VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 5

VOLUME 10: CHAPTER 5

The next day, a merchant approached them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Imperial Highness,” said a fat merchant with long, curly mustache. “Mill Gaultier, leader of the Merchant Group ‘One Stop Clop’. More commonly known as Big Bun. As ordered by Commander Mokuva, we shall escort your group until we reach the capital.”

The elite soldiers did not seem pleased with this. Big Bun himself looked bloated, and it would be a miracle if he could run a hundred meters without running out of breath. Even his subordinates, save for a couple of guards, were the same.

How could they safely escort them if they couldn’t even defend themselves?

Just a couple of guards wouldn’t be enough to protect Her Highness.

As though he’d read what was on the mind of the imperial soldiers, Big Bun added, “With the presence of these elite soldiers guarding Her Highness, what you need right now is not a protector, but a guide, correct?”

It was amazing that those few words alone were enough to appease the anger of the imperial soldiers. They no longer look displeased. Instead, they found the logic of the merchant reasonable and correct.

Indeed, with these soldiers and magicians accompanying their group, no bandits would be foolish enough to attack them.

“A guide,” said Princess Luna. She smiled brightly. “It’s true. We are in need of one. The pleasure’s mine, Sir Gaultier.”

Big Bun returned an even brighter smile, revealing his perfectly white teeth. His belly bulged out as he puffed his chest out. Unlike the other merchants in his group, he was not fazed by the Princess beauty. “I don’t deserve such praises, Your Highness. Since such an esteemed person came all the way here, I believe it’s only natural for us to guide them.”

Big Bun said to his men, “The carriages!”

“Yes!”

As though everything had been prepared beforehand, the merchants from One Stop Clop brought out seven large carriages. Two of them were already filled with goods Big Bun had procured from the port village. The remaining five, on the other hand, would be given to the Princess and the other prominent individuals of the envoys.

“It’ll take us two to three days to reach Kelvin Duchy,” said Big Bun. “I hope these carriages would be comfortable enough for Her Highness’ journey.”

Princess Luna read the words that had formed on top of Big Bun’s head. To her surprise, it did not contain malicious intents. Instead, it was filled with nothing but thoughts of making a profit.

[How lucky! We were already on our way to the capital after buying these goods from Kalavinka Port.]

[Two hundred gold coins just to escort this Princess safely to the capital! What a great find!]

Although two hundred gold coins were probably not much considering the fact that they needed to escort imperial envoys from Kalavinka Port all the way to the capital, it was an entirely different story if the merchant group had already set the capital as its final destination in the first place. From One Stop Clop’s perspective, the Princess and her group was a walking pile of additional goods that they simply needed to deliver. No wonder Big Bun was this delighted.

Well, this was probably better. At least this merchant did not have invidious thoughts. Princess Luna could finally breathe easy upon realizing the merchant’s intentions.

With Big Bun’s group serving as their guide, the imperial envoys traversed the shortest road leading to Kelvin Duchy. And by the time they arrived, the sight of a ruined city greeted them.

‘What happened here?’ thought Princess Luna.

Half of the city had been burned to the ground, and what remained of the surviving houses had been turned into rubbles. Dried blood and scorch marks covered some of the roads.

‘Workers.’

Thousands of workers moved about in the ruined city, carrying wood, stone, ropes, and iron. Along the way, they caught sight of two similar-looking towers being built in the city. Similar to the port village, several dwarves were supervising its construction.

“Move them over there!”

“Hurry up! We don’t have all day!”

“Don’t you want to regain your freedom? Move faster!”

For a moment, it looked as though the dwarves had enslaved the Lukasians and were forcing them to do manual labor. But upon closer look, there was no anger or remorse within the eyes of the laborers. On the contrary, each of their steps were filled with vitality and purpose. Princess Luna could even hear some of them laughing every now and then. It seemed that these laborers had gotten used to the commanding voices of the dwarves by now.

“Princess, we’ve arrived in the Kelvin Duchy,” said Big Bun.

Their group stopped and the soldiers escorted the Princess down the carriage.

