Knock knock.

As the meeting was taking longer than expected, a servant knocked from outside.

‘Who could it be?’

“Ahem.”

“Rose, you may leave now.”

Everyone’s expressions became subtle, as if this was a pre-arranged appointment. Lord Lucian even sent Rose away with a gloomy face.

“Who’s coming that you’re sending away our lovely lady?”

“Your Grace, even for Madam to hear, this is a bit…”

“Indeed. It’s someone not worth Madam meeting.”

Someone muttered, avoiding my eyes. This was the first time I’d received such treatment.

“Excuse me?”

Creeak. The door opened.

“I’m indebted to you again this year! Your Grace, and everyone of House Inkhart.”

Before I could even ask who on earth this person was to cause such a reaction.

A man with a striking appearance rushed into the conference room. He had run in so hurriedly that beads of sweat covered his forehead.

“I heard you’re planning to shut down our business. I couldn’t believe it. Haven’t we been doing well all this time? This profitable business!”

“You should know we haven’t been letting your ‘business’ continue because we wanted to.”

“Is the development contribution we pay to the territory not enough? The slave system is absolutely necessary. All those who care about appearances think so.”

Wait a minute, slaves?

“Living comfortably with textile products made by slaves, agricultural goods harvested by slaves, yet unable to understand the trading of slaves! There are slaves somewhere in the world. To say we must stop slave trading now! Let me tell you clearly, this is a decision you’ll regret.”

“Rigolus. It seems you’ve made quite a profit from slave trading. Your tongue has grown fat.”

Darius blinked.

“Regret?”

He laughed.

“Where do you think this is?”

Shing. The gathered knights simultaneously drew their swords from their scabbards. As about a hand’s width of blade was revealed, Rigolus visibly flinched.

“Y-Y-Your Grace! Turning a blind eye to slave trading in Inkhart has been a promise since your predecessor’s time!”

He shouted urgently.

“The north has always been a gathering place for slave traders due to its rugged terrain! The kidnapping of northern territory residents and human trafficking damage caused by illegal slave traders! Wasn’t it all resolved after we officially took charge of slave trading?”

“True. After your guild officially took charge of slave trading, cases of territory residents going missing disappeared.”

“You see! Legalized slave trading has solved many problems…”

“I hope you didn’t cause those incidents and accidents to get permission.”

“W-What are you saying!”

The slave trader’s face turned red.

“I was young ten years ago, but not anymore. As you said, I remember my predecessor’s promise, which is why I’m letting you be. It was only a ten-year promise from the start, wasn’t it?”

“Ha!”

The slave trader named Rigolus sighed as if he truly couldn’t understand.

“Your Grace, it doesn’t matter if we can’t do business in the north anymore. Slave trading, well, I can’t hold my head high anywhere else, but… yes, it’s lucrative. If I say I’m setting up a slave market in another territory, they’ll all be desperate to bring me to their lands. But I have affection for the north, so I’m saying I’ll stay…”

Swoosh.

The sound of drawing the sword wasn’t even heard. In the blink of an eye, Darius’s sword was in front of Rigolus’s eyes.

Cut hair fell to the floor.

“Urk!”

“Haven’t you thought that I’m sparing you now because I also have ties with you?”

“I’ll cut out this fellow’s tongue. When he loses the tongue to wag, he might learn some manners.”

“It seems he’s sold not just slaves but his manners as well.”

Shing. Lord Daniel and Lord Lucian were drawing their swords from both sides. Tears welled up in Rigolus’s eyes at the trained killing intent of the knights.

Step by step, his feet retreated backwards.

“You’ll regret this. You’ll regret chasing away this source of money!”

The slave trader left the room as hurriedly as he had entered. The only difference was that unlike when he entered proudly, his back was now slightly hunched.

“Slave trading?”

I, who had been silent as a sack of barley throughout, looked around at everyone.

“What is the meaning of this?”

* * *

Evangeline covered her mouth at the horrific scene before her. People were being treated like animals.

“Someone, please save us.”

“God, p-please save…”

“Oh my!”

Although expelled from the temple, Evangeline was still a person who served God. She urgently grabbed the rusty iron bars and shook them.

“Are you alright, brothers? How could this be! Hey! Come here and look at this!”

“Hey, miss!”

A thug guarding the iron bars sneered at Evangeline.

“This is all business done with the territory’s permission. These aren’t pitiful people, they’re just slaves!”

