Chapter 149: Chapter 149

*South Gate Barracks – Walking towards the side exit*

Ben walked at the front, leading three humans and a beastman through the barracks like a tour guide. The army field was large, and it took around half an hour of walking to exit from the side barracks gate.

The buildings, training areas, and minor facilities surprised Vincent and Kazumi by how much the Lusterfall Kingdom invested in defense, moreover if there were three more barracks like this at each gate. The city felt impenetrable and safe from outside danger.

However, exiting the barracks wasn’t very welcoming. A weird stink suddenly assaulted their nose. Vincent, Ester, and Tula revealed a sour expression while Lupa covered her nose.

“Haha. This is the smell of the slums. ” Ben laughed at the reaction of the four.

“I thought the city was incredible if the barracks was as clean as a house. But we quickly arrived at the dirtiest place immediately.” Vincent bluntly uttered his thoughts.

“Ahh, don’t be like that. That’s because I led you to one of the side exits to reach the lower district plaza quicker. The closer to the center we walk, the closer to royalty we get. So at the edge is the army defense, followed by the slums, lower, middle, upper, and royal district.” Ben explained.

.....

“Vincent... the smell of pee is bad, but...” Lupa angrily frowned when she noticed multiple women wearing light dirty clothes waving at Vincent and Ben.

“Why are the human women waving and winking at you?” Lupa could feel their lustful gaze, and it was starting to tick her off.

[Well, the term of doing “anything” to survive is different for Lupa since she lived her whole life as a wolf. The soldiers are the prime target of people that have no other ways to live.]

-Let me calm her a bit. We experienced enough commotions today.-

“Lupa, don’t mind them. They simply want to make money the only way they can. No place gives food for free. It would only be a dream.” Ester remembered a few horrible memories from her past.

How she had to procure food from the forest by herself since no one wanted to employ her. Furthermore, Trek barely kept his end of the contract. Only when he felt bad karma growing from the magical contract would he bring food to Ester.

Ester would’ve become a slave or wolf food if it wasn’t for Vincent’s miraculous encounter. As Ester remembered these memories, she thanked Vincent once again.

“Don’t worry, my little wolf. They are trying to woo me to gain my attention and mate for money.” Vincent chuckled when looking at Lupa’s deeper frown. But he quickly stopped teasing the frowning wolf girl before she rushed to attack them. Her impatience could cause trouble.

“Ahem... forget them, Lupa. Let’s keep going. No one is better than my girls.” Vincent boasted to boost Lupa’s ego and make her forget about them.

“Lupa is the best girl, hehe.” Lupa wrapped her arms around Vincent’s right arm and slightly poked her tongue at the women wooing Vincent and Ben.

“Huh?” Vincent blurted in surprise. It was a phrase he heard a lot on Earth.

“Big sister Lupa, this looks fun, hehe.” Tula giggled while quickly wrapping her arms around Vincent’s left arm.

“Lupa. Tula. Everyone is looking at you.” Ester quickly said with a hint of jealousy, but there was no third arm for her to hold.

Lupa “You snooze, you lose.”

Tula “I also won big sister Ester. This game is fun.”

“...” Ester stared blankly at the two women holding Vincent between their abundant chest.

[From where is Lupa learning these words? Lol.]

-Heh... it seems you already answered your question. Are you going to start teasing Ester now?-

[No comment, but it’s fun to teach Lupa new words and slang secretly in the night.]

-What will I do with you...-

[Why are you making this as a bad thing, though? Isn’t it nice to have a woman at each side?]

[I sure would love to have a Vincent at each side...]

Kazumi abruptly stopped talking and didn’t say another word after that.

‘The sly Kazumi is embarrassed at last and stopped teasing. But the girls are making it difficult for me. I’m a gentleman, yet my will isn’t unbreakable. Plus, the people looking at us are making me uncomfortable.’ Vincent thought while his willpower was getting tested.

“Ahem... Lupa, they need money, so it means no money, no mating. I’m safe, so you can let go. ” Vincent gave Lupa a peck on her forehead while saying this.

“And Tula. Don’t you want to see your mother instead of playing?” Vincent continued as he tried to remove the most dangerous being from his arm. Her ample chest was too soft to resist.

“No fair! I want a kiss too.” Tula was about to throw a tantrum and make this eye-catching scene even bigger. Many dozens of people were already staring at them. A few were curious, while others were filled with jealousy.

Vincent delivered a quick peck on Tula’s forehead and once again asked to have his arms released. Lupa and Tula finally complied, and the touch of heaven disappeared.

Ester had a sour expression on her face, but as usual, she couldn’t hide it. It was until a pair of warm lips touched her forehead that her blank stare regained its life.

