My Wife and I Became Sages in Another World
Chapter 276: Xiulan at Night

Chapter 276: Xiulan at Night

Melina and I had forged our identification cards as Guanghua citizens while inside Ling’s inn room.

The supposed slave auction would take place the following night, so we had a little over 24 hours to do something about it.

My first plan was to attend as a noble and "buy" the slaves, then simply send them somewhere safe with the magic quartz. However, while this was the most peaceful approach, it could also be pretty risky.

I had a lot of money, but I was by no means the richest person in the world. Honestly, I didn’t really need it for anything.

If I ever needed something, like a house, food, or clothing, I could easily get it myself without relying on a single piece of silver coin.

’A super rich noble could probably outbid me, and that would defeat the purpose of our plan...’ I thought.

"Ling, what are you going to be doing until the auction?" I asked the woman.

Some of the people in town clearly recognized her since the guard and the innkeeper were familiar with her. Nonetheless, she said that she wouldn’t leave the inn until the next night.

Ling actually hated Xiulan, and she despised being in a position where she had to "buy" people in order to save them.

She explained that after her mother was imprisoned, she struggled with a fear of going out—only feeling safe in the confines of her own home.

"Well, that works for us..." I replied.

If Ling wanted to go out, Melina and I needed to go with her as it would be strange for her to leave her slaves alone in the fancy room. However, if she was staying, then we could move around a bit more freely.

When nighttime arrived in Guanghua, we opened the window and told Ling to stay put as we would be returning later.

The noblewoman looked a bit worried but didn’t try to stop us as we jumped down in the streets while nobody was watching.

We decided to make our way to the building where the auction was going to take place the next night, which was inside a theater.

The only other country I had seen with theaters was Kyotora, so I was kind of impressed that they had them here, too. However, it was disappointing to think that no real plays were shown there.

As we walked down the streets, we reached the main road that crossed through the city, and it was bustling with people wearing elegant robes, showcasing their wealth and noble status.

"Make way for Lady Zhao Lan!" exclaimed someone.

’Zhao...?’ I pondered.

I remembered the name being mentioned when we entered the city. Those fourteen enslaved commoners that we saved were supposed to be sent to the Zhao family.

I noticed that Melina clenched her fists with anger, and when I raised my head to see what was unsettling her so much, I felt the same.

It was a woman wearing a bright red dress filled with golden embroidery and decorations, holding in her hand a stack of chains that were ensnared to the necks of four people walking behind her.

Using my sound magic, I managed to hear the people rumoring about her. Her name was Zhao Lan, and she was the oldest daughter of the Zhao family.

"I heard the lady was enraged today after losing her slave delivery..." someone said.

"Yeah, apparently she got rid of so many that she has been asking all slave traders to send more to her home..." another man whispered.

From the rumors, we could tell that Zhao Lan was a psychopath who was killing her slaves for her own pleasure.

A random man came up to her, inquiring about her business, but she said that she wasn’t thinking about work as she wanted to attend the auction the next night.

’How can she say that with a smile?’ I thought as I watched the woman speaking while still holding the four enslaved commoners behind her, who looked absolutely miserable.

That night, we decided to skip our scouting of the theater and followed Zhao Lan from afar until she got to her home.

There were two guards in front of the gates, which would have been quite easy to knock down or pass by without them noticing. However, we wanted to get more information on the Zhao family.

"You take the left, I’ll take the right..." I said to Melina.

In less than two seconds, we appeared next to the guards and knocked them out. I did it with a quick chop in the back of the neck, and Melina used lightning magic to shock them.

Before anyone could notice, we took their unconscious bodies and walked all the way to an area under a small bridge that crossed a pond.

It wasn’t a large lake, but the space was enough for us to interrogate them without anyone bothering us.

After splashing their faces with water, the two guards woke up and instantly raised their hands as if they were ready to fight.

At this point, Melina and I were putting our best "villain acting" in motion, so as soon as the two men raised their hands, we kicked them in the stomachs to pacify them.

"If you scream, you die. If you talk without us asking, you die. If you try to attack us, you die. Do you understand?" I said, looking down at their faces with disdain.

The two men nodded with fear and bit their lips with apprehension as their bodies trembled slightly.

’Oh, nice. I must have sounded very scary...’ I thought.

Taking my mithril dagger and placing it against one of the men’s necks, I asked how many slaves were inside the Zhao residence.

"Twelve..." the man replied without hesitation.

"And how many were there when you first started working there?" I asked.

"T-Twenty five, I think..." he said.

"Tch, disgusting..." Melina spoke up, her words laced with pure rage.

"P-please don’t kill us... We are just trying to survive..." the other guard said.

*sigh* "If you cooperate, you won’t die. I can promise you that..." I replied.

It was pretty evident that these guards were doing everything they could to not end as enslaved commoners. Unfortunately for them, they were our best option to gather information.