Volume 5 - CH 14

Chapter 14 – Urgent News

After leaving the restaurant, Kabs went to see the situation of the subordinates whom he ordered to take care of the slaves. Before entering the Royal Capital, it is necessary to clean the slaves and the carriage. For that reason, Kabs rented the warehouse of the Tulle Firm for the night.

As Kabs entered the warehouse, he looked at the slaves in the cages. Their hair and bodies have been cleaned, and they also wore clean simple clothing. Which means the preparation seems to be finished. Meanwhile, his subordinates were currently washing the carriage in the back.

“Oi, have the people who are supposed to pick us up been contacted?”

When Kabs yelled, his men approached him in a rush.

“Kabs-sama, since when did you arrive?”

“Just now. How is it?”

“Those people haven’t shown up yet. The strange thing is that I don’t even see any people from the Tulle Firm. Even though at least one or two of them usually came to greet us….”

“I see.”

“Perhaps something happened?”

“Umu… Let’s wait until noon tomorrow, if they still haven’t come by that time, we’ll leave. When the gate opens in the morning, order one person to take the lead and contact the people in the old castle.”

“Understood.”

“Also, about the female elf who was enslaved in Veil–”

At that moment, the door of the warehouse opened, making a great noise. Curious, Kabs and his subordinates turned their gazes at the door and saw one of his subordinates, who was supposed to come to pick them up, out of breath and unable to move from the floor.

“You are… Tar?”

Kabs asked with a doubtful expression.

The man’s clothes were conspicuously dirty and torn in various places. Everyone could even see the underwear the man’s wearing. Besides that, the small injuries on his face were also very noticeable.

“Kabs-sama, I’m glad I could find you here.”

Tar then fell on his knee.

“What happen, Tar?”

Tar drank the glass of water handed out by one of Kabs’s subordinate at once and looked at Kabs with a grim expression.

“Kabs-sama, the hideout in the old castle is no longer usable.”

“What? What do you mean by no longer usable?”

“The knight order is conducting an inspection on the side road leading to the old castle. Fortunately, I was able to go past them by pretending to not know anything and took a detour around the woods before arriving at the old castle. And as soon as I arrived, I saw many knights guarding the old castle. The atmosphere was really terrifying.”

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“Why are the knights in the old castle!”

“… I don’t know. I only happened to know a place where the old castle walls had collapsed, and I got inside the castle from there. After that, I infiltrated from there and observed the surroundings for a while. I couldn’t get inside the building, though….”

“I see. How was the situation inside the wall?”

“I saw the two Sleipnir, the lion beastman, and the kidnapped children that we previously placed in the basement. They seem to be under the protection of the Knight Order.”

“What?! What happened to those who work in the old castle?!”

“I don’t know. They are either escaped safely or captured by the knights…. After confirming that, I thought I had to tell Kabs-sama about this, so I went through the forest in the middle of the night. And when I entered the town, I used the back route. Incidentally, a man is waiting outside, so may I ask Kabs-sama to pay the toll?”

“Umu, pay it right away. You too, thanks for the information. Go take a rest.”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

Kabs thought about the aim of the knights. As long as Acting Lord Riesenbolt is alive, the kidnapping and slave trading conducted by his group in Veil are unlikely to come to light. For that reason, Kabs has no idea why the knights decided to move.

In addition to Kabs’s subordinate, the old castle was also used by the people from Tulle Firm and the guards he employed from the other side of the society.

“The hoodlums from the slums of the royal capital indeed can be thrown away at our convenience. That’s why, I thought it wouldn’t hurt making a connection with them, but if we’re talking about the ones who might leave a trace, I think it can only be them….” Kabs muttered.

No matter how much he thought about it, there is too little information at this point.

At dawn, Kabs sent his subordinates to the Royal Capital and began gathering information, as he thought carrying slaves in this situation was too risky.

When the sun went down, the subordinates who had been sent to the Royal Capital returned. And they passed the collected information to Kabs.

“Tulle slave firm has been closed. There was no sign of a clerk coming in or out. I also went to the warehouse, but it was locked, no one replied even when I called.”

“Did you find the whereabouts of Tulle?”

“I asked a merchant who has a relationship with him, it seems that the warehouse and store of the Tulle Firm was damaged by the typhoon. I think that’s the reason his store has been closed for a while.”

“By the typhoon?”

“Yes. A big typhoon passed through the Royal Capital a few days ago. It seems many parts of the Royal Capital were damaged, and now the Royal Capital is in the middle of restoration work.”

“Then why did the Knights move to conquer the old castle in such a hectic situation?”

“… Does Kabs-sama think the knights may have a clear reason to move?”

“Umu…”

The information gathered by his subordinates wasn’t good enough. But above all, it was a miscalculation for Kabs to not be able to contact Tulle.

At the moment, Kabs wondered whether Tulle was detained by the knights or was he on the run. Because it is strange for a big merchant like him to close his store due to a typhoon.

Hence, Kabs thought he had to be careful here, as if he chose a wrong choice, danger will befall on him too.