Chapter 714 – 714. The Land of Pleasure (2)
It took about 4 days to drive Retona and arrive near the Ephrate territory.
“It’s really comfortable…”
Originally, it would have taken several weeks on foot, but the existence of the artifact, which ran without stopping at a speed faster than a wagon, was just astonishing to Eira.
Unlike the wagon, which was even severely rattled and uncomfortable, the comfortable ride is amazing how caring and manufacturing it was for the passengers.
“Hi-Hi. Right? Hyun-i is so amazing!”
“… Huh. That’s right.”
Erin, riding in Retona with her, smiled brightly and boasted about her husband.
It was her boasting that she had already heard so many times that she had a scab in her ear, but Eira, who couldn’t stop Erin, who stretched out with her eyes twinkling and shining, just let out her wry smile.
Before long, she shifted her gaze to the rear-view mirror installed near the ceiling.
From the driver’s seat, I could see Cha Han-seong driving the Retona skillfully, holding her steering wheel.
He seemed oddly excited, perhaps feeling nostalgic nostalgia.
‘Come to think of it, this is the second time.’
In fact, it wasn’t the first time Eyra had been riding a magical four-wheel drive car called Retona.
She recalled the time when Erin, Anies, and Cha Han-sung came to the rescue when she was in charge of a platoon commander’s mission to oversee the training of new knights in Mo Graf Territory, and when she was isolated alone after evacuating her members.
At that time, it was an urgent time when the monsters and the undead continued to march into the Mograf territory, so there was no rush to think about anything else.
However, now that she thinks about it, the current Cha Han-seong seemed very strange to Eira.
‘How does Hanseong know how to use this artifact?’
As far as Ayra knows, this artifact called Retona is a magical tool that Eunhyun specially made by herself.
Of course, there would be no such thing as time to learn and master the operation method.
However, Cha Han-seong handled this artifact well from the beginning like a skilled user.
Cha Han-seong, who drives the Retona, felt like an expert with a very good understanding of the Retona’s structure and maneuvering method.
Eira, who does not know the secret that he is a reincarnated person who has intact the memories of the earth during his lifetime, is full of doubts.
‘Eunhyeon-nim seems to know the reason…’
Otherwise, there is no way that he would have let Cha Han-seong drive Retona while her wife, Erin, was sternly forbidden.
Besides, he is strangely close with Eunhyeon.
When the two first met, Erin felt jealous when she saw that they were forming a strange bond.
‘There are many things I don’t know…’
Since Cha Han-sung joined the Knights of Artia, they have been together for a long time as seniors and juniors, as well as a delicately formed relationship between a man and a woman, but Eira didn’t really know that much about Cha Han-sung.
“Sister? What’s wrong?”
Erin, who read Eira’s emotions, who was smiling bitterly at her alone, gave her a puzzled expression.
Hearing Erin’s question, Cha Han-seong, unable to understand why he felt such a slight, subtle sadness, looked at the complexion of Eira, who was sitting in the back seat, through her rear-view mirror.
“Senior? Are you sick?”
“Yes… Well… You look a little tired.”
Hearing Eira’s answer, Cha Hanseong was a little worried.
When I calculated the remaining distance by substituting the current location and the destination point on the map that I had memorized in my head, it was an ambiguous distance to go after a little rest.
“If you continue like this for another 20 minutes, you will arrive at the destination you set out in the first place. Please bear with me.”
“Huh.”
Eira gave her brightest expression and nodded her head.
“… Hmm?”
However, Erin, who can read the emotions of others within her, immediately noticed her Eira’s evasiveness.
She couldn’t understand why she was faking it with lies and passing her worries over, she was puzzled, but she knew that evasiveness in itself meant she didn’t want to bring up the topic. That’s why she didn’t bother asking.
◆ ◆ ◆
After reaching the destination, the four of them resumed their movement on foot.
The goal of going to Ephrate this time is to confirm the existence of demons and eradicate them if they are confirmed to be real.
Due to the nature of this work, which is of the nature of an undercover investigation that requires moving as quietly as possible, the artifact itself called Retona stood out too much.
Of course, Eira and Cha Hanseong also had to take off their knight armor for the same reason.
The party, wearing only swords on their waists with minimal armament, looked quite like adventurers.
“A little… It’s uncomfortable.”
Lily made an awkward expression as she looked around at the ladder armor she was trying on for the first time.
In this era, maids themselves weren’t that rare, but since adventurers usually didn’t accompany maids, she had to dress up like her adventurers.
Wearing her tight leather pants and shirt and her ladder armor over it, her own look didn’t fit.
“Are you okay. Sister! Matches well! It’s my first time wearing it! It will get better with time!”
“I wonder… ? Her chest is too tight…”
When I mentioned a completely unexpected part of her, Erin’s brightly smiling face stiffened in that state.
“I-I don’t know if I’ll get used to it…”
In the first place, the clothes and equipment that Lily is wearing are the equipment that her Erin bought in her own size.
