Chapter 18
Chapter 18
"You received the contact from the Kingdom of Sebon's black mages about the illegal Warp, didn't you?"
"H-huh?"
Baron Hawin's eyes darted around.
He had received the contact, but he had deliberately not informed his territory's residents.
[We will open an illegal Warp for you, so exchange people and wheat with us.]
In fact, he was now quietly searching for orphans who would not be missed if they suddenly disappeared one day.
It was because the time when they would truly have to starve was approaching.
"H-how do you know that......."
"Rumors have already spread in the capital. That black mages have created an illegal Warp and will be making contact here and there for human trafficking. The Magic Tower has been on high alert about it from the start."
The capital was where all information gathered.
The Magic Tower in particular dispatched instructors to the Academy. So it was not unreasonable for Brisa to know in advance.
"Right now, when the Magic Tower can't keep watch, it's obvious the first contact would go to the central region, where self-sufficiency is difficult. But I didn't receive any contact. Most likely because I'm of Liente blood."
The Kingdom of Liente had been destroyed because of the Kingdom of Sebon.
So from Sebon's perspective, there was no reason to contact Brisa.
"But we need wheat too."
Brisa explained calmly, then pointed at one of the knights. It was a female knight with short red hair, looking more unwell than the other knights.
"This one insulted my family. Rather than simply driving her out, I'd like to sell her off to those black mages and receive at least some wheat. However, I don't know how to contact them."
"Hm."
"How about selling these intruders along with her? In exchange, we split the wheat in half."
In an instant, the intruders' eyes widened.
Before their fierce protests could surge forth, Brisa made the proposal to Baron Hawin.
"Make your decision, my lord."
Brisa deliberately called him "my lord" rather than "Uncle." It meant the decision was entirely his.
"Preposterous!"
Baron Hawin glared and shouted.
He clenched his fist in genuine fury.
"Half and half? Our territory's residents are far more numerous! You have only one! And we're the ones opening the Warp!"
He was not saying he would not sell his territory's residents.
The intruders stared at the baron, dumbfounded.
Right now...... he was going to sell them to black mages? Simply because they had followed orders?
They pleaded with Baron Hawin.
"M-my daughter? My lord! I'm the only guardian my daughter has!"
"My elderly mother is at home! Without me, she can't even move!"
"I have seven children....... Without me, they'll all starve to death!"
Baron Hawin did not even pretend to hear them and instead raged at Brisa.
"We go by head count! I won't concede! You're the ones who are desperate!"
That was when it happened.
Amid the commotion, one knight approached and whispered to Brisa.
After giving the knight a nod, she said indifferently.
"Then let me negotiate just one thing."
"What?"
"Apparently, an old man outside the door is eavesdropping on our conversation."
Baron Forman, who had been listening outside, nearly fainted.
"If we leave him be, rumors will spread through the territory, so let's sell him too. In exchange, that wheat goes to us."
At the same time, the knights rushed over and dragged in the disguised Baron Forman.
Baron Forman had no chance to do anything.
But something was strange.
Before entering the room, a knight attached something to Baron Forman's face.
"Change your voice, and say it's a burn scar."
And without even a chance to answer, Baron Forman was dragged in as he was.
Sure enough, Baron Hawin did not recognize him. It was because of his shabby clothes, his hat pulled down low, and his bent back.
Baron Forman was flustered, not knowing what to do in that state, when—
"So, that illegal Warp."
Brisa spoke calmly.
"It connects to the western port of Milhen, is that correct?"
......The west?
Baron Forman swallowed dryly.
He had known that Baron Hawin had received the illegal Warp proposal, but he had not known the location was a western port.
"No. It's Delpoven Port."
Baron Hawin, who had answered Brisa, turned his head toward Baron Forman and asked.
"Who are you?"
Then if he took that Warp now, did that mean he could get to the west?
Baron Forman decided quickly.
