[Vol. 9] Chapter 103: Spirit Veil of Preston
Although there was no direct evidence, after observing for several days, Violet was almost certain that Veranica, who appeared to have been trapped on Icefang Island for nearly ten years, had long extended her influence beyond that small, confined place. She had already made contact and even cooperated with certain external forces.
Even before Violet arrived, Veranica had planned to lead her subordinates off the island. However, plans rarely survive contact with reality. Violet had offered her a safer and more feasible path, which is why things had unfolded the way they did.
Until today, Violet had never been fully sure of Veranica’s intentions. But after observing recent events, she finally began to form a vague judgment. Veranica’s ambitions were indeed lofty, but Violet didn’t care, nor did she concern herself with them.
The laws of cause and effect in the world are fixed. Everyone has their own goals and futures. As long as Veranica completed their agreements and the tasks she was supposed to do, Violet naturally would not interfere with matters that didn’t concern her. The key was: don’t drag her into it on your own.
Having quietly warned someone, Violet didn’t make the topic public. Once she had made her point, she led the group away from the chaotic street in another direction.
After taking only a few steps, the young Blue Dragon began muttering again.
“Lady Violet, where are we going next? Are we going to find a place to stay or get something to eat?”
Violet shook her head.
“Those are minor matters. Remember the token I showed you before?”
Alexia thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
“Oh… the one with the little fox carved on it?”
“Exactly. That’s actually a merchant guild.”
As the second-largest kingdom in the North, Preston naturally had a branch of the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild in its capital.
Originally, Violet hadn’t planned to contact them so soon, but the chaos in Salzburg had exceeded her expectations. Something seemed to be brewing here. Though Violet preferred not to meddle, having more intelligence beforehand would make it easier to respond to whatever might happen.
Since they would need to go eventually, she decided to do it now.
The Spirit Veil Merchant Guild was some distance from the Mercenary Guild. The group spent nearly half a day walking across half the city before finally seeing a small, elegant, distinctly northern-style building that seemed slightly out of place compared to the local architecture.
Standing at the door, Violet looked at the large sign written in Snow Language: “Spirit Veil Merchant Guild”. Without hesitation, she told most of the group to stay outside and led Alexia and Veranica straight through the unattended front doors into the hall.
As soon as they entered, the scene changed dramatically. The familiar layout, the flickering colors of treasures, brought a strange sense of nostalgia and warmth to the young girl’s heart. Before Violet could take in her surroundings properly, her gaze was drawn to a corner, and she frowned slightly.
There, roughly a dozen people in worn clothes were sitting on the floor, scattered among the shop full of exotic treasures. They seemed out of place.
They were of various races, both boys and girls, appearing to be between eight and fourteen years old. Each wore a tag with a price on it and watched the occasional passing customers intently, seemingly searching and waiting for something.
Violet was not unfamiliar with such a scene.
“How interesting… When did the Spirit Veil Guild start dealing in slaves?”
The voice, seemingly muttered to herself, reached the ears of a young man just walking over from the counter. Despite being in the North, he wore only a pale blue robe and looked scholarly and elegant. He smiled, raised a hand, and bowed slightly to the priestess.
“Welcome to Spirit Veil. Are the three of you visitors? This young lady doesn’t look like she’s from here, does she?”
Violet raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“What do you mean?”
The young man kept smiling. His voice was warm and pleasant, the kind that makes people relax and like him. He was well suited to greet guests in the front hall.
“Only visitors from Salzburg or outside Preston would misunderstand what slave trading means here. Yes, they are called ‘slaves,’ but if you are a local, you’d know the Spirit Veil Guild is not doing evil. We are actually helping them, even saving them.”
“Oh?”
Violet glanced again at the children in the corner, then turned her calm silver-blue eyes back to the polite young man and nodded slightly.
“I’d like to hear more.”
He nodded in return. Even though Violet had shown no sign of wanting to buy anything, he wasn’t in a hurry. He spoke slowly, like casual conversation.
“Miss, you’ve seen many things. You should know food has always been the biggest problem in the North. The North never lacks people, one full stomach can turn into many workers, so the slave business there has actually been dying out.”
“Especially in Preston. Each year, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of people starve to death for various reasons. With this year’s northern disasters, that problem has only gotten worse.”
“Even the capital, Salzburg, is hit by the disaster. The remote western and northern regions are much worse. If any of you have been to those places, you would see corpses everywhere and fields lying empty, it’s a real wasteland…”
Thinking of those scenes, the young man shook his head with some feeling, but his smile never left. Like a sly fox, everything he said seemed aimed at making his next deal look better.
“To survive, living people can go far beyond what anyone imagines. If they can’t hunt, if they can’t buy grain, if roots and bark have been eaten, when people are starving and desperate, what do you think will happen?”
Alexia tilted her head in confusion. She hadn’t understood yet. Veranica’s face stayed cold and silent as if she already knew. Only Violet’s eyes flashed and she frowned slightly.
“Has it come to that level?”
The young man smiled smoothly and didn’t answer the sensitive question directly. His face and tone said enough.
“Of course. People driven mad by hunger lose their limits and reason. Especially children who lost adult protection and have little strength, they become the easiest targets.”
“The Spirit Veil Guild is small. We can’t save the whole world, so we do what we can. As you see, these children signed contracts with us willingly. Their backgrounds are clean and we’ve notarized everything with the authorities. There will be no legal problems.”
“Miss, you might not imagine this, but in Preston, selling yourself for money is a dream many dare not even have. Without our Spirit Veil Guild to guarantee their safety and provide training, what do you think would happen to these children?”
“Of course, there is one thing we must tell you clearly in advance…”