Chapter 557 Investigator's Findings
Three days after his passage through Eaglewind, Vicente entered another city in the Chutha Dynasty.
Following the instructions in the letter he had received earlier in Eaglewind, he went to the group of investigators he had hired to follow Casey's father's trail.
This was the last point the investigators had reached, and they were waiting for him or new investigators on site to continue or complete their mission.
So, Layla and Vicente soon found themselves face to face with the Mazzanti men.
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In a tavern in a small city in the central area of the Chutha dynasty, Vicente and Layla sat side by side, facing three men, Low-level Mages.
The place they were in was dark, lit by a few windows and lamps. The smell of food was mixed with the smell of smoke, alcohol, and other scents common to similar places.
There weren't many people around at the moment, but there were enough for the sound of several mixed voices to cover the area.
Amid it, groups like Vicente's could converse without fear of being overheard by onlookers.
"So?" He asked as he looked at the three people in front of him.
"Don, we've reached a point in our journey where we can't continue investigating, or we'll get into trouble." Said the man in charge of this group.
"What happened?" Vicente asked.
A bald man answered. "Several things. First, Casey probably advanced in level and became a Mid-level Mage. His father is a High-level Mage, so it was already becoming increasingly difficult for us to follow them. With Casey's advancement, the two have increased their movement speed."
"That's... That's strange." Layla said. "As you put it, it sounds like his father intentionally increased his speed after Casey advanced."
"That sounds like what happened." A blond man said. "We get the impression that Casey's father knows his son is chasing him. But we're not sure if our groupmate is aware of it..."
A brown-haired man, the leader of the group, continued. "Anyway, Casey's father stayed in this city for a few days. That gave us time to wait for you but also to try to find out what he was doing or where he was going.
On one of the docks in the area, there was a large building with few windows, where shabby people stood around, and people of good social standing came and went.
This was the local black market!
Vicente followed in his subordinate's footsteps, leaving Layla and the others behind and coming to this place with as few people as possible.
As he entered the building, he saw a large open area, with several cells in the center of the area where humans and special magical creatures were chained, but he also saw shelves along the sides of the building.
There were small trading rooms in some parts of the building, while in others, business could be conducted in daylight.
Vicente focused on what was most prominent in front of him: the trade in living beings and black market slaves!
"So there is this possibility locally..." He muttered to his subordinate.
"Yes, the Chutha Dynasty allows the trade of living beings, so the black market in this state doesn't hide its operations like in the Seidel Kingdom."
In the Seidel Kingdom, the black market also sold living beings and slaves to anyone who wanted to buy them. But it was much more discreet.
Someone new to a city wouldn't be able to walk into such a place in the Seidel Kingdom as Vicente had just done. In his homeland, someone interested in trading humans would have to make contacts and eventually move to private places where such negotiations occurred.
Such places changed hands frequently, so it wasn't easy for someone to gain access to such black market deals.
Debt bondage and some variations of it existed in the Seidel Kingdom. However, the parallel slave trade was forbidden in the kingdom.
The Chutha dynasty was very different. There were no restrictions on the slave trade. The only major obstacle that made the black market the biggest player in the local business of selling living beings was taxes.
There were official living being shops that sold slaves in noble places without any shame. But the prices in those places were high.
Anyway, as soon as they entered this area, one of the black market officials approached Vicente and the young man's subordinate.
"Young master, what are you looking for today? We have some beautiful women with us here. We also have some special magical creatures that can do a lot of interesting things."
