Chapter 63
[Well then, let’s… begin.]
Though it wasn’t clearly audible, he could easily infer what situation was unfolding. Today seemed to be when the trafficking market opened. They were lucky. It appeared they had brought all the victims intended for auction. Including Kyle, who would be the biggest catch of them all.
“Who’s there?”
A voice boomed through the corridor. Blair leapt into the man’s arms and instantly stabbed him in the chest with a dagger, causing him to collapse. Blair had no mercy left for these human vermin.
“Kh… kugh.”
The man died without even managing to scream properly. Searching through the fallen man’s possessions, a bundle of keys appeared. Blair took the knife the man had been wearing and the keys, then went deeper inside. As he got closer to where the noise was coming from, he could see iron cages with people inside. Since Blair was also wrapped entirely in black clothing, the people must have thought he was one of the caretakers of this place, so they curled up their bodies as much as possible and avoided his gaze.
Blair looked inside and frowned.
It was more wretched than how livestock were managed at the Monetery estate. It seemed that meals weren’t even properly distributed. In the unclean environment, people’s wounds were festering. Children were present throughout. Tangled hair, outfits covered in filth. It was horrific.
Blair, his expression hardened, found the keys and began unlocking all the padlocks. People looked at Blair with puzzled eyes.
“What is this?”
“I’ll open the doors, so all those who’ve been kidnapped here, please gather in one place and wait. Use these keys to free the others too. When the army enters later, entrust yourselves to them right away.”
Blair handed the bundle of keys to a woman whose eyes still showed signs of life. Though dirty and skeletal, she had quite a pretty face. This woman must have also been sold or kidnapped here. No matter how long she had been confined here, the woman staggered but gripped the bundle of keys tightly with her dry hands, as if it were a lifeline.
Blair nodded, exchanged glances with her, and spoke to the woman again.
“One more favor, if I may.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“Is it true that an auction is taking place downstairs right now?”
The woman slowly nodded.
“Yes. It’s today.”
The woman opened her mouth with difficulty.
“Today is the day they sell beautiful slaves for the nobility’s perversions, not ordinary slaves. That’s why many cages are empty.”
Blair handed her a round bomb about the size of a child’s fist.
“After I disappear and you hear a loud explosion from the auction hall, count to ten and then throw this as far as possible, close to the entrance. You don’t need to go far. Just throwing it will be enough. I promise on the name of Monetery. Today will be the last day you’re confined here.”
Blair lightly patted the woman’s shoulder. With his sword drawn, Blair instantly disappeared to the end of the corridor. The woman staggered to her feet and began unlocking the padlocks of the locked cages one by one.
Running to the end of the corridor, Blair saw a heavy door. He immediately leapt in and cut down the sentries guarding both sides. It didn’t matter if there was noise. Causing a commotion was his purpose anyway.
Blair flung the door open and instantly jumped into the auction hall. Kyle was standing in the center of the auction hall with his skirt disheveled. One side of the beautiful, forlorn beauty’s face was swollen. It seemed he had been slapped hard. The eyes of everyone who had been focused on Kyle now fixed on the intruder. Perhaps knowing they were doing something dishonorable, the people were wearing small masks.
“Systematically organized to a ridiculous degree.”
Blair frowned at the lavish interior. It would have cost no small amount to create such a space underground; money must indeed be overflowing.
“Catch him! Who the hell is that!”
Blair smiled sharply and immediately detonated the bomb he had kept inside his garment. Bang! The auction hall shook. In truth, the bomb was designed only to make a loud noise, with no lethal effect whatsoever. But people who didn’t know the situation all scattered in confusion. Shortly after, the bomb he had given to the woman earlier would explode outside, and soldiers who received the signal would soon rush in.
Blair drew the sword he had brought. Now it was time to clean up this wretched place. Bang! An explosion sound came from far down the corridor. It seemed the woman he had met earlier had intelligently finished her task.
The buildings where Blair and Kyle had been taken were all so similarly constructed that if one lost focus even slightly, it would be impossible to tell which building was which. They must have built them that way intentionally. Of course, it occurred to him that all these similar buildings must belong to the human trafficking market, and the underground areas would all be connected.
But the passages through which one could enter would obviously be limited. Two well-trained black dogs that Clara had lent proudly held their triangular chests high as they traced the tracking scent that had been planted on Kyle. After Blair and Kyle were taken away, exactly thirty minutes later, all the troops surrounded the buildings.
When the dogs precisely selected the building with connected passages, three hundred well-trained elite soldiers stood guard in front. Just under four thousand troops were prepared. The drawback was that the passage was narrow, making it impossible for everyone to pour in at once. A thousand would go inside for cleanup, and the remaining forces would be deployed to catch the rats trying to escape.
