Or Create a World Without Slaves!
"This is..."
A distant grinding of teeth escaped from Leila's mouth as she stared at the scene. Soon, with a light leap, she bounded onto the carriage roof. She straightened out the torn and crumpled merchant flag. Brushing off the dirt revealed the finely printed ice flower emblem beneath.
Identical to the one branded on the fairy's shoulder. Guessing what it meant wasn't hard. The symbol of some merchant group. Probably the ones trading these slaves.
"Ice Merchant Association...!"
Hmm, I want to act like I know something, but I've never heard the name before, so I can't react. Hero, why are you freaking out too? Looks like it popped up while I was asleep in the Vatican Secret Vault for decades. A slave-trading outfit big enough to have its own emblem, so the boss must be pretty shrewd.
"What seems to be the problem?"
A merchant who'd been resting in the distance came running over at the commotion we were causing. His escort mercenaries followed, surrounding him.
"You!"
Making a mockery of the escorts, Leila simply grabbed the merchant by the collar. She growled at him with eyes burning like fire... correction. Actually on fire.
Manifesting divine power from somewhere other than a stigmata? That's some pretty high-level priestly skill, isn't it?
"How dare you sell our kin into slavery!"
True to her elven nature, the fairy reacted sensitively to the word "slave"—easy enough to understand. As the merchant choked and gagged, his guarding mercenaries leveled their weapons.
"Calm down, Leila."
Only when Taka arrived late did she release the merchant's collar. But her rage didn't seem subsided; now her hair was literally aflame.
"Gack, gack. What the hell? Why are you doing this?"
The merchant, who'd fallen flat on his ass, staggered to his feet with the mercenaries' help. He looked positively indignant as he confronted Leila.
"We're grateful you saved our caravan, but this rudeness...!"
"Wh-what? What did you just say? That shameless mug of yours..."
Stunned by the merchant's response, Leila impulsively thrust her flaming hand toward him. The so-called escorts couldn't react properly, and the terrified merchant cowered—
"Enough."
As if his earlier affable smile had been a lie, Taka's face was emotionless as he grabbed Leila's wrist. Her expression twisted for a moment before the flames on her body fizzled out.
"I'll talk to him. Cool your head."
"...Okay."
Leila backed off, looking drained. Now Taka, with an angry face, took center stage. He seemed pissed too, but far more rational than the fairy.
"That said, we need an explanation. The other carriages are full of slaves too, right?"
"Y-yes, but."
"And there are way too many. How did you acquire so many slaves? Unless..."
As he shot a suspicious glance, the frightened merchant suddenly flared up anyway.
"What ridiculous misunderstanding is this! We're a legitimate merchant group with an official emblem. Every slave in these carriages was acquired through proper channels!"
"Selling our kin into slavery is 'proper'?"
The hot-headed fairy grabbed the merchant's collar again. This time, though, she retained some reason; it wasn't choking him speechless like before.
"Let go."
"...Guh, hek. Damn it. Yes! It's proper!"
With the escort's intervention this time, the fairy had to release him quickly. The poor merchant rubbed his throat, then bellowed in fury.
"We only acquire slaves within the bounds of the law! From your talk of 'fairies,' you're probably referring to items 34 or 35. That fairy was a hardcore gambler! She bet her house, her family, and finally her own body as stakes— a madwoman!"
I watched the chaos with considerable interest. Slave trading must weigh on the psyche, so even if he didn't show it, the merchant had some guilt. Or maybe the threat to his life just got his emotions boiling.
As the merchant ranted hysterically, the fairy, cowed by his momentum, countered in a timid voice.
"Then why the young one next to her? Even if the mother got sold for debts..."
"That mad fairy bet her daughter as the last stake before putting herself up! Damn it, don't spout off about things you don't know!"
"My god..."
Whose sigh was that? Taka? Or one of the mercenaries who'd been guarding the caravan without knowing the full story?
The mood had flipped; now the merchant was furious, and the fairy shrank back. But true to her proud race—strong in pride if nothing else—she soon yelled sharply. The content was pathetic, though.
"You heartless bastard! Don't you feel sorry for that child?"
Sure enough, with the fight breaking out in front of the carriage, the little fairy—already huddled in terror—clung to her mother's sleeve, hiding behind the corpse and trembling.
Poor kid's got it rough. As the merchant claimed, selling others besides the debtor is illegal, so if the Ice Merchant Association was a 'legitimate slave trader,' the child wouldn't have been sold. But the mother bet her daughter as stakes, so she came along. And with mom dying mid-caravan, the debt naturally transfers to the daughter.
"Sorry for her? What about me?"
"What?"
Had the fairy's sharp words broken him? The merchant suddenly started a strip show, shrugging off attempts to stop him. He tore off his upper garments, revealing a pathetic middle-aged body. Gaunt frame contrasting a protruding gut. And.
"Huh?"
[Huh?]
The ice flower brand on his chest—clearer and larger than the fairy's. A slave trader who is a slave? What kind of comedy is this? And I hear the larger the slave brand, the stronger the binding.
"You know the Ice Merchant Association but haven't heard the rumors?!"
"Wh-what..."
The fairy looked utterly soul-drained. The slave, shedding his flashy merchant shell to reveal his wretched self, barked at her.
"I'm the pitiful one! Rather than those wretches who might end up in noble houses with luxury, I have to roll in filth watching my wife and daughter work in brothels!"
The Silver-rank adventurer—maybe higher—stumbled back before a mere civilian's defiance. The merchant sneered at the fairy.
"So, do I look a bit pitiful now?"
Or maybe he was sneering at himself.
The mood was utterly wrecked, so we had to leave. Naturally, we didn't get the promised reward either. But I seemed to be the only one regretting that. The hero had a pensive face since earlier, while Taka and Leila bickered nonstop.
"You okay?"
"Couldn't... save another kin..."
"Couldn't be helped."
The warrior busied himself consoling the gloomy fairy. It might've been fun if she'd snapped and attacked, but the merchant's nude performance must've shocked her. Well, if that Silver-rank fairy had gone berserk with her uncharacteristic skill, we might've freed the other slaves too. But as the merchant said, the Ice Merchant Association is officially licensed. Attacking a protected group would make us the lawbreakers. Adventurer licenses revoked, bounties on our heads.
[What a shame, such a shame.]
I regretted the missed reward, but even more, passing up a prime owner candidate right in front of me. Situations like that are when a magic sword is most needed. My current owner is so strong she barely needs my power.
Wait. Hold on!
[Gaaaaah!]
"Didn't you hear something just now?"
Lightning crackled from the hero's finger slipped slyly between my scabbard. The piercing agony made me forget mental waves and scream outright.
Is she nuts?! What if this blows my cover?
Taka and Leila's eyes widened at the sudden scream, scanning around.
"...Dunno. Even my senses pick up nothing."
"Maybe from the merchant group with the slaves... ah."
Well done. Good job. Taka swallowed his words and glanced at Leila. She lacked even the energy to get mad, just drooping her head gloomily.
"Even if so, what could I do?"
A slave is the owner's property. No third party has the right to intervene if the owner abuses, beats, or even kills it.
"Leila..."
"We've wasted too much time. Let's go."
The wounded heroine rising, protected steadfastly by the male lead! Meanwhile, the hero—reduced to wallpaper—remained lost in her own world.
[Hero? Hey. Hey.]
She stayed blank until the pair finished prepping, so I finally sent a mental wave to snap her out of it. The dazed hero looked up, then silently stood and followed them without a word.
The procession advanced toward our goal amid an ominous silence unlike before. Irritating noises, foul stench. Piles of bones adorning the trees everywhere. The orc territory was drawing near.