漫画大王

Chapter 63

[Details: During the Victory Festival period, Demon prisoners are set to be traded at a black market somewhere in the imperial city. As the prince of the demons, decide whether to rescue them or to let them be.]

[Reward for success: 50 achievement points per rescued prisoner]

However, my bewilderment was so strong that I honestly didn’t care much about the event.

This time, it was Sarkegar who spoke up, and everyone was unable to hide their somber expressions.

“It seems that the nobility are secretly trading entry tickets to the auction. The prisoners will arrive here through the warp gate to coincide with the Victory Festival, and so the auction has not started yet.”

Why the wealthy were trying to buy demon slaves was beyond me, but it seemed that Sarkegar had caught wind of the circulation of entry tickets to the black-market auction.

“Why the hell are Demon prisoners being traded in the black market? What are they planning to use them for?” I asked.

Loyar answered that question for me.

“... It could be simply a collector’s desire, but... the purpose of the products usually traded are pretty obvious, aren’t they?”

“Obvious...?”

Buying goblins or orcs from the Demon Realm on a collector’s whim? And the purpose for them was obvious? What could it possibly be...?

“No way.”

It was only then that I realized why they all had such expressions. Eleris nodded silently.

“The most valuable demons will undoubtedly be the succubi.”

The ones that would draw the most competition would naturally be the succubi, and their use was clear. It was only then that I understood why Eleris had mentioned the evil nature of humans the day before.

“Damn it. I’m not an expert, but aren’t succubi... dangerous?”

If my knowledge was correct, succubi were a type of nightmare demon that sapped a human’s vitality. Were they really trading succubi for those kinds of uses? Did they have a death wish?

“Certainly, succubi can drain vitality, but there are also ways to brainwash them so they can’t do that, or even perform surgical procedures.”

They would eliminate the danger that the succubi posed and turn them into slaves. In other words, they would leave only the good parts of the succubi.

“Although the prisoners haven’t arrived yet, there will undoubtedly be a large number of them. It won’t just be succubi; incubi and many other races sold as merchandise, Your Highness.”

I nodded grimly at Sarkegar’s words.

Dyrus had thought that most of the Demon prisoners would be slaughtered, and I had thought the same. But human greed did not end there. They planned to distribute the humanoid demons, barely distinguishable from humans, in this manner.

It was no different from just a slave market, only with a different race.

In the original work I had written, there was nothing like a demon zoo. That meant there could be people breeding monstrous demons somewhere that no one knew about.

And it was clear that most would be sold for sexual purposes.

In their own way, Loyar, Sarkegar, and Eleris all seemed to find it difficult to stand by and watch while such a thing happened.

“So you want to rescue them, is that it?”

When I asked them this, their expressions all turned sorrowful.

Sarkegar shook his head.

“It is intolerable to just watch on as humans engage in such vile acts, Your Highness. However, I am aware of the severity of the situation. It’s regrettable, but should we mount a rescue and fail, not only would it bring disaster upon us, but it could also endanger you.”

Loyar seemed reluctant to agree with Sarkegar’s statement, but she appeared to have no choice but to accept it. “I agree. Of course, it would not be so easy to put Your Highness in harm’s way, but the only demons who can assist you are the three of us. If we lose even one of us, I believe it would substantially impact Your Highness’s already fragile status.”

Eleris nodded as well, biting her lips slightly. “I concur.”

All three wanted to rescue the Demon prisoners. But they had an even greater goal—my safety.

Had I not been here, these three would have thrown themselves into the fray, drawn like moths to a flame in order to rescue the demons, as the Demon Realm would have collapsed anyway, and they couldn’t just stand by and observe the human atrocities.

These three demons, who did not appear in the original work.

This meant they had lived apart from the original story. If I hadn’t interfered, they would have lived lives fitting their circumstances, probably far from where the main story took place. Of course, it was also possible that they might have died along the way somewhere.

