Chapter 203: Slave
After bringing Cosette back to his residence, this big headed guy was still full of curiosity towards Du Wei. However, before Cosette left the union, Deacon Clark clearly warned him to treat Du Wei as his real master from today onwards.
"Just like your teacher." That was how Clark described it.
Turns out Cosette had a teacher to begin with and his position inside the union is quite good as well. The person is in fact the very same Mage Azrael whom tricked Gargamel in the frozen forest years ago.
Fortunately Cosette's status among his peers is of no importance, or else why would he be stationed outside as a supervisor for the wand shop? Also, Azrael has plenty of magic apprentices under him already, so missing one or two people like Cosette won't raise any eyebrows at all.
As of today onwards, Cossette can be considered officially switched into Du Wei's banner..
"What's the matter, Cosette?" Du Wei saw that the big headed guy was looking a little odd compared to before, so he kindly asked: "What's on your mind?"
"No, no, it's nothing much, teacher Du Wei." Cosette answered honestly in accordance with the union's tradition. Contrary to what he intended, Cosette's respectful words actually made Du Wei frown in displeasure.
"Cosette." Du Wei stopped in his step and looked at his abducted genius: "I don't need you to call me teacher."
"But this is tradition..." Cosette whispered back in reply: "In the union, all magic apprentices are to call the magician whom they swore their allegiance to 'teacher'."
"But I am not your teacher." Du Wei shakes his head: "You are not my student and more importantly, I have nothing to teach you. The reason I brought you back with me is for your brain. If I were to exaggerate my words, I will even need you to teach me things…." Fear filled Cosette's face.
Du Wei tapped the stiff guy on the shoulder before looking at this big headed genius. With a smile, he then said: "Enough, you will understand in the future. What I value is your gift, so I hope you can help me do many great things in the coming days, okay?"
Then Du Wei no longer cared about the expressions Cosette was making. Pointing a finger to the end of the street in front of them, he continued to speak: "look, my residence is just over there."
Further in front is Du Wei's temporary residence. The place originally belonged to the Crown Prince and was rumored to be a place for his highness to hide his mistress. Whether this rumor is true or not is of no importance now.
Above all else, Du Wei was leaving the capital anyways.
It may not be grand like a mansion, but the house was still considerably big by normal standards. When Du Wei first moved into the place, the original servants and guards had long left the place to its own demise after the fall of the Crown Prince. Now living in the house is only the old housekeeper Marde and a couple of servants from the Rowling Household. These people did not want to go back to the Rowling Plains, so their only option was to temporarily stay with Du Wei at the time.
In addition, there is also Vivian, Gargamel, and the heavenly beast QQ in the house.
However, Gargamel and QQ's existence is still a secret to the rest and only Du Wei is aware of their existence.
Upon reaching the entrance, Du Wei was surprised to find Vivian sitting quietly at the doorway. With her chin cupper against her hands, the girl was in a daze as she pathetically looked at the street corner. Even when Du Wei came up to her, the silly girl is still unaware of his presence.
"Why are you here?" Du Wei laughed as he watched the dazed Vivian sitting on the footsteps.
The truth is Du Wei was quite happy over Vivian's willingness to come out. Since the day he brought Vivian back from "Brokeback Mountain", the usually weak willed girl had locked herself up inside a room and refused to come out.
Every day he would go see her a few times, but every time Vivian was silent with grief. Du Wei did try to tease her to get her talking, but the result would always end with the poor girl dripping in tears around the corner of her eyes. Left with no other way, he can only leave her alone in the room to come to terms by herself. As the pain dissipates day by day, the scar will eventually heal with time.
Sure enough, Vivian is finally willing to come out and is even sitting outside the doorway. Delighted by this, Du Wei came up to her and lightly knocked the poor girl on the head. Squinting a smile, he then asked: "Hey! Are you in a trance? Do you not hear my words?"
Vivian lifted her eyes only to blink a couple of times as she looked at Du Wei. When she gradually regained her thoughts, she finally stood up only to find her knees sourly numb. Rubbing them to sooth her legs, Vivian then asked in a whispering voice: "You, you, pass the test?"
The little maiden still looked hurt and weak on the surface, but her voice showed a clear sign of concern for Du Wei.
Smiling, Du Wei's voice also became softer: "Did you intentionally sit here just to wait for me?"
"I … … I was worried about you." Vivian's small cheek began to blush. Lowering her head to hide her embarrassment, she then said: "The ma-magic assessment is very difficult. I'm worried…."
