Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Chasing the Black Cat
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"Meow~"
The boys chased after the black tuxedo cat.
The cat glanced back several times to check if the boys were following properly, then darted around a corner into a deserted alley.
But when the boys rounded the corner after it, the cat was nowhere to be seen. A lone woman stood there instead.
"Huh?"
"Ugh! Wh-what's g-going on?"
Dave, who had been leading the chase, froze in shock at the sight of the woman, and Jane, right on his heels, stumbled into him.
"Bro! The cat's gone!"
"Th-then wh-what do we do?"
The woman opened her mouth with a gentle smile.
"Oh, no need to worry, young masters."
At that moment, tiny glowing lights began to flicker to life one by one in the dark alley, soon filling it completely.
"Wh-what is this...!"
The lights were all cat eyes.
The boys recoiled in horror at the swarm of cats, but Bella giggled and greeted one of them.
"Good evening~?"
"I need a little help from you young masters."
"Y-yes? H-how can w-we...?"
The boys were at a loss on how to handle this sudden stranger, but since they still needed to find the cat, they couldn't back out. The real problem was picking it out from that horde.
"I'm in a position where I can't show my face. So the little master here will come with me to deliver a secret message, and the big master can keep watch at that inn from before to make sure no other 'rabbits' get sold~"
Only then did the boys realize this woman was connected to those kids in veils—and that she was trying to protect the 'rabbits'.
Bella pulled out paper and a pen right there and began writing the secret letter. Dave, who could barely read, couldn't make it out, but Jane caught a few scattered words and pieced together the gist.
'Kids', 'drugs', 'deal'.
From the repeated terms, Jane guessed it was a message about human trafficking or narcotics.
"Wh-where do we s-send it?"
"Straight to the royal guard~"
"T-to the palace?"
"That's right. As you heard, the guard captain here is in on it. We need to send it to the palace to catch these bad adults fast. Oh, do you know how to draw a map by chance?"
At the mention of a map, the boys exchanged looks, then huddled close with grim determination and began sketching Sharton Street.
"That's the grocery shop. Next to it is the restaurant."
"Th-this is the w-warehouse, and n-next to it is the r-red-roof inn you m-mentioned. It's c-called Maple Tree, but I h-heard some u-uncles call it White Maple."
Bella jotted down the names they called out, completing the map. Without their help, it wouldn't have come together so quickly.
Finally, Bella drew cute cat faces on the finished map to mark the guard post, the rabbit-selling inn, and the suspected drug storage inn for emphasis. She folded it neatly with the letter and handed it to Dave.
"Wh-why me?"
"I can't show my face. You'll have to help me, little master."
Bella earnestly instructed Dave that it had to be sent as an urgent missive, and asked Jane to watch the rabbit inn for any more kids arriving.
She warned them above all not to intervene if any did show up, then transformed into a cat and hopped onto Dave's shoulder.
"Meooow~"
"...A cat?"
"Meooow!"
The stunned boys gawked at the cat that was now Bella.
She meowed once more, then pawed at Dave's cheek as if to say what are you waiting for? and pointed the way with her front paw.
Dave stepped forward on reflex at the cat's urging, but memories of the guards mocking the little ones made his eyes waver.
"Um..."
"Meow?"
"...Sorry."
He apologized quickly.
The cart carrying the iron cage rumbled along for quite a while.
Lianus couldn't stand the boredom any longer and started fidgeting. Then he remembered the thread bracelet on his wrist and his eyes lit up.
Was this the moment his dear friend's special training would shine?!
Thinking so, Lianus fiddled with the thread bracelet.
Perhaps the ropes binding him were too loose, because after a few twists and turns, they slipped right off!
"......"
Lianus stared blankly at the ropes that had come undone so easily. Nihil chuckled lowly at the sight, untied his own ropes, and pulled the disappointed little one—who hadn't gotten to use what he'd learned—close for an arm pillow.
The bumpy road kept making Lianus's head bump against him.
Lianus listened to the steady thump of the pulse near his ear and nearly dozed off.
Falling asleep while being trafficked for human trade?!
It was all because his friend was too reliable.
Lianus quickly wiped the drool from his mouth and peeked up to check if Nihil had seen his sloppy state.
Nihil had his eyes closed, but whether from Lianus's movement or sensing his gaze, he cautiously lifted an eyelid, looked down, and mouthed, what?
Relieved his ugly drooling hadn't been spotted, Lianus whispered seriously, as if no enemy were near.
"Where do you think we're headed?"
Nihil, who had already wiped Lianus's drool a few times on the way, struggled not to laugh and answered gravely.
"Probably a gambling den."
"A gambling den? Why?"
