"We're free?" The women slaves asked.
Sylvester knelt to their level as he understood the balance required between anger and compassion. "Of course. As a man of faith, I abhor slavery. But it's the darkness of our world that can't be so easily vanquished. So, tell me now, do you have a home to go to? If not, then I would like to employ you in my food shop just outside the Holy Land beside the Gold Road."
"Are we going to be your slaves?"
"Not at all. As I said before, I am freeing you. You can decide to work for me if you wish to do so. At the same time, you will be paid, and your children will be sent to a school inside the Holy Land later. As for you, young girl. You can earn and save money here before starting a new life elsewhere. You're still too young and ripe for exploitation by slavers or nobles.
"Since I live in the Holy Land, you three will be running my shop and living in that same building. In essence, you shall be living the coveted dream of being so close to the Holy Land." Sylvester explained to them.
He could already smell that they didn't hold that many negative thoughts about him. So he wasn't that worried about it. But, the problem was that he had to find them a different place to rest as the plot of land he bought didn't have anything on it.
He had to design a house and build it. But, before he could even think about that, he had to go and save Zeke from death as he only had seven days.
'I hope Aurora can easily find out those Cardinals' homes.' Sylvester thought.
"What are we supposed to do in the shop, m-master?" The fourteen-year-old asked with a faint hint of fear in her voice. She didn't know her fate yet. And life had already taught her not to trust men through the worst kind of lesson.
Sylvester smiled warmly. "Don't call me master. You can call me big brother. As for the other two ladies, you may call me Lord Bard, as the rest of the world does. Please tell me your names before I tell you about your duties."
"I'm Gemma, and this is my five-year-old son, Tommy." Gemma introduced herself. She had black hair, black eyes, pale skin and a thin body.
"I'm Flora, and this is my six-month-old son, Fenrir. My husband was a member of the Crusade, but sadly he passed away recently. Our village was then raided, and I couldn't pay my ransom." The second, dirty blonde haired, short woman explained.
At last, black haired blue eyed fourteen-year-old spoke. "I... I'm Ava, and I was sold by my parents. We came from Sorrow Kingdom and didn't have anything to eat for ten days. I also have two younger brothers. Please don't hate my parents... I agreed with their decisions--that was the only way to protect my little brothers. I really love them."
Sylvester didn't know what to say to her. She was clearly a very strong girl, albeit a little scared now as she had seen the ugly side of the world.
"Worry not. You may work for me for one year, and the following year you can go wherever you want with all the money you will save--even back to your family. Now, coming back to work. I have developed a few new food items that are quick to cook and heavenly to eat. I will teach you to make them, and you will be cooking and selling them."
There was a sudden silence for a long time after he finished speaking. The three women were looking at each other in confusion.
Eventually, the youngest, Ava, asked. "M-My Lord, is that it? I thought we'd have to do hard labour such as farming or something. You only want us to cook?"
Sylvester laughed and further explained. "Haha, that only sounds easy, Ava. Your job will be to run the establishment, which includes tasks such as preparing ingredients, cooking, cleaning, accounting the money, and at the end of the day, preparing for the next day. It will be a tough job. But, at the end of the month, I will be giving you bonuses according to the number of sales."
"I can do it!" Gemma proclaimed.
Flora also agreed. "Me too... I used to work on farms before being captured. I just kept little Fenrir tied on my back. How hard can cooking be?"
'Oh, you poor women, I hope you're as strong as you think you are.' Sylvester thought as he knew that soon their self-confidence was going to break.
But he was hopeful of it as his plans were big for the establishment. He was going to streamline the preparation process like a modern fast-food chain. His main target was not money or the restaurant's success but the crowd.
Why? Well, he wanted to create an elaborate labyrinth under the house, from where he was planning on conducting his various activities, such as printing the books, experiments on Duke Daemon's eyes--or perhaps, experiments on himself.
The big crowd would give him the perfect cover to do everything he needed and bring in whoever he wanted. No matter what raw materials he'd need, he'd be able to get them openly--For the restaurant, of course.
'I hope people of this world like pizzas. Perhaps I can add french fries as well... And maybe ice cream, along with the soda lemonade? It should be easy to make with ice elemental crystals. And all of it shall fall under my overall brand name... But perhaps this time, I will add a mascot--Chonky.'
