Chapter VIII: The Slave Market
The next day, when Ciro invited several partners to inspect the goods, Xiao Chen and Luo Ling took Kalanda to the slave market together. Naturally, the slave market in Suero was not in the inner city, but about a kilometre east of the outer city.
Unlike the others, the slave market was separated by a tall and heavy fence, with only two gates on the east and west sides, each guarded by a team of heavily armed mercenaries. The market is surrounded by towers, and the mercenaries on them are armed with bows and arrows, vigilantly watching the movement around them. This place is not so much a market as a walled city.
When they entered the door, the mercenaries stationed there obviously knew Kalanda, nodded and greeted her, and carefully looked at Xiao Chen and the two before getting out of the way and letting them in.
"The slave market was very scrutinized, and if it was not brought by an acquaintance, or if it was a noble person, sometimes it was necessary to search the body. The greedy and timid slave merchants were afraid of slave revolts. Kalanda said, having lived here for many years, she knew a few things about it.
"Anything like this has happened before?" Xiao Chen carefully looked at the mercenaries coming and going at the door, and saw that they were dressed in scale armor, with long knives hanging from their waists, and crossbow arrows on their backs, which were a few points more elite than the soldiers he had hired before.
"Some people are able to resign themselves to being slaves, but some people would rather die for a chance at freedom. "Ten years ago, there was a riot in which the slaves of the entire slave market escaped, the guards and merchants of the market were killed, and the outer city of Suero was sacked. Even the inner city was almost knocked down. The father of Baron Gregory, the current defender of the city, was killed in battle at that time. ”
"What happened later?" Luo Ling saw Kalanda's grim expression and secretly guessed that this matter would not end too well.
Kalanda forgot to glance at the tall tower on the hillside of the inner city in the distance, "Master Ikasa, the Spiritual Eye Tower, struck and killed the leader of the slaves so that the slaves did not rush into the inner city. It is said that those people suddenly attacked each other under the influence of magic, and later they were surrounded by the noble private army of the surrounding cities, and they all died miserably. ”
"Do you have some sympathy for those slaves?" Luo Ling asked.
Kalanda hesitated, "I, I can't say sympathy...... They did a lot of terrible things after the riot, and if I had been there at the time, I would have fought them. But if it weren't for the slave traders, they wouldn't have faced that fate. ”
"The battle between two classes is always the most brutal, and the war between the nobles is like a game in comparison. Luo Ling sighed.
"What did you say?" said Karanda, puzzled.
"They stand on each other's side, and there are no so-called 'rules of war'. Therefore, once the slave breaks free from the shackles, the slave owner will not have good fruit to eat. Luo Ling explained.
"Okay, why are you still talking about that old thing? We're not slave owners. Don't forget, we also have management techniques from the modern age. Xiao Chen interrupted the conversation.
Luo Ling raised her chin slightly and smiled at Xiao Chen, there was a provocation in that smile, but there was no defensive language. Instead, she asked Kalanda, "What about the slaves later?"
"Scattered, those people have a brand on their faces, and they can't go inside the kingdom. Some became horse thieves, some crossed the border to join the empire, and some ...... I heard that I entered the temple of false gods. ”
"False gods? I've only heard that the people here worship the gods of nature. Xiao Chen said in surprise.
"Pseudo-......," Karanda was about to explain, but suddenly looked ahead, and then changed his words, "I lost my words. Let's talk about something else. ”
Xiao Chen followed her line of sight, only to see three people in green robes walking towards them, the robes were very peculiar, as if woven with vines and leaves, although they looked rough, but they were very harmonious on these people.
"People from the Temple of Nature?" Xiao Chen asked in a low voice.
Kalanda nodded silently.
Xiao Chen had never dealt with the people of the Nature Temple, and was looking at their clothes with interest. But unexpectedly, when these three people saw them and their group, they took the initiative to greet them.
"Nature bestows abundance, Miss Luo, I didn't expect to see you here. The middle-aged man at the head was about fifty, a little fat, with a round head, thick eyebrows, and a smile on his lips all the time, no matter how he looked like a businessman. He stretched his arms diagonally downward, his palms spread flat, palms upward, and performed the ritual of a natural temple.
"Heaven and earth protect the world, Priestess Roland, what a coincidence, why are you here?" Luo Ling showed just the right amount of surprise, touched her forehead with her hand, and returned the mage salute to the other party.
"The servants of nature are always busy. There are too many people in the slave market, and there has been a plague in the north recently, so we have to take a look. Roland explained as he looked at Luo Ling's companion, "Ah, this one I know, is the leader of the Blue Flame Mercenary Regiment, Kalanda. Who is this handsome young man?"
"He's the Master Xiao Chen I talked about. ”
"Ah, disrespect. I've heard your name mentioned by many people. Priest Roland nodded to him, "Suero needs some fresh blood, otherwise even if people come and go, it will still be full of staleness." ”
"Do you think Suero needs some change?" Xiao Chen felt that there was something unspoken in the priest's words.
"The river doesn't stay in the riverbed, and the mountain breeze doesn't linger in the valley. The sages' 'clear sentences' tell us that change is the way of nature. After saying these words, the priest of Roland did not explain, but said to Luo Ling, "I have heard that Miss Luo is very kind to those slaves who have been bought, which is really a good thing, and it is rare to see such a master in Suero. ”
"I just don't like people who have a bitter face every day. Luo Ling said with a smile.
"Anyway, I'd like to see more people like you. Roland praised.