Du Wei patted his chest heavily to show the magic alchemist badge pinned to his shirt: "Rest assured. You see? This is my badge. Now standing before you is a genuinely qualified magician."
Vivian widened her eyes to stare at the badge. However, before the girl can say a word, Du Wei was already pulling Vivian through the doorway. As the two walked a few steps, Du Wei suddenly turned around to face Cosette: "Why are freezing up? Come in!"
Marde was also quick to come meet them as he furiously ran out from the inside. Upon seeing his faithful servant, Du Wei instructed old Marde to pick a good room for Cosette: "Let him pick a room since there is so many anyways. Aigh, whenever night rolls around, the place becomes deserted ghost house."
Marde nods in understanding. Just when he was about to back away to carry out his orders, Marde suddenly recalled something: "Master, Miss Rolynn came around today. She said there are some matters about the shop she needs to discuss with you. Although business is good, but she made it clear there is a lack of staff. If possible, she would like you to make an appearance at the shop. From the way she sounded, it would seem she is not satisfied with the two craftsmen in the store…. Also, there is the matter of the quadruplets you sent to help her. It is quite obvious she is not happy with them."
Du Wei only nodded: "Marde, I understand… … Hmm, you also need to remember one thing. Do not call her Miss Rolynn anymore. Remember, she is a knight. No matter what the occasion is, you are to call her knight Rolynn, remember that? This point is very important."
Rolynn does indeed have some annoying problems at hand.
Although her boss is on a roll without any signs of declining, and the fact that Du Wei left his entire business operation to her, there is still one major problem: she does not like her work.
In essence, she prefers the job of managing the pirate fleet. At least with the fleet out in sea, there will be adventure and excitement. Even if she couldn't wear a set of gorgeous gowns every day, she would still rather do that than spend her days handling the hypocritical nobles in the capital.
At the moment, she is still willing to submit to Du Wei's arrangement. With her intelligence, it wasn't hard for Rolynn to see through Du Wei's difficulty of finding more people. Although this little master of hers is rising through the ranks at an immense pace, but too fast may not necessarily be a good thing. Without enough people at hand, this weakness could become a fatal weakness in the future if not solved.
As such, Rolynn is still willing to obey and dedicated herself to managing the business for Du Wei.
As a result of her loyalty, she was able to demonstrate her full capabilities. Though every day she was forced to be beside all those snobby nobles, but unlike before in her adventuring days, she did not have to sacrifice her sex appeal….. Thanks to Du Wei's image change on her, all Rolynn has to do now is maintain her cold appearance and the nobles would flock to her side like flies.
Very soon, she found herself unable to cope with the ever increasing workload. Though she knew Du Wei was going to the union today for his assessment test, but this clever female knight was confident in her young lord…. It's a joke actually. She is far too familiar with Du Wei's method of doing things, so she wasn't worried in the least. Instead of asking about Du Wei's test result this morning, she would rather stay in the shop and address some of the issues at hand.
Business is very good currently. In just a few days, the sales have netted 500,000 gold coins for Du Wei. Deducting the expenses upfront, Du Wei's net worth right now is already in the millions.
Without any middle man to exploit his profit margin, Du Wei can continue to directly import all those goods from the mercenaries in the northern forest. With the freshest of goods and a slightly lower price point, about half of the original shipment brought in by Rolynn was already sold.
To solve this, she had already sent someone to deliver a message to the ships parked at the Enke Port this morning. The reason is to instruct the pirate crews to immediately head back into the north and import more supplies.
After that, Du Wei finally arrived with little Vivian. Since the little maiden is willing to step out of the room, then he cannot let her be stuck at home anymore because walking around is also a good way to calm the heart.
Luckily, Vivian showed great interest in the goods Du Wei was selling. In her view, the goods imported from the northern forest had many uses related to the magic field.
Leaving Vivian behind so that she can slowly pick out what she liked, Du Wei and Rolynn went into a room upstairs to discuss the matters at hand.
Once inside, Rolynn started to explain the more pressing matters at hand.
Firstly, there is a lack of manpower. Since the business is orientated towards the noble and wealthy class, then we must have some well-trained waiters standing by. A nobleman is not your average customer. We can't just go purchase some slaves from the market and have them work here. If they are not trained properly, then gossip wills naturally spread, or even worse, you might even lose face.
