Chapter 27
<Duke's POV>
Rex's declaration of emancipation split his domain in half.
The central and northern regions, which were not heavily dependent on slave labor, accepted the policy quickly, but the south did not.
In particular, since agriculture based on slave labor flourished in the south, the backlash was inevitable.
Sugar, cotton, wheat, logging, and so on.
Led by the owners of those industries, as well as the lesser nobles, merchant guild masters, and mayors who benefited from them, massive protests broke out in the south.
If things went wrong, the situation could escalate into a war, as it had in some country's history.
However, the protests did not escalate into war.
“From this moment forth, the higher command has ordered that anyone who supports slavery be deemed a traitor and executed on the spot.”
With the royal guard glaring at them menacingly while black flags fluttered, there was no way anyone could even attempt something resembling a protest.
In the end, the plantation owners and other local notables had no choice but to release their slaves.
Thus, the population of the Providence Domain suddenly began swelling with people who had never even appeared in the statistics.
“Long live the lord!”
“Long live the royal guard!”
Thanks to that, the Providence Domain was suddenly filled with the three cheers of commoners who had appeared out of nowhere.
However, even in such an atmosphere, there were bound to be people who still could not give up their slaves.
In a world where committing murder despite knowing it was wrong counted as average morality, people were not going to listen just because the law suddenly changed.
“The lord isn't going to investigate all the way out to our region anyway.”
Some people calmly continued breaking the law, believing that their region would go unnoticed because the domain was so vast.
Whenever the royal guard approached with its flags fluttering, they hid the slaves in warehouses, then brought them back out once the guards had disappeared, continuing their precarious balancing act.
And this dawn of a new era was precisely when the undercover knight Duke would make his move.
*
“An undercover knight?”
When I proposed the idea, even the company commanders of the royal guard tilted their heads in confusion.
As though they had never heard of such a position before.
I had never heard of it either, and I had not thought about how to make it work without causing problems.
But I had a capable adjutant by my side.
“An undercover knight is a knight who receives a special order from the lord to track down corrupt local officials throughout the domain.”
The adjutant, who had helpfully misunderstood my intentions on my behalf, began explaining as though this had been my plan all along.
Of course, the inspiration for this undercover knight position was the secret royal inspector.
Not the actual secret royal inspectors of Joseon, but the sensationalized secret royal inspectors from the historical dramas I had watched.
I had no idea whether this could actually work in reality. I had never thought it through.
I had simply blurted it out because it seemed cool, but my adjutant and Rex polished it up nicely on their own.
“The undercover knights will receive special insignia from the lord, secretly leave the domain, and patrol the various regions. If they find a traitor in the provinces who has violated a law proclaimed by the lord, they will have the authority to act first and report afterward.”
Once the adjutant finished his brief explanation, the First Company Commander, a dark elf, raised his hand.
“I understand. Then how will the personnel be selected?”
I designated him as though I had been waiting for him to ask.
“You and I.”
“What?”
“Do we need more personnel?”
Naturally, the other companies would operate with several knights each, but all I needed was one company commander to assist me.
However, the company commander I had selected did not seem able to accept it easily.
“Why me, of all people?”
The gnome adjutant answered in my place.
“I apologize. If it were up to me, I would love to beat those beasts who have abandoned all human decency to death with my own hands, but given my age···”
Unfortunately, this gnome adjutant was one of the least combat-capable personnel in the order.
He also did not have much of his lifespan left and was practically on death's doorstep.
I had to race around the domain, so surely I could not drag an old man like him along beside me.
“I apologize. It is because I am in this condition···”
The gnome adjutant stared at the dark elf over his whitened eyebrows.
Even someone as oblivious as me could understand what that look meant.
- Do you expect me to go on a tour of the entire country, clutching my back and supporting the commander at my age?
In other words, in fancy terms, he was passing the buck down the chain of command.
The dark elf company commander turned his head and looked at the other company commanders.
“What is it?”
The Second Company Commander, a blood-crest, bared his fangs and smirked.
