“El, I never realized you were so ruthless. You killed them! Look, the blood of those guys has frozen solid…”
Angell seemed eager to show his own mercy, voicing a strong “protest” against El’s actions.
A thick layer of frost covered the surroundings, and the black-robed men had been frozen into statues of ice.
Only Dami remained, his body agile as he quickly put distance between himself and El’s group, sword in hand, ready to fight.
“Since they treat others like livestock, I won’t see them as people either. I don’t need to respect their lives.” El spoke inwardly.
“Besides, they’re not protected by the Empire’s laws at all—I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Not ignorant, after all… the demon thought.
Absolute Zero, a high-tier spell. Unlike ordinary ice magic rooted in the water element, this spell is based on fire elements to produce ice elements.
By forcefully reducing the concentration of fire elements in the area through mana, it creates extremely low temperatures—this is the core concept behind advanced ice magic.
In both precision and power, it far surpasses common ice spells.
The only drawback is that it consumes too much mana, and with El’s current reserves, he can’t use it freely.
“Who are you people? I’m warning you, this is the Bogut Marquis’s property! If anything goes missing, you won’t be able to bear the consequences—”
They came prepared… Dami quickly realized.
There was no way he could defeat the masked mage in front of him, let alone the girl with long gray-white hair beside him. The moment he saw her, his “Wolfpack Scent” skill started frantically warning him.
He could only try to use the Marquis as a shield and hope it worked.
Dami didn’t just wait for death. His other hand slipped quietly into his robe, intending to signal to the opera house that there were intruders.
Suddenly, his vision went black, and he collapsed without warning.
“Young Master, it seems the cultists have ways to communicate with each other. He was about to sound the alarm, so I knocked him out first,” Ivena emerged from behind Dami and spoke.
To blend in with tonight’s operation, she wasn’t wearing the Regis Family’s standard maid dress.
Her upper body was clad in pure white soft armor, making her look even more holy, though the chest bindings made it a little hard to breathe.
She had switched to long boots and battle-ready armor on her lower half, with two short swords tucked into it.
But as long as an elf doesn’t cover her face, no matter what she wears, her charm remains undiminished.
“I was hoping to get some information… You did the right thing, Ivena. We can’t let them get suspicious.” El sighed.
“El-senpai, raise the temperature quickly, or their bodies will be in trouble.” Vita’s voice came to his ear. Based on what had happened earlier, El had informed Vita ahead of time.
Once she heard, she decisively chose to come with him.
Of course, Vita wasn’t referring to the ice statues, but to the “goods” inside the carriage.
At this moment, the horses pulling the carriage had collapsed and were shivering, their breath white in the cold air.
Vita was helping up the blue-haired girl inside the iron cage, who was nearly numb with cold, hoping to make her feel a little better.
“I’m already on it—just a moment.”
With a snap of his fingers, El cast a simple Iceburst, turning the ice statues of the black-robed men into glowing motes that dissipated into the air.
“I like that move—clever way to get rid of the evidence,” the demon commented.
The temperature of the environment rose rapidly, and the frost on the ground began to melt. Vita could feel the girl in her arms recovering.
Among the slaves in the carriage, only the Catkin girl had woken up. The rest remained in the cages under a spell, only awakening under specific conditions.
The black-robed man from earlier had acted in too much haste, much faster than his companions.
The girl opened her mouth, letting out “Uwah, uwah” sounds. From her lips, El could make out that she was trying to say “Thank you.”
She could sense the kindness from the two of them. Whether or not they would free her, she knew she ought to thank them.
A demi-human… did she come from the Draca United Kingdom?
El’s eyes grew complicated. The girl’s innocent, frightened eyes pierced his heart.
Since its founding, the Leon Empire had abolished slavery. The first Lionheart King had once said, “All citizens of the Empire are free.”
Slave Contract magic is forbidden in the Empire; if discovered, execution is not out of the question.
Yet, because of the lucrative profits, there were always ambitious people willing to become Slave Merchants.
Due to the strict laws of the Empire, every Slave Merchant was backed by a complete industry chain.
The capture, transport, and sale of slaves—every step was meticulously planned.
To pull this off, there had to be nobles acting as their protectors. In fact, Slave Merchants were merely the white gloves nobles used to seize wealth.
But it was difficult to prey on local commoners, so their main targets were the races of the Draca United Kingdom.
The Draca United Kingdom’s rule wasn’t truly unified. Grand Dukes and the King were constantly at war, and commoners often became slaves.
The merchants took advantage, either capturing people or buying them from victors, then smuggling them into the Leon Empire for secret sale.
Why did El know all this so clearly…?
At some point, Ivena slipped behind El and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“You don’t need to worry, Young Master. I’ve already forgotten that part of the past,” Ivena whispered in his ear. “I was much luckier than that girl. Before I was caught, I met you.”
Sensing El’s emotions, Ivena had come over to offer him comfort.
“As long as you’re alright.” El was indeed worried that this scene would dredge up painful memories for Ivena.
“El, so these are the nobles you spoke of? Responsibility? What a joke! Or maybe I’m wrong—maybe, after being taken to a noble’s mansion, they’ll get to live a good life… no longer wandering, no longer fearing tomorrow…”
Angell sneered.
“Surely the nobles didn’t buy them just to satisfy their twisted desires—maybe like those ice statues from before? No way, right? No way?”
In the end, he concluded, “Haven’t you realized yet? You can finish off those scum with flashy magic, while that girl can only cower in a cage, forced into despair. This is what you call fairness? How ridiculous… fairness?”
El remained silent for a long time.
“No, Angell. You’re wrong,” he suddenly said.
“Oh? Then what’s your view?” The demon perked up.
“There is no such thing as fairness in this world—only justice. I was born with a privileged background and magical talent beyond the reach of ordinary people… but none of that can be called fairness.”
“But aside from that, no one is born to be a slave. As Reinhardt said, everyone is born free. That isn’t fairness—it’s the justice that should exist in this world,” El said.