[Editor’s Note: For clarification purposes, you’ll see Republic Ariadya mentioned many times by either city or country. It’s not a mistake. In this novel, a city is a country, so the terms in this novel are interchangeable. Sometimes they have a satellite city, like a colony.]

  ◆ Black Haired Sage, Chiyuki

  Republic Ariadya was located on the estuary of a great river that crossed the Minon Plain.

  That river also served as the boundary between the western and eastern sides of the continent.

  [ED: A partly enclosed coastal body of water in which river water is mixed with seawater is called an estuary.]

  The number of citizens that lived in the Republic Ariadya probably numbered over one million. It could be considered the biggest city in the world. It also gathered the wealthiest people on the continent.

  The Minon Plain that spread far and wide to the north of Ariadya was a vast plot of land that produced white barley-like grains. Those crops were carried to Ariadya through the Quiche River, which flowed from the Central Mountains to the Center Plains.

  South of Ariadya lay the calm Ariad Gulf.

  The gulf was too shallow, so it had never been home to the giant monsters that usually inhabited the deep seas.

  Various countries around the gulf and the Minon Plain formed the Ariad Alliance. Its main purpose was to grant its members free access to the Republic of Ariadya and its surrounding areas. For that reason, many people gathered in the Republic.

  Also, many minerals such as gold and silver and various tools were transported to the Republic through the Quiche River. They were carried over from a certain dwarven country located to the northeast of the Minon Plain.

  The Teyukam Coin, the world’s standard currency, was issued by the Republic Ariadya. Perhaps that was the reason its economy was leagues ahead of the other countries.

  Even the currency used within the Holy Republic of Lenaria, where we lived, was also based on Teyukam.

  [TL: Think of it as USD of Isekai]

  Both Reiji and I headed to the central office of the Republic.

  Sahoko, Rino, and Nao were busy doing something else. Rino and Nao expected the meeting to be boring, so they quickly found something else to do. Thus, Sahoko was tasked with monitoring those two to prevent things from getting out of hand.

  The one who came to greet us was a man in his forties.

  「It’s nice to meet you, Hero of Light-dono. I’m Clasus, the commander of the Ariadya Republic.」


  His position as commander meant that he was the one responsible with maintaining the public order and defending the Republic from invasions. The position of General was quite rare even in other countries.

  In most cases, the king was the one who held both the posts of General and Consul. Also, in most countries, the Consul was usually the one responsible for maintaining public order and defending the city.

  When it came to a metropolis like Ariadya, with such a vast area to protect, the Consul alone couldn’t handle the two duties at once. Thus, the job of public order was separated from the duties of the Consul.

  The majority of countries in this world had troops and military service. However, those forces were not for the sake of fighting other humans. They were for fighting demons.

  War among humans did not exist. With so many demons around, humanity did not have time to be waging war amongst themselves.

  Since the number of demons that lived around that area was low, the job of a General was mainly to maintain public order.

  But the lack of a war between human countries did not mean that civil war did not exist. It was just like in our world. The number of people they had to feed was too overwhelming if compared to other countries.

  [TL: Game of Thrones]

  Although Clasus was a former knight trained at our academy, it was obvious that he had never fought a demon. He hit his fist on his chest and bowed to Reiji. That was considered a polite greeting in this world.

  「Yeah, I’m the Hero of Light, Reiji. Best regards.」


  Despite the polite greeting, Reiji replied in an audacious manner. He never changed his attitude, no matter who he met. Even if it was the king of a country.

  Hey, do you even realize how many times your attitude got us in trouble?

  I glanced at Clasus. Could it be that he didn’t mind Reiji’s attitude towards him?

  「Hahaha. I can feel at ease since the Hero of Light has arrived in this country.」


  Clasus smiled while he spoke. He truly didn’t seem to care about Reiji’s attitude. Rather, I felt like he was used to facing such types of people. Things would certainly be easier for us if he didn’t mind how Reiji behaved.

  「Commander Clasus. I’ve heard about the general situation from Vice-President Tarabos before. However, I’d like to hear some more detailed information.」


  I took the initiative and asked Clasus instead of letting Reiji cause trouble.

  Negotiation was my job. From that moment on, it was my battlefield.

  「I don’t mind…… But I think it would be better if we continued the discussion inside. I’ve prepared some beverages for us to enjoy.」


  Thus, we followed Clasus to the conference room.

  The room was huge and full of ornaments, very fitting of a superpower like the Ariadya Republic. A big table with a few chairs had been prepared, and we took a seat.

  After Clasus sat down, someone else entered the room.

  「A Goblin?!! 」


  I unintentionally raised my voice, surprised.

  The one who entered the room wasn’t a person, but a Goblin. It pushed a cart filled with beverages and brought it close to us. It then proceeded to deliver the drinks.

  「Here you gob.」


  The Goblin bowed to us.

  We sat there, frozen. We were simply perplexed that the enemy who we always fought was bowing their head to us.

  To be honest, we had never seen a Goblin slave until that moment.

  The Goblin slave industry was popular in the region. Unlike Orcs, Goblins were much easier to turn into slaves. Even the Magician of Saria had told me something about it.

  It seemed that the domination magic eased up the Goblins’ brutal instinct, making them more obedient. I even heard that on the Minon Plain several large-scale farms used Goblins as their laborers. Thanks to such cheap labor, the price of food in the region was much lower than in other areas.

  After completing its job, the Goblin bowed again to us and left the room.

  I felt slightly uncomfortable after witnessing that.

  「Oya? I suppose this was your first time seeing a Goblin slave, eh…… Ah! Forgive me for only remembering it this late. Rena-sama’s teachings forbid the enslavement of demons, right? How careless of me.」


  Clasus apologized to us.

  Rena was a goddess of war, one who protected mankind from the threat of demons. Thus, according to her teachings, all demons had to be annihilated. Therefore, according to Rena’s religion, employing demons was considered a felony. In short, demons were supposed to be killed only.

  Maybe the Rena religion’s influence was weaker here because the Ariadya Republic had a relatively low number of demons around. Also, the most popular religion in the area was the faith of the god Oudith, the god of law.

  Oudith’s Faith neither allowed nor banned slavery, hence the common sight of Goblin slaves in the region.

  The main reason the sight of a Goblin slave caused me such repulsion and discomfort was not because of the demon, but because of the word “Slavery.” It was banned in our original world. That’s why I couldn’t get used to it.

  [TL: It is not!!! ED: Sadly…… Also, you have a problem with goblin slaves but not killing them? What’s wrong with you?]

  If the one enslaved had been a human and not a demon, I might even have told him to free the person.

  「Yeah, I just can’t get used to it. Let’s drop that topic for now. Allow me to tell you about the reason we need your help.」


  Slavery was deeply rooted in that region. If we tried to force them to free the slaves, we might end up clashing with the people of the area. That was something we had to avoid at all costs.

  Moreover, the aftermath of meddling with the slavery situation would become an even greater problem. Namely, how the released Goblins should be treated. That would take a lot of time to settle.

  Then, it was best to drop that topic for the time being.

  Reiji didn’t seem all that interested in the topic, either.