Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 61

61―――――

The villain isn’t played by the bad guy, but by the smart one.

‘What is this?

What on earth?

What the hell is going on!’

This was the Konean Viscount, forcibly being buddy-buddy with Zion.

‘…A different race woman?

What is she trying to do now?

No, before that, where did all the times I tried to get with him and failed go?’

This was Lilith’s thought.

‘Ughhh!

Ah, what if I stuck to him too much earlier and he smelled something weird?’

Unlike the other two, Rishikia was worrying about something completely different from the current situation.

“Hahaha.”

And Zion was the one laughing out loud.

The Konean Viscount stared at Zion for a moment, then forced his expression to settle down and subtly removed Zion’s arm.

“Young Duke Zion.

Your joke is too much.

You must know the laws of the kingdom.”

“I do.

I know them well.”

“Then…”

“So, shouldn’t I be saying this to the Viscount?”

When you keep probing, you can distinguish between those who reveal their weaknesses and those who don’t.

From that perspective, the Konean Viscount was at least trying his best to avoid revealing his weaknesses.

Unlike before, his voice was stable and his eyes were less shaken.

If you didn’t know anything about the other person, it would have been very difficult to tell the difference.

Just put on a decent expression, reduce the trembling of your body, and lower your voice a bit.

But now it was different.

Completely different.

Zion already knew that the Konean Viscount was secretly managing the slave market.

When you already know the result and keep digging, there’s no way you won’t reveal your weaknesses.

“Viscount.

You’ve probably heard from the rumors circulating in the royal capital that most of the rumors about me are false.

Isn’t that right?”

“…I know that the Duke protected Hispaña from Nudia’s attack.

But…”

“People are originally unpredictable creatures, smiling on the outside while cursing all sorts of things on the inside.

They are truly versatile beings.

They can deceive others and even deceive themselves without any difficulty.”

The Konean Viscount was in his early 40s, an experienced man who had seen almost everything in the world.

And Zion Klauzen was just an adult, a fresh twenty-year-old.

Normally, the Konean Viscount should have suppressed the young man with his eloquence born from experience.

That’s the way it should be.

It should definitely be that way, but…

“Rumors are not very reliable.

That’s why I prefer to meet and talk in person to get to know the real person.

That’s what I did with Count Sepher Kashgar, who rode in the carriage with me on the way to the royal palace.

Ah, it’s a bit much to put the name of a traitor, so should I call him some stupid Count?”

“That kind of…”

The moment Kashgar’s family name came out of Zion’s mouth, the war situation had already completely tilted.

The Konean Viscount already knew that the man, who was now a traitor rotting in prison, was once a regular customer at the slave market, buying different race slaves.

‘You’re screwed from the moment you met me.

You’re trying to put on an unbelievable act.’

Fortunately, the demon in front of him was Zion, not Kim Yu-hyun.

One can at least communicate, but the other is someone who would get angry just by hearing the words.

If Kim Yu-hyun had been in this place, the Konean Viscount might have gone around the underworld once, written a review, and waited for his turn to return to reality.

The Konean Viscount was frantically rolling his eyes, searching for a way to survive.

Zion cheered for the Viscount in his heart, smiled, and whispered again with the devil’s temptation.

“After various stories, that man’s name came out of his mouth.

He told me to visit Konean if I was bored.

He said I would definitely have a great time.”

“Th, that kind of…”

“Of course, he said he bought ‘goods’ from other places, but he said there were some decent things there too.

I heard that many nobles came and went…”

That was it, that was all the Konean Viscount had.

‘Damn Kashgar!

You’re not helping me until the end, until the end!’

Kashgar was a big customer in this industry, especially fond of young Elf slaves.

When he came once, he paid generously, including tips, so the Konean Viscount even brought in a few Elf slaves, hoping that Kashgar would come again someday.

However, that Kashgar broke the absolute confidentiality and revealed information to others.

