Ate rode his Blaze Horse at a gallop across the sea, soon returning to Reef Island and finding Rob, the steward, busy handling affairs.
Rob froze for a moment when he heard what had happened.
Some time ago, because the island's population was rather small, Kroya had sent people to purchase slaves.
Baron Andy and another lord, the Blackrock Baron, had both been considered. Their territories were nearby, so there would be little risk of anything happening on the journey back.
But both had refused.
Population was extremely important to a lord.
After all, they hardly needed to care for their Farm Servants. The servants would survive as stubbornly as weeds, and could be put to use whenever needed.
They had refused back then, so why were they suddenly offering them now?
Rob thought for a moment, then looked up at the snow drifting down from the sky. He immediately understood.
"They want to dump this mess on us."
He chuckled despite himself. "If too many people die in weather like this, there's bound to be a plague once the snow melts."
He had been a lord himself, after all. Even if he had not immediately caught on, a little thought was enough to work out what was happening.
Honestly, this was quite a normal approach.
But for Kroya, it did not matter how many people came. Reef Island could support them-with the natural magic of those Children of Harvest, ripening crops was easy.
"I'll go take a look!"
He immediately chose to travel to Reef Island's dock through the Spatial Magic Array rather than ride Knight Ate's Blaze Horse.
His old bones could not withstand galloping across the sea on a Blaze Horse. That sort of thrill was far too thrilling for him.
Rob soon arrived at Reef