Kays Translations

Chapter 136: Ant’s Hole

Ricardo's resounding victory was met with the immediate reaction of the male slave.

"Alright, take that! I'm finally free, free! Hehe, maybe I should piss on this guy!?"

Amidst the celebration of the slave who had suffered for so long under the man's oppression, Claudia cautiously interjected.

"Um, excuse me."

"Hey, don't peek while I'm pulling it out. If a beauty like you sees it, it might excite me."

"You're not actually freed."

"...What?"

The man's movement froze as if in an instant, still clutching his groin.

"You didn't wager your own life in that fight just now. For the Allied Nations, you're more like a spoils of war, and if you were taken away without authorization, it would be treated as theft..."

"What spoils of war? I was just taken away unilaterally! So, you mean, it's fine if I take it back, right!?"

"That might have worked during wartime."

A momentary blank expression crossed the slave's mind.

"Wait a second, you said 'during wartime.' Could it be that the war is over?"

"About six months ago."

"I didn't hear that!"

The slave collapsed to his knees with a thud. What had those past few months of enslavement meant? Was this past half a year entirely meaningless?

"By the way, about that talk of a prisoner exchange..."

"I haven't heard of it."

"Ugh..."

Color drained from the man's face. He had been betrayed by his own country, abandoned. He would remain a slave forever. Would he have to live his life collecting horse and cow dung like this. Was this the result of desperately trying to protect his country, hometown and family?

While Claudia and the others felt pity and a sense of guilt towards the man, they still couldn't easily take him in. Carrying the weight of an individual's life was no simple matter.

As the beaten ox-like man staggered to his feet, Ricardo spoke up. Despite receiving a body blow that supposedly caused excruciating pain, this man's swift recovery showcased his considerable toughness.

The ox-like man glared at Ricardo. Ricardo braced himself, anticipating another confrontation, but suddenly, the ox-like man's demeanor softened, and he gave Ricardo a friendly smile.

"I lost, big brother. You guys from the kingdom are no pushovers."

Ricardo awkwardly returned the smile.

"You don't need to praise me."

Tapping the tip of his nose with a fingertip, Ricardo chuckled, and the ox-like man burst into hearty laughter. That punch of his did this to him, which was indeed the greatest compliment.

Based on how the slave was treated, it wasn't an exaggeration to say this man wasn't a good person. On the other hand, he displayed goodwill towards the opponent he recognized in a brawl. He was a truly peculiar man, but apparently not an uncommon type in the Allied Nations. In fact, it was only the Kingdom group that was baffled, while Gwen calmly observed the scene.

"Hey, what are you guys doing there?"

Turning to the voice of a young woman, they saw a tall woman in her mid-twenties with silver hair. A bountiful goddess in a land that shouldn't have been able to support such fertility.

"Huge..."

Ricardo muttered unintentionally, earning a smack on the back of his head from Lutz. While understandable, speaking such a thing in front of the person concerned would be impolite.

When the woman stared at the ox man, the man said in awe..

“Actually, I was in a bit of a fight with a guest.”

The man replied boldly, "We were having an argument during work," and the woman who seemed to have a high status...

“Really…”

She let it slide like it was nothing. It seems that fist fights are an everyday occurrence and not something to be blamed for.

The woman looked at her subordinate and Ricardo with slitted eyes, then lifted the corners of her mouth and said.

"Did you lose?"

"He’s got some good fists."

The one who had lost answered proudly. Faced with such straightforward kindness, Ricardo found himself torn between whether he should hate this man or acknowledge him.

"Just to clarify, what was the cause of the fight?"

In a tone that seemed completely indifferent, the woman asked, and Ricardo answered awkwardly.

"I'm kind of, you know, pissed off that people from my country are being treated as slaves.”

"I see. Well then, as the victor's privilege, you can take him. Hey, undo this guy's restraints."

"Yes, ma'am."

Following the woman's instruction, the ox-like man readily complied. Using the key he had around his waist, he removed the slave's neck collar, handcuffs, and ankle cuffs.

He was free. Unable to grasp the change in his circumstances, the former slave touched his neck with an expression that seemed to convey disbelief.

"Thank you! Ah, you truly are a goddess! ... No, wait, you're the one who made me a slave in the first place, you damn beast!"

Swinging between anger and joy, the former slave held his head in his hands. He seemed to be quite emotionally unstable.

As the woman turned to leave, Gwen called out,

 "Wait a moment!"

"I'm Gwen, the leader of a village near the border. I'd like to know your name."

Upon hearing Gwen's name, the woman's expression changed to one of intrigue, akin to witnessing a rare creature. His name was well-known, primarily in a negative sense. However, the man before her didn't seem like a coward or a cowardly man as the rumors suggested. This curiosity reflected on the woman's face.

Either way, since he introduced himself first, he couldn't simply be ignored.

"I'm called Melty, the thirteenth daughter of the chieftan."

"Well, that's... quite a feat for your father."

"There are still three younger sisters below me."

"With that kind of stamina, he could be a king without a doubt... There's one more thing I want to ask, if that's okay?"

"You're surprisingly bold. Well, go ahead and ask."

"What do you think about this village?"

Melty's eyebrows twitched. Gwen peered into her face, waiting for her reaction to his question.

"...I don't understand the meaning of your question. It's too vague."

"I'm asking about the old man who extorts taxes from starving villagers and favors only warriors. What do you think of him?"

Tension hung in the air between the two. To meddle in the ways of another tribe was a breach of etiquette that could result in being killed on the spot. However, Melty didn't explode in anger and instead lowered her gaze as she spoke.

"Strong warriors are bred in harsh environments. That's my father's philosophy."

"That's how you raise formidable warriors, but then what do you do with them? The war is over. There's barely any use for them apart from raiding the King's carriages or enemy tribes. It's quite pitiable."

The sound of a swift, forceful slap echoed. Melty's intense slap struck Gwen's cheek.

"That's enough!"

Melty's voice held sadness as she turned away, rejecting him.

Gwen gently touched his cheek and watched Melty's departing figure. There was no trace of anger on his face from having been slapped.

"Claudia, I'll be staying in this village for a while."

"...I knew you were going to say that."

Claudia's words were tinged with a mix of exasperation and resignation. She agreed to go along with it, acknowledging that there was no other choice.

The chief's daughter harbored dissatisfaction with the current situation. Could this dissatisfaction serve as the catalyst to break the current state of affairs?

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