Volume 5 - CH 2

Chapter 2 – Collusion

Having been summoned to the meeting room of the guild, Eto and his party along with Tamara were listening to the report from Sidrake.

“The reason Kabs and his partner-in-crime are able to freely issue slave certificates was because they have a senior judge on their side. But I guess in order for you guys to understand that, it seems I have to first explain the current state of Margrave of Erven.”

The Margrave of Erven is a distance from the royal capital and has a responsibility to protect the border at its own discretion, so the Kingdom granted some degree of autonomy to them. And administration of justice is one of the autonomies granted to them. Normally, a judge would be dispatched from the royal capital to a territory, and the judge has to make a judgement in accordance with the Kingdom Law. However, in the Margrave of Erven, the Lord was allowed to appoint a senior judge by himself. And that senior judge is in a position to supervise the judges in the Margrave territory.

As Margrave Stainbolt is still in bed due to a chronic illness, Riesenbolt, his son, who was appointed as the Acting Lord of his territory is now the one in charge of appointing a senior judge. In the investigation report, the collusion between Riesenbolt, Kabs, and Terrero, the senior judge, was regarded as a big problem.

“The investigation report described a case in which the three parties were suspected of collusion. There was an accident in which a horse-drawn carriage of a noble family near Riesenbolt went out of control and hit a commoner woman. But, as soon as the case passed through the court, it became obsolete.”

The woman hit by the carriage was gravely injured and died at the hospital. The husband of the woman then filed a charge to the said noble in court. But, before the case was accepted, the husband and his two children suddenly disappeared from the city. After that, the accident was arbitrarily judged to be caused by the woman, who jumped out onto the road all of a sudden, letting the noble get away scot-free.Because there were no traces discovered in the disappearance of the husband and his children, the investigators suspected that they were kidnapped by those accustomed to doing such a crime. And looking at the course of the case, it is also suspected that the family’s information was leaked from the court.

“Besides that, in the territory of Veil, there have been many disappearances of young women since last year.”

Sidrake said with a bitter look on his face.

“Don’t tell me that case is also related to the Acting Lord and Kabs?”

“Our investigators indeed have pointed out that possibility. They also have confirmed that there was a carriage transporting many young women leaving the slums of Veil and stopping next to the Kabs Slave Firm. One of the people in charge of escorting the carriage is a man who earns money in the slum, who also happens to be a former adventurer. And our investigators are in contact with this man and have been gathering some information from him.”

“Then, why can’t we just report the evidence of the kidnapping? If we let them loose, there will be more casualties!”

""

Eto couldn’t control his emotions. Because he knew that if they let the slave traders run loose, the number of victims would increase.

“Actually, that former adventurer just saw a carriage with many women on it. Hence, we cannot easily conclude that they are the victims of kidnapping. The reason we thought that the disappeared women were actually kidnapped was because of that hit-and-run incident I mentioned earlier. And we came to suspect that those kidnapped women have been enslaved and sold by slave traders because of the story we heard from Sorano-san here.”

“I think it’s possible to forge slave-related documents with the cooperation of a senior judge in the Margrave. And because those documents are considered official documents, they can always evade us even if we fill a charge towards them. They also have the cooperation of the Acting Lord, after all.”

Tamara said and stared at Eto with a difficult face.

In fact, if there is evidence, there is no way Guild Master Sidrake will leave them alone. Since they can’t do anything in the current situation, Kabs and his partner-in-crime aren’t detained. Knowing that, Eto looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

“Sidrake-sama, please let me sort out the information a bit.”

Having calmed his temper, Eto said in a gentle tone.

“Ee, of course. This information is something related to Sorano-san, after all.”

“In conclusion, in that Margrave territory, the Acting Lord Riesenbolt, the Slave Trader Kabs and the senior judge are involved in illegal trafficking, right?”

“Although right now it was just a suspicion, that’s right.”

“Those kidnapped women are put up for sale by Kabs. And the senior judge issues a slave certificate to justify the act.”

“Yes. It seems they are also avoiding selling slaves in their hometown, Veil. Moreover, the Acting Lord was probably backing them to prevent these misconducts from being known to the public. Presently, our investigators are also beginning to look into their sales route.”

The way they did things was so bold that Eto couldn’t determine if such a crime was really possible. With just a small breach, the case is likely going to the court.

“Is Margrave-sama, who is said to be ill, involved in this case?”

Tamara asked Sidrake.

“…I don’t know. He is said to be someone trusted by His Majesty, but I don’t know what kind of person he is.”

“I see….”

“There is a continuation of the report.”

Then, Sidrake continued to explain the report sent by the guild investigators.