CH 52

Unlike the villa of the Marquisate of Sheffield, where the evening party was held and the night was brighter than the day, the corner of the back alleys was darker than the night.

“…I thought it was strange, but…”

Richard didn’t even move an inch as he listened to the non-stop words coming from the man.

The man’s story was not much different from what he expected.

People appeared out of nowhere, begging to be sold.

And since it was money, it was irresistible to greedy garbage.

“I did roughly hear the circumstances.”

“Circumstances?”

When Richard responded for the first time, the man replied enthusiastically.

“Yes! That’s what it is!”

Going back in time a little bit, a few tens of minutes ago.

“You want me to sell you?”

“Yes.”

“If it’s a bad joke, I’ll make the house you’re going to return to today disappear.”

Despite the man’s sufficiently threatening words, the man and woman standing before him did not blink an eye and repeated what they had said.

“You can sell us. My brother and I.”

“I never bought you guys.”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you keep the money.”

“What?”

The more the man listened, the more spectacular it was, but the amount of money he could get from selling two people was too much to pass on in anger.

“Ahem, hmm. Let’s hear what nonsense it is.”

The man who had been rambling suddenly hesitated and looked at Richard.

Thinking about it again, the situation the man and woman were talking about was so strange that it suddenly occurred to him that the person in front of him might not believe his words and break his neck.

But the man had no choice but to continue speaking.

If he spoke, he might not die, but if he didn’t speak, he would surely die.

“They said they had to be sold. If they weren’t sold, they would die? That’s what I meant.”

Even while conveying the earlier situation, the man wondered what he was talking about.

Contrary to the man’s concerns, however, Richard understood the true meaning of the words at once.

An act of selling oneself to someone that no one could understand at all.

And even the reason was not common at all.

He must be sold. Otherwise, he would die.

It was a mission.

It might seem absurd to others, but to the person concerned, there was really no other choice but death.

No, if he couldn’t do that, it would not be comfortable even if he died.

‘Is it really related to religion?’

The initial predictions were fitting to some extent, but nothing was resolved.

It was impossible to get people to make human sacrifices dedicated to an unknown god in the central temple.

It must be some new religion.

However, there was no information anywhere that so-called prophets or saints appeared.

‘This is a problem.’

‘It’s love that makes a person most blind.’

‘Among them, the love for God is strong enough to throw away all family and friends.’

‘Actually, within the empire, religion has become almost a way of life rather than a belief, so it doesn’t get much attention, but if it’s a very small country a few bridges away, the Holy Nation…’

Richard’s head tilted slightly as he put aside the thoughts that were going sideways.

If this bizarre human trafficking was intertwined with religion, why Neir…?

It was unlikely that Marchioness Neir founded a religion.

Since she’s aiming for the throne, not religion.

“Where are they sold?”

“Ah, that’s… uhm. It’s a bit strange, they picked out a few places and asked me to sell them there.”

When Richard gestured, the man quickly recited the places the man and woman wanted.

It was even more strange because the places were not particularly related to the Marquisate of Neir, nor containing special powers.

Rather, it was spread all over the capital. There were only family mansions and shops around it, not much of a common ground.

If he had to pinpoint a commonality, it would be that the families supported the imperial family, but it didn’t seem to mean much because they weren’t particularly powerful families.

In the end, it could not be immediately established whether it was part of propagation or if there was another intention.

“Next.”

“Yes? Ah, next. Next, errrr, is the poison and medicine trade…”

In addition, the story of the man, which continued for a long time, included how to use the drugs and poison provided today.

“If you mix it, it becomes poisonous?”

“Yes.”

As soon as the man’s answer fell, Richard stood up.

He had taken every bit of information he could get from this man.

For the rest, it would be more accurate to observe the men and women who sold themselves to this man.

If they devoted themselves to religion and were willing to sell their body, they would probably be different from ordinary people. He had to keep that in mind.

And the strange drug.

He still wasn’t sure who supplied this man with the rumored drug, but he probably wouldn’t have sold it to just one person.

To get more facts, he must trace it to the origins.

“It’s not to the point of killing people, but it’ll be similar anyway…”

The man blinked.

This was because while he was talking, he missed the face that was before his wide-opened eyes.