I didn’t know everything about this world. While I was aware of the general framework, the finer details were beyond me. The life of a random passerby was never described, although they did still exist.

These three would have attempted to infiltrate the black market auction somehow to rescue their fellow demons.

The original story was still in its very early stages. If demons who had infiltrated the black market in the imperial city were caught and killed during a rescue mission, the main characters may not have known about it. After all, the early parts of the story focused mainly on life in the Temple, which was unrelated to the larger events happening outside.

At best, at this point, Ludwig would be enjoying the festival with his friends until Delphine Izadra gets kidnapped, and Ludwig would somehow manage to rescue her. It was an event that displayed the carelessness of the Temple’s security, despite claims that the Temple students’ safety was the Temple Guard’s top priority... It was highly probable that this event would still occur, as I hadn’t interfered much with Ludwig and his group, and Charlotte, the exception in Class B, was at the imperial palace.

So basically, Ludwig was going to be running around looking for a kidnapped classmate, and I had to run around to find my people who had become prisoners of war. It seemed like I was getting entangled in events more befitting a protagonist.

It felt odd, as there was absolutely no slice-of-life feel to this incident. Although to be fair, getting kidnapped at the festival also seemed quite far removed from a slice-of-life scenario.

On top of that, I was just a high school student, so this was definitely not an ordinary situation that was supposed to happen in this story.

Anyway...

If I hadn’t been there, these three would have attempted to rescue the Demons, and they would have most likely failed. Had they succeeded, demon prisoners escaping within the imperial city would have caused a huge uproar, and drawn all the attention.

Right now, they considered me a priority, so they probably felt frustrated that they couldn’t attempt the rescue.

‘What should I do?’

Honestly, I didn’t see why I, who was not even truly a demon, had to be compelled to do this. I had no actual plans to rebuild the Demon Realm.

However, I didn’t adhere to the belief that only humans were considered human. The three standing before me were not human, but to me, they were no different from humans. And in the end, they were absolutely on my side, which made them more important than any human out there.

Intelligent demons—essentially my people—were going to be sold into slavery in the imperial city, doomed to live miserable lives.

Putting various thoughts aside, if I could prevent such a situation, I genuinely wanted to do so. If I rescued them, they, too, would become my resolute allies.

But the risks I had to take were too great. If these three were captured or their identities revealed, there was a high likelihood that all of them would be killed; in particular, if Loyar’s identity was revealed, I’d be taken down along with her.

I sincerely wanted to rescue them, but if it meant risking my life, it would make me hesitate. After all, I knew I was not some great and noble person.

In the end, I was nothing more than a middle-aged man who had returned to his high-school days and liked to cause trouble.

For such an individual to contemplate breaking into a black market full of wealthy nobles and gentry—an event I was certain would be well-attended—was frankly absurd. The security would be tight, and it was even uncertain if I could get in at all.

If these three, far more capable than I, would likely fail, what chance would I have?

All of them looked glum, having apparently given up, because my protection and safety was the absolute priority.

Moreover, they hadn’t asked me for a solution, but merely informed me of the situation.

“Can’t we at least talk about it first? Regardless of whether we attempt it or not?”

Regardless of the situation, I couldn’t just dismiss the earnest desire of these three who trusted and followed me, someone who was far from remarkable.

A fleeting emotion flickered through each of their eyes.

“Your Highness, we cannot. Your safety and future, as the supreme leader, must be the top priority. While the situation is undoubtedly sad and infuriating, we must weigh the gravity of every action,” Sarkegar insisted, opposing my suggestion despite being moved by it.

Sarkegar was someone who prioritized my safety and future above all else, so his response was expected.

“It’s fine. I’m not saying we should decide whether or not we should go through with it, I’m just suggesting we talk about it and see if there are any viable options.”

I pressed on without even listening to the concerns of Eleris and Loyar. Certainly, if the plan of action was dangerous, I would not attempt it. Regardless of whether it was essential or not, if the mission was doomed to fail, it would merely spell a senseless death for all of us.

