??Chapter 170: Chapter 6: Slave Hunter Team
Chapter 170: Chapter 6: Slave Hunter Team
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Looking at the vast and dark sky, Kor’s heart seed to harbor a few more traces of lancholy.
Ilot had now beco completely imrsed in his pursuit to enhance his martial arts, with two Dark Knights, several ranks above him, as opponents. His stubborn character finally shone through; he fought and failed repeatedly, yet each defeat beca a pillar of spirit for which Ilot strived, turning the confrontations into an exercise he tirelessly enjoyed, much to the chagrin of the two taciturn Dark Knights.
Puber had gone to Bahomon again to oversee the iron mine developnt. Although progress was fast, it looked like it would take a month or two before the first batch of ore could be extracted. However, with the continuously increasing number of miners, Puber believed that the iron mine’s developnt could be further accelerated.
The coal mine developnt in the Volt Mountain Range was also progressing unusually quickly. Under the spur of profit, both the mine owners and miners were working extrely hard.
A small shipbuilding workshop finally erged in Mattdam, located where the Catania River converges with the Nether Sea. This was a compromise reached after several rounds of negotiations between Kor and the pirates backing Kudan.
At Kor’s insistence, the pirates eventually agreed to build a small dock for producing ordinary mid-sized rchant ships.
Without their permission, no one dared to engage in this industry under their watch. Although it was a small start, it marked the beginning of a new industry in the Caucasus.
Transporting coal from the Volt Mountain Range to Mattdam via waterway to Bahomon, or iron ore from Bahomon to Mattdam, and considering Mattdam’s strategic location between the two along with its excellent transportation conditions, Kor believed Mattdam would soon beco the leading slting center of the Caucasus.
Everything seed to be on the right track, so why was there always a lingering sense of confusion in his heart? Kor agonized over this, wondering what made him unable to live a carefree life like his peers, but had to exist in this oppressive atmosphere instead, and what was the aning of it all?
Shaking his head as if to cast away these trivial thoughts, Kor reminded himself that he was now the Lord of the entire Caucasus. He was not only responsible for himself but also for the tens of thousands of simple and kind-hearted people waiting for him to lead them towards a better life. Yet, could he achieve this? Kor wasn’t very confident.
Carefully reading the letter in his hand, he was dressed in a neat and simple swallowtail suit, looking nothing like a man past fifty. A slight smile at the corner of his mouth indicated that the content of the letter was at least pleasing to him.
“It seems the young friend is doing quite well, I never expected that in just a few months he could have Philip so disturbed. This young friend also knows the taste of it well; his tightrope act between the kingdom and Philip is just right. He has managed to maintain a close relationship with the kingdom, yet Philip hasn’t been able to find a suitable reason to deal with him for the ti being.”
“Is it? Tez, it seems the seed you’ve sown has begun to sprout. Let’s hope this budding seed will spur many more, and eventually topple two big stones.”
The dazzling armor seed to have no effect on the middle-aged man; his gaze remained fixed on the display shelf in the Minister of Internal Affairs’ study.
The shelf was not heavily adorned, featuring just a few ancient porcelain vases, a wooden gilded plaque, and a beast’s head with spiraling horns, clearly hunted from the northeastern remote Devil’s Land, the skull of the Hutton Flying Antelope from the Flami Wilderness.
This type of antelope travels on mountain ridges as if on flat ground, leaping as if in flight, and with high alertness. Ordinary people can hardly get within a hundred ters without being detected. It is a harmless variant of Magical Beast, and its Crystal Core is an excellent material for crafting Perception Magic Scrolls.
Naturally, the items displayed in the study were the master’s trophies. The middle-aged man, however, was sowhat skeptical about whether the Minister of Internal Affairs was indulging in artifice, displaying a trophy in his room that he couldn’t possibly have hunted himself. Although this Magical Beast was not aggressive, hunting one was incredibly difficult, and with the Minister’s physique, even with a Thousand Mile Horse, it would be hard to chase down such a creature.
The skull of the Magical Beast was rely a trophy to boast of one’s hunting achievents, but the other items were genuine treasures. The seasoned gaze lingered on the two ancient porcelain vases; such porcelain was not produced in most regions of the Blue Continent. Its only source was from the mountain Dwarf Tribe in the mainland’s southern part.
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There, they had glazes not found anywhere else on the Continent, and the expertise of the Mountain Dwarves, who excelled in firing and pottery craftsmanship, was the only way to achieve such breathtaking results, allowing these enduring masterpieces to erge from the kilns.
