Chapter 66
A Flower Blooming in Early Winter (3)
Fortunately, peaceful days followed for a while after that.
Thanks to getting plenty of rest, I now had no discomfort in moving my body or using magic.
Therion also said it would take quite some time to find the next curse, and that finding one as close as Crowell Castle was an extremely lucky case.
“Even if it’s a curse specifically targeting you, Lady Edith, cursed ruins aren’t created just anywhere.”
Like the deepest cave in a ravine where magical beasts frequently appear, or the oldest castle in the Empire…
“So we have to search for such dangerous places…?”
“Yes.”
And we have to survive while doing that, right?
“Yes indeed.”
“Haahh…”
‘Is it this difficult to die properly…? Just dying is easy.’
While thinking that, my eyes met Ethan’s, who was walking beside me.
“Your eyes look impure.”
“Do you have a problem with my eyes?”
“I do.”
“Really now.”
I childishly clashed with Ethan.
Ethan was on my left, and Therion on my right. It was excessive manpower just to accompany one patient on a walk.
Well, it’s true that I didn’t immediately return to the academy under the pretext of recuperation.
The flowers that only bloom in early winter were starting to wither. The tips of the leaves and outer petals were beginning to fade.
I casually asked Ethan.
“I suppose I should return to the academy soon, right?”
“That’s right.”
It had already been over two weeks since I started staying at Crowell Castle.
The recovery period had extended far beyond the planned one week.
The attendance issue at the academy could be excused with the explanation that aftereffects from the subjugation practicum had appeared belatedly.
So, this really is a rare moment of peace.
I walked slowly through the garden. The wind whipping my cheeks was cooler than yesterday. The weather was getting colder day by day.
It seems Ethan and Therion have grown closer than expected…
While glancing at the two of them, I heard footsteps running towards me. They were different from Diana’s.
As I turned my head, I saw two now-familiar faces running towards me.
It was Ella and Benjamin, their arms full of documents.
“Lady Edith, are you alright!?”
Asking if I’m alright—isn’t that question too late?
“I’ve fully recovered now. Isn’t your greeting a bit late?”
When I playfully chided them, Ella and Benjamin clung to me with identical crying expressions.
“We’re sorry. We’ve been so busy too~!!”
“We had to undergo additional investigation because of the kidnapping incident… Sniff.”
“Ugh.”
Heavy.
When I staggered for a moment, the two quickly let go.
Ella, her eyes sparkling without a hint of remorse, spoke up.
“We remembered something during the investigation. The people who kidnapped us said there was a curse in the basement of Crowell Castle, and that if they kidnapped residents, they could later sell them back to Lord Crowell at a high price, you know?”
“We were wondering what that was about and forgot about it. But when we heard that you resolved the brainwashing this time, it suddenly came to mind.”
“My brother and I are in charge of the clerical work at Crowell Castle. It seems they were trying to use us to make the kidnappings easier.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, it was about time for the slave traders to appear. I vaguely recalled destroying the slave trader ring to rescue the kidnapped domain residents.
I had wondered how they managed to kidnap the domain residents so seamlessly… So they had used Ella and Benjamin.
I narrowed my eyes and nodded at the two. Then Ethan leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“Why are you making that expression?”
“Huh? What expression am I making?”
“Like a cat about to hunt a bug.”
What’s with that comparison? Well, still…
I grinned at his words.
“You guessed correctly this time.”
Right. I should be returning to the academy soon.
After I resolve this.
🥀
A market that secretly deals in large quantities of goods that are difficult to process and obtain.
Except that the goods are humans.
Slaves who could be used without paying wages were always popular among nobles.
Proving this, even now that slave trading is prohibited by imperial law, underground slave markets still exist.
Fairly large merchant groups, especially those in the north where magical beast appearances are frequent and regulations are less strict, have all been secretly continuing slave auctions.
The “Red Scorpion Merchant Group,” an emerging new merchant group in the north, also planned to step into this “hush-hush” slave auction that “everyone else does.”
So where do they obtain these goods?
It’s simple.
Most northern domains are vast and barren. Naturally, there were many places beyond the reach of the lord.
Especially in areas where the guard patrols infrequently, if they kidnapped domain residents timed with these patrols, it would take months to notice.
And in that time, the domain residents would be sold far away to the south or east where northern lords could never find them.
Higher-ranking nobles disliked disturbances in their domains, so there were occasional cases where they managed to expose slave auctions.
Therefore, the Red Scorpion Merchant Group decided to target domains with low-ranking nobles but large territories.
This was why the Red Scorpion Merchant Group chose the Crowell domain, and why they first kidnapped the two careless siblings who had just started working at Crowell Castle.
They were trying to find out which village in the Crowell domain had the least frequent guard patrols. It was a textbook.
They could be said to have been quite prepared and cautious in their own way.
However, when the Red Scorpion Merchant Group leader received a report that the two kidnapped siblings had disappeared, he instructed not to track them, saying it felt “ominous.”
This intuition was a valuable resource that had brought the merchant group leader to his current position. But the leader should have known.
There are some disasters and misfortunes in the world that can’t be avoided by intuition alone…
As the price for not realizing this a bit sooner, the leader had to watch with his own eyes as the merchant group he had built over a lifetime, though largely through dirty work, crumbled.
And at the hands of just three young people, no less.
🥀
“Cough.”
A cough escaped. My nose stung.
“Ethan. Can’t you keep the dust from blowing this way?”
“How am I supposed to control the wind?”
“Do it well.”
Frowning, I used magic to clear away the dust that had hit my face. Ethan, who was lightly dusting off his sword, looked at me with an expression that said, ‘Why didn’t you do that earlier?’
Therion gently brushed the dust off my clothes while scolding Ethan.
“Really. Lord Behemoth is just brute strength without finesse.”
“Haahh…”
More accurately, he was criticizing him.
Anyway, I didn’t come all the way out here from Crowell Castle just to watch those two fight.
I clapped my hands once and crouched down in my riding clothes.
We had just demolished an entire merchant group building.
Ethan had lightly struck down the people blocking our way, just enough not to kill them.
People groaning with broken bones were scattered all around.
The name of this merchant group was “Red Scorpion Merchant Group.”
I had many grievances against this place.
The leader’s room had already been destroyed by Ethan’s sword energy just now, and the wall was diagonally cut, revealing the interior.
“Well then…”
And right under that cut wall lay the merchant group leader. I smiled at the trembling leader. Crouching down, our eyes were roughly level.
“I’d like to hear what you were thinking when you tried to kidnap our domain residents.”
“Wh-what. This is tyranny. Where did you…”
“Why are you acting like this when you know everything? I’m Edith Crowell.”
“Why would the Crowell baronial family… Th-this is outrageous! Just because you’re a noble doesn’t mean… No, come to think of it, you’re not even a real noble, are you!”
So he even knows I’m adopted. Just as I was about to open my mouth, raising an eyebrow, Ethan spoke up while fiddling with his sword handle.
“Do you not understand why I’m bothering to keep you alive and talk?”
“……”
He immediately fell silent.
It’s a bit unfair. Why is he cheeky with me but docile with Ethan?
I turned to him and smiled, pulling up the corners of my mouth.
“…Eek!”
He flinched.
Good, good.
I wasn’t very talented at smiling, so it was probably quite an evil smile.
But I felt even Ethan behind me flinch after examining my expression.
…No. Ethan, if even you react like that, it hurts a little.
🥀
Thank you for reading! ♡
