"It's all over!"
"Yeah~"
Watching those poor souls who had been enslaved for so long finally regain their freedom, with smiles blooming on their faces again, Weston and Mavis felt equally joyful for them.
Today was another day of helping others escape from suffering!
Happy!
Soon, the people from the tribe came before Weston and the others one after another to express their gratitude.
"Really, thank you so, so much!!"
"If it weren't for your arrival and your defeat of that pervert, we wouldn't have known how much longer we'd be enslaved by him!"
"Now, finally, finally, we are free!!"
Weston did not refuse, accepting everyone's gratitude one by one.
After all, these few words of thanks were all they could afford to give.
"What do you all plan to do next?"
"Well, we'll take it one step at a time. Maybe we'll head back to our respective hometowns first and see how things are."
After asking around, Weston learned that these people had all been tricked into coming here over the past few years.
Back then, the simultaneous eruption of the Trade War and the Fiore Royal Family's civil war caused an economic depression across the kingdom, which gave Slive the opportunity to deceive the common people.
Now, although they had escaped the war and saved their lives, they would likely face hometowns reduced to ruins upon their return and the future remained bleak.
Seeing this, Weston could only step forward again to point out a clear path for this group of people.
"We are Wizards from the Magic Guild 'Fairy Tail,' residing in the southern town of Magnolia."
"That place hasn't been affected by the war, and with the support of various guilds, it is currently developing rapidly."
"If you have nowhere else to go and don't mind settling there, you can come with us. I'll help arrange housing and jobs for you when the time comes."
Upon hearing this, everyone felt as if they were listening to heavenly music. For a moment, they looked at Weston as if they were seeing a god, weeping with gratitude for his generosity.
"Is this true?"
"Young man, you are truly a great person!!"
"Then we thank you once again!!"
"I'll go tell everyone the good news right now!!"
While everyone was spreading the news and packing their bags, Weston took Mavis to Slive's lair, the palace-like building in the center of the tribe.
Curious about their plans, Reiya followed along as well.
Joey, unable to enter due to his massive size, stood guard outside.
"Weston, what exactly are you looking for by coming here specifically?"
Mavis watched Weston move back and forth within the palace, checking everything from documents on the desk to decorative paintings on the walls, not even missing the cracks in the floorboards as he carefully investigated with magic. She couldn't help but feel curious.
Weston replied while continuing his movements.
"'Human Subordination' is not a magic that can be awakened naturally. It is a Lost Magic, even a forbidden one. Normally, it shouldn't be so easily obtained."
"But that man Slive managed to get his hands on it, so I strongly suspect his background."
Mavis realized: "I see, you suspect there's a larger dark force involved behind him?"
"Exactly!"
Weston nodded, then pointed out another suspicious point.
"Look, the decorations and furnishings in this palace, while not quite up to royal standards, can certainly be called luxurious. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it noble-level."
"It's clear that Slive spent a lot of manpower and financial resources to build this place."
"However, those people Slive tricked into coming here are all from impoverished backgrounds. It would be impossible to squeeze such wealth out of them."
"This shows that these were assets Slive already possessed."
"So where did his wealth come from?"
"A person with so much money could live very well in the outside world. Why would he specifically come to a place like this and trick a bunch of people just to play 'King Game'?"
"Therefore, I speculate that there is likely some dark force hidden behind him."
After Weston's reminder, Mavis and Reiya also realized something was wrong.
"Indeed, the possibility you mentioned is quite high!"
"Young man Weston is very clever. I'm starting to believe you really are the Guild Master now!"
Reiya's words made Weston's mouth twitch.
"Uncle, you should have believed that when I defeated Slive!"
"Un—Uncle?!"
Reiya immediately looked devastated, then started shouting indignantly: "Young man! Don't look at me like this, I'm only 22 this year!"
"Eh?!!"
"No way?!"
Weston and Mavis were simultaneously shocked.
"I thought you were at least 42!!"
"You must have unknowingly lost 20 years of your memory, which is why you think you're still 22 years old!"
"Hey!!"
"Even if you are my saviors, you can't say such rude things!!!"
Reiya was furious and lunged at Weston, but how could Weston let him succeed? He lightly stepped to the right and nimbly dodged.
With a 'thud.'
Reiya crashed into a bookshelf in the room, scattering various documents all over the floor.
He hurriedly did a kip-up to stand back up, and just as he steadied himself, he caught sight of a special document out of the corner of his eye.
"Hmm? This is—"
Seeing his strange expression, Weston walked over: "Did you find something?"
Looking at the document, he saw several large characters written on it: Magic Research Institute!
"Research Institute?"
Weston was instantly alert.
One must know that in this world filled with magic, places like Magic Research Institutes have never been legal or conscientious organizations.
On the contrary, such organizations are highly likely to secretly conduct evil, inhumane experiments, preparing to destroy the world or endanger human lives and the stability of the kingdom.
"Quick, let's see what's written inside!"
The three immediately flipped through it and found it was a recipe for an 'invisibility potion.'
After using this 'invisibility potion,' one could hide their form to the greatest extent and even block others' magic perception.
However, this recipe was still under research, so the potion was only a semi-finished product.
Seeing this, Weston understood immediately.
"It seems the reason Slive was able to avoid my magic perception during the battle earlier was because he used this invisibility potion!"
The group searched around for a while longer and found a diary belonging to Slive. Its contents were fragmented, but by connecting them, a complete story could be roughly pieced together.