Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Slaves
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Upon arriving at the carriage,
people swarmed around.
"Heir, are you alright?"
"Did that Callas Viscount try to pull anything?"
I told them I was fine.
I also shared the news that we'd been exempted from tolls just for this trading trip.
"Really!?"
"How could that be... The person you met was really the Callas Viscount?"
No one could quite believe it.
"Enough of that, everyone. Let's get moving."
We headed for the nearest major city.
Once we arrived in the city, we sold off the monster byproducts.
As products from Monster Island, they sold out in an instant despite the high prices.
"We made more money than planned."
To be precise, we'd saved the 30% we'd have had to pay in tolls.
I grabbed the money pouch and went to find a slave trading company.
Justice Merchant Group.
A company raking in huge profits from the slave trade.
Word was they held the largest stock of slaves in the area.
As I entered the company building,
I was greeted by an opulent interior.
And a merchant who bowed in perfect noble etiquette.
"Welcome. Thank you for visiting the Justice Merchant Group."
It wasn't just the hallways that were lavish.
The guest reception room was decorated to rival any noble mansion.
"Are you looking for something in particular?"
"100 households with farming experience."
"By 'households,' do you mean purchasing in family units?"
"That's right."
The merchant rose from his seat.
He placed one hand in front of his navel and extended the other to point the way forward.
"This way, please."
We walked down the ornate hallway
and arrived at a door at the end.
What stood out was that it wasn't made of wood, but iron.
It clashed with the atmosphere here.
The moment the guards opened the iron door,
a musty smell assaulted my nose, utterly unlike the hallway.
Just one door away, and it was like stepping into a completely different world.
A vast space was lined densely with iron cages.
Cages holding people.
"Slaves come in two main types. War slaves and debt slaves. Family units are generally debt slaves."
The merchant guided me along, explaining the basics.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud...
Where the merchant's footsteps halted,
adults and children were crammed together in the cages around us.
"Would you like to inspect the merchandise yourself? Ah, if there's anything unnecessary, you can exclude it. Family unit purchases aren't mandatory."
I examined the people in the cages.
Buying slaves felt awkward in itself,
but I couldn't take anyone who was sick.
Then,
Clang. Clang.
The merchant tapped a few cages with his stick.
"These have no farming experience. I'd recommend excluding them."
"No farming experience? So they've worked other trades?"
"Curious? Shall I explain?"
"No need. I'm good."
I selected healthy slaves.
A total of 100 households—over 400 people in all.
"Taking them today? If so, I'll transfer the Slave Seals right away."
Slave Seal.
A magical brand ensuring slaves could never escape their status.
It couldn't be removed by the slave themselves until the master released it.
"Before that, can you remove Slave Seals too?"
"...If you're asking whether it's possible, yes, it is."
"Then remove the seals from the children. Transfer the adults' to me."
The merchant's smiling face stiffened for the first time.
"Understood. This way—"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"My daughter too! Please remove my daughter's Slave Seal!"
A male slave pounded on his cage bars and shouted.
"No need to listen to the merchandise. This way—"
"I'll serve you loyally until my dying breath. I'll devote every ounce of my ability to you! Please, just save my daughter!!"
His desperate voice halted my steps.
"Who is that one?"
"He doesn't meet your criteria, sir. No farming experience, and he can read and write, so he's expensive."
"He can read and write?"
Literacy rates here were low.
Most commoners couldn't read or write.
That piqued my interest even more.
"He was once the head of a mid-sized merchant group. But..."
Seeing my interest, the merchant explained in detail.
The fallen merchant had been born the son of a low-rank knight.
He'd trained from childhood but lacked talent in swordsmanship.
Then he discovered his talent as a merchant and grew it into a mid-sized company.
"The company kept expanding until it clashed with a major merchant group. The result is what you see."
Not from a merchant family, he'd built the company from nothing as a knight's son.
His abilities weren't bad at all.
"How much?"
"More expensive than a standard family."
The merchant spread his fingers wide.
It was ten times the price of a five-person family.
