Slavery, a despicable act that denies the basic right to live with free will.
Forced to be in a state in which one has to live under the absolute commands of another and obey them with none whatsoever rights of their own.
Slaves are people who are treated as objects that are sold for money and compelled to do hard labor or detestable activities against their will.
Measured by their appearance, race, ability, and pedigree, slaves are auctioned to the rich and privileged at high prices that amount to thousands of gold, depending on the market value.
If they are to protest or deny complying with their master's orders, they would be subjugated to harsh punishments and, in the worst-case scenario, death.
Constrained by magic and bound to their owners, they live a life of fear that is condemned by society until the end of their time.
It was a practice that stood against the very foundations of the Orion Empire, a country that empathizes with the values of free will.
Any involvement in acts of slavery was deemed a high criminal offense under imperial law.
While slavery was illegal in Orion, the same was not the fact in the neighboring continent Nasia. Which in turn made it a major source of income for corrupt Orion nobles to make quick money without having the need to pay taxes.
For years, the imperial government has been tracking down and closing illegal slave trade rings all across Orion and rehabilitating the recovered people back into society.
However, like a demon that spawns two heads in place of one, each time the government cuts down one operation more emerge to take their position.
Slave trafficking has spread like a virus, as corrupt nobles started selling the people in their domains by concealing their existence and falsifying records.
As a part of a confidential investigation to find Saintess Oralia, the Dark Wolfs raided a slave auction in a small town in southern Orion that was trafficking adolescent humans, elves, and beastmen to the Asclepius Empire of Nasia.
The auction also contained dangerous relics from the ancient kingdom that have been surfacing in numerous excavation sites. The relics were in high demand in the market owing to their authenticity and sold for high prices regardless of the dangers they possess.
According to the information received from the prisoner, the Serpents had ties to the slave trade ring having purchased dozens of slaves for sacrificial ceremonies and experiments.
The Dark Wolfs directed a surprise raid in the middle of the auction, during which the organizers of the event and its employees were arrested along with the participants.
Somehow anticipating the Knights' arrival, the Serpents had evacuated their lair in the nick of time to avoid capture.
Aside from a few corpses and empty barrels, there wasn't anything left to be considered as evidence.
As for the people rescued from the event. They were transported to a remote location, where they will stay for the time being until returning to their daily lives.
Although they were imprisoned against their will, the people had no knowledge about their capturers except for being kidnapped or sold to slavery by debt collectors, some even their own family members in exchange for money.
The prisoner in the cellar could no longer be useful since he had entered a catatonic state, rendering him unresponsive to any form of interrogation.
In the end, we were back to square one.
"Your Grace, the fugitive's testimonies have been recorded. Also, the representative from the northern elf clan has arrived to retrieve their clan members"
Ezra reported the status of the raid, as I watched the sky turn red beyond the horizon.
The sound of waves hitting the shore was drowned by the seagulls that were flocking towards the harbor.
"Leave the slave traders to the guards. And as for the elves..."
From the way the Serpents operate, it was clear that the Saintess was nowhere within the walls of the capital. Wherever she is being held, the Serpents had masked her divine presence.
The elves might have knowledge of the type of magic they use.
"Have them stay at the Palms resort for the time being"
After sending off the rest of the Knights, I strolled through the empty beach that stretched as far as my eyes could reach.
The sun was about to set. A soft breeze swept across the beach bringing a unique salty scent to the air.
Filled to the brim with travelers and tourists from all over the world, the bustling city of Napal appeared to be completely devoid of the evil that lurked within its nights.
The slave traders have been using the harbor containers to smuggle the imprisoned slaves to Nasia, while the rest of the city were living their daily lives unaware of the evil in plain sight.
Unlike the harbor, the beach was deserted. The locals seemed to avoid the beach after sunset. As for the tourists who do come across from time to time, scatter away once they see me as if they've seen a beast.
The sun had completely set leaving only the moons to illuminate the lonely lands.
