Chapter 59 - Episode 2: "It Is War"
Gokigenyou. I am Violia Nico Fortesia.
I have just realized that humans turn into money when you sell them.
Moreover, putting aside the talk of money, I happen to know of some people who are perfect for being dropped into the status of slaves!
Yes!
...The remnants of Fruitier!
"Now then, would you be so kind as to tell me? House Fruitier had other children besides you, did it not? Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"
And so, having returned to the hideout, I immediately began the interrogation.
The subject of the interrogation was, of course, the eldest son of Fruitier! Having pulled him out of the Spatial Bag where he had been left, I tied him up, and Doran, Chesta, and I surrounded him.
"W-Who would ever think of talking to the likes of...!"
However, he is quite defiant in his own way.
After all, he does not know that House Fruitier has fallen. He does not know that the head of House Fruitier burned along with his carriage, nor does he know that House Fruitier ultimately collapsed and the remaining Lady Fruitier and her children have vanished somewhere.
...Therefore, I am asking about the whereabouts of the vanished Fruitier remnants, but...
"You lowly Fortesia girl! May you be cursed and rot in hell!"
Such stubbornness! It is quite troublesome. This is why those rotten nobles with nothing but pride are so...
"Rot in hell? ...You seem to be under some sort of misunderstanding."
Therefore, I decided to make him understand.
"For you, this place is hell."
I ruthlessly swung a knife I had nearby and brought it down... slicing off a lock of the Fruitier son's hair right next to his ear.
"Next, I shall go for the ear."
When I declared this, he finally cringed and became terrified. Well, I do not dislike that honesty!
In that way, I succeeded in extracting several leads regarding the whereabouts of the other Fruitier members from the eldest son.
First, a village near the winery. Apparently, there was a villa there. Additionally, he mentioned relatives in the town of Poaris and a branch family in the town of Clarissan.
...Once I had him spit out those locations, I had Keeb and Chesta head there.
Although I have become able to walk freely within Elsemarin, I cannot behave the same way in other towns, after all.
"Spatial Bags are surprisingly high-performance, aren't they..."
"It's because my modification skills are so good that we can do this!"
"I know, Keeb. Thanks to you, I have become able to do quite a lot of reckless things."
As expected, being able to put living creatures into a Spatial Bag is a big deal.
Chesta and Keeb, who returned after a few days, brought back several Fruitier remnants inside those Spatial Bags.
"The Lady of House Fruitier, the second son, and the eldest daughter. A total of three people, we caught them over here."
"On my end, five people from the branch family. This should be fine, right?"
"Yes. This is excellent."
Including the first eldest son, that makes nine people. This should make for quite a good business.
"...Now then, the problem is the method of sale."
Now that the merchandise is ready, I want to start the business immediately, but unfortunately, there is one major problem in starting this trade.
That is, it is impossible to buy or sell a human who has not had a 'Slave Collar' attached.
Keeb had one attached before, didn't he? It is the kind where a person is designated as the master, and if the slave does not follow the rules set by that master, the collar tightens and the slave dies.
Naturally, the misuse of these collars is strictly prohibited. If they could be attached to anyone and everyone, this country would be full of slaves. You wouldn't be able to laugh if you entered a back alley only to be attacked from behind, have a collar put on, and instantly fall into slavery.
...Consequently, the institutions that can attach Slave Collars are properly determined in this country.
No matter what kind of slave trader one is, a 'human' cannot be made into a 'slave' without going through them. Conversely, all those sold as slaves in slave markets are only those who have had collars attached by specific institutions.
A slave trader's job is the distribution of merchandise. In other words, the job of selling those who are already slaves.
And the manufacturing of merchandise... that is, the task of turning a mere human into a slave, is performed by those specific institutions.
...Yes. That is the problem.
I want to put Slave Collars on the Fruitier lot more than anything. However, doing that legally is quite difficult.
Legally speaking, the most common method is to make slaves out of the survivors of enemy nations.
