"I'm sorry I must decline, I'm not too... intrigued by it." I have a feeling it's going to be trouble if I accepted, as someone who grew up without something like slavery being legal, despite the various objects about it I am definitely not comfortable with it; even if it's a different world.
"I insist, we must make it up to you for this unfortunate event." He's rubbing his hands together, he is suspicious I mean slave trading aside he is someone I do not want to get involved with.
"No harm was done and I don't want to trouble you, you must be very busy with the event about to start. Plus my companions and I are tired from our journey and would like to rest early." Please just leave me alone, we are attracting a lot of unwanted attention here. I've basically pulled out every possible polite way to decline that I can remember.
"Oh it's no bother, I'm just sitting around during the setup anyways. If you're tired we can offer you some services, it's the least we can do for the inconveniences we've caused you." His eyes are glinting and his lips are twitching upwards a bit, damn people are starting to whisper to each other. Even upper class people are stopping their carriages to see what the commotion was about.
I glanced at the girls, "If you insist that much I can't decline anymore, however if you don't mind my companions are going to head back first."
"Of course not, that's completely fine. I'm sure they're tired. Now come right this way." He gestured with a waving hand to follow him. His eyes however seemed to longingly look at Mary before he closed his eyes in a smile and started walking away.
"Hey wait you're not going to-" Liliana walked up to me and grabbed my arm.
"Just go back for now, can't really decline with this many people." I still need to be in this city for a while and the nobles seemed to be disapproving of my attitude before. Nobles, they are important people and vital to a character's progression in a game, making enemies of them is something very undesirable. "That's an order." Liliana shut her mouth that was about to object and started to walk away with the other two after I hand her 5 gold for expenses, for some reason I think that 5 gold is going to disappear very quickly.
That was a rather cold, although you should have done that a long time ago.
"Not in the mood Karen."
----------------------------------------
Following the slave trader while storing the gold into my inventory (filling it instead with copper since he'll notice somethings off if the bag suddenly becomes empty) we ended up near the center of the city where there was an open plaza where a stage was being built in the far end. Around the fringes were people setting up stalls and red and white striped tents where large covered wagons stopped, from the clinking of metal and quiet sobbing they are probably filled with slaves. Swiper (cause his hands kept twitching and he steals glances at the bag when he thinks I'm not looking) led me into the largest tent which was situated right behind the stage that ran all along the entire length of the plaza.
Swiper kept looking back while ushering me into a store that was connected to the back of the tent while the beast girl was escorted deeper into the tent fighting all the way. As I stepped through the doorway a huge amount of perfume hit me in the face almost causing me to choke on it. Polished wooden floor boards rang out loudly as well walked over, nodding to a young lady who was manning the presumably expensive glossy wood desk Swiper took me through a door behind the reception into a nice looking office.
Although not as grand as the entrance the intricate patterns sewed with bright colours on the carpet combined with magical lighting stones and plush seats were screaming luxury. "Now have a seat have a seat," Swiper gestured for me to sit in the couch? I guess it can be counted as a couch. "So what would you like to see first? A mature and experienced woman? An untouched ripe fruit? Or would you prefer an innocent flower? Oh you're an adventurer aren't you? We have some slaves that have combat experience or magic capabilities, worry not they are completely safe."
"Any suggestions? You know them better than me and I'm not too sure what I want." Let's get this over with.
"Of course of course, I'll bring them in right away." Swiper said that with a huge smile as he did a bow and left the room. A minute later a young girl around Mina's age with her light brown hair tied in pigtails walked in with a tray in her hands. Balancing the pot and cup on top of the tray she walked towards me unsteadily, I stopped myself from trying to help her because it would probably get her into trouble.
"Here is some tea for you to enjoy while you wait sir." She had a small voice, placing the pot and cup down on top of the marble table in front of me with trembling hands she poured some tea out. It's too cruel isn't it? To force a girl that age to do something like this, well at least she is properly clothed albeit in a maid outfit. "Pl-Please enjoy." She then went to stand behind the couch after she finished pouring the tea.
Damn, there are so many skills I need but an analyze skill is on top of my list; I can't tell if the tea is poisoned or laced with something. Fortunately while I was debating whether or not to drink the tea the door opened and Swiper walked back in with a grunt in tow.
"Right I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Dooza Verholn, I'm the slave trader in charge of this event. Now as per you requested I've brought a few slaves that might suit your fancy." Giving the grunt a gesture a large group of woman were brought in along with a couple of men all of them scantily clad. Damn mind stay calm I almost shouted out instinctively that I didn't need any men, the fact that they were half naked makes it all the more disturbing.
First he showed off a bunch of mature and well endowed woman even asked me if I wanted to touch a bit to which I politely declined. Maybe because I wasn't visibly showing much reaction he looked a little displeased before moving on to some young girls around teenage years with thin but curvy and untouched bodies. After that were young girls like the maid before, at this point my mind had been in constant state of war between my lust and my conscience for a while now, but I managed to keep in control. Again he looked displeased at my lack of reaction, before aggressively signaled his grunt to bring the next group forward.
