Dungeon of Niflheim

112 Chapter 112: Getting around the law

The first thing Luna saw when she exited was her father and Frost with well-defined frowns plastered on their foreheads as well as each of them having clenched fists and jaws.

‘Eh what happened?’ The two looked deep in thought and unable to come up with an answer.

‘Is there something I’m missing?’ Luna subconsciously grabbed the girl and boy’s hands tighter as she became nervous. Frost and her father left the room before they began talking which usually meant that it wasn’t anything good and they wished to protect her and the kids from overhearing.

Ryuu noticed his daughter come out from the corner of his eye and as quick as humanly possible removed his frown and started smiling but Luna had already seen his pained expression and didn’t which to be kept in the dark.

“Don’t sugar coat it dad, give it to me straight.” She had a serious expression as she looked at her father, not giving him any wiggle room.

“Haaaaaa” Ryuu sighed deeply.

‘She’s growing up so fast.’ Shaking his head, he decided to honour his daughter’s wishes. He looked at the two phoenix kin children with pity but was helpless.

“There’s a problem, one in which I don’t know how to fix.”

“Is it about the children?” The young boy and girl looked up a Ryuu with sadness before finally becoming numb, similar to when Frost first came upon them, ready for death.

.....

Ryuu witnessed this rapid change and his heart bled, no child should wish for death no matter the reason. He moved to punch something but lost all strength before his fist met the wall, there was no point.

“Haaaaaa” he sighed once again.

“We can’t take them the law prevents it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me!” Luna roared in anger.

“Law, since when has that been able to stop you, Leo’s the future lord of the territory, the law can be changed!” She was fuming, her hand’s clenched tightly causing a small amount of pain to the young children by her side.

“It’s not that simple Luna, it’s a law that even the royal family can’t and won’t disobey.” He struggled to look his daughter in the eyes as he spoke. He wouldn’t say any more about the subject especially not here in front of the concerned party. They’d already suffered enough.

“Y...y..oo....” Luna was tongue tied, she tried to retort while filled with fury but couldn’t, she knew her father and his expression told her everything she needed to know, he truly was powerless to lend his aid.

Tears started to pool at the side of her eyes. She turned around and wrapped the two young phoenix kin in a big hug, she refused. They were so young and helpless how could she not help these cute little kids, damn the law. However even though she thought that she too was powerless, a law that even the royal family was subject too was not one she could cross. The least she could do was make these two children feel a modicum of love.

Ryuu sighed once again before moving in close to his daughter and the young phoenix kin. He wrapped his arms around all three hugging them, this was all he could really do.

Frost however was gnashing his teeth, he refused to accept this result.

‘Like fuck I’ll let this happen. Law, the fucking law why should I give a rat’s ass about the law of some empire I’m a god damn dungeon core!’ Frost internally roared but even so he was just one man and one of meagre strength, he couldn’t fight against an entire empire at least not yet.

‘....Wait a minute maybe I can.’ He had a lightbulb moment, his strength in comparison to the Northrend empire was pitiful at best even with Maya by his side they had massive armies. But as Ryuu said this situation couldn’t be seen as black and white.

‘If the law is the problem, then I need to use the law to deal with it ahahahah.’ Frost laughed loudly as he came up with an answer. He still needed to have a relationship with the Northrend empire and Furano in particular and couldn’t afford to be labelled as some super criminal sentenced for execution.

His laugh disturbed the hugging group of four, stopping Luna’s tears. She turned around to see Frost laughing with a gleeful expression and triumph in his eyes.

“Frost-senpai?” She was confused but somehow here heart filled with joy.

Ryuu faced the young man with intrigue, his expression didn’t suit the situation unless.

“Have you worked something out?” He questioned with restraint. He’d be over the moon if it truly was a way out but given his knowledge, he wasn’t confident.

“Hahaha I sure have.” Frost maintained his gleeful expression as he looked at the two young phoenix kin. He nodded in their direction bringing a modicum of life back into their eyes.

“You’re not planning on breaking the law and hiding away, are you?” Ryuu questioned, this was of course a method but not one that would succeed, Ryuu himself would be duty bound to strike Frost down here and now regardless of his backing.

“Now why would that break the law?” Frost smirked with a knowing smile, Ryuu wasn’t far off but he wouldn’t be a criminal.

“Eh?”

‘Did this kid actually listen to me when I was talking.’ He was about to educate Frost when Luna interrupted.

“Ah! Frost-senpai isn’t a citizen of the empire there for he’s not bound by our laws.” Luna spoke with enthusiasm while a smile grow on her face.

Ryuu however was not pleased, not in the slightest.

“It doesn’t really work like that.” He admonished his daughter and moved to correct their thinking but was once again interrupted.

“It should be a grey area, no?” Frost was still smirking. Of course, he knew what Ryuu was getting at, even though he wasn’t a citizen he was still bound by some laws regardless of his species or origin. If he broke one of these laws such as smuggling, murder, stealing etc... the police force would act to imprison or execute him regardless but owning a permanent slave shouldn’t be so specific given that different countries will have different views on the subject. Frost was banking on the grey area of the law to combat the grey area surrounding the slave tattoo and the two phoenix kin.

