Heed the Sage's Words
“To do this properly, you need to endure.”
“Are we investigating together?”
“Is it related to the third method?”
“Yes.”
“What is that method?”
Estelle simply looked at me for a moment in silence, then smiled faintly.
“It’s the way to oust the current duke and install a new one.”
“...What?”
“What...?”
“By linking it to the smuggling of the mutation stone, we should be able to strip the title to a sufficient degree. Once the duke’s son inherits the position instead of the current duke, the worry about the Hero should disappear too.”
“So... we’re making it look like the heir is taking over the title from his father?”
“But Elfride is the Hero and Elena hasn’t come of age yet. Won’t it be difficult for her to inherit?”
“There’s one more person.”
“What?”
“The eldest son of the family, meaning Elfride’s little brother, is currently studying abroad in the Minerva Kingdom.”
“What?”
“In the Minerva Kingdom? A school suddenly comes to mind. The one Cloe attended...”
“The Royal Magic Academy. She’s a student there.”
“Really?”
“I’ll look into contacting the prince through the Athens Temple. In other words, we need to finish the investigation without the duke noticing.”
Estelle pointed at the group dragging the cart.
“Shall we follow them?”
“Now? If we’re going to oust the duke, we can’t chase them right now.”
“We need to figure out where they’re hiding before we can come back later.”
“Oh.”
“Got it.”
“Then let’s follow them cautiously.”
“If we sneak into this alley, we’ll get caught immediately.”
“Then what do we do?”
Estelle casually placed her hand on my chest and infused it with divine power.
Solaria’s Blessing
“Suddenly a blessing? I don’t know her intent, so I stared at her. Estelle pointed at herself and explained.
“Hold me tight and take me up.”
“Up?”
“Yes, there.”
The place Estelle pointed to was the high roof of the building. Are we supposed to climb up there?
“Won’t we stand out?”
“Since Abel who received the blessing won’t be visible to ordinary eyes, it’s fine.”
“...Is that so?”
The roof. It really was a route that let us track them without being noticed. Somehow, it turned into a parkour situation.
To walk the roof with Estelle, I had no choice but to hold her.
“Then I’ll be rude.”
“Yes. Ah, don’t grope me too much. You’ll make me scream~♡”
...I groped her plenty earlier.
I set aside Estelle’s joke and supported her shoulders and thighs with my hands. I lifted her up with all my strength.
“Kyaa!”
“Hold tight.”
After hooking Estelle’s arms around my neck, I slammed the ground with my two legs strengthened by the blessing. After a short running start, I leaped powerfully and landed on the roof in one bound.
“Estelle, find where those guys went.”
“They’re over there. Left alley.”
Estelle in my arms pointed left. As she said, the group dragging the cart with groans was visible.
“We’ll follow slowly.”
“Yes, please.”
While following them, we crossed roofs with different heights. It really felt like parkour...
At that moment, Estelle, who had been quietly held, raised the corner of her mouth slightly and said to me.
“Abel, don’t keep groping my butt. Pervert ♡”
“I didn’t touch it at all!? Let go?”
“Ah, no. I don’t like high places much.”
“...No way.”
...You told me to climb up.
“Abel, look over there.”
“Yes?...Eh.”
The group dragging the cart stopped in front of a wall and looked around. Seeing that, I remembered the memory of the time I wiped out the same group in Athens.
“...Back then, there was a door in a place like that wall too.”
“That’s probably it. Abel, remember the view of the Bathory mansion from here.”
“...Unsure.”
“You Hero of the Goldfish ♡ If you can’t remember that either, what are you planning? ~?”
“Then Estelle remembers.”
“I already remember. But what guarantee do we have that you’ll come with me next time? You need to use that scruffy memory to remember ♡”
“...Yes.”
I surveyed the geography of the surrounding buildings. In the 11 o’clock direction, the inn roof was visible...
“Ah, then I can remember it with that.”
“What?”
“It would be convenient to remember the view of the Bathory mansion visible from here.”
I looked at the Bathory family mansion visible from this side. From here, the training ground was clearly visible. While looking at that, Estelle tilted her head slightly and said.
“Abel, can you see that?”
“Yes?...Yes, it’s visible.”
“...Strange. No matter how much of a divine absorber you are, the change is too big.”
“A divine absorber?”
What is that?
Estelle quietly looked at me and quietly explained.
“...Abel, from some point your hearing became better and your body faster. It’s probably because Abel has the constitution to absorb divine power.”
“Eh?”
That was it? After receiving the blessing, my body suddenly felt faster.
“People who keep receiving divine power have it remaining inside their bodies. When it accumulates, permanent physical enhancement can also happen.”
“...So that’s why my body suddenly got faster after receiving the blessing from Estelle.”
“You heard the sound of a stream in the forest from outside, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
Yeah, I thought something was strange. Since no one else could hear it, I thought it was just my hallucination.
That’s probably the reason I can see the Bathory mansion from here.
“...Honestly, even if you have the constitution to absorb divine power, the change feels too fast.”
“Isn’t that good?”
“...Well, since Abel is the Hero, there’s no problem. But divine absorbers have limits too. I heard that if too much divine power accumulates in the body, it becomes poison.”
“Ah....”
Yeah, anything in excess isn’t good.
“Abel, let’s go in here.”
“Looks like this is the right place. Then what do we do now?”
