Chapter 149: Let’s Protect the Two of Them
“That being said, how do you feel about being ‘protected’ by us in the form of capture?”
Standing before Ivan and Phonia, I immediately propose my idea.
“What do you mean by ‘that’…?”
Ivan, placing a hand on his forehead, asks for clarification. I decide to explain once more. I had just expanded my Presence Detection throughout the city to locate Ivan and Phonia, and here I am now. They are hiding in an abandoned warehouse at the edge of the harbor. The walls and ceiling are riddled with holes, making it a poor hiding spot, yet perhaps that very fact is what keeps them from being discovered.
“There’s been a request at the Adventurer’s Guild for the capture of fugitive slaves.”
“What? …Could it be…?”
“Yes. It’s a request for the capture of the two of you.”
At Rio’s words, Phonia’s face turns pale.
“N-No! I don’t want to go back!”
She shakes her head vigorously, tears welling in her eyes. Ivan gently embraces Phonia, but his gaze turns sharp as he glares at us.
“So you’ve come to capture us, huh…”
“No, no, please listen to the end. We have no intention of handing you two over to the Marquis’s household.”
“What do you mean…?”
The tension in Ivan’s expression eases slightly, replaced by confusion.
“We’ve heard various things about the Marquis’s household, and it seems they don’t have a very good reputation. It would be cruel to return Phonia-chan to such a terrible place.”
“Besides… if we were to capture you under the guise of protection, it would make it harder for others to interfere.”
Surely, no one would dare to snatch away a slave we had captured under a request and return them to the Marquis’s household. Probably.
“That might be true, but…”
Ivan wears an expression of reluctant acceptance, perhaps realizing that continuing to run away is becoming increasingly difficult.
“Right now, there’s also the issue of the Sea Emperor Turtle approaching.”
“Ah… that’s causing quite a stir.”
“If the Sea Emperor Turtle were to attack the city, we could easily make it look like you two got caught up in the chaos and died. We can remove the Collar, after all.”
“…Huh?”
“…Is that really possible?”
Ivan looks bewildered, while Phonia seems to have calmed down, her expression one of confusion.
“No, no, that’s a Collar of Subjugation! There’s no way you can just take it off that easily!”
Ivan stands up, approaching us with intensity, but I’m not lying. I pull out several Collars of Subjugation, neatly linked together, from the Dimensional Box. These are the ones I had removed from my classmates before.
“Believe it or not, it can be done quite easily.”
Normally, a collar wouldn’t be circular until it’s worn; otherwise, it wouldn’t fit over the head.
“That’s…”
“These are Collars of Subjugation that I’ve removed before.”
“Will this convince you?”
Ivan swallows hard, touching the collar around his own neck.
“To be honest, I haven’t really thought about what comes after that.”
“Releasing you from slavery is easy, but…”
Rio and I share a wry smile, realizing that we’ve reached a conclusion where there’s no going back.
“If you want to leave the Empire and start anew in a different land, we can provide protection until then.”
“That’s right. Traveling through various countries is our goal too, so it wouldn’t be a problem if our destinations happen to align.”
“No, I can’t let you go that far…”
“That said, we’re already in this together.”
Since a capture request has already been made, I want to resolve this without any lingering issues.
“I guess it might be our selfishness.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Regardless of the circumstances, I don’t want Phonia-chan to suffer!”
I declare, clenching my fist, and Phonia clings tightly to Ivan.
“Ivan-nii, please help us.”
She looks at him with pleading eyes. Oh no. That’s a powerful weapon.
“Ugh, I’m sorry… I’ll help Ivan too.”
“Just as an afterthought, huh…”
“Ahaha!”
Ivan pouts, but it seems he doesn’t have much to complain about.
“So, what do you think, you two?”
“What do you mean by that…? Do you have a hideout where we can take refuge?”
“We can’t just hide in an inn.”
“That’s true. There’s a possibility that nobles are involved, and even if they aren’t, I don’t think we can defy their power.”
As Ivan crosses his arms and ponders, he is quickly countered by my response. If that’s the case, then there’s only one option left.
“If there isn’t one, we’ll just have to create one.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, I see what you mean.”
Ivan looks blankly at my words, while Rio seems to have understood, clapping her hands together.
“Maybe it’s better to be outside the city.”
“Right. There’s a forest just off the main road connecting to the Imperial Capital; we can use that.”
“Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”
Lately, I’ve only been expanding the Dimensional Box, but the thought of building something from scratch makes my hands itch with excitement.
“Don’t worry. I promise a comfortable living space.”
I give a big thumbs up with a beaming smile, causing more wrinkles to form on Ivan’s forehead, but he nods, willing to escape this situation.