Chapter 279: Despiser of the Law

Nell experienced a day of extreme confusion. She ran to the City Hall just to ask for a job, yet somehow after the commotion at the end, she was stuffed into the city’s literacy class.

At noon, she was fed meat porridge and bread, slept after eating, then returned to class after waking up to continue learning until evening.

No one forced her to work, no one hit or scolded her. The teachers only taught her the alphabet, taught her to write her name on the sandboard.

After school, Nell carried a fearful and anxious mood back home. Her father glared at her, his eyes looking as if he wanted to eat her alive. Strangely, however, he did not rush forward to beat her like every day, nor did he call people to sell her off.

That night, she finally heard her mother whisper that while she was anxiously worrying at school, the Department of Public Security’s people had come to her house, reading the Lyra Constitution aloud over and over for her father and the neighbors to hear. No matter how unwilling her father was, he did not dare to sell her right under the eyes of the Department of Public Security’s people.

Nell fell asleep carrying a joyful mood.

For the first time in her life, Nell slept so soundly.

The next morning, Nell helped her mother clean the house neatly before putting on the canvas messenger bag distributed by the school, skipping happily to school.

She sat at the last row of desks, in the morning she raised her head babbling reading along with every word the female Elf teacher taught, in the afternoon she and her friends followed the human male teacher to learn farming techniques. Her lunch portion consisted of two fragrant quail egg and meat buns and a sweet cup of cow’s milk.

Nell ate half a bun and drank the whole cup of milk, the remaining one and a half buns she carefully wrapped in oiled paper then tucked inside her canvas backpack, intending to bring them back for her two younger siblings at home.

Her action seemed discreet but could not escape the eyes of the teachers in charge of supervising the meal. She and a few other friends were called to the principal’s office, forced to finish the food portions they had saved.

Nell panicked: "I am already very full, please let me bring them back for my younger siblings. My younger siblings have never even eaten meat buns before."

The female principal frowned, looking around once: "Are you kids also feeling full?"

The kids nodded vigorously. However, the rumbling sounds of their stomachs betrayed them. The boys in the group hurriedly covered their stomachs, their faces turning bright red.

The female principal sighed, saying: "These food portions are all calculated according to the energy you need to absorb every day based on your age. You are at a growing age, how can just half a bun and a cup of milk be enough. Now finish your food portions, otherwise all of you will be suspended."

She threatened strictly, then her expression softened again: "How about this. Every week the school will organize a learning capacity assessment once, whichever student achieves a result in the top ten will be rewarded with food to bring back. Can you do it?"

The children in here were exactly ten kids, the principal offering this reward level was also wanting to encourage the kids. Hearing her say that, the children’s eyes immediately lit up, nodding vigorously.

That afternoon, with the news about the weekly capacity assessment test and the top ten reward, the student crowd immediately entered a state of studying like crazy. Kaelen heard this and only smiled without making any comments. Steven wondered:

"Father, then how is this different from getting paid to go to school?"

Ivy immediately said: "It is different Brother Steven. One is just needing to take attendance to get paid, while the other is needing to make an effort to get paid. The first one will gradually become obsolete, while the second one will be an endless battle. Moreover, they will quickly receive the sweet fruits of their efforts, gradually they will no longer make an effort just for the reward."

Steven let out an "oh" of astonishment, while Kaelen nodded praising Ivy: "You have also made progress."

Ivy shyly rubbed her nape: "It is thanks to Father teaching me well."

The reform process of Lyra city gradually got on track. From the initial wariness and distance, humans and non-humans gradually accepted each other’s existence. However, this matter touched the interests of very many people, for example, the noble and merchant groups in Lyra city and neighboring cities; for example, the Church; for example, people like Nell’s father.

After a month of continuously ranking thirteenth and eleventh, at the beginning of this month Nell achieved an extremely powerful breakthrough in her studies. Her learning capacity assessment ranking had risen to the top eight, and she was honored to receive a reward including three wood pulp paper notebooks, a fountain pen, and three large meat buns.

Nell was extremely joyful, carrying the reward back home with footsteps as light as flying.

Reaching the head of the alley, she saw a carriage parked in front of her house’s door.

The carriage was not much different from a cargo carriage, but the carriage box was sealed tight, the back door had iron latches and a lock, the kind of carriage that every poor child in Lyra knew what it was used to transport.

Nell stopped dead in the middle of the alley, her two hands still tightly hugging the notebooks and the bun package.

In the yard, her father was standing talking with three strangers, a fat old man wearing a green velvet cloak and two tall guys wearing swords standing blocking the two sides, while the fat old man’s hand was holding a small cloth bag, the kind of bag that clinked whenever shaken. At the kitchen steps, her mother was kneeling on the ground hugging her father’s leg, pulling while saying something, yet every time she spoke two sentences she was shoved away.

