55 — 6 (5)

As he heard something coming down toward him, all sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind.

‘Oh, God… what reckless words did I speak to the supreme Consul…’

Without realizing it, he wet himself in terror. He was a merchant who dealt in money, not a soldier who could face fear. The difference was obvious, and he had already surrendered completely before Louis even arrived.

The drunken rants he had shouted while making a scene at the tavern last night now shamed him.

Boromir opened the warehouse door, and when Louis stepped inside, he saw a man whose face had gone pale. Until the moment before coming in, the fellow had looked ready to jab a finger at Louis, but now even his trousers were soaked.

Seeing the damp floor, Louis frowned.

“Citizen.”

“…Y-yes, sir. Your words, pl—”

“Tell me what you meant by what you said earlier.”

He hunched down and slammed his face to the floor. The thud was loud, but the merchant held the posture as if nothing were wrong. He was no longer in his right mind. Looking upward, he sensed no sign of anyone, and realized the other merchants he had counted on to help him had all turned their backs.

“I have committed a mortal sin. Please, forgive me just this once. Please, don’t send me to the Colosseum.”

“…………”

‘When did I say I’d send him to the Colosseum?’

Louis searched his memory from a moment ago and found nothing. He realized that between the time of signing the merchants’ contracts and choosing his quests, the man had let his imagination run wild.

Louis let out a dry laugh. Honestly, he had intended to rough him up a little.

In any case, Louis held supreme judicial authority here. If the man had a complaint, the only person to appeal to was Louis—so if Louis beat him, to whom could he go? He would have no choice but to leave Proia.

“Tsks. Go upstairs, sign, and be on your way. It’s a fair deal—know that—and the other merchants have all signed as well.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

He scrambled up in a hurry, and Boromir spoke, a bit sheepish.

“Tomorrow I will show you the finest soldier you asked to see, my lord.”

“Good. Those men will become cavalry.”

In truth, cavalry was a branch only those with a knightly title could raise. Naturally, what Louis was doing was unauthorized—tantamount to temporarily lowering rank—so it had to be used secretly for military purposes only for now.

Louis had gained another commander he could truly handle: Kaiser. No sooner had Kaiser gained his freedom than he came straight to Louis, who assigned him to guard duty for the time being.

‘Kaiser isn’t suited for thinking work, so guard duty fits him best.’

He put crafty, quick-witted Kalbang in charge of Colosseum management, and Boromir had been alternating between two tasks; now that Kaiser would guard Louis’s side, Boromir could focus entirely on training the troops.

“Kaiser, I’m counting on you.”

“It is an honor.”

His tone had a touch of zealot about it, but Louis thought having one such subordinate was not a bad thing. He immediately set off with Kaiser to review the men with the talent to become cavalry.

Six hundred candidates stood in ranks, each maintaining crisp discipline. Their order had been decent back during the monster subjugation, but now it surpassed that level; it meant Boromir had more talent for training than expected.

‘Alright, let’s see.’

Louis opened the information on the six hundred-odd soldiers staring only at him. What he wanted to check was swordsmanship. To see exact figures he would have to raise Talent Insight to Level 3, but he begrudged the points, so he would form the cavalry mainly from soldiers with high sword talent.

No matter how hard Boromir had tried in his selections, there were still many with Sword Talent 3 mixed in, and Louis picked as many 3s as he could. After filtering like that, 430 soldiers remained; the rest, unavoidably, would also have to be drawn from those with Talent 3.

‘If the population were larger, there would be more talented men as well.’

There was no helping it. Thus, the second criterion for inspection was Respect. Thanks to tight discipline, the average Respect pointed to 5—quite high. From among them, Louis chose those with 6 to fill the remaining numbers.

Aiwood. A colossal city where the world’s largest slave trading took place. Its entire commercial district was built upon a single trade—slaves.

With raiders pouring in from all over the world and the slaves they captured, the place always boasted an absurdly high floating population.

This very wealthy city was a unique free city not belonging to any nation, maintained through alliances with several states. The main reason Aiwood had suffered no invasions from other countries for two hundred years was that its greatest ally was the Empire.

