Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Black Market Rescue
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121
3
Even as dusk settled, the surroundings were noisy on all sides.
Gaudy magic lights in every color, merchants soliciting without raising their voices—I pulled my hood down further to avoid their greed-filled stares.
“I can’t believe a place like this exists in the capital….”
Ethan, who had his hood pulled low as well, trailed off.
This was the black market, a hotbed of corruption where acts banned by royal decree openly took place.
The Mertezacker family ran a clean and upright trading company, so they were naturally oblivious to the shady underbelly.
“Feels gross….”
Noel, with his sensitive senses, already looked exhausted.
It was probably because he was reacting sharply to the sordid desires writhing all around.
Even I felt filthy enough to want to leave right away.
But we couldn’t.
We had deliberately waded into this cesspool to find Prin.
Thanks to Ethan’s thorough interrogation, Solini had spilled a bunch of information.
For starters, he’d been selling off kids from the lower classes to slave traders for years.
Maintaining a close relationship with the orphanage director and pretending to volunteer by hiring those marginalized kids—it had all been prep work for this deal.
“Slave trading is illegal, so why….”
“Because it makes money.”
I answered Ethan’s bitter question as coldly as possible.
No matter how forbidden the business, if there’s profit, someone will reach for it.
Just like drugs or gambling thrive in the shadows.
There’s no reason slave trading would be an exception.
Of course, security was tight because of that.
Sure enough, when we tried to enter one shop, a guard in a suit blocked us immediately.
“You can’t just enter ahead.”
The sun had set, so taking down the surly-faced guard wouldn’t be hard.
But causing a scene would turn the entire slave market against us.
We didn’t know what could happen, so picking a fight we couldn’t win was the last thing we wanted.
And there was a way to pass without knocking him out.
Broken World was a trash game that obsessed over pointless details in weird places, so I knew the rules of this slave market well.
I pulled out the invitation I’d seized from Solini.
Of course, that alone wouldn’t get us in, but tossing in a few gold coins on top made the guard quietly step aside.
This slave market ultimately ran on money.
Even the guards just did their jobs for pay—no loyalty or faith involved.
To him, those few gold coins right in front of him mattered more.
We slipped quietly into the tent.
Inside, countless iron cages were lined up.
The people trapped within were left collared like animals.
“Is this… something humans do……!”
Ethan ground his teeth, his tightly clenched fist trembling.
Noel couldn’t hide his shock either—his pupils shook unstably.
“Finding Prin comes first right now. It’s Felt’s request. Don’t mix up your priorities.”
Only then did Ethan take a deep breath and unclench his fist.
Felt hated owing us debts, yet he’d gone out of his way to ask.
We didn’t need to be told how precious a friend Prin was to Felt.
We searched the slave trader’s place thoroughly.
But we didn’t find Prin, or even a single child.
Even asking the traders directly… all we got back was that all the kids had been sold a few days ago.
Bribing them didn’t reveal who bought them.
“Damn…!”
Ethan slammed his clenched fist into his thigh.
It made a dull thud, so it had to hurt, but he showed no sign of it.
“If they’ve already been sold, there’s no way to find them…!”
“No, it’s too early to give up.”
There was still a way.
Ethan snapped his head up at my words.
“Friend! What do we do!?”
“Calm down first… actually, no need to calm down. Ethan, you’re pissed right now, right?”
I answered his question with a question, but he nodded right away.
“If it weren’t for Felt begging us to find Prin, I’d have torn this place apart already. I’m that mad.”
“Then tear it apart.”
“Huh? Wait, friend… what’d you say?”
He asked again, not grasping it at first.
I patted his shoulder and drove the point home.
“Tear it all down. Capture every last slave trader.”
4
In a dim iron cage somewhere unknown.
Prin huddled with her head buried in her knees, trembling.
There were 18 other kids like her in the cage—kids who’d been sold off.
They were all shrunken in the unfamiliar environment.
‘How did it come to this…….’
Her last memory was hazy.
While working, she’d heard from Solini that her mother was critically ill and rushed out of the shop.
Right after, a sharp jolt hit her neck, and her consciousness cut out.
When she woke, she was in a slave trader’s cage, and before she could figure out the situation, she’d been sold to a masked person.
She didn’t know where she was.
She didn’t know why she’d been sold.
Everything was unknown, making tears well up naturally.
“Attention.”
Around then, a masked man emerged from the darkness.
His voice had no distinguishing features—wearing a pitch-black hood, face hidden by a white mask.
It was emotionless, colorless, odorless, seeping through the bars and gripping the kids.
“From today, you become members of the glorious Karmut Federation and gain the chance to serve your homeland. The one in charge of your training is me. My name is Mani. Call me Instructor from now on.”
