They wouldn’t stop thanking me, but I did manage to get a few questions in edgewise. The three men had met up with the kids in the dungeon and promised them a safer hunting ground. Then, they just followed them. Pretty careless, really. But they were just kids.
They were brought off to this secluded area and attacked. The archer and the mage weren’t frontline fighters, so they were knocked out of the battle faster due to the surprise nature of the attack.
“I guess these guys are kidnappers, then... People have been going missing, only bloodstains or guild cards left behind... It would be reasonable to assume they were eaten up by the wildlife here, but... now I’m starting to get a different idea.”
“Y-Yeah! They said they were going to sell us to slave traders!” The sword-wielding girl raised her hand and spoke. I hadn’t noticed her ponytail earlier. She was quite energetic.
Still, slavers... That’s no good.
I walked over to the lanky man and thrust Brunhild’s muzzle against his forehead.
“Answer yes or no. Nothing else. Are you the ones responsible for the missing adventurers lately?” The man nodded quickly. He was sweating bullets. It was as I’d expected.
Leen tilted her head to the side as she pondered.
“But... after kidnapping the adventurers, how did they transport them from the island? They wouldn’t be able to use the portals...”
“That’s pretty simple. They probably have a boat. Some kind of slaving vessel. Is that right?” The man nods just as quickly as he had before. I was right.
These islands were located due south of Sandora, after all. And, as far as I knew, the nation in which slavery was most prominent was none other than the Burning Kingdom of Sandora itself.
It was a country that used special collars to enslave people and turn them into living merchandise. It also meant that our missing persons were probably already lost.
“Are the missing adventurers already in Sandora?” He shook his head this time. I was surprised. It meant they hadn’t shipped them all off... And that meant we could still save them.
The slaver ship was probably anchored somewhere nearby, but obscured. These assholes had clearly faked the deaths of several adventurers and stored them on the ship for processing later on.
I brought up my map and searched for boats in the area. Sure enough, there was a sizable boat moored off the coast of a smaller island to the north. I had found it.
With that, I had the whole case figured out. It also meant the three stooges here were of no more use to me. I subdued all three of them with [Paralyze] for the time being.
“Well, What now? I-If you want to inform the guild or the knights, I’ll come with you...” The ponytail girl nervously spoke up. Her three companions were talking amongst each other. The situation was pretty dire, but I didn’t think they quite understood. There was definitely some anxiety due to what had happened, but they seemed more excited than they should’ve been.
“Don’t worry about that. I can handle it. Ah, that’s right... We never introduced ourselves. This girl is Leen, and the little bear is Paula. I’m Mochizuki Touya. I’m the grand duke of Brunhild.”
“Wh-Wh-What?!” All four of them stared at me in terror. Then, they crouched down on the floor and began bowing.
“Get up, geez. You don’t need to do that kinda crap with me. I’m an adventurer at heart, you know...? I still go on quests even now.” I pulled out my golden guild card as I spoke. Those kids had been tricked once already, so I at least wanted to provide some level of evidence.
“G-Gold...”
“Amazing...”
“Th-This guy has killed Dragons, Golems, and Demon Lords...”
“We gotta tell our dads about this...” Well, they definitely believed me. These kids were a little soft for this business, if you asked me. They’d end up getting hurt if they just believed everything they were told... Although they’d actually already ended up getting hurt because of that.
The four of them finally formally introduced themselves to me. Apparently they’d all come from Regulus, a village called Pyton to be exact.
The scale mail-clad boy with the spear was called Lop. The sword-wielding girl in leather armor was named Fran. The archer who wore similar leather armor was named Klaus. And finally, the mage girl was named Eon.
The impression I got was that Lop was loyal, Fran was bursting with energy, Eon was a total klutz, and Klaus was their leader. They were a bit of a ragtag party, all things considered.
“What are we gonna do? Help out the adventurers who got caught?”
“That’s right. I found out where the slaver ship is, so I’m gonna go wipe them out.”
“U-Uhm! Is there any way we could help you?”
“H-Hey now, Fran!” Fran suddenly spoke up, much to the chagrin of Klaus.
I was pleased that the kids had motivation, at the very least. I wasn’t too sure that they’d be of much help, though. I definitely was in support of helping them gain a bit more experience, but at the same time... Well, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do.
“Our enemy here are merchants that deal in human lives. They might even have slaves equipped for battle serving them. What I’m asking is if you’re confident you can help here. In a worst-case scenario, you’ll be enslaved yourselves.”
“Ugh...” Fran looked down, seeming suddenly troubled. I wonder if she was feeling ashamed about her earlier loss.
They were older than Lu and Yumina, but younger than Elze and Linze. Even so, they weren’t too far off my own age.
In the case of my party, we’d fought the Phrase, battled Dragons, involved ourselves in a coup, and so on. We had many rich experiences that allowed us to develop as a team... Even though those incidents were still my fault...
“Hmm... If they can’t fight, can we not have them do recon?”
“Recon?” I quirked a brow at what she had said. Decoys, huh...? Maybe...
