I was expecting Zoe, who was carrying the wallet, to take it out, but it was Byron who moved first.
Byron held out a leather bag full of silver coins to me.
“Sorry.”
“What are you saying? I couldn’t be more honored. I thank God that I was lucky enough to be here.”
“Well… here.”
I took the leather bag and threw it at the buyer.
I didn’t count, but I’m pretty sure there were over 100 in that leather bag.
The man- that buyer was puzzled for a moment, but then caught the leather bag firmly.
He stared at it for a moment and then threw it back to me.
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m not selling it to you.”
“……”
Again, my temples twitched.
“What kind of slavers are you?”
“What’s it to you?”
“Answer me.”
“—-Uu!”
I glared at him and asked him a question, which made him take a step backward.
“Hey, how’s it going over there?”
“What? You only bought just one person yet?”
“What are you waiting for?”
A group of men who looked like fellow buyers began to gather around him.
All of them had a few children with them.
The children were all reluctant, but they were already collared and chained.
“This guy’s in the way.”
The first buyer explained the situation to his friends.
“You look like some young master, but if you stick your nose in too far you’ll get burned.”
One of them threw out the usual threats.
“Where are you guys from? Do you have a license?”
I asked, and they exchanged eye contact.
“Hey, we’re gonna hurt you a little, okay.”
“That’s right. Oi! Gather around!”
One of them shouted, and more and more people, those who looked like buyers started to gather around, like, “What is it?”.
In the end, there were fifteen of them.
They quickly explained the situation to their friends, and all of them prepared themselves to set a trap for me.
“……”
I silently pulled Leviathan out of my bracelet.
Wielding my demon sword, which was trailing a light blue light, I swung it at the men- the buyers who were coming at me at once.
The men were familiar with these situations, but it was only a level of familiarity with thug fights.
One by one, I cut down the attackers and beat them back.
It only took two minutes to deal with the fifteen men.
“Fuuh.:
“M-M-Murderer!!!”
One of the refugees who had gathered around screamed when he saw those people who had been cut down and were bleeding.
I didn’t kill any of them – but I guess you can’t see that.
“It’s a murderer! Somebody call the guards!”
“Don’t let the murderer escape!”
This time, the refugees surrounded me.
They were afraid of me because I had the leviathan in my hand, but they didn’t want to let me go.
After a while, a group of guards arrived, breaking through the crowd of refugees.
“Move, move! What’s going on?”
“Sir, that’s him, that’s the murderer.”
One of the refugees told the young man who seemed to be the leader of the guards what had happened.
And then the leader of the guards who heard it headed over to us with glaring eyes.
“What! Y-Your Majesty!”
He looked so surprised, as if he had just found a ghost, that he immediately dropped to one knee and bowed to me.
“My apologies, I didn’t know that His Majesty the Emperor was here!”
“Hmm.”
Immediately after the guard said this, there was a few seconds of silence.
“You are in the presence of His Majesty the Emperor!”
Zoe said in a voice that was clear – and increasingly dignified.
The refugees present looked at the guard and all knelt down at the same time.
Then, I asked the guard leader.
“Did you recognize my face?”
It was unusual for a guard.
“Yes! I – well, I was one of Rice-sama’s subordinates, and for a while, I was an errand boy for the Ministry of Military Affairs.”
“I see.”
I was there when Henry was in the Ministry of War, so I guess I’d seen his face before.
“It’s really the Emperor.”
“The Emperor has defeated the bad guys?”
“How powerful he is ……”
Normally, people would refrain from talking in front of the emperor, but the refugees from the countryside didn’t understand that and were whispering their opinions.
I ignored them and ordered the guard leader.
“Catch these people. They are suspected of being illegal slavers.”
“By your will!”
Once the order was given, the rest was quick.
The guards were very good at what they were doing, and they took the people I had cut down – those who had not been killed – and took them somewhere.
I looked around.
Children …… drags you down, was it?
I remembered the words of the buyer earlier.
The father tried to sell the child, even for a moment – no, in fact, considering that there are other people who sold the child, as long as you are a refugee, the child can become a drag.
If that’s the case with a child then for example a baby would be a complete liability.
However, people are treasures.
Especially the babies who still have nothing but hope.
“Baby …… infant …… education……”
I don’t like the way it sounds.
In this case…
“Zoe.”
“Yes.”
“Go to Don and have him set up a ‘nursery’. If the refugees can’t handle them, let the kids stay there for a year- no, three years.”[TN: Although I used nursery, it’s more of a school boarding home, I guess]
“I understand.”
Zoe, who is loyal to me, accepted the order without saying anything else.
On the other hand, Byron, who was watching the whole thing closely, said.