## Chapter 872 – Illegal Slave Trader

“Katt. So, you got a new job?”
“Yeah. Gotta go to this port city for a while.”
“Oh my, a port.”

Claudie perked up her ears.

“Remember that time?”
“Hehehe, yeah. Wow, but we almost died back then.”

It was really dangerous back then.

But if the current me were there, I would have slaughtered all the fishmen, even if they charged with sheer numbers.

That’s how big the difference is between the me back then and the me now.

It’s a qualitative difference.

And that’s another difference between Claudie and me. Claudie is a warrior so strong that the current me can’t even approach, but she specializes in ambushes and assassinations aimed at 1:1 duels and killings.

Back when we were being chased by the fishmen, it was quite dangerous even with Claudie around.

Claudie, being a half-elf, can’t accumulate much mana, so she has developed tactics and fighting methods that suit her body to the extreme. That’s why she prefers killing a small number of enemies and retreating.

Like when she dealt a fatal blow to that powerful Spirit King, her explosive attack power is strong, but she’s quite vulnerable when facing enemies who attack with sheer numbers because it consumes a lot of energy. Of course, she can handle it. It’s just extremely inefficient. She keeps overkill, so her fuel efficiency is bad.

In conclusion, Claudie’s combat stamina is lower than mine. Remember when she saved me and Winia from falling when we caught the Kobold Queen, and she used up all her mana and was exhausted?

If the current me went back to that time, they’d all be pushovers.

Having no mana is a painful thing. But it seems like it’s been replenished a bit since I took the elixir last time… I haven’t tested it yet.

Anyway, that’s Claudie. My fighting style is similar to Karin’s.

“Anyway, it seems like some cultists have been moving around in a port city called Reitas down south. When I investigated, it seems like Death Knights were also moving around that area. And it seems like those cultists have jumped into the slave trade. That’s what I’m going to investigate.”
“Hmm, is that so?”

Claudie didn’t seem very interested in the case. She seemed only interested in my face as she touched my cheeks.

“The city’s name is Reitas?”

Then, Karin, who had just come out of the shower, asked.

“Yeah. Do you know it, Sis?”
“It’s not a very good neighborhood. It’s always been like that. It’s a place where sailors with nasty tempers kidnap people and sell them. Most port cities are like that.”
“Wow, that’s messed up. Why is it so brutal?”
“Sailors are all brutal. No, in the first place, going out to sea on a ship is all psycho stuff. They’re not right in the head.”
“That’s true. But have you ever been there, Sis?”
“I’ve never been there.”
“I see.”

I don’t know for sure, but I know that Karin is weak against water.

But it’s not strange to think that way.

There are assholes like fishmen crawling out here all the time, so you can’t get on a ship with ordinary courage. That’s why only psychos whose humanity has been worn away can get on such a dangerous ship.

Of course, I have no intention of getting on a ship either.
Because I can’t use all my strength on the sea.

Once an army man, always an army man.

“Oh my, Karin. Were you from a port?”
“What are you talking about?”

Liz, who came out next, said while drying her hair with a towel.

“…Huh? Are you indirectly calling me ill-tempered right now?”
“Huh? No. What are you talking about? I don’t know.”
“You’re lying, you sunken chest.”
“Ah!”

Karin walked over and poked Liz’s nipple with her finger, and the buried nipple shyly began to reveal itself.

ㅡPoke, poke, poke.

Unaware of this, Karin continued to poke Liz’s chest while looking at her face.

“A, aah…! Haaang! S, stop it! I was just kidding, so stop it, really!”
“Uh… are you getting a hard-on right now…?”
“It’s natural to get hard when you poke it, so don’t think weird things! You’re so violent!”
“No, why are you getting angry again.”
“I’m not angry!”

As Karin and Liz went up to the second floor, Risha approached.

“So, are you going down there this time? It seems like it will take some time.”
“Hmm?”

Why is Risha worried about the time for once?

“Risha, what’s wrong? Do you have something else to do?”

Risha hesitated for a moment at my question.

“It’s nothing much. It’s just that Ari’s power is being strengthened to welcome the spring, and I’m experimenting with the holy water I got last time… Since I’ve already opened the lid, if I leave for a long time…”
“Ah.”

I see.

“It’s okay, Risha. Then stay home this time. I’ll be back soon.”
“…Are you sure? I don’t feel comfortable.”
“I’m fine. Then take good care of the house. I’ll buy you a souvenir.”
“…I’m sorry.”

Risha seemed to feel sorry.

“I said it’s okay. What do you have to be sorry about?”
“I’m also disappointed. Anyway, I’ll stay home with Ari this time.”

At that, Ari paused.

“Ah… is it unavoidable…”
“Ari, can you wait well?”
“…Yes. It’s important this time.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll buy you a souvenir. I’ll go to work, so wait at home.”

In that way, Risha and Ari were left out this time.

Well, both are important. Ari’s power must be nurtured responsibly. And the holy water must be processed quickly once the lid is opened.

“Sigh, I’m going to the sea, but I’m not going to play this time.”
“Ah, Winia.”

Winia seemed very disappointed.
I told her to go sometime, but I never did.

“Let’s definitely go this summer.”
“I wish… Will Blackie keep his promise?”
“Yep.”

Then, should I prepare to leave?

* * *

The port city of Reitas, which we arrived at, looked gloomy at first glance.

As soon as we entered the city, the fishy smell unique to the sea was carried by the wind, as if to properly inform us of the gloom, but it was not a very good smell.

I felt that the sailors were all becoming psychos, as Karin said, because they were smelling this kind of smell. As expected, what adults say is always right.

“A hotbed of corruption…! Katt-nim! Impure desires are wriggling from all directions! Indeed, a city of criminals…!”
“Calm down, Hilde.”