The city presented a dual face—so extravagantly splendid it invited luxury, with a savage, brutal shadow clinging behind it. The marble houses shone as white as those in a port city. Yet on pillars here and there, slaves were tied and dying.

It was the punishment for escaped slaves.

Louis arrived in Aiwood with only Kaiser and a small party.

‘I’m tired.’

They had crossed an enormous distance, and he was exhausted beyond words—longing to rest even a moment sooner. Yet even in that fatigue, the city’s bizarre liveliness drew Louis’s attention.

“For sale! Auction here!! Step right up!!”

Wherever Louis went, auctions were being held. Most took the form of a stage with a line of slaves upon it. Buyers with money watched from outside, and when a slave they liked appeared, they bid prices up one by one until a sale was won.

Louis soon turned his head away.

‘No—not today. I’m resting.’

“Kaiser.”

“Yes.”

“Find us an inn suitable for our stay.”

“As you command.”

Kaiser hurried off with a few soldiers, and Louis took a look around to see, roughly, how the place ran.

‘No—there’s no need for this.’

In a sense, Louis’s status was on a different plane from these people. If this city was efficient, there would be a place where only power-holders like Louis gathered.

“My lord, I’ve found a suitable place to stay.”

“No, Kaiser. We’re going straight to the government residence.”

“Milord! Stay at our inn! I promise you won’t regret it!”

Louis ignored the street urchin and pushed straight through the crowd.

At the residence, soldiers stood on guard; when they spotted Louis, they asked his identity.

“I am Pontina Louis, son of Duke Remitri of the Duchy of Eron. I presume there is a place where men like me gather.”

‘He’s no ordinary man.’

Sensing Louis’s aura, the soldiers showed respect without further checks.

“You’ve come to the right place. This way, please. The auction begins tomorrow. For today, just rest.”

The room Louis was shown to put anything in Proia to shame. A young dedicated maid attended it, and the furnishings were all smooth as if crafted by master artisans.

“A night’s stay here is ten gold coins.”

Ten gold coins—a sum a laborer would have to work ten to twelve months to earn.

“Would you like to add options?”

“What are those?”

“The children who will attend you at night. The most carefully selected…”

“Ah, I see. Match the options to what others of my station choose. I’m tired now and will take a nap.”

“Understood.”

It was late afternoon, but Louis was weary enough to sleep a while; after a quick bath, he fell straight into slumber.

He had slept only a short time when he woke; someone’s presence—Louis reflexively drew the sword he had set upright.

“Sp—spare me.”

Louis saw a woman kneeling and weeping.

“Identify yourselves.”

“W-we are slaves, my lord. Please sheathe your sword.”

“Slaves? I am not your master. Have you come to the wrong room?”

One was so terrified she was sniffling; Louis slid the blade back into its sheath.

‘H-he’s terrifying… What do we do…’

It was the slaves’ first time attending at night. Both were virgins. They had practiced their skills to death, but were still fresh girls who knew nothing of men—slaves prepared to serve high power-holders. They had heard endlessly that nobles had peculiar tastes and had steeled themselves accordingly—but they had not expected him to draw a sword on them…

‘He must be one of those so-called “Sword Experts”…’

Though slaves, they saw nobles every day, and they knew how rare the aura Louis was emanating was. In fact, they were seeing it for the first time.

‘Hmm… it seems they were sent to attend me for the night.’

In the soft glow of the night-lamp, the slaves’ faces were strikingly beautiful. Moreover, their attire was shockingly suggestive—wearing nothing but a fluttering gauze veil that a mere breeze could blow away to bare them.

“…You are not in the wrong place.”

“Very well—then for what have you come?”

“T-to attend you at night…”

‘I do want to sleep… but the fee is already paid, so I should make use of it.’

He was a bit surprised that, having asked for average options, two slaves had been sent for night service.

‘Aiwood…’

“Undress.”

The two women bared themselves.

‘A city I truly want to possess.’

Louis resolved that one day he would conquer this place.