“What?” The man exclaimed, clenching his fists tight, the rage filling him.
Chan stepped forward, ready to attack, but Ken placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You! You killed our Young Master? How dare you!”
“Your Young Master was in a sorry state due to a betrayal. I merely lent a hand in putting him out of his misery.”
“You!” He couldn’t do anything to this Young Master who had just said that he had killed Ken Leafblade, his cousin.
“In exchange for killing him, I swore a vow to your Young Master.”
“A vow?”
“I will help your family.”
“You! How can I trust you? You just told me that you killed my Young Master, and now you are saying that you were are here to help my family? Is this some kind of sick joke? Are you here to rub salt into our wounds?”
“If you saw your Young Master the way he was, you would have done the same! I killed him so that…” Ken looked to Chan and then the doorway. Emerald placed a hand on Ken’s shoulder, and nodded. “I did it so that your family could live.”
“What? Why would you want my family to live? What’s in it for you?”
“I made a vow to your Young Master when I killed him, that’s all you need to hear for now.”
"I can't trust that! You could be here to bring ruin to my family!"
"Oh? Are you strong enough to distrust me? If you can’t trust my words, then trust my actions. I have bought all the members of your family, even though they are in such a state!”
"If you truly wanted to help us, wouldn’t you have set them free?”
"Are you as foolish as your Young Master?” Ken asked, his voice dripping with hatred. Hatred for his past self. “If I set them all free, won't the other families be alarmed? You and I both know that they are keeping an eye on all the members, just in case they begin to rise up again and try to claim their place again. With most of your family working as slaves, they will leave you be.”
"You..." The man shook his fists, bowing his head. Ken was right, of course. Firstly, he had no strength to save his family members. He could only buy a couple every month, and it would have taken so many years to save his family, and then longer to deal with the debts which he took on.
"You will not have to worry about me,” Ken said. “I will help you get your revenge for your family.”
“I… I don’t trust you, but like you said, I am not strong enough to do anything myself. As long as you don’t hurt them, I will trust in your actions.”
“I won’t hurt them. I’ve already said that I will help, and my word means more than you can imagine.” Ken looked to Chan, who caught the look in his eyes.
It was a message not just for this man, but also for her. Chan bowed her head slightly, understanding the intentions behind his words.
“…” The man sighed. There was nothing he could do anyway, so he had to let this play out.
[If this Ken Leaf ends up doing something to my family, then I will have to do something to help, even if it costs me my life.]
He looked to Chan and then Emerald.
[Or I should wait to see what happens first. Perhaps with more information, I could make a deal with him.]
The Slave Merchant finally returned with the paperwork, which Ken handed to Yuri.
“Read these and see if they need to be changed,” Ken said. “Have you brought the requested slaves? I don’t have time to waste.”
“I have sent for them, Young Master! Please just wait a few moments, I am certain you won’t be disappointed with our selection.”
Ken was led to a courtyard where dealing with the Slave Merchant could be done without many people from the public watching.
There were almost fifty Martial Warrior slaves for sale, and about twenty Martial Experts. Ken wondered if he could buy any Martial Masters, but thought against it for now. There was no need to arouse any suspicions yet.
He was surprised to see a few familiar faces, but decided against revealing that he knew a few of the Martial Warriors. How they had appeared here, was beyond him, but seeing that they were here, it was his good fortune.
“I notice a few beast people around,” Ken said, looking at a number of the Martial Experts. Almost half were beast people, which made sense. Beast people were often stronger than their human counterparts, but there were far fewer of them. Humans outnumbered beast people by at least five to one, but beast people were generally stronger by a minor realm on average.
“Although the beast people are hated within this town, we do know that they are quite powerful. There are a few families which keep beast people around, some as guard slaves, and others as pleasure slaves.”
Ken nodded his head. Technically, Chan was both a guard and pleasure slave, but he didn’t want to say that out loud. She may have been a slave, but she was still his woman. She was more than a tool, even if he didn’t really say that.
“…”
[…]
Ken reminded himself to treat Chan better. He put away those thoughts for now, as he walked around the group of people. As he approached the Martial Experts, Chan froze in front of someone.
It was a wolf girl, tall and muscular, with scars all over her body. Chan turned to Ken, her eyes pleading. Ken blinked and looked at the other Martial Experts. Most of them were Low Martial Experts, just like the wolf girls, but there were a couple who were Middle and Higher.
“How much are these two?” Ken asked, motioning to the wolf girl and the tiger girl.
“200 gold each.”
[More than I expected.]
Ken nodded his head slowly, looking around towards the Martial Warriors. He would be able to barely afford what he wanted. He could use some pills to offset the price, since he still needed some liquid cash.
“Do you have any people with lesser cultivation than these? Martial Apprentices and those who have yet to begin?” Ken asked. “I will take a few of them as well.”
