The Real Reason There Was No Evidence

I and Liricia had stormed into the mansion of Lord Thomson, the government official who was holding slave-abuse shows, in order to obtain an unconditional slave.

However, just as we tried to catch them in the act, the floor suddenly collapsed and everyone who had been in the first-floor hall fell down into the basement.

Some people had hit the ground badly and were groaning, while others lay unconscious.

I ran over to Liricia.

“Liricia, are you okay!?”

“Y-yes! I am all right.”

Liricia was crouching down, holding the elf girl Teti in her arms.

It did not look like she was injured.

I looked around.

It seemed we had fallen about the height of one floor.

The black pillars that had been supporting the ceiling were all shattered.

In fact, the hall was far too large to be called a basement room, and not only the pillars, but the walls and floor were all black.

When I looked straight ahead, there was a gigantic seated statue, so tall its head nearly touched the ceiling.

It had three eyes and twisted horns growing from its head, and a flute clamped between its lips.

Its hands were as hairy as a monkey’s, while its legs were as thin as an eagle’s with sharp talons.

On its thick chest was a huge eye.

No matter how you looked at it, it was an evil god. A seated statue of an evil god.

Liricia, still holding Teti, opened her eyes wide and shouted.

“T-this is…! The puppet evil god Faid!”

“You know it, Liricia?”

“It is an evil god that bewilders and controls people, Master! To think a high-ranking official was worshipping an evil god! —I am sure this is the cause of the magic interference!”

“Where is Thomson?”

“O-over there!”

In the direction Liricia pointed, a fat man was trying to open a basement door.

It looked like the rubble was in the way and he could not get it open.

“I am not letting you get away—!”

I dashed forward, raising my sword.

Thomson noticed and spun around quickly, thrusting his right hand, with a black ring on the finger, toward me.

“Evil god Faid, grant me strength…! —Mind Control (Mind Hack)!”

“Haaaah!”

Some kind of black wave I did not really understand came flying at me, but I put everything into a battle shout and cut it down.

It conveniently vanished into nothing.

In the next instant I took a big step forward and slammed Thomson with the flat of my blade.

“W-what, impossible!? Dispelling a curse with a sword!? That cannot—gyah!”

There was a dull thud, and Thomson rolled his eyes back and collapsed. It looked like he had been knocked out in a single blow.

I let out a relieved breath—only for a sharp voice to ring out from behind me.

“Master! Look out—!”

“Huh?”

I turned around.

One of the nearby black pillars was collapsing toward me, scattering black particles as it fell.

“Whoa!”

Letting out a cry of surprise, I instinctively shielded my head.

Then—for some reason, my shout shattered the black pillar into tiny fragments.

Pebble-like bits tapped against my face for a moment, then vanished.

Liricia rushed to my side, her violet eyes wide.

“My, what on earth just happened!? As expected of you, Master!”

“…Did my voice just destroy that, or did you do something, Liricia?”

“Neither! The walls and pillars of this basement seem to be stone formed from condensed evil mana! That is why they were blown away by your Serâge, Master.”

“I see. Which means the floor collapsing upstairs was also my fault for going all out.”

“I believe so… They must have been using evil arts powered by the evil god’s altar and that sinister stone. Magic to control people as they pleased.”

Liricia drew her brows together sadly.

I realized what that implied as well.

“So that is it. There was no evidence because they used those evil arts to erase it and silence people.”

“It is horrible…”

“Well, that all ends today. That is what matters.”

“Yes, as expected of you, Master.”

—Just then.

There was a loud commotion as people came in on the first floor.

Edgar came through the open gate above, along with the group he had brought.

They were adventurers and members of the knight order.

They peered down into the basement from above.

The moment Edgar saw something, his mouth fell open and he stared down in blank amazement.

The knights and adventurers fixed their eyes on the altar and all began shouting at once.

“What is that altar!?”

“And those ominous stones!”

“An evil god!?”

“A high official, a worshipper of heresy!?”

“What a fiend!”

I called up to them.

“The master of the house, Thomson, is down here. —Also, make sure no one slips out through the back or anywhere else. We do have the guest list secured, though.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

Several of the knights hurriedly ran back.

Then rescue and arrests began.

