Kapitel 14: Animals

Yeah, I'd figured. But I wasn't expecting them to stay a week. "So? something else, I can do for you?"

He stared, oddly twitching. Confused? "How do you mean, my lord? We've already accomplished we set out to do and-"

"And you have something more to say, right?"

Quiet. There were various people walking about in the distance. And yet, in this veil of darkness, it was quiet. Too quiet.

He chuckled. "You really saw through me, huh?" He let out a breath, stared at the water. The water was black but there was a reflection. The reflection of the broken moon. No ripples, really beautiful, almost mirror-like. "Will you… come with us?"

It wasn't that I saw through him, no. Rather, it was just a hunch. I'd been betrayed before, and I'd been taken advantage of all the time. But this time despite knowing they were taking advantage of me, something felt different.

"Hmm…"

"You wanted to have an adventure, yes? I can promise you the best adventure and the best of knowledge and even fame. I can promise you a grand place back in Estoniam, our homeland. We'd be honored to have your presence. I-"

"You misunderstand Escalor," I stared at him, almost looking down. Not even an ounce of emotion. "The only reason I came with you, was because you promised some specific things in return. We've both fulfilled our end of the bargain. Or rather, I have. And in a week, you will have as well. Why do you persist on asking more?" I spoke slowly. I spoke with caution. I didn't want to seem weak. Not again.

I'd been taken advantage of my whole life. In the playground, at school, even at home; my own cousins used me. This was part of why, I shut myself up. Part of why, I stopped venturing into the world. And although it saved me from the world, it was also the trigger behind my destruction.

When my parents died, not only did my relatives take advantage of me, they almost took away all my belongings. Actually, they did take away most of them. But they couldn't take away the property. Which then I stupidly sold for a measly sum. I thought the zeros had meaning but who'd have thought those bastards had put a (.) in there. What I thought was a 100k turned out to be just 1k and even then, they just… didn't pay me the full thousand….

I didn't want to remember it anymore. I didn't want to…. But- I did all that. I let myself be scammed. And that's why, not again.

"Forgive me, that was out of line," Escalor got down on his knees. "I apologize. There's a different reason why I want you to come with me. It isn't for our research."

"Hmm… go on."

"I don't want you to take over these lands. You've just been revived. You don't know anything and you don't know the politics. If you take over the lands, many people will… die, my lord. I'm sorry but that is the truth and…"

"And you want me to go with you so I can't take over any particular land?"

"Yes. In this short time, I've assessed your character as benevolent. But if you should stray from that path, Sondar will dispatch a Paladin to hunt you down. They will stop at nothing to kill you. And I- I don't want that…"

Benevolence, character, the world. I knew what he was talking about. but at the same time- how high and mighty of him to think so.

"Well, you are right. I don't know much about the world," The moon was beautiful. It was falling apart, kind of like this world; kind of like me. But it was still holding on, just like me. "But that doesn't mean, I can't learn. And that also doesn't mean I can't take over everything. Tell you what, I won't take over. I won't demand any kingdom or land." I stared at him. No, I glared. "They will want 'me'. They will demand me. Because I will be so invaluable an asset, they won't be able to live 'without' me. And they- everyone- will yield the throne of the world-" I leaned in closer, my face almost touching his ears. "To me," a faint whisper.

He let out a hoarse breath, almost fell over but saved himself with a whacky dance like thing and then bowed before me, anew. "Thank you."

Huh?

After all that, the guy-

Was thanking me?

'Did this guy have a screw loose or something?'

I mean, he was kinda dead.

Ahem! "So, I won't be coming with you and I don't have any intention of turning malevolent." I had no reason to… yet.

He stood up, smiled. "Then, as a parting gift, please allow me, no, us. Please allow us to buy you, a new pet." His smile widened. "Any slave you want." He held up one finger, along with his signature wide smile. Almost creepy.

***

The earth I knew had slavery, so did this world.

"The sun is bright today too," Hardly any cloud in the sky.

But there was something different about this world's slavery.

Apparently, people were born free. Even when slaves had children, those children were free; not slaves.

So how were slaves made?

Money. Or the lack thereof.

To live, you either need incredible strength, intelligence, and luck or… money. But there were people in this world with none of those qualities. They didn't have strength, they didn't have special intelligence and they didn't the luck. So how would these people live in this world? Money. They'd need money. And since some if not most possessed little sellable qualities, they'd work hard, earn little and if things go terrible for a few consecutive rounds, eventually go into debt. And when they couldn't pay it back-

Yeah, not really surprising. But this made one particular thing possible. Namely, anyone could be a slave.

Anyone.

I didn't know why but… yeah, I couldn't hide my grin. Then again, I doubt it surfaced but… 'pathetic.'

"It should be somewhere around here," Escalor said.

Still early morning, the birds had merely woken up and were going crazy with their chirping. But the city was already bustling. They minded their own business, as we minded our own. Every now and then, some guy just had to bow to show off though. Oh well.

It was just me and Escalor. We didn't tell Siarre because well… yeah.

We went through the back alleys of the city. Yes, there were slaves but no city openly publicized them. And although slavery was legal, mistreating slaves was kind of illegal. The state handled slave relations and made an effort to keep tabs on how the slaves were living on a yearly basis. This system was far more sophisticated than I thought, and definitely a lot more wholesome. Because you had to give your slaves some pocket money if they wanted something and let them have children if they wanted to have children. And also let them leave, if they wanted to, assuming they could pay your initial sum or at least some portion of it back.

"There-" Escalor said, pointing at a three-story large mansion. Carriages and cages and a lot of other stuff were going into the mansion. Walls had the whole place surrounded.

This place was a lot cleaner than the surrounding slum like garbage. So many kids, so many people still holding on to dear life, refusing to go into slavery.

'Hope huh?'

"Would this just be a wholesale market or-"

"A wholesale market and an auction. The auction would be tomorrow. So, if we're lucky, we might find some better deals today," he said.

We passed the metallic gates.

I came in my noble clothes. British aristocrat. Literally. That's what I looked like. I did not like it. Particularly because I didn't like British food but I was probably just biased….

And because of such appearance, everyone who saw me offered standing bows. Even the gatesman greeted us in.

Then again, I doubt anyone wouldn't be surprised or respectful to me. Although seeing Undead in public was rare, seeing Skeletons, was really, really rare.

"They're just selling out here?" I wondered. Cages full of people outside the mansion, stacked. Large cages and although there were people inside, the people didn't scream or cry or misbehave. I suppose they were quite indoctrinated.

'Almost like animals.'

"Yes, these are the cheap ones," Escalor said. "We should enter the mansion; we'll find quality stuff there. And if we're lucky we might find some strong adventurer who could well," he smiled. The darn guy knew his stuff. He was going to leave in five days. So, he wanted someone to teach me the ropes. And what better a person than a seasoned adventurer who wouldn't be able to deny me and would protect me with his life?

'Maybe they have a dark elf too…' I wondered, looking at a scrawny elf.