The Slave Merchant paid close attention to Ken, before finally nodding his head. He was hoping that Ken would still buy what he first asked for, but seeing that he had spent so much already, it didn’t really matter too much. “Would you like me to go get them now?”
“No, I’ll pick a few of these first. I’ll take the wolf girl and the tiger girl, and I’ll take the ten I point to as well.” Ken bought six Low Martial Warriors, and four Middle Martial Warriors. “What’s the total price?”
The Slave Merchant did some calculations in his head. “It’s 580 gold, but why don’t we call it 550?” The Slave Merchant smiled.
“550, and you throw in ten Martial Apprentices and ten with no cultivation.”
The Slave Merchant grinned wide. “It is a pleasure to do business with you.”
“I might come by and spend quite a bit more coin if you have anything interesting,” Ken said, smiling at the Slave Merchant, still wanting to force his sword through the man’s throat.
“We also deal with private requests, Young Master. Is there anything specific you have in mind?”
Ken shook is head. “I have nothing in mind for now, but if I do have anything in mind, I’ll swing by.” Ken placed down the gold coins. “Bring their contracts, I’ll have Administrator Yuri deal with it.”
“As you wish, Young Master.” The Slave Merchant bowed his head. “This one’s name is Ethel Lockhill.”
“Disciple Ken,” Ken replied back.
“A disciple?” The Slave Merchant smiled questioningly.
“This is my Master,” Ken said, motioning a hand to Emerald. “Alchemist Emerald.”
“A-an Alchemist?” The Slave Merchant’s smile quickly dropped. “I apologise for not recognising such magnificent ones! Please forgive this foolish one!” The Slave Merchant bowed deeply.
Ken smiled, enjoying the fact that the man was bowing.
“If I had known, I would have surely gifted more slaves.”
“Oh? More slaves?” Ken asked. “How many more slaves? We do need a few to assist us with a matter we have.”
“Why doesn’t this one gift another ten Low Martial Warriors?”
Ken raised his eyebrows. That was worth quite a bit of money to this man, though he had already spent so much here. “Since you’re offering.” Ken smiled. With that, he would have a small army of slaves which could easily earn them a chunk of change every single month.
However, it would also cost them quite a lot in order to manage. Right now, he had twenty four gold coins to his name, though he had plenty of pills and arrays to sell off.
Fifteen Low Martial Warriors, five Middle Martial Warriors, two Low Martial Experts. That wasn’t a bad haul for Ken, who finally had a small army at his disposal.
“What?” The man exclaimed, clenching his fists tight, the rage filling him.
Chan stepped forward, ready to attack, but Ken placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You! You killed our Young Master? How dare you!”
“Your Young Master was in a sorry state due to a betrayal. I merely lent a hand in putting him out of his misery.”
“You!” He couldn’t do anything to this Young Master who had just said that he had killed Ken Leafblade, his cousin.
“In exchange for killing him, I swore a vow to your Young Master.”
“A vow?”
“I will help your family.”
“You! How can I trust you? You just told me that you killed my Young Master, and now you are saying that you were are here to help my family? Is this some kind of sick joke? Are you here to rub salt into our wounds?”
“If you saw your Young Master the way he was, you would have done the same! I killed him so that…” Ken looked to Chan and then the doorway. Emerald placed a hand on Ken’s shoulder, and nodded. “I did it so that your family could live.”
“What? Why would you want my family to live? What’s in it for you?”
“I made a vow to your Young Master when I killed him, that’s all you need to hear for now.”
"I can't trust that! You could be here to bring ruin to my family!"
"Oh? Are you strong enough to distrust me? If you can’t trust my words, then trust my actions. I have bought all the members of your family, even though they are in such a state!”
"If you truly wanted to help us, wouldn’t you have set them free?”
"Are you as foolish as your Young Master?” Ken asked, his voice dripping with hatred. Hatred for his past self. “If I set them all free, won't the other families be alarmed? You and I both know that they are keeping an eye on all the members, just in case they begin to rise up again and try to claim their place again. With most of your family working as slaves, they will leave you be.”
"You..." The man shook his fists, bowing his head. Ken was right, of course. Firstly, he had no strength to save his family members. He could only buy a couple every month, and it would have taken so many years to save his family, and then longer to deal with the debts which he took on.
"You will not have to worry about me,” Ken said. “I will help you get your revenge for your family.”
“I… I don’t trust you, but like you said, I am not strong enough to do anything myself. As long as you don’t hurt them, I will trust in your actions.”
“I won’t hurt them. I’ve already said that I will help, and my word means more than you can imagine.” Ken looked to Chan, who caught the look in his eyes.
It was a message not just for this man, but also for her. Chan bowed her head slightly, understanding the intentions behind his words.
“…” The man sighed. There was nothing he could do anyway, so he had to let this play out.
[If this Ken Leaf ends up doing something to my family, then I will have to do something to help, even if it costs me my life.]
