57 — 6 (7)

‘Let’s see…’

Louis was looking for craftsmen, and it seemed he would have to wait a bit. The women inserted here and there were a tier above the ones he had seen earlier. At this point, the place inspired awe.

“May I present this slave!”

The hall was filled with a peculiar excitement. One by one, the quarter’s highest-valued slaves stepped onto the platform. Usually, they boasted not only looks but also special knowledge or skills.

But for all the glossy faces, none matched what Louis wanted.

The moment he checked the info window of the final lot, Louis decisively rose from his seat.

‘A bust. I’ll need a new approach.’

The common sense that “nobles’ purchases are best” had already shattered. Since Louis could see talent values, there was no reason to buy slaves with no potential being sold at absurd prices.

“My lord, I’m surprised nothing suited you. I thought you’d buy at least one.”

“Kaiser.”

“Yes.”

“Starting tomorrow, we’ll scour the street markets.”

“…The markets, my lord? Will there be worthy slaves there? I’m a little concerned…”

“There will be….”

Given how things stood, Louis planned to purchase strictly by talent.

He had already secured about ten blacksmiths trained in basic metallurgy; by adding highly talented slaves and having slaves teach slaves, he could mass-train quality smiths at low cost. That was Louis’s plan.

‘Unlike Proia, the talent pool here is exceptional…’

The problem was time. To range across Aiwood—several times the size of Proia—would eat up quite a lot of it.

Louis opened Proia’s city info.

‘Happiness is still fine.’

It sat at 1. Even if it worsened to 0, the effect was the same, so he still had ample time. As long as it didn’t drop into the negatives, city output wouldn’t plummet.

The next day.

“What do you think of these?”

Louis shattered convention and sought a slaver who dealt in bulk—merchandise of the lowest quality.

Since he only needed talent values, he aimed to pick pearls from a heap of dirt-cheap slaves fit for nothing but simple labor.

A mass of slaves stood before Louis. Like livestock—unwashed, wretched low-grade slaves. Men and women, all mixed together, were laid out before him.

They looked at Louis with fearful eyes. Slaves had no rights; their life or death lay in the buyer’s will. But Louis’s thoughts weren’t as cruel as they imagined. He planned to train them into blacksmiths who could stamp out military materiel at scale.

Of course, at first he would treat them as slaves. As they grew skilled, he would marry them to other women, have them bear children, and bind them to Proia. Among them, the most industrious would earn freedom under a system mirroring the gladiators’.

‘As expected—my hunch was right.’

Given Aiwood’s nature as a city that drew people from all over the world, its talent pool was indeed exceptional. After only a cursory look, Louis found one with Talent 6.

‘Roughly one in a hundred.’

He emptied one slaver’s stock and found a single such slave. He could gather more Talent-6s this way.

“I’ll take that one.”

“May I ask what purpose you intend him for?”

“What does it matter to you?”

“Ha… quite right. Even if you fed him to a pet, that’s none of my concern.”

“A pet… feed? What do you mean?”

“Ah… so that doesn’t happen in the Duchy of Eron? It’s a hobby of some imperial nobles. They keep lions or special monsters and feed them only human flesh.”

“………..”

Louis had not expected that. Even slaves fetched a substantial price; to use them as feed was… a sign the Empire had swollen to excess.

In any case, Louis continued roaming, purchasing the slaves he lacked.

‘Metallurgy Talent… 9. Insane—this is a master smith in the making.’

By chance he found a slave with Talent 9. By talent alone, she could outproduce a hundred others—a great blacksmith. The problem was that the smith was a woman and…

“I’m not selling her to you.”

…the one speaking so rudely was the slaver who owned her as a young slave-concubine. Louis was taken aback. He had never imagined a woman could possess outstanding talent in a man’s trade. It was like watching a small piece of common sense shatter. She had Talent 9 in metallurgy, yet her “job” was being the bedmate of a pot-bellied bald man…

“I didn’t think there was anything in Aiwood that couldn’t be bought.”

“She is… mine… that. Give me one reason I should sell her to a backwater borderer like you—unless you were an imperial noble.”

God was strange indeed—to gift a pretty young woman with genius-level metallurgy talent…

Louis looked at the girl again. A collar around her neck; her clothing indecent. Scars marked her body—hardly the signs of a “normal” sex life.

“Doesn’t seem important to me…”

“It is important. She’s a very important wench. Can’t you tell?”

‘Annoying.’

Seeing a potbelly who couldn’t recognize a jewel’s worth, Louis’s face tightened. Truth be told, he hadn’t liked the man since yesterday.

“Then swap her for another.”

“How many times must I say no.”

Because the slave was tied to his personal revenge, the slaver refused Louis’s repeated offers to the end.