“Well, I said recon, but... I would recommend they infiltrate the ship and get themselves intentionally captured. If they pretend they got caught by these three and get aboard the ship, they’ll be able to easily learn about what’s going on with the other missing people.”
“I guess so... But are these three dumbasses gonna obey?” I turned toward the three paralyzed men. It was true they might listen if I threatened them, but they probably didn’t have good enough poker faces to go along with that level of deception.
“You dummy. Simply use [Mirage] and become part of the deception as well.”
“Aha, smart thinking.” Yeah, that makes sense. If I disguise myself as one of those dumbasses, I can escort the rookies to the ship. That way we’ll be able to infiltrate the place and get the captured people out safely. I don’t want the adventurers being taken hostage, so this is probably a good idea, but still... Guess I could just use [Invisible] to sneak on to the ship myself and rescue them all a lot faster, though...
I looked over to the four kids, but they were just staring at me with stars in their eyes.
Guh... What’s with these kids? They’re not scared at all about maybe being made into a commodity? ...Man, fine. I won’t trample over their resolve. Saying something like “You’re dead weight, so beat it, kid” would just break their hearts at this point, and I’m not in the business of upsetting children. Hell, if I hurt them now, they might end up being discouraged from adventuring, so... I guess I’ll pass on a little bit of that knowledge I’ve gained from my own quests...
“...You kids wanna try it?”
“Yeah!!!” The kids cheered merrily. I wondered if it’d actually be okay... But I decided to go along regardless.
◇ ◇ ◇
We all left the dungeon, and I warped the three kidnappers to Brunhild’s jail. It’d cause too much of a fuss to carry them back through the portals. After all, if their allies were watching, they’d know the jig was up and escape.
I contacted Relisha and told her the basic gist of the situation. Those three would ha
ve their guild registrations erased, and their cards revoked. Even if they used fake names, they’d still be rejected. No more adventuring for those guys.
That was the guild’s punishment for them, but I still had to decide how my country would handle them.
They’d been capturing newbie adventurers, taking all their stuff, and selling them into a life of servitude. It was a serious crime. If we went by Regulus law, then these guys would be getting the death penalty.
Unfortunate as it was in some people’s minds, Brunhild didn’t have the death penalty. Mainly because I hadn’t created one. As I wondered about how to deal with them, I recalled something I’d read about in the Library.
Dark attribute magic was pretty much exclusively summoning, but apparently there used to be other applications of the element. There was a spell that was the opposite of the Light element’s recovery magic. It was a magic that sapped the life away from the target.
Well, actually killing them with it would take considerable effort and focus. The user would require incredible willpower, magical power, and skill with magic. I’d probably have been able to pull it off, but I wasn’t especially motivated to try.
I wasn’t saying I’d use this death magic on the kidnappers, by the way. There were other spells derived from that kind of spell.
These spells could be described simply enough. Effects included pestilence, fear, confusion, and life absorption.
In short, they were curses. Though maybe calling them curses was a little bit of a stretch.
The magic kind of worked like a promise. It was a system where if they broke the circumstances set by the caster, they’d become afflicted by the conditions. Curse magic that only triggered if the affected disobeyed. Kind of like “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” Except the needle actually goes in their eye if they mess up.
“Brand, o Darkness. Sinful Brand: [Guilty Curse]!” I invoked the curse and targeted the three imprisoned men.
The conditions were simple. “Do not knowingly commit crimes and hurt others.” Each time they broke this curse with petty crime, they’d lose a finger to paralysis. Eventually it would spread to their arms, and then their legs. If they persisted, they’d lose all five senses. The final stage was paralysis of the heart, and that’d be a wrap. Of course, if they committed one large, heinous crime, it’d all trigger at once.
This magic worked similarly to enchanting. The effect would persist even if I died. It was an unbreakable curse.
I told the trio all the details of the brand they’d been marked with. Hurting others didn’t only apply to physical abuse. If they hurt people on a deep emotional level, or tried to torment others, then it’d activate too. If they stole and the original owner was devastated, it’d trigger too, as would rejecting a woman’s feelings if it ended up causing her to feel bad. I wasn’t going to be lenient about just what caused the curse to go off.
I’d been kind enough to let them live, so it was a fair burden for them to shoulder. They needed to become ideal men to survive the punishment.
In all honesty, I didn’t believe it was possible to live a life without hurting anyone. Maybe if they became hermits and lived away from civilization, but still... They’d only be surviving at that point, not living. Regardless, perhaps they appreciated that Brunhild didn’t just have them killed like Regulus did.
As I told them about their punishment, the men gradually turned pale and fell to the ground. The brand of their curse appeared on their foreheads, marking them forever.
The fatass turned to the lanky guy and screamed.
“We’re only like this because of you, idiot!” It made me wonder if he’d listened to a word I’d said. “Wuh?! Augh! M-My finger!!! I can’t feel my finger!” The fatass started to cry as he prodded at one of his dead fingers.
Isn’t it obvious? You upset the lanky guy by screaming at him like that. It’s simply your just desserts.
Now that they’d seen the effects, I decided to banish them from Brunhild. Where to send you... Oh, how about Yulong? The people there already talk shit about me, so you’ll be right at home.
