Chapter 92: Let’s Engrave Fear Into Them
After having lunch with the former prisoners, Yuri and I inspected the inside of the mine, the food stores, and so on.
The inside of the mine had a few surprises, but it was mostly as I expected.
It looked like a typical mining site where they were digging, but the entire interior was Slime Coated.
Apparently, Monsters would appear if they didn’t do this.
They explained that if the work here was too sloppy, strong Monsters would appear and people would die.
Next was the food store.
Bags of flour and boxes of potatoes were piled up.
When I asked if other ingredients were rationed, I was told this was all there was. The people of the Slave District grow other things, but those are sellable, so they’re all taken away.
It was painful enough to hear that Yuri’s eyes welled up with tears.
It seemed like it would take time to prepare houses and jobs, so I bought at least some food and put it in the food store.
Of course, I told them they were free to use as much as they needed to eat.
After that, I had the adults tell me various things about the lives of slaves.
If I didn’t know anything, I couldn’t make improvements.
As I listened to their stories, I learned a very tragic fact.
It seems that after they finish their sentences and are released, they are then worked to the bone as slaves.
Apparently, they receive some wages in the Slave District, but according to someone who used to go in and out, the mine was easier. The wages are supposedly so low they can’t even eat properly.
Also, they are not allowed to leave the Slave District area.
The only time they can leave is when they are being used by merchants, and it never ends well. She spoke anxiously, saying she heard that slaves have no right to refuse, so those who are targeted have a miserable time.
The cruelty surpassed my expectations in many ways, making me feel dizzy, but the first thing I had to do was announce the abolition of the Slavery System.
I had to do it on a large scale, establish a Minimum Wage, and announce that employing Former Slaves for less than that amount would not be permitted.
Well, since there are also low-profit jobs, the Minimum Wage would have to be set quite low, though.
With that in mind, I went to the plaza in front of the Leben Company, created a platform with Maso, and on top of it, I raised my voice using a Magic Tool that served as a microphone.
After announcing that I was the Lord and a member of the Belfast Royalty, I addressed the residents who had stopped to listen.
“This town has been annexed by the Kingdom of Belfast, therefore, the Slavery System is abolished!
Thus, Former Slaves will be treated as subjects of Belfast!
Penalties will also be established for employment below the Minimum Wage or for treatment that cannot be considered standard. Those who do not wish to be charged with a crime, take heed!”
Next, I announced the abolition of the name “Slave District” and also conveyed their freedom of movement.
By then, a large crowd had gathered, and naturally, abusive remarks were flying around.
The main shouts were, “What are you deciding on your own?!” and “Who’s going to obey such words?!”
“You lot, are you really okay with not abolishing the Slavery System?”
Almost everyone shouted that it was a matter of course.
“In that case, shall I, the Prince, negotiate with His Majesty for you?
To ask for permission to apply the Slavery System only to this town.”
At those words, the abusive remarks subsided a little, and voices rose, saying things like, “Then do that from the start!”
Without even understanding what kind of situation that would cause.
“You lot, do you know what Mildrad has done to the people of defeated nations?
All of them become slaves. Worked to death. Naturally, if they try to escape, they’re killed. All the residents.”
The words stopped abruptly.
“Aren’t you lucky?
I’ve been told I’m allowed full authority in this town. He’ll probably allow it.
I think you understand from the idiot crucified over there and the Dark Guild incident, but I have no mercy for those who oppose me.”
In the quieted plaza, I continued to speak alone.
“Well, it might be unfair to the other citizens if I decide based only on the words of those present here.
I’ll make an announcement here again tomorrow. If the same voices persist then, perhaps we’ll go with that.
Ah, and also, you idiots who hurled abuse here.
Don’t think you can defy the Lord and remain unscathed forever, okay?”
As I said that and descended from the platform, the Chamber of Commerce President cried out, “I pledge my loyalty! Please, please have mercy…”
However, even setting aside the fact that he sent an Assassin after me, he was guilty of a capital offense.
No matter how you looked at it, he had gone too far for me to ever forgive him.
If it were properly applied, even under Mildrad’s laws, that wouldn’t change.
Ah, if I have to kill him anyway, now’s the time, I thought, and turned the microphone back on.
“I will not forgive those who break the law in my town!
If you don’t want to end up like this, you’d better think carefully!”
I conjured a giant lightning Magic Circle in the sky above and dropped it onto the Chamber of Commerce President.
With a deafening roar, the stone paving on the road burst apart, and screams filled the air.
With this, I should have undoubtedly become an object of fear.
Having gone this far, the chances of those women being oppressed again should have drastically decreased.
However, just as Yuri said, I’m a complete villain. It’s a scene of pandemonium.
Well, I’m that kind of man, so it can’t be helped, I thought, as I watched the fleeing residents.
“Sorry. I’m not very smart, so this is the limit of my governance.
That’s why I keep saying I don’t want to be king. Are you disillusioned?”
I was scared of what Yuri thought, so I asked timidly.
“No. Because I understand. I love you, Rui.”
“Thanks… Me too.”
“Y-yes…”
And so, Yuri and I returned to the Lord’s mansion hand in hand, where we saw soldiers diligently carrying something inside.
“Ah, good work. We could hear it all the way over here.
You really went all out, didn’t you? It was exhilarating!”
The captain showed a nice smile and said, “I wish I could have seen it on site.”
“Speaking of which, you guys aren’t against abolishing slavery?”
“No, the only ones making a fuss about it are merchants whose earnings are affected and idiots who mistakenly think they’re upper-class citizens. Well, even if I say ‘only,’ there are so many of them it’s disgusting.”
