Chapter 64
“Those participating in the auction will undoubtedly pay a high price for the prisoners. And the new owners might make the prisoners suffer for a while, but they probably won’t kill them. Therefore, instead of entering the auction or mounting an assault, it seems reasonable to approach this with the concept of theft in mind.”
“Indeed... theft does seem to sound more plausible.”
After all the prisoners had been sold, they would be under the management of the individual buyers. At that stage, with Sarkegar’s shapeshifting ability and Eleris’s magic, we would be able to rescue them one by one.
“It might take some time, but as long as we know who bought who, we’ll be able to rescue them one by one.”
I was focusing so much on the black-market auction itself that I had only been thinking about solving the problem during the auction.
The fact that the demons who were going to be sold would have to endure unspeakable hardships during the time before we rescued them made me somewhat uneasy, but this was our best chance to rescue them. And to do that, what we needed were the records of which buyers purchased which demons at the anonymous auction.
Eleris’s plan certainly seemed less dangerous and more reasonable.
“We may not be able to rescue everyone with that method, but it certainly seems safer.”
Sarkegar nodded in agreement.
“However, after we rescue a few, rumors will start to spread about the demon slaves being stolen or going missing. This will likely cause the remaining owners to increase their guards or hide their slaves away.”
Sarkegar’s objection was also somewhat valid. We would definitely be able to rescue a few prisoners if we followed Eleris’s plan. When that happened, news would start circulating among the participants of the auction that the demon slaves were being stolen or disappearing, and they would certainly start managing their slaves more cautiously.
In the end, the plan might not be enough to rescue all the captives, but again, it wasn’t necessarily a must to rescue them all.
“You have a point... but it seems that the safest option at this stage is to just go with this plan.”
I felt that Eleris’s plan was the best course of action. It was safer and carried less risk. Sarkegar and Loyar also seemed to think that, despite its disadvantages and trade-offs, it was the best option we had so far.
Ultimately, my thoughts went in a slightly different direction.
Regardless of the outcome, the disappearance of the demon slaves that had been sold would not merely be treated in the same way as the disappearance of other black-market auction goods.
If Eleris’ method ultimately succeeded, it would mean that some organized crime organization was stealing the demons, and that would become a major incident that would cause an uproar in the imperial city.
The mere fact that the freed demons were hiding somewhere in the city would already be deemed a significant security threat. This would necessitate a massive number of guards being placed throughout the city, and this news would certainly reach the Temple as well.
However, I never wrote anything about demons going missing and, as a result, access to and from the Temple being restricted because of the uncertainty of where the demons were going to appear.
In short, there existed a future ahead of us in which rescuing the demon prisoners through theft was ineffective.
Eleris would have thought of this method even if I hadn’t been there. Sarkegar and Loyar also reacted as if there were no other option, so if anything were to be tried, it would have been this method.
Eleris’s method would only end with a few of the demons being rescued, or them being caught shortly after they began the operation.
The black market trading of the demon prisoners would have happened regardless of my presence.
And their rescue attempts would have undoubtedly occurred without me as well.
Therefore, Eleris’ method would likely not produce significant results, or fail altogether.
I was aware of these three facts.
I didn’t know what filled the void of causality, but I did know the end results.
In the end, all the methods that these three could conceive or execute on their own would be bound to fail. Unless my presence somehow provided them with some new inspiration, that was how it would be.
The only variable was me.
The only possible method was something that only I could come up with.
I considered using The Scribe’s Advice, but I was not fond of it, as it also had the potential to lead to bad outcomes.
“Do you have another idea, Your Highness?” Eleris asked.
“Hmm... I’m thinking.”
She must have clearly read that I was not entirely pleased with her method since I kept stalling without giving any definite answer.
Eleris’s method was something that I had never thought of. I had only been stuck on the obvious solutions of invading or infiltrating the black-market auction. Hence, when Eleris suggested carrying out the rescue operation after the auction had ended, that felt like the right thing to me as well.
However much I thought about it, Eleris’s plan seemed like the best one, but ironically, I also knew that it ultimately was not the best method.
Why it failed was not important. After all, it would not make sense to attempt a plan that was bound to fail. Of course, it was possible to modify the approach, but I needed time to consider other plans.
First, I needed to know what we were capable of.
“Eleris, are you able to use a Mass Teleport spell?”
It was the large-scale spatial magic I used once when escaping The Dark Land with Charlotte.
“I can use it, but it requires a cast time.”
Eleris was already a high-level mage if she could use such potent magic. Teleportation itself was a high-level spell, let alone casting it on a large scale.
“How long would it take?”
“About thirty minutes.”
“Do we have something like a Mass Teleport scroll?”
“We do not, Your Highness.”
Thirty minutes.
That was a considerable amount of time.
It wasn’t surprising that Eleris didn’t have a mass teleport scroll, as such items were exceedingly rare. I finally realized just how exclusive the two teleportation scrolls I had used in the prologue were.
“It’s impossible to enter the place where the prisoners are being held and buy time until all of them can be put under the Mass Teleport spell. The auction house will have already put up defensive measures in place to counter such tricks, Your Highness.”
I nodded in acknowledgment of Sarkegar’s warning. It was certain that they would be on guard against theft, especially via magical means.
“Right, that makes sense. But is it easy to prepare such high-level defensive measures in the first place?”
