บท 365: Chapter 365. Talk with Jorey, a common merchant.
Kali shook her head while hearing their banter. Then, she turned toward the woman and said flatly. "I mean no disrespect, but can you slaves even compare to mine?"
The fox-woman's long and fluffy ears flickered, feeling like someone slapped her face. 'They are just humans; can they be that much better?'
With a hidden contemptuous look, she began evaluating Andrea, Tatyana, Angel, and Evelyn. Our human girls looked at her with cold expressions, making the fox woman feel a chill going up her spine. However, she just ignored it because of the particular beauty all of them had.
The cute, blonde, and sweet-looking short woman could melt the heart.
The tall, tanned, and light-green-eyed heroic woman would make the heart pound.
The short and flat common woman had those violet eyes and electric blue exotic hair that would attract attention.
And finally, the red-eyed human felt like she was on a completely different level. When the fox-lady laid her eyes on Tatyana, she involuntarily lowered her gaze as if not feeling worthy of looking at that gorgeous and elegant face.
However, that feeling of pure dominance Tatyana passively released also made some instincts flare up a fire inside.
The fox-lady looked at Kali and said, trying to act calmly. "I'll exchange all my slaves and a powerful mid-level Earth-rank treasure for the red-eyed human. I think I'm overpaying, but I'm determined to take her."
Yasenia's gaze cooled down below freezing, but she lowered it instantly. She didn't want to act impulsively. Nevertheless, she sent Kali a message about what to say.
Kali heard it, and her lips twitched. 'So brutal...'
Nevertheless, she said it aloud, word by word, without skipping anything. "Miss, if you really think she is that worthless to be traded by those malnutrition sacks of flesh, then please scram before my patience disappears. I wouldn't trade her even for a transcendent ranked treasure. And do not bring up my human slaves again, or else my patience will grow thin."
Then, Sierra growled and unfurled a part of her aura.
*BOOM!*
The fox lady almost fell face-first onto the ground after Sierra's imposing presence surrounded her. Her face changed, and she hastily explained with a terrified tone. "I'm sorry, miss. I was wrong, and I failed to see your greatness. Please, forgive me."
Kali glanced at Yasenia for a second and saw her lips coldly quirking. 'My love can sometimes be malicious.'
Sierra stopped after she apologized, and the fox lady breathed a sigh of relief. Her body was soaked in a cold sweat. 'I thought I would die right there and then... So scary.'
She was about to leave with fear and a seed of resentment in her heart. However, she suddenly saw a beautiful creature skipping toward her with curious golden eyes. The red fox-woman's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "Such a beautiful dragon!"
Yasenia approached slowly and smiled, making her eyes curve beautifully. "Beautiful miss, the master said we are not selling yet, so, umm, we want to leave peacefully. Can we do that? I'm sorry about the big wolf; she is very protective of us..."
Our girls' thoughts coordinated. 'The devil. Her race should be called Devil Dragon.'
Well, except for one of them. 'Little treasure is so cute when acting like a child! I want to hug her and squish her!'
The fox-woman felt an arrow pierce her heart and crouched slightly to hug Yasenia's head. "Sure, sure. You are such a beautiful girl. I understand that the big bad wolf would react that way."
The innocent Sierra ordered by the currently cute-acting dragoness: 'miss, it was her who told me to flatten you to the ground with my aura. I was the merciful one!'
Yasenia faked growling sounds and wagged her tail. "Miss, you are so comfy~."
The woman squealed, forgetting about her resentment, and said. "You are very cute, darling. I would really love to take you with me. Sadly, your master is probably very against it."
Cecile said coldly. "You are right, so keep it light."
The fox woman rolled her eyes and retrieved a piece of raw meat dripping with blood from her spatial ring. "Here, darling, a little treat. I bet you'll like it."
Yasenia saw a piece of raw red meat from an unknown animal appearing in the woman's hand and blinked twice. 'Raw meat?' It was fist-sized, so it was indeed suitable for a treat.