Secondly, there is also the problem with the craftsman's. All the goods we imported from the north are mostly raw materials that need to be processed. We may have hired extra artisans, blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, and several engravers to help with the issue, but it is still far from enough.
In order to turn a monster hide into a dress or suit, it requires a highly skilled hand to do it. You can't just randomly sew some leathers together and call it a day. Also, there is the problem of style. The noble class is very particular about this, and it is very clear we are still insufficient in this department.
There is also the precious monster nucleus in our hand. Although most have been ordered by the union, but there are still some occasional nobles that would come seeking one or two in order to recruit a mage.
Besides all this, there are the weapons too. This subject is what's giving Rolynn the biggest headache.
At the moment, the current materials reserved in the warehouse are all first class goods. However, the two blacksmiths under us is too average. Aside from the lack of staff, the two mediocre blacksmith actually damaged some of the earth dragon scales while they were processing it. Not only is the heat insufficient during their forging process, It was utterly shameful when I tested one of the blades. When I knocked one of slender blades against the anvil to test its sturdiness, the blade actually broke apart!
The truth is the two blacksmiths has been very hard at work, but their talent is simply too lacking. In their time, they came in contact with numerous weapons, but never once in their life did they come across so many good things.
All these points are just the icing on the cake. What really upset Rolynn the most is in fact the quadruplets!
Once valued in the millions, the quadruplets should be serving Du Wei after being gifted to him. However, the moment he brought the girls home, he immediately tossed them into Rolynn's hand.
Du Wei's thinking is very simple. He hopes to continue the development of his business and if possible, start producing some magic tools in the future! Mages are never short on money. No matter the rank or level, large numbers of nobles would gladly line up to shower these people with gifts and money. As such, this special grouping of people in society is the best type of consumer.
Not only are his goods from the north very suitable for crafting magic items, Du Wei also understands that just selling raw materials is far inferior to selling finished products! Sometime, the profits will double or even triple! Unfortunately for him though, a magic tool is not something ordinary craftsmen's can produce.
On the Roland continent, there is a profession called "magic craftsman" specializing in making magic tools like wands, crystal balls, and in rare cases, magic scrolls! The number of people in this grouping isn't very large, in fact, it's miniscule. Despite their small numbers, their occupation is rather unique and hard to come by.
Well, Du Wei did know where to find some of these people, but most of them already belonged to the magic union. In the magic craftsmen profession, a small portion of these people are in fact themselves magicians. In order to supply themselves with enough items for self-consumption, they will only create small batches at a time. In rare occasions, one or two of these items would end up circulating through the market. As for the rest of the people in this profession, most of them are of magic apprentice origin. Due to their lack of talent, many of them are forever unable to become a true mage, thus, forcing them to seek out a path for survival in the world of magic.
Hence the quadruplets. Du Wei's hope is that these girls will use their knowledge in the magic field to become his money making machine.
It is obvious Du Wei's value outlook on these girls are completely different from most men's.
If changed to any other noble, those lustful beasts would have already locked these rare beauties inside a room and refused to let them out.
"To be perfectly blunt your lordship, I ask you to take these four away with you!"
Rolynn is very blunt in her words: "They are not here to help me! Every day I would even need to break up some of my people to serve them! Humph..."
Du Wei frowns: "There is such a thing?"
What came next is Rolynn narratively explaining her encounters in the past few days.
It turns out it wasn't just Rolynn being depressed, the quadruplets were also depressed. Since little, the four girls were already considered rare beauties. After being bought by Sir Biliaibuer, the guy spared no expense to train and give the girls ample knowledge in magic. His expectation is simple, "design the girls from the grounds up so they can entertain men in the future."
Even back in the years under Sir Biliaibuer, the standard of living for the quadruplets could even rival a lady from a small noble household.
At the first the girls were still pleased over the fact that they were given to Du Wei. After all, he is young, handsome, and with a powerful background. To top it all off, Du Wei even became a Duke!
The girls originally thought that if they can use their sex appeals and obtain Du Wei's love, then they would be able to transform from a peacock to phoenix.
Unfortunately, Du Wei never even laid a finger on them before throwing the girls into Rolynn's hand!
To the girls, the most annoying thing is Rolynn! This rude, cold hearted woman is daring enough to tell them to work!
...
Listening to Rolynn's story, Du Wei became gloomy. He took one look at Rolynn's eyes before speaking: "So you can't take them on? Knight Rolynn, I am very disappointed in you! You managed to pack a bunch of unruly pirates away before, but now, you can't even handle four little girls?"
