Chapter 168 - Slave Liberation 1 (1/2)
Prisoners of war, as well as those who committed felony crimes and those who were bankrupt continued to emerge.
However, in most kingdoms, it was forbidden to take ordinary innocent people as slaves.
If the kingdom’s citizens were enslaved, the lords’ financial situation would become unstable and the number of soldiers to be mobilized for war would decrease.
While peasants could not be called completely free people, since they could get evicted from their residence, they were quite different compared to slaves who were subjected to exchange, inheritance, and trade.
However, slavery was legalized in the Talis Kingdom, so there were many cases where nobles used vicious tricks to enslave the people of the kingdom.
Because of this, slave traders have benefited greatly since ancient times, and some of them regularly paid the lords who would protect them in return.
Dragonlord Ivanov used this fact cleverly to make all of them pay the royal family, which resulted in the secret ledger hidden in the treasurer Alexei’s office.
The sources and origins of all sorts of dirty funds flowing in the Talis Kingdom were recorded within.
Therefore, with the cooperation of the King of Izuna, Woohyuk closed all ports of the Talis Kingdom and began to capture all the famous slave traders.
“I’ll, I'll give you all my fortune, so please spare my life!”
The obese man sharing his bed with a dark-skinned gorgeous woman trembled and begged Woohyuk.
He believed that Woohyuk was an assassin sent by his enemies.
In truth, it wasn’t surprising that he believed that since Woohyuk was holding a blood-stained Vampiric Dagger in one hand.
“Do you believe that your life is worth sparing?”
“Pl, please...! If you are not interested in gold and silver, I will give you beauties from all over the continent! Do you have any preferen...”
Slit!
The Vampiric Dagger pierced the wall behind him and blood began to flow down the slave trader’s cheek, staining the bed.
Once the man shut his mouth and sat with cold sweat running down his neck, Woohyuk spoke up again.
“I am only interested in one thing. The Valkyrie's Dagger. Do you know anything about it?”
“Va, Valkyrie's Dagger, you say…? There are many daggers with elegant decorations in the warehouse, and...”
The man was trying to keep Woohyuk's attention for as long as possible.
He knew that if he acted as if he didn't have the Valkyrie's Dagger, his head would be flying.
“Guide me there right now.”
“Un, understood.”
The man got up and retrieved a key from a drawer.
Woohyuk followed him to the secret warehouse in the basement.
“He, here it is.”
Upon reaching the destination, the man opened the iron door.
Bam!
The iron door shut close out of nowhere, and a blue magic circle spread out on the floor.
The man who saw it appear chuckled and distanced himself from Woohyuk.
“You moron. Did you think I hadn't prepared anything for thieves like you? You will die a dog’s death here!”
The magic circle on the floor contained a curse that petrified intruders.
However, Woohyuk had two hidden classes of the dark attribute, and the Basilisk’s Curse.
Most petrification spells would have no effect on him.
Thwack!
Woohyuk's fist struck the man's abdomen, who in turn spat out and gasped for air.
“Cough...!”
“Don't do anything unnecessary, you swine.”
Woohyuk personally didn't like slave traders very much.
They always thought they were smarter than monarchs, so they grovelled in front of them but always tried to stab them in the back whenever they had the opportunity.
As Woohyuk kicked the fallen man, he heard footsteps behind the iron door.
It was the woman who was lying in bed with the man a while ago.
“Uh, um...”
“What do you want?”
“The item you are looking for isn’t here. He has a separate warehouse where he stores his valuables.”
The woman knew many of the slave trader’s secrets because she was his favorite sex slave.
Woohyuk nodded and summoned the undead Amy.
“If he does anything unnecessary, cut his head off right away.”
All he needed was the Valkyrie’s Dagger and the slave trader’s properties and fortune, not the slave trader himself.
Leaving behind the man groaning on the floor, Woohyuk walked towards the firmly closed entrance.
Then, the copper-skinned woman opened the iron door with the key she was holding.
“You brought a spare?”
“Yes, it took me a while to find it because it was hidden on top of the bookshelf in the office.”
The woman had a favorable opinion of Woohyuk.
Recently, rumors had been circulating that someone was killing slave traders in the Free City and liberated the slaves.
While Woohyuk seemed to have a different purpose right now, he didn't seem interested in her naked body.
”Your name.”
“It’s Cynthia.”
“Lead the way.”
Cynthia led Woohyuk to the stone chamber on the third floor of the mansion.
There were various types of traps installed there, similar to ruins.
“Please be careful. They were all designed and installed with great care by a skilled engineer.”
“Don’t worry.”
Woohyuk was an expert when it came to things like this.
As he broke through the traps and reached the other side, Cynthia watching in admiration from the entrance.
“You’re incredible.”
“Where are his valuables?”
“Please touch the statue of the monster on your side.”
There was a stone statue of a fire-winged bird with its wings spread out.
It was a device that opened the door to the secret warehouse.
As Cynthia explained, Woohyuk took out the archaeologist's golden magnifying glass and looked closely at the statue.
'There is a magic circuit in it.'
The device would activate after a specific authentication procedure.
However, it was a pain in the arse to return and question the slave trader, so Woohyuk summoned Carnelian.
“Try to force it to work.”