Kherson.

The largest seaport city in the Kingdom.

"Every time I come here, I marvel at the excitement of this place. ”

Alexei wiped the apple on his clothes and handed it to the well-dressed girl behind him: "Do you want to eat it?"

"Forget it, I know you're in a bad mood. Seeing that Lan Meng didn't respond, he took a bite of the fruit disapprerovingly, and said with a smile, "But you've tasted the benefits, and it's not a loss to give me some secrets, right?" ”

There was an angry snort from behind.

"Oh,. You were cool for two days, and Dora complained to me that it was too late to do the laundry. ”

"Don't say it!" Lan Meng pushed Alexey hard, but the spell barrier that existed at all times immediately spontaneously fired the power, and the girl who was imprisoned in magic fell to the ground, and her first reaction was to touch the hood on her head, and only after finding that she had not fallen did she gasp for breath and glared at the mage in front of her.

"I don't want to hear you talk about that again. ”

"Then don't say it. Alexei casually threw the remaining pits into an empty bucket, and in the distance, there was a calm bay.

The bay was connected to the vast ocean, and Alexei planned to take a passenger ship bound for the Empire, land at Feldenberg, and then travel overland to Winterfell, then enter Norf, and hike to the Observatory of the Mage's outpost built on the banks of the Norf River Mingchun.

The estimated duration of the trip was five days, and with the back-and-forth and the days set aside for the ruins expedition, Alexei decided to return to Darune in half a month. At that time, with the help of Joannis, Kapole's power should be able to swell to a value that is more in line with the mage's expectations, five hundred sturdy male slaves? This is just an excuse to squeeze the limits of Kapole's ability, if only the remaining gem-like gems in the ruins, supplemented by Alexei's spells, a hundred people are enough.

He saw a large ship sailing in the fjord in the distance, in the distance, it was only a small black dot in the eyes of ordinary people, but in Alexey's eyes, he could see the flag fluttering on the mast, on which the eagle of the empire was painted, and the white rose with the sword crossed.

"It's our ship. ”

Alexei took out the ticket and motioned for Blue Dream to follow.

"It's still far away. Lan Meng took the bill that belonged to him, and also tried to look at the black ship on the sea, "And it's not so fast, the passenger ship will have to anchor for at least two days to load and unload goods." ”

"No, it's going to depart soon. ”

Alexei shook the ticket in his hand, pointed to the silver mark on the corner of the ticket, and said, "This is a special ship for mages." ”

"You're amazing. ”

Blue Dream helplessly followed Alexey's footsteps, climbing the stairs that can be seen everywhere in the port one by one.

Before they had even stepped onto the platform near the market, they could hear the noise buzzing in their ears, and at the same time, a foul stench wafting from higher up into their nostrils.

The smell of fish, the smell of sweat, the smell of livestock, and the smell of excrement dumped everywhere are all mixed together, like a hodgepodge of rotten meat fermented in the stove.

However, fortunately, the port of Kherson is close to the ocean, and even the soothing breeze in the calm bay has relieved some of the stench caused by humans and animals.

Not far from the dock where the ships were embarked, Alexei stood in front of the bustling harbour bazaar and looked down to see the anchorage for the boats. In front of the anchorage, countless dock workers are moving and unloading goods, like ants swarming, and the scene of the peak flow of people in the black pressure is very lively.

He had been to several of the kingdom's seaport cities, and he had the impression that the ports built by the sea under the supervision of officials were all of a similar layout, and that they were only greeted by merchants and travelers. But there is one wonder in Kherson's harbor that no other port can see: strings of slaves crawling like centipedes with their hands tied, driven from their boats and whipped down.

The living goods, which usually numbered between three hundred and one thousand, had long since been exhausted, and the slaves, who were exhausted, were led by professional slave handlers up another staircase for the passage of living animals with their livestock, to the eastern part of the bazaar for preliminary processing.

The treatment is usually divided into three steps, the first step is usually to do the division of men, women and children, and then a simple rinse, after the first two steps of screening, a skilled slave trainer will quickly distinguish the good and bad physical appearance of the slaves. Inferior batches were sent directly to the market to be sold, while better ones were contacted by a special person, and the slave owners agreed on a specific date to arrange a suitable venue for several interested buyers to bid on.

This process was already well known in Kherson, and Alexei had the privilege of participating in a high-class slave bidding meeting. Even if the upper quality slaves are selected, they will be subdivided in real bidding situations. And the status before becoming a slave is also a plus point for his qualities.

