Chapter 64: The Road to King (4)

“Lillian.”

The girl looked up weakly when her name was called. A boy and two girls were trapped inside the bars; the three were from the same village. They had lost their parents in the war and had been sold by the villagers. It was the boy, Sedin, who called Lillian.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m fine……”

Lillian shook her head but her body was trembling. Sedin took off the jacket he had been wearing. When he pulled the vest-like, sleeveless jacket over her shoulders, Lillian’s trembling calmed down a little.

“I lent Frill my clothes, so you’re cold too, right?”

Sedin laughed softly at that. Frill was asleep, looking comfortable with Lillian’s clothes over her head.

“I wish I didn’t have anything to worry about like Frill……”

“Yeah.”

Sedin’s shoulders slumped at Lillian’s words.

“Is it really so hard being a slave?”

They knew what a slave was, and the fate they were destined for. The only one who didn’t know anything was Lillian’s younger sister, Frill, who had just turned seven.

The door to the prison opened and two men entered. The eyes of all the captives turned to them.

“You got anything new?”

Gensema asked his men as he looked around the bars.

“Yes, there are three newcomers, this way.”

Then a man led Gensema to the room. This was the very room where Lillian and Sedin were.

“Hmm, that girl looks pretty good.”

Gensema opened his mouth while pointing towards the sleeping Frill.

“Well, I think I can satisfy him like this. He’s a hard man to please.”

Gensema smiled slyly. When he tried to pick up Frill, Lillian, who had grasped the situation, stood in front of him.

“I’ll go. I’ll go. Please let my sister go!”

“Huh……”

Gensema looked at Lillian with interest.

” Sorry, but you’re already too grown up.”

He lightly pushed Lillian away, and this time, unable to bear it, the Sedin tried to jump on him.

“Let her go!”

But he couldn’t even get close to Gensema as the man next to him kicked him on the floor. He was too young to have any power.

“Hey, come on. You kicked my product so violently. Boys are in demand these days.”

Gensema picked up Frill while snoring at his subordinate. Then, the little girl opened her eyes.

“Big sister?”

She looked around for Lillian, and Gensema stroked Frill’s head.

“All right, all right. I’ll make sure you live happily ever after. You want something good to eat?”

“Good food?”

“No, Frill!”

Lillian tried to jump on Gensema, but was immediately blocked by the man next to her.

“Huh……Frill……!”

Lillian’s dying parents had asked her to take care of her sister. Everyone just looked at her and sighed with pity in their eyes. The hard iron door closed and Gensema walked out.

“Anyway, you’re sure that Earl Erhin has been handled?”

“I sent Hogg, just in case, the Earl is no match for him. Don’t worry, he’s already on his way.”

“Hogg? Aren’t you being too cautious?”

Gensema nodded, his shoulders shaking.

“Where’s my sister?”

Finally waking up, Frill began to look around for Lillian.

“Your sister’s left first.”

Gensema smiled falsely and disappeared into the darkness.

***

The headquarters of the Doro Trading Company was located in the royal capital of Lunan. However, it was only the headquarters where the business dealings between the representatives of the Trading Company and the nobles took place. Their real headquarters was located in a fortress near the capital.

The private armies, the assassination squads of the Trading Company, the slave camps and even the important ledgers, all of that was located in that very fortress and I was going to destroy it.

“Listen, Zint. I don’t want any innocent people who have been caught or sold to get hurt.”

“Of course not. They’re in the same boat as Mirine, and we have to help them.”

From the reply, he seemed to be fine.

“All right, let’s go!”

I immediately started the attack and the Aintorian’s elite soldiers bravely charged forward. Their movements were very agile thanks to the training they had undergone so far. The main gate of the fortress collapsed due to Zint’s assault.

“What the hell is going on?”

The private army of the Doroi Trading Company drew their swords and began to fight back, but my soldiers were not of the same caliber as Lunan’s lousy army. They had a training level of 80, and thanks to Yurasia, their morale was over 90.

My cavalry began to fight off the private army of the Trading Company. Of course, there were also assassination squads here, so there seemed to be a few guys with high martial force. But they already sent the A-class assassin to kill me so there was a hole in their strength.

“I’ll never forgive you for being a slaver.”

There was no change in the one-sided battle, as even Yurasia had joined in and wiped out the assassination squad with Zint, who had turned into a war demon. At the same time, however, chaos broke out behind the iron doors where people were being held.

A private soldier had opened the iron door with the intention of causing chaos. Thanks to this, the trapped people were able to see the battlefield outside.

“Kill them! They messed with my merchandise!”

