Chapter 1-23 : The Girl Is Looking For Hints At The Port Town (part 2)
Elle saw more and more people as she walked toward the center of the port town. It was the nearest port town to the royal capital, so it was bustling with people.
Merchants were selling many kinds of products in their stalls, nobles with expensive-looking outfits were going in and out of restaurants and other fancy-looking shops, and people who seemed to be fishermen were carrying nets and other fishing equipment.
「Whoaa… There are a lot of people!」(Elle)
「It’s too soon to be excited. You’ll see a lot more people in the royal capital, you know?」(Yoyo)
Elle had been living in the forest, so it was the first time she had seen so many people. She was a bit excited.
「I know. I can’t wait to get there! …Hm? Yoyo, look! That man looks like a wolf. He must be a beastman!」(Elle)
Elle saw a male werewolf beastman with red eyes that looked a bit intimidating. He was only wearing dirty torn pants, so she could see his huge muscular body that was covered in brown fur.
He was carrying two large barrels that seemed to be full of wine on both shoulders at the same time. A human would have had a hard time, but he did it with ease.
Elle had only read about beastman, the race of half human half beast, from a book in Moritz’s library, and as the book said, they seemed to have much superior physical ability than humans.
She was excited when she saw one with her own eyes.
However, she then frowned when she saw a man who seemed to be a wealthy merchant approach him and hit him with a whip.
「Hurry the hell up, you slow-ass dog!」(merchant)
「Khh…!」(beastkin)
「What? What’s with those rebellious eyes!? Looks like I didn’t hit you hard enough!」(merchant)
SLAP!
「Gahh!」(beastkin)
The beastman screamed in pain when the man repeatedly hit his back with the whip.
「He’s hurting him! How could he do something horrible like that!? And why doesn’t the beastman fight back?」(Elle)
The beastman obviously looked much stronger than the merchant. He could have beaten him easily.
Elle wondered why he didn’t protect himself from a man weaker than him.
「Elle, look at his neck.」(Yoyo)
「…!」(Elle)
The beastman was wearing a collar on his neck. Elle thought it was just an accessory until she noticed that it was glowing faintly every time the merchant hit him.
「That glowing collar… I remember seeing that in a book. That’s a slave collar…」(Elle)
「Yeah, most likely.」(Yoyo)
「How cruel…」(Elle)
Elle felt pain in her chest when she realized that the beastman was actually a slave.
Looking around, she saw other beastmen carrying luggage. They were all wearing the same collars.
Not just beastmen, she also spotted some humans wearing those collars too.
Slave collars are magic tools that make the wearers unable to oppose their masters.
Originally, they were magic tools used by beast tamers to tame ferocious and aggressive monsters. However, because of some greedy individuals, these tools began to be inappropriately used on human beings.
「Elle, look.」(Yoyo)
Looking in the direction Yoyo was pointing at, Elle saw a cage holding a few young beastmen wearing slave collars carried by a huge horse-drawn carriage cart.
There were two men standing by the cage. After talking for a few seconds, one of them took out a leather bag that seemed to contain money and handed it to the other man.
「Human… trafficking…」(Elle)
「Seems like it.」(Yoyo)
Watching human beings being traded for money, Elle felt disgusted. She couldn’t resist to grit her teeth and clench her fists.
「Why…? I just… don’t understand… I think life is precious and it can’t be bought with money… But… How could they do that…? I don’t understand…」(Elle)
「You don’t need to ーNo, you must not understand such things. This horrible sight makes me wanna puke. Let’s get away from here.」(Yoyo)
「U, Un…」(Elle)
Elle turned away from the terrible view in front of her and trudged down the street.
◇◇◇
When she got to the town’s shopping district, the first place she visited was a general store.
She remembered her father said he often bought souvenirs at a general store in the port town on his way back home from the royal capital, so she thought she might find clues about him there.
There were several general stores in the town, but Elle chose one with cosmetics, tea utensils, and toys on display.
The reason was that they sold toys.
「…Welcome.」(woman)
As soon as Elle stepped into the store, a grumpy-looking woman who seemed to be the shopkeeper greeted her.
Judging from Elle’s outfit, she noticed that she wasn’t a noble lady or a rich girl with money. That’s why she didn’t look so happy.
Elle wondered why an unfriendly-looking woman was selling toys, but she kept proceeding forward and approached her.
「Umm… Excuse me.」(Elle)
「Hm? You wanna buy something?」(woman)
「N, no. I just want to ask something. Uhh…」(Elle)
Elle took out the rabbit stuffed animal that Hugo gave her on her tenth birthday from her magic bag and showed it to the woman.
