Volume 4, Chapter 70 – Things Quietly Changing

“So this is Miss Claire’s strength…”

Out of sheer shock, Anastasia had unconsciously risen from her seat in the stands.

Although she had seen Claire destroy the Unsinkable Moon, the forgetting curse had long since erased the memory of how she had done it. Her impression was only of the fact that “Claire destroyed the Unsinkable Moon.” She had only a vague concept of just how strong Claire truly was.

Now, Claire had defeated Yelido in just a few short breaths. On the one hand, she felt that Claire was very strong. On the other, because it was so incredible, she couldn’t help but think that the Elf King hadn’t used his full strength at all.

She turned to look at Fia, who had also risen from her seat, her expressive azure eyes filled with disbelief.

“How could His Majesty be defeated just like that… and what kind of magic was that knight?”

“Claire was stronger than Father from the very beginning. Her victory was to be expected. Well, although I also think the process was a bit too fast.”

Anastasia hadn’t been able to see clearly what had happened in the black smoke, but Fia, using [Wind of Exploration], had seen it with exceptional clarity. The mana contained in just those two swords of Claire’s was more than Yelido’s own.

Those two swords of different colors clearly contained special magic. The blood-red single-handed sword could absorb the mana of anyone it touched, while the function of the black longsword, covered in dark blue patterns, was unknown. Fia had only seen Claire swing the sword at Yelido. Before the sword had even hit him, his left leg was already injured. A moment later, the black sword had plunged into his leg, causing him to crash to the ground.

And in this process, Claire had added two more spells. One was the “knight” Anastasia had mentioned—a twenty-meter-tall knight in silver plate armor, holding a giant lance. The other spell’s function was unknown to Fia. She had only seen Claire use a spell on Yelido, but it had shown no offensive properties.

Although the magic Claire used did not belong to the World Tree Continent’s system, Fia could classify it based on its power. The mana possessed by that knight alone had reached the Sixth Rank, which meant it was at least a Sixth-Rank summoning-type spell, something like [Puppet Creation].

Her Father’s loss was too unjust.

Fia couldn’t help but think this in her heart. Yelido had been too arrogant. He had not cast any enhancement magic beforehand, nor had he used long-range magic to test Claire’s strength before charging straight in. That was why he had been defeated by Claire, who had gone all out from the very beginning. Yelido possessed a wide variety of blessings. Normally, even if he couldn’t change the outcome of his defeat, he wouldn’t have lost so quickly.

As for why she said Claire had used her full strength from the start, the answer was simple. Even after taking out her two companion weapons and increasing her ‘recoverable mana’ limit, Claire was still showing the same horns and tail as a demon. And she would only reveal such an appearance when she had used her ‘non-recoverable mana.’

Of course, it was also possible that Claire wanted to show an appearance different from a human to change the “human” stereotype, which was why she had used so much mana.

Fortunately, she had anticipated that Yelido would lose. Before entering the training grounds, she had specially had the Imperial Guard block the nobles who wanted to watch from the entrance. Otherwise, the tragic scene of his defeat would have surely been seen by them. Although the duel had been proposed by her Father first, and there was nothing to say about his loss, as his daughter, she still had to save him some face—Fia was not completely ignorant of worldly wisdom.

As for the explanation to the nobles, as long as she revealed Claire’s Eighth-Rank strength, there should be no problem.

She hoped that this self-reflecting father of hers would not go back on his word after losing.

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“Let’s go, Anastasia.”

“Yes.”

With this thought, Fia easily vaulted over the railing and jumped into the training grounds below.

…

“Are you… a demon?”

After Claire had dispelled the [Living Armor] and moved her sword hilt away, Yelido, who had gotten up from the ground, frowned.

As long as Claire was outstanding enough, even if she was human, he could accept her. However, if she was a demon, the matter would become delicate. The Darkborn were the enemies of the entire continent and had brought considerable harm to all races. Even the Elf Saint who had transitioned the elf race from tribes to a nation had died of an old illness left from a battle with a Darkborn.

“I don’t know what I am, but I’m definitely not a demon. Although I have horns and a tail like a demon, I don’t have wings. I have asked the demons in the Darkborn camp in the past, and they do not recognize me as one of them.”

“To have actually gone to the Darkborn’s camp…”

“Not all Darkborn are monsters who attack at the slightest disagreement. Besides, shouldn’t Your Majesty treat the injury on your leg first?”

Claire’s gaze fell on Yelido’s left leg, where the fabric was already stained red with blood. Although he was Fia’s father, injuries were unavoidable in a spar. At their level, as long as it wasn’t a vital point, healing magic could quickly heal the wound.

After her reminder, Yelido finally noticed the injury on his leg. He took out a bottle of life recovery potion from his storage item and sprinkled it on his leg, then looked at the faint figure of Fia running towards him from outside the black mist. He was silent for a moment.

