Episode 13 – I am willing to send him back to the mountain.
What he meant was that he would let them follow the disappeared tribe of Hamar beyond the great mountain range that runs across the southern part of the continent.
And for dwarves, a half-elves who usually live for 300 years, 20 years to gain freedom was not a very long time.
“…Humans are good at lying. Do you think you will believe that?”
However, the dwarves’ distrust of humans was severe, and their despairing eyes did not change.
Then, Logan gently took out a piece of paper with a bluish glow in his arms.
“Do you know what this is?”
The dwarf’s eyes trembled again after seeing that.
“…Magic contract?”
It was an extra prepared with this day in mind when purchasing the magic contract to redeem Philip.
“You can’t believe it… you’re going to use it for me?!”
“I know. If you don’t trust me, I can write you this contract.”
“Let’s write a contract! Absolutely! I’ll make anything!”
A faint smile appeared on Logan’s lips at Hamar’s sudden change in attitude.
And for the dwarf Hamar, who had changed to a more proactive attitude, Logan wrote a contract without delay.
From Logan’s perspective, it was just bait to definitely boost his motivation.
However, as Hamar watched the light of the magic contract enter his and Logan’s entire body, tears welled up that did not match his stubborn-looking face.
“You really meant to do that. Thank you, human. No, thank you! Master!”
A sight that someone who was scheduled to spend 20 years of forced labor was actually thankful for. Moreover, I heard the dwarves respect me, which is hard to hear.
Logan smiled bitterly at that strange feeling of disparity.
‘If I could motivate myself this much with just one contract, I would have a lot of business left over.’
He thought that the weapon he wanted to make could be made at the level of a dwarf who had lost motivation, that is, a level slightly superior to that of a human blacksmith.
Nevertheless, it was probably the memories of his past life that guaranteed Hamar freedom.
During the ‘Great Migration’ a thousand years ago, most dwarves also disappeared beyond the southern mountain ranges.
Naturally, master-level dwarves, which were only found in large dwarven cities, became increasingly rare, and even such master-level dwarves were unable to demonstrate skills commensurate with their reputation after becoming slaves.
However, Logan had only seen the ‘real’ skills of a master-level dwarf once in his previous life.
This work was created with all the joy that came after being freed from slavery.
‘The workmanship of a master dwarf who truly put his will into it. That was amazing.’
If I could bring out that kind of skill, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to invest this much.
Twenty years is a long time, which is more than enough to achieve his goal.
‘I might fail before then.’
Logan shook his head to shake off the ominous imagination and looked at Hamar, who had a flushed complexion, and Kai, who was standing behind him with an expressionless face.
‘Anyway, the purpose of coming to Harun was achieved.’
A faint, happy smile appeared on Logan’s lips.
Relieved that the plan was proceeding without any variables, Logan walked forward with a somewhat light heart.
However, the light heart only lasted for a moment. In the process of leaving the slave market, Logan and his group encountered a disturbing incident.
“catch!”
“The slave has escaped!”
“Catch them! Catch them! These!”
A middle-aged man with a hooked nose, bleeding profusely from his forearm, pointed to a spot in the slave market and shouted loudly.
Where he pointed, a blue-haired boy was running through the crowds of people, carrying a girl who looked like him.
Five or six people who appeared to be mercenaries were following behind them.
The boy managed to avoid the mercenaries’ touch and run away several times with quick movements that were not suitable for his skeletal physique.
But that time wasn’t very long.
puck! puck!
“You piece of shit!”
Wow.
“You slave! How dare you!”
Ugh.
“Bite me?!”
The hook-nosed middle-aged man mercilessly stepped on the child without paying attention to the circumstances.
He was so angry at the sight of his bleeding forearm that he seemed not to care even if the child died.
Moreover, his anger seemed to increase as time passed, perhaps because the blue-haired boy did not change his posture even after being stepped on.
‘Are you my younger brother…?’
It was easy for anyone to understand why the boy stubbornly held on without bending his outstretched arms and legs even as he bit his lip to the point of bleeding.
This was to protect the girl with similar features that the boy was carrying on his back from being kicked by a middle-aged man.
“Oh brother. I’m fine.”
A girl is trembling but holding the boy’s arm and whispering to him.
Logan, who was a little away, had to concentrate his hearing to barely hear the voice, but there was no way the boy right above him couldn’t have heard it.
However, the boy only bit his lips tighter and did not even move when the kicks came again.
“They are slaves. Just go on your way.”
“I know. I know, but just for a moment…”
A slave is an object, not a human being. No matter how the owner handled it, it was not a matter for others to meddle with.
Even though it was such a disgusting sight, it was still the same.
Moreover, behind the hook-nosed middle-aged man, the five mercenaries who had captured the boy earlier were glaring at the surroundings and standing guard.
There was no reason to get involved in a dangerous dispute just because someone else was handling his things as he wanted.
Still, Logan couldn’t take his eyes off the beaten boy.
‘Why?’
It wasn’t just out of sympathy for the boy.
Red and blue eyes visible beneath the boy’s blue hair.
It was an odd eye of contrasting colors.
Those eyes, which were rare, or perhaps unique, on the continent, continued to tickle one part of his mind.
‘Blue-haired, red-blue odd-eyed slave…’
There was clearly something important, but it was a frustrating feeling that didn’t come to mind clearly.
Then, as soon as he met the boy’s eyes, an old memory flashed back in Logan’s mind.
“Ah! Victor!”
“yes?”
“Oh, no. Just a moment…”
The memory that came to mind as if a blockage had been pierced brought a strange sense of pleasure, but the memory also gave Logan another problem to worry about.
‘I never thought I’d meet a noble slayer here.’
Logan’s eyes deepened as he looked at the beaten boy.