Meaning those two were worth fifty ordinary people.
"That's steep."
"Exclude the girl, and the price drops considerably."
I could guess the reason without asking.
The child was strikingly beautiful.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"No! Please remove my child's Slave Seal. I'll be worth 100—no, 1,000 people!!"
The price was too high.
Of course, I had the money to buy them.
The problem was that it was meant for livestock...
If I couldn't buy livestock this time, it'd be half a year before I could again.
Not until the wheat harvest brought in the funds.
'But if I miss this chance, I won't get a merchant like him either.'
The price was high, but I was drawn to the life experience he'd accumulated.
The experience of building a mid-sized merchant group from scratch.
'Livestock I can buy later, but talent like this... not just anytime.'
"I'll buy."
"Both of them?"
"Yes, both."
The merchant's eyes curved into crescents.
"A wise choice. A literate slave's value depends on how you use him. And that girl..."
"Enough. Remove the girl's Slave Seal and transfer the man's to me."
As everything wrapped up,
the girl behind the father stepped forward.
"P-Please... save my mother."
"Saraya!"
The man tried to stop his daughter.
But the girl clung desperately to the cage bars.
"Where's the mother?"
"She was sold just before you arrived, sir."
This would cost extra.
But it was also an opportunity.
Unlike farm slaves, merchant slaves traveled far and wide.
Making them hard to monitor.
'The more family, the easier to control.'
But how to find her?
Would the merchant hand over customer info?
Unlikely. And this was a slave company, after all.
Hunt her down myself?
Time was limited.
I couldn't delay the schedule for one woman.
Then... what?
"The answer... was right in front of me."
"Pardon?"
"I'll pay three times what you got for selling the woman. Can you buy her back?"
The merchant's eyes darted between the gold pouch and my face.
"Whatever profit you make on the cheap buy is yours. But bring her by tonight. Can you do it?"
Unlike my expectations, the merchant didn't answer immediately.
He clearly wanted something more.
"If you bring her before the Slave Seal transfers finish, I won't buy my next slaves here."
The merchant placed one hand at his navel and spread the other behind him.
Then he bowed deeply.
"I will deliver her without fail, sir."
The merchant kept his word.
He brought the woman before the Slave Seal transfers were even done.
The slave, his daughter, and the returned wife embraced and wept.
A heartwarming scene.
But... I was worried too.
'I've spent it all now. Won't be able to buy many livestock.'
Back at the inn,
I sat at the desk, deep in thought.
Buying the merchant slave had changed my plans.
'A big loss. All I can do is hope he performs.'
Knock. Knock.
"Come in."
The door opened, and the merchant slave bowed in greeting.
"Master, thank you for today."
"Skip the thanks. Just do what you said. Be worth those 100 people."
The merchant slave didn't leave, keeping his waist bent.
"Something to say?"
"I heard you planned to buy livestock with the money from our purchase."
Was it because he was a merchant?
He'd already grasped the situation.
"So?"
"And that you've been exempted from Callas Viscounty tolls for this trip?"
He'd figured that out too?
His observational skills weren't bad.
"Yes. What of it?"
"I have a way for you to buy a lot of livestock."
"No money left. Won't have any until the wheat harvest."
The merchant raised his head.
"That's true. You have no money, Master."
It was the truth, but... did he have to phrase it like that?
The merchant continued without waiting for a reply.
"But you do have credit."
"Credit?"
"Yes. Give me a chance, and I'll borrow money using your credit. Then with that money..."
His proposal was this.
Shrewd economists already knew my name.
Especially in the northern coastal regions near Monster Island.
Borrow money using my credit,
buy grain here.
Use that grain to buy monster byproducts on Monster Island.
Return to the continent, cash in the byproducts to repay the debt, and buy livestock with the profit.
"You have one toll exemption opportunity. Use it right, and you can make plenty."
"So someone will lend me money?"
"Of course. Trust me."
The next day,
I visited the Justice Merchant Group with the merchant slave.
The very same Justice Merchant Group where I'd bought the slaves yesterday.