Chapter 6: The Slave Catchers

Looking at the vast expanse of dark skies, Komer felt an additional sense of loneliness. Eirlot was now fully immersed in striving to improve his martial skills. With two Dark Knights several levels above him as opponents, Eirlot’s stubborn nature finally came to the fore. Defeat after defeat, yet he kept fighting—this had become a spiritual pillar for Puber to strive toward, and this kind of confrontation also became a form of exercise that Eirlot enjoyed endlessly, much to the frustration of the two silent Dark Knights. Puber went to Bahomun to oversee the iron mine development. Although progress was fast, it would likely take a month or two before the first batch of ore could be extracted. However, as the number of miners increased, the development of the iron mine was expected to accelerate further.

The development of coal mines in the Vot Mountains was also unusually rapid. Driven by profit, both the mine owners and miners worked extremely hard. Matdan, located at the mouth of the Catalonia River where it met the Abyssal Sea, finally saw the emergence of small shipbuilding workshops. This was a compromise reached after several debates between Komer and the pirates behind Kudan. Under Komer’s insistence, the pirates finally agreed to build a small dock for producing ordinary medium and small cargo ships. Without their permission, no one dared to engage in such business in their territory. Though it was still small-scale, it marked the beginning of a new industry in the Caucasus.

Coal from the Vot Mountains was transported to Matdan and then via waterways to Bahomun, or iron ore from Bahomun was sent to Matdan by water. Thanks to its strategic location between the two areas and favorable transportation conditions, Komer believed Matdan would soon become the leading smelting center in the Caucasus.

Everything seemed to be on track. Then why did he still feel a lingering sense of confusion? Komer pondered this deeply. What prevented him from living a carefree life like his peers and forced him to endure such a gloomy existence? What was the meaning of all this?

Shaking his head as if to dispel these pointless thoughts, he realized he was now the lord of the entire Caucasus. Not only did he have to be responsible for himself, but he also had hundreds of thousands of simple and kind people who relied on him to lead them to a better life. But was he capable of doing so? Komer wasn’t very confident.

Gently holding the letter in his hand, he read it carefully. Dressed in a neat and simple gentleman’s tuxedo, he hardly looked like an old man in his fifties. A slight smile on his lips indicated that the contents of the letter were at least pleasing.
“It seems this young person has done well. I never expected that in just a few months, he could drive that old fool Philip into turmoil. This young person truly understands the situation well—his act of walking a tightrope between the kingdom and Philip is just right; it strengthens his ties with the kingdom while keeping Philip from finding a proper reason to deal with him for now.”
“Is that so? Taze, it seems the seeds you sowed have begun to sprout. I hope this sprouting will lead to many more shoots emerging, even toppling two large stones.”
The magnificent armor worn by the middle-aged man seemed to have no effect on him at all. His gaze remained fixed on the bookshelf in the Home Minister’s study. There weren’t many items on it—two or three ancient porcelain vases, a wooden inlaid and gilded platter, and a beast’s head with twisted horns, clearly obtained from hunting in the remote regions to the northeast. It was the head of a Hua Deng Fei antelope, a rare creature from the Flami Wasteland. These antelopes could traverse mountains as if they were flat ground, move swiftly as if flying, and had an extremely high level of alertness. They could sense a person from a distance of a hundred meters. They were a non-threatening variant of magical beasts, and their crystal cores were excellent materials for crafting magic scrolls of perception.
The items in the study were naturally the owner’s prey. However, the middle-aged man wondered if the owner was merely trying to appear cultured by displaying a prey in his room. Although such magical beasts were not aggressive, hunting them was extremely difficult. With the Home Minister’s physique, even if he had a swift horse, it would be hard to catch up with such beasts.

The Warcraft skulls were merely displays to show off one’s hunting achievements, but the other items were truly exquisite. His experienced eyes wandered over two ancient porcelain vases—such porcelain was not produced in most parts of the Land of Azure; it came from only one place: the mountain dwarf tribes in the southern part of the continent. There, they had glaze materials unique to that region, as well as mountain dwarves skilled in pottery firing. Only their mastery could produce such masterpieces. Clearly, these two vases were top-quality porcelain made by the mountain dwarves. Judging from the painting style on their surfaces, it was even a mortal-style court painting, showing great artistry and reflecting the effort the mountain dwarves put into crafting them.

