The Rescue
The scarred, bald subordinate in neat attire addressed Kawit with a respectful tone.
“Sir! Ah, no—my lord. The buyer has arrived.”
Though the man’s criminal background made the formal speech feel awkward, they had to overlook such things for now. Kawit’s attention, however, was fixed on the news of the buyer’s arrival.
“Where is he now?”
“He’s just passed through the main gate and is heading toward the city center. He’s riding a luxurious carriage, so he appears to be quite the big shot.”
“We’ll see about that once we meet. For now, escort him with the utmost courtesy to the VIP reception room.”
Kawit gave the order even though the man standing before him wasn’t the one doing the escorting. He then moved to the VIP room in the lord’s castle ahead of the buyer.
The castle wasn’t particularly large, but it had everything it needed—tasteful sculptures, impressive suits of armor, and dazzling chandeliers. All of it was unnecessary decoration, yet such flourishes elevated the lord’s prestige. With that thought in mind, Kawit tightened his silk tie.
“Shall I prepare some tea?” asked the female subordinate waiting in the VIP room.
“Yes. Make it the highest quality.”
Kawit believed such small details were key to selling merchandise at a premium price. It was all to avoid appearing like an easy mark to the buyer. The woman nodded in understanding and left to brew the tea.
After waiting a few minutes, there was a knock at the door, and the buyer entered.
The man truly deserved the title of great merchant. His clothes were impeccably neat, and his plump face spoke of a life of wealth and comfort. As soon as he stepped inside, he removed his hat and bowed at a precise forty-five-degree angle.
“Oh-ho, so you are the lord of Slan. I am Loren Kaimos, head of the Loren Trading Company.”
The Loren Trading Company was a massive merchant guild that traveled between the various territories of the Tempo Kingdom. With enough wealth to establish permanent shops, they instead chose to operate hundreds of carriages, moving between domains on a grand scale. That such a man had appeared before him left Kawit with no choice but to rise and greet him personally.
Even if he didn’t particularly crave warm hospitality, he needed to play along if he wanted even a single crumb to fall his way. Kawit offered a smiling, light introduction.
“I am Kawit, lord of Slan.”
Had the visitor been on the same level as those who had come before, Kawit wouldn’t have greeted him so warmly. But this man possessed more money and fame than anyone he had met thus far. In other words, he was the one most likely to purchase the goods at the highest price.
That was why Kawit remained standing until Loren took his seat, only then returning to his own chair.
“By the way, this is my first time visiting this domain, and it feels quite new,” Loren remarked.
He didn’t bother with excessive honorifics, already aware that he stood above his host. For someone of such immense wealth, excessive politeness held little value anyway. Kawit didn’t mind.
“It is still a time of confusion. The previous lord was taken away for corruption, and I have taken it upon myself to reorganize everything.”
“I see. Still, it looks much improved compared to before. The citizens’ faces appear bright.”
The reason their expressions were bright was simple. The former lord had sucked the lifeblood from the people to the extreme. His greed had made him Kawit’s target, but now that the tyrant was dead and things were being set right, what more needed to be said?
Thanks to that, the citizens had begun rebuilding their homes, resuming food production, raising livestock, and starting to farm again. All of it had been made possible by releasing the enormous sum of money stored in the lord’s castle. Taxes had also been drastically lowered.
The heaviest shackle on the citizens had been the tax rate—sixty percent of their monthly earnings. Who would bother working under such conditions? Now it had been reduced to five percent. The treasury would eventually run dry, but that was a problem for later. For now, public sentiment was what mattered most.
“They are simply enjoying what should be theirs by right. When I think of the suffering they endured until now…”
It was an act, but Kawit did hold similar thoughts to some degree. His true target wasn’t the citizens, but the entire kingdom. There was no need for innocent people to suffer.
Loren nodded at Kawit’s words. It seemed the first impression had been quite favorable.
At that moment, the female subordinate entered with a teapot and cups. A delicate wisp of steam rose from the spout, carrying an exquisite aroma.
