Chapter 66
The interrogation of the "slave trader" took place at the guards' garrison. A detention facility was attached to it, so criminals were held there temporarily before a hearing and verdict. There was no such thing as a fair and impartial hearing, lawyers, or appeals. Criminal charges involving high-ranking figures such as nobles were a different matter; in those cases, the Holy King and the nobles passed judgment.
The interrogation room was cramped, containing only a small chair and a small window. The floor was bare earth, with sand scattered across it.
When I entered the interrogation room, the portly "slave trader" looked startled.
"D-Do you have any idea what'll happen if you lay a hand on me!?"
"Calm down. We aren't going to rough you up..."
The guard captain who had been helping us throughout our series of "slave trader crackdowns" was a rugged, deeply tanned middle-aged man.
"...so long as you're answering our questions honestly, that is."
The captain was making sure to intimidate him. The "slave trader" flinched.
The guard captain said, "All right, I'll leave you to it," then stepped back toward the wall. I stood in front of the "slave trader," while a clerk with paper on a wooden board stood ready.
"Then I'll start with a few questions—"
"We operate a 'human resources placement office' in accordance with the law. Sure, I let the word 'slave' slip once, but that was just a mistake. And it couldn't be helped if I wasn't properly polite to a noble young lady. You lot initially introduced yourselves with the name of a merchant company that didn't even exist, too."
"..."
I couldn't help groaning inwardly.
(This is the same testimony as the other "slave traders" gave... It's almost exactly what the Earl told me. ...Hm? Wait a minute...)
A sudden sense that something was wrong made me think back over everything that had happened.
The Earl had readily agreed to my lady's proposal to "crack down on the slave traders." At the time, I had thought only, What an indulgent father... spare a thought for me, the one assigned to guard her. But the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
(The Earl certainly knows all about the difference between true intentions and public pretense. He also knows that shutting down one "human resources placement office"—a necessary evil—after another would have almost no effect on the economy or society of the Holy King's Capital.)
If anything, it would only invite resentment, leaving my lady at risk of being attacked by the people involved.
The Earl himself should have known better than anyone, having suffered the consequences of such "grudge-fueled attacks" firsthand.
(The prepared list of "human resources placement offices." The "identical testimony" during interrogation... Could this be...)
I arrived at a particular hypothesis—one that made everything happening now add up.
But once I thought of it, it fit so perfectly that I couldn't think of any other answer.
The guard captain was barking, "Just answer what you're asked!" but I held up a hand to stop him and spoke.
"Well then, I'll ask you a few questions myself. All right?"
"Hmph. What the hell am I supposed to tell a brat?"
"When did you start this business?"
"...Huh?"
He must have been caught off guard, because he blinked at me. I learned that even a fat middle-aged man looking bewildered wasn't particularly cute.
"I asked when you started this business."
"Uh, well... it's been fifteen years now."
"Have you always been based in the Holy King's Capital?"
"Yes."
"Does your company have any strengths compared to its competitors?"
"...I'd like to say that every place does the same job—'human resources placement office' and all—but we have strong connections with the nobility, so the sums we handle are substantial."
He gave a smug little chuckle.
"Would you start this business again even if you were sentenced?"
"Well... that's just what my Talent is suited for..."
"Is it 【Slave Master★★★】?"
"That's right. But this business isn't illegal, you know?"
"I know. Then this is my last question."
I said,
"How much, exactly, did Earl Slyries pay you?"
"!!!???"
...I learned that even an astonished middle-aged man wasn't particularly cute.
At the same time, I felt that my hypothesis was probably correct.
After the interrogation, I went straight to see Zelly-san. She was separately looking into Lark and Lulusha-san for me, too.
Zelly-san was one of the few people who knew about Lark and me—though her utterly hopeless tendency to make a spectacle of herself when drunk was a serious flaw.
Zelly-san usually slept through the morning, so she was asleep again when I visited today. After hearing my report, I learned that the Adventurers' Guild hadn't turned up any information rated five stars or higher, either, so there were no leads today. Well, even Earl Slyries hadn't gotten a lead... I suppose we'll just have to keep searching patiently.
"Speaking of which,"
Zelly-san lived and slept in a private room at an inn where she could lock the door securely. It was a cramped room, but she had once said, "It's just for sleeping, so why would I need it to be spacious?"—so why were there bottles scattered all over the place...?
