Cailius’s expression hardened coldly.

“What are you saying? Isn’t she with Clemens right now?”

“W-well, about that…”

Gordon reported in detail everything he had seen beside Clemens and everything he had received from Yan afterwards.

From the young lady showing interest in the white snake, to the fact that after getting in the carriage first, she disappeared with the carriage window open.

“The young master is also urgently searching, but there are so many people…”

Cailius felt his head turn cold.

“Call Sophia, have her use tracking magic immediately.”

“The young master has already given that order. However, they say the young lady’s aura cannot be detected with tracking magic. They said it’s difficult to confirm properly due to a barrier in the auction house.”

As soon as Gordon’s report ended, everyone’s gaze turned to Aguil. Aguil gulped.

Philen, wearing black gloves, walked over with heavy steps.

“Is there a place with a barrier set up in here?”

Before answering, a fire broke out in Aguil’s mind.

The barrier was only set up in the warehouse where the children were confined. Because expensive goods were stored there too. Especially that white snake worth two million gold.

But if even this fact was revealed, it felt like things would get uncontrollably big.

“N-no… Aaargh!”

Before he could finish speaking, Aguil screamed. Bart approached behind Philen, who had begun interrogation.

“Come out with it. I’ll start by crushing one leg. That should loosen your tongue.”

“Eeeek!”

What saved Aguil then was an unexpected voice.

“I know where that place is.”

A shabbily dressed woman approached from behind Gordon.

Behind the trembling woman, one of the ducal family’s knights followed in.

“I apologize, I told her she couldn’t, but she insisted on coming out.”

Cailius nodded slightly in permission. Soon the knight stepped back and the woman who entered the room nervously scanned her surroundings.

Aguil’s eyes widened as he recognized the familiar woman.

She was the woman he had seen in the warehouse where the slaves were confined.

Now that he thought about it, the clothes the newcomer had changed into were also the clothes this woman had been wearing. That’s why he himself had followed without suspicion.

“Th-that wench! This woman is on drugs! Y-Your Grace! We gave the slaves drugs in advance to manage them! The amount is considerable, so her mind must be going in and out!”

“No! I’m in my right mind now!”

“Wh-where does that wench get off telling such lies!”

Cailius raised one hand. Reading that signal, Bart roughly shut Aguil’s mouth.

“Speak.”

“I-I saw the warehouse where the children were confined. Unlike the warehouse I was locked in, when the door opened there were crying sounds, but strangely as soon as the door closed, the crying stopped immediately. As if there was some kind of barrier.”

“Here, look at this. It’s not scary just because it’s dark. We can do shadow puppets like this.”

“Don’t fight. We have to work together, you know.”

“If you’re cold, cover yourself with this. I’ll lend you my clothes.”

Shanchez watched intently as the unfamiliar girl went about her business with her arms crossed. It had been about an hour since that girl had come in.

During that time, she hadn’t stayed still for a moment, bustling about and chattering away.

Whether intentional or not, thanks to that, all the children easily followed just that nameless girl around.

Ah, she’s not nameless. Shanchez had heard her name from Penny. Her name was Lil, was it?

“Can we really get out of here?”

“Can we go back home?”

“Then when do we leave?”

“Yes, we can get out. I’ll help you get out. You can all go back home.”

Lil answered each of the children’s questions while busily moving around again. Unable to stand it any longer, Shanchez got up from his seat.

“Hey.”

“?”

“How about we take it easy?”

“What?”

“I mean, take it easy interfering with our business.”

Despite speaking threateningly with his arms crossed on purpose, Lil just heaved a deep sigh. Her expression was as if Shanchez’s words weren’t even worth responding to.

Seeing her turn her head away without a reply, Shanchez burst out angrily.

“Are you ignoring me?!”

“What about you? Why are you just standing there doing nothing?”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say earlier there was a way out? So why are you just standing still?”

“That’s because I’m waiting for the right moment…!”

“Okay, then you do it your way. I’m trying to get out of here my way.”

She’s not even scared when he gets angry. Despite being barely half his height and the same age as that crybaby Penny, she seemed unbothered being locked up in this musty, dark warehouse.

Suddenly, Shanchez’s gaze went to the clothes she was wearing. The hood she had been wearing was now draped over another child who had been whining about being cold.

The other kids might not know, but Shanchez did. How luxurious the fabric of the clothes she was wearing was. And how expensive the buttons and brooch decorating it were.

Also, how high and mighty noble children’s attitudes were.

They were the ones who would be horrified if even a finger touched their bodies.

There was even a saying that one of the precautions when working was to always look around and avoid the young ladies and young masters who might suddenly pop out from somewhere.

“Big sis!”

Marco, one of the youngest here, suddenly jumped onto Lil’s back. Lil, who had been crouching on the floor, momentarily staggered at the sudden weight of the child clinging to her.

