Chapter 122: Trouble

The slave trafficker nicknamed ‘Golden-Eyed Piegel’ was brought over. He was a stout man with shrewd eyes, and he was like most of the slave traffickers in this era: his body was decorated with vulgar accessories and meaningless sealed ribbons. Slave traffickers were normally very rich, and their wealth would be comparable to minor noble clans at times. However, in the laws of various nations and most of the churches’ traditional mindset, slave traffickers were people who had tainted their souls. As such, even the wealthiest slave traffickers wouldn’t be permitted to possess the status of a noble. They weren’t allowed to donate money and become a ‘phony knight’ or an ‘honorary knight’. Therefore, these wealthy people liked to display on themselves a bunch of luxurious decorations and self-designed sealed ribbons to show off their status and also to find relief.

Two other serfs were brought over with Piegel, a male and a female who were the elder brother and younger sister of the deceased serf ‘Sam’. The three siblings were sold together to this place, but before they could even have a mouthful of hot soup, their brother had died on the dock.

However, on the faces of the elder brother and the younger sister, their fear and anxiety had suppressed the mournful and grieving emotions they ought to have.

It was sad to lose a brother, but the fear of the possible punishment that might descend on them was worth more. They knew clearly and acknowledged as fact that in the eyes of nobles, serfs weren’t considered humans. A slave had just exploded on the dock, and to a noble, it was an unforgivable loss. He didn’t just lose a slave, the ground had also been dirtied.

Therefore, they were fearful and worried about the anger that would be vented on them. Furthermore, they believed that the feudal lord had called for them to come over to receive punishment. It would be fine if the two of them were requested to do the work of three individuals. They were more worried about getting whipped and getting starved. In this era, these two punishments might just take the lives of the slaves that committed mistakes.

The slave trafficker called ‘Golden-Eyed Piegel’ was also in fear, and he was even more terrified. Because he was the one who brought over the serf that had been transformed into a living bomb by sorcery. Being covered in gold and silver didn’t bring this stout man any sense of security. He knew what his status was and knew that in justified situations, a duke could simply execute a slave trafficker, and no one would plead for him.

“Golden-Eyed Piegel?” Gawain asked. When Gawain spoke, the fatty whose entire body was covered with pieces of gold and silver was so frightened that he shivered. “Are you the one that brought the serf Sam over?”

“Yes… yes, my lord.” Piegel nodded while feeling terrified. “But I absolutely do not have any malicious intent, my lord! It is also impossible for me to be associated with a sorcerer or an evil cult follower! I am an honest businessman, and I have never done anything…”

Sir Philip used his sheathed longsword to knock on Piegel’s face and said, “You will only answer the things that are being asked!”

Piegel quickly shut his mouth and looked down at the tip of his shoes while Gawain continued to ask, “Before the deceased was brought over, who had he been in contact with? What did he eat? Did he behave strangely?”

Pittman had already inspected the slave trafficker for a magical reaction and didn’t discover any remaining presence of druid spells. Seeing his reaction, it wasn’t likely for him to be a subordinate of an evil cult follower. It was possible that Piegel had been made use of, and Gawain would still have to determine that.

Piegel wiped his sweat and replied, “My—my lord. The serfs had been closed up in a dwelling for several days before they boarded the ship. All of them ate the same food, the same food—”

“You better tell the truth.” Amber stood behind Gawain and was speaking in support while trying to intimidate by making use of Gawain’s authority. As she spoke, she twirled the dagger in her hand. “We have mages, a druid, and even a Shadow Grandmaster! We can even draw your soul out to interrogate you… Don’t invite trouble.”

Gawain remained calm and cast a glance at the half-elf, but he didn’t expose her nonsense. Piegel, on the other hand, had large beads of sweat that were constantly flowing down. His cold sweat was lined up into a single file like how a Korean Starcraft player would direct his soldiers. To ordinary people who didn’t understand magic, they weren’t able to differentiate between each extraordinary profession. They wouldn’t know which profession would be able to use soul magic. In their minds, the mysterious magic professions were probably omnipotent; therefore, Amber’s random nonsense and threat were actually effective.

“Yes… my lord, I am telling the truth!” Piegel frantically replied. “Actually… actually that serf Sam is a little special…”

Gawain knocked on the table and responded, “Special?”

“Yes. I was originally scheduled to deliver him to Viscount Andrew’s castle to work,” Piegel said everything in his mind, “but Sir Knight that you sent to the town had offered a better price to purchase large numbers of various slaves. I did not have a lot of slaves, so… so…”

“So you used the serfs that were scheduled for the castle to make up the numbers?” Gawain frowned and asked, “Why were serfs being sent to the castle?”

“Sam was a diligent and agile serf. He didn’t just do farm work, he also knew how to feed the horses and clean up the animal sheds. Viscount Andrew just happened to need a new servant…” Piegel rubbed his finger awkwardly and said, “This was also an opportunity for Sam. The slaves on my hands can be serfs, slave workers, or contracted slaves. Once they entered feudal lands, they would be a serf forever. But if they were delivered into castles, they might become servants—”

“But Sir Byron had offered four more silver coins, and you brought Sam back for the slave transport ships,” Gawain interrupted Piegel’s words and turned to look at Sam’s siblings. “You may raise your heads. Don’t be nervous. Before you came here, did your brother behave abnormally?”

