Chapter 47

“Welcome, Lady Briant! I sincerely welcome you to Noktar!”

In the reception room of the lord’s castle.

Baron Bardelli, the lord of Noktar, welcomed Narsha with open arms. Narsha responded with a graceful smile that was not excessive.

“What brings the young lady here to this distant Noktar all by herself?”

Baron Bardelli pretended not to know, but he was well aware of Narsha’s purpose for visiting.

The story goes back to a month ago, on the day when the entire Desert Rose Trading Company vanished into thin air.

The company master, Ropermong, turned to dust along with his cherished collections, while the top-grade goods hidden deep underground were all stolen by someone.

Baron Bardelli had been collecting money in exchange for turning a blind eye to Ropermong’s crimes and providing him convenience.

With the trading company that was responsible for the market in Noktar disappearing overnight, the city fell into unprecedented chaos.

Other trading companies came to vie for the vacant spot, resulting in daily disputes. The already poor security worsened, and prices skyrocketed.

In such a situation, Narsha arrived.

The Briant family.

Settled in the capital, Kalia, and regarded as one of the kingdom’s top trading companies, the owner of Dawn’s Journey.

Before her stood Narsha Briant, the only daughter of the count’s family, mentioned as the next heir to the trading company.

With Narsha arriving at Noktar at this particular time, it was clear what her intentions were. She must be planning to exert influence over Noktar.

“The count family is nearly impossible to control. I doubt they can receive money as before…”

But it wasn’t all disadvantages.

If the Dawn’s Journey trading company could be helped to expand its influence, a connection with the Briant count family would naturally occur.

Not just with the count family, but with several nobles from the central region as well. It was an opportunity to build pillars to extend branches.

“But I shouldn’t be too swayed…”

Being young shouldn’t lead to complacency. The most important thing was the first move. Baron Bardelli was deep in thought when Narsha suddenly asked an unexpected question.

“Lord, is there perhaps someone in the city known as the Slave God of Death?”

Was she trying to lighten the mood before getting to the point? Well, it wasn’t bad.

“A Slave God of Death, huh… I think I’ve heard of something like that. Surely it was someone who owned elves as slaves and had such a nickname.”

“Elves?”

A chilling expression momentarily crossed Narsha’s face. However, she maintained a poker face, having honed her composure as a trader.

It was essential etiquette for a merchant.

“Why do you seek that person? Ah…!”

A memory surfaced in the baron’s mind from an article he once read in the newspaper.

A noble lady who had been attacked by bandits and turned into a slave. Unfortunately, she was sold to the Slave God of Death, nearly facing death, before returning to her family after paying a price amidst various twists and turns.

The protagonist of that story was the Narsha before him.

“But I heard that the Slave God of Death had escaped shortly after?”

“If only that were true…”

“Hmm? What did you just say…?”

“It’s a misunderstanding. If that were true, I wouldn’t be able to appear before you, Baron.”

“Hmm, that does make sense. So, have you been chasing that god?”

“Yes.”

She had come not for business, but for personal revenge. The baron clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“Is he perhaps here?”

‘That person…?’

The title felt strange.

Baron Bardelli chose not to correct it. It must be a habit formed from being mistreated under the Slave God of Death.

What a pitiful young lady, the baron thought.

“On the day the meteor fell in Noktar, that man also went missing. Initially, I thought he was dead, but seeing the elf who was by his side alive means he must have escaped secretly.”

“So that means he isn’t here?”

“For now, yes.”

“…I understand.”

Narsha bit her lower lip.

After seemingly pondering for a moment, she stood up.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I’m thinking of taking a stroll around the city.”

“It feels strange for me, as the lord, to say this, but this city’s security isn’t great. I’ll have an escort accompany you.”

Narsha shook her head and subtly showed the rapier at her waist.

“I can manage on my own. I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

“If that’s the case, I have nothing more to say. Just be cautious of a bar called the Duke of Yahae.”

“Why is that?”

“Because elves come and go there, including the elf that the god had with him. They look at humans like bugs, so if you get entangled with the wrong ones, it’ll be troublesome.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

***

After leaving the lord’s castle, Narsha walked aimlessly. There was little energy in her steps.

‘Again…’

She was late once more.

Although she was chasing after Carami’s great footsteps, she was always just a step behind. Whenever she thought she had found something, it was nothing but trash claiming to be the Slave God of Death.