She started to look a bit awkward: "… … These ladies are after all sent from your side, I….."
Du Wei immediately understands Rolynn's worry. With a smile, he then said: "You can rest assured that they are not my woman; I also don't intent to let them be my woman! Now are you assured? Since I sent them to you, they are under your control! If they still won't listen, then you can handle them as you please!"
Rolynn lets out a long sigh because she is finally relieved.
Looking at the female Knight's face, Du Wei secretly laughed inside: and with that, it is expected the quadruplets will be suffering quite the bitter experience in the coming days.
After a moment of hesitation, Du Wei then said: "The problem of manpower cannot be fixed quickly. The only solution we have before us to slowly find one from afar. In the capital, no one is going to impart their skilled craftsman to us willingly. We could go rob them, but that would mean offending the other party. Though they wouldn't openly retaliate considering my status, but it would be a whole different matter after I leave. Therefore, its best not try any offending things!"
"But all good craftsmen's are already with a Lord, where are we going to find one then?" Rolynn sighed in frustration.
"Its true things aren't working out. The only dumb option left for us is to produce one."
Du Wei also shakes his head: "But the cost is too much and long with a slow effect. Let's first put the Craftsmen issue aside for now, and then I will slowly come up with a solution…. Hmm, it's still early, lets first head over to the slave market in the city. Maybe we can get lucky and find some proper manpower."
Roland continent's slavery policy had long been opposed by the temple for the past millennium.
Of course, in Du Wei's view, this is not the Temple being noble. Instead, it was because the temple had no way of cutting a share in the huge profit margin.
Although the continent may seem peaceful on the surface for hundreds of years, but the expeditions into the southeastern sea and small outbreak of rebellions had produced tons of prisoners…. This was especially true in the recent expeditions out in sea. Originally, the booty was still large and grand to make it profitable, but as time pressed on, the amount of goods started to dwindle down to nothing. As such, the only thing left to pillage is the indigenous tribes themselves.
Southeast Asia, there are often small outbreaks of rebellion in the Northwest, after the military conquest of the Empire, always appears as a lot of prisoners … … Especially the South Pacific Expedition fleet, expedition came back at a time, will bring back a large number of booty … … Much of which was captured on the large islands from Southeast Asia to the indigenous.
With that, it became the trend for the slave market to be flooded with the indigenous tribes from the southeast. According to a recent census, it is estimated there is more than 8,000 slaves from the southeastern island. Some of which has been living in the capital for many years and in some cases, they are even second generations.
Of course, there are many slaves that is of freemen origin. Due to being improvised and unable to survive on their own, some of these men and women would sell themselves to a willing master. In addition, there are the prisoners of war from the several outbreaks of rebellions in the empire.
Aside from all the previous cases, there is a special classification of slaves called "official slaves". These people are usually from some ruined noble household. For example: in the recent coup of the crown prince, many people that partook in the event was convicted and was revoked of their free citizen status. Thus is their fate of being sold as salves in the market.
Funny thing is, the biggest slave company in the capital did not belong to any random person; rather, it was a direct department of the imperial government! It just so happens that the place is located in the west side of the slave market where a large portion of the "official slaves" is being sold.
As such, the yearly income from this business is bringing in quite the large sum for the imperial court.
And the reason the Temple is so discontented is because they couldn't take a slice of this big cake!
The capital's slave trade is mostly concentrated on the South Western part of the city. Inhabited by more than 900,000 citizens, this area accounted for almost half of the population in the imperial capital.
This thousand meter long street wasn't just for slave trading, it is also a place for people to seek work.
In other words, this is similar to the "labor market" in Du Wei's past life.
At the end of the street, a square was connected to it. Originally, a fountain with a luxurious statue is centered in the middle, but due to popular demand, the place was revamped for business many decades ago. In its stead, multiple platforms were built to be used for slave trading.
Above the square, several tall platforms were used as the center to gather crowds and onlookers. In its mix, many were merchants that came from afar with hopes of hitting it big when they go back. Of course, there are some servants from certain noble houses that came to buy in fresh blood for their masters.
Standing on the platforms are some slavers with whips in hand. Just about every one of these people is protected with strongly built guards for their security. Behind these heartless people are cages. Chained and kept against their will, many men and woman are bound behind bars, ready to be sold to the highest bidder. These poor souls are the recent batch of slaves brought in from elsewhere. Because they are still unwilling to accept their fate of being slaves for the rest of their lives, the slavers are forced to keep them behind cages.
