I received a question in the comments about whether the God of Death's Blessing is included among the Blessings of the Gods, so I'll address it here.
To summarize: the God of Death does not grant Blessings. What appears as "Blessings of the Gods" is simply the result of multiple gods granting their Blessings at the same time.
For the record, other gods do exist in this world, and even if those gods or the God of Death were to grant Tenma their Blessings in the future, the Blessings of the Gods entry would remain unchanged.
"And that's what caused that whole commotion..."
The person taking a statement right in front of me was Jean, who had happened to be passing nearby and caught wind of the commotion.
Jean wore a thoroughly irritated expression, tapping his finger against the desk with an insistent tap-tap-tap.
Because today was his day off. To make matters worse, he had been planning to spend his rare day off giving his family some quality time when he got dragged into this whole mess.
His face—one wrong move and you'd mistake him for a bandit—grew stormier with every word I said.
Fortunately, though, Jean wasn't angry at me or Amour and the others. He was furious at the guards who had released the intruders and then tried to turn around and arrest Kelly instead.
"Well, as far as this incident goes, Tenma and Branca bear absolutely no fault. As for Amour, he did go overboard, but there are mitigating circumstances... Still, Amour will have to accept roughly two days of detention. They're still officially recognized guards of the kingdom, after all, even if they're that kind of people. The real problem is with the guards themselves... From what I've heard, there's a good chance they were accepting bribes... Ugh, this is giving me a headache."
Normally, Jean as a Royal Guard would rarely get involved in this sort of issue, but the moment I was connected to it, that went out the window, and he ended up being placed in charge almost by default.
Apparently, all incidents involving me get routed to the Royal Guard, so Jean—who happened to be on the scene—drew the short straw. What's more, as Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard, he couldn't exactly run away, so he had to bow his head to his family and take on the assignment.
As for why incidents involving me fall under the Royal Guard's jurisdiction: the Royal Guard is the elite unit of the King's army, and moreover, their boss (a member of the royal family) is on friendly terms with me, plus there are plenty of people I know within the unit—making it far safer than leaving things to regular guards. I couldn't help but feel like I was being treated as a dangerous individual, but having someone I knew in charge rather than a stranger would put me more at ease, so I decided not to dwell on it.
"Haaah... You're free to go, Tenma. After this comes a search of the premises, I suppose..."
I didn't miss those last words Jean muttered under his breath. After all, they sounded awfully interesting.
"Hey Jean, can I come along for that?"
"Absolutely not—wait, hold on..."
Jean moved to shoot me down immediately, but he cut himself off mid-sentence and started thinking. He called over a nearby guard, had him bring some paper, and began scribbling something at a rapid clip.
"Done! Tenma, sign here for me."
The paper Jean had brought me for my signature had "Request Form" written in large letters across the top. The contents were a "Request for Cooperation During the Search of the Residence of George Highland, Representative of the Highland Trading Company." Apparently, "George Highland" was the name of the intruder who had caused this whole mess.
The Highland Trading Company was apparently a mid-sized trading company by Royal Capital standards, but up until a few years ago it had been a small one.
It wasn't exactly rare for trading companies to ride the wave of the times or for a talented owner to grow a business in just a few years, but the Highland Trading Company fell into neither of those categories — it was said to be a company with a dark reputation that had clawed its way up primarily through aggressive dealings.
Normally, a search of someone's residence would almost never involve a request for adventurer cooperation, but when searching a place like the Highland Trading Company where anything could happen, it was apparently common to request adventurers as search support personnel.
According to Jean, "Tenma is the perfect candidate — no issues with ability, he's directly involved in the incident, and his identity is clearly established."
The terms were a base fee of 10,000 G, with additional rewards layered on top depending on performance.
Jean said he wanted a few more people he could trust, so I introduced Branca and the Dawn Sword, and the requests were issued immediately. That said, Branca was already in a separate room in the same building giving her statement, so her consent was obtained in under a minute. As for the Dawn Sword, once we gave them the name of the inn where they were staying, a young guard soldier was dispatched right away.
"It's just past noon... If we can, I'd like to move in before it gets dark."
At the same time he sent someone to fetch the Dawn Sword, Jean apparently dispatched a messenger to the Royal Castle to obtain permission for the search.