Sylvester silently made his plans while the ship moved into the Holy Land's harbour. They were granted entrance after a lengthy check was done by the dock managers, which alone took them a few hours. But thankfully, the kids were saved as church officials sent people from various orphanages. Unfortunately, out of a dozen or so kids, only three had knightly talent, while none had wizard skills. Still, the three got into a better orphanage where their future was shining already.
As for Sylvester, he had to first get the three women rooms in the Guild Peninsula. He appointed one of the men under his command to look after them while he dealt with Zeke's matter.
But he had to go alone this time as he didn't trust anybody else's spying abilities. Though first, he had to meet Lady Aurora and Elyon in the Inquisitor's camp.
"Please tell me it's good news." He asked as soon as he entered Lady Aurora's tent.
She smiled and put parchment in front of him before reporting what she knew about the two Cardinals. "Here it is. Both of them are brothers, apparently. Cardinal Cohn and Cardinal Kenny. Both of them are higher-level Archwizards and hold a significant pull in the Holy Land. Other than being a member of the Supreme Council, Cardinal Cohn is the head of Darkwatch Peninsula which oversees exorcism, and Cardinal Kenny is the head of Industrial Peninsula which houses all the core production facilities of the Holy Land.
"They have oversight and control over hundreds and thousands of clergymen--And yes, the Bishop who Sir Zeke killed was an assistant of Cardinal Cohn."
Sylvester grunted at the information. It was the worst-case scenario for him. All his hope was Elyon now. "Please tell me you found the woman."
Sadly, the tiger beastkin's ears fell as he shook his head. "I have failed you, my lord. I couldn't find them, but I followed the woman's scent--She was bleeding, it appeared. And, you may be delighted to know that my hunt ended once I arrived in front of a small private palace--Belonging to the Cardinal brothers."
Sylvester took a seat by the table and silently looked at the letter. "Can you show me exactly where the palace is?"
"It's at the northern edge of the Pope's peninsula. All high-ranking clergy members have their private villas and palaces there." Lady Aurora revealed.
Sylvester closed his eyes and tried to remember the area. 'Hmm... I've been to a few Cardinals' homes, and the most common theme among them was the abundant use of seawater in their fountains and pools.'
"It'll be a mess if I were to enter their home using the court's permission. They could stall my search by a few hours at least, which would be enough to clear any evidence left... In the worst case, kill the mother and child if they are still alive." Sylvester laid out the situation.
Lady Aurora had been with Sylvester long enough to know there was something brewing in his scheming mind. "What's your plan? I can command a ten thousand-strong Inquisitor Army to come with you if you want."
Sylvester smiled fondly at that suggestion. He had felt long ago how much loyalty Aurora had towards him. Unfortunately, though, he knew if someday she were to find out about his bloodline, everything might change.
"No, I don't want to bring you into this, Aurora. You're a Guardian of Light, and you must remain unbiased. As for me, I have a plan. Just know that I will be entering their home, and if you don't hear from me by tomorrow's sunset, bring forth the army and find me inside." He didn't command her, just advised.
Lady Aurora merely sighed. "I know I can't change your mind, so go ahead. I will be on alert the whole time."
"Thank you. I will treat you to a pizza later for this trouble." Sylvester got up to leave as he was already prepared.
With that, he left the Inquisitor's camp and headed to the Northernmost edge of the Pope's Peninsula. It was full of buildings but had the least population density. Hence, he had no problem being undetected.
Although he was sneaking around, his entry approach was unlike a burglar. He didn't jump the wall as that place could have a lot of runes to detect intruders. Instead, his goal was to enter from the sea.
He assessed the landscape by walking around the castle from various angles to take a glance inside. 'As far as I can see, the palace has a large water fountain in the backyard with many fish. Hmm... But where is the entrance for water?'
Eventually, he gave up looking for the entrance from the land and decided to dive into the seawater.
"Chonky, I'm afraid I can't take you from the underwater route. So you probably know the way, right?" Sylvester said after taking off everything other than the tight pants and preparing to jump into the sea not far from the palace.
Miraj's body shuddered, but once he looked at the deep blue open sea, his heart nearly came to his mouth. "Y-Yes, Maxy... This kitty shall fly... Again!"
Sylvester caught Miraj in one hand and pulled his arm back to create momentum. "Alright... One... Two... Three! Fly, my boy! Fly!"
Woosh!
"Meowthafu~"
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Ape Together Strong
