We made our way back to the town with my parents. It was a shocker for Celeste to learn the adults were all S-Rank Adventurers with the exception of Ninhursag (although she had more than likely enough power to be considered close to it), she had been rather silent ever since she learned that, and remained so until we reached the gates. In there, as usual, a group of soldiers checked the carriage and everyone getting inside.
"Ah, hello, there's a lot of variety here, huh- What is that?!" Asked one of the soldiers, looking at Mist.
"Hello!" Said Mist with a gentle smile, although her appearance was found rather hideous than cute.
"T-That's a girl?" Asked the second soldier.
"A demon girl… Y-You know that demons need to pay a special fee to enter, right? And you, red-eyed girl… I think I know you from somewhere!" Said the first soldier.
"Isn't she the witch Celeste? She's a half-demon with a bad reputation… I don't know if we should allow such a girl to enter the city without paying some extra fees as well." Said the second soldier.
Celeste was gritting her teeth in anger, showing her sharp teeth, which intimidated the soldiers, all while Mist was apologizing because she had no money to pay the fee.
"Sowy I don't have money…" She said. "But when I grow up I'll go adventuring and earn tonsh of money! I'll pay you by then!"
"Don't mess around with us, you freak, without money all of you can't get in- Ugh!"
The two soldiers were quickly stopped by my father, who stepped out of the carriage and surprised them from behind, as he walked all the way there, he was naturally taller than the two, who looked like midgets in comparison to him.
"Don't dare treat these children in such a way." He said silently.
"Y-You dare get in our way? You're a human so just stop being nice and let them out of here, I bet you picked them up from the road out of pity, right?" Asked the first soldier.
"Hey, between the two of us, those two can sell for a nice amount as slaves, the big one can make a good sex slave for some perverted geezer, the little one too I guess, but she's so ugly I bet-" The second soldier couldn't finish speaking his stupidity before my father's fist reached his face and knocked him out of sight.
He fell into the ground, alive, but completely knocked out with a single punch…
"H-How dare you attack the- Ugh?!"
My father quickly shoved over the soldier's face his S-Rank Adventurer Card.
"W-Wha… S-Rank Adventurer?!"
Quickly after, my mother and Aquarina's parents alongside my uncle all showed S-Rank credentials as well, and the Soldier even desperately used the item to check if they were legal… and they were. He quickly swallowed saliva, carrying away his knocked out companion while smiling nervously.
"P-Please forgive our rudeness! Y-You can pass, free of charge!!!" He cried while trembling and trying to fake a very nervous and desperate smile.
"That's more like it." Said my father menacingly, as he got over the carriage and we quickly entered the city after that. It appears that… S-Rank Adventurers can even ignore laws due to how strong they are. The Title itself is granted by a Ruler such as a King, so soldiers cannot really argue with them or even report to authorities if one bullies them like my father did. Well, not like they didn't had it deserved to them after saying such horrendous things.
"T-That wash amazing… Sho S-Rank Adventurers can truly do anything!" Said Mist while raising her tiny hands. "Did you see that, Big sish?!"
"I-I did…" Sighed Celeste. "Thanks… for protecting us."
Celeste, who was always so closed with herself, seemingly opened for a bit, happy to have been protected from the words of those men that didn't even knew the concept of morality.
"Don't worry dear, as long as we are here nobody is going to put a finger on you two." Said my mother with a gentle smile. For a moment, I saw Celeste's eyes open wide for a bit, as she looked down into the floor with embarrassment.
"But well, leaving that aside, according to what those soldiers said, the state of the world seems quite bad… It has only been a few years, a bit over ten since the war and slavery is back? Weren't they abolished in the entire continent?" Asked my father.
"Certainly…" Sighed my mother. "I don't know what's going on, but he openly spoke about it."
"Huh? You don't know? There's a slave market near the district where the nobles are, it opens once every three months, and they sell slaves, both criminal and… debt slaves." Sighed Celeste. "The bastards, of course, capture people without families to enslave, they cannot run away, lack the strength, the money, and the family to help them. Our orphanage has always been their target, so they have always wanted to kidnap our children to enslave… I've been protecting them from these underground organizations that works with the nobles."
"T-That's… So all we fought for… It was for nothing, just… as I thought." Sighed my mother.
"…This continent is truly rotten, it has always been." Sighed my father.
"You… did you fought in the war against the demons invading the continent over ten years ago?" Asked Celeste.
"Well, we participated… a bit." Said my father, deciding to keep the hero title a secret.
"I see…" Said Celeste. "Don't worry, I am not going to judge you or get angry at you because you fought invading demons, it was war after all. I wasn't even alive back then."
"Ah, that's a rather mature take on it, I am grateful you don't hold grudges over such things…" My father sighed in relief.
"Nonetheless, the slavery thing… Maybe we should deal with it?" Wondered Shade.
"Yeah, we can't let it slide." Said Nepheline.
"Hm… Maybe the Malice could be related to this as well…" Said my uncle.
It seems that my parents and the rest are not going to just do a few things in here as they said previously.