This country lives by picking fights with others and extorting money, after all. Naturally, the perception is that other countries exist to be consumed.
People of a fallen nation may be captured and turned into slaves. That is the law of this country.
...In other words, turning the remnants of House Fruitier, who were nobles of this country, into slaves is a bit of a hassle.
One can turn someone into a slave as collateral for debt. Technically.
However... if I were to collect Fruitier's debts and visit a public institution to turn the Fruitier lot into slaves with those in hand, power struggles would likely occur there and the matter would be hushed up...
Besides, if I intend to continue being a slave trader in the future, the situation where 'no one but ourselves can attach Slave Collars' is simply too inefficient!
...In that case, the quickest way would be to invite an institution that can handle 'Slave Collars' to Elsemarin!
"Therefore, I shall become a noble."
Yes. I shall become a noble.
"...How did it come to that?"
"Because we must increase the number of 'nobles' in Elsemarin, even if only in name. If there are many nobles, the demand for slaves will increase. I thought that if Elsemarin is a town with high demand for slaves, it would be possible to invite an institution that attaches Slave Collars."
Currently, Elsemarin is merely a 'town of commoners.' The noble district was destroyed.
In that case, it means there are no people in Elsemarin with the financial power to buy slaves. 'On the surface.'
...Since that would be inconvenient for inviting a collar institution, it ultimately means nobles are needed in this town.
Besides that, there are good things about holding the rank of 'noble.'
First, it becomes easier to read what the upper echelons of this country are thinking. Even if one is a noble in name only who bought the status with money, information becomes somewhat easier to obtain.
Furthermore, if a certain number of 'nobles' settle in the current noble district (which is to say, the ghost town!), it can prevent more nobles from moving to Elsemarin from the outside.
...By using the power of money to make our people into nobles and filling the noble district of Elsemarin with them.
By doing so, this Elsemarin will become an even stronger 'town of villains'...!
"Noble ranks can be bought with any number of pseudonyms. I shall be a noble. And I shall have all of you become nobles as well!"
"...That's quite a sudden idea you've come up with, Young Lady."
When I immediately proposed the plan for 'all of us to become nobles,' as expected, they were reluctant! Giovan is almost always reluctant!
"I'd like to politely decline! I'm not fond of standing out in a bad way."
"Oh. We do not have enough people. You must. Besides, even just us will not be enough, so I shall make some of the bandits into nobles as well."
I could just give up and make all the bandits into nobles, but it is better for us to be involved to some extent as well. Since we are buying noble ranks, we will only be nobles in name anyway, so I do not think there is anything to worry about.
"But what about the money? The money. The plan was to sell slaves to make money, but if you need money to sell slaves, the order is all wrong."
...However, that is an undeniably valid point.
It takes money to buy noble ranks.
If it were for one person, it might be one thing, but if we intend to buy noble ranks for multiple people, then truly a vast amount of money is required. One Black Gold Coin would not be enough.
"I wonder if it would be dangerous to buy them with counterfeit money..."
"It would be dangerous. The story that the Black Gold Coin submitted by the Elsemarin Guild was counterfeit is already being heard all over the place."
Ah, so it was seen through after all? ...Well, the Guild seems to be covering that up well enough, so I do not mind.
"Hmm, which means we really must have money... I wonder how I should earn it."
I feel like I am always troubled by fundraising... Well, since the required amount keeps increasing, it cannot be helped.
"...Well, to be realistic. If we keep selling drugs as we are, we can earn it in about two years. The target amount."
Oh, really?
...The drug sales are going surprisingly well...
"The sales channels are expanding. Well, it takes time, but the fact that we might actually manage to get the money is what's truly scary, honestly."
"But two years? That takes too long."
While it is good that the money seems certain to come in, two years is too long.
"Something quicker... a large sum... hmm..."
I pondered. Let's see, what do other people do at times like this...?
...Ah.
"Ah, wouldn't it be fine if we just started a war?"