Chapter XXXIV: The Slave Market

In March 322 A.D., the war between the Philae Empire and the Saint-Soran Empire came to a stalemate with a battle at Medin, a small city in the southern province of Lulian Province.

The situation has eased markedly. The news from the front line has dropped from a dozen times a day to once every two or three days now. I don't know the express of the hall.,It's been a long time since there's nothing new to pay attention to.。 The tension of the people was relieved, and the days returned to the previous step-by-step track.

The number of caravans has increased, and the major lords have also freed up their hands to clear out bandits and horse thieves and ensure the safety of the passages. Business in the bars was getting better and better, and the nobles were back to their endless balls and hunts. There are also fewer topics to talk about, more short trivial things in parents and short-term fragrant rhymes.

In particular, some of the frontline cities affected by the war have shown a deformed prosperity than usual.

Refugees, mercenaries, freelancers, merchants, and Imperial soldiers from all over the world fill the city. The streets are full of men in leather armor and carrying big swords on their backs. Some of them came to sign up for the army, some came from the fringes, and some followed their respective mercenary groups to find work.

At this time, there is no shortage of work. Caravans from north to south are pouring into the city, looking for opportunities to make a fortune. They either brought a large amount of urgently needed supplies, or they bought a lot of precious fur cores, and they needed to hire these men who were fighting as their profession to protect them on the way.

The city's bazaars expanded at a terrifying rate.

Almost every day, new caravans poured into the city. In order to compete for a market stall, it is not uncommon to grab high-priced prices and even fight. Before the market could be expanded, people built simple stalls out of wood and tarpaulin. As long as you pay taxes to the lord's officer, as long as there is still a place to go, no one cares about you.

During this period, the most painful thing was the officer in charge of urban health.

A large number of refugees have poured into the city, living along the streets, generating a lot of garbage. The caravan's sycophant camels and the feces of the mercenaries' pets can be seen everywhere. As long as you don't clean it up for a while, it stinks. If it rains for several days in a row, and the city's sewers and drains are blocked again, then the fun will be great.

But it's good, the refugees are willing to do anything to make ends meet. No matter how hard and tiring it is, no matter how meager the salary is, there are people rushing to do it.

As the city prospered, the streets were filled with prostitutes dressed in glamorous clothes. They swaggered around the arms of the rich mercenaries and nouveau riche in their arms, laughing and winning. Many refugee women who are forced to make ends meet have also fallen for half-concealed hookups. Sometimes a large piece of brown bread can be ** once.

In addition to prostitutes, there are also a lot more crooks and thieves. These guys come in groups of three or five, stealing and abducting. They can be found everywhere in the streets, in the markets. Even some nobles and wealthy merchants from afar became the targets of these bold fellows.

Of course, if you want to get rich, you have to take risks. But not everyone is so lucky.

The soldiers and sergeants of the city find out a few thieves and crooks every day. They took him and chained him to the gates of the city or to the square. Let the citizens who have lived up and down have the goal of consuming their rotten eggs and rotten tomatoes, and by the way, practice the accuracy of losing things. Some of the most heinous crimes, those who dared to provoke the nobles, were directly hung on the gallows.

This is a time of chaos and hustle and bustle.

Every day, refugees die of hunger and disease, and just as lucky people seize the opportunity to make a fortune overnight. Countless people have risen and fallen and struggled in the whirlpool of the times. No one knows what tomorrow will be like, all they can do now is to try their best to live and live desperately. ...,

On March 26, 322, the city of Muni, the capital of the province of Loulian, was bustling with people. In three days, on the 30th, the day when Grand Duke Adolf returned to the city and held a grand procession. People who have already flocked to the city of Muni as early as the beginning of March are already looking forward to the festival.

As the carriage entered the city, Moon lifted the curtains and stared with a pair of indifferent eyes at the city he had returned to after a year and a half.

A year and a half ago, as a close confidant of the Pope, he and the knight of the Templar Order, Mark, "accompanied" Princess Ellethia on a trip to the port town of Borabel southwest of Lulian.

In fact, their mission is to monitor Elethea, who is considered forbidden by Augustus, and ensure that she behaves in a manner that would not harm the dignity of the Golden Dragon family.

The small city in the southernmost part of the continent was originally the end of that trip. But it was there that Eretia met Roy, the damned handyman at Baron Paulabel's castle, and at the same time, they were also subjected to a deliberate invasion by the Ferrets.

