Chapter 97 - 95: Slave Trading, Sleeping Beauty Tavern

Chapter 97: Chapter 95: Slave Trading, Sleeping Beauty Tavern

Miria never would have imagined it.

That by following the method Roy described, she would unconsciously be able to do what only Peak Knights could: envelop her entire body in Fighting Qi, successfully advancing to the rank of Peak Knight.

On the surface, her promotion seemed a bit too casual and idealistic.

But in reality, it wasn’t strange at all.

Miria’s strength had long since reached the level of a Peak Knight.

It was only because of her mindset that she had imposed a limit on herself, preventing her from advancing to Peak Knight.

To put it simply, before Roy’s guidance, she had always felt her strength didn’t meet the requirements to become a Peak Knight.

In reality, however, she had met the requirements long ago.

Furthermore, she had misunderstood one thing.

A Peak Knight enveloping their body in Fighting Qi was different from the Fighting Qi Substantiation mastered by Great Knights; it wasn’t an ability one could only gain after advancing.

There was no fundamental difference between covering a part of the body with Fighting Qi and covering the whole body.

As long as one’s total amount of Fighting Qi and level of control were sufficient, it could be done easily.

The reason enveloping the entire body with Fighting Qi became a hallmark of a Peak Knight was mainly because for the vast majority of Official Knights, only when they reached the level of a Peak Knight would their Fighting Qi reserves and control meet the standard required to cover their entire body.

After earnestly experiencing the sensation of her entire body being enveloped in Fighting Qi, Miria said to Roy, "Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Roy replied.

In his view, even without his recent guidance, Miria would have figured it out sooner or later.

He had simply helped her realize it earlier, saving her some time.

To him, it was truly a trivial matter.

But for Miria, it was completely different.

This was especially true after recalling how, out of resentment, she had suspected Roy and Tony of fraud, of conspiring to create a fake cultivation genius.

After a few seconds of silence, she continued, "Um... I’m still a little over 3,000 Contribution Points short of exchanging for the Excellent Level Universal Breathing Technique."

"If you want to copy it for your collection, I can lend it to you for free."

Roy knew why Miria had suddenly said this and replied with a smile, "Alright, thanks!"

Miria nodded.

For the next while, they chatted idly as they headed toward Bear Claw City.

「An hour or so later.」

Inside a tavern in the East District of Bear Claw City, Roy and Miria chose a table by the window and sat down.

After arriving outside Bear Claw City, they didn’t enter through normal means, instead scaling the city walls to get inside.

"Is your intelligence accurate?"

Roy took a sip of the wheat beer in front of him and asked Miria.

"Unless they’re scheduled for an all-night watch."

"Otherwise, they will definitely go to the Sleeping Beauty Tavern to have some fun tonight."

Miria replied quickly.

The Sleeping Beauty Tavern she mentioned was a special kind of tavern in Bear Claw City.

The tavern was named Sleeping Beauty not because its owner had also read the fairy tale from Blue Star, but because the name was deliberately chosen to reflect the tavern’s special feature.

The "Sleeping" in the name is meant as a verb, not an adjective.

Slave trading was an act strictly forbidden by the Kingdom’s laws.

If caught, the light sentence was being hanged; the heavy one was having one’s entire family hanged alongside them.

Although the law strictly prohibited slave trading, the practice not only hadn’t disappeared, but had become even more profitable.

Profit is proportional to risk!

When the risk is high, the profits naturally soar.

The Sleeping Beauty Tavern didn’t directly participate in capturing slaves, but it certainly bought plenty of them from slave-catching gangs and other sources.

More importantly, the slaves the Sleeping Beauty Tavern purchased weren’t commoners who could only be used as cannon fodder or servants, but noblewomen sold as slaves for various reasons.

For example, if Roy hadn’t received a spiritual warning back on the border of the Tulip Domain, the captured Erin would have had a high probability of becoming one of those noblewomen sold as slaves.

Similarly, if Miria and Elena had been captured six years ago, they would have met a similar fate.

The Sleeping Beauty Tavern wasn’t well-known in Bear Claw City.

To be precise, the common people of Bear Claw City had no idea what the Sleeping Beauty Tavern was really about.

But the city’s nobles, wealthy merchants, Official Knights, and the like were well aware of the Sleeping Beauty Tavern’s true face.

Logically, Count Frost Bear shouldn’t allow a tavern involved in the slave trade like the Sleeping Beauty Tavern to operate normally within the city.

The reality, however, was that the Sleeping Beauty Tavern was not only operating just fine, but there were signs it was growing even larger.

As for why this was the case, the reason wasn’t complicated.

Because Count Frost Bear was the Sleeping Beauty Tavern’s true owner.

After hearing Miria’s answer, Roy continued, "Are you sure you want to go to the Sleeping Beauty Tavern with me tonight?"

"If you don’t want to, you can wait for me outside. I have ways to get them out, or I can just kill them right inside the tavern."

Although a tavern wasn’t a good place for a murder, for him, killing them outside or inside were both simple matters.

If there was any difference, it was that killing them inside the tavern would cause a bigger commotion.

"I’m going to the tavern with you."

"I also want to see for myself what the infamous Sleeping Beauty Tavern is really like inside."

Miria answered without any hesitation.

She said as much, but one look at the expression on her face revealed that what she really wanted wasn’t just to see what the Sleeping Beauty Tavern was like, but to completely destroy it.

Count Frost Bear was the true owner behind the Sleeping Beauty Tavern.

She had a keen interest in anything that would displease Count Frost Bear or cause him losses.

"Suit yourself."

"But don’t say I didn’t warn you. The situation inside might make you extremely uncomfortable and angry."

Roy said with a serious expression.

Although he had never been to the Sleeping Beauty Tavern, after hearing Miria’s description, he could imagine what the scene inside would be like.

It wasn’t hard to guess what a tavern featuring former noblewomen as female slaves would look like inside.

Not only could Roy guess, but Miria could as well.

But even so, Miria still intended to go inside and see for herself.

"My mental fortitude isn’t that fragile."

Miria said quickly.

For some reason, after hearing her reply, Roy suddenly had the urge to tease her a little.

"Is that so?"

"But back in the Royal Capital, after you were stunned by my killing intent, your mental fortitude didn’t seem as good as you claim."

"At the time, not only did you look like you were about to cry from fear, but you also..."

Before Roy could finish, an embarrassed blush appeared on Miria’s face, and she immediately cut him off.

"I was not about to cry from fear, don’t talk nonsense!"

"I was just... just shocked by your killing intent. I just couldn’t recover immediately."

Miria said hurriedly.

"It wasn’t just that you couldn’t recover immediately, was it? I remember you locked yourself in your room for the next few days and didn’t come out."

"In Allen’s words, your state at the time was as pitiful, helpless, and weak as if I had forced myself on you."

Roy continued.

...