Chapter 89.2: Male Mother
Skulls, spines, and pelvises, skeletons of young girls, complete skeletons of orcs, preserved corpses before decomposition of both humans and orcs, miniature skulls…
The transaction date on this list was just six months prior, and the "inventory" listed on the scroll alone was at least a hundred corpses.
"For any red-light district, it is quite normal for the 'refreshing and updating' of 'merchandise.' After all, ordinary people's bodies can't withstand many years of such harsh treatment. A prostitute that can live to the age of thirty would be considered fortunate." Yang Qiu revealed no emotion, calm and collected as usual. "From this perspective, Mr. Mayor as well as the baron that supports him are indeed commercial geniuses. Their utilization of 'consumables' is quite impressive."
Inspector Lowell exhaled and placed the light yet incredibly heavy scroll on the table.
For most ordinary folk, it was probably unimaginable to them that the corpses of sentient beings could be bought and sold.
And unlike the general understanding of most people, it wasn't black mages that people feared who traded such commodities; it was those high and mighty aristocrats who had already exhausted all the pleasures of life.
"Crafts" made from "fresh" bones of sentient beings were still rather popular as a status symbol in some extravagant social circles.
"You are right," Inspector Lowell muttered, deadpan. "Perhaps this land indeed needs a new owner."
Yang Qiu picked up the parchment list, folded it three times, and put it in his breast pocket. "As you say, revered inspector."
Staring at the large pit that players had excavated in the courtyard, Yang Qiu stroked his chin and said, "Inspector Lowell, how about we have a little game of treasure hunting?"
Lowell: "??"
"Mr. Mayor's wife is deceased, and he has no children. He doesn't have any other expenses besides using his substantial savings to purchase alchemical elixirs for maintaining health and extending his life. Moreover, he has no close relatives with whom he maintains regular communication… So, have you ever wondered where he might be hiding all those gold coins he has amassed?" Yang Qiu asked.
"No, I'm not curious." Inspector Lowell's face darkened.
"Don't be so hasty, my friend." Yang Qiu chuckled heartily. "I understand that the things gold coins can exchange for hold little appeal for you. But what if it's something that even gold coins can't acquire?"
"What are you trying to say?" Lowell frowned.
"You might have already noticed that the items in the cabinet in Exile Town, including the supplies I provide to Hal, Rex, and female workers, aren't commodities available on the market." Yang Qiu smiled and… took out his mobile phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and turned the screen toward Lowell.
"This, for example, has a camera function capable of recording and storing up to half an hour of audiovisual imagery and holding thousands of books you've never heard of. You would never find a second such novel gadget, even if you search all of Navalon."
Lowell's frown deepened as he stared at Yang Qiu in silence.
"Just as you've once subtly tried inquiring, I may not have the talent for spatial magic, but I unexpectedly gained access to a stable spatial rift to another mysterious dimension." Yang Qiu opened the phone's camera function, showing Lowell a real-time image of the inspector himself on the screen. "The world on the other side of the rift is entirely different from our material plane. The humans there have created a multitude of unimaginable technological products… Would you not be curious about that?"
Inspector Lowell stared at the real-time image of himself on the phone's small screen, shock creeping into his face…
Color cameras had been around for decades, and in the northern Kenyan Empire, there were advertisements for the "latest magic stone cameras" capable of recording real-time audiovisuals invented just two years prior.
However, be it cameras or the magic stone camera that the Kenyan Empire promoted, the sizes of such objects were quite substantial. Lowell had never heard of anything that could take pictures and be as compact as the gadget Yang was holding.
Still smiling, Yang Qiu kept his phone away. "Let's play this treasure hunt game, revered inspector. If you can find the ill-gotten wealth that the mayor unlawfully gained, I will find a sufficiently novel and unprecedented gift from the world on the other side of the spatial rift to thank you."
Inspector Lowell gulped…
The work under Rex's charge of accommodating the sex workers was the first to be completed. With the enthusiastic assistance of the players, Mia's persuasion, and the personal testimonies of Ossirian and his companions, these hapless civilians that had just feasted on the meal didn't put up any strong resistance to being gathered together.
Especially after the players enthusiastically helped them retrieve their "personal belongings," convincingly proving that the strange beings in control of Weisshem didn't object to them having possession of "personal items." These civilians, who were used to being disrespected, felt sufficiently at ease.
But that wasn't all. After gathering everyone in front of the two occupied established shops, the gentle, considerate "male mother," Rex, didn't immediately allow them to enter and settle in. Instead, he had them wait in front of the two establishments for a bit.
In front of everyone, he removed the signs and neon lights of "Golden Coast" and "Elegant Dreams."
Then, he threw the two heavy neon light signs and stomped on these malicious symbols with force, shattering them into pieces.
These mistreated civilians had varying expressions, watching in astonishment as Rex trampled on the signboards as if he were ofn a crazed rampage. No one dared make a squeak.
