Having brought the slaves from the prison to the Guild House, Tom imdiately turned back without any rest.
This was, of course, because Valencia and Cheong-yi were waiting, and also because roughly three-quarters of the Beastkin slaves were still imprisoned.
Although he could have taken a breather after such a long journey, he hastily left before the handover was complete.
Still, judging by his expression, he seed quite pleased with the current situation.
It was difficult to pinpoint whether he felt exhilarated because he had killed the Market Maker who had tornted the Beastkin, or if it was a sense of satisfaction from having rescued the suffering Beastkin.
In any case, it seed he was quite content with what he was doing now.
One could tell just by watching his retreating footsteps.
How much lighter his body had beco compared to the heavy, blood-soaked steps he took after erging from the Darkest Dungeon.
"...I knew it, but it's still serious. These awful bastards."
"Indeed."
"This can't simply be explained by exhaustion from a long journey..."
"Well, given their circumstances. Let's start with what we can do."
As expected, most of the Beastkin who arrived at the Guild House were not in a normal state.
Not only was their treatnt in prison poor, but most of the Beastkin had also been administered illegal drugs to prevent them from becoming fully mature adults.
Their bodies weren't completely stuck in childhood, but they lacked the natural physical durability enhancent and the unique combat instincts that Beastkin gain upon reaching adulthood.
Furthermore, they were missing various elents that made Beastkin, Beastkin.
Would it be accurate to say they had developed a kind of 'disability'?
It was quite different from re nutritional deficiency.
Where thick muscle lines should have been, gaunt bones remained, and a gloomy atmosphere prevailed instead of the cheerful disposition characteristic of Beastkin.
However, there was no intention of leaving them as they were.
Much ti had passed, and the original Beastkin culture and lineage had faded significantly, making it virtually impossible to restore them to the ideal state they had during the Beastkin Nation era.
But achieving a certain degree of recovery, rather than complete restoration, was not impossible.
"...I'll take it from here, partner."
"Alright."
Fortunately, among us was a Beastkin who had managed Beastkin slaves for a long ti.
Jerry, who had been buying and managing various Beastkin slaves even before eting , knew perfectly well how to treat them and what they needed.
He had also made so progress in his research regarding the lost nature of the Beastkin.
Jerry, who had just returned from an outing after a long ti, brought a bottle of concentrated liquid.
"...It's a drug that dilutes the growth-inhibiting effects. If administered, they should be able to return to their original state to so extent."
"...Then, will they fully recover?"
He shook his head.
"...No, it won't. Growth inhibitors are direct-acting drugs that directly affect the endocrine system and Mana Circuits, so it's impossible to erase the toxicity of years of concentrated drugs all at once. If we did that, other abnormalities would likely appear in their bodies."
"..."
"This drug rely enhances the recovery resilience of the endocrine system and Mana Circuits. It helps develop the body's self-healing ability to counteract growth inhibitors. It has the function of shortening a recovery that would naturally take ten years to about three years."
"Oh."
"Should I try it too? I've always wished I were about three centiters taller."
"...Considering the developnt cost, one drop is worth a house."
"That makes it even more appealing, doesn't it?"
"...Beastkin and humans are distinctly different species. Their bodily systems have different chanisms, so there would be unconfird side effects."
Since Jerry had been experinting with and personally applying the drug for decades, its efficacy and safety were trustworthy, but they couldn't inject the drug imdiately.
The reason was simple.
The Beastkin who ca from the prison themselves had a strong aversion to drugs.
It seed they had been continuously subjected to drug injections until recently, feeling not just aversion but almost terror.
No matter how good the intention, injecting drugs when the individual refused was no different from what the Market Maker and Beastkin slave traders did.
Therefore, we decided to discuss the drugs after a certain period of ti.
It seed that a bit more ti would be needed to truly begin the recovery process.
"..."
However.
That ti didn't seem like it would be too long.
Fortunately, we had a buffer that could sowhat alleviate their aversion.
"—Don't worry too much. We were all the sa at first..."
The Beastkin whom Jerry had hidden within the Order Territory and bought from slave black markets every year.
Even without being asked, they were the first to greet the other Beastkin, and that alone seed to bring a considerable sense of peace to the Beastkin who had co from prison.
It seed that their shared background as forr slaves played a significant role, and since there were even quite a few familiar faces among them, they appeared to be much more at ease.
