The Main Character i Chapter 73

"My Lord. That beastfolk is....."

"Ah, perhaps I subdued her too forcefully. She ended up dying."

I opened the door to the underground prison again. When I had a servant summon Robin, he quickly rushed to the underground prison. I pointed to the fallen corpse of the beastfolk Amori with a regretful expression. Robin mirrored my regretful expression and spoke.

"This is not sothing for you to bla yourself for, My Lord. Eliminating an intruder in our territory was your natural duty as a lord."

"However, this beastfolk was rely a person who desired freedom. As soone who follows the teachings of the Archdeity Church, was it right to cast out soone who wanted freedom so rcilessly? No. I have committed a sin. Robin. Please hold a funeral for this beastfolk."

"Yes. I understand. Should we do it on the sa scale as when one of the villagers dies?"

"Yes. That should be sufficient."

Then I wrote a letter to Lord Aberdeen of the Eastern Plains Region. It was quite a distance to the Eastern Plains Region, so it was best to announce my visit in advance with a letter like this. The contents of the letter could be summarized as follows.

Lord Aberdeen, hope you're doing well. I am High Priest Lusius, and I will be stopping by your territory soon.

There was no need to recite a long-winded story about slaves or anything of the sort. It was enough to state the real purpose of my visit once I got there. In the original ga, Elsi had lived as a slave until the protagonist ca to pick her up. So, there would be no problem if I took my ti and stated my purpose then.

On my desk now lay an item from Amori's belongings that Elsi would likely recognize. A heart-shaped necklace. The design of the necklace itself was a bit unusual; it wasn't sothing you'd give to a slave, nor was it sothing beastfolk would normally carry. That was because beastfolk usually didn't wear accessories.

Other than this, there was nothing among Amori's possessions that looked plausible. A few pieces of hardtack and a piece of dried jerky. And a few coins, that was all.

On the back of the necklace, it was written:

- Faith, Hope, and Love.

What was this? What in the world was this necklace? Was Amori perhaps a transforming magical girl? What was this about faith, hope, and love? Maybe I would know the answer if I showed it to Elsi. For now, I tossed the necklace onto the desk and prepared to set off on my journey.

The travel preparations were finished quickly. In front of the mansion, the beastfolk Amori's funeral was being held simply. People who were unaware of the rumors from the frontier were murmuring, asking who Amori was, and the soldiers who had fought on the frontier were grumbling about what possessed the Lord to hold a funeral for a beastfolk.

I boarded the carriage loaded with my luggage and prepared for departure. Eve and Cellu, along with Aira and Sieri, approached my carriage. Eve had a truly displeased look on her face.

"Where are you off to this ti?"

"Just to the Eastern Plains Region for a bit. The beastfolk who just died entrusted her daughter to ."

"Fuck, are you going to eat her up again?"

"Eat her up? Eve. You're a lord's wife. Please use more cultured words."

"To rape her?"

"To take her in."

Eve looked at

with a strange expression. At those words, Cellu smiled and stuck her tongue out slightly. Sieri said.

"Will you really be alright going alone?"

"No problem, Sieri. I actually prefer being alone."

There were few knights in the territory, so if I drafted them as an escort, it would cause manpower issues. Besides, taking escort guards would interfere with my personal activities, so I had no intention of taking escort soldiers unless it was absolutely necessary. If things got dicey, Lord Aberdeen would take care of it.

"Hey, are you sure you'll be okay?"

Eve grabbed , her expression even more anxious. What Eve was worried about wasn't , but this situation where I was leaving the territory in her hands again.

"No problem."

But in the current situation, there was no one who could ss with Eve. After the Grand Duke of the North got stabbed and died for ssing with her, who would dare to fuck with Eve? Eve herself might not know it, but our lord's family was currently the most fearso in the Southern region.

"By the way, if another noble starts a quarrel over the sa thing again, just beat them up and throw them in prison."

"Got it."

Of course, killing them again would make things botherso. I drove the carriage only after repeatedly warning her not to kill them this ti, even if they started a quarrel. To see the face of Lord Aberdeen of the East.

** **

"Welco, High Priest Lusius."

Strictly speaking, I was the Lord of Peta Territory and High Priest Lusius, but I couldn't seem to recall eting a noble who called

a lord. I accepted Lord Aberdeen's hospitality with a smiling face. Upon hearing news of my arrival, he had tid it to personally co out with his soldiers to welco .

Lord Aberdeen had the impression of a seasoned warrior who had defeated the beastfolk of the East. He had an enormous build with solid muscles, as if he had inherited the bloodline of a Mongol or Samoan, and his rugged impression gave off the feeling of a bull. If the Grand Duke of the North had the feel of a dignified old general, Lord Aberdeen was like a barbarian warrior.

