After we left the Adventurers Guild we went to a restaurant to eat something, it was already mid-afternoon, so we chose the restaurant we entered and went to a discreet table.
“Diana how do you think everyone fared in the mock battle?” (I)
“I think everyone did well, apart from Érica and Irina who used magic, none of you used magic or abilities so Jonas did the same.” (Diana)
“Kira and the master were the best in combat, but Irius did well too, the only bad thing for you DM is that your lack of combat experience was evident to Jonas and Mari.” (Diana)
“Well we were all hiding our true abilities.” (Érica)
“I had to keep Byakko hidden inside my clothes, otherwise Mari would be able to see him.” (Kira)
“I don’t know how it went with the survival questions, but based on simulated combat alone everyone can be Grade C adventurers, Ibuki should become a Grade D adventurer.” (Diana)
“I have to register soon to be able to get my first job.” (I)
“Soon my brother and I will need to change jobs too.” (Irina)
“After we get the cards tomorrow the master can pick a job in the Guild Job Room.” (Érica)
We were all talking about the Guild and our mock battles while we ate, after we were all done I paid the bill and we left the restaurant.
“Where to now master?” (Kira)
“Let’s go to the slave trader, we have to get people to clean and cook.” (I)
“This time I’m going to let one of you deal with the slave trader, I don’t want to have another argument like that with Jonas.” (I)
“Then leave it to me Dad, I just need to know what characteristics you want from the employees.” (Irina)
“I don’t care about age as long as they’re not old, ages eighteen to forty should suffice, I don’t care about race or gender, but we shouldn’t have a family unless we can take the family with us to the mansion.” (I)
“I will follow what I said.” (Irina)
“Before we get there, I want to know more about slaves.” (I)
“What do you want to know?” (Irius)
“Do slaves have any rights?” (I)
“Depends on the Kingdom.” (Irina)
“Like this?” (I)
“There are three types of slaves, debt slaves, criminal slaves and normal slaves.” (Irina)
“Criminal slaves are people who have broken the law, when they are captured alive they are turned into slaves and must remain that way until death.” (irius)
“Debt slaves are people who have failed to pay their debts, so they are turned into slaves and the money from the sale is given to the person responsible for the debt, they can be released if the person who buys them chooses to release them.” (Irius)
“Normal slaves are a general way of calling all slaves who are not in the previous categories such as those who were born slaves, races that are discriminated against in some Kingdoms and are turned into slaves, people who were sold by family members for money, etc. ” (Irius)
“What my brother said is true, but slaves’ rights depend on the Kingdom, in most Kingdoms slaves have the right to eat, a place to sleep and safety, the slave owner is prohibited from harming his slave if discovered that the slave’s owner has failed to comply with these terms, he may lose the slave.” (Irina)
“But that rarely happens, slaves who are mistreated are usually illegal slaves, there are also Kingdoms that don’t give any rights to slaves.” (Irina)
“This Kingdom gives these rights to slaves?” (I)
“Yes, this Kingdom takes good care of its slaves.” (Kira)
“Slaves don’t need to be paid and his loyalty is absolute, there was even an adventurer who assembled his entire group with combat slaves he had bought, so the reward of the missions was always entirely up to him and he would not be afraid of being betrayed by your companions.” (Irina)
As we talked we continued on our way to the slave trader, the girls told me that there is only one slave shop in this town, when we got there I already had an understanding of the slavery system in this world.
I looked at the big three-story building, it had soldiers patrolling the surroundings and two guards at the front doors, as soon as we entered we were greeted by a very pretty human maid with brown hair.
“Welcome dear customers, please follow me.” (employee)
She guides us to the first floor and leads us to a very well decorated room with two sofas facing each other, she asks us to come in and sit down.
“Please wait here while I fetch a slave trader to serve you.” (employee)
The maid leaves the room and comes back after about ten minutes with a middle-aged Human man, he has a serious and dignified appearance, is also a little fat, he had gold-framed glasses and wore expensive but modest clothes, just as expected. from a merchant, he started to assess each of us the moment he walked in, but he did so discreetly with a smile on his face.
The man sits on the sofa in front of me, on one side I had Érica and on the other I had Irina, the others were behind the sofa we were sitting on, they were standing in silence.
“Welcome dear customers, my name is Richard, what are you looking for today?” (Richard)
“Good afternoon Richard, my name is Irina.” (Irina)
“It’s my pleasure to meet you, Miss Irina, are you here to sell or to buy?” (Richard)
“I’m here to buy.” (Irina)
“What kind of slave are you looking for?” (Richard)
“I’m looking for employees who are good at cleaning, cooking, and gardening, I just moved into a mansion and I don’t have employees to look after it.” (Irina)
“I also need some strong slaves who are strong against miasma.” (Irina)
“Any age, gender or race preferences?” (Richard)
“Age between eighteen and forty, gender and race don’t matter to me, I don’t have any kind of prejudice.” (Irina)
“Very well, wait a minute please, I’ll check our files.” (Richard)
While the slave trader talked to Irina he looked at me sometimes, I didn’t show any reaction as if I hadn’t noticed, after knowing what we were looking for he left the room.
“He’s cunning.” (Érica)
“Yes, he realized that I’m not the one making the decisions.” (Irina)
“He must have a skill or magic item with Appraisal skill, as soon as he walked in he looked at each one and looked surprised, my illusory spirit ring trembled the moment he looked at me.” (Kira)
“I noticed a strong magic in his glasses, they are probably the ones who have the ability to Appraise.” (Byakko)
“I haven’t noticed anything you’re talking about, but the way you’ve positioned yourself has given away my identity as you’re all around me.” (I)
“Not only that Dad, but he also seemed wary of you, even while talking to my sister he avoided taking his attention away from you for a long time.” (Irius)
“I don’t know why, all I did was assess him, his behavior, the way he talks and the way he moves.” (I)
“Why did you do this?” (Érica)
“I wanted to see if he’s trustworthy, he moves and acts confidently, he spoke seriously and objectively with Irina, he’s been evaluating us to see if we’re good customers or we’re probably going to get in trouble, but I’m sure he’s not a trader common.” (I)
“Why do you say that?” (Irina)
“He was calm even when he couldn’t assess us, from what you said he realized that I’m the real customer, but he didn’t point out that he treated Irina well, he was objective in finding out exactly what we were looking for and didn’t try to push unnecessary things on us .” (I)
“The master is right, slave traders don’t usually pick up as much detail on what their customers want, they do it to have more leeway to show more expensive slaves and sell more.” (Diana)
“He must be someone important here, he must think we will be good customers so he is treating us professionally.” (I)
After about twenty minutes Richard Returns, he sits across from us again and places some sheets of paper on the table in front of us.
“These are the slaves we have at the moment that matches what you asked for, take a look.” (Richard)
I pick up the papers and start reading, it’s information from thirteen slaves, I’ve read none of them that caught my attention, in the sheets describe their entire status, their work history, their skills and their background.
When I took the papers Richard showed no reaction as expected, he had placed the papers right in front of me showing that he knew the decision would be mine.
The reason I don’t want any of these is that they’re not exactly what I want, the slaves who have cooking skills don’t have cleaning skills, they also have very low stats and few skills and jobs.
“I take it those aren’t all, right Mr. Richard?” (I)
“No, of course not sir.” (Richard)
“But they are what you wanted if you allow me I can present three slaves that you might want.” (Richard)
“Show me.” (I)
The merchant removes three papers from a golden ring he owns and leaves them on the table in front of me, Irina takes them and hands them to me.
As I read the papers I was surprised at what I was seeing, these are perfect, but I would like to see them first, one of these caught my attention a lot.