Nell’s father looked up, seeing the girl. He then said nothing, only jerking his chin towards her once.

The two sword-wearing guys turned around, stepping towards Nell. The girl immediately ran away.

But how could a normal child like her run as fast as mercenaries. She had only run a short distance when she was grabbed by the collar and yanked backward, the notebooks scattering all over the ground, the bun package bursting open, the three buns rolling twice before stopping in the drainage ditch. The girl struggled, biting the guy’s hand once, getting slapped by him seeing stars, then being lifted up exactly like people lifting a chicken.

"Father!" She screamed, struggling: "Father I went to school already! People said once I went to school no one is allowed to sell me anymore, they read it at the head of our alley three times Father..."

"One month." Her father snarled, yet not daring to look at her: "They protected you for exactly one month. Today is the thirty-first day, I counted every single day, did you think I am very stupid?"

Nell shook her head vehemently, constantly saying "that is not true". During this month she had recognized very many letters, although unable to read the entire law code, hearing the teachers speak every day, she had memorized this entire law code long ago.

"That paper pasted on the lamppost, I have eyes to see." Nell’s father’s voice at this moment was both hostile and seemingly reassuring himself: "People wrote a long line, yet when the literate neighbor old man read it out loud there was the phrase "thirty days" clearly in it. Thirty days is thirty days, once the deadline expires you are my child again."

Her mother at the steps suddenly shrieked, trying to crawl forward:

"Sir I beg you, that thirty days does not mean that! I asked the teacher already, she said thirty days is the deadline for our family to come receive flour, not the deadline protecting the child..."

"Shut up!" He spun around: "Who did you ask? You asked that Elf teacher? What kind of species is she that you believe her words more than your husband’s words?"

"But you do not know how to read, you only eavesdropped exactly one sentence..."

He kicked her stomach forcefully once making her roll tumbling to the wall corner, hugging her stomach cowering at the foot of the wall. Her stomach hurt so much she could only lie groaning, cold sweat pouring out in waves.

The fat old man standing beside smacked his lips once, acting as if he had just witnessed a troublesome matter rather than a terrible matter, then he inverted the cloth bag, pouring a handful of silver coins onto his greasy hand, clicking them while counting:

"Brother calm down, what do women know. Here, twenty-five coins all-inclusive, I pay cash on the spot, not missing a single coin."

"Are you sure the deadline has expired?" Nell’s father asked, his voice still a bit trembling.

"Brother rest assured." The fat old man chuckled: "I have traded in the East street for twenty-two years, what law in this city am I not familiar with? Moreover let me tell you, that bunch out there occupying people’s house then writing laws for themselves, how many days can that kind of law be valid. The branches of the Church of Light have sent news everywhere already, the General Headquarters is also preparing to dispatch people down. Hmph, at that time that useless City Lord along with that brat impersonating the Holy Son at the City Hall will be hanged, at that time even if you want to sell your child there will be no one buying at such a high price like this anymore."

Hearing that, Nell’s father’s face relaxed, holding out his hand to receive the money.

While pouring silver into his palm, the fat old man darted his eyes looking at the girl being dangled in mid-air, then clicked his tongue:

"By the way this girl looks quite bright, even knows how to read huh? Knowing how to read is even better. Oh speaking of which let me say this, my house is still short of people, you still have two more kids right?"

Nell’s father was startled: "Oh those twins? They are only over one year old, buying them they also cannot do any work?"

The fat old man chuckled: "Who said they cannot do anything? Let me tell you, recently people started buying young children as adopted children. Boys get ten silver coins, while girls get five coins. Your two kids are girls, also getting ten silver coins."

The fat old man’s eyes darted continuously, rubbing his index finger against his thumb, enticing Nell’s father: "Raising girls is only a waste of rice, might as well just sell them. You and your wife can just give birth to another one. If your old wife cannot give birth to a son, you have the money there, just dump that old woman to marry a beautiful young wife. Wouldn’t that be better?"

Nell’s father’s eyes wavered slightly. After thinking for a while, he immediately ran inside the house dragging the twin girls cowering in the cabinet corner outside:

"Here, take these two burdens away too!"

The fat old man smiled grinningly, waving his hand for a mercenary to step forward to receive the two babies. At this moment, a gloomy voice rang out:

"What are you doing here?"

That voice rang out from the head of the alley, filled with majesty making those laughing falsely in the yard instantly stiffen their bodies.

Standing at the head of the alley were four people wearing ash-gray wool coats, on the coat chest wearing a six-petaled flower-shaped jade badge, three people holding iron batons and one person holding a ledger. The one who just spoke stood in the middle, having an average stature, snow-white hair tied neatly behind the nape, and looking closely there was a long wolf tail swishing behind his back.