“First... let’s go back to the Bathory mansion.”
“What about the mutation stone smuggling?”
“Still, there’s no choice.”
No choice?
“If we assume the duke is involved in this and we leave the mansion too long, the duke might suspect us. Then before we can investigate, he might flee.”
“Um....”
Then there really is no choice.
“Then let’s go back to the mansion first?”
“Yes, that’s better.”
“Okay, then....”
As I was about to jump over the roof, I slightly turned my head. The sound of the group coming out again. But they weren’t the only ones.
“Estelle, that’s...”
“...Hah, the Duke of Bathory. You’re much bolder than I thought.”
The unfamiliar people brought out by the guys. They all had shackles on their necks, ankles, and wrists, and were wearing shabby clothes.
I frowned at that.
“...Slaves?”
“Yes, that’s right....”
I know this fantasy world I transmigrated into is set in a medieval background. So of course there would be slaves.
But I had never seen slaves in this country before. From that, it can be inferred that...
“Not just any other, but slaves from the Vesta Kingdom? No matter how much of a duke the Bathory is, he wouldn’t just leave this alone in the kingdom.”
...The Vesta Kingdom probably abolished slavery. Estelle told me as my guess, and I asked her.
“No slaves in the Vesta Kingdom?”
“No in the Minerva Kingdom and the Apollo Kingdom either. On the Gaia continent, only three countries have abolished slavery. Among them, the Vesta Kingdom is especially hostile to slaves, so if they’re caught, it could really be a big problem....”
“Why is that?”
“The founding emperor of the Vesta Kingdom was a war slave from the Mars Empire.”
“Ah.”
Unlike now, the Mars Empire used to be at its peak. The empire slave who founded the kingdom was the Vesta Kingdom, wasn’t it...?
“But is there any reason the duke would tolerate slave trading even with that risk? Honestly, that’s too risky.”
Even if you assume the duke is obsessed with power, as a power-obsessed person, he would avoid anything too dangerous to him.
From the nuance of what Estelle said, slave trading seemed like a more serious crime than mutation stone trading. Is it that something so precious to power can be ignored even if it can cause the person who sold his daughter to collapse in an instant?
“Do slaves make that much money?”
“They do make good money. But... no matter how much profit there is, the risk is too high, as Abel said.”
Estelle quietly stared at the people being dragged away and muttered.
“...They might not be slaves.”
“What?”
Then... are they kidnapping commoners like this?
“For today, let’s stop here. Their situation is pitiful, but....”
“Are we not saving these people?”
“Abel, if we touch them now, the duke might notice. To surely oust the duke, no more victims like this will appear. You can help the Elfride Hero and Elena Princess you want.”
...So just leave them?
“Think of it as a stepping stone for that.”
“...Does it mean that for a bigger picture, a few sacrifices are necessary?”
“They are not going to die, Abel.”
“...You said they might not be slaves. And originally, even if they are slaves, they shouldn’t exist in this kingdom.”
Estelle quietly faced me and met my eyes. Then she sighed deeply and said.
“Endure, Abel. To not make mistakes, you also need to learn how to endure. Probably those people won’t die.”
“I have to save people, as the Hero. Not saving the few so that the many can be saved is....”
“To do this properly, you need to endure.”
“...What?”
Estelle said it to me in a serious voice.
“We need to save them properly and surely. If we save them half-heartedly, it will only repeat the same thing. That’s not something a Hero should do. Endure so that we can properly resolve this and surely save those people.”
“.......”
“Let’s stop and go back to the mansion. And let’s get Elfride the Hero and Elena the Princess to agree.”
“...What?”
“Obviously, their consent and cooperation are necessary to use this method. They might even oppose ousting their father, the Duke of Bathory. If they oppose, even if the duke is punished by our report, that power won’t be uprooted. To uproot the root of that power and completely topple the duke, we need the consent of the two princesses.”
Estelle said that and spoke to me with an apologetic tone.
“You might feel guilty, but please listen to me. Feel free to shift the responsibility to me. I said so.”
“...I won’t do that.”
In the end, I accepted Estelle’s words. As she said, this is not about some random merchant, but about ousting the highest power figure in the Vesta Kingdom, the Duke of Bathory.
Caution is essential.
#
The next day, I went to the training ground early in the morning. Of course, it was for Elfride’s swordsmanship instruction. While receiving swordsmanship instruction, I also planned to talk about yesterday’s incident with Elfride.
Today, it wasn’t just me; Estelle came along with me. Estelle looked at me with slightly worried eyes.
“Your heart still not good?”
“Yes?...No. It’s fine. I already accepted it.”
“...Then that’s good.”
Estelle walked silently for a moment, then gave me a cheeky smile and said.
“Even now, if you look gloomy like a virgin, I was going to comfort you♡”
“...Haha.”
I haven’t heard that word in a long time. I stroked Estelle’s head once and said.
“I’m really fine.”
“...Okay. After the swordsmanship instruction ends today and the conversation with the princesses is over, let’s seriously investigate.”
“Yes, sure.”
While talking, we had reached the training ground. I was about to greet Elfride as usual when I noticed something strange and stopped.
“Abel, did you do well yesterday? Today it’s with the Saint Estelle.”
“Elfride, your cheek....”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Elfride waiting at the training ground had her cheek red and swollen. As if she had been hit hard by something.