Princess Luna looked around her and made a quick survey of the city. Maybe it was due to its size, this place looked worse than the port village. There were traces of battle here and there, and some of the minor roads blocked by slabs of stones were inaccessible.

“Did the demons do this?” Princess Luna blurted out the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“That is correct, Your Highness. Parasitic demons,” said Big Bun. “I heard that the acting Lord of the Kelvin Duchy of that time, the late Lancaster Kelvin, lit the castle on fire in his desperate attempt to kill a massive parasitic demon. But as you can see, that plan of his failed and ended up burning half of the city in the process.”

It was a horrifying story.

By size alone, this Duchy must have had over a hundred thousand people living in it. And they all probably perished during that fateful day – burned alive or fallen prey to the parasitic demons.

“Well,” Big Bun shrugged. “It’s a thing of the past now. By the decree of His Majesty, King Lark, the kingdom is currently in the process of restoring the Duchy to its former glory. See those men, Princess?”

“The slaves?” said Princess Luna.

“Former slaves,” corrected Big Bun. “King Lark had abolished slavery in this Kingdom a few months ago. The thousands of people currently working here – most of them are people who’d been freed from slavery by His Majesty.”

As a woman who inherited the noblest bloodline, Princess Luna had been taught various fields of study. She knew the reasons why most of the nations in the continent hadn’t abolished slavery yet. Not only would it affect the vested interest of other nobles, it would also diminish the productive capacity of their territories. Moreover, each slave was brought by their master for a hefty sum of money. No one would stand idly if their precious slave were suddenly forcefully taken – or freed – from them. It would cause severe backlash, and the king would lose the support of several groups and powerful individuals.

“I couldn’t believe it myself when I first heard of it,” said Big Bun. “Abolish slavery? How idealistic. Even if he’s the king, it’ll be impossible to escape the wrath of the merchants and nobles. But King Lark did it. Using such a simple method too.”

“And do you know what it is, Princess?” said Big Bun.

Without waiting for the Princess to respond, the fat merchant placed his index finger and thumb together, forming the shape of a circle. He said, “The power of money combined with the absolute authority of a sovereign, Princess.”

Big Bun proceeded to explain how the abolishment of slavery came into effect. According to the fat merchant, King Lark leveraged his status as the monarch and bought all of the slaves at their fair market price from their masters. There were several people who protested, as expected, but they were immediately silenced by the soldiers. And using the thousands of slaves he’d bought and freed, King Lark planned on restoring the Kelvin Duchy to its former state.

No one knew exactly how the king managed to obtain such large amounts of money, and no one dared to dive deep into such privy matters.

Still, it was apparent that using such a simple method made it possible to finally abolish slavery from this country.

“These people will be forced to work here for years, maybe even a decade,” said Big Bun. “With the benevolence of His Majesty, they’re now free men. Although they’re being paid wages, they’re still required to return this favor by doing tasks and labor for the royal family every now and then.”

Princess Luna gazed at the laborers walking about. Although their bodies were filled with sweat, she could see the kindle of hope within their eyes.

“I’m certain that these men would prefer such mundane works over being treated like an animal by their masters,” said Big Bun. “This method of His Majesty isn’t perfect, there are loopholes, but it’s a great first step to the abolition of slavery in this Kingdom.”

The more the Princess learned of the king, the more she doubted the nasty rumors she’d heard about him. Judging by the story of Big Bun, the current king was a wise ruler despite his young age.

Princess Luna had seen the horrible fate of the slaves in the Empire. Despite being humans, those men were treated worse than animals. They were hardly fed by their masters, and a single mistake could spell their death. Some of the unlucky ones who’d fallen out of their master’s grace were thrown into the coliseum and forced to a death match against wild beasts from the desert.

“East from here is the Old Oak Village,” explained Big Bun. “But that village had been destroyed by the parasitic demons, so, we would need to reach Rock Castle before we could again have a chance to have proper accommodations. I suggest we lodge in the recently restored inn nearby.”

Princess Luna gazed at Jacob Fraser. Just like before, the royal court magicians’ mind was filled with thoughts regarding the towers being built by dwarves in the Duchy. He didn’t even participate in the conversation at all.