“Mm, this is Gerisbi tea. The scent is sweet, the taste slightly tart, yet it finishes clean. I hear it’s also good for the throat,” Loren said, identifying the tea from its fragrance alone.
Kawit, who had no particular interest in tea, simply nodded.
“Slurp. I only drink it because it’s there, but you seem to be quite the tea connoisseur.”
“I am. Though I shouldn’t say this myself, some even joke that the reason certain lords travel between territories with trading companies instead of building shops is to collect rare teas from each region.”
“Hahaha, if that were truly the case, it would be rather amusing. I don’t share your passion for tea, but I do enjoy wine. Given the chance, I would collect wines from every land.”
This was Kawit’s genuine preference. He liked all kinds of alcohol, so wine wasn’t his only choice, but it was impossible to discuss fine liquors without mentioning it. Especially red wine—its deep, enchanting crimson often left him lost in romantic reverie. Paired with a good steak, red wine was nothing short of heavenly.
Having confessed his tastes through pleasant imagination, Kawit wore a happy smile.
“I would very much like to share a drink with you someday,” Loren said, expressing a desire to enjoy Kawit’s preference together. He was skilled at keeping the conversation flowing.
“Well then, since the tea has cooled a bit, may I see the merchandise?”
The true purpose hidden beneath the pleasantries had finally surfaced. He hadn’t come to build social connections, so there was no misunderstanding.
Kawit nodded and glanced at his subordinate. The man who had escorted Loren sensed the look and left to fetch the goods.
“You may look forward to it. Even I think they’re too good to sell.”
“With a recommendation like that, I can’t possibly lose focus now.”
After a few more exchanges, the subordinate returned, quietly leading the two bound figures into the VIP room.
The moment Loren saw the two women enter, his eyes sparkled with greater intensity. Watching his reaction, Kawit allowed the corner of his mouth to curl upward where it couldn’t be seen.
“These are truly top-quality goods. I’ve never seen slaves this beautiful before.”
Loren immediately stood and stroked Reina’s fair skin as she walked ahead.
“Ah, Lord Loren. Please, after the purchase.”
Realizing he had overstepped, Loren withdrew his hand and gave an embarrassed laugh.
“Hehe, they were simply too enchanting. I occasionally deal in slaves as well. If they weren’t up to standard, I planned to take them to Palaron, but these… I simply cannot let go.”
He operated his trading company while secretly transporting slaves to Palaron on the side. In fact, that business often proved far more profitable than selling general goods across territories.
“As I told you, even I find them a shame to sell.”
“But why, then?”
Loren raised an eyebrow, clearly curious.
“Operating this city requires a great deal of money.”
Kawit was subtly hinting that the slaves’ value was higher than expected. People were always expensive to buy and sell, but given how premium these goods were, it made sense.
“I’ll offer a decent sum. How about twenty thousand gold for the pair?”
Loren opened with an astonishingly high price. Yet Kawit didn’t show any surprise. It was indeed shocking, but he barely held himself back. The lord’s castle currently held fifty thousand gold. It had once been close to sixty thousand, but much had been spent on reorganization.
Still, starting at twenty thousand gold was an extremely tempting offer. It implied there was room to go higher.
“Ahem. Given our circumstances, I must ask for fifteen thousand gold each.”
Kawit made a bold counteroffer. He didn’t expect it to be accepted outright, but he was testing the waters. Of course, he knew the man possessed far greater wealth. He simply wanted to discover the limit.
“Now, now—fifteen thousand gold per head could hire dozens of formal knights from Rainbell. Since I’ll have to sell them eventually when their usefulness wanes, I’ll go up to twenty-five thousand total. No more than that.”
As expected, the counter came swiftly. A merchant never made a losing deal. In Loren’s eyes, even with good negotiation, the absolute ceiling for the pair was twenty-three thousand. In the notoriously stingy Palaron slave markets, they might not even fetch that much. Logically, buying at twenty thousand to resell later would have been correct, but his desire to own them had overridden reason, forcing him to bid high.