During that night's battle, he, Mark, and the others managed to stop the Feretes from pursuing them by abandoning the civilians, and were finally rescued by the Templar Alex. Roy, on the other hand, was regarded as a hero for saving Elethea and escorting most of the civilians out of danger, and was canonized by Elethea as her guardian knight.

Moon knew, in fact, that from that moment on, they had already screwed up the errand. Not only did they not guarantee that Eretia would follow the rules, but they even made Augustus's fiancée a lowly handyman a guardian knight. This is simply an insult to Augustus and the entire Golden Dragon family.

Later, as Alex attempted to kill Roy, a full-scale clash broke out between the Royal Knights and the Templars. The result of the casualties of several royal knights caused the wrath of Edward I and an uproar ensued!

This is, after all, the Saint Solan Empire.

In this country, which had fought twenty-one wars with the Holy See at the time of its founding, the power and influence of the Holy See have always been constrained by the royal family and the nobility, and it is far inferior to its status in the other two empires. As a result, the conflict ended with a cardinal going to the imperial capital to apologize and recall most of the Templars, including Alex.

It was a severe blow to the prestige of the Holy See.

However, the situation at that time was that Edward I did not hesitate to burn jade, and the imperial nobles were indignant, and Elethea resolutely joined the temple of the Holy Virgin. This qiē can only make the Holy See choose to settle the matter. After all, if Edward had been given the excuse and opportunity to make a move on all the churches in the territory, it would have been an absolute disaster for the Holy See.

And as the person directly responsible for this matter, the saddest ones are Moon and the Templar George and others. George followed Alex back to Vendinoberg, where he was said to have been relegated to the bottom and in a difficult situation. Moon, on the other hand, was visibly cold to him because of the Pope's attitude. His position in the Holy See had plummeted to a dangerous level.

However, Moon is Moon after all, and with more than a year of unremitting drilling, plus several safe and even perfect completion of tasks, he is now back in the sight of the Pope.

And this time when he returned to Muny City, he had a task that had a lot to do with the incident more than a year ago.

The carriage entered the city gate with the sound of wheels crushing the stone pavement. Several papal knights, dressed in white coats with cross markings, rode slowly on the sides of the carriage. Behind him, thirty papal guards marched on foot in a neat line.

At the sight of the Holy See convoy, the pedestrians avoided it, some saluting respectfully, while others responded with indifference and even hostile glances. ..., for such a look, Moon is already commonplace.

The Saint Soran Empire has never been a country of devotion to the gods, even if more than half of the people are believers in the gods, and a small half are damned blasphemers.

Sooner or later, they will all be burned alive along with their province of sinners, and the heretics of the Chaotic Lands that they had left behind because Grand Duke Solan could connive at them!

Moon coldly lowered the curtains, hiding his gloomy face in the silent darkness.

He didn't see that in the crowd not far from the carriage, a black-haired young man, accompanied by an obscene-looking old man, was walking all the way to the slave market

Roy was pushed forward by the crowd, front, back, left and right, all of them were densely packed with human heads. From time to time, someone rushed by, knocking him and the people around him away, and then he heard a burst of scolding.

The slave market in Muuni City is located right next to the trading market in the north of the city. Originally, the market was in the south of the city. However, since most of the port cities in the south had fallen, caravans came by land from the north, and the markets of the cities were adjusted to the north. Originally, it was just a low-rise residential area, surrounded by farmland and open land. But after the market was established, in just a month or two, it had become the liveliest place in the whole of Muni City.

Roy and Grandet walked along, and as far as they could see, they were surrounded by tarpaulin and wood stalls filled with a wide variety of goods. Line after line, stretching into the distance. Crowds walked down the aisles, and from time to time people stopped to ask for prices. The sound of selling, bargaining, and shouting is endless, and it is very lively.

Behind the stall were rows of camels and horses, shirtless men carrying goods on their shoulders, sweating all over their bodies, and their muscles shining in the sun. Surrounded by a variety of food stalls, the steaming food is not only cheap, but also generously portioned, attracting people who have been working hard since dawn and are already hungry.

In addition, there are also some bards and jugglers who have also set their sights on this feng shui treasure. They occupied the open space around the market, especially in front of the entrances to the main thoroughfares, which were occupied by circuses from all over the country. Gisai people in fancy costumes shout loudly, breathe fire, or throw colorful balls to solicit business. There were a few beautiful gyssayes, also wearing shiny crop tops, who rushed past the people who went up and down and threw winks.

Walking in the middle of this, Roy looked left and right, no matter how much he looked, he couldn't get enough of it, and he only felt that the cells in his body were full of vitality like a fish in water. This is the life he knows best. The moment in front of him made him feel like he had returned to some early morning in Bollabelle, and he walked through the forest path, into the market, to Daddy Ken's blacksmith shop, or to the docks.