Adriana, wearing comfortable active wear that she had never worn since graduating from the Academy, glared at the building shrouded in darkness. Her hands trembled, perhaps from tension. Theodore patted Adriana’s trembling shoulders to calm her.
“It will all go well.”
“Yes. I’m not overly worried, but I’m nervous.”
“It will go well, Your Highness.”
A relative of the Sichen Ducal family in the military comforted Adriana. Adriana took a long, deep breath to calm herself.
That’s when it happened.
“Bang!”
The sound of a bomb exploding was heard from inside the building. This was it. The general raised his right arm high. It was the signal.
“Waaaaaah!”
The soldiers began pouring in, shouting loudly. Everything was prepared. There was nothing anywhere that several thousand well-trained soldiers couldn’t handle.
Simultaneously with the loud noise, Kyle, who had been standing with his hands neatly folded in front of him, whirled around and kicked the auctioneer’s jaw. The auctioneer was much shorter than Kyle. Thanks to this, Kyle could easily kick his jaw without having to stretch his leg too far.
Thwack—
With a crisp impact sound, the auctioneer went flying.
How irritating it had been to listen to the sexual harassment and lewd talk while they sold the other women. Although it wasn’t directed at him, it was equally disgusting. After looking at the fallen auctioneer, who was clutching his jaw, as if he were looking at an insect, Kyle leapt down from the platform and began running through the confused crowd.
His target was the overseer of this place. Sure enough, Kyle had been classified as a premium among premiums, so as soon as he was brought in, they showed him to the administrator. He was a man with an obese, fat body. It was questionable whether he could even put on his own shoes. Just like a snake’s tongue licking the body, his unpleasant eyes instantly licked every part of Kyle’s body thoroughly.
‘His height is too much of a flaw, but some have that preference. He’s certainly an extraordinary beauty. Classic blonde hair and blue eyes. It’s almost a shame to sell him. Put him up for auction today.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘I’ll give you a special thirty percent of the sale price.’
‘Th-thank you, boss.’
The fat man’s eyes didn’t show lust. But his desire for money was very clearly felt.
He would obviously flee through another route upon sensing this commotion. It was evident that for such a suspicious underground world, they would have prepared at least one or two separate escape routes. Rather than catching insignificant underlings, they needed to capture the head. There was no time to wait for Blair or reinforcements. Only Kyle knew the location of the overseer’s office. Fortunately, they hadn’t blindfolded him, thinking he was just a frail woman.
Kyle kicked open the door to the overseer’s office. As expected, the wall behind the desk where the overseer had been sitting earlier was now open. Due to his excessive bulk and size, it seemed he couldn’t escape through ordinary passages.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Kyle took out a dagger that Blair had tucked into his thigh. The longest one had a blade exactly as long as Kyle’s large hand. Blair seemed to think of him as something extremely delicate and fragile that needed protection, but in reality, Kyle was much taller and better built than ordinary people.
Taking full advantage of his physical benefits, he had always achieved decent accomplishments in martial arts classes. He was confident he could even match a knight with little experience.
Kyle, with the dagger drawn, immediately leapt after the fleeing overseer. It almost looked like a round ball rolling. Thanks to the commotion Kyle had created, the overseer, unable to escape, drew a decorative sword hanging on the wall. It was inlaid with jewels that made it seem unsuitable as a weapon, but surprisingly, the blade was sharply honed.
The length of the decorative sword was much longer than the overseer’s thick, short arms. The difference in reach between a dagger and a long sword was too great. The overseer’s body was slow, but his enormous weight gave his strikes devastating power. Since there was no chance in an endurance battle, Kyle had to resolve this situation quickly. Holding the dagger, Kyle ducked to avoid the swinging sword and leapt into the man’s embrace.
The man raised his hand to block Kyle’s dagger. The dagger easily pierced the hand, but because it was so fat and thick, it couldn’t reach the body. Having sacrificed one hand, the overseer rolled his eyes and swung the sword in his right hand. Kyle hurriedly discarded the dagger and drew a second one.
Clang!
The metallic sound resonated in the narrow stone chamber. As Kyle’s dagger was pushed back, the long decorative sword held by the overseer slowly approached Kyle. A long sword could bear the full weight of the body, but not a dagger. There was no way a dagger could withstand a weight that seemed about five times Kyle’s. Kyle was pushed back against the wall. Having cornered Kyle, the overseer raised his sword high.
That’s when it happened.
[To be continued in the next part…]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
