vncnus Page 5
Page 5
now.
The boy's parched heart seemed to receive a touch of moisture, giving rise to a delusion he had never had before:
"Can he save me?"
Chapter 5 The First Slave Trade
After receiving the system prompt.
He changed his mind.
Before the slave caravan had even left Blackrock Fortress, he approached the lead carriage and blocked their path.
He suddenly stopped and began to practice the "Fire Lion Breathing Technique".
Then, he briefly used the combat skill "Blood Boiling," unleashing his potential and releasing a faintly visible wave of fire.
The aura of the waveguide instantly intimidated the horses pulling the carriage.
The horses that had stopped quickly caught the attention of the two bearded merchants inside the carriage.
They lifted the corner of the carriage curtain and took a closer look.
They discovered it was that young and impetuous viscount lord of Blackrock Territory.
then.
One of the slave traders stroked his bushy beard and asked Arthur:
"Your Excellency Viscount, why are you suddenly blocking our way?"
At this moment, another slave trader stepped off the carriage.
Subsequently.
The two skilled wandering knights who had been there earlier also noticed the unusual behavior of the horse at the front and rushed over.
At this time.
All attention was focused on the blond youth blocking their way, Arthur, the Lord of Black Rock.
Arthur answered directly:
"I want to buy slaves."
Upon hearing Arthur's reply, the merchant sitting in the carriage revealed a playful smile.
He sighed as he stepped off the train:
"Tsk tsk! Why has Your Excellency suddenly changed your mind?"
Followed by.
The merchant turned his gaze to the butler beside Arthur, a silver-ranked knight of considerable strength.
then.
The two bearded merchants looked away and exchanged a glance, communicating with their eyes.
They all agreed that it was the experienced butler beside the young viscount who changed his mind.
then.
"Although something unpleasant happened between me and His Excellency the Viscount just now."
The two bearded merchants turned around and approached the three wagons carrying slaves in the middle of the caravan:
"But if Your Excellency still wishes to do business, we, as merchants, naturally cannot refuse."
Say it.
A bearded merchant took out a key and unlocked the locks of the three carriage cages.
Another bearded merchant drew a long whip from his waist and lashed it at the dazed slaves in the cage.
His merciless beatings instantly tore open the skin of a slave who was dozing in his cage.
"what!!!"
As the slave screamed, all the other slaves were infected by fear and began to scatter in panic.
Followed by.
"You beasts, come out and meet your new master!"
Amidst the shouts and curses of the bearded merchant, all the slaves, their faces filled with panic, crawled out of the carriage cages like livestock.
Under the brutal oppression of two bearded merchants.
About thirty slaves quickly lined up in two neat rows in front of them, standing with their shoulders hunched.
But one pair of slaves was different.
From the moment a disheveled young slave crawled out of the carriage cage and into the line, he always held onto another young female slave of the same age.
The slave traders were enraged when they saw this scene.
Because, in his view, this was a contempt for his power.
then.
The bearded merchant, wielding a long whip, lashed it fiercely at the young slave who dared to defy his orders.
Faced with the merciless whipping, the young slave resolutely chose to shield the young female slave in front of him and bear the blows alone.
It was clear that the bearded merchant's long whip was about to lash out at the young slave.
Arthur made his move.
He quickly stepped in front of the two men and swiftly reached out to grab the long whip that was falling from the sky.
"Snapped!"
With a sharp crack of the whip, the long whip struck Arthur's palm, its shaft covered with spikes barely visible to the naked eye.
As expected, the sharp point of the whip scratched Arthur's palm, causing blood to flow continuously from it.
But he endured the pain of the whip and stood between the bearded merchant and the young slave.
He looked calmly at the bearded merchant:
"I don't need crippled slaves!"
"Your Excellency, rest assured!"
We never sell untrained slaves; such slaves are truly crippled!
Another bearded merchant approached, but he seemed to misunderstand Arthur's meaning of "crippled" and quickly spoke up:
"The appearance of unruly slaves today is our mistake."
On behalf of the "Iron-hoofed Caravan," I solemnly apologize to you.
"So how will you compensate me?"
Arthur released his whip and turned to look at the boy and girl he had just protected.
The two bearded merchants temporarily suppressed their anger at the slave rebellion, forcing fawning smiles onto their faces.
"According to the rules of the caravan, if a slave with strong resistance appears during the transaction, he or she shall be killed on the spot."
Furthermore, as an apology, the number of rebellious slaves will be deducted from the number of slaves selected by the buyer before calculating the gold coins for the slave transaction.
Arthur noticed that when the bearded merchant said he would kill the rebellious slave on the spot, the young slave who was protecting the girl in his field of vision cast a pleading look at him, longing to live.
Arthur chose to respond to the boy's plea for help.
He turned back and asked the bearded merchant again:
"What if I were to buy them too?"
Compared to the previous moment.
His expression was calm and composed, without the slightest flaw.
The two bearded merchants opposite frowned upon hearing this.
For a moment, they were somewhat unable to understand what the young viscount meant.
So one of them tentatively asked:
"Your Excellency, how many slaves do you intend to buy?"
How much does each slave cost?
"This batch of slaves is priced at around 6 to 8 gold coins."
The currency system of the Kingdom of Grey consists of gold, silver, and copper coins, with a conversion ratio of 1:10:100.
among them:
Copper coins were used for small transactions; for example, one copper coin could buy one pound of bread.
Silver coins were the main circulating currency in the market;
Gold coins were mostly used as currency for settlement between nobles and nations, and ordinary people's annual income did not exceed 10 gold coins.
Upon hearing the price of the slaves, Arthur blinked and quickly replied:
"About 10."
Say it.
Arthur gave the two slave traders no time to think and began to act.
He moved quickly through the line of slaves.
soon.
He then selected the remaining 8 slaves.
then.
Arthur gestured for them to stand in the spot where the boy had been standing behind him.
"This viscount has quite the strange taste."
The bearded merchant was even more confused as he looked at the slaves Arthur had chosen.
Generally speaking, when nobles select slaves, they give priority to healthy young men.
However, the slaves selected by this viscount of Blackrock Territory, not counting the two rebellious teenagers, included three underdeveloped boy slaves, three standard strong male slaves, and two mediocre middle-aged female slaves.
Therefore, the bearded merchant couldn't figure out his criteria for selecting slaves for a while.
"Gentlemen, hurry up and name your price!"
Before he could think further, Arthur's calm voice interrupted his thoughts:
"The sun is about to set. If you don't finish this deal soon, you might not be able to reach the next town before dark."
The bearded merchant nodded, agreeing with Arthur.
So he quickly gathered his thoughts and began to tally the value of these selected slaves:
"Each strong male slave receives 8 gold coins, each middle-aged female slave receives 7 gold coins, and each young slave receives 6 gold coins."
Since the lord wishes to protect the rebellious boy and girl, let's count them together as 6 gold coins.
So, there are a total of 54 gold coins.
Arthur didn't haggle and directly instructed his butler, Leon, to take out 54 gold coins and hand them over to the other party.
"Happy cooperation!"
After receiving the heavy bag of gold coins from the butler Leon, the two bearded merchants simultaneously forced even more obsequious smiles onto their faces.
Subsequently.
As they drove the remaining slaves back to their carriage cages, they turned back to greet Lord Arthur of Blackrock, who had just completed a transaction:
"I look forward to our next collaboration!"
Arthur responded to the other person's flattery with a meaningful smile.
soon.