When Duanmu Huai followed Kilty to the square, he could see dozens of ox-drawn carts parked there, with quite a few people dressed like adventurers standing nearby.
"These were captured during today's patrol."
Kilty reported very seriously to Duanmu Huai.
"While following our patrol route today, we discovered a suspicious caravan deliberately taking mountain paths and back roads. We went up to question them, and they launched an attack on us. After defeating them and interrogating them, we discovered that they were slave traders, capturing slaves in Herman and transporting them elsewhere."
"Mm, well done."
Duanmu Huai nodded. Banning the slave trade was one of the doctrines of the Inquisition. Leaving aside the various harms that slave trading itself could bring, the slaves themselves could also pose potential threats—after all, you could not be sure whether these slaves would be taken away to do hard labor, become prostitutes, or be sacrificed as offerings to some evil god.
Of course, based on the Inquisition's experience, the latter accounted for the majority of cases. Whenever slave transport was discovered during interstellar travel, following the trail usually led, eight or nine times out of ten, to one or several cults worshipping evil gods…
Incidentally, under Duanmu Huai's leadership, Seth and Lisias had also already classified slave trading as illegal transactions and begun large-scale arrests. This was quite normal. Seth currently needed to restore its strength and of course could not allow its citizens to be sold off. As for Lisias—well, even if Duanmu Huai asked Lia to hand the country over to him, she probably would not hesitate.
"Take a few of the ringleaders down for interrogation. Find out who the buyers are."
"Understood."
Duanmu Huai gave the order casually, then walked over to the ox carts. By now, the slaves had already been taken down from the carts. There were men and women among them, huddled together trembling, watching the surrounding soldiers and Night Guards with unease.
This was only natural. Having just been captured, then brought here, and surrounded by terrifying soldiers, it was no surprise they felt uneasy.
"Ah, Sir Knight!"
Lorena, who was registering those refugees, saw Duanmu Huai arrive and hurried over.
"How is it?"
"Yes, they were all slaves captured by slave traders in Herman. Some of the children were even sold…"
At this point, Lorena's expression did not look very good. After all, such things did not happen in the Holy City.
"Ask them about their plans. Those who want to go home can leave. If they need travel funds, they can take some directly from the slave traders—after all, they won't be needing it anymore."
"Yes."
Lorena nodded, then turned back to the group of slaves and said a few words to them. Immediately afterward, cheers of excitement rang out among the slaves. Many even embraced each other and wept. Then they respectfully bowed to Duanmu Huai and Lorena before turning around and leaving.
But it seemed that not everyone yearned for freedom.
"Hm?"
Duanmu Huai noticed that not far away, a young girl was standing there blankly together with several little girls. He frowned slightly and walked over.
Thud… thud… thud…
Hearing the footsteps, the girl turned her head. When she saw Duanmu Huai, her face turned deathly pale, her legs gave out, and she collapsed straight to the ground. The several little girls beside her hurriedly hid behind her, looking uneasily at the giant approaching them.
Duanmu Huai was already used to such reactions. He walked up to the girl and stared at her.
"What, you're not planning to leave?"
"Th-this… I…"
Looking at Duanmu Huai, the girl appeared extremely nervous and uneasy. She lowered her head, her voice as small as a mosquito's buzz.
"Speak."
Seeing how timid and shrinking she was, Duanmu Huai frowned and barked at her. Hearing his rebuke, the girl shuddered violently.
"Y-yes, s-sorry… I… I don't know where I should go…"
She didn't know where to go?
"Do you have nowhere to return to?"
"...…"
After a moment of silence, the girl shook her head.
"Where are your relatives?"
"...…"
The girl still did not speak.
"That's a bit troublesome."
Looking at the girl in front of him, Duanmu Huai sighed helplessly. At this moment, Kilty offered a suggestion.
"In that case, how about temporarily assigning her to the logistics unit?"
"Then let's do that."
Duanmu Huai did not mind much. The logistics unit's main duties were chores like washing clothes and cooking—basically things anyone could do. Since this girl had nowhere to go, sending her to the logistics unit was not a bad option.
After making the decision, Duanmu Huai turned and left. The girl watched his departing figure, a trace of unease flashing through her eyes.
At the same time, at the First Legion's stronghold.
Standing on the city wall and gazing at the distant scenery, First Legion General Kriolyov wore a solemn expression.
As a pure Herman soldier, Kriolyov enjoyed extremely high prestige within the Herman military. He was tall and powerfully built, and although he was already past his prime, he still possessed an unquestionable air of dominance.