Both items were obviously fine porcelain produced by the Mountain Dwarves. Judging from the painting style on the surface of the porcelain, these even featured court paintings in mortal style, truly extraordinary, which showed the great effort the Mountain Dwarves had put into firing this batch of kilnware.
Hearing his old friend praising the vase with repeated exclamations of admiration, Tez knew right away what the other was implying and smiled, “Stop shaking your head there. If you want it, take it, just rember to keep it well preserved. You know I’m not fond of these things; it’s just for show here.”
“How could I do that? Would I, Mathew, be soone who covets what others love? Why don’t you tell
where you got it from, and I’ll find a couple to enjoy as well?” The way he cherished it made it hard to believe he would put it down, and such behavior from the commander of the army of the Kingdom of Nicosia was indeed rare.
“Hmph, get two? You make it sound so easy. Why don’t you go try to get two for ? Such treasures are things you can hope for but not seek. If an important person from the Mountain Dwarves hadn’t been captured and brought to our Nicosia, you probably wouldn’t even get the chance to lay eyes on such objects,” Tez said, his gaze still fixated on the letter, clearly placing great importance on this piece of correspondence.
“Oh? Even the Mountain Dwarves have been kidnapped?” The middle-aged man in armor paused, and though he had yet to shift his gaze from the vase, he redirected his attention back, “But that’s the world of the Dwarves. How were they captured and brought up north here?”
“Hmph, as long as there’s profit, nothing is too daring. What about Dwarf territories? Needs create pursuits! Now that war looms over the north of our Continent, demand for weapons and armor is growing. Dwarves are born smiths and forgers, so naturally, so people want more Dwarves to profit from. With market demand, as long as you pay enough, there will always be those who’ll find ways.”
Tez’s words revealed a trace of deep concern.
“But Mountain Dwarves are different from those Hill Dwarves. Although they’re skilled in pottery and porcelain, they’re not adept at mining, slting, or smithing. So, what’s the use of bringing these Mountain Dwarves here?” Now the armored middle-aged man was truly perplexed, his questioning gaze on the other.
“Hmph, who among us mortals can clearly distinguish the differences between Dwarves? Probably those slave hunter teams see a Dwarf and grab one, mistaking the Mountain Dwarves for Hill Dwarves,” Tez shrugged, a shadow passing over his ruddy cheeks.
“So, you’re saying these slave hunter teams are all our fellow mortals?” Raising his eyebrows, the armored military man finally set down the ancient porcelain vase, focusing on the conversation.
“Those despicable and shaless ones, trampling the law so brazenly. If they were to fall into my hands, I would make them struggle to choose between life and death! But one thing I don’t understand is, haven’t the Dwarves already ford an alliance with the Elves? In theory, in the center and south, the Dwarves and Elves have established solid defense lines along their borders. How can these slave hunter teams freely enter their territory to kidnap people? It doesn’t seem likely there’s a problem with their military; that seems improbable,” the armored man puzzlingly noted.
“Hmph, Mathew, you seem only to see the defenses on land. What about the sea? Along the vast coastline, what can Dwarves and Elves use to defend themselves?” Tez shook his head, speaking solemnly, “It’s the inherent weakness of the Dwarves and Elves; they can’t stop invaders from the sea, and it’s impossible to build castles along the extensive coastline. This trend is getting fiercer by the day, growing into a major problem for the Dwarves and Elves.”
“Are you talking about Pirates? Have they colluded with the slave hunter teams?!” The armored soldier realized, shock on his face.
“Mm, there are more and more colonial outposts being established on the Blue Continent near the diterranean, and they’re growing in size. Do you really think so many people are willing to venture into that Devil’s Land? It’s all a ruse. Besides a few outposts genuinely prepared for adventurers and tourists, many have beco bases for slave hunter teams. These teams collude with the owners of the outposts and the Pirates; the outpost owners provide logistics support and intelligence to the slave hunters, while the Pirates and slave hunters deploy martial power. Pirates are responsible for attacking coastal towns and villages, slave hunters for capturing and selecting, and once they acquire slaves, they split the prey according to a predefined ratio. Haven’t you seen the sudden increase in Elves and Dwarves at Jazair Slave Market, even Shark people? It’s all the doing of these scoundrels,” Tez conveyed with a strong sense of indignation.
Though he was overtly angry,
Tez was a firm anti-slavery proponent, particularly opposed to thods that turned non-combatants into slaves. Yet he felt helpless against the rising tide of illegal slave hunting.
While the kingdom had decreed a ban on such illegal ans of capturing mbers of other races as slaves, such actions could not be stopped by the kingdom as long as they occurred outside its borders. And once soone acquired a slave with legal status abroad, they could openly sell them in the kingdom’s Slave Market.
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