Obviously, It’s My Child - Chapter 148

“Ugh.”

What to do? Should he kill him? Could he really kill him?

Back in his hometown, Jacob had been a mighty man, and Oliver had been no different.

That alone was able to intimidate and coerce others, especially against the opium-addicted members of their crew.

However, facing the Duke’s guards with their level of combat skills was a different story entirely.

“Brother.”

Oliver whispered, poking Jacob’s back. Should they attack together? Even if they managed to overpower the guard, escaping wouldn’t be easy.

They were afraid of being pursued.

As Jacob and Oliver each gripped their daggers, readying themselves.

Stomp.

Guards holding rifles appeared from the forest, surrounding them. The Duke’s guard who called Jacob’s name spoke with a threatening tone.

“Drop your knives quietly to the ground. His Grace wishes to bring you in alive if possible.”

That means they could be killed if necessary.

The frightened Jacob threw his dagger to the ground immediately. Following suit, Oliver slowly knelt down and placed his knife on the ground.

Thump!

A guard twisted Jacob’s arm behind his back and forced him to kneel on the ground.

* * *

Erich awaited the outcome with an unchanged expression.

Claire, however, couldn’t do so.

According to Jack, who came to seek her help, the situation was like this.

His village became acquainted with lotus leaf cigarettes about four to five years ago. It all started when medicine sellers, following a traveling theater troupe, sold them as cure-alls.

Jack’s mother, suffering from a chronic illness, found relief with them. Soon, Jack’s family was using them for various aches and pains.

Though expensive, it became their go-to medicine. Over time, even without any physical ailments, the family couldn’t stop having them in their mouths.

This led to mounting debts. The family vowed to never buy anymore, but no one could break the addiction.

[Mr. Parler, that, medicine seller… he offered jobs to my sister and me,…]

Jack’s words were disjointed and hard to follow. But with patience and probing questions, Claire pieced together his story.

Jack and his sister were lured by Parler with promises of introducing them to jobs. It led them to meet Jacob and another person.

Jacob paid Parler a hefty sum. He said it was an advance on Jack’s wages, supposedly to pay off his debt. Yet, three years later, Jack had no idea about his remaining debt or what his original salary was supposed to be.

[It’s all my fault, not caring about the money… I just want to find my sister.]

Jack trembled with fear of getting punished. It showed how he was treated on a daily basis.

Claire was dumbfounded by his story, while Erich quickly deduced.

“Jacob played the role of a slave master. Parler was the middleman.”

“The ledgers are all fake. I knew it would be like that.”

Instead of double bookkeeping to skim extra money, there likely weren’t any real financial records at all. Why keep risky ledgers when embezzling all the money?

“The team leader of the explosives also belonged to Jacob’s crew, didn’t he? Although he must have received better treatment than the others, his salary was probably minimal.”

Initially, it was assumed that debts forced them into this situation. However, the risk involved and the relatively small amount of money made it hard to understand.

As it turns out, the bookkeeper was involved even deeper.

Now it’s clear. With no real salary and being isolated in the mine, they desperately clung to any small change they could get.

As someone took Jacob to rest in another room, the lights outside brightened.

“It seems they’ve caught him.”

“I guess he tried to escape.”

Claire unconsciously clenched her fist resting on her thigh.

“So, Aaron Jacob wasn’t a pawn of the Empress. This means it wasn’t a targeted attack on Klausener.”

“Claire.”

“It seems even without the Empress’s intervention, there are those who drag people from their neighborhood to feed them opium and make them slaves. This has become a sort of business flourishing on its own.”

“…”

“It’s possible that even those who weren’t originally addicts were lured with the promise of jobs in the city, only to be made dependent and controlled.”

Erich pulled her head closer, pressed his lips against her temple in a comforting gesture.

“Truly, I feel the worst.”

Claire leaned her head against his shoulder and murmured, absentmindedly stroking the corner of her eye. She didn’t really cry, but she just wanted to.

She then looked up at Erich.

“It’s likely that scum like Jacob aren’t just in this place.”

“I guess. I’ll look into it.”

There was no other choice.

Policies could mandate higher wages and rest periods. But his delegates might not look into the lives of their employees as Claire does.

Creating a system where one person collects wages for all could hide the reality of enslavement from those who might worry about a riot but not realize its true nature.

“I’ll have to check on all the workers under my charge too. The cotton fields, the wheat farms… even in other territories I’m aware of.”

Maybe, similar methods could be used to exploit laborers in farms.

The cotton fields supplying materials to the Weaving Guild were mostly large estates requiring a vast amount of labor.

Erich gently stroked the back of her hand.

“The people under you will be fine. If there was an intention to leave labor power in Arren, they wouldn’t resort to such measures.”

“But if a self-sustaining slave network exists without the Empress’s orders, it could infiltrate my factories too.”

Claire sighed deeply, closing her eyes again and leaning back against the sofa.

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