Hiring us did feel like he was acting on his own authority, but the Highland Trading Company had apparently been marked for a while now — they'd always intended to move in when they got the chance — so the approval would come through without issue, no need to worry. Besides, Jean was the vice-captain of the Royal Guard, and he was apparently authorized to carry out operations of this scale on his own discretion.
"Hey, Tenma. Things sure have gotten weird. Well, just think of it as easy pocket money... Though the young lady does look pretty sour about not being able to participate."
As I made my way to the meeting room for the strategy briefing, Branca appeared behind me with an amused grin.
Before coming here, Branca had apparently stopped by to see Amour and told him about the search. Upon hearing this, Amour told the guards watching him that he wanted to participate too, since he was involved in the case. But he was told that wasn't possible, so he crawled under his futon and sulked.
Now, on paper Amour was currently being treated as a criminal, but since the guard's actions were clearly suspicious and Amour was obviously a victim, until the connection between the Highland Trading Company and the guard was confirmed, he was to be held under house arrest in a single room used by knights — not in the underground cell of the knight order branch where we were staying.
The connection between the Highland Trading Company and the guard — though calling it a "connection" was generous, since it looked like a shade so dark it was practically black — but Jean said, "He'll almost certainly be found innocent, but I'd like to keep the official story that he was detained for attacking a guard," which was how Amour's living arrangements were decided.
However, if it was clearly confirmed that the guard was in the wrong, the knight order could be accused of unlawfully detaining Amour, so Jean had asked him to let it go in exchange for an appropriate settlement payment upon his release.
Amour agreed to this and quietly accepted the house arrest, but naturally he wasn't permitted to join the operation.
"We need the fact that Amour is being held at the knight order branch. We can't let him out."
"That's true."
As we exchanged glances and took our seats, the strategy meeting began as if it had been waiting for us.
The plan wasn't anything particularly unusual. It was divided into three units — search, encirclement, and mobile. While the search team conducted their investigation, the encirclement team would cut off escape routes, and the mobile team's primary role would be capturing or neutralizing any fugitives.
The search (assault) team consisted of fifteen members drawn from the Royal Guard and the Knight Order, with Chris as the leader.
The encirclement team comprised a hundred members selected from the Knight Order and the city guard, led by Edgar.
The mobile team was made up of fifteen Royal Guard members and
the adventurers,
with Jean as the leader.
The Highland Trading Company was a three-story building situated a short distance from the main avenue, constructed on a rectangular plot of land surrounded by walkways, its structure standing independently from the surrounding buildings.
The search team would breach as a single unit, while the encirclement team would break into groups of five, deploying five such groups in each of the four directions. The mobile team would consist of five groups of three Royal Guards each, plus the Dawn Sword and the Tenma-Branca pair — seven groups in total — stationed around the trading company building to monitor all entrances and exits.
The trading company had four entrances and exits.
First was the main entrance at the front of the shop. This was the largest, but since the search team would be entering through it, it was expected to see the fewest escapees. Two groups, including Jean's, were assigned here.
Next was the large cargo entrance used for deliveries. This had the highest likelihood of someone attempting to flee, so the Dawn Sword — with one extra member — and another group were assigned to it.
Then there was the back door in the kitchen. It was narrow but had the least
foot traffic,
so they couldn't afford to let their guard down. Two Royal Guard groups were assigned, with one positioned at a distance close enough to rush to the cargo entrance as backup whenever needed.
Finally, there was my team, assigned to the rooftop entrance. Honestly, the chances of anyone using this exit were slim, but it offered a commanding view of the surrounding area, so it fell to me and Branca, who had the mobility for it.
I would carry Branca up to the rooftop using aerial magic, and if anything happened below, we would simply jump straight down.
Additionally, my team would be joined by the reliable "Three
Servants"
...or rather, Slarin, Shiromaru, and Solomon. Incidentally, Namitarou apparently wasn't suited for this kind of terrain (his own words) and would be sitting this one out — a rare occurrence. That said, after calling it a weak point, he'd also added that "if I went rampaging through a densely packed area, who knows how many buildings would come crashing down," so in a way, it was a relief for me too. After all, I'd be the one paying for any damaged buildings...
"Oh! They've started the assault. Solomon, hold position in the sky. Slarin, set traps at the entrances. Branca, Shiromaru — be ready to jump down at a moment's notice. I'll provide cover from up here."
On my command, each of them took their positions.