“Ahh!” The flustered Ester uttered in surprise.

“I won’t forget about you.” Vincent looked away as his cheeks were starting to turn red from embarrassment. The show was drawing too much attention.

[Aren’t you embarrassed? I never thought you would become so forward.]

-In for a penny, in for a pound. I simply had to remove their hold as soon as possible.-

Vincent quickly walked beside Ben and whispered, “Please, let’s continue before they try something else. I hate this kind of attention, and their playful side might attract more.”

“You are right. It’s nice to be young. Koss, Kass, and I had a lot of wild experiences like this. Those were the days, but...” Ben showed a sad expression for the first time.

As a person that lived many years in sadness, sorrow, and self-blame, Vincent could understand that Ben was faking being fine. Ben showed how much he knew Koss and Kass. He even said how he considers Tula as his daughter. Such close ties with the family would be impossible not to invoke such emotions.

But before Ben showed more feelings of sorrow, he continued, “Tula is acting childish, and I still can’t get used to this situation. Let’s continue before the sunsets. We need to go somewhere first.”

Ben looked at Lupa one last time before walking. He shook his head twice to remove the frown on his face after seeing his wife in Lupa.

Ben’s wife would always check him and his clothes for any signs of adultery to beat his ass if he used such services. Similar to Lupa’s feelings, his wife feared her man being stolen one day. Regrettably, she can’t conceive children, but Ben’s words that he wouldn’t do such things never seem to calm such thoughts.

“Let’s go.” Vincent waved his hand for the three girls to follow.

The slums didn’t look in great condition. The streets were dirty, and only a few paths leading to the lower district were clean and leveled for transportation.

The buildings looked as if quickly built with cheap wood and a few looked run down. No matter how great a kingdom was, the suffering of people could no be solved.

They saw many women wearing light clothes trying to woo soldiers. There were also many slaves pulling small one-wheeled carts. Their races varied between humans, beastman, lizardmen, and what seemed to be goblins.

Vincent stopped and wanted to used inspection on them, but his reason couldn’t allow it. He knew he couldn’t be a hero and save them all, so learning about their identities would haunt his conscience until he tried something that endangered Ester and Lupa.

Vincent saw a few cheap stands selling food or other inexpensive items people in the slums could afford, but their cleanliness was non-existent. He also thought a seller was selling slaves, but he saw him disappear a moment later.

“It’s not a nice sight, is it?” Ben understood what passed through Vincent’s mind.

“The Goblins are as small as a child. Is slavery legal here? ” Vincent asked.

“Yes, but there are laws to protect their wellbeing. Only criminal humans or debt-ridden families can be legal slaves. Non-human races and monsters must be non-feral, sane, and sold by legal slave traders to be considered legal. Other than that and children of any race are illegal.”

“Goblins are small like children, sane, and not deformed on this continent. They can also evolve similar to awakening by becoming a HobGoblin. I heard the evolution process is challenging, so the Royal Soldiers are a bit lenient with time when it comes to evolving them with a blood pact.” Ben explained.

“Then what’s the difference between a legal and illegal slave? I can’t see the difference, and I’m a bit disturbed with the Goblin part.” Vincent could see that the slaves in front of his eyes weren’t in a healthy condition.

“The simple way to put it is like this. The nobles want slaves, and the King spent years creating a law to keep the nobles happy while protecting these unfortunate slaves. The King is kind, but he can’t do whatever he wants. Many nobles support the kingdom with their taxable income. It would be a problem if they left.”

“Legal slaves are registered and can’t be killed, tortured, or taken too much advantage off. A Royal Soldier would abruptly check on the slave’s condition around two or more times depending on what he feels like doing.”

“However, the illegal slaves are different. Anything could happen to them since the kingdom doesn’t know about their existence as slaves. Unfortunately, the slums has so many slaves that work as transporters that it’s hard to tell which is a legal or illegal slave.”

“The slums is a gray area. Royal Soldiers don’t want to incur the fury of a powerful noble family. So they abide by the law to only do house visits instead of checking each slave. Not all Royal Soldiers come from prominent families.”

“You remember what the Royal Soldier said. They kept an eye on that trash of a vice captain and punished him after he messed up. Only with a reason can they act, unfortunately. As some say, the walls have eyes, and a good night’s sleep could become eternal.”

“Well, that sums everything up about this heavy subject. I only worry for your beastman woman since she isn’t wearing a collar to hide her non-slave status. All the beastman I see wear one.”

“You should get one as a decoration to lower the chances of attracting the attention of illegal slave traders. ” Ben suggested after explaining the difference between a legal and illegal slave while walking.