Eleris was the first to speak up.

“Assuming we decide to do something, there are three pieces of preliminary information we absolutely must know: the location of the black market, the number of prisoners, and the security situation.”

“That makes sense.”

Without knowing this, we would essentially be stumbling about blindly. First and foremost, we had to find out where this black-market auction was taking place.

Loyar nodded, agreeing with Eleris’s point. “We might be able to find some information, but details regarding the black market are only discreetly circulated among the nobility—it’s privileged information. It’s unlikely that we could obtain such information on the streets.”

She was right. Information about a black market that clearly catered exclusively to the extremely wealthy or nobility wouldn’t just be floating around on the streets, so it was improbable that we could obtain it from the Rotary Club or similar sources.

“Since I brought the information, I believe it’s right for me to look into it. But first, we need to obtain tickets to enter the market,” Sarkegar said.

As the market was held in great secrecy, we had to acquire tickets before we could gather any further information. Sarkegar could obtain information that circulated only within the nobles of human society, which was why he had taken the risk of disguising himself as a noble of the empire in the first place.

“How much is a ticket?”

“I’ve heard that it’s around forty gold, Your Highness.”

The entry fee alone amounted to four million won. This meant that, if someone went just to spectate without purchasing anything, they would come out at a loss. In turn, that meant attendees would be competitively bidding to acquire at least something from the event. It was likely a strategy to get people to spend more money by playing on their loss-aversion tendencies.

“Of course, at this stage, I don’t know who is selling the tickets, but I believe I can find that out with a bit of digging on my end. Additionally, if we’re willing to take the risk, we could steal a ticket from someone in possession of one and use it to infiltrate the auction under a disguise. Of course, I will have to think about what measures we should take regarding the individual we snatch the ticket from, however...”

We could buy a ticket, but it would be pricey, and if we used someone else’s ticket to enter, we were left with the problem of what to do with the person we’d stolen it from. Whether we used an enchantment or hypnotic magic on them, we would have to alter their memories somehow, since they would have supposedly attended the auction, even if they didn’t actually do so.

We could discover the location of the black-market auction, but the number of prisoners was not possible to find out at this stage.

So then, who exactly was organizing this auction?

I brought up the next question. “What about the people hosting this black-market auction?”

This time, Eleris spoke up.

“There’s no need to overthink it, Your Highness. The fact that someone can divert prisoners under the control of the allied forces and sell them on the black market implies that they are likely colluding with those who have authority over the prisoners.”

“That makes sense.”

“If there’s already talk spreading about the prisoners being sold on the black market before they’ve even arrived, it means that this plan must have been in place even before the Demon Realm Conquest Army returned.”

The prisoners hadn’t even been diverted yet, but rumors about an upcoming black-market auction were already spreading, albeit discreetly, among those with such dark desires.

I nodded at Eleris. “So you’re saying that there’s already an agreement with whoever is managing the imperial prisoners, and the people in the unit responsible for the prisoners must clearly have ties to this organization?”

“That’s correct. Even if not every commander is aware of this, someone in a high-ranking military position close to the final decision-makers must definitely know of this.”

Without the permission of the commanding officer or one of the higher-ups in the prisoner management unit, diverting prisoners would be impossible.

“Damn it. This seems to be escalating much higher than expected...”

I couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh. While I wasn’t sure exactly how influential the prisoner management unit was within the Demon Realm Conquest Army, it was almost certain that someone close to the highest-ranking commanding officers was involved.

“It’s possible that even the imperial family could be involved with this,” I said.

“Yes, that is also a possibility,” Loyar agreed with a nod.

If left alone, the prisoners would only face execution. Therefore, it would be dumb not to sell them off on the black market and allow the wealthy to spend their riches.

It was entirely possible that the imperial family itself could be orchestrating this black-market auction. After all, it guaranteed them a huge influx of money.

