Chapter Eighteen: Master Xia’s Benevolence—Sending Him to the Slave City
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“Insufferable!”
Just as Mills’s filthy hand was about to touch the tip of Xia Mingyu’s boot, Sir Solin, who had been kneeling on one knee all this time, finally lost his patience.
Whoosh!
The formidable physical strength granted by his status as a transcendent knight allowed Sir Solin to cross more than a dozen meters in an instant. He appeared behind Mills and forced the greedy merchant face-down onto the ground.
Since the knight’s actions in maintaining public order were entirely legitimate, the protection granted by Mills’s Merchant of Lies profession did not activate.
“Your Highness, would you like me to execute this insolent wretch for daring to offend you?”
Sir Solin held Mills’s struggling neck down with one hand while taking the fine-steel longsword his attendant had picked up and handed to him with the other. His voice was filled with murderous intent.
“Wait, Sir Knight. Before that, I believe I should explain the whole matter to you.”
“Your Highness, it is my honor to hear your sacred voice. I shall listen with utmost attention.”
Like a clown performing a dramatic change of face, the cold murderous intent on Sir Solin’s features was instantly replaced by a radiant smile. Even the wrinkles on his face seemed to bloom like flowers.
“Some time ago, this Clayish traveling merchant paid a considerable deposit and swore before the gods that he would return when the red fruits ripened. In return, he demanded that the villagers refuse all other traveling merchants…”
Xia Mingyu spoke slowly.
A moment later—
“I see!”
Sir Solin suddenly understood.
At last, he realized why this noble Highness had been willing to stoop to robbing a merchant.
It turned out that Mills had been willing to violate an oath made in the name of the gods merely to make money. Even by the standards of the Clayish people, such conduct was utterly depraved!
Wait…
Sir Solin’s expression suddenly turned extremely grim.
He seemed to understand why several villages had been unable to pay their taxes this year—and why all of them happened to be villages renowned for their fruit harvests.
“You wretched bastard! You truly are a model Clayish man!”
Sir Solin pressed down harder on Mills’s neck. The veins on his face bulged as he ground his teeth in fury.
Seeing Mills’s face flush dark red from lack of air, murderous intent boiled within the knight’s heart. Had he not been concerned about the noble Highness before him, he would already have pierced several holes through the merchant with his sword.
“Your Highness, give the word and I shall kill this greedy swindler who shows neither reverence for the gods nor respect for you. I promise I will not let him die too quickly.”
Sir Solin’s expression was solemn.
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He had once learned a few techniques from the executioner in his lord’s territory. By piercing certain nonfatal places, one could make a condemned man suffer and bleed to death.
“Please… please spare me, Your Highness! I… I am willing to offer you all my coins. I even have two gold sols hidden beneath my shoe!”
Mills begged incoherently.
He had yet to fulfill his dream of becoming a merchant wealthy enough to rival the sage Franken, nor had he defeated his brothers and inherited the vast fortune left by their father. He refused to die in obscurity like this!
Watching the scene unfold, Xia Mingyu fell into deep thought.
He knew that Mills’s life now rested entirely in his hands. With a single command, this proud knight would take the man’s life without hesitation.
Killing someone might be satisfying, but… how could a new socialist youth, a university student shouldering the responsibilities of the new age, commit such a cruel act?
Xia Mingyu smiled faintly.
“Sir Knight, there is an old saying in my homeland: ‘Repay virtue with virtue, and answer resentment with justice.’”
“Since Mills never intended to take my life, I will not take his.”
The moment he said this, Mills was overjoyed, while Sir Solin frowned slightly. It seemed to him that this Highness was perhaps far too kind.
Had his own liege been in this situation, he would already have stabbed the man several times and left him full of bloody holes.
“Therefore, I would ask you to send him to the Slave Capital.”
Mills: “What?”
The smile on his face instantly froze, while a trace of awe appeared in Sir Solin’s gaze.
Regardless of who they were or what their station might be, those with a powerful desire for revenge were always the ones most likely to inspire awe in those around them—even when that awe arose from fear.
“No! I don’t want to be sold into slavery!”
“Kill me! Please, kill me!”
Mills wailed in tears.
Having once investigated the markets of the Slave Capital in pursuit of profit, he knew all too well what kind of agonizing lives the slaves there endured. Calling it hell would not have been an exaggeration.
In particular, after visiting the collection of one of his fellow Clayish slave merchants, even this normally fearless man had returned home so nauseated that he vomited for several days and could not eat.
His cries were truly heartrending. Yet everyone watching was made up of villagers he had cheated to the brink of broken families.
Thus, no matter how pitiful his pleas became, all he received were the villagers’ hate-filled stares. Some even threw rotten red fruit at him.
Under the gaze of the entire crowd, Mills was bound hand and foot, gagged with a rag, and tossed into the carriage.
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“Honored Highness, please tell me your name. Before long, my lord, Viscount Hughes, will come to pay you a personal visit.”
Once everything had been settled, Sir Solin and his attendants knelt on one knee before Xia Mingyu and spoke respectfully.
“Xia Mingyu.”
Xia Mingyu answered calmly.
“May the gods protect you, Highness Mingyu.”
With a devout expression, Sir Solin drew a circle over the wolf’s head emblazoned on his breastplate. Only then did he rise and mount his horse with his attendants.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Beneath the fading glow of the sunset, accompanied by the hurried beat of hooves, the knight’s figure gradually vanished into the distance.
At the same time, the village erupted in celebration.
“Highness, may the gods protect you!”
“Highness, thank you for your mercy! Please, you must accept this wreath I made for you.”
“Highness, thank you for punishing that damned Clayish traveling merchant. My husband was driven out of his mind with anger after being deceived by him. He lost his footing while picking red fruit and fell to his death. Thank you!”
…
The villagers, having survived the tax crisis, crowded around Xia Mingyu and cried out their gratitude with fervent cheers.
“Berg, you damned bastard! Get over here!”
At that moment, Village Chief Robert’s roar crashed over the crowd like a thunderclap, jolting everyone back to their senses.
He glared furiously at Berg, his expression terrifyingly fierce. Even the frost-white hair atop his head seemed ready to stand on end.
“Yes… yes!”
Berg had never seen the village chief so enraged before, and immediately hurried over to Robert.
“You bastard! How dare you reveal His Highness’s information! Have you forgotten the agreement between the village and His Highness?”
Robert slapped Berg hard across the face. The boy’s still-youthful features immediately swelled red.
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