Chapter 46: Go taste your own medicine
“It was an honor to serve you! I hope your remaining journey is peaceful.” The innkeeper knelt before Adeline and the Lion King. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Adeline, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the innkeeper, walked haughtily and climbed into the carriage.
The Lion King threw a few glittering gold coins into the innkeeper’s hands as Adeline had instructed.
“Well done.”
“Th-thank you! Long live Odium!”
The people of Marma cheered ‘Long Live Odium’. What a ridiculous person.
Adeline burst into laughter as she lay down on the carriage seat. Her glamorous and ostentatious entourage had stayed exactly five days in this small town. The first two days were spent attacking two bases, and the following three days were dedicated to the original role-playing.
She reveled in throwing gold coins around. She even gathered all the expensive things in this small town to create a grand banquet hall in the middle of the open field. Workers carried massive tents and sofas covered with animal hides, following her around. Adeline gave them all gold coins, thanking them for their hard work. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
The Lion King, who had initially felt awkward, eventually adapted completely and began to engage in surprising behavior. He even had his arms around Adeline’s waist and his nose buried in her neck on the day the city officials rushed over in a flurry after having heard late about their visit.
“Where’s the next destination?” The Lion King sat in front of her in the carriage.
Adeline watched him naturally remove his shoes and lie down on the chair. She then smirked. “You’ll get fat doing that.”
“Why are you starting another argument?”
“We need to go pick up Nabi.”
Navi had gone to the kidnappers’ first base.
The captives were unexpectedly tight-lipped. Despite being whipped until their skin was torn and blood flowed, and losing consciousness, they still did not speak. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
The freemen came forward and said they would torture the kidnappers, but Adeline and the Lion King were afraid the freemen might accidentally kill the kidnappers, so both couldn’t take the offer.
By dawn, Adeline had sent all the captives to the first base and returned to the inn. Nabi, upon hearing that the captives weren’t talking, tilted his head and said,
[“If that’s the case, please leave it to me, Your Highness.”]
[“What? What are you going to do?”]
[“I pride myself on being the best hypnotist on the continent. Your Highness, leave it to me.”]
Adeline’s fake maid was skilled in many things.
The party was set to pass by the first base on their way south. That was where Navi, having finished the interrogation, would join them.
“You handled the whipping well.”
The enormous carriage gradually picked up speed.
Adeline, with her cumbersome hair neatly arranged and fixed, burst into laughter at the Lion King’s comment. “Is there anyone who can’t whip? You just need to swing it.” Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“It’s not so easy to keep hitting only where you’ve already hit.”
“I ended up swinging it carelessly because my arm hurt.”
What’s the big deal? Having the strength to lift the whip is enough. Plus, if you’re mentally prepared to go to hell, that’s the icing on the cake. Guilt can be felt later. Getting the severe punishment from the king of the underworld? It doesn’t matter. If that scared you, you wouldn’t have started in the first place.
Having thoroughly cleaned out the two bases established by the human traffickers, they moved the rescued people and the captured human traffickers to a place where others wouldn’t notice.
In the vast southern region, there were many warehouses left empty during winter after the harvest season.
Adeline had the freemen buy one of the larger farm warehouses from among them.
“There’s a basement.”
It was a building perfectly equipped with space for storing leftover grain.
Adeline bound the limbs of the captured kidnappers and locked them in the basement storage. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Listen carefully.” She then addressed the rescued women and the freemen warriors in front of her. “Try to return home if you can.”
Fearful eyes gathered and focused on her.
Adeline laid out a pouch full of gold coins in front of them. “I know that gold coins can’t comfort you. But for those who are going back home or trying to start over, nothing is better than gold coins. This is very dirty money, so you don’t have to feel burdened by it.”
No one answered. They only looked at her with confused eyes.
Forget about it. She couldn’t bring herself to say these words. How could they forget? She herself had not been able to forget anything for nearly twenty years and was still in pain.
When Adeline returned to the Lion King’s side, one of his subordinates approached him and said, “Some of the freemen are insisting on coming along.”
“Let them do as they wish.” The response came from the Lion King’s mouth.
The party, now with a slightly increased number of people, moved toward their next destination. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
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Chapter 45 | Chapter 27