Almost immediately, those fleeing through the loading entrance appeared, and the clash with the Dawn Sword began. Shortly after, fierce sounds started echoing from the back entrance as well.
"Branca, go reinforce the back entrance! Shiromaru, hold the loading entrance! They're putting up fiercer resistance than I expected — I think it'll be fine, but if this keeps up, our casualties could mount."
"On it!"
"Ruff!"
Both locations had devolved into chaotic melees, meaning my magic risked hitting allies too. So, earlier than I'd planned, I sent Branca and the others down to provide support.
The two beasts didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat. They raced down the wall toward the battlefield below as though
plummeting
.
The spectacular entrance of the two beasts stunned the fleeing attackers into freezing in their tracks. The strike team seized the opening, cutting down the enemies and capturing every last one within minutes.
"Looks like the fighting has started inside the shop too. Oh! Slarin, we've got guests heading our way!"
I expanded my Appraisal to check on the situation inside the shop. Sure enough, a battle had broken out below as well, and the shouts of rage could be heard all the way up here.
Then, from among the group I assumed to be fighting Chris and the others, five signatures began moving toward our position. A clattering sound started up from the direction of the entrance — most likely arrows rattling in their quivers as they hurried up the stairs.
But the fact that
I
was up here — they hadn't noticed. All five carried nothing but bows and arrows. They were probably trying to provide ranged support for the fight outside.
"There should be enemies waiting outside too! We'll pick them off from above!"
All five burst through the rooftop door without a shred of caution.
And they fell perfectly into the trap. Just as I'd guessed — they'd come up to support the fight outside. Thanks to that, we subdued them with ease.
In truth, the moment I detected those five heading for the roof, I'd already doused the area just outside the door with water — enough to form proper puddles.
And so, the moment all five stepped into the puddles, I unleashed a lightning-magic stun and took them all out in one fell swoop.
"You won't be moving for a while. I'll have the Golem keep watch just in case... Solomon, you can take a break. Slarin, come with me."
Down below, Chris and the others were putting up a good fight, but the enemy had taken position on the staircase and was holding them off from the high ground, making it rough for Chris's squad.
However, if I attacked from above right now, the enemy would end up caught in a pincer and the tables would turn. The catch was that I'd have to approach without being noticed, or they'd hole up in rooms on the second or third floor and capturing them would become a real pain.
"Slarin, I'm going to charge right into the middle of them and go wild. I need you to pick off anyone I miss."
There was no time to draw up a detailed plan, so I chose the simplest and most effective method. Brute force — the most straightforward approach there is.
"Then... charge!"
I pulled a training staff from my bag and bolted down the stairs in one burst, leaping over the steps.
There were eight enemies, and each one was quite skilled. They'd set up on the second-floor landing, using the height advantage to fight back with spears and arrows, keeping Chris's search squad at bay.
But they weren't watching their rear at all — they didn't seem to notice my approach. Then again, even if they had, they wouldn't have changed their plan.
"Heads up — your backs are wide open!"
I plunged between the eight of them and sent the first one flying with a body check. Then I swung the staff around and took out two more on either side.
By that point the remaining five had noticed me, but before they could move I kicked two more off the edge of the staircase. Those two knocked two or three knights into the pile, but the other knights quickly pinned them down. Three left.
One of them tried to stand and face me, but the other two took off running up the stairs at full speed.
"Slarin! Two of them got away!"
I called out to Slarin, who should have been right behind me, and the two who fled were absorbed into Slarin's Emperor form, leaving them completely unable to move.
"And now for the last one!"
The final enemy standing in front of me was frozen in shock — his companions had fled and been captured in the blink of an eye, leaving him completely exposed. So I jabbed the staff straight at his chin, and the man crumpled to his knees, out cold.
"Chris, it's all done over here."
I called out to Chris, who was heading my way, and he made a bitter face. After all, it looked like I'd snatched the biggest share of the credit. Knowing Chris, he wasn't as bothered by me stealing his thunder as he was worried about what Jean might say about it later. So,
"I'd say it's thanks to Chris and the others drawing their attention that we were able to take them all down without any casualties."
When I said that, she broke into a huge smile. She must have figured out what I was getting at.
"That's right! Everything went according to plan!"
I had no idea when she'd even come up with a plan, but she clearly wanted to frame it that way.
"All right, let's get to work, people! Split into groups of three and investigate, just like we discussed. And keep your guard up — there might be more hiding somewhere. Before you start though, someone get these guys out of the building."