"Can I send a letter addressed to a specific adventurer party?"
"...Ah—'The Silver Balance,' I assume?"
"How did you know?"
"Because you don't know anyone else, young master, right?"
"..."
That was true, but it still hurt, as if she were saying, You don't have any friends, do you?
Zelly-san washed her face with the water I'd brought her, splashing it over herself. Cats washing their faces means it's going to rain, right? It was cloudy today, at least.
"We can send letters, but sending one across a national border is extremely troublesome and costs an absurd amount of money."
"I figured..."
"But the guilds transport things between one another, so if we put it on one of those shipments, it'll be much more reliable."
"I see."
According to Zelly-san, guilds sometimes had to transport necessary documents between branches, and requests for "delivery" or "escort" work could be posted when guild employees were transferred.
"And the pay! It's so laughably low it'll make your eyes pop out! On top of that, if you're specifically assigned the job and turn it down, your standing in the guild goes down, so you have no choice but to accept it. Even high-ranking adventurers can't refuse. Tch, just thinking about it makes me mad. I guess I have no choice but to start drinking at lunchtime."
"If you turn into a hopeless case, I'll abandon you."
"...Hehe, young master, I'm only joking. Even so, I'm known at the guild as 'Hardworking Zelly,' you know?"
I hadn't merely covered Zelly-san's debts; I still gave her spending money, too.
It honestly seemed wrong for a full-grown adult turning twenty this year to fawn over a fourteen-year-old. If I left her alone, she seemed liable to become more and more hopeless.
"By the way, I did hear the nickname 'Drunkard Zelly.'"
"All right! Whoever said that, I'll tear them limb from limb with these hands! Come on, young master! Tell me who it was!"
"I was the one who said it. Are you going to tear me limb from limb?"
"Young maaaaster... Tearing you limb from limb was just a joke. Obviously it was Zelly's cute little joke... Hehehe..."
The smoothness with which she switched from pounding her fists together to rubbing her hands was truly hopeless.
"Anyway, enough fooling around... Either way, we can't send a letter unless we know where 'The Silver Balance' is, can we...?"
"What brought this on so suddenly? Are you missing them?"
"Ah, well, yes. Something like that."
It was because of what Etan-sama's halfling guard had said at the banquet last night. I wondered how Mimino-san was doing. Besides, I thought I could now explain the circumstances behind my leaving without permission, at least to some extent.
"Young master."
"Hm?"
"...How long do you intend to remain under the Earl's care?"
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"No, I just felt restless, as if something might have happened to you, young master."
"..."
Her instincts were sharp.
I hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell Zelly-san everything about the previous day without hiding anything. She listened, going "Mm-hm, mm-hm," and when I finished, she said:
"Please be careful, young master. You know what's scariest in this world? It isn't dragons, and it isn't Adamantite-rank adventurers, either."
"Huh...?"
"People with power are the scariest of all."
I was struck by the realization.
She was right. The Dark Fang Mercenary Corps she had belonged to had been utterly wrecked by Crysta, an Adamantite-rank adventurer, but Raikira-san had seized an opening and defeated Crysta.
But powerful people had been the ones pulling their strings.
"The Earl has power, of course, but there are powers greater than his. So please be careful. You could even be framed as the poisoner."
"That's impossible."
"If Lady Eva were to turn her suspicions on the Earl, he'd frame you, wouldn't he?"
"..."
"With the Earl's 'Magic Eye of Adjudication,' he could do it."
"...I suppose you're right."
She was right. Perhaps because my lady trusted me, I had gradually come to place far too much trust in the Earl as well.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Please do. Also... this."
Zelly-san held out a hand. But there was nothing on it.
"Hm?"
"Hehe... young maaaaster..."
"..."
Zelly-san had the look of a hopeless adult. So when she said, "I'm already completely out of living expenses..." I handed her several silver coins. Zelly-san was a hopeless person, but I was no better for giving her money...
"All right, then... I should get going soon."
I decided to eat lunch somewhere before returning to the estate.
I set off on foot toward Earl Slyries's mansion. There were several things I needed to ask the Earl. I couldn't afford to let my guard down now.