"You might be able to do better, for example, by not coming here to buy slaves, by not giving slave traders a chance to get rich! Eating the jungle has always been the way of nature, but I have never seen animals enslave their own kind! Slavery is not the way of nature, it is sin. The young man beside Priest Roland said suddenly.
"Garneau, you shouldn't say this, you should apologize to Miss Luo. Roland disgruntled.
"Lord Roland, it's not better to trade less, we're here ......," the young man argued.
"Shut up, don't you say this to the people in the slave market, but only to Miss Luo, who has done the best, are you deceiving her to talk?" Roland seemed to be really angry, "Think about your father, don't embarrass him." Apologize to Miss Luo. ”
The young man blushed, looked left and right and saw that no one was helping him, so he could only bow his head and bow to Luo Ling, "I'm sorry." ”
Luo Ling nodded, just like the style of a mage.
"Remember, Garneau: the quiet tree has a long life, and the brilliant flowers bloom only one season. It's time for us to go. Priest Roland greeted the men again, and departed with them.
Xiao Chen watched a few people leave, and asked Luo Ling, "How do you know these people?"
"Roland is the Silver Leaf Priest of Suero City, second only to the Golden Bough Priests of the Elder Order in the Temple of Nature. We've dealt with each other a bit. ”
"Why are they talking so strangely?"
Luo Ling sneered, "I just like to drop my schoolbag, the priests of the Temple of Nature are considered to be rare cultural people in this world, and you still don't allow others to be literary and artistic?"
Translated into Chinese, these words are a bit like poetry. Xiao Chen pondered, "But if I am caught in a normal conversation, I feel like I have eaten bibimbap and my diaphragm is panicking." ”
"There are no texts in the temple of nature, and many of the so-called 'clear sentences' are just words handed down by the priests of their predecessors. In other words, we call it quoting scriptures. ”
"Hah, it's nerds. ”
"Don't say that, Mr. Rowland is a big customer of mine, and the fertilizer business depends on him. ”
"You're still in the fertilizer business?!
"The tall industries have been left to the school, and you still have to worry about making some fat powder money, it's really boring......"
Just as the two of them were running the train, Kalanda reminded, "Miss Luo, it's strange for them to appear here. ”
"How?"
"The young man, Garneau, seems to be the son of another silver-leaf priest, and when he was a trainee priest here, he heard that he had caused a lot of trouble, and it seems that he had even had a conflict with the slave traders. Kalanda recalled.
"You mean...... They weren't supposed to be here?"
"Maybe I'm overthinking, but I've never heard of the priests of the Temple of Nature like to help the slave traders. ”
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It was a lavish reception room, and all the furnishings seemed to drop gold coins when they were picked up and shaken. The windows were open along the street, and the traffic and bargaining outside entered the room, adding a bit of a philistine atmosphere to the owner.
"Well, Roland, they're here to check for the disease. They all went to the places where the slaves were kept. Inda, a slave trader with a fat stomach, sinked into his chair, fiddling with the ruby ring on his big finger, laughed a little sarcastically, "But nothing like this has ever happened before. If there is, that's what happened at the time of my dead ghost father, it was really a great epidemic, many slaves died, and several slave merchants were so poor that they couldn't open the pot, so they sold themselves to become slaves. Inda pounded the armrest without any image and laughed, "Haha." A few of them were sold by my dad. ”
Xiao Chen and Luo Ling sat opposite Inda, and Kalanda stood vigilantly beside him, observing the four heavily armed and tall warriors behind Inda.
"Captain Kalanda, don't be nervous, we will always be hated for no reason, naturally we are used to being careful, but I can trust you. Dyne turned his head and waved his hand, letting the four warriors walk out of the door, "Actually, we are also giving people a way to live, aren't we? Who are these slaves? Captured soldiers, hungry people fleeing famine, without us, these people will not live for three days." My dad has said a lot of nonsense in his life, but one thing is really true: what we do is to save people!"
Luo Ling looked at Dyne's face and said nonsense without a red heart, and she admired him a little, but she didn't want to waste time on the kindness of the slave traders, so she asked, "Priest Roland did the inspection?"
"I also gave medicine to everyone, even I took one. It is said that the epidemic came from the empire, and although not too many people died, those who got sick had to be stretched for several days and lay down for half a month. No one wants a floppy stinking ghost. ”
"Then why didn't they check on the merchants in the city first?" Xiao Chen wondered.
"They're not going to go. Master Xiao, if you want to say who is this in Suero City. Dyne gave a thumbs up, "It's up to us, the guys at the Temple of Nature have finally learned to do it." Poor old Roland, if he had been so sensible last year, he would have lived a comfortable life a long time ago. ”
Dyne laughed again, and after laughing for a while, he tapped the coffee table with his knuckles a little proudly, and emphatically said, "The slave business is not something that anyone can do, and it is very troublesome! If an ordinary person dares to touch it, I am afraid that he will become a slave in less than a month." ”
"Mr. Dyne seems to be the one who can solve the problem. Luo Ling said with a faint smile.
"That's natural, but although it's troublesome, once this kind of business is started, it's no fun to do anything else. ”
This sobbing face really satisfied all his imagination of the slave trader, Xiao Chen thought to himself.
Dyne yawned and seemed a little tired. As soon as he snapped his fingers, a thin and serious middle-aged man walked in from outside the door, "Don't talk about that old guy, the two mages came just in time today." There is a group of slaves who have just been brought from the border, and you all know what kind of good goods can survive from the battlefield, not to mention anything else, if the strength and temperament are not good, they will have turned to ashes long ago. Let Steward Cohen show you around, and if you see what you like, take it back. ”