"Here are the ones I truly recommend to you." A group of seven was standing in front of me, three of them being men. "These slaves are combat able and will be able to help greatly to your safety and security during your adventures. From your right is a man of great strength." He pointed at a muscular tanned man with short cropped hair, "He used to be an adventurer too before getting into a huge gambling debt and becoming a slave. He specializes in melee combat primarily with a sword and shield." My uncaring expression must have showed on my face because he quickly went through the other two men with the bare minimum details. One being a fire mage with low tier spells, the other being a laborer type able to carry a lot of weight.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
"Here we have Medline Watrow, she is an ice mage with access to mid tier spells and low tier wind spells. She used to be an adventurer before... certain circumstances made her as a slave." Medline was a tall big breasted lady with long flowing purple hair and what would be described as a sadistic looking face. My mind was screaming witch, but magic wise she is the most competent out of everyone thus far. What counts as low tier or mid tier?
"It is very nice to meet you master," Medline bowed a bit with a seductive smile on her face. Concentrating my will power to keep a certain part down (the pants in this world aren't very concealing to bulges) Swiper started introducing the next girls.
"This is Rin and Ran, they do not have last names. They were orphans taken in by a martial arts master before he died and the dojo was shut down, being their legal owner at that point the master's son sold them as slaves. As such they are extremely skilled in hand to hand combat and have great coordination with each other making them a force to reckon with in battle. They are most preferably sold in a pair as being separated may affect their performance they are both also untouched." Two petite girls with one trying to hide behind the other were looking at me, the one in front with a glare and the one in the back timidly. Stereo types are scary the fact that they practice martial arts aren't helping. I wonder if they can do things bruce lee style?
"Finally this is Caroline Verosa, she was a minor nobles daughter before she was sold because of certain... incidents. She is good with etiquette, cooking, housecleaning, educated and exceptional with a sword. She is one of our best slaves and I highly recommend her for all purposes, of course she is still pure." At the word slave she flinched a bit, it is impressive that she manages to look dignified in what little clothing she has considering how it is little more than scraps of cloth.
"So, is there any that you have taken a liking to?" Medline was blowing me kisses, Ran? was looking conflicted whether or not to do something to appeal while Rin had teary eyes, Caroline wasn't even paying attention to me. Needless to say none of the men really cared I guess it's cause they figured out I'm not the least bit interested.
"What are the prices?" I'm doing this only to check the coin worth, definitely not thinking of purchasing anyone.
"For Medline it would be 25 gold, Rin and Ran together would be 30 gold 20 if separate, as for Caroline she is set at 50 gold." His eyes were shining as he said that, also he skipped the men. While I'm not sure of the market prices from his actions it seems that he is overpricing them quite a bit.
"That's quite a bit too expensive." Resist temptations resist temptations!!!
"I assure you they are properly priced, I can however give you a discount if you purchase multiple slaves." Typical marketing strategy.
"There is still the auction though is there not?" What am I going to do if he gives in? Just say no already so I can leave, this is hell for right now; a certain bodily smell is being emitted mostly from Medline.
"Hmm... that is true, Ah! I know let's go take a look around the auction items first, then you can make a decision afterwards." Tch he's still pushing for a sale, if I say I'm not interested in any of the auction girls then he'll try to make me buy one of these but if I say I have interest then back out he'll know.
"Right this way," he gestured out the door as I got up, "Bob clean up with Milly, also keep the girls in reserve and ready," he nodded towards the last four he introduced. Bob? Why do I have a feeling I'm going to be running into a lot of people with that name... and that they are all going to be brutes or a carpenter.
Once again we were back in the large tent, this time we went further in where various cages of different types were displayed. Aside from female monsters there were also a variety of beasts in cages, a bear with a hide that had a rock like texture, a tiger with a fiery pelt, a colossal rabbit (yes a rabbit) with sharp metallic teeth to name a few, All the while with Swiper explaining in an exaggerated fashion.
"Ah here we are, these are the three most prized items for this auction. Behold an extremely rare mermaid" He pointed to a lit up glass orb filled with water. Inside was indeed swimming a beautiful mermaid with her distressed expression making her strangely more beautiful. "We had quite the trouble acquiring her as a result of how hard it is to see one never mind capture one. She starts at 10 platinum"
As if that speaks for itself, which her beauty certainly did; he moved on without any other remarks. Tied to a cross with chains was a small girl dressed in a tattered butler uniform, she had pale skin, red eyes and short cut black hair. "Here we have a vampire's thrall, a pure blooded vampire's thrall at that. She starts at 50 gold but can be bought out at 1 platinum for certain VIPs who are vampire enthusiasts." A pure blooded vampire's thrall? Could it be that she knows Mary? But it didn't seem like Mary had any servants and she never mentioned anything about it.
"Finally as you have met already we have the beast girl, she is of the tiger race and is very ferocious and strong, we offer a variety of services to tame her or if you feel adventurous or cruel you may do that yourself. She starts at 1 platinum with a warranty period of 3 months in case shes too much for you to handle." She was definitely the beast girl that crashed into me earlier, except this time she was completely covered head to toe with thick iron chains and despite her strained attempts at escape they did not break.
"So what do you think?" He looked at me a wide smile on his face.
"To be honest I don't have the money to afford the bids, and I also have other expenses I need to cover." Would this be okay I wonder? If he'll let me go with just this it'll be great.
"No problem, no problem we can give a period of time to pay for the regular slaves. We also buy slaves so if you ever feel like you want to sell I can offer you a great price for your slaves. In fact I can give you all four girls plus all three that are up for auction in exchange for the vampire in your service." His smile widened showing the his teeth like that of a predator cornering his prey. "I can tell since I have an analyze skill, she is pure blood vampire is she not?"
----------------------------------------
This one's a bit shorter since I wanted to get this out first, second part will be up tomorrow probably somewhere around noon depending on when I wake up (for me that is GMT -6 if you feel like calculating)