The Prince’s Nanny, Her Specialty Is Assassination - Chapter 329

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Side Story 4. The Queen of the New Nation, Her Specialty Is… (2)

“Your Majesty the Queen.”

Olivier, the head maid of Adamant’s Queen’s Palace, spoke in a respectful voice.

“I have brought new clothing.”

Normally the door would have opened immediately, but for some reason there was complete silence.

Olivier frowned and raised her voice a little more.

“Your Majesty the Queen? Are you inside?”

Again, what returned was silence instead of an answer.

Olivier hesitated for a moment, then with a sinking feeling, threw the door wide open.

“Your Majesty, good heavens!”

The elegant and refined Queen’s quarters.

The terrace door in the center of the room was wide open.

And the Queen who should have been inside had vanished without a trace.

“Ahhh! Again!”

She had hoped against hope, but wished it wouldn’t be so.

Olivier despaired at the air in the Queen’s quarters that was not just empty, but had grown cold.

“Head Maid?”

The maids waiting outside the door peeked their heads in with puzzled expressions.

“…Guards.”

“Pardon?”

“Summon the guards!”

Olivier rushed to the terrace and shouted while gripping the railing.

“Her Majesty the Queen has escaped again, so bring her back immediately!”

“What? Again?”

The maids were momentarily surprised to hear the Queen had disappeared, then showed troubled expressions.

“Why does Her Majesty always disappear without a word…?”

“What if she went outside the palace again this time? If His Majesty the King finds out…”

“We’ll be walking on eggshells again. His Majesty doesn’t say anything, but when it comes to Her Majesty’s matters, his eyes turn ice-cold and he comes charging.”

Rachel, the first Queen of Adamant.

Her specialty was escaping and fleeing from the palace.

* * *

“What? Slaves?”

The large woman swept back her long hair.

She tapped the pipe she was holding into an ashtray with an annoyed expression.

“I quit that business a long time ago. But you suddenly call me out and ask me to find slave traders.”

The woman looked at the person in the black mask standing before her.

“Isn’t this a bit improper, Your Majesty the Queen?”

“Just call me by my name.”

“Is that okay? Won’t I get dragged away for treason later?”

“Somnia.”

“Ah, fine~ I won’t tease you anymore.”

The large woman, or rather Somnia, the head of the Golden Goose Trading Guild who had recently been granted the title of marquis, waved her hand dismissively.

“But why slave traders all of a sudden? Do you have a reason to look for slave traders?”

At Somnia’s gesture, the hazy tobacco smoke dispersed.

The mysterious green eyes of the person wearing the black mask glowed faintly.

“Now that you’ve become the Queen of Adamant, wouldn’t it be better to stay away from such matters, Rachel?”

“Such matters?”

“Matters that don’t suit the position of Queen.”

Matters that don’t suit.

Rachel unconsciously twitched her fingertips.

She seemed to think for a moment, then opened her mouth.

“I’m getting involved because I’m the Queen.”

“What?”

“Anyway, so you won’t tell me?”

Somnia frowned at Rachel’s cold voice.

With an expression that suggested she had much to say, she pursed her lips, then finally sighed and raised both hands.

“Oh well, who could break that stubbornness of yours.”

Slave traders, slave traders.

Somnia rolled her eyes briefly, then stood up from her seat.

“These days, thanks to the slave trade prohibition laws enacted across the continent, the number of slave traders themselves has decreased. I heard there’s talk that slave abolition laws will come out soon too.”

A world without slaves.

Somnia, who knew the ecology of slavery better than anyone, scoffed.

“Of course, it’s probably just passing talk.”

The pipe in Somnia’s hand struck the wall right next to her.

Then the thin curtain hanging there rose up, revealing a map that had been hidden inside.

“It’s a map recording the headquarters, branches, and trading posts of merchant guilds existing across the continent.”

“Merchant guilds? What I’m talking about are those who deal in slaves…”

“Who deals only in slaves these days?”

Somnia laughed briefly and replied to Rachel’s question.

“To sell off illegal trade items, you have to disguise yourself as a legitimate business, don’t you? Especially since crackdowns have intensified.”

That made sense.

Rachel immediately closed her mouth and listened attentively to Somnia’s words.

“Come to think of it, I did hear through the grapevine. That incidents of women and children being kidnapped are becoming frequent in Adamant. There were rumors about strengthening border controls because of that – is that true?”

“I came to buy information, not to sell it.”

“I won’t charge you for the information.”

“…Yes. They say edicts will go out to the provincial lords too. To put all those involved in the slave business on tracking and surveillance lists.”

“Oh my.”

Somnia clicked her tongue as if it were a disaster.

“This has become troublesome.”

“It doesn’t concern you though.”

“Of course I’m not involved in slave trading. But there are other illegal items traded in secret, you know? When crackdowns intensify, trading those items becomes more difficult too…”

She stopped complaining as a merchant and made excuses.

“Of course! They’re not items that are harmful on a national level! Not drugs or anything like that, but you know, things like monster byproducts, gems or herbs that haven’t hit the market.”

Rachel just glanced at Somnia once but didn’t say anything particular.

“…So.”

Her green gaze had returned to the map hanging on the wall.

“Among those, there are merchant guilds involved in slave trading?”

“That’s right. Though it’s just speculation.”

Somnia cleared her throat several times, then pointed to a dot inside Adamant.

“Among them, there’s one group that’s been particularly active recently.”

“Where?”

“Fog Sunset.”

It was a strangely familiar sound.

Rachel unconsciously twisted one corner of her eye.

“The name is familiar to you too, isn’t it?”

Somnia smiled meaningfully as if she had anticipated her reaction.

“The one who sold you to Breath of the Angel.”

A clown of the back alleys, and a slave trader called the merchant of darkness.

One who transformed the most unnecessary beings in the world into the most expensive goods and sold them off.

The nickname given because his dwelling where he captured and confined slaves looked red like mist mixed with blood.

“That bastard.”

Rachel frowned with a look of disbelief.

“He was alive?”

“Did you think he was dead?”

“I thought you killed him.”

“Oh, come on.”

Somnia shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s best not to mess with guys like that. Running away was the best I could do.”

Fog Sunset was also the one who had controlled Somnia during her slave days.

“I did inflict fatal wounds that should have killed him in the process, but he didn’t die after all.”

“…What a shame.”

“Right? It would be beneficial in many ways if guys like that disappeared from the world as soon as possible.”

Somnia winked with regret.

“Anyway, intelligence has come in recently that Fog Sunset’s movements are becoming active again. We also received information that his new base is somewhere inside Adamant.”

“Is that reliable information?”

“I don’t know. My informants exist everywhere, but they lack expertise. Until I personally confirm the facts, it should be considered nothing more than rumors.”

The informants she commanded were mostly tavern owners, inn owners, and small shop owners running stalls.

“I see.”

“Just in case, I’m telling you in advance.”

Somnia spoke to Rachel, who was staring at the map expressionlessly.

“If you’re planning to try something on your own, give up.”

Fog Sunset was merely an alias for a slave trader, but that name had become the alias for the organization he led, and that organization had grown to such scale and influence that even nations couldn’t ignore it.

“You know how slave traders operate. If you recklessly strike first, you won’t even break even…”

“Don’t worry. I’m not thinking of doing anything alone.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes.”

Rachel turned her head after staring intently at the map as if trying to memorize it.

“Because I’m not alone anymore.”

The outline of her lips visible beneath the mask was clearly forming a curve.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————