"N-no food at h-home, so I c-came to st-steal some c-corn from the w-warehouse......."
The former intelligence operative gave the performance of his life.
"A thief, then."
The know-how forged by his career immediately shone through.
"An old man with admirable nerve. Sell him off."
Baron Hawin, having reached his conclusion easily, looked at Brisa and declared as if granting a favor.
"Then you can take the wheat for two people. I won't concede any more."
"Very well."
Brisa said flatly.
"Then let's sell them now. We can sell them immediately, can't we? How do we contact the black mages?"
"......Follow me."
Baron Hawin took the lead.
Brisa followed.
Behind them, the gagged intruders, the knight named Wendy, and Baron Forman were led along in a line by the knights.
'If I can just reach the west! If I can just set foot on western soil!'
Baron Forman thought, unable to contain his swelling heart.
'I can send an emergency protection request!'
Though he was only a baron, he was the Grand Duke of Nozen's closest confidant and Leopold's maternal grandfather.
He carried one of the few Tracking Scents used to send emergency protection requests.
If he used that Tracking Scent in secret as soon as he arrived in the west, the western forces stationed nearby would come.
'Delpoven? Black mages are conducting human trafficking there?'
If Hilbury found out, he would not leave it alone, but of all times, because of the Monster Wave.......
'Your Highness.'
Baron Forman swallowed dryly and thought.
'I will return with major information.'
His brain, which had briefly stopped from the shock when the word "west" came up, began working again only after they left the baronial residence.
'But.......'
He had finally grasped the situation.
'Why in the world did this knight hide my identity?'
Ahead of him, beautiful platinum-blond hair swayed in the starlight.
The girl glanced around once, then wrapped herself in a robe to conceal her appearance.
Baron Forman watched her back and felt a sudden chill.
'Just how far ahead is this young lady looking?'
* * *
A hill near Delpoven Port in the west.
A flash like a beast's claw split the pitch-black night.
"Kwaaaeek!"
"Kraaak! Krak krak!"
"Kieeeeeek!"
Along with the monsters' screams, green bodily fluid scattered.
A black-haired boy chased after the fleeing monsters.
"Leopold, behind you!"
Before the knight could even finish shouting, another flash blazed.
It was the Special Ability passed down through the direct bloodline of House Nozen, <Air Severing>.
<Air Severing> was an ability that cut and hurled the air to deal with enemies over a wide area.
Against a Monster Wave, it was more powerful than most knight squads.
"Kiaaaaak!"
Every time his golden eyes flashed, monster corpses tumbled.
The boy, who had annihilated the monsters near the hill in an instant, finally let out a weary sigh.
The boy perched on a rock had refined features. He had been exceptionally good-looking since childhood.
His golden eyes swept over the monster corpses without emotion.
As always, the monster corpses and bodily fluid soon vanished back to the other world.
The plants on the hill looked unharmed, but since the bodily fluid had touched them, they could not be eaten for about two weeks.
Even the tiniest mushroom could only be gathered and eaten by the villagers after two weeks.
Still, it was fine. The west was an abundant land, so there were no starving people anywhere.
"It's truly strange."
The adjutant caught up and shook his head.
"I've never seen a Monster Wave last this long. And on top of that, at this scale."
"......The Warp still isn't working?"
"I heard from a nearby lord that the Magic Tower deliberately stopped it."
With the Warp down, Leopold's knight order had also lost contact with the outside.
They could not even contact the Grand Duke of Nozen. So Leopold was surviving on his own with his knights.
Fortunately, the west was a self-sufficient territory. They did not have to worry about food.
Moreover, once they cleared out the monsters, the roads opened and movement became possible, so every village their footsteps reached cheered, saying, "We're saved now."
However, having come all the way to the western edge like that, news was slow.
Leopold asked without any change in expression.
"Then doesn't that mean the Warp isn't only malfunctioning in the west? What about the central, eastern, and southern regions?"