“A bet is a bet. Although I did not use my full strength, a loss is a loss. I acknowledge your strength and courage. But this does not mean I acknowledge your character. Everything still needs to be considered.”

Although he had said that if she won, he would allow her to be with Dofi, now he was talking about further consideration. Yelido couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. He paused for a moment, and after hearing no rebuttal from her, he continued with a stern face.

“I will allow you to continue to live in Dofi’s palace. However, she has not yet reached the age of one hundred, the age of adulthood for elves, so do not overstep your bounds in some matters. After the formal wedding has been held, you can do as you please. Also, Dofi is the elf queen who will succeed me. Once your relationship is announced to the nobles, you must pay attention to your words and actions in the future, so as not to bring shame to Fia.”

Fia’s father was not an unreasonable person. Claire could hear the tacit approval in his words, but her gentle face had a delicate expression, and she became too embarrassed to look at him directly. What he had meant by “do not overstep your bounds” was surely to not develop a physical intimacy before marriage. However, she and Fia already had…

It was so shameful to say it out loud. She and Fia had already overstepped. Although it was Fia who had first pushed her down on the bed and asked if it was okay, if she hadn’t wrapped her tail around Fia’s hand, as if to tempt her, perhaps things would not have developed to that point…

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I’m such a disqualified older sister!

With this thought, Claire pretended on the surface that nothing had happened. She had no desire for Yelido to know that she had already tasted his daughter. She put away her two longswords and, feigning propriety, bowed to him.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Your Majesty?

Yelido raised an eyebrow.

Mmm… calling me ‘Your Majesty’ now is fine.

Perhaps it was because Claire was a woman and not a man, the annoyance of “Dofi being snatched away” was not as strong as he had imagined.

This was a good thing.

Yelido let out a long sigh in his heart. Dofi was his daughter, not Veronica. She would one day marry someone. Comforting himself thus, he put away his long spear and stood up straight. In a bad mood, he no longer looked at Claire. He could ask about her background when they returned. Right now, it was more important to greet his daughter who was running towards him. He used a pain-relief spell to suppress the slight sting in his left leg, then turned to Fia, revealing an extremely unpracticed smile.

◇

A bright and luxurious interior.

It was located in the largest casino in Blossom.

With the exception of theocracies like the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, most countries on the World Tree Continent did not prohibit gambling. There were only some minor differences based on customs and the preferences of the leaders.

Take Silvar, for example. It only allowed people to gamble in officially licensed casinos. If one were to open a private casino, they would be subject to a heavy penalty equivalent to that of drug trafficking, ranging from over two hundred years in prison to being enslaved for generations or even the death penalty.

And casinos were naturally tied to exorbitant profits. With the local lords holding the operating licenses, the people who could open casinos were basically related to them. And to open a casino in a giant city with a population of 1.2 million like Blossom, it was hard to imagine just how powerful the boss behind the scenes was. After all, this was the foot of the emperor.

In fact, to this day, the identity of the boss of the largest casino in Blossom was still a topic of much discussion.

Only a very small number of people knew the answer. It was a mysterious existence named Thanatos, whose origins could not be investigated.

Now, about a dozen lavishly dressed men and women were sitting around a table. Most of them were elves, with a few lion-headed beast-kin and humans. Unlike the common slender figures in this world, although they were not nobles, each of them wore countless precious metal ornaments, and their clothes were of the highest quality in both material and style. Most of their figures could be described as obese. Obesity was a symbol of status on the World Tree Continent. Without sufficient financial resources, it was impossible to have an obese body.

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They were all slave traders on the royal lands. Just like the casinos, as long as they were slave traders permitted by the kingdom, they could conduct slave trade within Silvar. These slave traders, who were all local tyrants in their own territories, were now like students concentrating on a lecture, seriously looking at a young red-haired woman standing at the head of the table.

Her name was Carol. Although she was young, no one in the room dared to underestimate her, because this young woman was the person who would be their contact from now on. If they failed to get on good terms with her, they would lose the right to trade slaves on the royal lands. Blossom and its surrounding lands belonged to the royal family. This was a huge cake that no one was willing to give up.

As if she were talking about a trivial matter, Loca—at this moment, she should be called Carol—steepled her fingers and maintained a very natural smile.

“I mean, with the exception of Mr. Arman, all of you must give up your businesses from now on and withdraw from the slave trade. As for the slaves in your hands, you can sell them to me at their original price, or take them and leave the royal lands. If I find any of you or your subordinates still secretly running a slave trade after the new year, I will personally come and have a talk with you. It’s just that at that time, I can’t guarantee that you won’t be missing a few things. This is Lord Thanatos’s will. You only have these two choices.”

“Wait, Miss Carol, this is too sudden!” a female elf, who looked to be in her forties or fifties in human years, slammed the table and asked in a loud voice. “You’ve gathered us here just to tell us to wash our hands and get lost?”

