CH 37

Chapter 37 – ☆ Slave Merchant, Dies

“Shit!! Those damned demihumans!”

Cobis slammed his fists on the desk within Etigoburg castle.

“How dare they interfere with my operations… Shit! Shit!”

“Si-sir Cobis, we have packed everything. We should leave this place at once.”

Cobis shouted back angrily at his subordinate.

“I know!”

Cobis had invested a fortune into building Etigoburg.

Not only was it to be a base for his slave hunting operation, but he intended for it to be his seat as the lord of these lands one day. He had already been working at attaining a title from the king of Bersos. This too, was costing him a lot of money.

But now, not only had he lost his merchandise and workforce, but he was driven out of his castle. Cobis was terribly resentful.

However, when faced against an army of ten thousand demihumans, resistance was impossible.

Not only that, but these were not the same defenseless demihumans of the past.

The soldiers who had been with Gaius and Barnish had claimed that these demihumans were wielding weapons.

In fact, Cobis himself had been nicked by an arrow this morning.

“We have to return later somehow… This castle is not the kind of property that I can abandon for a year or two…”

While Cobis had conducted his slave hunting operations all over the southern regions for some time, he had never built a base on this scale.

He had invested half of his fortune into it, and intended to make great profits afterwards.

Not only that, but since he had hired so many mercenaries, his funds were shrinking rapidly.

“…That’s right.”

Cobis suddenly recalled the Schwarz Knights Order to the north.

Just yesterday, a messenger had arrived from the order.

While he was surprised about Gaius’s death, it seemed that he also cared more about the payment for Gaius’s services.

And so Cobis had determined that the order was having trouble with money.

“It is said that one of their knights can slay a hundred monsters. During such times, sacrifices must be made…I’ll have to pay, and have them fight instead…”

As he thought of such things, a soldier burst into the building.

“S-sir Cobis! The demihuman army is coming towards our gates!”

“Wh-waht!? They’re here already!?”

Indeed, these people who called themselves the Fendel Alliance, had ordered them to leave at once.

“Impatient bastards…I still haven’t carried out the furniture…”

Cobis said with a troubled expression. And then he handed one of his merchant subordinates a bag of gold.

“You. Ride on ahead and go to Chevalburg and ask Royg to send his men. Give him this gold and promise to pay double after the deed is done. On top of that, I will buy the slaves from him at a high price. Also, tell him about the Fendel Alliance and the threat of the demihumans.”

“C-certainly. But what about you, Sir Cobis?”

“I will wait a little longer. Surely the demihumans can give me another hour at least.”

And so Cobis immediately went to the gates of Etigoburg.

And there, he saw that the army was right in front of the castle.

There were a hundred riders. The rest were foot soldiers. In all, there must have been two thousand.

But they had cat-like ears and brown skin.

They were demihumans known as weretigers.

They must surely be part of the Fendel Alliance, and so Cobis immediately fell to his knees.

“A-all of you! Forgive me for the delay! But I will be leaving soon! But freeing all of the demihumans took so much time! Can you not spare us another hour?”

“An hour? Why, you seem very well prepared. Did you know that we were coming?”

Said the tiger man who stood in the front.

“Ye-yes! Are you not part of the Fendel Alliance!? You visited this morning, and so I thought…”

The man looked puzzled.

“Fendel Alliance…? What is that?”

“Wh-what? So you are not part of the alliance? The alliance of demihumans…”

“Oh? Now that is a surprise. I did not know of such a thing… However, we are not part of it. Do you know of the Grank mercenaries?”

“Grank…mercenaries…”

Cobis suddenly looked like he remembered something.

“W-weretiger…Grank mercenaries…”

They were a mercenary army that were active in the south.

However, they did not have the best reputation, as they sided with whoever paid the best, be they humans or the Demon King army.

Still, their physical abilities ensured that they did get work.

Not only did their speed surpass any human, but even monsters could not keep up with them.

And so their accomplishments on the battlefield were numerous.

“It looks like you finally remembered. Thirty years ago, you burned down our village to the west. Do you remember that as well?”

“Th-the Grank province…I heard about that! It was…a great tragedy! But…I didn’t do anything! You must be thinking of someone else! After all, I’ve never been involved in the slave trade, ever!”

“You’ve got some nerve. It was only a second ago that you spoke of releasing them.”

“Th-that…that was my subordinates, acting on their own! I had no knowledge of it! So you must forgive me!”

“That will not happen. Things are going well for the Demon King’s army now, and the southern city was captured. And here you are, so close by. There is no other time if we want revenge.”

Cobis pleaded, but the Grank mercenaries began to attack.

Ladders were raised against the castle walls, and the gates were destroyed by a battering ram.

Not a single slave hunter tried to fight.

They all rushed to the back exit and tried to flee.

Cobis was one of them.

He grabbed a bag filled with gold and rushed to the door.

“Get out of my way! Where is my horse! The rest of you, turn around and fight!”

However, no one listened to his orders.

It was then that the Grank mercenaries flooded into Etigoburg.

“Ahh! Ha-have mercy! A-!?”

And just like that, Cobis was cut down by the leader of the Grank mercenaries, and he fell to the ground with his gold.

When the leader raised Cobis’s severed head into the air, the mercenaries cheered.

After that, Etigoburg and the surrounding area was plundered thoroughly.