170 Ch. 170 'Quick Witted Lord'

Kazuto had told her through mind-linking that the Elementalists who became the current lord's soldiers seemed to know nothing about this country's history.

This land is so peaceful and filled with joy. Even the knights passing by were friendly and unruly towards the non-Elementalist residents.

This place is a beautiful, warm place, and all the inhabitants live in harmony.

Only one weakness this country has - its lord. The lord was a greedy man to the point he did not care for other beings.

What's worse was that the lord managed to maintain his image in front of his people.

The current lord was an angel-faced demon for this country. The lords were kind and ready to help their inhabitants but exploited money from outside. He charged a very high price in front of his gate and kept a mermaid's tear bottle to sell among other countries' nobles.

Not only that, but the mermaid scale should also be bright blue. The removed scale can grow back, but its color will fade until it eventually becomes a gray color.

The lord deliberately gave this grayscale to its citizens to be sold in soup form. Meanwhile, the best blue scale was sold in ruby ​​coins to the nobles of other countries.

The lord did not oppress his own citizens, but he seeks the greatest profit from other countries. In this way, the inhabitants of the North region will neither complain nor demand to demote the lord's position. He won the citizens' trust and was able to maintain his position as ruler of this country.

As said earlier, an organization headed by Hakim governs this world. The Hakim will summon high-ranking officials from worldwide and Ace Force Captains to appoint or demote each lord's position in the four continents.

Lord Fiery, Scarlet's father, who now controls the East region, was also the result of Ace's organization's decision, and the results are quite satisfying. Lord Fiery was a good and wise leader. Not only that, but financial development in the East was also many times skyrocket than in other countries.

The North's lord, Lord Traze, was also elected by Ace's decision. He now relies on his good image in front of his people. As long as the North citizens wanted him to be their lord, the Hakim would let him be the ruler.

Ace's organization was more concerned with the preferences of the community's subjects so that no matter how many complain about Lord Traze's greed, the Hakim will not let him down as long as there were no complaints from the North's citizen.

Niken was also aware of this system thanks to her endless curiosity and reading various kinds of books in the Bieger academy library. That was why she was sure that Lord Traze had deliberately put on an angelic face to trick the local people when in fact, the man was so greedy and cruel that he did not care about the lives of other creatures.

In the past, humans could be friends with mermaids and even establish mutually beneficial business relationships. Even now, Niken was sure that if they succeeded in returning the mermaids to their original state, this place would return to its former state.

First of all, she wanted to cast doubt on the lord's soldier.

Now, what would the old man answer in the face of her question?

Did the man admit that he did skin the mermaid alive? Or did he deny it by saying that he took the scalp from mermaid's carcass?

Either way did not matter to Niken. Because if that man confessed, then the soldiers would know how cruel the man they had served. But if the lord denied it, the soldiers would look cynical about taking something from a dead spirit.

It is a rule that no one should touch or take items from dead spirits. Otherwise, the spirits' celestial souls will not be able to ascend to heaven and will roam around to haunt those who have defiled them.

The news about the lord taking the scale from the spirit carcass will spread, and restaurants that sell mermaid scale soup will go bankrupt, and people who have eaten it will unmistakably vomit. The serenity in this land of peace is sure to turn into chaos filled with anger. And they would all scream for an explanation to the lord, which eventually provoked Ace's organization into action.

Sooner or later, the Hakim will remove the lord's position from his post and then choose someone else to become the lord of this country.

It seemed that admitting his actions was the better choice. His image might change in the public's eyes once the news about him skinning live mermaid spreads. But at least, they won't revolt and make a fuss.

At least the lord could still maintain his position as the lord of this country.

But Niken wouldn't let the lord off the hook. With the news that two mermaids were held hostage in the basement of the mix-blood wizards' mansion, Niken was able to report the situation and send a request to Ace's organization.

Even though in humans and wizards' eyes, the spirit race is just an insignificant creature, but Ace's organization equalizes all beings. Both non-Elementalists and Elementalists, both upper and lower caste wizards and dominant and petty spirit races, the Ace organization would defend and protect them all if someone asked for shelter.

As long as Niken received acknowledgment from Lord Traze and evidence that there were indeed mermaids locked up in the basement, Niken could report this country's situation to Ace's organization.

She did not know what the Hakim will do to Lord Traze, but she believed Hakim's decision would greatly help this country.

Now, let's hear what kind of answer Lord Traze will give.

"Young lady, is it possible that you have hatred towards me? Why do you easily think badly and accuse me? You're so young that you can easily believe whatever you hear without knowing the truth."

Niken was about to step up and refute emotionally, but Kazuto held her hand while shaking his head firmly. In the end, Niken could only bite her lip in frustration to let the old man continue his words.

"I've been cooperating with the mermaids, and they're willing to voluntarily give their scale."

Three pairs of eyes opened wide at this answer, and instantly they were all frozen on the spot.

The mermaids gave their scale voluntarily? What kind of nonsense is he saying?!