The uniform he wore was already bulging as if it would burst, unable to contain his muscles. The hand holding the horse's reins was as thick as a person's face.

"So, what brings you here?"

Lord Aberdeen asked. I answered honestly.

"I ca to free one of the beastfolk living here. I hope that you, Lord Aberdeen, will cooperate with

in this matter."

"A beastfolk? Do you an the beastfolk slaves?"

"Yes. That's right."

"Not all of them, but just one, you say?"

It seed there had been soone who proposed freeing all of them. I said.

"That would not be realistic. The Archdeity Church opposes slavery, but it also recognizes the fact that there are many things that cannot be done without slaves at present. All I want is just one person."

Strictly speaking, the Archdeity Church didn't so much oppose slavery as it strictly forbade its religious converts from owning slaves. Nobles who believed in the Archdeity Church did not keep slaves, and the clerics of the Archdeity Church, including the high priests, also did not engage in the slave trade.

Any slave trade other than for the purpose of liberation was strictly prohibited.

"May I ask the reason?"

"Actually, a beastfolk who had escaped from slave life recently ca to my territory. She was seized with fear and trembling. There was a risk of her harming the territory residents as she resisted so strongly, so I personally stepped in to subdue her, but my thods were too rough, and she ended up dying."

"Oh dear."

"She told

she had a daughter. As a High Priest of the Archdeity Church, I cannot free all the beastfolk in the East from their slave status, but I thought I should at least take responsibility for the beastfolk I killed by mistake."

"That's admirable."

Lord Aberdeen nodded at my explanation and agreed with . My plan was to first unpack my luggage at Lord Aberdeen's mansion and then imdiately rush to the slave market. If my mory was correct, Elsi was working as a guard for the slaves in the slave market.

"For now, please rest a while at the mansion."

Thus accepting Lord Aberdeen's invitation, I relaxed at the mansion and reviewed my plans for the future. After eting Elsi and 'liberating' her, I planned to use the story of Elsi's mother to entice her. Beastfolk had strong family ties, so she would most likely be swayed.

Once Elsi ca to my territory, I planned to then persuade her to settle down there. I had already taken a rmaid as a wife, so adding one or two beastfolk to the territory wouldn't be a problem now.

I soaked leisurely in the bathtub, lost in various thoughts.

The next morning. Guided by Lord Aberdeen, I headed to the slave market where the slaves were gathered. The Aberdeen Territory hosted the Eastern region's largest slave market, and here gathered slaves who were yet unsold, or had been sold but were abandoned for being too useless.

So of them were dragged off as experintal materials for mages, so to harsh construction sites, and so for dical research. Elsi was guarding the human slave passage of this slave market. In the original ga, she was doing this job on the condition that a few other beastfolk would not be harassed.

After all, the human slaves were none of Elsi's business.

When I said I wanted to take Elsi, Lord Aberdeen looked a little disappointed. It was understandable, as there were few slaves as loyal and strong as Elsi. Beastfolk have strong camaraderie and familial love. As long as a hostage was held, there were none as loyal as them. If I wasn't a cleric, I would have bought one or two as slaves myself.

"Elsi is protective of the other beastfolk slaves, so there's a high chance she won't leave even if I tell her to."

"I will buy and liberate all of those slaves as well. If you're only keeping them to make use of Elsi, aren't they just mouths to feed?"

Beastfolk were strong and conditionally obedient, but their risk and price were also high, so the demand for them wasn't as great as one might think. Slave hunters could easily hunt an ordinary rmaid, but they frequently went to the underworld for treating beastfolk the sa way. There were two cases in which a beastfolk was brought in as a slave. They either lost a war or were an idiot who got tricked.

In my mory, Elsi was a defeated slave.

Lord Aberdeen seed surprised at my words that I would liberate all the beastfolk. We were already entering the passage of the human slave market. The place gave off the feeling of a greatly enlarged pet store. On both sides of the path, humans trapped in iron cages were mumbling as they looked at us.

The slaves seed to be well aware of their master here, Lord Aberdeen.

"Astonishing."

Lord Aberdeen said as much. I looked around the iron cages and found a cage containing a vaguely familiar face. Two sisters were hugging each other, trembling. They were staring at

with eyes full of hatred. Who were they? Who the hell were they to be looking at

like this?

"Ah, they are slaves who were recently kicked out of a brothel. They can't speak, and the tendons in their hands and feet have been cut, so they can't move properly. Even if you liberate them, they won't be able to survive on their own."

"That's a pity. Who would do such a cruel thing....."

"Aaaaaaah!"

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

At those words, the two sisters suddenly started having a seizure and screaming at . They seed to be crazy bitches, so I decided to quickly get away from there.