Though frustrated, the dark elf had been outranked by him among the company commanders over the past four years, so after losing the staring contest, he looked toward the Third Company Commander.
The pale-skinned Third Company Commander opened his mouth indifferently.
“It was not included in the contract··· but if you pay me more, I will come along.”
The dark elf's expression stiffened.
He seemed unable to imagine what trouble that cynical human might cause if he followed along as my aide.
In the end, by a process of elimination, the dark elf naturally became the aide for my undercover-knight travels.
“Haa.”
I wanted to pat him on the shoulder because he reminded me of the army from my previous life, but that did not fit my current image, so I pretended not to notice.
The dark elf company commander adjusted his glasses and put on a workplace smile.
“It is an honor to serve you.”
“I look forward to working with you, Sir Hedonius.”
Since I felt bad, I would have to buy him plenty of delicious food.
***
<First Company Commander Hedonius's POV>
While Duke was looking at Hedonius with pity, Hedonius gazed at his comrades, overwhelmed with emotion.
‘They are giving me this honor···’
Over the past four years, a bond called loyalty had formed among them.
Though they were not related by blood, it would be no exaggeration to say that the order was bound together by such deep camaraderie that they could be called a family.
‘Mr. Clambel···’
Hedonius stared at Duke's gnome adjutant.
Knowing that he would soon die after reaching the end of his natural lifespan, Clambel was preparing to hand over his position as Duke's adjutant.
The commander and the other company commanders understood the gnome's intentions, which was why they were passing this honor on to him.
Hedonius expressed his silent gratitude to them.
‘I understand.’
If you are giving me this opportunity···
‘Then I must live up to your expectations as well.’
Hedonius solemnly accepted the assignment.
***
<Duke's POV>
For the undercover knight mission, the company commander and I assumed new identities.
We chose the identities least likely to arouse suspicion when traveling as a pair: a fallen noble and an old butler.
The dark elf company commander would play the fallen noble, while I would play the old butler.
In my case, I removed my helmet and used magical disguise techniques to create fake wrinkles and white hair,
while the less recognizable company commander bleached his skin and shortened his ears to disguise himself as a human.
Thus, the two of us set out on our journey.
“Com···”
I sent a sharp look at the dark elf, who was about to call me commander out of habit.
Receiving my look, he hurriedly corrected himself.
“Mr. Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“No matter how I think about it, wouldn't it make more sense for me to play the butler?”
His deeply uncomfortable gaze fell on my wrinkled face.
I looked around in case anyone might hear us, then switched back to Duke's voice.
“No.”
“Why not?”
The reason was that if a dark elf called me Master near a cotton farm, I would feel like a genuine piece of trash.
···That was only half a joke. The real reason was simply that I wanted to play an old butler hiding his past.
Naturally, I did not tell him that. Instead, I consciously put on a benevolent smile that suited my fake wrinkles and offered an excuse.
“This way will arouse less suspicion.”
People were generally wary of fallen nobles, but they were not wary of servants.
That meant they were more likely to reveal a great deal of evidence in front of me, the butler.
Perhaps my excuse had worked, because the company commander nodded.
“I see. My insight was shallow, Mr. Dominic.”
“Not at all, Lord Hailudin.”
I nodded while consciously adopting my new identity, Dominic.
The company commander also seemed to accept his identity as Hailudin.
Thus began the journey of Hailudin, the fallen noble, and Dominic, the old butler who guarded his master to the very end.
Hailudin did not forget his role and explained our destination.
“Our destination this time is Elysis, a trade city located on the domain's border.”
Elysis lay on the southeastern border of the Providence Domain and was a city that actively traded goods with the neighboring domain.
Its main industries on the surface were wheat and sugar.
But people were mixed in among those products as well.
“The markets and local notables of the southern cities mainly use this city to buy and sell slaves from beyond the domain. In other words, there is a high probability that this city still maintains a slave trade.”
Of course, the mayor was not a fool, so he had freed the slaves the moment the law was proclaimed.
But we did not trust human conscience.
“We will investigate the black market here first, and then, if the opportunity arises, bring down the mayor.”