He looked to Chan and then Emerald.
[Or I should wait to see what happens first. Perhaps with more information, I could make a deal with him.]
The Slave Merchant finally returned with the paperwork, which Ken handed to Yuri.
“Read these and see if they need to be changed,” Ken said. “Have you brought the requested slaves? I don’t have time to waste.”
“I have sent for them, Young Master! Please just wait a few moments, I am certain you won’t be disappointed with our selection.”
Ken was led to a courtyard where dealing with the Slave Merchant could be done without many people from the public watching.
There were almost fifty Martial Warrior slaves for sale, and about twenty Martial Experts. Ken wondered if he could buy any Martial Masters, but thought against it for now. There was no need to arouse any suspicions yet.
He was surprised to see a few familiar faces, but decided against revealing that he knew a few of the Martial Warriors. How they had appeared here, was beyond him, but seeing that they were here, it was his good fortune.
“I notice a few beast people around,” Ken said, looking at a number of the Martial Experts. Almost half were beast people, which made sense. Beast people were often stronger than their human counterparts, but there were far fewer of them. Humans outnumbered beast people by at least five to one, but beast people were generally stronger by a minor realm on average.
“Although the beast people are hated within this town, we do know that they are quite powerful. There are a few families which keep beast people around, some as guard slaves, and others as pleasure slaves.”
Ken nodded his head. Technically, Chan was both a guard and pleasure slave, but he didn’t want to say that out loud. She may have been a slave, but she was still his woman. She was more than a tool, even if he didn’t really say that.
“…”
[…]
Ken reminded himself to treat Chan better. He put away those thoughts for now, as he walked around the group of people. As he approached the Martial Experts, Chan froze in front of someone.
It was a wolf girl, tall and muscular, with scars all over her body. Chan turned to Ken, her eyes pleading. Ken blinked and looked at the other Martial Experts. Most of them were Low Martial Experts, just like the wolf girls, but there were a couple who were Middle and Higher.
“How much are these two?” Ken asked, motioning to the wolf girl and the tiger girl.
“200 gold each.”
[More than I expected.]
Ken nodded his head slowly, looking around towards the Martial Warriors. He would be able to barely afford what he wanted. He could use some pills to offset the price, since he still needed some liquid cash.
“Do you have any people with lesser cultivation than these? Martial Apprentices and those who have yet to begin?” Ken asked. “I will take a few of them as well.”
The Slave Merchant paid close attention to Ken, before finally nodding his head. He was hoping that Ken would still buy what he first asked for, but seeing that he had spent so much already, it didn’t really matter too much. “Would you like me to go get them now?”
“No, I’ll pick a few of these first. I’ll take the wolf girl and the tiger girl, and I’ll take the ten I point to as well.” Ken bought six Low Martial Warriors, and four Middle Martial Warriors. “What’s the total price?”
The Slave Merchant did some calculations in his head. “It’s 580 gold, but why don’t we call it 550?” The Slave Merchant smiled.
“550, and you throw in ten Martial Apprentices and ten with no cultivation.”
The Slave Merchant grinned wide. “It is a pleasure to do business with you.”
“I might come by and spend quite a bit more coin if you have anything interesting,” Ken said, smiling at the Slave Merchant, still wanting to force his sword through the man’s throat.
“We also deal with private requests, Young Master. Is there anything specific you have in mind?”
Ken shook is head. “I have nothing in mind for now, but if I do have anything in mind, I’ll swing by.” Ken placed down the gold coins. “Bring their contracts, I’ll have Administrator Yuri deal with it.”
“As you wish, Young Master.” The Slave Merchant bowed his head. “This one’s name is Ethel Lockhill.”
“Disciple Ken,” Ken replied back.
“A disciple?” The Slave Merchant smiled questioningly.
“This is my Master,” Ken said, motioning a hand to Emerald. “Alchemist Emerald.”
“A-an Alchemist?” The Slave Merchant’s smile quickly dropped. “I apologise for not recognising such magnificent ones! Please forgive this foolish one!” The Slave Merchant bowed deeply.
Ken smiled, enjoying the fact that the man was bowing.
“If I had known, I would have surely gifted more slaves.”
“Oh? More slaves?” Ken asked. “How many more slaves? We do need a few to assist us with a matter we have.”
“Why doesn’t this one gift another ten Low Martial Warriors?”
Ken raised his eyebrows. That was worth quite a bit of money to this man, though he had already spent so much here. “Since you’re offering.” Ken smiled. With that, he would have a small army of slaves which could easily earn them a chunk of change every single month.
However, it would also cost them quite a lot in order to manage. Right now, he had twenty four gold coins to his name, though he had plenty of pills and arrays to sell off.
Fifteen Low Martial Warriors, five Middle Martial Warriors, two Low Martial Experts. That wasn’t a bad haul for Ken, who finally had a small army at his disposal.