The elder brother seemed to be bolder and was first to reply. “Yes. Recently, Sam had been constantly saying he was very tired, and he would frequently stop talking midway. Sometimes, he would even sleep while standing.”

Gawain raised his head to look at Pittman, and the latter had a pensive expression. Subsequently, the old druid asked, “When did this situation start?”

The malnourished serf younger sister replied, “Seven days… or eight days ago. It wouldn’t be more than ten days.”

No one could expect them to remember the exact date.

Gawain inquired Heidi who stood on his other side, “When did Byron start announcing the information to purchase slaves in Tanzan Town?”

Heidi had a serious expression as she already thought of a possibility. “Four days ago.”

“It would mean that serf Sam was already abnormal before Byron reached Tanzan Town. He might have already been controlled by sorcery back then, and he was originally supposed to be delivered to Viscount Andrew’s castle…” Gawain spoke while observing the surroundings. “It was just an accident for him to arrive in this place.”

Heidi took a deep breath. “Our neighbor is probably in trouble.”

“His trouble will quickly turn into our trouble.” Gawain spoke slowly, “The Oblivion Association originated from the druids. Their sorcery was developed from magic-of-life and nature energies. Living humans aren’t just their magical materials, they are also carriers for sorcery diseases. Tanzan Town has too much population, and we are too close to them as well. No matter the case, Sir Byron is still at Tanzan Town, and he hasn’t discovered anything yet. We cannot leave him there.”

Heidi looked at the territory’s only druid and asked with concern, “Pittman, do you think they will spread a disease in Tanzan Town? And deliver infected people into the castle to deal with the feudal lord…?”

“It is hard to say. The minds of evil cult followers are different from normal humans’. Their minds are mainly made of rotten flesh and mud from the ditch.” Pittman then said with a grave expression, “We need to plan for the worst.”

“The kingdom’s support will not arrive in time. We will have to do it ourselves.” Gawain stood up and said, “We need to eliminate the source of the problem before things go out of control. But we don’t have any method to confirm the number and strength of our enemy.”

Pittman said, “I can make an estimate. Sam was transformed into a living bomb by the sorcery spell ‘Call of the Dead’. According to the power I detected back then and the remaining presence, the spellcaster is not over intermediate rank and might have just reached the standard of a grade-five dark druid. Furthermore, their numbers are small. The Oblivion Association seldom organizes large-scale operations, especially for causing destruction to towns. They would usually send out one or two elite members and rely on crafty schemes and strange sorcery spells to create a huge amount of destruction.”

Gawain muttered to himself, “So we are probably facing one or two grade-five or inferior sorcerers. The number won’t be a problem. The only thing we need to worry about is the strange spells of those dark druids. In worst case situations, Viscount Andrew might be controlled by sorcery as controlling living beings is also a dark-druid specialty.”

After a brief silence, Gawain gestured to ‘Golden-Eyed Piegel’ who had nearly dehydrated from all his ‘cold-sweat’ perspiration. “You can go. But I advise you not to go near Tanzan Town for the next little while. Head towards the north.”

The slave trafficker trembled as he left, leaving behind a pair of serf siblings who lowered their heads and stood in place. They were so nervous that they almost fainted.

However, Gawain didn’t know what they were thinking. Even if he had the inherited memories, even if he had stayed in this era for a few months, he still wasn’t able to fully immerse and understand the thoughts of this world’s people. He would never have guessed that the siblings were worried about receiving punishment. Gawain carried on with his own thoughts and consoled them, “Your brother is already dead, and the dead cannot revive. [E/N: Well, one of them could.] My condolences. I have already asked someone to collect and prepare Sam’s… remains. He will be buried in a graveyard by the forest. The two of you should live well on this land and work hard to obtain your freedom. The Cecil Clan will protect your safety.”

The siblings lifted their heads in astonishment and looked at Gawain as though they couldn’t believe what they had heard.

Despite Gawain’s opinion, he was saying and doing everything according to the simplest logic.

The two serf siblings left while feeling bewildered. After they left, Amber couldn’t help but say, “I thought you would just let them become free citizens as compensation for their brother’s death.”

Gawain looked at Amber with an amused expression and asked, “Why would I do that?”

“Because you are benevolent.” Amber put on a face as though it was a matter of course. “I know you’re a good person, and isn’t it normal for you to act benevolently?”

Gawain shook his head. “I can act benevolently, but I cannot do it randomly. I cannot let them believe that the sacrifice of a relative could be exchanged for their freedom. Especially not to serfs that don’t know the inside story and allow them to think foolishly. Freedom must be strived for with their hands. I have already set this system in place. Therefore, I must also follow the system. Only by doing so will there be order.”

Amber looked at Gawain with surprise and said, “Is that why you insist those slaves go through the two-month ‘buffer’ period and for them to continue working as serfs and slave workers so that they can obtain freedom after they have worked enough, instead of just announcing you are freeing them their slavery?”

“…Actually, your understanding has plenty of problems, but it is generally okay.” Gawain laughed and said, “I indeed want them to realize that freedom doesn’t come so easily. But there might be a day when I will directly announce the abolition of slavery instead of making small changes like now.”

Amber was dumbstruck. “You actually have such thoughts?! Then… when will it be?”

“When people are aware that the children of serfs and slave workers can also eliminate the King with the launch of a Fireball,” Gawain spoke without thinking. “But for now, we still have to discuss the problem of Tanzan Town.”

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