I opened up a [Gate] to Yulong and shoved the guys through. That’s that. Case closed.
Oh. Wait. No. I still have to actually deal with the slavers, huh?
I headed toward the forest on the island and waited for the cover of night. I felt a little bad for making the rookies wait so long, to be honest. Still, I couldn’t have them wandering around. It’d look weird if one of the slavers saw them free, then captured only a bit later.
I’d left Leen with them, just in case they found themselves under attack by the local fauna.
After regrouping with them, I used a [Gate] to bring us all to the island with the slaver ship. All four of them were amazed. It was their first time, after all.
“Alright, then. Hand over your weapons. It’d be weird if captured victims still had their stuff.” They handed their weapons over and I tossed them into [Storage] before pulling out a length of rope and tying them up. After that, I popped gags in their mouths. Naturally, they were bound in a way that was easy to escape from.
After that, I summoned a little mouse and hid it inside Lop’s pocket. That way I’d be able to know more about the situation aboard the ship.
I used [Mirage] to add the finishing touches. I’d disguised myself as the baldy. One was too lanky, and the other way too fat, so cueball was closest to my own physique...
“Well?”
“You look identical... That’s incredible...” Lop was amazed, evidently. I used [Mirage] once more to project a false image of the other two guys to my left and right.
The four of them prepared to be transported, and I made the illusory versions of fatty and lanky stand behind them, swords drawn. It’d look like they were being escorted, now.
“What about you, Leen?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I’ll keep watch and ensure nobody escapes the vessel.” Paula brought her hands up toward the sky. It was time to head to the slaver ship.
We found the ship. It was well positioned, shrouded in the shadow of a cliff.
There were two smaller boats making port on a nearby beach. Four men stood around a bonfire. They were grilling fish. Three of the four looked to be slaves.
They were pretty bulky, so they were probably combat-oriented slaves. The non-slave guy had a really bad overbite on the bottom row of his mouth. He kinda looked like a jerk. We left Leen and Paula in the cover of the trees, then moved toward them.
“Oh, good haul. I see you’ve been busy. Four at once! What a doozy.” Overbite walked over to us and smiled a bit. He seemed impressed.
He walked around us and started looking the kids up and down.
“Two gold for the boys. Five for the girls. Seems fair to me.”
“Deal. Hand over the cash.”
“Huh? No hagglin’ today...?”
“We’re in a rush.” I didn’t want to talk too much and get exposed. Still, two gold and five gold respectively... That was like two hundred thousand and five hundred thousand yen... Buying out someone’s life for cash like that was downright despicable.
They’d probably end up selling the people for a lot more to rich types in Sandora. Overbite handed the money over and let out a shrill, annoying laugh.
If I saw that guy again, I’d definitely be giving him a smack in the face.
I returned to Leen and canceled my spell. I hated looking like those bastards.
I used [Long Sense] to watch the four men. They finished eating their fish, put two kids into each boat, and started rowing toward the main ship.
“Infiltration complete.”
“Indeed... I hope they get in touch with the other captured people soon, though. How many have gone missing, exactly?”
“Relisha said there were ten who were formally dead. Their guild cards were found, usually with blood nearby, so the guild assumed the worst. Uh... I think it was three men and seven women.”
“Seems
they’re biased toward capturing girls, then.”
“Probably because they’re easier to grab, and they sell for more money. All of the captured adventurers were Black.” From what I’d heard, newbie bullying wasn’t uncommon in the guild. More experienced adventurers with shitty attitudes would use new recruits as bait for strong monsters. They even ended up taking most of their rewards as “tuition expenses” if they survived. In the end, the victims often wound up leaving the guild and going solo. It was despicable.
No matter the world, there were always those who looked down on newcomers. Those people often forgot that they too were new once as well.
Either way, I hoped all ten of the victims were safe. They were likely still alive. Hard to sell a corpse, after all. But that didn’t mean they were safe. Their lives were hanging in the balance.
I synchronized my vision with the mouse in Lop’s pocket. I saw the ship’s deck, which meant they’d made it there safely enough.
My hearing was also synchronized. I heard voices around them. Sight and hearing was as far as I synchronized my senses, though. I tried taste once and immediately regretted it... I didn’t want to know what a beetle tasted like, but the mouse had other ideas.
“Mr. Javert... I’ve brought four.”
“Wonderful... They seem to be high quality stock. Young meat... Yes, they’ll sell well.” Overbite approached a plump man. He was rubbing his hands together as he looked at the kids. This guy was most likely the slave merchant.
He wore a fancy wool jacket, a silk sash with a golden dagger hanging from it, and some pointy shoes that bent upward at the end. He also had a long coat and what looked like a precariously balanced turban on top of his head. He looked like a fat, discount Sinbad the Sailor.
Javert, huh...? I bet he’s a slaver from Sandora. Probably a black market one, too.
Even though Slavery was legal in Sandora, they prohibited kidnapping people and forcing them into servitude. Slavery was typically reserved for criminals, or those who willingly sold themselves into the service.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 8 Page 11