Victor, the noble slayer.
In his previous life, he was an Auror user who was extremely famous in the kingdom, and the reason he became particularly famous was because of his origins.
He was a slave, not an ordinary commoner, let alone a nobleman. He was even a slave who escaped after killing his master.
A slave who had no general education, let alone martial arts training, killed his master and ran away.
Moreover, while he was running away, he massacred those who chased him and went into hiding as a wanted criminal who killed numerous soldiers, knights, and nobles.
And after nearly 10 years, Victor reappeared at the beginning of the imperial war and butchered the entire family that owned it.
This was done using aurors, evidence of superhumanity.
From then on, he continued to kill all the nobles of the Kingdom of Grandia, and because of that, he came to be called a vicious nickname, Noble Slayer, which is rare for an Auror user.
‘The slave escape incident occurred about a year after I became a mercenary.’
I knew the approximate time because the news came right after the McLane family’s territory war ended.
However, I couldn’t remember detailed information, such as what family Viktor was a slave from, but I ran into him by chance.
What if you could save that boy right now?
‘One future Auror user will be on my side.’
It will definitely be beneficial. But if it’s a problem…
“Aaaah!”
While I was thinking about it for a moment, I guess I saw a gap and a boy, presumed to be Victor, was biting the shin of the owner who was stepping on him.
The hook-nosed shins are so strong that even at a glance from a distance, they become covered in blood in an instant.
Surprised mercenaries rushed at him and beat him violently, pulling him away, but the boy hung around with his shins in his mouth until the end.
The boy’s fierce, fighting eyes reminded me of bad rumors from my past life.
‘A murderous maniac that no one can stop.’
What Logan needed was a sharp knife, not a weapon that might cut an ally.
‘…If it’s a weapon, just isolate it. ‘To prevent it from undermining the kingdom’s power.’
After thinking about it for a while, the conclusion was so easy that it was almost laughable.
As soon as the thought reached that point, Logan moved.
“This dog…”
Teuok.
“Ugh?”
Hooked Nose, who had not stopped kicking even though he saw that the boy he had barely managed to pull off had already fainted, was startled by the sheath of the sword that suddenly blocked his feet and retreated.
“Some bird…”
The red head walked right next to him, but none of the guard soldiers noticed.
When I saw the guards belatedly startled and take out their swords, the last words I was about to say escaped me.
Moreover, the person who followed him was clearly Kai, Harun’s famous mercenary.
Finally, when he checked the flame pattern engraved on the red-haired armor, Hook Nose instinctively bowed deeply.
“I don’t know you, sir. Am I being rude in any way?”
“I was just passing by and I wanted to make something that caught my interest a little less damaging.”
Hooked Nose, who rolled his eyes for a moment at those words, smiled awkwardly.
“…Ah, you were a guest. It’s such an embarrassing time ahaha!”
“That’s it. Is this how you treat slaves?”
“Ahahaha, not really. These products were particularly disobedient… haha, so I looked a little ugly. So, are you interested in these siblings?”
Hook Nose smiled awkwardly and rubbed his hands together even as blood poured down his shins and forearms.
Logan paid more attention to his words than to his ugly appearance.
“Customers and goods… Are you a slave trader? That’s good. So can we make a deal right now?”
When making a deal, the one who appears in a hurry is at a disadvantage, but the current situation was a little different.
Everyone around him was paying attention, and it was a clear situation where he indirectly showed a superiority in force and in other words, had a psychological superiority that made the trading partner irritated.
However, Hook Nose did not give in easily, perhaps because he had experience working in the slave market.
“…These children are rare red-blue odd-eyes, and even the siblings are all like that. Because they are rare, the price is a bit high, but do you mind…?”
“Okay. How much is it?”
“Well, you have to give me at least 10,000 each…”
Logan’s eyebrows twitched at those words.
The price of a sturdy young slave was usually around 300 gold.
The hook-nosed slave trader put dozens of times more value on the children with their skin and bones.
Of course, considering the value of noble slayers, 100,000 per pair is cheaper than 10,000, but that is information that only he knows.
Now, I had no intention of paying full price to buy them because they simply had rare eyes.
‘More than anything, I don’t want to make money for this scum.’
The moment I met the eyes of a girl who was taking care of her older brother who fainted in tears a little while ago.
To Logan, they were no longer someone else’s slaves whom he had only met for less than five minutes.
So, the tone of voice naturally became colder.
“Children who are about to collapse are 30 times more powerful than healthy slaves. Besides, I think one of them is going to die soon?”
“Ah, oppa…”
Tears flowed from the girl’s eyes, who were startled by those words.
But the slave dealer, who was actually the target, laughed shamelessly.
“Ahaha. You’re also good at joking. Even though he looks like this, he’s a strong guy, so he’ll get up soon.”
“Hmm, the treatment will cost a lot. Moreover, no matter what you order, it will cost money to feed and teach for a while.”
“But as you can see, it is the only one for sale in the slave market here…”
“500 gold per sturdy slave or more is enough.”
“Oh, sir. Then you can’t even get the original price.”
“Hmph. Do you think I don’t even know the cost of slaves?”
“But it’s a very hard product to find… hehe.”
“I’m too greedy. 1,000. Be satisfied with this much.”
The slaver, who was about to retort, fell silent as he saw Logan gripping the handle of the sword.
In fact, it was a suggestion no different from a threat. The slaver quickly shook his head.
‘Victor, that guy has been causing endless trouble. .I think it will continue to be like that in the future.’
The slaver’s gaze passed over his own limbs, which were still bleeding.
His unusual appearance was valuable as a decoration, but that decoration was meaningless if he was going to stab the owner.
After a moment of hesitation, the slaver nodded.
“…Deal. Thank you, sir.”
