Chapter 121 Mom is not home today (Part 2)
◎She is Melia's cherished child.◎
Turning from the sunny square into the underground, Elena felt a little dizzy: Why does it feel so much darker here? Is it an illusion or is there not enough lamp oil?
But he seldom came here before, so I can't be sure.
The little cat on my shoulder poked its head out, checking to see if there was anyone around. It wiggled its big ears and put its mouth close to mine: "Hey, shall we burn this place down?"
"...What do you see?" Elena took a step back. Could the cat see things she couldn't? Was there a ghost hiding in the shadows in the distance?
"What did you say? Mother Melia doesn't like this place, so burn it down."
The kitten jumped to the ground, her paws scratching the ground quickly. She sprinted down the corridor, finally found a soft seat, jumped on it, and curled up into a ball.
"Are you kidding?" Elena sat down next to her and carefully examined the kitten. She was still a little unsure. Nini said "burned" calmly, then tapped the cushion and yawned comfortably. Was this just a child's prank?
"No, Mom said she hated the slave trade, so I thought, if I burned this place down, Mom would be happy, right?"
“…”
Elena slowly leaned back in her chair. Throughout the entire process, the child's expression remained calm and composed. Was it because she was too young and naive? Something seemed amiss.
In the few minutes she was thinking, a new group of slaves had already appeared on the stage.
This underground slave market was originally a relatively high-end trading place, but business has been unusually bad in recent months: the nobles in the royal city have begun to prefer buying strong slaves who are more cost-effective and can start working immediately, rather than beauties or aliens.
As the demands of major customers changed, the underground slave market had to transform and began to compete with the above-ground business.
Elena looked at the booth, where a row of strong men and women with shaved heads stood. Their physical features were vague, and they could be residents of any city-state.
Considering the recent ongoing war, they were most likely Persians or Macedonians, or perhaps prisoners of war from some disputed city-state.
"Don't burn it yet." She looked at the booth and whispered.
"Oh." The kitten responded softly, leaning back on the cushion boredly, playing with the small beads on it.
"Your Highness? Your Highness Elena~is that you?" Malakis's disgusting voice came from behind.
He came over, swaying and clacking. Fortunately, there were two strong men on each side supporting him, so there was no risk of collapse. It seemed that he had completely accepted Melia's advice and would not let the frail beauty carry his heavy body.
"Yeah." Elena nodded slightly as a greeting.
The man was not shy and reached out his big, greasy hand to the cat, "Hey, your Highness's cats are all very greasy, so cute—Ahhh!"
Nini jumped off the cushion and gestured twice at Malakis' eyes, scaring him so much that he fell to the ground.
"Ah... As expected, you are His Highness's cat." He took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his face in disappointment. In just a short while, all the people in the booth suddenly retreated behind the scenes.
Elena frowned in confusion and said to herself, "Strange, where is the buyer?"
Malakis perked up when he heard this, his tongue twitching between his teeth. "Hey, no need to look, they were all bought by Sura. I never thought that Lord Sura would have such a day~"
Perhaps knowing that Elena and Melia disliked Sulla, he spoke of Sulla with no respect, only sarcasm: "We were investing before, but the elders in the Senate refused to take risks. Then they saw Miss Melia swimming in gold coins, and their eyes started bleeding!"
"Oh? Sulla bought so many slaves for investment? What connections does he have?"
Hearing His Highness' praise, Malakis's face flushed with excitement. "Him? He's planning to start his own business! He's cleared out a lot of rooms and bought a large piece of land, just to run a business for these slaves... Anyway, he's going to do handicrafts."
Speaking of this, Malakis really felt a bit gloating.
Before, he was the only one who was fooled and cheated by all kinds of people. Fortunately, he followed Melia and Ilit and learned from them. Although they were arrogant, they were also good at making money!
Now the tide has turned, and those who bullied him, called him a fool, and a follower are now in trouble. They bought so many slaves for investment, bah! They will all lose everything! Is money so easy to make?
Sura bought a lot of slaves to do handicrafts? Elena almost laughed out loud: This is a lie.
The last assassination and bathhouse riot might have been Sulla's doing. Did he hire so many people this time to reenact a classic?
Elena picked up the cat and said, "I'm leaving now. You stay here and continue watching."
"Huh?" Malakis said, moving his legs hurriedly. "How can I sit while you're walking? Let me run an errand with you."
"Sit down. I won't say it again."
After being glared at, Malakis and his strong slave sat down in their seats instantly, not daring to move.
…
"Yawn~ Why do we have to go out?" The kitten opened his mouth and yawned loudly.
Elena resisted the urge to put her fingers in and pinched the cat's ears. "Why? Do you like watching the slave trade?"
"No, it's quite boring."
The kitten shook its head and asked curiously, "They look so happy. Why does Mommy say that slaves have such a hard and sad life?"
Happy? That forced smile was forced upon them by slave owners to make their products appear healthier.
Elena stopped stroking them in surprise. "Of course they're sad. They've lost their freedom and have no citizenship rights." This was the most terrifying thing she could think of. Slaves were not citizens, not protected by most laws, had no dignity, and were difficult to redeem.
If you become a slave, you must have extraordinary abilities to turn your life around. Not to mention those children who are born into slavery and don't even have the thought of changing their status quo.
She had suffered hunger, beatings, and had to walk barefoot in the winter. Although the physical pain had faded from her memory, she could still remember the contemptuous and disgusted looks she received.
"Loss of freedom?"
"It means not letting you do what you want and bullying you at will."
"Then why not just fight back?"
The little white cat blinked blankly: "Why don't they resist? Isn't it comfortable not to resist?"
"Because I have no power to resist."