Even to Zion Klauzen, who is said to be the rising star of the kingdom these days!

‘Damn it!

You bastard!

Ughhh!’

If you get caught, just die quietly alone!

Isn’t he planning to kill not only the market that’s running smoothly, but even himself?

He was a cowardly man who was busy taking care of his own safety, but he was also quick to calculate profits and losses.

And he was also very quick to cut ties with who to take and who to abandon.

“…Young Duke Zion Klauzen.

You know what that means, right?”

“Of course.

I didn’t report this fact to the royal capital, so I can’t be free from this charge either.

Even so, the fact that I came here to ask to see some things means that the Viscount knows what my true intentions are, right?”

He was a war hero, a rising star, but the rumors about the nobleman Zion Klauzen that had been heard until then were all very negative.

From that point of view, the Konean Viscount felt that at least the part about ‘lusting after women’ seemed to be true.

If a young man in his twenties, with a fairly handsome face, stayed cooped up in his territory without even a common love affair, there was only one reason.

He was a man who couldn’t be satisfied with just one woman.

Besides, heroes are said to be womanizers, so Konean slowly felt his heart leaning towards that.

“But, those two people…”

“Hmm?

Ah, why are you doing this?

Not like an expert.”

Zion smiled brightly and whispered in the Konean Viscount’s ear.

“Why would Nudia’s high-ranking knight come to me?

Isn’t it all because of ‘those’ similar reasons?

And the wizard next to me is good at what she does, and she’s a bit of a killer, so I take her with me.”

“Ah.”

The Konean Viscount glanced at Lilith and Rishikia as if he understood Zion’s words.

Lilith looked different from her true self through transformation, but she was still a beauty.

And Rishikia was a knight, but if she wore a dress, anyone would see her as a noble lady, with a different kind of beauty from Lilith.

So, it was obvious that a nobleman who liked women was building his own harem.

“Ahem.

Wouldn’t those two be angry?

What I provide is only ‘goods,’ so that person may feel uncomfortable.”

“They have to understand.

If they want to be in my arms.

Ahaha!”

‘Crazy bastards.’

This was Lilith’s thought.

‘Ah, I want to be in Zion’s arms again.’

This was Rishikia’s thought.

‘This old man keeps stalling for time.’

Zion was getting impatient, so he decided to subtly stimulate the Konean Viscount in a different direction.

After a light threat, he gave a sense of camaraderie that ‘you and I are the same kind,’ so this time he decided to subtly induce a sense of competition.

“Hmm.

You keep stalling for time, is it because the quality of the goods is low?”

“Huh?”

“According to some Count, the place he used to go always provided the best quality and the best service.

It seems that the quality here is much lower than that, even though I know everything and come here to ask for this?”

“…That’s not true.”

Whether you’re doing good or bad things.

Anyone would get angry if they heard that what they’re doing is worse than others.

There are places where you should show off your ‘pride’ and places where you shouldn’t, but from the Konean Viscount’s point of view, who wanted to have wealth and power by any means, he thought that the slave market was something he could be proud of.

“We always bring in the best quality goods and sell them to those who want them.

I don’t know exactly what that man said, but there’s nothing lacking here either.”

“That’s a relief then.”

He touched his pride and revealed his true feelings.

Now was the moment to throw the bait, shake the prey, and bring it out of the water.

“As you know, I won the war against Nudia, so I have quite a lot of money that they gave me ‘personally’ in addition to the reparations [compensation for war damages].

I didn’t know where to spend this money, so I was saving it, but it seems like I found a good place.”

When the story of money comes out, the eyes of those who want it are bound to turn.

As expected, the Konean Viscount showed interest right away, and Zion chuckled and continued.

“First of all, I want to go and see it in person.

Is that okay?

I can pay the transaction fee generously.”

“…You must keep the secrecy.

You must not reveal today’s events to anyone close to you.”

“There was such a rule?

Then why did that man tell me that?”