While the other slaves on the high platform remained still, their faces were already pale and their eyes hollow without life. These people had long surrendered to fate and accepted their life of chain and servitude. Therefore, the only thing needed to bind them is a thin rope around the neck.
Even the slavers were daring enough to constantly move over to the slaves just to squeeze the face and mouths of their product. The reason is prove to the customers that their products had no problems or disease. Like beasts, these poor souls did nothing and fully heartedly accepted their destiny.
Disguising themselves in common wear, Du Wei and Rolynn mixed into the crowd without arousing the attention of others.
Through the efforts of Rolynn leading the way, the two finally managed to squeeze through the crowd.
In addition to the slave stands on the sides of the road, there are also many people of all ages and sex with ulterior motive. Though they had different reasons for being there, they all had one thing in common and that is a cloth draping over their arms.
These people are not slaves, but free citizens of the empire. However, in order to survive through the harsh condition in their life, these people are revolt their freedom. If a black cloth is hanging off their arm, then it means they are willing to become a slave.
Of course, there are some reluctant to become slaves. Standing there, their arms are draped with a white cloth, meaning they are willing to follow a master under the status of a free citizen.
There are actually quite a lot of these people. Mainly comprised of artisans and horse groomers, there are also many lowly skilled warriors.
Du Wei found that several of the people claiming to be warriors were already in rags. Though their face remained stern like that of a real warrior, but their swords were already rusting. Such a sight was unusually obstructive.
A warrior's survival in the capital is not easy. As the epicenter of the empire, the place is swarming with experts. Basically, an intermediate ranked warrior can only live the life of a bodyguard for a noble.
As for a lower ranked warrior, it would become much more difficult. For those unlucky ones, they would only be able to find a job as a laborer for a noble household while the luckier ones work as a bodyguard for a transport caravan.
Only the bottom dwellers like the rank one or two warriors cannot find a livable job.
The growth of magic and the decline of warriors is the trend of the entire continent.
"Master, look!" Du Wei was just in the process of evaluating some warriors when he suddenly heard the call from Rolynn. Looking in front, he saw the crowds of people were starting to move towards the site of where most of the "official slaves" are located!
In terms of quality or price, an "official's slave" is generally much higher than an ordinary slave. The reason is because such a slave is usually read to go the moment you buy them; therefore, many people are still willing to spend the extra expense to purchase these slaves.
"Let's go take a look." Du Wei nods.
It looks like he came at the right time because it seems a new batch of goods is about to go on sale.
Chapter 204: clever little boy
Sandia is a 13 year old boy with a typical southerner's last name. Due to his clever mind set, those around him would always address him with an affectionate name "Sandy". Of course, those that hated him would call him "Sandy lttle liar ".
Born in the capital, Sandy would of course not be able to afford a teacher like those wealthy kids around him. Nevertheless, he still managed to receive a form of education in the temple's welfare program. In merely half a year, he had already learned to write and read. More so than his peers, his ability to write his name and completely recite the first volume of the God's Genesis book is exceedingly good.
Unfortunately, three months ago he could no longer continue his study. Though the temple claims to be offering "free" education for those children in need, but it came at a price. Once the children reached adulthood, these individuals must offer three years of their life to perform labor in the temple. In some cases, these people would directly become clergy's – forever unable to marry and have children.
As a typical southerner, Sandy's parent didn't want their family's lineage to be broken. In addition to this, Sandy also had no interest in the faith. By the age of 13, his interests in man and women matters were already in full swing. As such, he will often peek at his next door neighbor Ellie.
Maybe in two months, he could use his writing and mathematics to either become a bookkeeping apprentice in the nearby grocery store, or follow an old tailor at the street corner.
But these things are all in the future. In Sandy's view, he already has a method to get rich.
Everyday he would wander around in the slave market. Unlike his older brother – a local gang boss- he is a real little bully. Because his older brother stole a purse from a housekeeper of a noble family, his brother was sent to the northwest last year to perform hard labor in a mine.
Different from his brother, Sandy is not a thief, nor will he do such bad things. Despite this, he would still manage to bring back a few copper coins each night.
The capital's slave market is the gathering place of merchants from all over the empire. Many of these foreigners is a first timer in the capital's slave market; therefore, they didn't know anyone. Here's where Sandy comes in. Acting as a guide, he will show the way for these people and help bargain with the slave traders. Of course, he will first explain some explicit "rules" of the trade before the customer makes a mistake.