Yasenia curiously sniffed the piece of meat and found that it smelled sweet and quite lovely. Under the speechless eyes of our girls, Yasenia opened her mouth and chomped on the raw piece of meat.
Yasenia chewed slowly, and the sweet blood taste and texture made Yasenia truthfully squint, making the fox woman's and our group's hearts pound at her cuteness. 'So cute I want to die!'
The fox woman looked up to the others and was instantly paralyzed with fear. 'Why are their gazes so intense!?'
How could she know that she had discovered something they didn't know, and the fact that a random person found Yasenia's new trait made them extremely pissed and jealous!
Cecile asked with a freezing voice, making even the spectators want to grab a warm blanket. "Have you finished? We want to keep going."
The woman wanted to cry but didn't have tears! She wanted to flee, but she was still interested in the red-eyed human and, now, Yasenia, so she said. "I-I won't try to buy them anymore, but I see you all are quite new. How about traveling together? I swear I won't plan to do any tricks! I really just want to spend a little more time with the cute darling here."
They wanted to refuse; how could they let this wild woman take more time of their dear dragoness!?
However, Yasenia spoke faster than them with a childish voice. "That was yummy~. Are you going to give me more if we travel together?"
Their attention shifted to the cute acting dragoness. 'I want to pet her!' They thought unanimously.
The fox woman nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes. But only if your group comes with me."
The fox woman felt the dragoness leave her arms, making her feel somewhat empty. Then, she saw Yasenia walk in front of the Phoenix woman and tilt her head. "Can we go if we have the time~?"
Cecile's cold face melted into a smile, and she kissed her snout.
The spectators who thought the phoenix had face paralysis were stunned on the spot as if they saw flowers bloom after winter. 'So beautiful!'
Cecile understood Yasenia's plans instantly, so she looked at the fox-woman, her face returning to the cold and indifferent one, and curtly ordered. "Let's move to the side of the street."
The spectators blinked repeatedly. 'Maybe, I've just imagined things?'
They all moved to the side, and Cecile asked without a change of tone. "Are you going toward the Sun Engulfing Lobster Capital?"
The fox woman thoughtfully said. "It is somewhat far, but my caravan can move in that direction."
She pointed at the four naked humans and said. "Honestly, those four are the only merchandise left to sell. Then, I must buy some goods from this city to resell elsewhere. I can buy with the Grandsol City, the capital city of the Sun Lobsters, in mind."
Kali praised. "You seem experienced."
Jorey smiled. "Of course, I, Jorey, have been doing this for more than one hundred years. My company, [Mountain Traveler Merchants], has grown greatly since I took over."
They all blinked, feeling that the name familiar. 'Ah! The wolf-man we killed was a part of her merchant group.'
Yasenia smiled wryly internally. 'Maybe it is not that good of an idea to travel with them?'
Kali smiled and said. "Whenever we leave the city, we'll contact you if you are still around. How should we do so?"
Jorey said, "You just have to come to one of our shops and give them a letter with this stamp. It should reach me in less than a day. Tell me where you reside, and after that, we can travel outside together."
Kali received a stamp for the letter and looked at it. It had the face of a wolf looking to the right and a fox looking to the left. Yasenia asked, like a curious child. "Why does it have a wolf-head? You are fox, right miss?"
Jorey didn't suspect anything and petted Yasenia's head. "Of course, I'm a fox. The reason is that two families lead my merchant group."
She sighed. "Sadly, the wolf family is becoming too powerful lately. Unless something unexpected happens, we may lose control over the merchant group."
Kali raised her eyebrow. "Is it okay to tell us something like that?"
Jorey waved her hand. "Everyone knows about the power struggle in our merchant group. Me speaking about it or not is really not a big deal."
Kali nodded. Then, she asked, "We've made quite a long journey and wanted to relax for a while. Do you know a place to rest with the humans? We have a policy of treating humans nicely, so I don't want them to sleep in poor establishments."
Jorey was surprised, "Why do you have that policy?"