“Your Highness, it isn’t easy. Such systems might be operational in the Temple or around the imperial palace at all times, but setting them up temporarily and maintaining them is quite difficult.”
“So, is it safe to assume that defensive measures or wards that suppress spatial magic or a mage’s ability are not common?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
I learned a few things from that.
The auction place itself would have temporary magical defense measures set up.
Only the imperial palace and the Temple had such measures permanently in place. Of course, since magic could still be used inside the Temple, it wasn’t protected by the kind of ward that blocked all magic.
It ultimately meant that places with established magical countermeasures were not common.
“So if the prisoners are not in the auction house itself, but elsewhere, we could potentially use the Mass Teleport spell to move them, assuming we are given thirty minutes to cast it, right? How many can be teleported at once using your spell?”
“About twenty is the limit. Maybe up to fifty, if it’s at night.”
Eleris, who could endure sunlight, was weakened during the day nonetheless.
‘Twenty people...’
It was frustrating that we didn’t know just how many prisoners there were. It was certain that a considerable number of demons had been taken as prisoners, but it was likely that most had already been executed on the spot.
As much as I hated to say it, the demons being traded on the black market would generally be individual demons deemed desirable as merchandise.
Probably succubi, incubi, and other humanoid demons I didn’t know of. The numbers would not be incredibly high. After all, I had already seen the prisoner transports when I had exited and re-entered the Demon King’s castle, and I remember most of them having monster-like appearances.
Loyar looked at me. “Are you thinking of another plan?”
“It might sound foolish, but I think that mounting our operation right when the black-market auction begins might be the best timing after all.”
Theft would either end in failure or only have minimal effect; I had no way to convince these three as to why that was so, though.
The mass teleport spell couldn’t be used at the site of the auction where the prisoners were likely being held. Therefore, we had to somehow draw them out to make it possible to whisk them away using the Mass Teleport spell.
Twenty during the day, fifty at night.
If we could just break all of them out somehow, we wouldn’t need teleportation or anything like that in the first place. But that was impossible with the forces we currently had.
It was not possible with just us... so what could we do?
“Surely this black market thing is illegal, right?”
It was not just any market; it was the black market, which meant the auction was a secret. A clandestine transaction among those backed by wealth and authority. It was entirely different from the usual underworld operations.
“When it comes to legal or illegal, I’m not even sure as to whether any laws regarding this exist in the first place. After all, the trade of demon slaves is a rare occurrence,” Eleris responded.
The trading of demons fell into a gray area, neither legal nor illegal.
“However, it’s clearly frowned upon, just because of the fact that those who were declared to be enemies and worthy of extermination, the demons, are being bought and sold by the nobles of the empire,” Loyar added.
“So, while it may be legally ambiguous, there’s certainly a moral side to it, and sufficient grounds for condemnation. I see.”
That was why the trading of demon prisoners as spoils of war did not take place in public.
A direct invasion of the auction house was impossible for us. But if we couldn’t do it, we could just let others do it for us.
“What if we spread rumors of a black market that deals in the private sale of demon prisoners?”
My companions’ expressions turned to bewilderment as if questioning why anyone would do such a thing.
“Isn’t it scandalous that these people are trading in demon slaves when they verbally proclaim the need to annihilate all demons? Wouldn’t that be enough to tarnish the empire’s dignity and incur the wrath of its citizens?”
In the end, if the citizens knew that the actions of the higher-ups were so far removed from the justice they were shouting about, they would certainly be outraged.
“The citizens will become enraged, and might even storm the venue of the black-market auction—is that what you’re saying?”
“If they discover the location of the auction, such chaos could indeed occur.”
Those present at the black market might hold high status in society, but they were by no means honorable individuals. If the citizens swarmed the auction house and started to wreak havoc, they would be busy trying to run away to avoid being seen.
There would be members with public authority present, even if they weren’t supposed to be there. If the authorities used the power of the empire to subdue the commotion, it would be akin to admitting that the government supported selling demon prisoners for profit.
“However, if that’s the case, isn’t it possible that the empire could suddenly act recklessly? If they have private military forces in place, they could use violence to repel the citizens when they converge.”
I nodded at Eleris’s statement.
My tangled thoughts began to unravel, as if teasing apart a knotted thread.
In this intricate puzzle of a situation, I saw a path that offered hope, one that was different from Eleris’s.
“It’s true that the imperial authority of the empire is unrivaled. But the very fact that they are trading in demon prisoners would not only provoke the citizens, but it would also greatly offend more significant individuals. Which is why they are conducting these sales through the black market, and not openly.”
“More significant individuals? Who could that be...?”
Smiling slyly, I gave my response. “The religious factions.”
The Divine Cult of the Almighty had dispatched a faction with a pure mission to eradicate evil, and they were one of the very important pillars of the allied forces.
Forces had been dispatched by all the denominations of the Divine Cult of the Almighty and had been gathered together for the Great War. Now, after the war, they comprised the most powerful group of holy knights and priests, regardless of their specific faith within the Order.
They are known as the Order of the Holy Knights.
“The trading of demon prisoners is, in itself, already a great insult to the Order of the Holy Knights. This will provoke a tremendous backlash from the forces of the Divine Cult of the Almighty across the entire continent.”
The citizens were not the main focus. Because the Order of the Holy Knights was a religious group, they exercised their own separate power, one not controlled by the empire.
If this rumor spread, the Order of the Holy Knights would mobilize and completely wipe out the black market.
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