I sent my soldiers over there right away; protecting the people was the top priority. Naturally, the private soldiers of the Trading Company gathered there as well. Soon, the area in front of the door turned into the biggest battleground. No, it wasn’t exactly a battleground because the battle was one-sided.

[Aintorian Territorial Army]

[100 men]

Our numbers have not diminished.

[Private army of the Doro Trading Company]

[87 men]

The private army of the Trading Company, which numbered more than 250, was quickly reduced. There were some wounded in our army as well, but thanks to Zint and Yurasia who were active in the frontline, the enemy’s spirit was completely crushed and no one was killed.

Taking advantage of the chaos, even the children started to come out. When I saw this, I felt indignant. Even the children were enslaved…….I knew this, but seeing it first hand made me even angrier.

＊＊＊

In the midst of the chaos, people cowered in dismay but Sedin was different.

“Lillian! Now, let’s get out of here. I don’t know what is happening, but it’s our best chance!”

Lillian, who had been leaning against the wall in a daze, murmured in a fading voice.

”But where is Frill?”

“You idiot, we have to get out of here to find her!”

Sedin said, grabbing Lillian’s hand and running out of the jail.

“Children, it’s not safe out there! It’s better for you to stay here!”

It was a war of attrition and the private soldiers were blindly killing the slaves that escaped. Thanks to this, people were just shivering in fear behind the doors. However, Sedin thought that they would be trapped again if they kept staying there, but that assumption turned out to be wrong.

“Sedin!”

A blade flew into the back of Sedin, who was running along with Lillian, and impaled him. He became a victim of random slaughter carried by private soldiers; Lillian sat down and cried out Sedin’s name. However, with the amount of blood that was already flowing out meant that there was no chance of saving him.

“Sedin! Sedin……! No, you can’t die, not you too!”

Then, a blade came flying at her but Bente blocked it.

“Get inside! It’s not safe out here!”

Lillian clung to Sedin and wouldn’t leave, even though Bente that Erhin had sent shouted as he came toward the jail. And in no time at all, the stronghold was in ruins.

Erhin received a signal from Bente and stepped into the jail because as long as the people who had been captured were there, he had to do something.

“Sir, I’ve gathered them all!”

Bente said, and Erhin nodded, then he shouted to the gathered crowd.

“I am Earl Erhin, Lord of Aintorian. I have come to help you in my cause of cleaning up the slavers. Raise your hand if you’ve been kidnapped by these people. If you have a place to return to, we’ll send you home!”

Then the women started to raise their hands fearfully, looking around here and there to see what was going on around them.

“All right, gather together in one place. No matter what happens, I’ll send you back home.”

Dozens of women gathered at Erhin’s words. The rest of them were buzzing and couldn’t take their eyes off him.

“The rest of you have probably been sold into slavery. When you return home, you will either be oppressed or sold into slavery again. I will give you a choice. If you want to go home, that’s fine, but if you want to start a new life, I’m going to give you all a new place to live.

I’m building villages all over Aintorian. If you don’t want to go back to your homeland, you can come and live there. Of course, it’s a border territory, so there will be risks. But don’t worry, I will protect you. I can assure you of that.

Those of you, who would rather farm without worrying about what others think than lead a miserable life, come forward!”

People began to whisper at Erhin’s words.

“Earl Aintorian is…….Don’t tell me you ended that war?”

One of the women who had just been abducted screamed out in surprise. She had been kidnapped in a war zone and had heard rumors about Erhin. Even more so since the rumor of Erhin being a great strategist was already spreading all over Lunan.

“Yeah.”

Erhin nodded and the woman suddenly stepped forward.

“……If I go back to my village I’ll just be sold back anyway. I want to go to Aintorian. Can you take me with you?”

“If that’s your choice.”

Because of the location, 90% of the people being held were women. However, they were worried that they would be taken away again, but her words became a fuse. Their trust level soared, soon, the women came forward to take the lead.

Furthermore, more than half of those who had said they were going back to their homeland decided to come to Aintorian.

Due to the peculiarity of being a border region, Aintorian’s weakness was its small population. Of course, many refugees had recently moved in due to Erhin’s fame, but it still wasn’t enough.

In the midst of all this, Lillian, who had been pulled away from the body of the Sedin and forcibly brought to him, only looked up at Erhin with a dazed look in her eyes, but did not come forward or stand up, then the woman next to her grabbed Lillian’s hand with a pitying expression.

“You have nowhere to go, right? Your friend is dead and your sister was taken away, poor thing…….This is a good opportunity for you to come and live with me in a place called Aintorian.”