Are there any ideals that remain strong even after 1000 years?
The nobles of the Kingdom of Asgard were a perfect example. As the next head of the family, Gideon is receiving the utmost treatment today as well. The Royal Castle in the center of the Royal Capital has a splendid event every night, providing a time of colorful banquets and music.
However, it’s not the Royal family who are at the center of the excitement. It is the great nobles who had fiefdoms all over the country.
“The East Dungeon, which I control, is developing well.”
When Gideon said that, his cronies laughed. A gorgeous chandelier made of magic stone adorned the high ceiling. To Gideon, the resounding voices and the music played seemed to be for his own sake.
“Wonderful!”
“We need to make sure that the commoners understand.”
Getting out of the festivities, Gideon drinks a fine drink. He looked down to the east of the Royal Capital and gritted his teeth.
Everything is fine. Everything is smooth sailing. Which is why “stains” are so irritating.
“Rion, that bastard……!”
The scum with the useless skills seemed to be making steady progress. For some reason, he found allies in the Western Dungeon and is now steadily working on paying off his debt.
There is a limit to how much pressure can be exerted. There are other nobles and powerful associations to the West of the Royal Capital and his influence does not extend as far as it does to the East.
“Just what kind of trick did he do……”
First of all, he did not calculate that Rion would be able to acquire a rare item that was tradable in the West area. A mediocre item would only have end up with a beat down price after all.
It’s also incomprehensible that someone had introduced Rion to a connection.
“Just who is helping that scum with useless skill?”
Gideon couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
“I have to enslave him……!”
Suddenly, Gideon sensed a presence.
He looked back.
Gideon, who possessed the skill 『Swordsman』, had many abilities that were useful in battle. One of them was presence detection, which was like an announcement for him if there is a visitor.
Before the figure appeared, a voice came from the darkness.
“Are you having a hard time? Is your promise going well?”
Blonde hair peeks out from the hood of the speaker. Underneath the cloak was like an adventurer’s style of leather armor, but the thin jawline suggested that the person in front of him is a handsome man.
Beside the man with the hood is a woman who is similarly wearing a robe pulled down low over her head. There is something creepy about her. Her black hair is curling like snakes, and a bright red tongue occasionally licked her lips.
Gideon pasted a smile on his face.
“……O-of course, there’s no problem.”
“Good.”
It was the man who responded.
As he offered him a chair, Gideon gritted his teeth in his mind.
Gideon’s goal was to turn Rion into a slave. The man and woman were emissaries from a powerful noble and if he could provide them with the slaves they desired, he would gain even more power.
Slaves with unusual skills. That’s what they wanted.
Originally, he was supposed to achieve that goal right away. The inability to repay a large amount of debt is a common reason for enslavement. The best way to get a poor family to fall into slavery is to break the heart of the worker in the family.
In order to let Rion know that he is going to resume his tough work and to rob him of hope, Gideon went to attack and pressure Rion. After all, it would be easier to sneak up on Rion, who is an adventurer in the East dungeon than his mother who served in the Temple of Oudis.
A life of extreme poverty. Harsh collection practices. Refusals to buy his items.
If Gideon, or any of these two, were to show up and offer a contract for forced labor—a de facto slave contract—most poor people would rather see it as a relief. They would enter into unfavorable deals, believing that things would be better than they were now.
But when thinking back, Rion was different from the beginning. He is irritatingly persistent enough. Gideon grimaced as he remembered the pain in his jaw.
The man spoke.
“By the way…… the boy’s father also had a rare skill, didn’t he?”
“Yes. It’s a skill called 『Awakening』 and I’m not really sure, but it was a skill that can awaken one’s physical abilities.”
It’s funny when he thinks about it. His father had a decent skill. But he was just from a commoner’s family lineage.
“It is said that skills can be passed down from father to child. Is it possible that the older brother also has a powerful skill?”
“Who knows…… Kuku, what I know is that he only got a rubbish skill. Hmm, he also has a sister, but I heard that she is sick and hasn’t even activated her skills.”
The shoulders of the man and woman jerked.
“Mr. Noble,”
The woman spoke for the first time. Her tone was seductive yet eerie, like a snake coiling around him and it made Gideon almost step back.
“Can I order more?”
“Huh?”
“I’d like his sister to be a slave too, is that possible?”
Gideon pondered. This is related to a powerful noble family. It would be best to answer carefully.
“Hmm… well, you see, they are a famous adventurer’s family after all. It would be quite conspicuous if we were to kidnap them.”
“Fufu, I don’t like being conspicuous. It would be best to use her as payment for their debt. It’s natural and it’s hard to get away from it because she is trying to work for her family’s sake.”