“Because he’s so talkative, his loyalty is as light as a feather, so he tried to do something ridiculous like treason.”

After saying that, the Konean Viscount told them to wait a moment and disappeared somewhere.

After confirming that he had disappeared, Zion opened his mouth slightly.

“We’re going to the slave market, is that okay with you?”

“…Are you asking that now?”

“L, Master.

Were you perhaps not satisfied with just me…?”

“What is she saying again?

I’ve done more with Zion than you have, haven’t I?

It’s not something you should say, Rishi!”

Rishikia was sad about a strange part, and Lilith had a sense of competition in that strange part.

“Why the sudden slave market?

Are you really horny like Rishi said?”

“No way.

I’m worried that I might die while dealing with the two of you right now.”

“Then?”

“Because I’m greedy for money.

Money.”

Money?

Lilith and Rishikia turned to Zion at the same time.

Just as he was about to answer the two women’s questions, he immediately closed his mouth at the sound of someone approaching from afar, suddenly put his arms around their waists, and gave a light smile.

“You guys worry too much.

Relax.

Would I abandon these two just because I’m buying something?”

“…What?”

“A, abandon?”

“I won’t abandon you, I won’t abandon you.

So rest assured.”

Rishikia was startled by the word abandon and rushed into Zion’s arms.

Thanks to that, Lilith, who let out a gasp, soon growled and tried to take up half of Zion, shouting, ‘Don’t monopolize him!’

And the Konean Viscount, who had returned to his seat, saw that scene.

“…Ahem.”

Thanks to that, Zion unintentionally gave a perfect performance.

“Let’s go.

Originally, the butler would guide you, but since it’s your first time and you’re a war hero, I’ll guide you myself.”

“This is an honor.

Shall we go, beauties?”

A line like a gangster or a thug you might meet on the street.

But the face value is incomparable to them, so it just looks like a man with beautiful women on his waist going somewhere to play.

The Konean Viscount led Zion and his party to the training hall inside the castle.

While the outer training hall was used by the knights and soldiers in the territory, the inner one was only used by the members of the lord’s castle and their acquaintances, so it was one of the places where it was very easy to maintain secrecy.

After looking around for a while, the Viscount opened the door to the training equipment warehouse next to it.

Inside, wooden swords, staffs, and wooden shields were neatly arranged.

The Konean Viscount passed them and pulled another door beyond them.

Then, stairs leading to the basement appeared.

“You made the entrance in an interesting place.

You put the entrance to pleasure in a place where you train martial arts.”

When he said that, the Konean Viscount said, ‘That’s a very nice saying. Haha!’ and was already starting to manage his customers.

Of course, Lilith muttered very quietly from behind, ‘As expected of humans, amazing.

They’re worse than demons?’

After going down the stairs, they walked for another 10 minutes.

The Konean Viscount, feeling that the silence was a bit awkward, began to list the long history of this place without being asked.

“This business has been started for quite a long time…”

I know everything, you idiot.

Zion nodded roughly and recalled the contents of the novel.

In the distant past, when kingdoms were at war, the Konean Viscount territory created secret passages in the basement of the castle for refuge and built shelters in the basement of the territory.

However, when the war ended and a period of peace came, the place became useless.

In the meantime, as the demand for different race slaves increased, slave traders wanted a space that was safer and could reliably reach the nobles.

From that point of view, the Viscount territory’s shelter was a perfect place.

In this way, the shelter and emergency passages were transformed into a slave market, secretly bringing in and selling numerous different race slaves.

‘The main customers’ entrances are in my castle to maintain security, and the slaves’ transportation routes use the waterways on the opposite side.’

So, what should I do now?

Zion fell into 고민 [worry], looking at the Konean Viscount, who was bursting into a pleasant smile.

He seemed to be mistaken that he was telling the truth because he kept pushing him with the fact that he knew all his truths, but unfortunately, he was not such an easy person.

―――――――Afterword―――――――

Ah, recommendation.

I almost forgot?