I stopped walking and gazed at the sky.
'Is it just me or is the moon too bright tonight?'
"Hmm..."
At that moment, I could feel it.
A sense of nostalgia too strong to ignore.
Although it was my first time visiting the place, it felt as if I had been here before.
The landscape, the mountains, the ocean.... the night sky. It was the familiar sense of longing I'd forgotten for a while.
Suddenly my hand felt cold.
It was not hard to guess why since the temperature had decreased to a certain extent. But...
I couldn't help but stare at my empty hand, only to end up confused.
The emptiness had never been so vivid.
I clenched my hands into a tight fist and looked at the moons.
Because, whatever the reason was.
"I will find it"
After returning to Volos, it wasn't hard to legally purchase Napal from Viscount Gale.
A day after the arrest, Viscount Gale pleaded innocent to the charges of slave trafficking, claiming that he had no knowledge of the illegal activities transpiring under his domain.
Considering that the harbor was found to be the auction site of a slave trade organization. If the news were to spread, it would put an end to Viscount Gale's political aspirations as a whole.
Being the traditional noblemen he was, Viscount Gale volunteered to sign over the deeds to Napal for half the price albeit in a discreet manner in exchange for confidentiality regarding the town's nature.
While selling a commercial port town to evade arrest was unfortunate for him, it turned out quite profitable for me.
This way, I could keep the town under check until I understand the meaning behind this strange restlessness I continue to experience every time I stand over the shores of the vast ocean.
Shortly after a month of idle goose chase, there was a major break in the case.
The Esdel Marquisate reported a sudden rise in revenue over twenty times higher than the previous year.
The Esdel Marquisate that shared a border with the Frost Duchy claimed to have uncovered an azreck mine, a rare crystal primarily used in alchemy.
With most of its funds received through a foreign power, it was rising reasonable suspicions among the imperialists.
An undercover visit to the terrain proved my suspicions of the Esdels right.
There was no azreck mine.
And in the region where the mine was supposedly found was located an old copper mine that was abandoned years ago due to continuous accidents that led to the death of dozens of workers.
The mine was just an elaborate hoax to cover up the actual source of income, similar to the one done by the imperial palace to conceal the Saintess's disappearance.
In addition, the Esdels had bribed the officials in the palace to have the mine inspected and approved before the story about the newly discovered mine reached the nobles.
Marquess Seamus Esdel, the leader of the aristocratic party, was a cunning and ambitious man coveting power. But, he was by no means a fool, careless enough to leave a trail of evidence that could lead back to him in any way.
The slave auction in Napal was orchestrated by the Esdels using the ambitious Viscount Gale as a shield and the money was brought into the estate under the name of the mines.
The final piece of the puzzle turned out to be the death of Ernest Esdel, the former patriarch of the Esdel Marquisate and the father to the current head, who had died a few months before under mysterious circumstances.
The official cause of death was a sudden heart attack that rendered him bedridden for weeks before he silently passed in his sleep.
The title ceremony was hastily held on the eve of his death and the funeral was closed to outsiders, except for the members of the royal family.
However, an autopsy on the late Marquis's corpse showed signs of malpractice.
Underneath his clothes, the late Marquis's entire body was covered with peculiar black veins that extended towards the heart.
Moreover, the patterns on his body were almost similar to the corpses found in the Serpent lair.
Orme Leviatan, the representative of the Northern Elf tribe identified these patterns on the late Marquis's corpse to be forbidden magic that draws the power of the Serpent God, Havu.
Elves in general had a sensitivity towards magic almost equal to that of magical beasts. Hence it was fortunate when the representative of the north elf clan turned out to be a pioneer in ancient curses.
Rather than being scared away like the local coroner, she appeared interested as she compared the patterns with those of the other corpses.
"Each curse has a different effect on the person, depending on the pattern of the veins and the power of the castor. But this..."
Leviatan peered into the pattern on the late Marquis's corpse with awe.
"Is remarkable" She nodded to herself.