“Calm down,” the only beast-kin present, a lion-headed male, comforted the old female elf. He said to Carol in a pleading tone, “Miss Carol, we know that there have been changes in the capital these past few days. For you to replace Miss Eimes is probably because she stood on Prince Schain’s side, and he lost to the Eldest Princess, which has put Lord Thanatos in a difficult position, right? We can pay you more poll tax from now on. Please put in a good word for us with Lord Thanatos.”

In his view, Thanatos was Schain’s secret supporter. Now that someone above was pushing for the abolition of slavery, putting pressure on him, that was why he had had her say these words.

And following right after him, another young male elf stood up. He glared at the old man sitting opposite him. This old man was the only human present, and also the one with the cheapest clothes. Unlike the other slave traders, he did not have the ability to establish roots in the capital, but traveled between Silvar and the Holy Kingdom, and was seen by them as a small-time peddler who was not even qualified to participate in such a meeting.

“Miss Carol, how can a human be here? They only deserve to be slaves! Besides, his clothes are no different from those of a poor noble!”

Faced with the angry expressions of the many slave traders, Carol, in her light green swordsman’s uniform, did not appear flustered. She smiled calmly and introduced.

“I forgot to introduce him. This is the Mr. Arman I was talking about. A friend of Lord Thanatos was taken care of by him in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, which caused him to not only lose his mansion, but also his qualification to enter the Holy Kingdom. Lord Thanatos has always repaid kindness. Since he lost his family business because he protected her friend, she will naturally repay him.”

“You don’t have to worry either. Lord Thanatos is not letting him take over the cake you’ve left behind. Word has already been sent out from above that the slave trade in Silvar is to be completely abolished. From now on, there will be no more slave traders like you in Silvar. What Mr. Arman will be doing is just taking those criminals who have committed serious crimes and have already been branded as slaves abroad. From next year, there will be no more people demoted to slavery in the kingdom.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying? If you want to continue to live your current wealthy lives, then please find another way. However, I think that with the assets you have accumulated, even if you do nothing for the rest of your lives, you will be rich enough to die of old age. Thinking this way, you shouldn’t have any objections, right? This is the will from above. If you continue to trade slaves, you will be causing trouble for Lord Thanatos, making things difficult for her.”

As if to give the slave traders time to understand, Carol crossed her arms over her chest and deliberately paused for a moment, her smile becoming even more brilliant.

“Anyone with objections can raise their hand.”

“…”

The slave traders looked at each other. Everyone was waiting for someone else to raise their hand. They had a lot of say in their own territories, but in front of Thanatos, they were not even a mosquito. After all, the reason they had been able to make their fortunes was by latching onto him.

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No one knew just how much power he had. They only knew two things: one, most of the shady things in the capital had to go through his subordinates, and two, anyone who publicly spoke ill of him would be found dead on the streets the next day. Now that someone had appeared who could even make him troubled, the other party’s status and power was clear to see.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Carol nodded with satisfaction.

“It seems you are all very self-aware. If there are no objections, I will take it that you have all agreed. Later, there will be someone to accompany you back and take stock of the slaves in your hands. As for whether you sell them to me or take them and leave Silvar, you can choose for yourselves.”

Although she said they had a choice, any discerning eye could see that they had no choice. They could only sell the slaves to her. It was impossible for them to take a large group of slaves on a long journey from the capital to another country. The cost of the journey would already exceed the value of the slaves themselves.

“Then the meeting is adjourned.”

“W-wait! Miss Carol, I have an objection!” The old woman who had objected at the beginning raised her hand. She frowned, as if she were suppressing her dissatisfaction. “This is a forced sale. This is not in accordance with the rules.”

“I have given you two months to leave Silvar. Is that not enough?”

“That’s not what I mean. I was hoping you could put in a good word with Lord Thanatos, and have him communicate with the lords above—eeek!!!”

No one saw Carol’s move. The slave traders only felt a cold wind blow past them, and the female elf who had been close to her was sent flying by a kick from Loca, smashing into the wall. At the same time, there was the ear-piercing sound of a chair overturning.

Carol’s control of her strength was excellent. The female elf lost consciousness after hitting the wall. Then, two male guards, as if it had been pre-arranged, walked in and carried her out. At the same time, a large group of burly guards poured into the room, their eyes glaring.

Carol continued to smile as she scanned the crowd.

“Anyone else?”

A full minute passed.

No one dared to make a sound.

“Then I will take it that you have all agreed. Thank you for your cooperation. The meeting is adjourned. I wish you all a pleasant evening.”

After speaking, the red-haired Carol led the guards and Arman out of the room, leaving only the slave traders, covered in cold sweat and stiff all over, looking at each other.

Abolishing slavery was no small matter. It involved a large number of people, including the interests of that Thanatos. And even he could not stop this force of change. The other party’s identity was already obvious. Some of the more astute among them had already sensed that they were just the first to fall in this change. In the future, many more things they had taken for granted would change.

Silvar was about to change.