“How can you buy and sell people with money?”

“Miss, you must not know because you don’t have money, but originally in this world, there’s nothing money can’t do.”

“Is money the problem?”

Evangeline gritted her teeth.

“Hahaha, are you going to buy all the slaves in this slave market? With that meager sense of justice?”

“Yes!”

The thug frowned. He seemed to think it was nonsense.

“If it’s money, I have it here! I’ll buy all the slaves here with this money!”

Evangeline’s hands were overflowing with gold coins. It was money she had wanted to use for the world, to help people, but hadn’t known how to spend.

“From now on, all these people are free citizens!”

The eyes of Evangeline Storkwerk, who had found a use for the massive amount of gold coins, shone with determination.

* * *

‘Ah, right. I remember now.’

How the slave market story unfolds in the original work.

“The north has long been preferred as a slave market because the difficult terrain made it hard for captured slaves to escape, and after people began to outwardly despise the slave industry, it became even more concentrated in the north to avoid their eyes.”

“Pushing everything they dislike to the north. An excellent example of the NIMBY effect.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing. Please continue, Lord Lucian.”

“I don’t know what the NIMBY effect is, but anyway, because the largest slave market in the empire is held during the northern harvest festival, it’s been a difficult issue to tackle since my predecessor’s time. If we were to consider slave trading illegal and punish it, the slave traders would certainly hide and trade people more secretly. With the added bonus of northern citizens being kidnapped in the process.”

In the original work, Darius also treated the northern slave market issue as something that couldn’t be easily dealt with. Because of this, he was treated as a cold-hearted duke by Evangeline, who was despairing at the fact that people were suffering, causing conflict.

“The previous duke chose to place the slave market under the duchy’s jurisdiction and manage it instead.”

The north is vast, making it easy to erase traces, but there are woefully insufficient soldiers to catch them.

“By stipulating who couldn’t be sold, he banned the trading of children and the elderly, and thoroughly verified how slaves came to the market to prevent kidnapping-based slave trade.”

And so, temporary legalization was chosen as the next best option.

“In the legal slave markets authorized by the duchy, slaves cannot be whipped or killed recklessly.”

This was why Darius left the slave market alone in the original work, even though he knew about it. It was the best option at the time.

“Indeed, in places where the duchy’s eyes could reach, they conducted their business cleanly for all to see.”

Lord Lucian gave a bitter smile.

“The 10-year period promised by the previous duke ends this year. They want to extend it.”

Ah, I see.

There’s no benevolent Evangeline here to liberate the slaves.

But I have the massive amount of gold coins that Evangeline used to buy slaves. Here, I opened the warehouse of Duke Inkhart that Evangeline opened in the original work.

Huh? Wait. Gold coins? Don’t tell me you’re planning to buy slaves with those gold coins again?

“No!”

I shouted abruptly.

“What?”

“Pardon?”

Blink blink. Lord Daniel and Lord Lucian blinked at my sudden outburst.

“The slave trader’s money!”

I cried out. How did Evangeline liberate the slaves in the original work? She used up all the gold coins, saying that even the slave trader’s money was legally earned!

‘Evangeline, you fool! Where’s the justice and legality in slave trading!’

I still remember how the Inkhart territory, which had briefly shown signs of becoming wealthy with Evangeline’s appearance, became poor again after buying up all the slaves!

Of course, it’s good in the long run! Freeing slaves increases the population, increases tax revenue, and develops the territory! As a lord, of course you’d welcome territory residents with clean family registers from a bulk purchase!

‘But where on earth is there a kind slave trader in a romance fantasy novel that you’d increase his wealth, huh?’

I had forgotten this huge financial loss, captivated by the wonderful scene of giving freedom to people who had never known freedom in their lives.

“This year is the last slave auction to be held in our territory?”

“Yes. But why suddenly mention Rigolus’s money?”

Darius, along with Lord Daniel and Lord Lucian, began to add explanations about Rigolus in a calm tone.

“That Rigolus fellow won’t leave quietly even if we tell him to. He’ll insist that he even paved the roads for carriages to pass.”

“Even though he paved them to facilitate slave transport.”

“Exactly.”

“Since it’s dirty business, I thought about giving him some money to cut ties, and if we give him about this much, he might quietly…”

Riiip!

Just as I thought. I knew this would happen!

I intercepted the document heading towards Darius and tore it without even looking at it.