As Chris clapped her hands and rallied the group, the knights sprang into action with crisp efficiency and scattered in no time flat.
As expected of people handpicked for an important task — each and every one of them had impressive skills.
"So, Tenma. Anywhere that strikes you as suspicious?"
Chris walked up beside me, arms crossed for some reason looking all high and mighty as she asked, so I couldn't help myself —
"The entire shop. Good luck with that."
I said and started to walk away. She seemed to want me to join the search, but if I ended up stumbling across some dangerous aristocratic documents, it was guaranteed to become a real headache.
"Just for a little while, okay? Just a tiny bit — that's all I need, so please come along!"
Chris pressed her palms together and bowed her head in pleading. If the genders were reversed, that line would absolutely come across as someone trying to get you alone with ulterior motives. Well, apparently the reverse scenario is pretty common these days too, but still…
"Fine, but only for a little. And I'm only doing a quick sweep of the first floor and the warehouse."
If I poked around the warehouse casually enough, I'd probably turn up one or two suspicious items without much effort — I could just point those out and call it done. With that thought in mind, I headed toward the warehouse, and sure enough, I spotted something off almost immediately… a staircase leading down to a basement.
By pure chance, when I picked up a vial sitting on a shelf, I knocked over a weight that had been placed there — something that looked like a set of calibration weights. When it hit the floor, something about the sound it made struck me as odd, so I investigated and discovered the entrance to the basement. Whoever had hidden it had been thorough enough to rig it with some kind of device that interfered with magic, which was why my initial Appraisal hadn't picked it up.
"Outstanding work, Tenma! What a catch!"
Chris immediately tried to charge into the basement, but I stopped her and had her report to Jean outside first and wait for instructions. Going in without reporting would be a bad look, and more importantly, my second use of Appraisal had detected ten responses down there. And the Appraisal results for those responses were alarming.
Race… Elf
Title… Slave
Condition… Emaciated
Their ages were all different, but this was the common information shared by all ten people in the basement.
When I saw this, it gave me such a headache I knew we'd landed in real trouble.
It wasn't that this country didn't have elf slaves—it was that elf slaves were being
hidden away in the basement
that was the problem.
Elves are commonly depicted across many stories as having "refined features," being "proud," "skilled in magic," and "fond of the forest." And that holds true in this world as well.
Depending on the story, they're occasionally portrayed as "exclusionary toward other races," but as far as I know, I've never actually heard of that being the case.
If anything, they fall into the friendly category. Well, they apparently won't show mercy to those who ravage their forests, but if you put it in our terms, it's like "we won't show mercy to those who destroy our home"—so everyone recognizes it as a perfectly natural response.
Even such elves can fall into slavery if they commit crimes in human society or end up burdened with debt.
Elves are fundamentally a gentle race who prefer beautiful forests and quiet places, so most of them choose a modest life over a lavish one. However, since there are individual differences among elves, some engage in wrongdoing or lead depraved lives—and most elf slaves are those kinds of people.
Furthermore, since elf slaves are popular, they're traded at very high prices, and many owners go so far as to practically imprison them by severely restricting their movements. As a result, you almost never see an elf slave walking around town.
And because elves fetch such high prices, some are even turned into slaves through illegal means. The most common method is kidnapping.
The elves in the basement, given that they were being hidden, had likely been enslaved through kidnapping or similar means. After all, you can't get permission to buy or sell slaves outside of designated areas. Even in the case of a "slave transfer" rather than a transaction, you're required to go through a slave merchant, the municipal office, or the guild.
"Looks like they found a basement."
Upon hearing the report, Jean came over to where Chris and I were.
Jean began preparing for the incursion while listening to the detailed report.
However, I called for a halt.
"Jean, if we send a large group in and there are enemies lying in wait, we could take serious casualties on our side. So I think we should have Slarin go scope out the situation first."
"That's a fair point, but... will Slarin be enough on their own?"
Jean didn't seem to understand Slarin's true power.
So I put on a serious face and said,
"If Slarin were ever serious about assassinating someone, even Grandpa wouldn't stand a chance — he'd be taken out before he could even lift a finger."
I wasn't exaggerating. After all, Grandpa trusted that neither I nor Slarin would ever do something like that, so he was always completely unguarded around us. If someone actually tried to assassinate him, it would be as easy as twisting a baby's arm. Well, that said, something like that would never happen even if heaven and earth were turned upside down.
