The girl on the high platform was trembling. Her golden hair was a tangled mess, her face streaked with tears, and the filthy rags she wore barely covered her.
Velin raised an eyebrow.
'Wasn't this the servant girl who'd bumped into me on my first day here?'
He had originally been uninterested in the woman who had indirectly caused his transmigration, but out of a researcher's rigor, his gaze lingered on the girl for a moment longer.
...Velin's brow twitched.
He didn't join the bidding. Instead, he silently passed through the noisy crowd and walked directly up to the slave trader.
"Can you recommend some slaves for me?"
The slave trader, in the middle of a spirited sales pitch, was annoyed at the interruption. He was about to lash out when he spotted the family crest embroidered in silver thread on Velin's chest.
His anger vanished in an instant, replaced by a fawning smile. He might not recognize other crests, but he wouldn't dare forget the one belonging to the City Lord's Klein Family, not even if he were reduced to ash.
"Ah, a noble lord. How may I be of service?"
Velin said nothing. He simply untied his money pouch and gave it a casual shake in front of the man. The heavy clinking of metal was distinct.
The trader's breathing grew heavier.
He immediately shot a look at his men on the platform. The two brutes understood, roughly dragging the still-trembling girl off the stage and shoving her back into a nearby wooden cage.
The trader rubbed his hands together, leading Velin and Lilia toward the slave pens in the back.
"My lord, what kind are you looking for? We have strong laborers with good stamina, skilled artisans, and of course... some special 'goods'."
Inside rows of wooden cages and barred enclosures were people with numb expressions.
Most were barely clothed and covered in scars. The air was thick with a sense of despair.
Velin stopped before an enclosure holding several burly men and pointed to one who was knotted with muscle.
"How much for this one?"
The trader glanced over and immediately quoted a price.
"An excellent eye, my lord! That one's a barbarian from the eastern steppes, a prisoner of war. For heavy labor, he can do the work of three men! Just ten Golden Sun, and he's yours!"
Ten Golden Sun!
That was equivalent to 200 Silver Moon or 2,400 Copper Leaves—and a single Copper Leaf was the price of a pound of rye bread.
This meant that if you bought a slave just for farm work, it might take more than ten years to break even after factoring in food and clothing.
Lilia couldn't help but tug on Velin's sleeve, whispering, "Velin, why is it so expensive? I remember... our family pays a maid a yearly salary of less than two Golden Sun."
The slave trader overheard them. A strange expression, first of surprise and then of understanding, crossed his face.
He leaned in closer, lowering his voice to a volume only the three of them could hear.
"Miss, this is something you wouldn't understand. To be honest, two years ago, a specimen like this could be had for five Golden Sun."
He glanced around, his words laced with resentment.
"But a couple of years back, the Empire suddenly hiked the slave tax, doubling the amount on every 'piece of goods'! Our costs are higher, so naturally, the price has doubled. Otherwise, there'd be no way for us to survive."
The trader grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth, and his words carried a sinister chill.
"Besides... my lord, you're a man of status. There are some things I shouldn't say. But you're from the Klein Family, so I'm sure you understand."
"Some commoners might have a tiny, diluted bloodline hidden in them. With some Forbidden Techniques, you might be able to extract a little something... And even if you can't, using them for alchemy experiments, testing new potions and whatnot, that's common too."
"You can't very well use contracted servants for such things, can you? I mean, if they die, they die, but it's not very 'respectable,' is it? Not like these 'goods.' No one cares if they live or die."
These words made Velin completely abandon his plan to buy a large number of slaves to populate his future territory.
'The return on investment is just too low. Using slaves for low-end production has too long of a payback period.'
'It would be better to recruit some drifters as free farmers. After all, with free farmers, I would only need to collect taxes. They would be responsible for their own food and lodging, not me.'
He led Lilia on another loop around the market, finally stopping in a corner where the old, weak, sick, and crippled were kept.
Velin pointed to the golden-haired girl who had been dragged off the stage earlier.
"What about her? She doesn't look like she can handle heavy labor."
The trader followed his finger and immediately broke into a knowing grin.
"Heh heh, my lord, this one's cheap. She's weak, but she has a pretty face and a nice figure. With a little 'training,' she can be quite a treat. If you're interested, I'll let you have her for five Golden Sun!"
Seeing Velin remain silent, he added, "Since you seem to be a serious buyer, I'll give you a discount. Four Golden Sun! That's a rock-bottom price, I can't go any lower!"
"Done."
Velin counted out four Golden Sun from his pouch and tossed them to the trader.
Inside the wooden cage, Xiaolan was curled up in a corner, shivering from a bone-deep chill.
When she saw that the young noble who had bought her was the very same one she had knocked over a few days ago—the one who'd hit the back of his head on the corner of a table—her mind went blank with a high-pitched BUZZ.
'It's over.'
'He didn't die.'
'He's here for revenge!'
The horrifying stories the Mercenaries boasted about in the tavern flooded her mind. They said some psychologically twisted nobles loved to torture those who displeased them. They would lock slaves in with starving goblins, or use red-hot pincers...
Xiaolan didn't dare to think any further.
Her nerves, stretched to their breaking point, finally snapped. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted dead away.
Velin watched the figure collapse in the cage, his expression unchanging.
'That saves me some trouble.'
He gestured to the guards behind him. "Take her. We're leaving."
...
Xiaolan had a fragmented dream.
In the dream, she was trapped in an infinite cycle of misfortune.
Bird droppings fell from the sky, landing precisely on her bread. The stone slabs beneath her feet would suddenly collapse as she walked. Then, the purifying flames that swept through her hometown burned everything to the ground, and the iron-shod boots of an Inquisition Knight trampled through her parents' ashes. On the run, her last few savings were stolen, and finally... she bumped into that young noble, watching as he fell backward.
Her life was a dark joke written with malicious intent.
"Ah!"
Xiaolan awoke with a start from the nightmare.
The cold cage and green-skinned monster she had anticipated were nowhere to be seen.
Beneath her was a soft bed, and she was covered with clean bedding. She looked down and saw she had been changed into a clean linen nightgown. On a chair by the bed, a brand-new, blue and white maid's dress was neatly folded.
Shame and confusion filled her mind.
Just then, with a CREAK, the door was pushed open.
Xiaolan's head snapped up, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.
Velin stood silently in the doorway. He was backlit, his face shrouded in shadow. Only a beaker of red liquid on the lab bench beside him cast two crimson gleams into the depths of his eyes.
"You're awake?"
Velin's voice was devoid of any emotion.
"Then get dressed and come with me. Our 'experiment' is about to begin."
Before Velin's eyes, system information scrolled by.
[Name: Xiaolan]
[Level: Unranked]
[Bloodline: Summoned Giant (Bronze Tier) 46%, Phantom Veil (Secret Silver Tier) 6%, Mixed Bloodline 48%]
[Ability: Cursed with Misfortune]
[Overall Evaluation: Severe bloodline conflict. Extremely high potential for cultivation. Bloodline stripping is extremely difficult.]
[Stripping Potion: Main Ingredients: 120g of Standard Original Blood Crystal. Secondary Ingredients: 20g of Nascent Mandrake root powder, 1 Shadow Panther heart, 5g of Iris Dew.]
[Preparation Method: ...]