All he needed was ambiguity and he couldn’t technically be declared as breaking the law. This way he’d be able to maintain his friendly relationship with Furano, continue as an adventurer and even travel within the empire without impunity. It was a long shot but should work out, logically speaking.

“That’s....” Ryuu initially wanted to shoot down Frost’s argument but was left stumped.

“Fighting unclear laws with unclear laws, it won’t be pretty, but it may work. The precedent in regards to circumstances involving Northrend citizens would also be avoided meaning that technically the royal family shouldn’t have any reason to not allow it hahaha you might have just come up with a solution young Frost hahahah.” Ryuu became more and more spirited as he spoke, Frost’s idea and reasoning became more and more sound as he thought about it.

‘Frost could be seen somewhat like a foreign envoy from a neighbouring country thus bypassing a lot of our laws hahaha it’s genius....’

“One issue however would be that you can’t become a citizen of Northrend ever.” This was the only problem and in Ryuu’s eyes quite a big one. It’d be great if they could rope in someone of Frost’s potential as a citizen of Furano and thus the Northrend empire.

“Can I still be a registered adventurer and travel throughout the empire?” Frost didn’t really care about citizenship; he was a dungeon core and half of his body was anchored in the Glacial mountains anyway.

“Yes, but you won’t be able to become a noble or own any permanent residence, you’d also need to pay tolls when crossing states/territories.” This would be an immediate no for some adventures since their aim was to become high level and be granted noble status. Whether or not Frost would still be able to achieve B-rank or higher was a question for another time.

“If that’s all I see no problem, my home is in the Glacial mountains, and I see no need to change that.” Not that I could anyway.

“Perfect, then I suggest we begin ASAP; I’ll report the situation to the royal family after the deed is finalised making it even more difficult for them the rescind the status.” Ryuu smiled evilly as he imagined the contorted face of the workers in the department of law oh it’d be beautiful.

Frost smiled before moving close to the two young kids, kneeling down to bring his face to their level. This would mean nothing if they didn’t agree in the end after all, he wouldn’t force them into serving him, they’d had enough of their choices being made for them.

“What do you two think, would you like to live? You’d still be slaves, but I won’t restrict your movement or free will, you will however need to obey me and remain by my side for the rest of you lives or until I find a way to undo that tattoo of yours. The choice is yours.” Frost spoke calmly and clearly before waiting in silence for their answer, if they still wished to die, refusing to be subservient once again, he’d grant their wish and give them a swift death.

But if they did accept his offer, he would look after them and to the best of his ability grant them a happy life, albeit not the regular type given his origins as a dungeon core. Particularly they’d be forbidden to reveal his secrets but other than that it should be much better than their current life and much better than the one that they were gradually heading towards.

The two young kids looked at Frost and felt his sincerity before looking at one another, their eyes quickly filled with determination and hope. They turned around to stare back at Frost and nodded with conviction. They trusted the man before them, if he was willing to offer them life, they’d take it. Although they prepared themselves for death and on some level wished for it, that was only due to their present... well past circumstances. If they could live and live even somewhat decently, they’d take it.

Frost smiled and nodded back. He ruffled their hair before standing back up and facing Ryuu.

“What do we need to do?” The quicker they acted the more of their souls would be spared.

“First, we need to contact a slave merchant and not just anyone, one that is highly skilled and willing....luckily I know of the perfect person.” Ryuu smiled as the image of a man quickly came to the forefront of his mind.

“Their master was most likely set to Adam, so they’ll start to suffer from the withdrawal symptoms within the next 24 hours or so unless we assign a new master. All his previous commands however will still be in effect regardless of his death that’s probably why they can’t speak. Kudos for the young girl however in finding a loophole, grunting, and moaning don’t count as speech allowing you to discover them before anything bad happened.” He ruffled the young girls hair with praise.

If Frost hadn’t heard the young girls moans, they could have remained undiscovered for days or even weeks. Even Frost with his adept senses only found something out of place after hearing sounds. Ryuu went in the other direction and most likely wouldn’t have checked this side given his trust in Frost’s capabilities.

The girl blushed slightly in embarrassment but puffed up her chest with pride at the same time, her actions had saved her and her brother.

“First things first we need to get out of here, I’ve already given a quick once over the area and found no dangerous traps or magic seals other than this one so it should be safe to let less skilled workers sort through the many, many items stored here.” Ryuu’s eyes filled with envy as he witnessed the plethora of expensive items that Adam had stored away down here.

“They wouldn’t notice if a few went missing though.” Frost smirked as he looked over Luna, a few areas around her clothes were padded, clearly hiding some skill books and or magic devices. But he wasn’t one to talk he pilfered a few gems and jewellery himself.

“Cough cough of course not these can be considered spoils of war.” Ryuu coughed awkwardly while not looking in Frost’s direction, Luna did much the same, but she whistled trying to appear though very badly as though she was innocent.

“Haaaaa” Frost sighed, his findings were obviously not a lucrative as these two, but they probably didn’t even scratch the surface.

‘Well at least I’ve gained a couple of future power houses.’ Frost smiled as he looked over ‘his’ reward.