Volume 5 Chapter 9 Part 2
The four men were the first to walk out, while the priest came out last.
「…… What is this…… You!」
「Father….. Your crime has been exposed. The guards are on their way」
「What the hell are you waiting for!? Kill him!」
「Ah, yes. Corner him, don’t let him escape」
The four men discarded the bags containing children recklessly as ever and moved to surround me.
「Oh! Die brat!」
I effortlessly evaded their attacks and knocked them out one by one with my sword.
It was less than a minute and the fight was over.
「I, I won’t stand for this…… Yes」
The priest picked up the knife that was lying on the ground, pulled the bag that was near him into his arms, and put the knife to it.
「You won’t do anything if you care about the child」
「…… What kind of priest are you, using a child as a shield?」
「I had nothing to do with this whole thing! I was forced into doing it…… It was not my idea 」
While his gaze was locked onto me, Lumina slipped behind the priest, and knocked him out with the knife handle to the back of the head.
The blow was enough to have him collapse to the ground.
「Okay, that is all of them. Lumina, tie them up with this rope」
「Yeah, got it」
I took out a rope to tie the men up from Dimensional Storage. Their wrists are bound together behind them, and to prevent them from running, their ankles are bound as well.
After they were all tied up, I opened the bags that contained the children.
Opening the bags, I found children with their mouths gagged. And all of them were unconscious, possibly drugged.
They were also bruised from all the tumbling of the men throwing them around. I cast some magic to heal them and remove the effects of the drugs.
The children immediately woke up after being healed.
This suggests that they were given something like a sleeping potion.
「Why are we outside…..?」
The children in the bags all look to be on the cusp of adulthood.
「Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? Can you guys tell me what happened before you went to bed?」
The children looked a little troubled by my questions, but they slowly began to speak.
「Yeah….. Father told us to sleep in a different room last night…… The room was filled with a sweet smell for some reason……」
I looked at the priest who was lying on the ground.
No doubt, he is part of it.
「Touya, they are all tied up. What’s next?」
「Let’s just wake the priest up and have him tell us where they were taking the kids」
「Did you hear that? Wake up!」
Lumina began to slap the priest on the cheek. After a few slaps he awoke with what sounded like a bellow.
「Uagggg…… What is going on!?」
Realising he was tied up and unable to move, the priest looked around and raised his eyebrows as he noticed that the men he was with were also bound.
「You guys know what you’re doing,……? Who do you think you are dealing with, you adventurers?」
「—Shut up. Whoever we are dealing with does not change the fact that you tried to sell children for human trafficking, does it ……?」
I let out a bit of a murderous intent and the priest tried to wiggle away, shaking.
Slowly, I approached the priest, and that is when I heard a group of footsteps in the distance.
「This way!」
It seemed that the three adventurers who had gone to report the incident had brought guards with them.
When I looked in the direction they were coming, I saw about ten guards together with them, running towards us.
When the guards arrived, they took one look at the bound men and the priest, then looked at me.
「Are you sure these are the traffickers?」
「Yes, these are the men who were carrying children in sacks. There are children in the carriage that they may have kidnapped from other orphanages, so please check「
「All right. Check the carriages」
「「「Yes, sir」」」
A few of the guards climbed into the carriage and the others began to wake the unconscious men.
「Hey, so you are the ones responsible for all this」
「What are you saying? We were just here and these guys attacked us」
「You really think you can get away with that?」
「I don’t really care for what you think. I’m from the Suane Merchant Guild. I was only told to bring the children from here because they are apprentices at our Merchant Guild. Right, Father?」
「Yes, it is as he says. He is right. We did nothing wrong」
The priest, obviously a little surprised at the absurd explanation of the man, still nodded in agreement.
The guard looks at me for a second, but the evidence speaks for itself.
「Check the room where the children were laid out. There must be some sweet-smelling sleeping incense in there. And the sacks. Some of the children are still inside and some of them were wounded. There could be blood stains. You say you’re going to take the children to the Merchant Guild, but you carry them away in bags, unconscious, in the middle of the night like this? Is this how your guild operates?」
The man chokes on my question.
No matter how he tries to reason out of this, this circumstantial evidence speaks for itself. That much cannot be covered up.
The man is stood up by the guards with a vexed look on his face.
「You guys have no clue what is coming for you. We having the backing of nobleman Viscount McGrath」
「「……!?」」
The guard’s expression changed at once.
The guards might be intimidated by the mention of a nobleman.
But it did not scare me.
「…… So what? Does that mean Viscount McGrath is part of the human trafficking business? If so, we will have to report this back to the guild. Taking the liberty of naming a noble– do you understand what that means?」
The man clicks his tongue, as if he thought about how his threat had backfired.
「I will take care of the interrogation of these guys. Can I ask you guys to accompany me to the station?」
「Yes, of course」
After confiscating the carriages and other evidence, rousing the building, and explaining to the staff what was happening, we left the two guards, the three adventurers, and the children. The men and the priest were taken away. Lumina and I went with them.
We told the three adventurers that we will report the request as completed together in the morning.
As we were walking and talking with one of the guards, he told us that we might have to go up against the Suane Trading Company.
I was told that they are one of the largest Merchant Guilds in the Capital and are involved in an assortment of trade.
I don’t know if Viscount McGrath is involved in this matter, but I was told in confidence that he might.
But still, he is a noble……. I probably should just give them my name, however if I reveal my identity now, there is a chance that they will certainly destroy the evidence.
I have to be Touya the adventurer until the very last minute.
Let us just hope that we catch them all in time…….
I followed the guards to the station as I thought about how this matter would proceed.
And by doing so we get to have the children in the orphanage get attacked alongside Saya while all he needed to do was storm the viscount’s place