After bidding farewell to Lady Aili, Martin made a special trip to the military camp to visit Commander Vali. A moment later, he walked out of the military camp alone and met up with Beitan and his group who were waiting outside.
Immediately after, escorted by a small squad of military camp soldiers, the group marched grandly towards the Luoqiu Mountains.
Along the way, they passed through villages and crossed fields. Civilians and serfs, seeing this contingent of knights and soldiers, respectfully bowed.
Thanks to the horses' speed, they reached the vicinity of the Luoqiu Mountains in just half an hour.
This place was originally just a small village, but with the continuous increase in the number of people coming and going, it gradually expanded into a small town.
This expansion in scale also received the Earl's approval. Most of those who came here were free mercenaries, along with some who harbored delusions of instant wealth.
The gathering of people naturally gave rise to various transactions, among which slave trading was particularly booming.
The Fallen Autumn Town mayor, having learned in advance of Martin's impending visit, had been waiting at the town gate early.
As Martin, riding his horse, led the group closer, the mayor hurried forward, his face wreathed in smiles, and bowed respectfully.
Martin looked at the fawning mayor in front of him and asked, "Mayor, I'm new to Fallen Autumn Town. I've heard that the slave trade here is very prosperous, so I'd like to visit the slave market and select some slaves."
The mayor quickly nodded and bowed, responding, "You can rest assured, Young Master Martin! I can't guarantee anything else, but when it comes to slave trading, I know it inside and out. I'll take you to the largest and best slave trading market in town right away."
Entering the town, the shouts of vendors rose and fell, and the laughter and frolic of children were endless.
Mercenaries and town residents, seeing the mayor leading a group of people with a fawning expression, consciously moved aside, fearing that an accidental misstep might displease the noble lord and result in being cut down by a sword.
The commoners who were once in the village also bowed towards the mayor and Martin's group.
Before long, they arrived at the trading market.
Slave owners, seeing the spectacle, rushed out to watch the excitement. "Which noble lord is this? What a grand display!" one slave owner asked curiously.
The person next to him glanced at him and whispered, "You don't know this person? This is the Earl's son, I think his name is Martin White, he's the Earl's fifth child."
"In Earl White's Territory, you might not recognize all the other nobles, but you absolutely must recognize the Earl and his offspring, otherwise, you might offend them one day and not even know how you died."
Another mercenary, hearing this, said disdainfully, "You still want to offend him? You probably won't even be able to get close to him, so you won't even have a chance to offend him!"
The mercenaries and slave owners discussed in hushed tones. On this continent with its strict class system, if a noble found someone displeasing and casually took their life, that person would have nowhere to seek justice.
The mayor summoned the person in charge of the slave market—the tax official. The tax official was specifically responsible for overseeing slave transactions and collecting taxes, and he knew the market's situation like the back of his hand.
Martin explained his requirements to the tax official, who immediately shuttled back and forth between the various slave owners' stalls. Before long, he brought slave owners and qualified slaves one by one before Martin.
Martin appraised the slaves one by one. After a round of screening, he found that only 26 Half-Orcs and 60 Orcs met the standards.
He carefully selected again, barely managing to gather 100 people. After paying, the group continued their journey towards the Luoqiu Mountains.
Martin knew that cultivating talent was not an overnight task, so he did not intend to invest too many resources in these slaves.
There were many Alien and quite a few slaves in the Luoqiu Mountains. Even if these Orcs were used and then discarded, he wouldn't feel pained, provided they could achieve his goals and not let his gold coins be wasted.
Due to the team carrying 100 slaves, their progress was much slower. It wasn't until around 5 PM that they finally reached the entrance of the Luoqiu Mountains.
Beitan looked at the sky and said, "Young Master, it seems we don't have time to go in today. How about we rest for a night and enter the mountain tomorrow?"
Martin, however, shook his head and said firmly, "No, we must go in at night to have a chance to capture those magic beasts. Only live-captured magic beasts can fetch a good price.
Now, everyone, take a break here." With that, he called over a Knight Attendant and told him to ride back and inform the butler that they would not be returning to the castle tonight.