24 Every good man has a price (2/2)

Elise would never forget the emotion that flashed through her father's eyes when she asked that question.

It was fear.

Her father was one of the most powerful nobles in the kingdom, one of the strongest knights on the border and the bravest man she knew.

And even he was afraid.

Elise wisely stopped asking and her father refused to say the source of his terror.

”Is that all my duchess?” the merchant asked.

”No. You are free to go. Just contact the head butler when the next shipment of 'goods' arrive,” Elise replied.

Mr. Rothfield bowed sincerely then commanded his men to return to their ships and then swiftly packed up and left the castle under the watchful eyes of the peace corps.

(Outside the castle)

Several men rode out of the castle walls on horseback with five carriages streaming out behind them. Inside one of the carriages the merchant was sitting down comfortably in silent contemplation. He looked back at the castle fading away in the distance and an unknown emotion stirred up in his heart.

The journey back to the outer walls was relatively short, there was only a single road and little to no houses on the sides of it. This entire area was intentionally left empty and the only people that could be seen would be the peace corps members patrolling the area for intruders.

The merchant observed all the sights before him, he had never been allowed into the main town and was only brought to the outer area. Suspicions had begun to form in his mind that the duchess was not using the dark races as slaves but for another purpose. These thoughts naturally had to be suppressed.

Well until recently that would have been the case...

He turned down to look at the letter in his hand and saw the seal of the Blackwolf house. He began to gently rub his fingers over it with an almost fanatical smile on his face.

”Ignis wrapisae smaliess,” he muttered gently.

A small wisp of fire erupted from his fingertips as the letter and its contents burned to ashes, the flame was then snuffed out immediately. Despite this impressive feat of mana control, the man acted as if it was nothing special.

”The rumours are true your holiness, the Blackwolf household has been buying slaves to raise them. I have served as their seller for years now and I have recorded every purchase in a ledger list,” the merchant spoke up and talked to the empty wall of the carriage.

An amulet in his hand began to glow white hot as his message was transmitted to an unknown location.

The value of clients was very important to the Golden Mask and the man who he had contacted had paid an unimaginable price in order to secure the betrayal of a platinum member.

Mr. Rothfield himself was unsure of the identity of the man but the higher ups in the company had simply insisted that it was someone they could not afford to offend.

His thoughts shifted to the woman who hired him to rescue people in need and a small tinge of regret surfaced in his heart. These feelings were abruptly snuffed out from years of experience and trading.

At the end of the day,

It was just business.

And the Golden Mask would never invest in dead men.