"Then take control of the power."
After she finished speaking, she licked her paw thoughtfully. "Is this what Mom said, 'You don't understand'? I can't understand why those people are so weak. Why don't they become stronger?"
"That should be it."
It sounded like the child was growing slowly, but Elena still noticed something strange.
She leaped onto the rooftop, carrying the cat, and continued to track the slave transport vehicle, whispering, "Do you define your feelings through observation?"
"Yes." The kitten flexed its paws, revealing half a plum blossom. "Smiling means happiness, crying means unhappiness or sadness, and opening its mouth wide means surprise or fear."
"...What about you? How do you feel?"
"That's so strange. My mom likes to ask me that too. She's the one who taught me how to distinguish them. She said, 'There are many exceptions, but let's just make this distinction for now.' She told me not to go too far alone."
The kitten muttered for a moment, then shook its head honestly, "I only know what happiness and boredom are. Fear, surprise, sadness, and exhaustion are similar, right? Mom said this is a serious problem, I don't understand."
A natural born alien.
Elena immediately thought of what she would be suited to: torturer, assassin, or general. Being so powerful and yet unable to empathize, she was a treasure for the powerful.
【She is Melia's cherished child.】
Elena put the kitten on the ground and gestured for her to look inside: "We're here. This is one of the bases where Sura hides slaves."
"Okay~ Sneak in!"
Nini cheered and quickly climbed up the wall. The corners of her lips curled up and the tip of her tail curled up excitedly.
After a while, Maomao jumped down the wall in confusion: "They are repeating such boring things."
Elena had quietly climbed up the tree: It was indeed boring. The slaves inside were banging dye barrels in the sun, probably dyeing clothes.
This business is almost monopolized by Ilit, and ready-made clothes have to be bought from Melia's house. Is he crazy?
After a closer look, Elena saw the trick: these slaves were not skilled dyers and weavers at all. They were just beating the clothes in the water vigorously, which was most likely a useless effort.
"Go and see if there are any slaves inside the door. What are they doing?"
"good."
The kitten ran in quickly and ran back quickly: "It's also boring. I'm copying books and spinning yarn."
Copying books? Okay, even though Melia started selling printed books in large quantities, copying books still had some business. After all, movable type was not good and easily broke, and each type of woodblock could only print one copy.
The hand-spinning is really amazing. Even ordinary girls know to buy the yarn reels from Melia's shop. They are cheap, large in quantity and uniform in quality.
Therefore, Sulla's real purpose was definitely not to make them work, and labor was just a means to cover up his true intentions.
While she was lost in thought, Maomao ran back and forth again, this time tapping the ground in dissatisfaction. "There's nothing good to eat. They only eat boiled tubers. No wonder they're so thin and unhappy."
"Of course, Sura wants to save costs."
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck him. Sulla was a very cautious man, so why would he do something so obvious? A trap? Not likely.
Then it's probably because it's about to start. The plan is about to start, and the risk of being discovered is low.
Gather a large number of slaves... incite them to revolt? No, the legions were stationed outside the city to fight the Persians. Even if he could incite all the slaves at once and tie up the entire Senate, he wouldn't be able to deal with the stationed legions.
Athens.
The cold words echoed in his mind. Yes, Greece, the things he had experienced in Greece! Could it be that Sulla was also involved in the goblin's chess game?
Thinking of this possibility, she could no longer sit still.
If that were true, Sulla would have surely heard about Caesar's death! Given his style, he would likely choose the most chaotic day to trigger the magic.
It could be the day the death was announced, or the day the body was returned.
Kill Sulla? No, Sulla must have magical items. Who knows if the goblins gave him anything? Legend has it that goblins also like to cast death-triggering magic. Maybe Sulla would die right before Rome collapsed.
Then learn from Teacher Pados, destroy the buildings that may be used to construct the magic circle, and find an opportunity to send the slaves out of the city, or even further away.
【Shadow Rome.】
Thinking of this, she quickly grabbed the cat's paw and said, "Do you know how to get into Shadow Rome?"
"I know." The kitten turned around in surprise: "Don't you know that there is a very secret archway in the manor?"
"That's good."
Elena no longer concealed her presence. Wings rose from her back, and her nails transformed into claws. "Nini, don't you want to burn something? Let's burn as much as we can today."
…
"Fire! Fire—"
First, someone shouted loudly in a residential area, and then the cry of "Fire--" began to spread from one person to another, spreading along with the panic.
The first fires to break out were in the private residences of several senators, and then more and more fires broke out, and screams spread across most of the city of Rome.
Fortunately, it is far away from the commercial district. Except for the private residences of the elders, all the other houses are cheap houses in remote areas.
When the ashes settle, only one person, besides the murderer, will know who has suffered the greatest loss.
Sura almost crushed the wooden chess piece in his hand: "It's all burned... Who did it?" With a clang, the chess piece fell heavily to the ground.
Fortunately, fortunately he still has a backup plan... Which prince or princess could make such a big fuss against him?
[Marcus? Ophelia? Elena? Elena.]
Ding-ling-ling! He rang the bell, and a servant with his tongue cut out came out from behind the curtain and took the sealed box handed to him by his master. No additional instructions were needed, as each servant had a corresponding destination.
After handing over the box, Sulla slowly sat back in his chair. Spoken orders were always leaked, but thankfully, this sealed box had a high success rate. No matter the cost, he would not allow anyone other than Marcus to ascend the throne.
Fairy, Caesar, Melia... fate, I will never bow to fate.
The author has something to say:
Thanks to Lei Lei from Luchen_piuma~
Thanks to dreams for making my heart beat, Muxun and Sen, and Inoue Kuro for their irrigation~
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