As Edward and I left the court waiting outside was a carriage pulled by two black stallions.
As we approached the carriage I noticed something particularly different than the other carriages which the nobles had was that Edward's carriage had a spring system under his carriage.
Catching me looking at his device he told me what it was.
"That is something which I've thought of while travelling on a bumpy road and what can I say? It works, it virtually felt like I was travelling in the air. Even though it works so perfectly I stil haven't think of a name for it yet. What do you think it should be called?"
And it looks like my uncle is a mechanical genius.
"What about calling it the "Suspension device"? Lord Edward." Since it looked so similar to the same device back in the old world I thought it be fitting to name it after the one back in the old world.
Hearing my suggestion Edward's eyes began to grow big. "That's a great suggestion Pual! And please, do call me Uncle. it feels awkward being addressed by my tittle by a fellow family member."
"Come on let's get inside." Saying that. Edward and I got into the carraige.
"Oh, before we go to my fiefdom I want to show you something." Knocking against the wall of the carriage to signal the coachman sitting in front of the carriage that we are in.
Before long the carriage started to move forward.
As we travelled deeper into the capital city of Romus I took in the numerous sights by looking out of the numerous window panes which Edward has installed onto his carriage.
All around us were buildings made of bricks and tiled roofs standing up to at least three stories tall with smoking chimneys on top of them.
While taking in the sights Edward told me the layout of the city.
This city is arranged in a circular like arangement which is then further divided into three zones. The outer zone is where commoners live and it is also where most of the trading and businesses are conducted.
In the middle zone is where rich merchants and nobles live and in the inner most zone is where the Emperor and his blood relatives live.
Currently we are in the outer most layer.
Fashion in this city is pretty modern with people wearing different clothings and the odds of having someone wearing the same clothes are low.
As we closed in on the city's plaza square which is located near the main entrance I noticed that the crowd of vibrant colours started to get thicker and that there was a gigantic building filled with men and women dressed in armour and holding dangerous looking weapons.
The building is at least two stories tall but don't let its height fool you as it's size is immensely huge like, cathedral huge and it had a triangular roof. Outside, it is a building made up of bricks which are different from the red bricks seen around the city. Instead, the bricks are stone grey like the ones that are found in the city walls.
Catching me staring at the building Edward explained to me what it is.
"That building right there is the adventurer's guild hall. It's where adventurers receive quests and get their rewards from. It also serves as an inn and provides tired adventurer's food and lodging but at a price. You'd be surprised by the fact that the most powerful people in this continent are affiliated to the adventurer's guild rather than a country."
"Why do the bricks look different than the bricks seen in the other buildings around the city? Uncle."
"Hmmm?" Edward said while squinting trying to see what I am talking about.
After a moment Edward realised what I'm trying to ask him.
"Oh those bricks that are greyish in colour?" Edward said while pointing to one of the stone grey bricks.
I nodded my head,
"Those are Mana bricks. They are able to absorb magic better making them great against magic based attacks and are also much more resilient than normal bricks but they are expensive to produce. The very fact that the Emporer is able to line city walls with mana bricks is a proof of how rich the Empire truly is. Of course, rich individuals could also indeed have their houses be made in mana bricks."
"Ohhh." I said imitating a child who is excited by hearing the knowledge.
While talking to each other the carriage stopped and Edward gestured for me to get out.
As we did so a loud trumpet sounded.
And as it did so the crowd in the plaza spilt up like the red sea and formed up in two lines. At first I thought it was royalty visitng the plaza but I was soon proven wrong but what I saw next.
Shackled and wearing clean white clothes ,prisoners from the various non-human races, marched down the space formed by the crowd. As the slaves marched down human valley jeers began to sound out and rotten eggs and vegetables were thrown at them.
Stolen novel; please report.
"You see those peope Pual?"
Wait, people? Non-human races are normally addressed as demons in the Empire and Edward addressing the non-human slaves as people might mean that he doesn't agree with the ideals of the Empire.
I nodded my head in response.
"These people are slaves. You may not know this Pual. But my fiefdom is located right next to the great chasm."
The great chasm? I thought I heard it somewhere before in church.
Seeing my confused expression Edward explained it to me.
"The Great Chasm is a chasm where an unusal amount of mana occurs. And you know what happens when a corpse is exposed to a high amount of mana right Pual? I believe you learn what happens to the corpse in church."
I nodded my head.
"The Corpse becomes an undead. Depending on the amount of hatred the recently departed harbours determines the type of undead borned."
"As expected of my nephew." Edward said while rubbing the top of my head.
It sure as hell feels awkward being patted on the head by someone younger than you.
"With the unnatural strength and mana capacity of the undead they are no match against us humans. Determining that the undead are not worth sacrificing regular law abiding troops of the empire, the high nobility established a penal battalion of sorts where slaves are allowed to choose between serving their new masters or risk their lives against the undead in exchange for freedom. The same goes for condemned prisoners of the Empire."
"Why is the promise of freedom given so freely uncle?"
"Well, that is because the promise is rarely needed to be kept." Edward answered grimly.
I merely nodded my head in response to his answer.
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We waited in a nearby tavern watching the rich nobles and merchants buying slaves and as we watched I kept an eye on Edward seeing how his reaction to this whole slave trading business is like.
As I observed him for the next five hours I sometimes noticed him grasping his cup of ale so tightly that his knuckles grew white or when he clenched his teeth.
After the whole slave trading thing is finished we approached the plaza and standing in front us were a group of 50 slaves still shackled willing to risk their lives for a chance in freedom.
"So you guys are choosing the slim chance of freedom eh?" Edward spoke to them.
The slaves all looked down at the floor not answering him.
"First things first let's get you all out of those uncomfortable shackles." Edward said while gesturing to the shackles that the slaves wore.
"Are you not worried about them escaping Uncle?" I asked Edward.
"I am not worried at all. Even if they do escape, where will they go?"
"Oh."
Edward then gestured to the coachman who then produced a ring of keys.
The coachman then proceeded to unlock the shackles of the slaves one by one.
"While we wait for the criminals to come why don't you guys take a seat in one of the carriages?" Edward pointed to a convoy of carriages which belongs to him an had arrived while I was observing Edward.
How do I know those carriages belonged to Edward? Well, they all have his signature Suspension Device.
Unlike the carraiges that the Empire uses to transport prisoners the ones the slaves went into were normal arriages used to ferry passengers throughout the Empire.
By now some of the slaves had a confused look on their faces. After all, they are slaves and why would someone treat them so well, a noble even.
After thirty minutes of waiting a caravan filled with criminals approached and unloaded the various criminals on board.
There were a total of a hundred criminals that were unloaded and made to stand in three rows. But unlike the slaves Edward didn't release the shackles on them. When I asked him why he said that criminals usually are organised and belong to the various criminal organisations within the Empire so they have a place to escape to.
After loading up the criminals into the carrraiges belonging to Edward Edward and I went back to our carriage and moved off towards his fiefdom.
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A/N: Well then, in the next chapter we get to see Pual's new home.