episode_0120

A week has passed since Gilbert placed the request for the wild rose. It seemed like it took quite a while to gather information, perhaps because the advance payment was as high as 30 gold. Even the wild roses, who would have been able to get some information quickly, contacted me saying they needed a little more time.

Well, they are worthy bastards.

Gilbert clicked his tongue, thinking about Slaves.

The scariest thing about these guys is that they don’t even know who their leader is. The leader of the cautious Slaves has never been to the forefront.

In addition, his personality was so vicious that he took advantage of the fact that he did not show his face, and when someone appeared to perform a ceremony as a leader, he would send assassins to kill the entire family or sell those with fair faces into slavery.

There was also a story that when a slave trader pretending to be him appeared, he cut open his family’s stomach and tore them all to death in front of him.

Even Gilbert didn’t know the guy’s identity. In the first place, most Tactical Combat users didn’t even know that he existed.

It wasn’t until Gilbert did the Slave Trader achievement that he learned that the Slaves had a leader.

I was curious about what kind of guy he was and struggled to find out who he was during the achievement work, but I couldn’t catch his shadow until the moment the episode ended.

So I entrusted the request to Wild Rose, but I didn’t think I would be able to catch him this time. All he wanted was to find the location of their core base and annihilate the Slaves.

Gilbert closed his eyes and began to gather his thoughts.

In order to catch them, it was first necessary to estimate how big they were.

Even though he entrusted the request to Wild Rose, there was no way he could have figured out the overall scale of Slaves, which was run as a branch organization. So, I needed to reminisce about when I played the previous slave trader route.

As he remembers, it was divided into a total of seven branches centered around the main base.

Among them, the one to which Gilbert belonged was the Third Branch.

I still clearly remember its location, so it wasn’t difficult to find.

However, the other branches and central headquarters were a bit ambiguous. Although there was exchange between each branch, the locations changed frequently, so I did not know where they would be currently located.

The reason Gilbert knew the location of the Third Branch was because he had estimated the time and specified the location. It may be necessary to confirm, but if Tactical Combat’s settings are not incorrect, the 3rd branch will also be there.

I wanted to attack Branch 3 right away, but if I made a fuss like that, they would hide even tighter, so attacking them all at once was the standard method.

If Gilbert had moved alone, it would have been impossible, but he had Serafina, a very reliable supporter, standing in his place.

Since this subjugation order was issued by her herself, she was able to receive full support.

One problem was that the Slaves had a close relationship with the imperial power class. If they found out that Seraphina was moving, there was a good chance that they would hear about it.

In the end, the most important things in this subjugation were speed and stealth. The correct answer was to catch them with as few troops as possible.

After making a rough plan, Gilbert went to see Seraphina. She was doing paperwork just like last time.

“You are a priest. Judging by the expression on his face, it looks like he has something to say to her… . Is what she said right?”

“That’s right. I have something to tell you closely.”

“Don’t worry. This is a place where you can’t even hear birdsong.”

It was slang.

A slang term meaning that soundproofing measures have been thoroughly taken.

Although she was currently a cadet at the academy and serving as student council president, she was still a princess of the empire.

She is also the central figure of imperial power, close to the Crown Princess.

No matter how much of an academy it was, Seraphina’s political opponents monitored her every move and reported it to their superiors. And those superiors report to higher-ups.

The reason Yannick was right next to her was not only to protect her, but it was also to filter out such impure elements. In reality, his military power was somewhat inferior, but his hunting ability was unrivaled.

He was said to have served as the commander of a famous ranger unit in the empire, which meant that he was well-versed in finding people and traces. For that reason, Yannick became the princess’s closest aide and a guard knight by her side.

“So what do you have to say?”

Seraphina, who had sent away all the attendants, asked the main question. It was a look that confirmed that Gilbert had brought some information.

“First, I requested information about them from the information guild in the back alley. I don’t think I’ve been able to collect accurate information yet, but I was able to hear their identity.”