Her physique itself may be similar, but it was a problem for Lily, whose breasts were slightly larger.
“Ugh…”
Erin wasn’t small either, but she felt oddly defeated.
That’s enough to damage Erin, who cares about her small breasts the most among her other wives.
“Kuhm… !”
Cha Hanseong, who had been listening to the embarrassing conversation between the two, cleared his throat and looked away.
When he turned his head and his ears turned red, it shows how embarrassed he is by this unfiltered conversation, the only male in the group.
“Even if it’s a little uncomfortable, it’s not to the extent that I can’t stand it at all. Are you okay. Erin.”
“Huh…”
“Erin? What’s the matter?”
“Nothing…”
She unintentionally said something that damaged her, but Lily, who was unaware of her, only tilted her head.
“Erin. Ready… What’s the matter?”
After changing her clothes for the last time, Oneira put on her puzzled expression as she looked at Erin, who lowered her head as she fell down.
“…”
Erin unconsciously moved her gaze to the vicinity of Eira’s chest.
After scanning with her eyes, Eira’s breasts were smaller than her own.
Again, she was convinced that she and Eun-hyeon’s wives were unusually large compared to average women.
“Huh, sister… !”
Ayra reacted in bewilderment at the sight of her Erin suddenly cradling her childishly into her arms.
“What happened?”
“… I’m not sure either.”
Ayra, who was puzzled by Erin’s reaction, asked Cha Han-seong about the details, but Cha Han-seong was aware of Erin’s psychology, but remained ignorant.
The atmosphere settled down, and the four of them started moving.
“Eyra sister.”
“Huh?”
“What kind of territory is Ephrate territory?”
“Hmm…”
At Erin’s question, Eira pondered for a moment.
“As I said before, I don’t know much about the Ephrate spirit either. I’m not even directly acquainted with Count Ephrate. In the first place, I know that Count Ephrate is not a person who often shows his face in Pernin or the court.”
The Ephrate Territory is a territory located close to the Tyrnis Territory adjacent to the sea at the end of the border.
Of course, it was also the outskirts of the province, a considerable distance from the capital, Pernin.
“Count… That’s it.”
“Was it about four years ago that you were promoted to the count? Among the nobles of the Kingdom of Pernias, he is the most recent noble.”
“Uh… Is that great?”
“It’s not common.”
Usually, being elevated to the title of a noble means that the noble of the time had accumulated such merit, and it was also a matter of receiving a lot of praise and respect as well as proving that the status and honor of the family had been raised.
In other words, it also means that the current Earl of Ephrate is a talented artist who has achieved great achievements to the extent of raising the family hierarchy by one level.
“How did you accumulate that feat?”
“You have developed the manor remarkably. And he heard that the amount of tax paid to the royal family has nearly tripled.”
The development of territory belonging to the kingdom’s territory creates a cycle that leads to the development of the kingdom’s national power.
In addition, he voluntarily increased the amount of tax paid to the royal family, contributing greatly to the enhancement of national power.
It was not a short period of time, but the contribution of the county of Ephrate, which had developed steadily over the course of four years, was very high compared to a territory on the outskirts of the province.
“Hmm… How did Count Ephrate develop the territory?”
Growing quickly and steeply means that the starting point was a very small and dwarf territory.
In that state, what kind of means could he have used to develop the territory?
“…”
As Aira continued to take Erin’s curious questions, she frowned, as if slightly offended.
“Erin. Do you remember what the Ephrate spirit is called by other names?”
“Yes. A land of pleasure? Uh…”
The words Runan had said flashed through Erin’s mind.
– It is a city famous for its nightlife. And… It is also a territory with many spearmen.
Ayra realized why she frowned.
“That… Were you using prostitutes to make money?”
“That would be one of the main sources of income, but…”
Prostitutes and prostitution themselves are not particularly illegal businesses.
However, since it was not a proud business, Eira frowned as she didn’t like it that much, but she didn’t say anything because she wasn’t involved in any particular crime or illegality, and she had no intention of arguing about her estate.
“Erin. Do you know the status of most of the women who work at the window shop in Ephrate?”
“Yes. I heard most of them were slaves.”
I have already heard the explanation that most of the women fell into slavery by selling themselves after committing a great crime or incurring huge debts.
In the county of Ephrate, the number of such slaves was proportional to the number of spearmen, so there were a lot of them.
“Ah…”
And Erin realized belatedly what the main business of the Earl of Eprate was.
And it wasn’t just Erin who noticed that.
Likewise, Cha Han-seong and Lily also made a hard expression.
“… It is a slave market.”
Erin had to notice Lily muttering briefly with her hard face.
It is because she recalled her gloomy life, in which she was turned into a slave due to her parents’ gambling addiction, repeatedly sold, and eventually turned into a half-human, half-horse by a warlock’s experiment.
Ayra affirmed Lily’s words, expressing various complex emotions such as her shame and disgust on her face.
“That’s right…”
The main business of the county of Ephrate was the slave market.
It’s a so-called human trade.