After several failed negotiations, Louis, fuming, pulled gold coins from his belt and tossed them onto the table. They spun and fell before the man—an insulting flourish. Veins bulged on the man’s brow.

“Take the offer—if you want to live.”

“W-what the hell… You bastard—think being a noble is everything? You shitty wretch from some provincial hick state!! Boys!!”

A free city did not always treat nobles well. Order here was worse than one might think. It was common enough to beat a noble to a pulp and dump him in the nearby Serene River in secret. Small wonder—those gathered here did not acquire slaves by “normal” means. In peacetime, they concocted equivalents and hauled in humans—the foulest sort. They often hired high-priced mercenaries privately or even raised personal troops.

“If you want to play it that way, we can, bratty noble.”

A scar-faced man lounging against a pillar whistled, twirling a knife as he approached Louis.

Kaiser stepped in front of the man.

“Kaiser…”

“Yes.”

“Kill him.”

They moved at once. One clash—no, neither intended to stand idle. Louis drew a dagger and drove it down onto the man’s hand. With daily training, Louis was approaching Swordsmanship 4 now—able to cut his way out even if ringed by common soldiers. The blade pinned the back of the man’s hand like a tack. With the man at Swordsmanship 1, he couldn’t even perceive Louis’s reaction speed.

“Gyaaaaaaaah!!!”

Hearing that clean scream eased some of the city’s accumulated vexation. Of course, it was a calculated act. He knew the slaver who’d looked down on him wouldn’t react in time, that Kaiser could butcher the hirelings, and—above all—that killing them would stir little fuss in a free city. Aiwood merely provided the venue; it had not hired these men. If trouble arose, they settled it among themselves—that was the unwritten rule.

Naturally, once he crushed this one, his confederates would chase Louis—but Louis planned to leave today anyway, and if he wished, there were a hundred ways to buy them off. Selling out comrades for coin was common among them.

“You insulted a noble. Steel yourself.”

“Y-you… f-fuck…”

His eyes reddened. Cold sweat poured. The impaled hand trembled, blood pooling and oozing. He was ready to go mad. Had he known this noble was so hard-line, he wouldn’t have strutted. Contrary to appearances, Louis had honed his swordsmanship. In any case, he was a proper mad dog—stabbing a hand with a dagger because a deal failed…!

‘D-damn it!!! It hurts so much!!!’

He tried to move, trembling, but Louis’s hand held firm.

“Wh-what are you doing? Boys!!!”

He begged desperately, but the knife-twirler had just lost his head to Kaiser. Kaiser—a monster among monsters—had already reached Swordsmanship level 10. With mana, he might even go toe-to-toe with Dekal. Meanwhile, three hirelings who had drawn steel froze and stood off against Kaiser.

Louis gave the dagger a slight twist. The man screamed again and again.

“I’ll ask once more: you insulted me.”

As Louis demanded an apology, the man groaned lightning-quick and stammered on.

“F-fuck! I’m sorry!! I said I’m sorry! Please—please stop!”

“Your attitude displeases me.”

“Please… hagh… hagh… I’ll never do it again. I’m scum. Take her. Take everything I’ve sold till now for free! Just this once—spare me!!”

His eyes flipped white. Lest he faint, Louis pulled the dagger free.

“M-my hand… fuck… my hand…”

Louis scooped the gold off the table and flung it into the man’s face.

“I’ve paid—but I imagine you’ll come after me anyway.”

The tail of his words implied he’d silence him by killing him; the bald man grasped this at once and frantically crab-scuttled back to get away from Louis.

“H-hagh… my God. My God… I mean it—I’ll end it here. I didn’t know you were so frightening. Forgive my folly. I don’t want to die. I don’t.”

As Kaiser finished cutting down the hirelings, the door burst open and the real household troops poured in. Seeing the blood splashed everywhere, they recoiled. Kaiser’s Slaughterer trait had already triggered—his eyes were not sane. In tandem, Louis unleashed his suppressed skill; the synergy kept the troops from coming inside.

As Kaiser took a step to spill more blood, Louis called to him,

“Kaiser—hold.”

His hunger for blood was immense; had it not been Louis, the champion gladiator might have cut down his own master. But the command had come from Louis—that mattered—and Kaiser halted, dragging his sword.

“Grr…”

A man squeezed between the troops, peeked inside, and pulled a wry face. Louis instantly recognized him as the number two here.

“You there.”

“…Well, hell. Fine—speak, my lord.”

“Come sit over here.”

“You’re telling me to just go die?”

“If you don’t, I’ll cut your older brother down where he stands.”

“Lupin!!! Lupin!!! Get over here right now!!! Shit…!!! You little shit, move! He’s telling you to come here now!!”

Eyes bloodshot and out of his mind, the bald man started screaming.