Hearing his words, I felt a little relieved.
I had felt as if the entire town was my enemy, but perhaps that wasn’t the case.
“So, what’s with that luggage?”
“Glad you asked! It’s the hidden assets of the Leben Company!”
Oh, so they really did have some.
“Look at this mountain of gold coins!”
Ah, yeah. When I looked, I was truly surprised by what seemed to be an amount far exceeding my expectations.
“How much is there?”
“Who knows? But it’s definitely several thousand Large Gold Coins.”
Ehhhhh!?
Why would the Chamber of Commerce President of a town like this be hiding billions in cash?
Well, there’s only one way, isn’t there?
He must have been siphoning it off from the merchants who made money using slaves.
I heard he controlled things to the extent that you couldn’t do business in this town without joining the Leben Company, so it’s no wonder the tribute payments were outrageous.
When I asked, thinking that, it was just as I expected. They said that unless you were at an executive level, you wouldn’t make much profit, so it must have been considerable.
Because apparently, slaves are used for a daily wage of just a few large copper coins.
That’s like a few hundred yen, right? Even at most, it’s around a thousand yen, so labor costs are practically free.
If they really weren’t making a profit with that, they should just quit being merchants.
I see. No wonder there’s resistance.
They can’t survive if the tribute payments stay as they are.
I’ll include that topic in tomorrow’s speech.
“I was thinking of setting up a soup kitchen in the former Slave District, now the slums. Could I ask you to handle it?”
“Um, with our current numbers…” he said with a sour face, so I rephrased, “Would it be difficult even if it’s just one person?” and he replied that it wouldn’t be a problem.
“By the way, until when should we continue the confiscation of the company’s assets?”
Apparently, there’s considerable resistance.
Of course. Supplies aren’t circulating in the town.
“Until noon tomorrow is fine. Want to stay for dinner too?” I asked.
“A-are you sure?” he asked hesitantly, and I invited them in, saying, “It’s totally fine. It’s lonely with just the two of us.”
When I started cooking, they apparently didn’t know I was the one doing it and seemed quite intimidated. Perhaps spurred on by that atmosphere, Yuri offered to help, so we ended up cooking together.
Since there were others, I had her handle tasks that wouldn’t affect the outcome too much, and the two of us enjoyed cooking.
We ate while discussing work, and I received various pieces of information from them.
As expected, there seems to be considerable dissatisfaction towards me, and they suggested posting a guard at night.
It’s true, it would be dangerous if something happened while I was sleeping.
But we don’t have enough personnel to spare for something like that. I’m already pushing them hard as it is; if I made them do night guard duty, they’d collapse.
What should we do, I wondered, looking at Yuri.
“It’s already late today, so I’ll keep watch tonight,” Yuri-chan replied.
No, no, if that’s the case, then I will, we argued again, and as a compromise, we decided to go with a camping-style arrangement.
“Well, our soldiers will arrive in a few more days, so I guess we’ll just have to endure until then.”
It’s said to take seven days from the Royal Capital of Belfast to here, so it’ll still be a few days, but two or three days isn’t too much of a hardship.
Worst case, we can always get a room in another town.
We spent the night taking turns keeping watch with that in mind, but there were no particularly suspicious sounds. As a result of us both being overly considerate, we ended up waking before sunrise.
Finding ourselves with too much time on our hands, we decided to delve into the Dungeon to kill time.
The plan was to get some meat to use for the soup kitchen.
Since we had already obtained a map, we flew to the Dungeon and descended the stairs with an intensity as if the two of us were competing.
It was an unusual Dungeon where the up and down stairs were extremely close to each other.
We were quickly able to descend to a Floor perfectly suitable as a hunting ground.
That being said, since it’s a high-difficulty Dungeon, it was only around the twentieth Floor.
Since this time it was just for fun, Yuri descended to the absolute limit she could handle solo, while I acted completely as rearguard, supporting her as we hunted relentlessly.
Although the difficulty had changed significantly, the method was something we were used to.
Compared to the Abyss, the enemies were nothing special, so adjusting their numbers to make it easier for her to handle was a piece of cake for me.
“You’re amazing as always, Rui…”
Apparently, she had noticed I was adjusting things, as Yuri gave me a slightly lonely look.
“I don’t want to hear that from you, Yuri.
But well, I’m happy that it seems I’ve become a man worthy of you, Ojou-sama.”
Yeah. If I include my magic, I have caught up.
I’m relieved from the bottom of my heart at that fact.
However, when that happens, she, who tends to look down on herself, seems to start thinking in a completely misguided direction.
“It’s me who isn’t worthy… Are you sure you’re okay with someone like me?”
When I conveyed my honest feelings, albeit teasingly, saying, “Ojou-sama, you need to understand your own strength and charm more,” her usual self-deprecation returned with, “Compared to Rui, someone like me is…”
She really is too modest.
I can still understand her wanting to be humble about her looks, given Yuri’s personality, but among those her age, no matter how you look at it, she’s the strongest. And at a world-class strongest level, too.
Unlike me, she didn’t even use a cheat-like method with a Gun to level up.
Well, I know she won’t listen no matter how much I say that, though.
“Well, it’s like this. I’m already at a point where it has to be Yuri, or no one else.
Because I’ve fallen this much in love with you, I can’t choose anyone else at this point.
Just don’t forget that, okay?”
“Y-Yeees…”
Telling her, who was bright red, that it was about time, we switched gears mentally and left the Dungeon.
Now then, I wonder how public opinion has shifted.
And so, while feeling a bit listless, we headed for the town square.