“Really? Coincidentally, I also received a report from the Intelligence Department. I think it would be good to compare.”

“Good. From what I heard, they are a large group of slave traders called the Slaves. However, they say it is difficult to collect information because they operate as a branch organization.”

“Slaves… . This is consistent with what the Yeo’s intelligence department reported.”

Seraphina had a bitter taste in her mouth.

Her competent intelligence department collected information as well as issuing orders, and recently compiled a report on the initial investigation.

The report they posted also said that the Slaves mentioned by Gilbert appear to be a group of slave traders. The scale far exceeded what Seraphina had predicted, and if it had been a little later to discover them, it might have grown out of control.

If it hadn’t been stealth that day.

Seraphina quickly shook her head. It was a assumption I didn’t want to even think about.

“I guess I didn’t know that there was such trash in places that the empire couldn’t reach.”

“It’s not too late. All we need to do is root them out.”

“Even so, this is a result of lack of leisure.”

She loved her subjects as much as she loved the empire.

Seraphina did not forget that the current Infractus Empire exists because of them.

Therefore, Seraphina now felt a great sense of responsibility. For the fact that we have been ignoring these idiots who engage in human trafficking until now.

“Sister’s residence.”

“It’s okay. As the priest said, all we have to do is wipe them all out.”

“That is correct. And I have one more thing to tell you.”

“Tell me. I plan to listen to whatever the priest says at any time.”

“As you know, they are made up of point organizations. No one knows what that number will be. However, the fact that they grew in power so quickly could mean that there is a leader in the Slaves who commands them.”

Before coming here, Gilbert decided to unravel a bit of information in the name of speculation. As time goes by, it becomes more and more difficult to beat them.

Before that, Serafina had to make a decision and set the stage so she could take charge of the situation.

“W I thought so too. Although they call it a branch organization, they are the ones who worked while avoiding the eyes of the empire. Maybe there are some corrupt insiders within the empire.”

Seraphina took a sip of tea and quenched her thirst. Her eyes began to burn with anger again.

Gilbert, who was quietly watching the scene, swallowed his saliva.

As expected, genius was different.

From the few words Gilbert spoke, I already figured out what he was trying to say and inferred more.

That too is very close to the truth.

“I know what the priest wants to request. Surely this means that we can completely clean up only by defeating them all?”

“Exactly. Also, as you are concerned, there may be some insiders out there. Work must be kept confidential.”

Seraphina’s fingers tapped the armrest.

“It’s difficult. If you use a lot of manpower, there is a risk of being discovered in advance. We can only move with a few trusted elites.”

It would be nice if we could move Brianna, but there were too many eyes watching her.

If you suddenly leave the room, people will get suspicious.

Seraphina didn’t have many options.

After thinking for a few minutes, she looked at Gilbert, who had remained silent.

“There is something to leave to the priest.”

“Please state.”

“You choose someone you can trust among the academy cadets. Let’s form a separate unit.”

“Are you talking about the cadets?”

“Okay. In the name of field training, I will use students to catch them.”

“Aren’t your skills lacking?”

“Even so, catching them is the priority. Even at this very moment, there are subjects suffering. As a cadet at Demeia Academy, I cannot ignore my suffering subjects. And W will also prepare.”

Yannick, who was quietly standing behind her, received Seraphina’s gaze and nodded.

It seemed that Seraphina had a private military organization that no one knew about.

“The proposal is a reserve force for when the troops prepared at leisure are insufficient. So don’t worry.”

“How can you doubt your sister-in-law? I just said this out of anger.”

“Even those words are important to her. So you do what you can.”

“Okay. Your Majesty.”

After that, Gilbert continued to talk about Seraphina Slaves. I couldn’t make a clear plan because I didn’t have specific information yet, but it was a great help in getting the basics figured out.

***

Three days after Gilbert met Seraphina.

I received a call from Wild Rose from Gilbert.

I got my hands on their information.