Because of this situation, coupled with Sandy's clever mindset, he would almost always come home with a few copper coins each day. If he gets lucky and the customer is a wealthy individual, his revenue would increase even more if he spent some extra effort in currying up his favors. His biggest wish right now is to save enough so that he can buy an old boot. The brother of his next door neighbor Ellie (girl) is currently serving in the local garrison. Often when facing the kids of Sandy's age, the brother would always brag about his military boots. For this reason, Sandy became very envious.
Sandy is not only smart; his strongest point is his ability to judge a person from the crowd with a single glance. Which one is a fat sheep or a veteran, all he needs is one look.
Today, Sandy was finally able to locate a target after crossing his arms in a corner for half a day.
In the crowd, there is an odd duo. Though the two is comprised of a man and a woman, but they didn't look like a couple because the man was much younger than the girl. As for the girl, she was around 20 years old and was way prettier than Ellie from next door.
The two may be wearing casual wear, but Sandy immediately recognized several features that wasn't quite right: The way the guy's eyes looked around acted like it was his first time in the slave market – full of curiosity towards everything around him. This feature was very important to Sandy. While the male is a good target, but the woman was the one that piqued Sandy's curiosity the most: despite her feministic charms and her boiling hot legs, the woman seems to be a knight or warrior by trade in her movements. Though the two are clearly part of the same group, but the girl seems to be intentionally keeping a distance of half a step behind the male. Also, the girl was always jerk blocking anyone in the crowd that came too close to the male. Like that, a protective barrier was constantly maintained around the boy as if he was a young master of a wealthy family.
Yes, there's no doubt!
After affirming his own speculation, Sandy then tugged his ragged cap against his head before pushing his way over.
"Sir! Sir!"
Du Wei is currently looking around because he really is curious about the slave markets. The slaves he previously bought for his shop wasn't handled by him, rather, it was done by Marde. Now that he has come to the slave market for the first time, he would of course not le the chance slide by. In his previous life, the presence of a slave market is already near extinction. As he was looking around, a childish voice reached his ears.
Like a loach, a emaciated boy slithered out from the crowd and stood before him. The boy may look thin, but then again, it is quite normal for a child of a poor family. Surprisingly though, the boy in front of him was very clean unlike the dirty children's he seen so far. Clean and tidy, the kid's big eye carried a light that gave others the indication of his clever mind.
"Mr." Sandy easily recited his well thought out lines, all the while not forgetting to put on his childish smile that could strike into the hearts of any adult: "Sir, would you like to buy slaves? Then I think you need someone like me."
With only one look, Rolynn could already see through the kid's purpose. With years of experience in his pocket, how could she not? However, just when she wanted to speak, Du Wei had already expressed his interest: "Oh, really? You? What can you do for me?"
"I can do a lot of things for you. Most importantly, I can save you a lot of trouble….. I can also save you a lot of time – for a distinguished person like you, time is very precious. You see all the people here? They are all here to buy slaves. And the many slave traders here want to sell slaves. You seem to be coming here for the first time, right? I can help you by introducing the situation here! Everything here is very familiar to me. I also know the slavers here: which one is kinder, which one is more cunning, which one is black hearted, which one is the fairest, I know all about it. You see? Am I not very useful to you?"
Seeing Du Wei was smiling at him, Sandy natural impulse is to push a bit harder. With the fish already in his mouth, there is no way he can let it go. Hurrying, he followed up with these words: "This place is very crowded with many thieves mixed in with the people. Don't worry though. With me here, I can help you avoid a lot of these trouble….." At this point, Sandy's voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around like a ghost was nearby: "you see that man in a grey suit? He is a cheat, you have to be careful not to go near that guy; otherwise, the guy will steal your wallet."
Du Wei blinked with understanding before smiling.
First impression, he liked the clean faced sly kid.
"How do you know my identity is high statute? The clothes I'm wearing are not expensive." Du Wei shakes his head: "maybe you made a mistake, I'm just a guy that came here to take a look. I don't need a guide."
"You don't need to bully a child like me." Sandy very tactfully smiles, not showing too much only the forefront four teeth – and unlike other poor children, Sandy's teeth are white. He is very attentive to his appearance because he understands that his targets are all people that liked a clean face.