She couldn’t make sense of it.
Kids who couldn’t accept the situation wailed to be sent home.
“Quiet.”
Mani muttered tonelessly.
But his calm voice was thick with chilling killing intent.
Prin flinched at the raw murderous aura she’d never felt before.
Instinct told her rebellion meant death right there—her breath came hard, like someone was choking her.
“You probably don’t understand. Listen well. Tekat Kingdom is why you’re like this. This instructor provides a chance for revenge. For trainees like you with nothing, it’s an opportunity you’ll never get again. Trainees who excel will get hearty meals every time and warm beds.”
His one-sided spiel was mechanical.
She couldn’t understand it, didn’t want to.
Prin just wanted to go home.
‘Please… someone save me…….’
Her muffled prayer scattered without reaching anywhere.
Tears streamed down her cheeks into the cage.
“Once training’s done, you’ll see how glorious it is.”
“What a joke.”
A new voice cut in suddenly.
Mani reached for his sword at his waist, but Ethan’s shield smashed his face first.
Ethan, arriving via dimension magic without warning, swung his shield like a massive blunt weapon.
Infused with emotion, the smash boasted power that ignored defenses.
As a result, Mani flew spectacularly without much resistance and embedded in the wall.
“You kidnap clueless kids to use as disposable tools, yet you talk so pretty.”
The door hidden in the darkness creaked open, revealing a man with hair blacker than the shadows.
Light spilling from beyond silhouetted Theo Agrit.
Prin, seeing him through tear-filled eyes, knew instinctively.
Her prayer was answered.
Relief hit, and the taut tension snapped.
Prin collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
5
The fallen girl’s features matched Felt’s description.
Her face was quite haggard from the ordeal… but luckily, no visible injuries.
The other kids in the cage were the same.
“We’re here to rescue you, so don’t worry anymore. Can you move?”
Ethan opened the cage right away and spoke to the kids as kindly as possible.
No need for me to step in and stress the already exhausted kids.
I’d leave that to him.
I’d do what I could.
Getting here hadn’t been hard.
Have Ethan grab the slave traders and interrogate them, and they spilled the sales ledger.
Relationships tied by money, after all.
The kind where they’d sell out customers’ secrets the moment their lives were on the line.
Spotting Mani’s name in the ledger tipped me off immediately.
Mani was a villain who trained countless spies as an instructor for the Karmut Federation.
He wasn’t supposed to appear yet… but with Wipera collapsing faster than in the original, the precursors must have mobilized the Federation instead.
Still, messing with kids.
Not exactly new.
When we infiltrated the Federation’s spy hideout before, there’d been young kids too.
No need to say it, but Luis had similar experiences.
The Karmut Federation didn’t care about means or methods.
They’d grind through all these kids in the cages to forge one elite spy.
The hideout’s facilities were all built on brutal competition.
Pit them against each other to strip their humanity and shape them into usable weapons.
“…This is wrong. This is definitely wrong.”
Noel muttered like he was spitting it out.
I nodded, swallowing my own disgust.
A world unkind to children had no right to exist.
6
“I haven’t heard anything about it. Checked with the other kids too—all clueless.”
Luis sat on a bench, catching his breath as he spoke.
We’d asked him since the Federation was involved.
The other victims listed in the slave trader’s ledger would be rescued by Ludwig.
Given Ludwig’s temperament, he’d wipe out the black market itself.
However… if even Luis didn’t know, grasping the Federation’s movements got tricky.
“But to call it a substitute is a stretch—I did confirm they’re moving elsewhere.”
“What?”
“Invasion. Target’s Ballamut.”
Luis said it like it gave him a headache.
Ballamut was one of the three small nations between Tekat Kingdom and the Karmut Federation.
Originally part of the Federation but seceded long ago, now under Tekat’s protection.
Close to Agrit territory, so trade and cultural exchanges were frequent.
Friendly with the kingdom, but on bad terms with the Federation they split from.
There’d been skirmishes along the border multiple times, but lately it was in a lull.
Ballamut was physically small too.
Its entire land was just a bit bigger than Eset.
Solid internally, not easy to topple… but if the Federation got serious, it wouldn’t hold long.
What happened if Ballamut fell to the Federation was obvious.
Invasion meant tons of casualties, and damage would spill to neighboring Agrit territory.
Plus, losing ally Ballamut would deepen tensions between the kingdom and a triumphant Federation.
We couldn’t just watch.
Not only threatening my peaceful days, but harming Agrit territory too.
Sure, the opponent was a nation.
No way I could dismantle the Karmut Federation overnight, whatever I did.
But foiling all their plans to pile up indirect damage? That was doable.
“We’re heading to Ballamut.”
That’s where we’d start.
I’d screw the Federation over until they were sick of it.