The Department of Public Security’s people.

The fat old man rolled his eyes once, quickly pulling his hand back tucking the silver bag back inside his chest, laughing falsely:

"Oh, officers. There is no matter here, this family and my family are acquaintances, I just came over to visit."

"Coming over to visit yet bringing a sealed carriage with iron latches?" The Wolf clan person asked: "And these two gentlemen are helping him hold the child for him, I presume?"

"The girl was naughty and ran away so my people just helped hold her. You know children."

"If you are just helping hold her, then let her go."

The fat old man hesitated, then flicked his hand signaling. That guy put Nell down, the girl immediately dashed towards the four gray-coated people, hiding behind their backs, her whole body trembling violently.

The person holding the ledger stepped forward, opening the ledger, tracing his finger down:

"Nell, thirteen years old, registered in the Lyra public school ledger on the second of September, serial number eight hundred ninety-one, with the Department of Labor’s seal." He looked up at the father: "According to the Lyra Constitution, a child whose name is registered in the public school ledger lies under the protection of the Department of Public Security. No one is allowed to sell it, use it to pay debts, or make it a maid, under any title."

He glanced again at the two girls being clamped under a mercenary’s armpits. The two kids cried fiercely, their arms and legs thrashing continuously. Their mother was enduring the pain crawling closer to the person holding her children. The Public Security staff’s expression darkened:

"Are you also just helping hold these two children? Let them go too."

The fat old man’s face was extremely unsightly. The mercenary glanced at his master, seeing the fat old man nod only then did he let go of his hand. The mercenary had a tall and large stature, he just stood up straight then let go of his hand, the two babies fell with a thud onto the ground screaming crying.

The unfortunate mother crawled over hugging the two children tightly, collapsing covering both of them with her skinny back, while Nell also dashed out from behind the four gray-coated people, dropping to her knees hugging her mother and siblings.

The person holding the ledger wrote a few lines, then looked up at the father:

"We received a report that a human trafficking transaction is taking place here." He turned again to the fat old man: "According to the Lyra Constitution, trading intelligent living beings is prohibited, regardless of age, regardless of title. The seller is arrested, the buyer is also arrested."

"The deadline has expired!" Nell’s father screamed, pointing towards the lamppost at the head of the alley: "Thirty days! On the paper you wrote thirty days, today is the thirty-first day already!"

The person holding the ledger froze for a beat. Then he sighed, flipping the ledger over, holding out a page with a copy of the notice pasted on it for him to see.

"Read this sentence for me."

"...I do not know how to read."

"Then listen to me read." He placed his finger on the text line: "[Within thirty days from registering, the family comes to the Department of Labor to receive the first month’s subsidy, if overdue then receive it in the next term.] The thirty days here is the deadline to receive flour, Sir. As for the protection, there is no deadline, it lasts until the day your child turns fifteen years old."

He stood frozen, his mouth gaping.

"And let me make this clear to you." The person holding the ledger closed the ledger: "Your family has never come to receive the subsidy even once. Ten pounds of flour, one pound of salt, five yards of fabric, have been lying intact in the warehouse waiting for you for a month. As for the twins they are not old enough to go to school yet, but any family having children under three years old receives an additional two pounds of sugar and essential supplies every month, that is also lying in the warehouse."

"Every week the Department of Public Security’s people will go along the alleys to read the law clause once and remind people who have not come to receive the subsidy to bring their papers to receive it. Did you not hear clearly, Sir?"

In the middle of the yard, Sister Merrin who was hugging her three children, hearing that burst into tears. Nell’s father’s face turned blue then white. He heard clearly alright, but what were a few bags of flour and a few pounds of sugar compared to twenty-five silver coins. He chose to ignore it.

His gaze looked towards the fat old man, his expression contorted: "You told me the law clause’s deadline expired!"

The fat old man at this moment had backed away half a step, his hand still tightly holding the silver bag in his chest, and on his face the chuckling smile from earlier was still intact, except now it was stiff as if someone had pasted it on there.

"When did I ever say that. You heard wrong, brother."

"Wrong your mother. You clearly know how to read, also understand the law, yet you still enticed me to sell my child!"

"Hey now, did I put a knife to your neck forcing you to sell your child!" The fat old man glared: "If you had no intention of selling, could I have forced them away? The twenty-five silver coins are still in your pocket!"

These two scumbags started blaming each other. The Department of Public Security’s people had lost all patience.

"Based on the Constitution, anyone participating in human trafficking activities must bear the same crime." The Beastman staff stepped forward one step, and at this moment his voice had completely changed:

"My name is Cadfael, Captain of Squad Seven of the Lyra City Department of Public Security. I invite both of you to come with me to the Department for a trip!"