Andrea unfurled her cultivation, hitting the fox like a steel wall, and said with a cold voice. "Even if I can't be free, I want to be treated with respect."
Yasenia internally fangirled. 'My darling is so handsome even as a slave, kya!'
Jorey took ten steps back and looked at Andrea fearfully. "Y-Y-You are in the Ethereal Soul Body Realm!? How did you reach that level?"
Andrea snorted and crossed her arms. "None of your business."
Jorey frowned, but she didn't dare make a squeak after looking into those light-green eyes. She turned toward Kali and asked with concern. "How did you control someone strong like that?"
Cecile received Yasenia's idea and found it reasonable. She said with a cold smile. "No matter how strong they are, their families aren't as strong. Moreover, what can a human do in our world even if they have a little bit of strength? With our race's supremacy, not even someone a thousand times stronger than her could make a difference."
Jorey was stumped but found it reasonable. 'I'm still immature. The fear of seeing a strong human startled me.'
Kali looked around and saw that there were many people with shocked eyes looking at Andrea. She asked. "I see that her strength is high for this area. How strong is the Lord of this city?"
The fox woman frowned and said. "Last time I heard about it was ten years ago. At that time, he had just achieved the fifth level of the Ethereal Soul Body Realm. Nevertheless, I feel like this human of yours can challenge him and put up a fight."
Meanwhile, the four humans behind the fox-woman woke up from their stupor, and after hearing Jorey's evaluation, they began pleading with hope filling their tones. "Please, Hero! Save us!"
"We don't want to be slaves. We want to be free again!"
"This life is worse than death, please. Save us from our bindings."
"I don't want to be sold to an unknown man, please!"
Andrea looked on as the fox woman's whip flashed and hit the four humans on the chest, blasting them away. She could've reacted; she could've stopped it, but for what?
Saving these four random humans won't only put her own safety at risk. Their whole group might be blamed for colluding with humans, becoming the enemy number one of the Distancia Continent.
Not only was it not worthy, but it was also stupid to act like a hero in this situation. Moreover, for our protective heroic woman, before Yasenia's safety, the lives of one million humans paled in comparison.
Jorey shouted with rage. "Shut up! I will send you to a breeding facility if you dare say one more word. Let's see if you are as energetic as you are right now!"
The eyes of the four people widened with fear and instantly shut up. However, their eyes locked on Andrea, pleading for salvation.
Andrea said aloud, her tone flat and indifferent. "Don't look at me. I'm not going to save you. Not only will I not save you, but if you dare continue to look at me like that, I'm going to cut your heads off."
Their eyes widened as if the person before them had become some sort of alien creature, looking shocked and horrified.
Jorey's eyes flashed with surprise. Then, she said to Kali and Cecile with wonder, "You've trained her well. How did you do it?"
Kali shook her head and chuckled. "You see, I didn't train her. What my companion here has told you is only a partial truth. What we do most of the time is treat them and their families properly. Although we sell them as slaves, we choose our buyers very seriously. Only if we know they won't suffer will we sell them. This way, with a basic salary and bare minimum life quality, they can at least maintain dignity and will willingly work harder. So that you know, the strength of the other three humans is similar or even superior to Andrea's."
The people that had been listening had their eyes almost pop out of their skulls. They were the strongest humans they'd seen in their life. Yet, there they were, obediently following the two-tailed fox and the Phoenix woman.
And the trick seemed to be as simple as treating them somewhat better.
Kali didn't know, but her words would begin a reform in slavery in the Distancia Continent, making it more similar to the one carried on the Sky Continent.
It wasn't much, but it was definitely an improvement that would lead to small general improvements in human life quality in the Distancia Continent.
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Mortrexo
Mortrexo Author Note: Although I've uploaded more than one chapter sometimes in the past, this officially marks my one-year anniversary with the Novel! I've wanted to prepare something special, but worry not, although it has been delayed, I'm working on it!
I think it should be done by the end of the next month or so. Thank you all for supporting me until now and in the future~.
Much love, dears, and let's hope we can have another full year of HEM!
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