Coming back to himself, Edgar gave a wry smile and called down to praise me in an exasperated tone.

“You really are amazing, Alec. Finding an evil god’s gathering place like this is beyond anything I expected. In the dungeon, here… I seriously have no choice but to be blown away.”

“I am shocked myself. I am just a former hero who leaks Serâge everywhere.”

“I guess this is what they call a true hero. —You are in a different class, honestly.”

Edgar shook his head with a crooked smile, his messy hair swaying.

Then he went off to help with the investigation and rescue.

—To think it would actually be an evil god. And right here in the Royal Capital.

Because of this, something unexpected happened.

Originally, I had thought Thomson would be the only one to be arrested.

If the other attendees claimed things like “We did not know” or “We were forced to attend under threat,” there was a good chance they would escape punishment.

After all, almost all the slaves used in the abuse shows had been procured by Thomson.

However, with the discovery of the evil god’s altar, the story changed.

They began to ask whether perhaps all of them were believers.

And whether they had been offering slaves as sacrifices to receive the evil god’s blessings.

As a result, the Luktia Church of the God of Light, the state religion, joined the investigation, and it was decided that everything would be thoroughly examined.

Those to whom he had sent slaves would also be subjected to compulsory investigation.

Incidentally, it seemed Thomson insisted right up to the end that “He had done the right thing,” and never backed down.

“What is wrong with killing the incompetent and criminals who end up as unconditional slaves!? It is making effective use of garbage! —You are actually jealous too, are you not? I could let you participate if you like, you know?”

Apparently, he even said that in front of the King.

He was just an idiot. Or maybe he had simply doubled down in defiance.

From my point of view, the disappointing part was that the “Bust of the Evil God” I had been searching for had nothing to do with this evil god.

The thing I was looking for seemed to be an idol of an evil god that presided over curses.

By the time the western sky was stained red.

As evening fell, we were finally released from interrogations and giving statements about the incident.

“The Evil God Worshipper Slave Sacrifice Incident”

That was the name given to the case.

I spoke with the slave trader Simon in the fountain garden of Thomson’s estate.

Behind him stood the slaves. They were all smiling, but there were tear-streaks on their cheeks.

Simon bowed his head deeply.

“Thank you very much for saving the slaves this time. And for exposing the fact that the lack of evidence was due to the use of evil arts, which cleared my own failings from blame. All of the slaves are truly grateful as well. You are remarkable, Lord Alec.”

“Thank you so much.”

“You saved us! Thank you.”

“I thought it was all over for us… thank you.”

The slaves once again shed tears as they expressed their thanks.

I nodded in response and asked a question.

“Apparently he had been manipulating people’s minds. You cannot really help that. —So, what will happen to these slaves?”

“Lord Thomson had not yet completed payment… and it seems he will not be able to from now on, either. Under the terms of the contracts, they will all be taken back into my care.”

Thomson and his family had been sentenced to death, and their assets were to be confiscated.

Apparently, the sentence had been handed down quickly because the King flew into a rage at his outrageously arrogant speech.

Pointing at one of the girls, I spoke.

“Then, could you sell me this one we could not save? I want to give her as much care as I can.”

The one I pointed to was the elf girl Teti.

To hide the face and body that had been so terribly abused, she was wearing a hooded robe that covered her from head to toe.

Simon looked at Teti, his mature, dignified features twisting into a grim frown.

“It is unforgivable that they subjected her to such torment… However, not even magic can heal her any further, so I will have to swallow the loss myself… Very well. In gratitude for your deeds and your compassion, Alec, how about forty thousand Gort—almost at cost price?”

“Yeah, that is fine. I will buy her.”

“Then…”

After we completed the slave paperwork, I acquired Teti as an unconditional slave.

That left me with about six million Gort.

I had braced myself for spending at least a million, so it was a pleasant surprise. In a way, it was also according to plan…

After that, Liricia and I headed back to the shop with Teti in tow.

Teti followed us in silence, head bowed, her hood pulled down low.

Because she could barely see out of one eye, Liricia held her hand and walked with her.

Liricia and I traded troubled looks, but until we reached my shop, where there were no prying eyes, we could not find any words to say to Teti.