“Lord Fraser,” said Princess Luna. “What do you think?”

Fraser said uninterestedly, “A day or two wouldn’t make much difference. Let’s stay the night here, Princess.”

Princess Luna smiled at Big Bun, “Then, we’ll take you up on this offer, Sir Gaultier.”

Big Bun placed a hand on his chest and bowed his upper body. “It is always a pleasure to be of service, Princess. I’ll meet with owner of the inn for now, prepare the accommodations, and meet with the acting Lord of the territory. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to contact me through one of my men. I’ll come running.”

Having a guide made things more convenient and comfortable for the envoys. Moreover, they did not have to pay anything at all as Big Bun made sure to pay for all of their expenses.

***

After taking care of the envoy’s accommodations, Big Bun went to the burnt castle at the heart of the city. Only a small portion of the castle had been restored by the dwarves, but the current Lord was already using one of the restored rooms as his office.

“Commander Arzen,” said one of the soldiers. “The leader of the merchant group, One Stop Clop, is here to see you. I believe he has come to deliver a message from your brother.”

“Big Bun, is it?” said Arzen. Currently, he was sitting at his table in the office. He placed down the document in his hand on the table. “Let him in.”

After being granted permission, a fat merchant entered the room.

Arzen greeted, “You’re starting to look like the spitting image of Big Mona as days pass by.”

Big Bun grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Commander. Nothing delights me more than hearing such words. You see… My older brother is my hero, my savior.”

Arzen furrowed his brows. He’d met Big Mona before and even he could tell that that merchant was as nasty as the rumors. He couldn’t imagine how someone could consider that shrewd merchant as his hero or savior.

After King Lark rose into power, Big Mona used his status as the King’s most trusted merchant to forcefully integrate smaller merchant groups under his wing. Although the Vont Family was currently more powerful than him, it would only be a matter of time before Big Mona surpassed them. He was the merchant favored the most by His Majesty, after all.

“I heard you’re here to deliver a message from my brother,” said Arzen.

“Yes, Commander,” said Big Bun. Using both hands, he respectfully handed Arzen a letter.

Arzen opened the letter and read its contents. It was basically a letter informing him of the current progress of the port and the tower. It also contained information regarding the envoys from the Empire.

“I see that you’ve been tasked by my little brother to guide the envoys until they reach the capital,” said Arzen.

“Yes, Commander.”

“Good,” said Arzen. “Serve the envoys properly and make sure not to offend them – not for the sake of the Empire, but for the sake of the image of His Majesty, King Lark.”

“I plan to do so, Commander,” said Big Bun.

Arzen silently gazed at Big Bun. Unlike Big Mona, this merchant had a milder temperament. Although he was also infatuated by money just like his older brother, he was a man of his word and always made sure to keep his promises. For a moment, Arzen found it a pity that Big Mona became the King’s most-favored merchant instead of Big Bun.

“I expect great things from you,” said Arzen. “Before you leave, drop by the Finance Officer’s office. I’ll send in a word so you can recoup your expenses for the trip.”

“I am grateful, Commander!”

After Big Bun left the office, Arzen opened the metallic storage box under his desk. He took out the head-size artifact inside, and activated it.

“Your Majesty, it’s me, Arzen Boris.”

The artifact was one of the intercity communication devices created by the dwarves for King Lark. The shell was made with a mixture of steel and mithril, while its core was created using a high-grade mana stone. Currently, there was a total of five intercity communication devices, and each of them were connected to the one held by King Lark.

It was an ingenious device that enabled them to communicate with each other while ignoring the distance. According to His Majesty, using these artifacts, it should be feasible for them to communicate with each other, even if they were on the opposite ends of the continent.

Hearing no immediate reply, Arzen repeated, “Your Majesty, it’s me, Arzen Boris.”

Finally, Lark’s voice was heard from within the artifact. The voice was loud and clear. Despite being calm, it felt domineering.

“Report.”

“Your Majesty,” said Arzen politely. “The imperial envoys had just arrived in the Kelvin Duchy.”