Gideon had a headache.
Yes, first of all, there’s Rion. He is working on paying off his debts and he even found ways to do it!
“Tch.”
He clicked his tongue.
The man and woman seemed to sense Gideon’s irritation. They asked,
“Is it really troublesome?”
Should I just give up?
Gideon thought so. But then he immediately remembered that he could no longer part ways with the man and woman.
The man opens his mouth.
“If you don’t make a promise, I’ll need you to return what I lent you. That is very clear to you, right?”
“……W-well, it is quite troubling. I tried it in the Eastern Dungeon and it obviously improved the quality of the dungeon.”
His voice trembled. His irritation turned to impatience.
The man’s mouth, peeking out from under his hood, curved into an arch.
“The gods sealed away ancient items and monsters. That is the history of the dungeon and the founding of the nation. Such power lies dormant underground.”
Hearing the man’s words, Gideon falls silent.
“If you loosen the seal, dangerous monsters will awaken, but the items from the dungeon will improve. You’ve already tried your hand on it, right?”
“I know.”
Monsters and items are sealed within dungeons. In the history of the founding of the nation, the Royal family was responsible for protecting such dungeons. The proof to that was that only the Royal family possessed the power to do so—the skill 『Seal』.
It is the power to manage the seal placed by the gods. If the seal is weakened, the power sealed in the dungeon will overflow, and the number of dangerous monsters will increase. On the other hand, ancient treasures are also easier to obtain. In other words, the stakes are great, and the benefits are great.
Of course, once they tighten the seal, the opposite will happen. Monsters become weaker, but it is also harder to find high-quality materials.
It can be thought of as a kind of difficulty adjustment.
Magic stones and relics from dungeons are an important industry. The Royal family’s management of the dungeon is equivalent to manipulating the amount of gold and silver mined thru it—no, it was more than that.
It was said that the reason why there were four dungeons in the Royal Capital was because they wanted to keep more dungeons in the lap of the Royal family.
Gideon mutters,
“But if you can loosen the seal of the dungeon at will……”
The reason for the increase in the number of monsters in the Eastern Dungeon which is a beginner dungeon, is because Gideon used a “certain item”.
The difficulty level has been increased, and the quality of items found inside has also increased. Adventurers are free to shoulder as much of the risk as they want. The reason why he was able to take center stage at today’s banquet is because the Eastern dungeon is on the rise.
“But you see, I can’t really believe that a nobleman can’t enslave a single commoner.”
The woman’s words hurt Gideon’s pride. The woman held up her gloved fingers.
“Why don’t you try to make it rougher?”
“What do you mean?”
“You think that he’ll be able to pay back his debt, right? Then, why don’t you try to make it so that he won’t be able to pay it back?”
With beautiful lips, the woman whispers,
“Cause serious injury or increase his debt. Surely, you can do it that way, right?”
Your frustration can find an outlet.
“Break a bone, destroy an arm, make him unable to work, any number of reasons for not being able to work. Basically, if there’s no hope of paying back the debt, then it’s all down to the original plan.”
“……Is that okay?”
Gideon had also realized that the man and woman were gathering slaves in secret. Their need to “not stand out” was troublesome.
The Royal family condemns the abuse of slaves by some nobles. It is natural that if he collects it roughly, it will catch their eye. Therefore, Gideon believed that the client was sticking to the common form of debt enslavement.
“It’s not the same as hurting them a little, right? Besides, the goods are going to be damaged that way.”
“Fufu. We’re gathering slaves with rare skills from all over the country. So, it’s true that we don’t want to draw attention. It would be hard to move if rumors spread after all. But if there’s a slave we really want, it can’t be helped if we draw attention a little.”
The woman’s eyes lit up.
Her full lips curved into a seductive smile that seemed to draw you in. Sensing the presence of magical power, Gideon came back to his senses just in time.
“……Was that a skill just now?”
“Fufu, this way, I can tempt people to a certain extent. I won’t use it on you, don’t worry.”
Because there is no need to.
The woman added with a laugh,
“However, those who are weak in heart cannot resist it.”
That’s why you have to hurt them huh.
“You mean, Rion is different? Are you saying, he is worth it?”
“Ufufufu, I don’t know if I got it right. Look, just think about it.”
The woman clapped her gloved hands.
“It’s easy, it’s very simple~! If you’re a ‘noble’ then~”
The woman’s entangled voice reveals a vague impulse.
“I see.”
Gideon recalled having a convenient lawless zone.
—The dungeon.
“Hihi, Hihihihi”
Even when Gideon put his hand to his mouth, his grin cannot be hidden.
Now that the client has given permission, there is no need to put up with it anymore.
Attack in the dungeon!
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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