The slave market was followed by the road to the east, past several circus tents, and then past a gladiatorial arena erupting from time to time with shouts and screams, the roar of beasts, and the knights' jousting arena being built.

Slaves are the largest market in the entire trading market, after auction houses and valuable goods such as magic cores. It's a lot more orderly than the commodity market next door. After all, there are not too many people on both sides of the transaction who can afford to buy slaves, or who have enough strength to run a slave business.

Old Grandet had asked Roy to buy slaves, and he had been whispering them in his ear dozens of times.

The manor was now short of manpower, and for Grandet and Malt, who were eager to run the manor, the purchase of slaves was a top priority. Originally, Roy promised Grandet to come to the slave market with him after school on the first day of school, but because of the conflict with the noble students and the injury he was injured in the competition with Xiang Feng, it was delayed.

And in the next few days, Roy, who had just improved his strength, was completely immersed in cultivation, and even forgot about it completely. Until Grandet rushed into the academy and pulled him out of the happiness of the spiritual power layer of the Illusory Tower.

"Young master, this is the slave market, these are ordinary slaves who are traded directly, and there are more expensive or special slaves, all of which are auctioned in the slave auction hall inside, and they can't be bought outside. Grandet was obviously familiar with the place, and along the way, he introduced Roy to the slave market.

Entering the market, Roy saw hundreds of slaves of different colors locked in huge iron cages. The men, dressed in rags and unkempt, sat quietly in their cages, looking blank. The young and strong are in one place, and the women, children and the elderly are alone in the same place. The price is marked on the front of each cage, and as long as you give money, you can enter the cage and pick it by the way.

Next to each row of iron cages, there is an open space fenced off by wooden railings. Many of the buyers gathered around the railings and watched as the slave owners took the slaves out of the cages, walked along the railings, quoted the price if they liked, paid for it, signed the sale papers, and marked the slaves.

"Special slave?" Roy asked with a strange casual voice. While looking at the sign in front of an iron cage.

The sign stated that the seven or eight young men in the iron cage were all from the Ditu people north of the Chaos Lands, and they were prisoners of war who were captured by other Ditu tribes in a certain battle.

Tribes are one of the most important sources of slaves in the human world. The famous Ditu, Ferisin, Tarami, Gisai, Kenta and other tribes in remote mountainous areas or bitter cold lands have wars of different scales every year. And as an appendage of war, the most are prisoners of war.

The tribal magnates usually sold their prisoners of war to slave traders who went into the mountains to buy them, which was the best way to avoid the instability of the tribe caused by too many young prisoners of war, and to earn gold coins to buy weapons and equipment from the outside world.

In addition to these people, there were also some families from aristocratic estates and some bankrupt peasants, criminals and vanquished. Of course, in addition to humans, there are also orcs, barbarians

"There's a group of elves going up for auction. It is said that there are dozens. There are also a few dwarves and women from a broken family from the imperial capital. Grande's voice rang in Roy's ears, "This is the largest batch of alien slaves in recent times, and many nobles have come to prepare for the auction." ”

Hearing this, Roy frowned.

Roy didn't like slavery. Although slaves had been an integral part of the human world for thousands of years, even Grandet, Malt, Daddy Ken, and Hans took it for granted, but he still didn't like it.

It's not that Roy has a great and kind heart, but it has a lot to do with his experience of living in the dwarf dungeon and the elven lake city as a child.

Among the elves, the queen, elders, and some temple priests had a much higher status, but they did not enslave other elves or capture other races as their own slaves. The same goes for dwarves and gnomes. In his experience living with them, Roy had never seen anyone treat their own people as goods.

goods, that's why Roy liked slavery the least. He couldn't figure out how human beings could treat people like himself as inanimate goods.

Roy had seen quite a few slaves. Without exception, the slaves were marked by a fiery red iron with the mark of the slave owner, and they were all handcuffed and shackled, like animals. No one sees them as human beings, but they are human beings. Compared to the freedom of races such as elves and dwarves, the advantages and disadvantages are obvious. ..., hearing Grandet's words at this moment, Roy was silent for a while, looking at the huge white tent in the central auction hall, and finally sighed silently. Turn your head to the side.

The reality is brutal. Slavery had existed for thousands of years, and even Edward I could not have challenged it at the risk of offending all nobles, let alone an ordinary commoner.