"Your clothing may not be expensive, but the crop is not made from an ordinary tailor. You know, I'm almost became a tailor apprentice myself. My eye will not be mistaken… … There is also this young lady by your side, Oh, please forgive me for the liberty. Although she is such a beautiful young lady, but her attitude towards you is so respectful, if she's not your wife, then she is your follower. Also, your hair is clean with a good shade. With one look, I can already see your posture is different from a poor person….. It's like those nobles living in the northern district!"
Du Wei carefully looked over the kid before smiling: "Your observation is very detailed."
"Of course!" Sandy quickly followed up: "I can save you a lot of valuable time, I can be your guide here, even when you buy a slave, I can save you a lot of money! Of course, if you can give you a few coppers in the end to buy a piece of black bread, then that's enough."
Du Wei showed a pleasing smile as he gave Rolynn a glance: "I like this guy, let him do it."
With that said, Du Wei went forward without looking back. As for Rolynn, she only gave the kid a look before fishing a coin from her pocket and tossing it over.
With his swift reflexes, Sandy immediately caught it in midair – his hand gesture indicated he was extremely skilled at such a motion like it was routine practice for him. However, unlike his usual reaction, Sandy's eye widen in disbelief the moment he opened his palm and took a look at the heavy coin!
Unable to believe his eyes, Sandy quickly coughed up a spit and tried rubbing it against the coin. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, the color remained the same. Then an idea hit him. Holding the coin against his teeth, he bit as hard as he can….
OWW!!!!!!
Is this actually gold?!
Then it finally dawned on him, the figure before him today is definitely of great importance!
Usually, the people he serviced around this place would at best throw him a couple of copper coins after the job was done. And if the customer is a bit bolder, then he might even receive a silver coin like that time a while back.
But this is actually a gold!
A gold coin is enough for his family of three to live for more than a month! In addition, he can also afford to let his father drink a glass of cheap ale every night. More importantly, he can also buy himself a pair of old boots like he always wanted!
Rushing to put the coin away into his pocket, Sandy struggled a bit before finally catching up to Du Wei's side, thus, starting his work day.
"You are familiar with this place? Then I ask you, if I'm going to buy a few slaves today, where should I go?" Du Wei questioned.
"It depends on what you want for the individual." Now that Sandy has received his payment, the kid would absolutely not withhold anything back. As he moved around in the crowd, his thin body was extremely flexible like there was no indication he could possibly bump into anyone – if anything, the kid was like a loach constantly slithering around. As he moved his mouth, his voice was fast and clear: "If you are intending to buy several maids, then my recommendation is for you to take a look at the 'official's slave' shop. Those slaves are all from big households before ending up here – well trained and familiar with proper etiquette. If you bring such people home, then you won't have to worry about losing face. However, if you only want someone to do hard labor, then I got a few places. From your accent, you're not a local right?" As he mentioned the last point, Sandy sounded very cunning.
But this time, the clever little boy was wrong.
Du Wei's accent is indeed a little different from the capital. The reason for this is because he came from Rowling Household. According to tradition, anyone inside the mansion must only speak with the accent of the Rowling Plains – this included Earl Raymond. On top of this, Du Wei also spent a year in the Rowling Plains, so his accent will naturally carry more weight in his speech.
Seeing Du Wei is only smiling without saying a word, Sandy immediately lowered his voice: "What I want to remind you is this. Though all sales here are protected by imperial decree, but you're still an outsider, so there are some rules you must pay attention to. This is especially true for those with influence... Just last month, there were several foreign merchants that wanted to purchase two beautiful slaves for themselves. In the process of bidding, those people had a falling out with a steward belonging to some noble house. In the end, the foreigners were taught a lesson and thrown into a moat outside the city!"
Despite his effort, Sandy was beginning to doubt his abilities when the little fortune god in front of him remained indifferent as ever. Pushing on, he raised his tempo to work even harder: "In General, the slaves here are divided into several types. The first type is the 'official slaves', of course, they are also the most expensive. Due to their family's fall into ruin and their citizenship revoked for some reason, these slaves are usually the most sought after. Only just recently, I heard the daughters of some convicted noblemen's in the previous coup were auctioned off. At the bidding day, the amount of people fighting for these girls were hitting the roof! Aigh, who wouldn't want a nobleman's daughter in their home to be used as a slave? Just the prestige of owning such a girl would make the owner look good."
Du Wei's brow slightly wrinkled because he is very well aware of what this little boy is going on about. To be more accurate, his Rowling Household had also recently fallen into ruin. If not for his existence, then the tragic fate of becoming a slave would definitely have befallen on his family.