Hilde, who got out of the carriage, said that while looking around. Her eyes were burning, and her fists were clenched tightly. Judging by her momentum, she seemed like she was going to grab people around her and preach to them like a zealous monk right away.

“Certainly… the atmosphere doesn’t look very good. It’s like a trash can.”
“I thought it was a prison. See? Sailors are all like this?”

Liz and Karin threw out accurate reviews.

It seemed that the rumor that pirates were smuggling was not a lie. Among the workers walking around here, there didn’t seem to be anyone who didn’t have a pirate career.

ㅡ…

They all looked at us with hollow eyes, and just looking at them made me feel a bone-chilling sense of hatred and murderous intent.

“Blackie, you said you’re going to search for cultists here?”
“Yeah. But it won’t be difficult. I already have some data.”
“I don’t know if it will work… but it’s better to get a place to stay outside. Let’s go quickly. It’s too unpleasant here.”
“I guess so.”

In that way, we came out to the outside of Reitas.

The atmosphere itself was better here, so I was able to find a satisfactory place to stay. What good is it to find a place to stay? I have to rest for a day.

After resting for a day as usual, I went outside alone. I’m going to investigate from now on, but it’s easy to stand out if we go as a group.

First of all, I’m going to investigate the slave market where the cultist belonging to the Paradise Ascension Order is working.

The cultist’s name is Tutan, and it seems that he is not a low-level employee but an executive.

This information was directly investigated by the paladin of the local church, so the reliability was quite high. But I don’t know if he was caught during the investigation… Since he didn’t catch any definite evidence that he was a cultist, the paladin didn’t go crazy and did it properly, so there’s a high probability that he wasn’t caught.

The paladin doesn’t go crazy with just suspicion. He only goes crazy when he’s sure that he’s a cultist. So this data came into my hands intact.

Anyway, let’s go to that slave market and find a guy named Tutan first. I can investigate legally, so there’s nothing to worry about. Who would dare to mess with me when the princess of the kingdom has given me permission?

No, but should I go see the lord first?

He’s bound to look unfavorably at me investigating as I please in his territory… In fact, it didn’t seem like it would be good to let him know that a paladin had come, given that this lord was also suspicious. If the lord is receiving a large amount of bribes from the city’s criminals, he’ll let them all know that I’ve come.

Let’s just do it this time.

I’ll do it when it comes up.

ㅡRustle.

I took out the investigator’s certificate of authority that I had put in my pocket, checked it, and carefully folded it up and put it back in my pocket. I’m screwed if I lose this.

ㅡThump, thump.

Then I move back to Reitas.

According to the records, when illegal slave trading in Reitas was cracked down on, what was mainly caught was sex slave stores.

They make a lot of money by selling beautiful women kidnapped from all over the place at high prices… Seven out of ten of the caught guys were running such stores, so you can see how prevalent it is.

They caught the operators, but they don’t know where the women were sold. The buyers all wear masks and hide their identities, and they buy them with cash, so it’s impossible to tell who bought them.

ㅡBelgium.

This is Belgium.

ㅡColumbus.

This is Columbus.

I’ll admit to making criminals into slaves legally. However, I can’t forgive those who kidnap and sell people like this. I was more excited than ever.

Slaves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there are evil slave traders, I will kill them all with my own hands. I will use that to appease the souls of the one hundred million black slaves who died in hard labor.

ㅡRustle.

I took out the document containing information about this case. The paladin conducted a fairly high level of investigation, but he lacked the follow-through.

What I have to do is fill in that follow-through.

The name of the slave market where Tutan, a suspected cultist, works is “Sangula,” and its location was recorded in the document. This is a legal slave market on the surface, where no strange things can be found.

It’s not open every day, but it’s open once a week late at night… Let’s just look at the location today.

So I came into the city.

The fishy smell is overflowing, and the workers are also moving busily. The port is originally a busy place. People with barrels on their backs are moving fish, and there are a lot of guys carrying materials and food.

Let’s see… the road to Sangula… this is a bit difficult. It doesn’t seem like a place that I, a foreigner, can easily find.

That’s when it happened.

ㅡSwish.

In an extremely unnatural way, as one presence approached behind me, I clearly felt the sensation of my wallet being pulled out of my tightly pulled butt pocket.

My senses as a superhuman don’t miss even the slightest thing.

“…”

I was wearing shabby clothes to investigate, and I intentionally put my wallet in my back pocket. The pickpocket stole my wallet very well as I intended.

ㅡWhoosh!

As soon as I turned around, I saw a man wearing an inconspicuous brown robe walking away in the opposite direction from where I was going.

“…”

I followed the pickpocket as if possessed.

It was the same movement as that of a poor boy drawn to the smell of meat. As I said, the senses of the superhuman body were absolute, and no matter how skilled a pickpocket was, he could not escape these senses.

ㅡTremble, tremble…!

My fist began to tremble.

After all, whatever it is, the best way to find criminals in the area is to ask other criminals. Isn’t that true? Not just anyone can pickpocket. There are areas, and if you succeed in pickpocketing, you have to pay tribute to the organization. In this kind of criminal city, that is even more strictly observed.

Anyway, if there is an organization that can subdivide the area, it is highly likely that they have information about other criminal organizations.

More than anything, it’s very convenient that they come to find me like this.

So when I entered a dark alley.

“…!”

The pickpocket, who glanced back at me, was horrified for a moment and ran away at full speed. Even if I did quadrupedal walking backwards in a bridge pose like an exorcist, I’d be twice as fast as that, you son of a bitch.

Even if I did a windmill while chasing him, I’m confident that I can overtake him faster than that bastard runs to his mom and shits.

ㅡPapat!

I immediately chased after him.