"I have never seen anything like this before in my career. I mean, I have but... not in a very long time"
Although Leviatan was able to decipher it without any problems, she intended to take notes and discuss with the elders to get a clear picture.
Havu might be well known as the god of desire, but only a few would recognize him as the god of health. Since humans had a shorter lifespan compared to elves, the knowledge about the god was forgotten by mankind in the passage of time.
Hence, it was surprising to see the humans reenact a curse that was lost for centuries.
'The elders might have the answers to the origins of the curse and insight on measures to break out of its influence' Leviatan thought to herself.
"See the veins near the heart. These are visible only when the host is no longer alive" explained Leviatan, pointing at the small snake-shaped marking on the Marquis's corpse.
"This little guy has been feeding on the human for days without him knowing"
In Ernest Esdel's case, the curse had steadily absorbed the life source out of the old man until his body collapsed unable to withstand the pressure making it appear like a natural death.
Given that the patterns on the body are indiscernible if not exposed to holy power, the cursed are oblivious of their ill fates till the moment they succumb to it.
It was clear now.
Unlike Seamus Esdel, his father, Ernest Esdel, was an honorable nobleman. Under no circumstances he would allow the name of his family to be disgraced, even if it meant to disown his own child.
In order to inherit the title, Seamus Esdel had killed his own father, in a way that doesn't affect his path to become the leader of the aristocracy.
With his hands on the reins, Seamus Esdel turned the tide of the aristocratic power in the imperial court to satiate his thirst for power.
The slaves bought by the Serpents were used as sacrifices during ritualistic ceremonies to place the curse and the corpses found were of those that were experimented on.
"By the way..."
The sound of Leviatan's notebook snap brought me back from my train of thoughts.
"Who is this human? He looks too refined to be a slave"
Ezra glanced at me once for affirmation before answering,
"That is Ernest Esdel, the former Esdel patriarch"
"Esdel? If it's that noble then.."
Realizing the meaning behind his words, Leviatan's eyes widened. She seemed to have recognized the name.
"Did you just grave rob him!?"
"It is more of a borrowed situation" Ezra laughed awkwardly and escorted the bewildered elf out of the room.
At the same time, the Dark Wolfs infiltrated the Esdel estate to keep a close eye on the movements of the aristocrats and discovered the plans for a massive ceremonial sacrifice that was about to take place on the same day as the foundation festival.
With this evidence, taking down the Esdels along with the Serpents would be two birds in one stone.
The plan was to smoke out the Serpents into taking retaliation by using the slavery case as a decoy and catching them in the act.
But in an unexpected turn of events, the Esdels filed a case against the Frosts for blasphemy and denied any accusations in relation to the slave trade.
The charges were for disrupting the corpse of Ernest Esdel from the Esdel family graveyard and thus disgracing their family honor.
The leak of information escalated to a territory dispute between the Esdels and Frosts with the former stationing its army along the borders.
The culprit who leaked the information about the slavery case was none other than my dear cousin, Count Vesser.
Amongst the people who sought after the Frosts' fortune the most notable person was Count Vesser.
Coming from a vassal family of the Frosts, Vesser had both the motive and opportunity to sabotage the investigation, for he was in love with Nian Esdel, the younger sister of Seamus Esdel.
The rats he had employed in the Frost estate using his influence, had started to make noises.
Still, the purpose of the case remained as they were still blind to the trap set for the Serpents.
Thinking of the slavery case as an act to control the aristocratic power, the Esdels proceeded with the plan to place a curse on key figures of the imperial structure to sway the powers of the capital in the favor of the aristocrats.
Although it was stupid of Vesser to blatantly expose his position in the name of love, it turned out for the good.
The story about the Saintess's seclusion became invisible between the Frost and Esdel territory disputes.
I feigned ignorance of Vesser's acts as his purpose as a spy was more beneficial to the Frosts than getting rid of him.
So for now, he can squeak all he wants.
On the next full moons night, the ceremony began.