No, it was not just that he missed it… It just disappeared right in front of his eyes.

The man followed the phantom-like existence, shifting his eyes here and there with a dumbfounded face for a while, but he couldn’t find the killer who sliced his entire body anywhere.

Even after Richard disappeared, the man coughed and gasped for the breath he hadn’t even known he had been holding back.

“Ugh, uhuhuh! Keugh, eugh, ugh!”

Tears welled up in his eyes as he instinctively and frantically caressed his neck and checked his throat.

He caught his breath and wiped away his tears.

—Dun.

“Ahhhh!”

When he screamed at the door that suddenly opened without warning, the person who opened the door also screamed.

“Argh!”

The man and his subordinate, facing each other through the open door, looked at each other from afar, then shut their mouths at the same time.

“W-What’s wrong with you?”

“Shut up… ugh.”

The man wanted to vent his frustration on his subordinates, but his body did not have the strength.

As he weakly gestured, his subordinate, who had some sensibility, quickly came and helped him.

The man moved almost as if he was crawling, putting his butt on his chair and letting out a long sigh.

The subordinate watching this asked.

“What happened?”

“There was…”

“What?”

The subordinate frowned and looked around.

But the surroundings were just as cluttered as when he left.

He didn’t notice any additional mess or something amiss. Of course, they wouldn’t have put anything worth money in a conspicuous place…

The man’s face contorted when he saw the subordinate looking around with a stupid expression.

“You stupid bastard, what do you know?”

“Why are you saying such things?”

“So you know?”

“I don’t know.”

Hugging his bursting suit, the man sighed once more and waved his hand.

(TL/N: in other words, he’s chubby/pudgy, probably/especially in the stomach area.)

“What did you do?”

“Oh, those two. I brought them there. You told me not to touch them, so I didn’t touch them.”

The man felt a headache come over him when he sensed his subordinate seeking a commendation for keeping the order.

“It was very self-evident.”

“But, they kept asking me.”

“What?”

“They kept asking ‘When will they be sold?’ How crazy. I’m glad I didn’t touch them.”

“You bastard. It’s not because of my order that you didn’t touch them, it was because you’re uncomfortable?”

“Ah, hehe. Well, all’s good anyway.”

At the sight of the subordinate scratching the back of his head, the man clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Just take care of them. It’s difficult if they starve to death or get sick before we sell them. How much can a healthy young man and woman be sold for? Selling… Ugh, it’s embarrassingly uncomfortable.”

The man grabbed his hair, pulling it.

Surprised by the sudden action, the subordinate blinked and took a step back, but the man groaned and agonized for a long time.

‘Must be sold. Of course. These were the things that came to me on their own to be sold, I must do my duty and sell them.’

But…

“I don’t know what the hell he came and went for. Did I really see something?”

“What?”

Hearing his subordinate questioning response, the man paused as he tried to press his temple; he had a deepening headache.

It was only now that he realized that the pain he had been feeling earlier was coming from his cheek, not his head.

And the pain in that cheek must have been due to being stepped on.

As the man rubbed his cheek, his subordinate stretched out his neck, examined him closely, and tilted his head.

“Huh? Why are your cheeks swollen? The marks are also strange…”

The subordinate’s words gradually faded away, cold sweat broke out on the man’s back.

The phantom he saw earlier was by no means an illusion.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out why someone so insanely strong came to him.

‘At best, am I not a businessman who makes a living by selling people to entertainment districts from time to time, or distributing drugs?’

It was not an organization that divided the forces of this back alley, so why… Why?

With bloodshot eyes, the man beckoned, calling his subordinate closer.

“Yes?”

“From now on, move as quietly as possible from now on. Only you move. Don’t let the goods loose.”

“Yes. Yes, I will. But why?”

“It looks like they’re caught up in something very dirty, so you have to be careful when moving around.”

Hearing the words of his boss spoken in a low, hushed voice, the subordinate became nervous. He swallowed dry saliva and nodded.

“He paid so much money that I didn’t ask anything, argue, or dig, but it seems that our biggest customer is a huge piece of shit. Dig it up, find out which high-ranking family came to the back alley. Right now.”

Credits goes to Jassie for raw providing, Ame for translating, and Dea for proofreading.