Chapter 27 – Business (part 2)

While waiting for his men to check all the materials I had brought and the payment. We talked about the three girls I'd helped as a token of my gratitude to the church as well as Fitz and Emon.

I can take them immediately, and after that regarding the people who were obtained by means prohibited in the letter of agreement between Dalmore and the merchant guild.

Dalmore will take care of it and submit a report to the guild, it will take him a day or two to prepare all that, and regarding the slaves that fall into that category, I can also bring them after they are separated from the other slaves.

But considering there are probably more than five of them, I feel that I need to discuss this first with the guild. For matters such as, what to do with them legally, where they will stay temporarily, what to do for them in the future and a few other things.

I said to let them stay in this place until the guild makes a decision.

In addition, I also asked him about the slave trade routes in this country. He said there were several other traders doing the same thing as him, but they operated in different regions, each with different trade routes and connections.

They also have a place like this that is used to house the slaves that will be marketed in several cities in the kingdom, and according to rumors, some of the slave dealers are directly under the auspices of some nobles. 

According to him, information about this rumor can be obtained by anyone who has connections to the slave traders who operate illegally in this kingdom.

I also asked about young children being sold into slavery. According to him, most of the children he had were sold by their parents.

Some were sold to pay off the family's debts, some were sold because of poverty to reduce the number of mouths to feed, and several other reasons. Some even became slaves along with their entire family, usually because they were in huge debt and could not pay it.

The fate of families like this is that most of them will be separated from their families, because it is rare for anyone to buy a whole family.

Usually Dalmore will give a time limit of 1-2 months, if no one wants to buy them as a whole family, then they will be sold separately.

Dalmore also told me the general price list of slaves, children 1 gold, elven women 5 gold and men 4 gold, demi-human women 6 gold and men 7 gold, human women 3 gold and men 2 gold 50 silver.

This price can change depending on the condition of the slave, such as health, facial features and some other physical characteristics. For example, if there is a woman who is very beautiful, attractive and some other characteristics that stand out, the price can even double.

While those with flaws such as wounds, illnesses and even missing parts of their bodies, the price can drop quite drastically.

I also discussed a few other things until one of Dalmore's subordinates came in and brought the report along with the money to be paid for me. I looked at the details and prices that were handed to me.

' 15 kitchen knives, 10 santoku knifes, 10 chinese cleavers, 5 petit knives and 10 special meat knives. The price is the same as paid by the merchant guild. Then for beast materials, 40 orc hides, 30 brown boar furs, 35 saber tiger furs, 20 gray wolf furs, 15 big serpent skins, 10 barbarian orc hides and testicles, 5 killer bear furs, 10 forest deer fur and 20 horn rabbit furs. Killer bear and forest deer furs have a market price of 20 silver and 40 copper. The total transaction this time amounted to 22 gold 70 silver and 95 copper. '

I've been doing quite a lot of transactions lately, and I'm getting used to this amount.

'It looks like I have enough money to buy those kids. But, maybe I should talk to them about this first. '

I also asked Dalmore about the children in this place. Most of them no longer have parents, some are children who escaped from bandit attacks and were made slaves because they had no one else, some were sold by relatives who could not afford to take care of them.

"Heh... I didn't realize that you have a soft spot for small children. Since we now have a partnership, let me remind you of one thing. You can't help all the children who are slaves, there are too many of them. And they can also be your weak point."

"I already know that very clearly. Therefore I will not hesitate at those who will become my enemies! But I am a person who will do what I can, and not do what I cannot. So you don't have to worry about that. " Without realizing it, my intimidation aura seemed to become active when I saw the sweat that appeared on Dalmore's face, "I'm sorry, I did it unintentionally. "

I recalled some bad memories from the past. It reminded me again, this world is even tougher than my old world. At least I have to prepare more things to do something in this world.

"Well, the important thing is that I already warned you. At least I need you to live for the next few months to divert Baron Audey's anger towards you. But, if I remember correctly, Baron Audey recently bought several small children from me. "

"Tck! Considering how dumb that guy is, it must not be a good thing. Can you tell me the list of slaves that he bought from you, that is if you don't mind. "

"Hmm... I thought you were going to force me to hand it over. But I'm sorry I can't hand over information regarding my customers that easily. "

" You merchant! Well, if I really need it, I'll force you!"

"How could you threaten me so bluntly like that?! In addition to pleasing you, Baron Audey usually only buys women. But lately he's bought some small children and demihuman men. "

"There's nothing pleasant about hearing such information! Should I attack that stupid nobleman? Hmm..."