The surrounding knights were skeptical — or rather, they seemed to hardly believe a word of it. But Jean and Chris appeared to recall something related to what I'd said, and both of them went pale.
"Th-then please, take care of it. Don't push yourself too hard, alright?"
"Yes. Leave it to Slarin."
"If anything happens,
let us know right away."
Slarin gave a single, slight bounce of her body as if nodding, then smoothly descended the stairs.
I had said that in front of Jean and the others, but since something was definitely down there, I had previously instructed Slarin to turn back immediately upon reaching the elves.
The underground level was roughly the same area as the building above, consisting of only one floor, but it held four prison cells and three rooms — making it clear that the Highland Trading Company had been deeply involved in their slave-trading business.
"Welcome back, Slarin... I see. Jean, it seems Slarin found something quite significant."
About five minutes after Slarin went underground, I pretended to listen to her report and relayed the story of the slaves in the basement to Jean.
"What?! We need to go rescue them right now!"
"Jean, please wait a moment."
Jean, upon hearing my report, tried to charge straight into the basement, but I stopped him once again. The surrounding knights looked a bit displeased at this, but I ignored them and continued.
"According to Slarin, most of the slaves underground are women, and some of them are practically naked. If a large group of armed men storms in, how do you think they'd feel? I think we should have Chris and the women from the Dawn Sword go in first, get them dressed and calmed down, and then proceed with the rescue."
"I agree — I think that would be better too."
Since Chris, the only woman present, expressed her agreement, the men complied without objection. Jean, being a married man himself, raised no disagreement with my suggestion either.
"Then let’s get some clothes right away. Go grab every piece of clothing you can find in this area! Also, someone go tell the women from the ‘Dawn Sword’ outside what’s going on and ask them to come in."
Following Jean’s orders, the knights began rummaging through the nearby outfits. Since they didn’t know the builds of the enslaved elves, they were grabbing clothes at random, looking much like a group of looters.
Amidst the commotion, I made a suggestion to Jean and didn’t help gather the clothes, instead browsing through the other shelves.
"For a place that seemed to deal in such a wide variety of goods, the quality here is surprisingly decent."
I was checking the food shelves and the medicine-related ones. My plan was to prepare meals for the elves, who would likely be in a weakened state.
The severity of their condition couldn’t be determined without actually seeing them, but since they were being kept as merchandise, I assumed they weren’t in such a dire state. I decided to gather ingredients for a nourishing, easy-to-digest soup. Of course, if their weakness was extreme, even a regular soup could be dangerous, so I figured I’d need to do a quick check-up before they ate.
The ingredients I gathered were herbs for antidotes and healing salves, dried mushrooms with nutritious and restorative properties, and rice.
I couldn’t find any rice, so I used some pre-cooked rice I had stored in my bag.
What I intended to make from these ingredients was a ‘seven-herb rice porridge-style gruel.’ Originally, seven-herb rice porridge was created to revitalize weak stomachs, and gruel is often used as food for the ill. I figured combining them with medicinal herbs would create something highly effective… or at least, that was my hope.
The herbs and mushrooms I chose were ones I knew were safe to consume raw, so there was no risk involved.
"First, I’ll grind the mushrooms into powder and add them to the pot of hot water. Then, in go the chopped herbs and a pinch of salt… Next, skim off the scum, and skim off the scum again, and skim it some more… Finally, add the rice, stir it up… and let it simmer! The taste might be a little bitter?"
While I was skimming the scum, Chris and the others descended underground. Shortly after, I heard voices from below, and around the time I was adding the rice and stirring, Jean and the rest headed down too.
Once the gruel had thickened nicely, I was stirring the pot to cool it when Chris supported the first elf as she came up from below.
The elf was female and looked gaunt, but she was beautiful, with the refined features most people imagine when they hear the word ‘elf.’
The elves who came out after her, while varying individually, were all stunning. It helped me understand, even just a little, why some people desired to own elf slaves.
If I could get testimony from these elves, George Highland and most of his associates at the Highland Trading Company would likely fall into slavery themselves.
But first…
"I’ve made a gruel that’s gentle on the stomach and easy to digest, so please try it. At the same time, I’ll provide treatment."
Helping the elves recover both physically and mentally had to come first.