“Marco, you’ll startle people if you do that suddenly. I’m fine, but you shouldn’t do that to others.”

After lightly chiding the child, Lil crouched down again, deep in thought. Watching her, Shanchez narrowed his eyes.

‘She couldn’t have stolen those clothes, could she?’

It was to the point where such an absurd thought occurred, so unlike the usual noble’s daughter she was. As he watched her every move with a suspicious gaze, Lil suddenly raised her head.

Their eyes met, causing Shanchez to quickly turn his head away.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have something to say?”

“…What’s such a little thing worrying about so much?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“…”

Shanchez thought too. That it wasn’t his business. But on the other hand, he kept thinking.

About whether that noble girl could really save them.

‘I just need to use whatever I can to get out.’

Even if it’s a noble he utterly despises, he’ll use them if he can. As the old saying goes, it doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you reach the capital.

Shanchez cleared his throat lightly and slowly moved towards Lil.

“So what exactly are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be sitting comfortably in a chair like a proper guest, watching us go up on the auction block?”

“How many times do I have to say it? I didn’t know this was a terrible place that buys and sells people when I came, and now I’m going to help everyone get out.”

…said the girl 4 years younger than him. Momentarily cowed by Lil’s force, Shanchez tilted his head and furrowed his brow.

‘Somehow she doesn’t sound like a 4-year-old.’

Shanchez scratched the back of his head as he thought. He hadn’t noticed at first, but after exchanging a few words, it felt like he was talking to kids his own age.

‘Are all nobles like this?’

“Then are you going to ask your parents for help? Is that why you’re hiding here on purpose? To make your parents find this place and discover what it really is?”

“No.”

“Then what? You’re going to let us out by yourself? How?”

“Be quiet for a bit, I’m thinking.”

Lil snapped lightly. Shanchez frowned but held his ground.

He followed Lil’s gaze as she fell silent again. Lil was staring at an empty cage with her brow deeply furrowed.

No, looking closely, she wasn’t looking at the cage but at the padlock attached to it.

Soon Lil fiddled with the padlock and heaved deep sighs.

Shanchez realized what she was worrying about.

“Hey, come here.”

Pushing Lil aside, Shanchez pulled out a small bent wire from his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to open this, aren’t you?”

Shanchez repeatedly inserted and removed the wire into the padlock, bending it.

Seeing his unusual actions, Lil quietly held her breath and watched, and other kids gradually gathered around.

“Big bro, what are you doing?”

“Shh, quiet.”

Shanchez put his ear close to the padlock and focused on the sound. At his words, all the children fell silent and focused on his actions.

Soon a clear clicking sound was heard. The loop came loose, making all the worrying up to now seem pointless.

“There, done, right?”

“Did you just open the padlock with a wire?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Shanchez replied nonchalantly. The girl, whose mouth was agape in shock, stuttered as she asked.

“Y-you, could your name be Shanchez…?”

“How did you know that?”

Did the other kids tell her? He nodded briefly, and admiration shone in the girl’s eyes.

He was a bit flustered by that gaze. Awkwardly scratching his face, Shanchez changed the subject.

“By the way, what were you planning to do by opening this empty cage?”

“To think you’re Shanchez, amazing.”

He asked about the cage, but she gave an irrelevant answer. At that, Shanchez narrowed his eyes.

‘Does she know me?’

As Shanchez was about to ask Lil again, a commotion was heard outside the door.

“Here… quickly…!”

He wasn’t the only one who heard that sound. All the children suddenly froze in place.

Among them, Shanchez, who was the first to come to his senses, quickly turned his head towards the door.

At the same time, the door flung open.

“Here, here it is!”

The woman who ran to the front of the second warehouse stopped in front of the door.

At the woman’s words, Cailius flung the door open. Inside, there was only an empty cage with its padlock unlocked.

“L-look at that. Didn’t I tell you? The slaves I was dealing with were all adults!”

Aguil, who had been cowed the entire way here, quickly shouted. The woman who had been confined as a slave pleaded earnestly.

“Stop lying! I heard everything about you capturing even children! I heard all the children’s cries!”

“Th-that wench is really! How can she say such nonsense when this is such a safe place!”

“My lord!”

Philen, who had been inspecting elsewhere, urgently called Cailius. What Philen had discovered was a dark navy child-sized hood.

“Y-Your Grace! Please! I didn’t touch any children! So please, I beg you for leniency, ack!”

Aguil, who had been speaking, felt his breath suddenly cut off and his mind go blank. His entire field of vision was plunged into darkness before brightening again.

He who had lost consciousness opened his eyes again in pain.

At that moment, Aguil realized. That the duke before his eyes was strangling his neck with enough force to snap it in an instant.

“Speak.”

The chilling words pierced his ears.

“Where did you hide them?”