"Don't do such crazy things openly. Unless you're as powerful as a mythical creature like the Ancient dragon or Dragon king. And don't involve me so blatantly!"

"Then if I do it secretly, it's okay?"

*

"Niki, Joan and Luna! Are you guys okay?"

Fitz and Emon who had been able to return to Rockaxe along with the people from the church were waiting for us. They hugged each other when they met again, some people cried seeing the three girls return safely. 

Sister Kim, who usually looks stern, really looked happy this time. I talked to the head priest and he expressed his gratitude to me.

After things had calmed down I tried to talk to the head priest about the children who were slaves at Dalmore and asked if they could stay here.

The head priest was also concerned to hear the news about the children, but he honestly said it would be difficult with that many living in this church.

" If that's the case, it looks like we'll have to renovate the living quarters of the church to accommodate more people. "

"To do so, we will need a lot of money. "

"I'll take care of the renovation as much as I can, just think of it as part of my contribution to the church. "

We discussed several things including the part that would be renovated, the additional staff that would be recruited from some of the children who had been cared for there including the three girls who had previously been in trouble, while discussing several other things.

After that, I went to the merchant guild to give the report and the agreement letter that Dalmore had signed and discussed the slaves that would be released by him.

The guild said, for the people who came from this kingdom, the guild would help escort them to their respective places.

But after hearing Dalmore's brief story about the people who were deceived by his men and trading partners, it seems like just letting them go is not the best option in my opinion.

Although they were scammed, there were losses that they did cause. During the previous conversation with Dalmore, they still kept the actual amount they owed before the value was changed to a larger amount and made them panic like what happened to Niki and the others.

As a sample case, Niki and the others damaged an antique and the total loss amounted to 4 gold, however, Dalmore's partner inflated it to 15 gold. Of course, I asked for the rest of the excess money that had already been paid back.

Now the returned money was kept in the church as a lesson for the three girls. Fitz and Emon already knew what happened, they originally wanted to hand over all the money to the church as a donation, but sister Kim immediately scolded them both.

As a result, part of the money will be kept by the church and the other part I suggest to buy more decent equipment for those who become adventurers as well as their daily needs for the next few days.

For the money saved in the church, it can be used for emergencies or if they need it for their capital, whether it is to replace damaged equipment or buy new equipment for those who are also going to be adventurers and for those who are not adventurers they can also have capital if someone wants to open a business.

Back to the issue earlier, after hearing my story just now the guild agreed to such a method. They still pay for the losses they cause, but it can be done periodically and the guild covers it first. So they only need to pay slowly to the guild.

This was done to build good relations between the merchant guild and the kingdom. In this case, the guild supported the kingdom's views on slavery, and protected its citizens from being taken out of the kingdom in the wrong way.

After Dalmore had submitted all his reports including those related to the slaves to be freed, the guild would immediately act to take care of them.

As for the penalty on Dalmore and the guild's objection to Baron Audey Drelisbeth von Draga, according to my agreement with Dalmore, my name will be included as the one who was instrumental in foiling the kidnapping plan.

At first the guild was skeptical of my proposal, but I said I would try to take good care of myself.

"Knowing where you live, it seems we can only accept your proposal, Mr. Hyuga. But please be very careful in the future. We will also report this to Count Aldebarant's family as the leader of this city and to the royal court. Let's hope Baron Audey doesn't do anything silly. "

The relationship between the two cities was already not good thanks to the debate over the dungeon, plus this time, it seemed like Count Ferdinan had an extra card to play against them.

"Then as per our previous agreement. We will hand over this list and details to you. This is a list of magic items that will likely be of great help to the citizens around this region. In addition, we will also provide you with the manufacturing manuals that the guild knows about these items. "

And yes, this is what makes me able to negotiate with the merchant guild. The number of craftsmen of magic items and magic tools is not much around this region and that's what makes the price of magic tools expensive, except for magic lamps that are subsidized by the kingdom.

That's why if there are new magic tools craftsmen, it will be very valuable for the guild. They found out I could make some magic items and magic tools, when I volunteered as the guild's exclusive craftsman in this city. They gladly accepted me.

But I also told them the limits of my abilities and my other work, and they understood my situation. And we discussed the terms and conditions of our cooperation agreement openly, and that's why I easily got help from the guild to take care of Dalmore.

After all my business was done, I left the merchant guild and said.

"Why am I always like this?!!! Arg! My slow life! Noooo..."