“And so, here they are. The last vestiges of Lord Havelock’s legacy. A group of seasoned laborers, each with their own specialty. Some are skilled in masonry, able to erect sturdy walls and lay the foundations of your ambitions. Others are adept at carpentry, crafting the very structures you call home. And a few are general laborers, suitable for the most menial yet essential tasks. They are sturdy, obedient, and unthinking in the way only the finest laborers can be.”
He stepped back, letting his words hang in the air. “No complaints. No hesitation. No distractions. They are here to serve, much like any well-bred beast of burden.”
The chains rattled as one of the slaves shifted his weight uncomfortably, but a sharp glare from one of the armed guards stilled him. The host smirked. “See that? Even their discipline is impeccable.”
He waved to the auctioneer’s podium. “Now, we begin the bidding. The starting price for this entire lot of ten is a mere three gold. Think of it as an investment – decades of backbreaking labor for the price of a single mid-tier item. A steal, if I may say so myself.”
The crowd stirred, and a few hands rose instantly. The host’s smile widened with his sharp eyes scanning the room. “Do I hear five? Yes, five from the gentleman in the third row. Do I hear seven? Ah, seven from the lady in blue. fifteen, perhaps?”
I still only had 20 laborers working on my home, it was time I began purchasing more helping hands or it would never be finished. I didn’t have the funds to do it for a long time, but that changed when I became a Phenom. Enjoy exclusive content from empire
However, I didn’t like the description he gave, it was very vague as always. “Can you detail how many of them are professional in which categories? Based on your words, one could be a carpenter, another a mason, and the remaining eight are unskilled laborers.”
I spoke up loudly and instantly received a wry glance from the man on the podium.
I put him in a difficult position because it was a first-row VIP who asked it loudly. If I was a nobody in the third row, he would’ve easily ignored me by pretending to not hear me. It was not expected from the walking money bags, namely those of us in the first row, to ask such questions when it came to low-tier ‘items’ like these labor slaves. It made us seem like we were cheap, we should’ve bid for them if we were interested without question.
I was ready to embrace the local customs, but only if they didn’t give me any sort of disadvantage. I thought this one in particular was stupid, so I didn’t care if going against this custom made me look more calculative than needed.
“Lord Black, we have two masons, one carpenter, and seven general laborers. However!” He shouted and then went on a lengthy rant about how experienced and highly skilled the general laborers were. His information was completely ignored by me.
I knew that they wouldn’t dare lie about basic stuff like the profession of the slaves, so we were bidding for two good masons, one carpenter, and seven basic muscles. To me, this bunch was valuable. I paid four gold for Ronan and Iselda each, they were my architects. Three other trained men were worth an investment and it’s not like the remaining seven would be useless.
“Ten gold.” I decreed loudly.
“Fifteen gold!” Amara barked instantly.
I turned my head toward her and was greeted by a smug leer. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was waiting for me to show interest in something so that she could have revenge by spiking the prices of the item I wanted.
I see how it is. These two had already earned my ire when they wanted to buy/outright demanded my two elven women be handed over, but I decided to swallow my anger and let them go due to the circumstances. However, my magnanimity was not endless, I was a wrathful man.
If this bitch wanted war, then…
I’ll give her war.
“Twenty.”
“Twenty-five!”
“Thirty.”
“Thirty-five!”
“Sister!!! I’m not interested in men in the first place, but these ones aren’t even cute! What do you want to do with them?!” Vivienne asked hushedly while grabbing onto her sister’s arm as if she wanted to physically restrain her.
Amara was right, I wanted to get these men. But she was wrong if she thought I valued them highly. After all, I was the Primordial Villain with the ability to teleport all over the Vraven Kingdom, I could buy labor slaves any day I so choose. None of them were invaluable slaves, there were lots of carpenters and masons ready to be bought elsewhere.
However, I knew what I had to do; “Forty.”
“Fifty!”
“Sis!!! I’m going to call Papa if you don’t stop!”
Amara hushed her perverted sister, Vivienne was making a very rookie mistake. She was quiet enough that a normal human shouldn’t hear them, but my senses were slightly better than a mortal’s.
I observed the arrogant woman’s features for a short second. She was doing her best to keep the confident poker face up, but what her sister said to her brought Amara’s endless vanity down, at least momentarily.
I could tell that she was silently begging me to bet again so that she could give up.
Fifty gold was a giant sum of money, even dukes couldn’t afford to throw such amounts down the drain very often, let alone their daughters who were living on their given pocket money.
I sighed dejectedly and even managed to theatrically whimper as I eyed the ten slaves on the podium. Throughout my slow motions, horror became more and more evident on the dumb chick’s face. I reached behind me to grab onto Seraphiel’s hand and whispered; “Your master needs comforting…”
She instantly understood my meaning even without me adding additional explanation through our mental connection. Sera made some exaggerated, sensual moves as she found herself in my lap while gently stroking my chin. “It’s all right, master… Labor slaves are a dime a dozen… You can buy a hundred seasoned laborers for that much gold. *Mwah*” She gently kissed my cheeks and then began hugging my neck.
While her physical attention might’ve been on me, her eyes never once left Amara’s with whom she conducted a fierce staredown.
It was Seraphiel who Amara wanted to break the spirit of. I wasn’t the only one who took what happened in the restaurant personally, my sexy healer was also a very vengeful woman best evidenced by the fact that it was her request that led to Selene’s additional punishment.
“Fifty gold for the bundle of laborers! Is there anyone who wishes to bid? Going once… Going twice… and… Sold!!” The auctioneer shouted while glancing at me with the eyes of a man who visibly wanted to swap places with Seraphiel so that he could begin kissing me instead. After all, I’d already gotten them 80 gold, with likely more than 70 of those being pure profit.
Amara hissed at me and Seraphiel just as the organizers brought out the next few slaves, and I couldn’t help but have my eyes sparkle just a tiny bit. I found a person I wanted.