"Missing kids usually means sold far away or disposed of. But this country has no slavery. To sell as slaves, they'd need to ship to another country with it—too risky, and young kids like these aren't productive enough to fetch a price anyway. They're not picking based on looks, so not for collections either. Plus, Sharton Street's big organizations are dismantled, so no real manpower, and the guard captain's only been in three months. It's just a temporary drug stopover warehouse at best. They probably pull patrols on distribution days. Hmm, Rian, lift your waist a sec?"
Nihil rebound Lianus tightly with the ropes, figuring they were nearly there, and continued.
"So the kids were likely 'disposed of.' And not out of grudge, but for fun. Excluding drugs, local entertainment boils down to three: booze, sex, gambling. Booze doesn't involve kids, so sex or gambling. If it was sex, prices vary by looks, but they paid more for 'younger' regardless. No need to dispose after using for that. So it's more like disposal as the entertainment from the start. Bigger heads mean more resistance and harder handling, so they want small, fragile ones they can control easily."
"So the kids are... being used as gambling chips...?"
"Just a guess. Oh, Rian, don't squirm—the ropes'll loosen. Yeah, hold still like that."
Nihil soothed the fidgety Lianus, who found the ropes uncomfortable, and went on.
"Another possibility is heretic sacrifices, but from the situation and talk, that's unlikely."
Lianus's expression darkened with each word.
"...If you hadn't suggested coming here."
"You'd have avoided getting sold for a measly eighty silvers."
"......"
That wasn't what Lianus meant, but Nihil pretended not to notice and kept talking.
"You'd be having a warm, tasty meal, lying in a soft bed instead of this hard, cold cage."
Lianus nodded faintly and added to Nihil's words.
"Yeah. And wondering what to do after barely finishing homework."
"Exactly."
"Like an idiot. Clueless."
"......"
"...If we hadn't come, I wouldn't have heard about the sister beaten to death selling her body for her sibling, or seen that lone kid blaming himself for being helpless. Or the one nearly gutted by a kick from his last blood relative, or the fools thrilled over watery soup with a bit of meat."
"......"
Lianus listed what he'd seen and heard, then dazedly called out softly.
"Nil."
"Yeah."
"Thanks for bringing me out here."
"Yeah."
Nihil smiled faintly.
The cart came to a stop. Time to get serious.
No sleeping now!
The cage holding the children arrived at a gambling den, just as Nihil had predicted.
The moment they entered, Lianus nearly coughed from the thick cigarette smoke.
"Why're you so late? I said make it quick!"
A balding middle-aged man stormed over and snapped right away. The handler who brought the kids kept bowing and apologizing, apparently because the man held a high position.
"S-sorry, sir. One rabbit hadn't drunk enough milk or something—took a bit to fall asleep—and that damn hunter haggled anyway..."
"Haggled? How much?!"
"E-eighty per head."
"You're nuts? You gonna do business like that?"
"B-but he was tough... Still, they're really young ones. The clients'll be happy."
"Whatever—give 'em the antidote and toss 'em in the hunting ground!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
The bowing man headed off once the balding one turned away, then removed a covering cloth.
Lianus had to fight not to squeeze his eyes shut too tightly, lest they realize he wasn't asleep. His eyelids trembled anyway.
The room echoed with yells—cheers or despair, hard to tell—mixed with raucous chatter. He cracked his eyes, but it was too dark to see much.
The man pulled Lianus from the cage, pried his mouth open, and poured in what he guessed was the 'antidote.'
Lianus pondered how sleeping kids swallowed it, but the rushed man didn't check, just moved to Nihil.
Lianus spat it out onto the floor and peeked again.
His eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, but there wasn't much to see—except Nihil's snow-white lashes sparkling even in shadow.
He worried what the man might do to Nihil with his hood off, but the guy fumbled his own antidote from his pocket in the gloom, dropped it, and cursed. He groped the floor for minutes.
Frustrated, Nihil slipped the hood back on, let out a groan, and pretended to wake.
Tensed up, Lianus nearly burst out laughing at Nihil's pitiful glance at the man.
"Damn brat—said the sleeping drug was weak, and sure enough, you're up quick."
"Ugh..."
Unaware of the brat's disdain, the man grumbled it was for the best, grabbed both boys by the scruffs, and dragged them somewhere.
"In ya go!"
He shoved the two 'barely awake, wobbly-legged weaklings' roughly into a rounded cage enclosure.
Beyond the curving bars, spectators gawked at the children.
And among them, Evan—already there—scowled fiercely, fists clenched tight.
The other issue: the cage held other trafficked kids too. And one of them was...
"...Who the hell are you guys?"
Pan, hands bound behind him, kneeling dumbly.