At that time, the highest selling item was a male elf nobleman captured from the forest of Hesa Milind, who sold for a high price of 600 ducats, and the buyer's beaming expression made Alexei remember deeply. Especially after hearing that the merchant had resold the item for 1,700 ducats, Alexei couldn't help but sigh at the enthusiasm of the rich and noble people of the kingdom for new trends and the eagerness to compare with each other.

Seventeen hundred ducats, you must know that it only costs one hundred and fifty to two hundred ducats to buy a well-trained female slave in Darune, if it was in the past, the quality of a male elf was far from worth the price, even if he was from a noble background and had many talents and skills.

He is not a mage, and he is not an army. He can play a few violins, can write a beautiful hand, these additional values are not worth the fraction of that string of gold coins, why is he expensive?

Gender.

I don't know if it's from the customs that came from the imperial Samarando Province, buy a beautiful, after putting on women's clothes, it is enough to fake and real male ** as a collection, recently by the upper class of the kingdom of the hot people, the price of beautiful men has surpassed women, tired of playing with the opposite sex, they began to pursue the thrill of breaking through the physical level, breaking social common sense, and even with some of the male slaves who would have been assigned to labor, the price has increased, and the successful promotion from the mine to the gorgeous big bed.

I don't know when it began, from jewelry to all kinds of new styles of magic items, in order to earn more gold, the most popular spell profession among alchemists is now the jewelry maker who engraves magic light. In order to pursue more profits, the armor masters in the past took the initiative to give up the rune inscriptions of the armor weapons in their hands, and instead created luxury goods such as magic lamps and music boxes.

It is also a transition from women to men, and some of the courtesans who used to be popular in the past, but have gradually lost their attention recently, choose to change their gender through spells, so they have become popular playthings for the upper class again.

I wonder if these courtesans will think of the disproportionate reward and effort when they swim in the sea of gold coins, and secretly congratulate themselves on making the right decision.

It's so wonderful!

But Alexei could only think of two words: depravity.

This is the flower of extravagance that blooms under the watering of prosperity.

A thoughtful Alexei leaned against the gate of the bazaar, listened to the shouts and shouts inside, and casually asked, "Do you want to go in and have a look?"

"I hate the vibe inside. Lan Meng clenched her nose and put her other hand to her face to fan the wind, "It stinks here, how long will it take for our ship to arrive?" She turned her head to look at the sea, the black spot was still a black spot, neither bigger nor smaller, slow like a snail.

"I still like it. ”

"It's only a pervert like you who likes it. ”

"You and I have different tastes, but ......," Alexei laughed, and said, "You have a lot to do with the Twin Bladers, and you hate it?" ”

"It was a last resort. In order to move Olmea, I had to take control of a gang and let them help me deliver the goods. ”

"Then why not just charm a captain?"

"How many captains really have ships, and the risk of controlling merchants is too great, they are very mobile, and they can contact the upper forces, at least until they succeed, I don't want to be found by guys like you. ”

"Reaching out to gangs also turned out to be a good idea. ”

"Whatever you want, I don't think I made the wrong decision anyway, because I just chose the best one out of a few less clever options. Lan Meng didn't want to continue to discuss her failures with Alex, even if there were more reasons, her current situation was indeed a silent irony - arguing more for the sake of a moment of anger showed her own ridiculousness, the girl was not a fool, she was eager to divert the topic, "But you promised me to further contact the virtual realm for me." ”

"Don't worry, if you're not lying to me. I'm sure you'll join me in the depths of the ruins. ”

Alexei held out his hand to her, "Now, as paid in advance, come with me, we need a slave to help with our luggage and lodging on the way." ”

"Are you going to kill him? like you're going to kill Grujger. Blue Dream didn't accept it, she still maintained her original position, ignoring Alexey's unleashed kindness.

"What do you say?"

"I guess you will. ”

"So what?"

"I don't want to go. It's a terrible feeling to watch an innocent die in front of you, and if you want to kill someone, kill someone who has helped us in the past, I'm sorry, I can't accept it. I don't want to see the victim's face, I'm going to be uncomfortable. ”

"Hypocrisy?"

"You just treat me as a hypocrisy, let me stay here quietly and blow the wind, and you don't have to worry that I'll run away, I'm not that stupid. ”

"Hopefully, as you say. Alexei nodded, agreeing without much thought. But just in case, he reached out and took out a brooch embedded with a blue diamond embedded in his pocket, and there was a colorful feather stuck to the brooch, which looked very delicate, "Wear this, so I can find you." ”

"Is this a gift for me?" Lan Meng's eyes flashed with surprise, she picked up the brooch and put it in her palm a little lovingly.

But the next moment, Alexey's cold tone immediately shattered the girl's illusions: "No, this is a collar for a dog." ”