Hearing his old friend marveling at the vases, Taze immediately understood his intentions. With a smile, he said, “Stop fawning over them. If you want them, just take them. Remember to cherish them well. You know I’m not interested in them; I just have them here for show.”

“How can that be? Am I someone who takes things by force? Tell me where you got them, and I’ll go get some to play with too.” His reluctant to let go attitude made it hard to believe he would give them up. It was indeed unusual to see the commander of the Kingdom of Nicocia act like this.

“Hmph, get some? That’s easy for you to say. Try getting some for yourself! Such masterpieces are hard to come by. If it weren’t for an important mountain dwarf being captured by us in Nicocia, you’d hardly even get a chance to see them.” Taze’s gaze remained fixed on the letter, clearly valuing it highly.

“Oh? Mountain dwarves have also been captured?” He was taken aback. Though his eyes were still on the vases, the armored man shifted his attention back. “That’s the dwarf world—how could they be captured and brought to our northern lands?”

“Hmph, as long as there’s profit, nothing is too extreme. What does it matter if it’s dwarf territory? Where there’s demand, there’s pursuit! Right now, war clouds loom over our continent’s north, and the demand for weapons and armor is increasing. Dwarves are natural craftsmen, so naturally, some people want to get more dwarves to make profits. With market demand, as long as you offer a high enough price, someone will find a way.” Taze’s words carried a hint of concern.

“But mountain dwarves are different from hill dwarves. Though they are skilled in pottery and porcelain making, they are not adept at prospecting, smelting, or metalworking. So why were these mountain dwarves captured?” This left the armored man somewhat confused, and he glanced at his interlocutor with a puzzled expression.

“Hmph, who among us mortals can really distinguish between these dwarves? Probably those slave hunters just grabbed any dwarf they saw and mistook mountain dwarves for hill dwarves.” Shrugging, a shadow passed over Taze’s rosy cheeks.

“Oh, so those slave hunters belong to us mortals?” Raising his eyebrows, the armored soldier finally put down the ancient porcelain vase and focused on the topic. “Those despicable wretches, daring to trample the law so recklessly—if they fell into my hands, I would make them suffer greatly! But I don’t understand. Haven’t the dwarves formed an alliance with the elves? Logically, in the central and southern regions, the dwarves and elves should have established a solid defense line along their borders. How can those slave hunters freely enter their territory to capture people? Could it be there’s a problem with their army? That seems unlikely.”

“Hmph, Matthew, it seems you only see the land-based defenses. What about the sea? With such a long coastline, how can the dwarves and elves defend themselves?” Taze shook his head and said solemnly, “This is the inherent weakness of the dwarves and elves. They can’t stop invaders from invading by sea, nor can they build castles along the long coastline for defense. The situation is getting worse by the day, and the dwarves and elves are in trouble.”

“You mean those pirates? Have they colluded with the slave hunters?!” The armored soldier finally understood, his face filled with shock.

“Well, there are more and more colonies on the Land of Mist, near the Midland Ocean, and they’re growing larger as well. Do you really think so many people would willingly go to that cursed land for adventure? It’s all a cover. Aside from a few places indeed meant for adventurers and tourists, many of these colonies have now become bases for slave hunters. These slave hunters collude with the owners of those colonies and pirates. The colony owners provide logistical support and intelligence to the slave hunters, while the pirates and slave hunters use force—pirates attack coastal towns and villages, and the slave hunters capture and select victims. After capturing slaves, they divide the loot according to an agreed-upon ratio. Haven’t you noticed that the number of elves and dwarves in Jazair’s slave markets has suddenly increased? There are even merfolk! It’s all thanks to these guys.”

Although Teyz was filled with anger, he was a staunch abolitionist, especially against the practice of turning people other than prisoners of war into slaves. Yet he was helpless against the growing trend of illegal slave hunting. Though the kingdom had ordered a ban on such illegal practices to capture outsiders as slaves, it couldn’t stop such activities as long as they occurred outside the kingdom’s borders. And once slaves were legally acquired outside and brought into the kingdom, they could be sold openly in the slave markets.