They were trash that killed slaves not for the noble cause of liberation, but for their base pleasure. Narsha dealt with all of them.

Where would she go this time?

Even if she obtained information, she always arrived too late. It was good to rescue the unfortunate, but she wished they could wait just a little longer…

Narsha sighed.

‘For now, I have to check out the Duke of Yahae.’

Baron Bardelli advised her to be cautious, but Narsha had to check the place. They said an elf slave, whom Carami had, frequented there.

To confirm what kind of person it was, and to impose some discipline as a senior.

As Narsha casually wandered around the city in search of the Duke of Yahae.

“Ah!”

At that moment, a powerful groan echoed. The sound came from a dark back alley in a slum where the light did not reach. The sounds of struggle continued.

It was a dangerous neighborhood for a woman to be wandering alone. Especially for someone like Narsha, the beautiful daughter of a noble family, there was a high possibility of getting into trouble even in the daylight.

It would be wise to turn back here, but…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Narsha turned her footsteps toward the alley and slowly moved forward.

***

In a public space densely covered by darkness in the slums, shadows stretched long, intertwining like nightmares blooming from the darkness.

Echoing rough breaths and the sound of beatings. A boy was struggling beneath the shoes of a man, while slum residents laughed, exposing their rotten teeth.

“I told you to stop barking like a dog!”

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The boy, who was kicked in the abdomen, soared up before crashing onto the ground.

“Matthew!”

Lara, who had been captured by the slum residents, shouted the boy’s name, but he did not rise. He lay curled up like a shrimp, trembling.

His face was already bruised and bleeding. His clothes were dirty and torn. There wasn’t a single intact spot left.

“Hey kid, didn’t I warn you clearly? Don’t come here and take the kids. You little brat with no sense of morality!”

Even amidst his daze, Matthew squeezed out his voice.

“You guys are the bad ones… You’re keeping those who could live well as slaves because of your greed…”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Anyone who becomes a slave ends up miserable and dies, you idiot. Think about it with your head. Is someone who wants to take only the girls and make them into slaves normal?”

“My brother… that’s not true…!”

The man shook his head and sighed. Was he brainwashed? They couldn’t communicate at all.

“What are you, a zealot? This won’t do. I guess I need to show you what happens when you become a slave.”

Just as the man was about to approach Matthew once more to kick him again…

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Narsha appeared before Matthew from around the corner.

In the gloomy slums, she radiated a calm yet strangely alluring light with her crimson eyes.

Her fair skin did not fit the darkness of the slums at all.

Is she a noble?

The slum residents flinched for a moment, but upon realizing she was alone, they burst into boisterous laughter.

“By the look of her clothes, she seems like a precious daughter of a noble family. Didn’t your mommy and daddy teach you not to come to dark places?”

A woman of that caliber came here on her own? They never expected such fortune to fall into their laps during the day. Was it even daytime? They couldn’t tell as no light came through.

“……”

Narsha looked back and forth between the children and the slum residents.

Only the children, suffering in pain and fear, were there. There were no other emotions beyond the given situation.

An inefficient waste of feelings, as saving others requires time and money. If emotions get involved, losses occur.

What choice would yield the highest profit? Whose life has what value?

What mattered to her was not the worth of a single tear but the value of the gold coins she could gain from selling that tear.

‘But…’

That person was different.

No one would turn a blind eye.

With their gaze lowered.

Staying close to those who are wounded.

Extending their hands to grasp the souls floundering in despair.

Not for their glory, but only for leading the suffering to salvation, a one-dimensional yet grand goal.

For those who follow in the footsteps of such grace, there should be a duty.

With a flick-

Narsha drew her rapier and drew a line between herself and the residents.

“The moment you cross this line, you die.”

“Heh heh heh. Die? Who? You? Can you swing a sword with those delicate arms? I don’t know who taught you, but definitely, what a woman should hold is not a sword but…”

Before the man’s sentence could finish, Narsha’s movements were far faster.

An acceleration beyond comprehension.

Narsha flickered in motion.

Swish.

The rapier pierced the man’s neck in an instant, shining through the darkness.

“Crack.”

A short groan escaped from the man.

As Narsha withdrew the rapier, the man sprayed blood from his neck, collapsing onto the ground.

“I clearly said, crossing the line means death.”

Narsha offered a moment of mercy for one second.

They should have run away immediately.

“Those of you.”