At noon, Mo Yu and his group found an open space on the side of the road to eat and rest. Although they were strong and could hold on longer, their horses could not keep running.
Gawain and Gallo went hunting very consciously. The saints and masters brought back a lot of game very quickly. After a while, a wild boar and two pheasants were thrown in front of Mo Yu. Bella was responsible for making a fire with magic, while Mo Yu would skin and gut the prey they brought back and make barbecue or soup.
When the big pot of soup was almost ready, a large group of people suddenly came from a side road at the rear.
More than 50 slaves were tied up with ropes and strung together. Driven by seven or eight guards, they walked past them. The leader was wearing good metal armor and rode in front. He glanced at Mo Yu and his men and walked past without saying anything. Mo Yu and his men's equipment and outfits looked very unusual, so he obviously had no intention of coming up to provoke them.
Most of these slaves were very strong and obviously selected young men. However, the guards had no mercy on them and would whip anyone who walked slowly without mercy.
Perhaps the guards were also hungry. The leader looked around and ordered the guards to camp here and rest.
The slaves were driven to a place and sat on the ground. The guards selected a few men who looked more obedient to fetch water. After the water was fetched, they took out dry food from the bags carried by several slaves and threw it on the ground for the slaves to grab.
Mo Yu and his companions were preparing food while observing these people.
"This is a strange team," Gallo said.
"What do you mean?" Gawain asked.
Gallo whispered to them: "These guards are not ordinary caravan guards, they are all from the imperial army. These slaves also look unusual. You know, slaves sold by ordinary armies are not like this.
They captured people from the whole village, and there must be men, women, old and young, not just strong men like today. Usually, slave owners would treat slaves of this quality well, so that they would not get sick or injured and could not be sold at a good price, but these people seemed to not care about the condition of the slaves at all, and just hurried on their way. If the slaves were injured when they arrived at the delivery place, they would lose a lot of money.
And the strangest thing is that they were heading towards the Kingdom. The Empire's army captured slaves and sold them to the Kingdom, just like selling stolen goods to their owners. It's really strange!"
Bella said, "But these aren't all from the Kingdom. It seems like there are people from everywhere. Many of them look like beasts."
Gallo said: "That's why it's strange."
Mo Yu had been cooking the soup seriously until Jia Luo said this. Then she looked up and said, "What's there to guess? Just catch the leader and ask him and you'll know."
None of the people present had any good feelings towards slave traders, and they had robbed slave caravans more than once. When Mo Yu said this, everyone's eyes lit up.
Gallo chuckled: "The boss is the most straightforward. This is how we should solve the problem cleanly and efficiently. Maybe we can even earn some travel expenses for us."
He nudged Gao Wen with his elbow and said, "Thug, it's your turn."
Gawain angrily said, "This man is at most a mid-level knight, why should I take action?"
Gallo said, "Because you have been doing this kind of work, you are a professional. I am just a small thief, so it is not my turn to catch people directly, right?"
Bella spread her hands and said, "I am a pastor..."
There was no need to think about Mo Yu, as everyone was waiting to eat the meal she cooked.
Gao Wen had no choice but to stand up from the ground and do this task with a pinch of his nose. He now regretted not bringing some younger generations with him. None of the three people in front of him could be controlled by him.
Gawain was now dressed in a cloth robe and carrying a sword. He did not look like a vicious person. The soldiers were not too wary when they saw him coming. The slaves were even more indifferent to him. The leader frowned slightly, looked at him and said, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Gao Wen sighed and said, "Come on, follow me. The people over there want to ask you something."
The man asked, "Why?"
"Just because of this." Gawain snapped his fingers, and there was a series of ping-pong sounds around him. The guards brought by the man fell to the ground one after another, and none of them were left unconscious.
The man quickly stood up from the ground, but he did not dare to draw the sword at his waist. Instead, he asked tremblingly: "My lord, I will go with you. I will answer any questions you have. Please don't..."
"Go ahead. Once you've answered the questions to your satisfaction, I'll let you go."
Gao Wen brought the man to the others and sat next to Mo Yu. The man wandered around the others, not knowing whether he should stand or sit down.
Gallo waved his hand at him and said, "Answer the question properly. There is no need for us to embarrass a mid-level person like you."
"Yes, sir, I will answer whatever I have to say."
"Tell me, what's going on with these slaves? Why would you, as an imperial army, sell slaves to people from the kingdom?"
"Well..." The man was obviously hesitant.
"Hmm?" Gawain snorted.
The man swallowed and said, "The queen of the kingdom is buying slaves, so...someone wants to sell the slaves there."
"Who is that person?" Gallo pressed. "From your appearance, you are at least a detachment leader, right?"
“This… This is a secret deal between the nobles and the queen of the kingdom. I’m just one of the people doing the work.” The man said.
"Do you think there are many people transporting slaves to the kingdom?" Gallo asked again.
"Yes, the Kingdom is very particular. They only want young and strong people, and only trade at night. My team is going to be handed over to them tonight."
"Is it at the previous checkpoint?"
“No, it’s in a small village next to the checkpoint,” said the man.
Gallo now felt that there was something strange about this matter. Not only him, but also Gawain became more serious. They all smelled something unusual. Gallo asked again: "But your slaves were originally of good quality. Why do you treat them like this? Aren't you afraid that they will get hurt and you won't be able to sell them at a good price? Generally speaking, people don't recycle slaves of poor quality, right?"
The man said, "This is what the adults told us. The delivery time at the Kingdom is very tight. If I can't get there tonight, this deal will be a failure. Anyway, the Kingdom will pay by the number of people. Ten golden axes for one person. Even if they can't use a disabled one, they will still pay. But you can't use the old or weak to make up the number. It has to be alive."
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