The Herman First Legion he commanded was not the most numerous among Herman's armies, but it had the greatest number of knights. Moreover, the Herman First Legion prided itself on being invincible.
But now…
"Sir."
Adjutant Karl appeared behind Kriolyov. Hearing his voice, Kriolyov let out a sigh.
"The Supreme Commander has ordered me to lead the First Legion together with the Second Legion and the Fifth Legion to suppress the rebellion."
"The target is…?"
"The Inquisition and the Fourth Legion."
This was actually within expectations. Kriolyov's prestige in the Herman military was unmatched. If not for his unwillingness to collude with Chancellor Stisser, the position of Supreme Commander should originally have been his. But it was precisely because of Kriolyov's upright personality that his relationship with the Council led by Stisser was extremely poor.
"I guessed it would be like this."
Hearing his commander's answer, Adjutant Karl sneered.
"You knew?"
"Yes. I heard that recently, several more guard units have defected."
"...…"
Kriolyov remained silent. In fact, within Herman, there had never been a shortage of loyal and righteous men. They could not tolerate Stisser covering the sky with one hand, and on several occasions they had even attempted to assassinate him. But because there was an extremely powerful steel monster guarding Stisser's side, those assassination attempts ultimately ended in failure.
However, that did not mean those soldiers had given up. Thus, when the Fourth Legion rebelled and even raised the banner of "purging the traitors at the Emperor's side," many soldiers and units who had originally been loyal to the royal family but suppressed by Stisser directly fled the royal capital and defected to the Fourth Legion.
In fact, within the First Legion, the officers had already discussed similar issues many times. In the past, they had been unwilling to rebel out of loyalty to the royal family. But now, the Fourth Legion's slogan of "purging the traitors at the Emperor's side" had opened a window for them.
So there was actually such an approach!
That's right—we are not betraying the country, we are purging the traitors at the Emperor's side and executing treacherous ministers!
The subordinate officers had more than once submitted petitions, requesting that Kriolyov follow the Fourth Legion's example and directly march into the royal capital to execute the traitors and assist the Emperor. But Kriolyov had refused.
And now…
"Clearly, the Council wants us to go die."
The Fourth Legion's strength was not worth fearing, but the Inquisition's strength—after this period of investigation—was already very clear to everyone. Not to mention anything else, just that mechanical giant taller than a mountain left them with no means or methods to deal with it. Although the First Legion, Second Legion, and Fifth Legion together numbered quite a lot of men, Kriolyov still had no idea how to deal with such a mechanical giant.
For the Council, the First Legion was now the least trustworthy. They even feared that the First Legion would rebel like the Fourth Legion, so they simply sent the First Legion out to attack the Inquisition in order to eliminate any threat to the royal capital.
"Are we really going to mobilize?"
"Of course."
Facing his adjutant's question, Kriolyov nodded.
"According to the Supreme Commander's orders, the First Legion will deploy forty thousand men, the Second Legion will deploy fifty thousand men, and the Fifth Legion will mobilize in full. A total of one hundred thousand troops will form a joint operation, and we must block the Inquisition and the Fourth Legion outside the royal capital."
Stretching out his hand to point forward, Kriolyov spoke calmly. He could also understand why the Council was so frantic. At present, the Inquisition and the Fourth Legion had occupied Guzak. From here, moving northwest would lead to Fortress Boen and the royal capital's secondary city, Gulannde. In other words, once Fortress Boen was breached and Gulannde City occupied, the Inquisition and the Fourth Legion would be directly at the gates of the royal capital.
Although logically speaking, according to intelligence, the Fourth Legion currently had only twenty thousand men, and the Inquisition's forces combined seemed to be less than a thousand. But the problem was that the Inquisition's mechanical giant was too terrifying. If they could not be stopped, it was very possible they would charge straight into the royal capital in one fell swoop.
"Does the Council believe the enemy will seek a swift decisive battle?"
"Most likely. After all, their total numbers are still under thirty thousand, and with the Inquisition's powerful fire support, under these circumstances, compared to steady, methodical advances, directly launching an assault on the royal capital would be the most effective approach. On this point, I also agree with the Supreme Commander's assessment. Therefore, we must put everything into this one battle—fight a decisive engagement head-on against the Fourth Legion and the Inquisition!"
As he spoke, Kriolyov clenched his fist.
Then he once again looked toward the distant horizon, turned around without another word, and walked back into the fortress.
"...…"
Watching his commander's back, Adjutant Karl let out a quiet sigh.
As an adjutant, he could only offer suggestions. The one who made the decision was still Kriolyov himself.
And now that the decision had been made…
The First Legion's actions were about to begin.
(End of Chapter)