「Do you know anything about this bunny?」(Elle)
「Nope.」(woman)
The woman sold toys so Elle thought she might know about the stuffed animal, but she answered promptly without even looking at it.
She refused to help Elle the moment she noticed that she didn’t come as a customer.
「……」(Elle)
Somehow, she reminded her of the man who sold her the boarding pass to the ship at the harbor.
She knew what that kind of people like.
She took a silver coin from her bag and put it on the counter.
「Let me ask you again. Do you know anything about this bunny?」(Elle)
The woman raised the edges of her lips when she saw the silver coin on her table. She quickly took the coin and replied to Elle.
「You’re still very young but you do know how things work here. Let me see it.」(woman)
After Elle handed her the stuffed animal, the woman started observing it closely.
「Let’s see…. Hm? No way… This is…」(woman)
For some reason, she looked surprised when she saw the bunny’s right foot.
She then took out an appraisal loupe from her pocket and started examining it again, more carefully this time.
She examined every detail of the stuffed animal from the stitches, the fur, the materials, and the eyes.
「I can’t believe I would see one of them here…」(woman)
「So, did you find something?」(Elle)
「Yeah… I know where it’s manufactured.」(woman)
「Really!?」(Elle)
「Look. It has a serial number on its feet.」(woman)
「You’re right… I never knew.」(Elle)
There was a small knitting that formed a line of numbers on the bunny’s foot. Elle hadn’t noticed it because it was covered by fur.
「Honestly, I’m surprised a girl like you has this. This is a rare item. It’s an expensive custom-made stuffed animal manufactured by the Long Tail Factory in the royal capital.」(woman)
「Eh…?」(Elle)
Hearing the words ‘rare’ and ‘expensive’, Elle was confused. She thought it was a cheap stuffed animal.
「You’re not from a rich family, are you? Where did you get this?」(woman)
「…Does it matter?」(Elle)
While replying to the woman, Elle swiftly snatched the bunny away from the woman’s hands.
「Relax. I’m not gonna take that away from you.」(woman)
「I gave you money, so please just give me some information. What else do you know?」(Elle)
「The Long Tail Factory has made millions of stuffed animals, but the ones that have serial numbers are special. They are custom made and only certain people can order them. Moreover, I heard that you have to wait at least five years from the time you place the order until they finish it.」(woman)
「Five years!? Why does it take so long?」(Elle)
「I’m not sure, but there’s a rumor saying that the factory does it on purpose to make them rare. You know? To boost their value by a lot and make easy money. But, again, that’s just a rumor.」(woman)
「I see… You said they’re custom made, but is it possible to buy them at a general or a toy shop?」(Elle)
「No, that’s not possible. You can only order it directly from the Long Tail Factory. They are extremely rare and expensive stuffed animals. Only a small number of upper-class noble ladies and rich collectors have them. Even if you found one at a pawn shop or something, it’s most likely either stolen or fake.」(woman)
「Fake…? So, there are fake ones. Do you know if mine is real or fake?」(Elle)
「The fur’s a bit dirty, but I’ve been an appraiser for many years and I can guarantee you that your bunny here is a genuine one.」(woman)
「I see.」(Elle)
The woman was surprised when she appraised it, meaning that she wasn’t lying.
It really was one of the rarest and most expensive stuffed animals in the country.
「Girl, let me give you advice. If you want to keep yourself away from harm, you shouldn’t show that thing to other people.」(woman)
「Y, you’re right.」(Elle)
Listening to the woman, Elle immediately put the stuffed bunny back in her magic bag.
Right after, she took another silver coin and put it on the counter.
「Consider it as a hush money.」(Elle)
「Haha! Looks like you’re much more mature than you look. You can rest easy. I’ll make sure no one knows about your bunny friend.」(woman)
Saying that, the woman smiled and took the coin.
「Alright. Thank you.」(Elle)
「You watch yourself out there, girl.」(woman)
Elle nodded to the woman and left the store.
While standing by the stree, she looked at Yoyo with a puzzled face.
「Yoyo, where do you think my dad got the bunny from?」(Elle)
「I don’t know, but he didn’t buy it from a general store in this town. That’s for sure.」(Yoyo)
「Right…」(Elle)
Hugo said he bought the stuffed animal at a shop in this town, but he seemed to be lying. Either it was too much trouble to explain or he wanted to hide something from Elle.
「Dad always said he didn’t have much money, but how did he get this bunny?」(Elle)
「Beats me. I thought he was a mysterious man, but it seems like he’s more mysterious than I thought. Well, at least we know where to go next.」(Yoyo)
「You’re right. Let’s go.」(Elle)
Now that they’ve obtained useful information, Elle and Yoyo decided to head to the royal capital.
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