It made more business sense to sell off demon prisoners that had been neutralized and were no longer a threat, rather than just killing them.

The black-market auction could be an event held underground by the Imperial family to commemorate the festival. Diverting prisoners was something a commander in the army could do, but it would entail taking a huge risk.

Given that such discussions were quietly circulating among the nobles of human society, it was highly unlikely that the imperial family was unaware of the auction. In fact, individuals such as Vertus and Charlotte might already be aware of this matter.

“The potential organizers of the event, though not confirmed, seem to be tremendously powerful figures.”

This wasn’t something that could be organized by the Thieves’ Guild or basic gang organizations. It was an operation planned in collusion with the imperial family, or powers of equivalent magnitude.

This naturally led to an estimate regarding the last requirement we needed information about—the level of security forces.

It was undoubtedly going to be extensive.

“So we’d have to break through what will definitely be a tight security, rescue an unknown number of demon prisoners, and then also find a place to hide them...”

The operation consisted of these three stages, and each step seemed impossible.

“Is there any way to do it with magic?”

In the end, I had no choice but to invoke the cheat code again.

Eleris noted my questioning gaze and shook her head.

“Since there are important guests attending, there will be a substantial contingent of security forces, and there will certainly be mages among them.”

“Of the same level as you?”

I could tell at a glance that Eleris was a highly-capable mage.

“It’s difficult to say. The forces of the alliance, including the imperial army, would have been severely weakened, and the elite forces even more so. However, there certainly will be mages of a level similar to me, and while I do not know if they will be deployed to provide security for this event or not, it’s certain they will make sure that any type of external magic cannot interfere with the auction.

“Even if there are no mages present, there will surely be anti-magic barriers or fields set up. It isn’t just to prevent the rescue of prisoners, but also because a party could use magic in an attempt to manipulate the auction in their favor.”

Someone could try to use extensive illusion magic, hallucinations, or even mind control to ensure that they are the only bidder for an item on auction. For us, employing magic to tackle this situation was not a good option because of the definite presence of countermeasures, not just against prisoner escapes, but for various other reasons like these.

I wondered what tactics the three of them would have originally considered. It seemed likely they would have tried something, but perhaps, in a fit of anger, they might have chosen to just recklessly charge in.

After reviewing the situation again and again, though, this method appeared too reckless. Just the three of them, and even adding me to the mix wouldn’t make a difference. Perhaps they were just all prepared to embark on an impossible task.

Were they ready to die nobly in such an audacious attempt?

Sarkegar would have probably leaped in, enraged by the hopelessness of reconstructing the Demon Realm, and Loyar as well, simply because she could not stand such unethical events from occurring. I wasn’t so sure about Eleris, but it seemed likely she would’ve joined the two, perhaps because of a sense of guilt or debt towards the Demon Realm.

However, because of my presence, they had yet to make the spontaneous decision that they would have.

Breaking into the auction and rescuing prisoners appeared to be next to impossible, and even if we were to rescue them, where would we hide them? Even if the operation succeeded, it would still pose a problem, as the number of prisoners might be more than we could handle.

Eleris seemed to be lost in thought for a while, then she tilted her head. “Do we really need to do something exactly while the auction is taking place?”

Huh? What did she mean by that?

“The very day of the auction would actually be the worst time to attempt to rescue the prisoners, Your Highness.”

That’s when I finally understood what Eleris was suggesting.

The moment the auction started would be when the security was at its peak. We would be attempting an already-dangerous task when our enemies were most vigilant.

“Wouldn’t it be more feasible to act before the auction begins, or after all sales are completed and the demons have been handed over to individual owners?

“Security would be present before the auction starts, but once the ownership transfers to the buyers, the buyers would be responsible for managing their “property” on their own, which makes it relatively easier to extract them.”

“Hmm... That’s right.”

Loyar nodded slowly in acknowledgment, as if she hadn’t considered this idea before.