Moreover, the auction over there has obviously come to an end, and some aristocratic buyers who have not gained anything have already come out scolding. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. It's better to pay more attention to the present. At least these human slaves outside will be in a much better position to buy back the manor than to be bought by a scumbag like the previous owner of the manor.

"Young master," Grande obviously didn't know what Roy was thinking, and led him to a row of iron cages and said, "The slaves here are good, although they are a little expensive, but I have seen them, they are all young and strong." I've talked to the slave owner, and if we can buy more, he'll give us a little cheaper."

Roy looked at the people in the iron cage.

The cages were all strong and powerful, the youngest was seventeen or eighteen years old, and the oldest was only thirty or forty years old. Apparently specially selected from a pool of slaves. However, the price is also much more expensive. The price of one slave was thirty gold lulangs. This is already more than three times the price of an ordinary slave.

Seeing someone stop, the slaves in the iron cage all stood up.

This was the demand of the slave owners, and at the same time, these slaves also wanted to be bought as soon as possible. After all, the slaves who were bought still had the possibility of living a little better, and here, they couldn't even eat. If no one cares for a long time, you may even be bought into the gladiatorial arena next to it.

Once there, they won't survive even a week!

Roy looked at the iron cages one by one, and suddenly, his gaze stopped at one of the iron cages. In this iron cage, there are about 20 people. However, unlike the other iron cages next to it, most of the slaves in this iron cage are crowded on the right, and the three men occupy half of the space on the left.

The slaves huddled on the right looked at the three men with hatred and fear. And when all the slaves were on their feet, the three men were already lazy, and only turned their heads to glance at him and Grandet, and then paid no attention to them.

"Soldier?!" Roy could smell the breath of the three men that could only be cultivated on the battlefield with just his nose.

Before Grandet could reply, a voice rang out: "One knight, two non-commissioned officers!"

Roy turned his head to look, only to see a middle-aged man with a tall and thin figure with a protruding chin, already walking over under the escort of several thugs.

"Interested?"

"Knight?" Roy looked at the middle-aged man in surprise. Obviously, this is the slave owner of these three slaves.

"The one in the middle," the slave owner walked up to Roy and turned his head to look at a middle-aged slave in his cage who was about forty years old, "of course, strictly speaking, he used to be a knight. However, because of his injury, he lost his fighting spirit, and now he is just an ordinary slave. ”

"How can you become a slave when you are injured and lose your fighting spirit?" Roy asked.

"Little brother, I only care about buying and selling, but I don't care about telling stories," the slave owner raised his eyebrows and said lightly, "If you are interested, you can buy it and let him tell you about it himself." But I can assure you that whatever he did before, he is a slave here, just like everyone else!"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Grande: "How is it, Mr. Grandet, you have been wandering around for a few days. Still undecided?"

"I said, can the price be any more?" Grandet bargained with the slave owner. ..., Roy walked over to the cage.

"What's your name?" Roy asked, looking at the middle-aged slave who had been claimed by the slave owner to have been a knight.

The middle-aged slave looked at Roy quietly through the iron cage. He was tall, with short hair and a beard like steel needles, a square face with Chinese characters, deep sunken eyes, and a pair of blue eyes with indifferent eyes. Although I couldn't feel the slightest fluctuation of fighting spirit, the momentum that naturally emanated was as cold as winter.

After a long time, he spoke, his voice low.

"Karenich!"

"Well, Mr. Karenich, I know my question is a bit abrupt," Roy said seriously, "I want to know, you were really a knight before?"

Roy's words drew a snort and angry glances from the other two people behind Simeone, as if his question was an insult.

Karenich, on the other hand, looked thoughtfully at Grande, who was bargaining with the slave owner, waved at the two men, nodded, and said, "Yes, it was." ”

"Listen to him, you lost your fighting spirit because of the injury?" Roy looked at Karenic with blazing eyes: "Where's the injury?"

The two men behind Karenich suddenly scolded angrily.

"What's your business!"

Not only did they react violently, but even the slave owner, who was bargaining on the side, gave Roy a strange look. Obviously, this inexplicable question is really weird and boring.

Karenich didn't overreact. He simply lifted his clothes, revealing his muscular body and a hideous wound that ran from his chest all the way to his lower abdomen, almost splitting his whole body in half.

Roy looked at the wound carefully until Karenic put down his clothes, suddenly turned to Grande and said, "This person, I want it." As he spoke, he looked back at Karenich, who was about to speak, and smiled slightly: "Of course, the two friends around you." ”...... I could have written 2,000 words to bring out the following things, but Chengdu thundered......