Once the signs were broken into pieces, Rex stopped, straightened his clothes, and addressed these people, "We've arrived, and this town will never need these predatory industries again. From now on, you will be ordinary Weisshem residents. Your names will be registered in the town's registry, and you will live the rest of your lives just like everyone else."
The people crowding on the street stared at Rex in silence.
Many of them didn't believe Rex's words… but they also had self-awareness and wouldn't be foolish enough to step forward and accuse this professional-level combatant of bluffing.
Rex didn't need everyone to believe his promise. He just led these people into the resettlement points, separated rooms by gender, and confiscated all the "pleasure toys" from the rooms, destroying them on the spot.
After completing what needed to be done and settling the undead's rewards, Rex sat down on the steps of one of the establishments, suddenly feeling a sense of extreme exhaustion.
"Ossirian seems to be feeling unwell… Are you okay, Mr. Rex?" Mia came out from the building and, seeing Rex sitting on the steps lost in thought, ran over in concern.
"I'm fine. What's wrong with Ossirian?" Rex asked.
"He's vomiting. He threw up everything he ate earlier," Mia said nervously.
Rex nodded. "Don't worry. He's probably just tired. I'll find an undead to cook him some light soup later."
Mia nodded, took a few steps forward, and crouched down next to Rex. "Are you really okay, Mr. Rex?"
Because Hal and the gang didn't view the two of them highly, Rex and Mia had been taking care of each other these few days after leaving Exile Town.
Mia was two years older than Rex, and deep down, she wished for a gentle younger brother like Rex, just that she felt unworthy and didn't dare to speak up. Instead, she quietly did what she could to help Rex.
"I…" Rex had initially tried to brush it off, but couldn't bring himself to do so after seeing the concern in Mia's eyes. He faltered for a bit, then said, "It's difficult seeing these people suffer like that. They shouldn't have to live like this."
Mia nodded silently, her fist clenched unconsciously over her chest.
She understood why Rex felt this way. She had once thought her own life was painful enough, but seeing the people here made her feel suffocated. These people were so beautiful, unlike her, who had been born ugly due to a curse of fate, and they were being treated like livestock. It was like personally witnessing a tragedy of beautiful things being destroyed unfolded.
"Mr. Lord will have a way," Mia whispered softly. "If even someone like me was saved by Mr. Lord, he surely wouldn't give up on them. Just as you said, they will live well in the future."
Rex stared blankly into the distance for a long time before he slowly nodded.
What he told Mia had been only half-truth. He was indeed distressed, and part of the reason was that he thought of his mother.
She was equally beautiful, and instead of being forced by others, she foolishly believed that her natural beauty could be exchanged for a decent life with Rex's viscount father who had everything.
His mother, who was much luckier than the mistreated prostitutes here, was quickly abandoned once she lost the only card she had—her beauty—and ultimately perished, leaving Rex alone to face everything.
"Gods shouldn't generously grant people extraordinary beauty; it's not… a blessing at all," Rex murmured in a voice that only he could hear, softly.
If his mother wasn't so beautiful, or if she came from a commoner family, perhaps she would have chosen to marry a man with similar social status and wouldn't have had to experience the shamefully volatile life she did.
If the people here weren't so good-looking, perhaps they wouldn't have been sold to this place…
"Hey, Rex!"
While Rex was lost in thought, Yang and Inspector Lowell came over.
Yang Qiu glanced at the heap of sign fragments on the ground, smiled, and waved to Rex.
"Yang." Rex quickly got up and nodded to the two of them. "Inspector Lowell."
"Mr. Lord." Mia also quickly made a gesture of lifting her skirt slightly, but she only greeted Yang Qiu and ignored Lowell, who had once tried to take them back.
Yang Qiu smiled at Mia and then turned to Rex. "Shave your face, tidy up your hair, put on some powder to make yourself look fairer, and change into your most respectable attire. Then go to the militia station and fetch a few horses. We're going to Indahl."
"Alright." Rex first acknowledged before confusion showed up all over his face as he realized something was wrong. "W-wait! Did I hear wrongly? Did you say… we're going to Indahl?!"
"You heard right," Yang Qiu said with a smile. "But don't be mistaken. We aren't going Indahl to walk into a trap. We are going to request a change in the lordship of Weisshem's territory."
Rex was utterly perplexed.
"You, Charlie Rex, are the son of a Rhine Kingdom's viscount. Even as a bastard, the noble blood of Viscount Rex flows through your veins, and no one can deny that," Yang Qiu began to speak in all seriousness, mixing a bit of jest into his words.
"A nobleman like Charlie Rex, of noble viscount lineage, uncovered the despicable crimes committed by the Lord of Weisshem. Furious, he initiated a territorial war and effectively seized control of Weisshem. Isn't it perfectly normal for you to request that the Indahl City Hall change the ownership of Weisshem and have your name up there?"
Rex: "…(° △° )"
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