We did not even consider the possibility that the mayor might be honest.
From the outset, the fact that a secret royal inspector—or an undercover knight—had been dispatched meant there was already a degree of suspicion.
According to the informant's investigation, the trade city of Elysis would be maintaining its slave trade despite the lack of tangible evidence.
I checked his briefing one more time and explained our plans for the future.
“For now, Lord Hailudin, try to find a job as a fallen noble.”
The face of First Company Commander Hailudin crumpled, perhaps because my formal speech sounded so awkward.
I ignored this and continued speaking.
“In the meantime, I will investigate the black market.”
***
<Third-Person POV>
The trade city of Elysis.
Two men entered a place that had once been a slave-trading company but had now been converted into a labor office.
“I am Viscount Hailudin. I heard this was a slave-trading company. Is that still the case?”
“···”
One man introduced himself as the noble Hailudin, while the other old man who appeared to be his butler remained silent beside him.
The people in the labor office became wary at the appearance of two men who seemed out of place in this barbaric establishment.
Amid the heavy atmosphere, the owner of the office and former head of the slave-trading company opened his mouth.
“What do you mean? We no longer sell slaves.”
Irritation appeared in the gaze of the noble named Hailudin.
“What does that mean?”
“The lord recently prohibited the slave trade. We freed all our slaves and converted to a legal job-placement service long ago. Since you did not know, I assume you are from another domain?”
“Tsk. Why ask about that?”
“My apologies.”
The office owner quickly formed an opinion of the man named Hailudin.
‘A noble who moves from domain to domain.’
In other words, he was a fallen noble who had been driven out for being too incompetent to maintain even his noble status, yet could not give up his pride.
It was not common, but it was a type he encountered from time to time.
Usually, people of this type could not abandon their noble habits and were bound to need slaves.
“A wasted trip. I will try somewhere else.”
The fallen noble Hailudin turned around and left the labor office.
However, the man who appeared to be his old butler did not leave immediately.
The old man offered the owner a silver coin with a smile that eased the owner's wariness.
“My master has grown irritable after the long journey. I apologize for causing trouble.”
The labor office owner's gaze shifted to the silver coin.
People were bound to possess good and evil, but what sin did money have?
“Ahem. Hm.”
The owner slipped the silver coin into his pocket.
Then Dominic glanced around before asking a question.
“Is there perhaps any way to obtain other slaves or servants? We at least have to cross this domain, and hiring them may be difficult.”
At Dominic's question, the owner was startled and waved his hands.
“I told you, I don't sell slaves!”
“I see. My apologies.”
At the owner's look of disgust, the butler named Dominic showed a hint of hurt and obediently left the shop.
Afterward, similar scenes were frequently witnessed at labor offices throughout the city.
A fallen noble throwing tantrums at labor offices, and a polite butler apologizing for his rudeness.
Around the time this pair became famous after only a week, a letter arrived for the butler Dominic.
- Come to the designated location in the morning when the clock tower's bell rings nine times.
The corner of Dominic's mouth twitched when he received the letter.
‘Finally, they took the bait.’
The butler Dominic immediately followed the letter's instructions.
When he arrived at the alley, another letter had been left there.
- Turn right at the abandoned warehouse ahead.
After following that instruction, he received new directions several more times.
Dominic arrived at a place without any letters and waited for someone.
‘The black market at last···’
At that moment, Dominic sensed killing intent descending from above his head.
“?!”
The old butler instinctively leaped backward.
Immediately afterward, a masked figure dropped from above and brought its sword down on the spot where he had been standing.
Clang!
The figure, which had carved a deep sword mark into the ground, raised its head and met Dominic's eyes.
“You dodged it. You are not an ordinary butler, are you? What is your identity?”
“Heh heh. If you want to ask about my identity, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?”
“No need to know. Trash like you who are still looking for slaves.”
Hearing that, Dominic nodded.
“You are a vigilante.”
The masked figure neither confirmed nor denied it and charged at Dominic.
Watching the figure charge at him, Dominic (Duke) lamented inwardly.
‘Someone else took the bait.’