“It seems I was too greedy. Very well. I am merely a lord, while you, Lord Loren, are a true merchant. You clearly understand these things better. This is why half-learned business ethics only lead to trouble. Please take them for twenty-five thousand gold.”
Kawit made sure not to offend Loren by implying he simply didn’t know better. He was laying groundwork for future encounters, uncertain how the man might remember him later.
“A wise decision. My company is waiting on that hill over there. The gold-laden carriages should arrive by afternoon. There will be about five of them given the amount, so be aware. You may send the girls then.”
Loren had his own ironclad trading rules. First, never hand over money personally. Second, the one paying must arrive first. Third, complete transactions on the same day whenever possible. These principles had guided his company for years. Any deal that broke them left him feeling uneasy the entire day. That was why he preferred to lead negotiations himself.
“Understood. We will do so.”
At Kawit’s reply, Loren praised the tea, lifted his cup once more, and left the VIP room. He didn’t forget to flash a delighted smile at the two bound “goods” who had remained silent throughout. The thought that they would soon be his must have filled him with excitement.
Seconds after Loren departed, Kawit turned to his subordinates with an irrepressible grin.
“The net I cast on a whim caught a golden nugget. Hey, you—whatever your noble title was.”
Kawit looked at Reina with a sinister smile.
“Do you still cling to that futile hope in your head?”
By now they should have broken, yet their expressions told him otherwise.
“It’s over for you two. Your noble family won’t be able to find you anymore, and that beastkin girl behind you will be of even less interest. And yet…”
Kawit rose from his seat and seized Reina’s golden hair.
“You still think life is worth living?”
Irritated that she refused to submit, he brought his red eyes close to hers in an attempt to intimidate her.
But—
“Ptoo!”
Reina spat directly into Kawit’s face.
“You son of a bitch!”
Thud!
He couldn’t ruin the face of merchandise sold at such a high price, so he struck her in the stomach instead. The force was so great that Reina clutched her bound arms to her belly and collapsed. She wasn’t coughing up blood, but she wheezed violently.
Natalie watched with worried eyes but remained still, heeding Reina’s earlier command not to act. If she bared her teeth in emotion, there was no telling what might happen to her. So Reina endured all the pain alone.
After absorbing every ounce of Kawit’s rage, they were once again thrown into the warehouse like before and left there until nightfall.
When evening came, just as promised, five or six carriages loaded with gold arrived at Kawit’s castle. Reina and Natalie, bound tightly, were loaded into one of the now-empty wagons.
“Farewell. Thanks for everything.”
It wasn’t genuine gratitude. It meant he had sold them well. Kawit saw them off with a broad, beaming smile. Anyone watching might have thought he was bidding goodbye to friends who had come for a housewarming.
Reina wanted desperately to spit at him again, but the distance was too great this time, and a gag had been forced into her mouth.
“Mmph!”
She could only growl in fury. But even that was pointless.
Was this truly the end?
That was all she could think. Her gaze kept drifting to Natalie, who sat quietly beside her, listening to her words. She felt unbearably sorry toward her.
If only they had stayed in Davens with Paul. If only she hadn’t gone to the royal castle out of worry for her father. If only she hadn’t gone alone.
She endlessly regretted her mistakes, replaying them in her mind.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
The horses moved, their hooves ringing out as the carriage began rolling again. The poorly maintained road made the wagon shake violently. Inside were only Reina and Natalie, their bodies completely bound. Escape was impossible.
Then—
Hiiiing!
The carriage suddenly lurched violently.
“Who goes there!”
Someone—perhaps the driver—shouted. The interior of the carriage was pitch black, so they could see nothing. They could only focus on the faint sounds coming from outside.
The area had grown noisy. The clanging of armor from the knights escorting the caravan mixed with the murmuring voices of people on the street.
“Reina! Natalie!”
A voice called their names. It rang clearly in their ears.
It was Paul’s voice.
Whoosh!
The curtain covering the cargo compartment was yanked open, revealing a welcome face.
“You’re safe. Thank goodness.”
Paul greeted them with an expression that looked close to tears. Reina and Natalie both had tears welling in their eyes as well.