Sandy continues to speak, "aside from the 'official slaves', the secondary type are the barbarians from the Northwest. Those guys are strong, very strong. When working, they are definitely not slouches. However, if you buy such a guy back to only do menial work, then it would be a total waste."
"Why is that?" Du Wei finally opens up to question. Relieved by this, Sandy quickly follows up, "because the value in those barbarians lies not in their physical labor, rather, it is their ability to care for horses. If you have a pasture, then buy a couple of these Northwestern barbarians home. I assure you, once you've done that, the harvest in the following year will increase exponentially!"
Du Wei nods in understanding.
"However, you do need to pay special attention to them. Though these barbarians are good slaves, but their temper is particularly wild and difficult to discipline. This is especially true in their habit of constantly wanting to escape. If you do not send guards to monitor their actions, then the likelihood of them fleeing is a likely chance. After all, their life is that of an outlaw, fighting to death are not uncommon in their culture."
"And what else?"
"There is also the third type of slaves. These people are originally the citizens of the empire. Due to being impoverished and unable to support themselves, such people would sell themselves to a good master. As long as you are willing to feed them and house them, these honest individuals would always be loyal to their master. Most importantly, they would never run way."
Upon touching this point, Sandy actually whispered something inconsistent with his age group: "Aigh, in such times, who would want to sell themselves into slavery if not for the fact that they couldn't make it through."
When Du Wei heard the last part, he was somewhat surprised and gave the kid an extra glance.
"The last is the guys from the Southeastern Sea. Those indigenous people are the cheapest and the most numerous around here. If you intend to go for these slaves, then you must be careful in your choice because good and bad are always mixed together. In order to maximize profit, those black hearted slavers would always put several weak and old souls together with the strong and sell them in groups. Aside from this, this bracket of slaves is also separated into two groups. The former is the type that has lived in the empire for many years or is even a second generation slave. Even if they can't speak our language, they can at least understand us. Such a person is called a 'mature slave'. The latter is the freshly caught slaves brought in by the army in the recent expeditions. These people are called 'raw slaves' due to their unwillingness to accept their fate. Normally, these people like to flee and are unable to communicate with us. As such, their pricing is the lowest. Of course, there are exceptions if the slave is a natural beauty."
Explaining up to here, Sandy suddenly turned around to face the three dirty looking boys drawing close to Du Wei: "get lost, Dick! This is my guest! Can't you see me here! If you want to do business, go somewhere else!"
The shifty looking boys were only 3-5 feet from Du Wei when Sandy shouted. Seeing things weren't going to play out, the leader of the group stepped forward and uttered some scolding words: "Sandy little liar! You're always bad for my business!"
With that, the dirty kid gave both Du Wei and Rolynn an unwilling gaze before turning around to mix back into the crowd.
Sandy lets out a sigh before smiling: "don't worry about those guys. They are the gold fingers roaming this street. But don't worry, since I'm here, they won't bother you. Nonetheless, you still have to be careful because their numbers are quite numerous here."
Du Wei gave Rolynn a look because he was never worried about these little thieves. Though Roylnn's strength isn't that of someone standing at the summit of the martial world, but with her abilities, dealing with a few thieves is not a problem.
Rather, he was more interested in the kids: "Just now, all those guys were thieves?"
"Hush!" Sandy facial expression change, quickly whispering:
"You mustn't ever say so! If those guys heard you saying the word 'Thieves', then they will come seeking trouble for you. This is the rule of the road, you understand?"
Du Wei inwardly laughed as he said, "But you ruined their plan. Wouldn't they bother you instead?"
"Humph." Sandy curls his mouth: "all of us grew up together in this street, brawling here and there is normal for us. Even we bullies would only bully those from the outside, never against our own. Also, my brother was once a boss in this place. Considering my brother's name, those guys won't make trouble for me. Sure, we might brawl once a while if things don't work out, but wouldn't really hate each other…. And have a look around us, there are so many outsiders, business is everywhere."
The truth is his words were only half true. When doing this business, its unavoidable that he would incur the wrath of some gold fingers. Nonetheless, all of them did grow up on the same street, so they won't really have a falling out over something like this. Though a few bruises is bound to happen, but it's all worth it if he can take home a few copper coins by the end of the day.
And today he earned a gold coin. Even if takes a few punches when he goes back tonight, it is still more than worth it!
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