mikael deemed that he should report about the consumption of Beastmen meat. It somehow made him question the Lord of the Lion City's sanity. As a knight of the Kingdom, it was his duty to report these kinds of things.

The cage containing the captives were shut.

After the signal from the leader of the merchants was given out, the caravan starting moving out.

Their final destination was Blackstone Town.