Lord of Glory

CW: Human Trafficking

Paladin’s face might be expressionless, but deep down, he was trash talking this bastard slave trader.
What an outrageously high starting price! Generally, an adult male could be sold for one to two gold coins.
It was already the maximum price.
Three gold coins? That was the price of a female.
This slave trader was obviously swindling Paladin because he was a priest!

Still, Paladin couldn’t bargain since he was openly wearing the mask of justice.
Once he started bargaining, he’d give off the feeling of a mercenary.
So, absolutely no bargaining.
From the five young men’s expectant eyes, they only saw Paladin nod before taking out fifteen gold coins from his pocket and handing them to the ecstatic slave trader.

“Let them go,” Paladin said.

“Good, good.
You are the customer, so you have the final say.”

The slave trader couldn't stop talking, he was too happy.
He then asked the thugs next to him to open the iron cage.
Paladin immediately squatted down, untied his shawl, and draped it over the naked man.
With a kind expression, he said, “Come, come with me.
Let’s get out of this filthy place.”

“Well… Brothers, we can go home now!” The young man that was near the door of the cage held Paladin's palm.
Hot tears streamed down his face while he walked out of the cage together with his four other excited companions.
All of them were looking at Paladin with eyes full of gratitude.

Right now, Paladin had obviously noticed many nobles snickering and exchanging glances with each other.
Perhaps, it was because they thought Paladin was a fool.
With a pious expression, Paladin then asked the man who was supposedly the leader of these young men.

“Do you know why I saved you and not the others?”

“Huh?”

The five young men looked at Paladin, who gazed back at them.
There was nothing but bewilderment and confusion in their eyes.
Paladin smiled as he picked up a handkerchief and helped one of them in wiping away the blood on his scarred chest.
With a solemn face, he said, “It’s because you have hope in your eyes, while they don't.
So, it is worth it to save you.”

The snickering nobles fell silent at once.
Paladin's words not only explained his reason for saving them, but also stated that the other slaves had lost the will to live.
What was more, he also reproached these nobles implicitly, ‘You are gorgeously dressed, but you refuse to do even the smallest things to help.
What makes you different from the slaves whose hearts have already died?' Filled with hatred, the majority of the nobles secretly gnashed their teeth.
Meanwhile a small minority of nobles lowered their heads, bearing the condemnation of their conscience.

However, something outside the scope of Paladin's prediction happened.
He was just about to play his part by calling for a carriage to drive him back to his church in Nurba when an inhuman howl suddenly came from an iron cage behind him.

“Ho Ho Ho!”

Paladin vigilantly turned around at once.
A man three heads taller than Paladin was tied inside an iron cage.
The big man's arms were as thick as Paladin’s waist.
He was wearing an iron muzzle.
His hands were firmly tied with iron chains.
The man’s red eyes were looking at Paladin, wishing to eat him in one bite.
Right this moment, the slave trader immediately yelled with a displeased face, “Too bad, the beast woke up.
We can't do business today!”

“Beast?” Paladin frowned as he observed the big man.
He was astounded to discover that this enormous man not only had lush body hair, but also vertical pupils like a beast.
There were sharp and thick hooked claws on the fingers of both his hands.
From the gaps of the muzzle, neat and sharp teeth could be vaguely seen.
The slave trader ignored the snickers of his peers.
He frowned and scolded one of the thugs.

“What's the deal with this?! I gave him ten servings of sleeping pills, why did he wake up so quickly?!”

“Boss, I do not know either.”

Paladin, who was proficient in alchemy, was very surprised that his pupils constricted.
Ten servings of sleeping pills? If he was an ordinary person, he’d die! But from the tone of the slave trader, it could be concluded that he ate that and was beaten every day! What kind of monster was this giant man?!

“What's the matter with this man? Judging by his stature, he should be a barbarian from the north.” When he heard Paladin's question, the helpless slave trader immediately rubbed his hands and smiled.
“That's right, this thing is a barbarian from the north.
However, even his kind said that he was a monster.”

A middle-aged nobleman next to him immediately teased, “A barbarian among barbarians, hahaha.”

Paladin simply ignored these nobles' banter.
He stared at the monster with crazy eyes, and suddenly reached out his hand to touch it.

“Be careful!” The slaver was startled and hurriedly tried to stop him.
Paladin noticed the monster staring at his hand, looking hungry and thirsty.
He tried to come forward, the mouth inside the iron muzzle kept on moving up and down, attempting to eat Paladin’s hand.

The slave trader quickly yanked Paladin's hand back and nervously warned, “This monster eats everything, even people! Once, a mercenary reached inside the cage, and then he was bitten by this monster to pieces.
This monster even shattered the iron muzzle, bit through the flesh on the mercenary’s arm, and tore off his entire palm!”

Paladin started becoming more and more interested in this monster.
This monster seemed to have no reason.
He only had a beast's desire and survival instinct.
Paladin suddenly decided to buy the monster.

“Boss, how much does he cost?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

The slave trader was stunned, suspecting that his ears were damaged.
The surrounding nobles also looked at Paladin with great interest.

Who would’ve known that Paladin would say this with certainty next, “I want to buy it, how much do you want?”

“This….
Father ah, I’m really saying this for your own good.
This thing will only kill you!”

“How much?”

“Alas….
You are the one who did not listen to me, do not blame me if something happens.
If the priest really wants it, a gold coin will do.”

The slave trader's heart burst into happiness despite his helplessness.
Finally, he was able to sell this monster who did nothing but ate a lot! As for whether or not this priest would get eaten, that was no longer the slave trader’s responsibility.

Paladin took out a gold coin and handed it to the slave trader.
The five young men around him immediately asked in disbelief, “Venerable priest, why did you save him?”

“Because he is also desperate.”

Paladin felt like a philosopher at that moment.
He had said a whole lot of things that he himself did not care about.
The kicker was that these idiots really looked ashamed and nodded.
This almost made him burst out laughing on the spot.

The-mother-of-all-saints Paladin turned to face the monster that was eager to devour him in one bite.
Paladin's eyes narrowed.
He smiled and extended his hand again before saying, “Hello, my name is Paladin.”

The slave trader watched from the sidelines without saying anything.
The goods had already been sold, thus he was not liable for any accidents.
Plus, he vaguely anticipated this childish priest being bitten, which would be a hilarious scene.

However, the 300 light magic elements around Paladin became agitated and wanted to kill this monster just in case.
The monster who was longing for flesh and blood suddenly realized that the delicious meat in front of him had turned into an extremely terrifying and ferocious monster.
That terrifying and deadly aura compelled him to obey his instinct, the beastly instinct of the weak to obey the strong.
The man’s ferocious eyes became fearful.
He lowered his head timidly, his body trembling all over.
When he felt Paladin gently stroking his hair, he began whining for mercy.

“Oh my Enos! What is this situation?!”

The slave trader looked dumbfounded.
The surrounding nobles who knew that this monster was powerful were also dumbfounded.
The slave traders in the area were even petrified! They were witnessing something unbelievable.
A priest was literally touching this monster's hair! What was more, this monster, who used to be so ferocious, bowed his head very submissively!

Paladin smiled faintly and simply ignored the scene where everybody present froze.
In a very small voice, he squeezed a few words out of his lips.

“Good boy, good dog.”