After swapping shifts with Sayo for the middle watch, Tatsumi fell into a deep sleep.
Just like that, the night quietly passed, and the three of them packed up and set out again.
---
More than twenty days went by as time slipped away quietly.
The trio had temporarily settled in North Frost City.
It was the nearest city to thier Village—though still over twenty days' journey away.
Since they had no horses, they could only travel on foot.
"Please exchange these materials for money."
"Understood."
After selling the materials they'd collected from danger beasts during the past twenty days, they left the shop.
"Let's rest for now, repair our gear, and leave after staying one night."
At the mention of rest, Sayo and Ieyasu both cheered.
"I want a bath! Then shopping!"
"Lord Ieyasu will have a good, long sleep!"
Watching the two of them, Tatsumi smiled warmly. They really were like his younger siblings.
"Then let's find an inn."
"Yeah!!"
---
Days passed. The snow of winter melted, and spring once again covered the country.
The three walked down a wide road, the forests on both sides thick with leaves.
"Seriously, those merchants are crooks... So many materials and we only got this little money. Back home, this could've sold for five times more!"
"We're lucky to have anything left. We've had to pay so many tolls."
Hearing her complaints, Tatsumi could only sigh helplessly.
The number of tax checkpoints along the way was absurd. The closer they got to the capital, the higher the taxes.
It said everything about how rotten this Empire had become.
"There are more and more pitiful people on the roads too..."
After paying the gate tax and entering the city, Ieyasu frowned at the sight of beggars lining the streets.
"All oppressed people... every one of them."
When they saw a slave merchant whipping a group of slaves, Ieyasu stopped.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
"Damn it! Can't you behave yourselves?! Huh?!"
The merchant's whip lashed over and over, his face twisted in rage.
This batch was meant to be a special gift for a noble in the capital—yet look what they'd done!
They'd injured their own precious bodies!
How was he supposed to sell them now?!
He whipped the ringleader mercilessly to make an example of her.
The results were good enough—at least, the fear in the other slaves' eyes wasn't fake.
"That's right! You're all valuable property... If you act up again, I'll throw you to breed with danger beasts."
With that cold threat, the merchant turned and went inside to order his men to move the goods.
"Let's go... Our goal is to make the village prosperous."
"There are too many like that... We can't save them all."
Seeing the wounded slave girl lying on the ground, Tatsumi pulled Ieyasu and Sayo toward the inn.
But as they walked away, the slave merchant noticed them.
He watched the black-haired girl being led by the hand and had a thought.
"So painful... I, Lord Ieyasu, can't stand seeing girls get hurt..."
"Yeah, just looking at that whip made me hurt too."
Ieyasu pouted, and Sayo nodded in agreement.
Tatsumi sighed.
He disliked that man too, but people had to learn to control themselves.
Ever since the Emperor's death eight or nine years ago, the Empire had changed drastically under the young emperor. And the source of it all was the minister, Honest.
The slave merchants were one of the many reasons this nation had decayed.
Scenes like the one earlier weren't rare at all.
In the Empire, slavery had always existed. The merchants not only traded slaves but also danger beasts.
Of course, level-one danger beasts were already their limit—anything higher was impossible.
They couldn't afford strong mercenaries or guards, so they flattered nobles to survive. Once they earned enough favors and wealth, they could climb the ladder themselves.
Before reaching that level, they competed fiercely with one another while ensuring their "goods" remained in perfect condition.
During this time of deepening corruption, a new "premium product" appeared—women.
Besides foreigners and danger beasts, beautiful women became the hottest commodity.
Rural girls, slum girls, countless victims.
There were too many to count.
As slave traders flourished, the number of homeless children on the streets grew, along with the number of broken, numb souls.
After checking into a room, the three sat together at a table.
"That woman who was whipped... she's probably from the countryside, like us. Her body's different from city folk—muscular, maybe trained or used to labor."
"Her age's about the same as ours... As for how she became a slave, there are only a few possible reasons..."
Families unable to survive another year might sell their children, or die off entirely and leave them captured, or get attacked by bandits—there were too many possible reasons.
And of course, it wasn't strange that there were bandits.
Because some of those "bandits" were actually disguised slave traders.
If they didn't destroy your home and kill your family, how else would they get slaves? This wasn't wartime anymore.
The foreign tribes wouldn't start wars right after winter, so with no wars to supply slaves, the slavers had to find other ways to get them.
And as for why nobody stopped them—it was because nobody could. These slave traders all had Imperial-issued permits, and even the slaves had official slave documents. What could three kids from the countryside possibly do about it?
"In short, to people like them, country folk like us are just pebbles on the road..."
Seeing the heavy look in their eyes, Tatsumi smiled and changed the subject.
"How about we eat something good tonight? What do you two want to eat?"
"Meat!"
"Of course it has to be meat!"
The two immediately perked up at the mention of food, their energy restored in an instant.
Tatsumi nodded and left the room to talk to the innkeeper about dinner.