Their faces, which had been full of fear upon arrival, even showed faint smiles during their conversations.
One cause for concern was that these weren't all the Beastkin slaves who would be coming to the Guild House.
As Tom had ntioned, those who arrived in the first wave were rely the slaves from the closest prison.
Three more prisons remained.
Furthermore, considering that this particular prison was in a northern continental stronghold, where the circulation of slaves was lowest, the number of Beastkin expected to arrive in the future would certainly be greater, not fewer, than this.
If they flocked in quickly, there was concern whether the relatively smaller number of existing Beastkin could physically accommodate them.
'—That wasn't sothing I could control.'
Worrying about it wouldn't provide an answer anyway.
I wasn't sure how, but I hoped that Valencia would sohow find a solution.
After all, that was why we had sought out Valencia first and foremost.
It seed likely that by the ti the coronation ceremony was held, so thod would erge.
"Is the tally finished, Eliya?"
Regarding the incoming Beastkin, the task entrusted to Eliya was the tally.
How many had arrived, which species they belonged to, and what their age groups were.
Although not openly stated, what we intended to re-establish was none other than the Beastkin Nation.
I thought we should have a grasp of that much.
"Ah, yes! It still needs so organizing, but the verification is mostly complete. I'll tidy it up and report back to you."
Given the sheer number, it should have taken considerable ti, but Eliya handled the task quite quickly and accurately.
This was because they had already divided the Territory into sections beforehand.
They hadn't actually drawn visible lines to separate them, but they had grouped the existing Beastkin by their respective species to form villages.
On the surface, it still looked haphazard, but in reality, the classification system had already established a certain frawork.
Therefore, from Eliya's perspective, all she had to do was verify the Beastkin who had entered the existing frawork.
Well, completing even that in such a short ti required a certain level of cleverness, so it was still a job well done by Eliya.
"Roughly what's the total number?"
"Uh... I haven't double-checked yet. But based on my calculations so far, excluding the existing Beastkin, it's roughly 20,000. So, about 27,000 people. And including the Beastkin from outside that Jerry ntioned, it would be around 30,000."
"...Thirty thousand, huh."
It was a larger number than expected.
This was true given that our target number was 50,000, and considering that all these Beastkin ca from just one-quarter of the stronghold prisons—and the smallest one at that.
If we gathered the numbers from all the prisons, I thought it would easily reach 100,000.
And that wasn't even the end of it.
If, after the coronation ceremony, news spread that the Beastkin Nation had been established and that the last king of the Beastkin Nation, Allen Tigris III's lineage had survived and rebuilt the Beastkin Nation, then Beastkin hiding from slave hunters would surely co here, no matter how many.
Even if they didn't co imdiately, I thought at least ssengers would be sent, and if we absorbed them well, we might create sothing worthy of being called a 'power.'
Once we achieved that and acquired the status of a Guild, we could formally propose proactive asures for the complete abolition of slavery to the Order Territory, and naturally, in that process, we could also absorb the Beastkin slaves circulating outside the stronghold prisons.
Originally, we would have been checked by the Market Maker during that process, and the Order would not have easily granted Guild status.
'—Since both issues were resolved.'
The Market Maker was dead, and the UMC, which held considerable power within the Order, was backing us.
Of course, it was unclear to what extent they would help, and what they expected in return, as their support wasn't limitless.
But at least while Emily was here, I expected them to maintain a favorable attitude, so I thought the current situation would persist until the Beastkin Nation's reconstruction was sowhat on track.
'—More than I expected.'
Things were going too smoothly, more than I expected.
The Market Maker's death wasn't in my plan, nor was a quick encounter with the UMC, and eting Emily this soon was also unforeseen.
Things I had expected to be more difficult were unfolding smoothly, as if soone were helping.
And usually, when I felt this way, sothing of an opposite nature would occur.
Perhaps 'regression to the an' would make it understandable?
If things went better than expected, then things would also go worse than expected.
And before long, I realized my thought wasn't wrong.
"...Partner. I brought the newspaper as you asked. Did you know sothing?"
"...Hmm?"
Rustle—
On the front page of the newspaper Jerry, who had been outside, handed to in a low voice.
"...Look at this."
"..."
[Saintess, Execution Date Set.]
Because shocking news was emblazoned there.
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