Augustinus played with his horns for a bit as he walked through the alleyways of the capital of the Duke's country. Frankly, as a ruler of a country, one could be called king, but the title of Demon King went to the ruler of the world. Every couple of hundred years, a Duke might attempt to reach Rank 6, the moment he does so, he becomes Demon King.
The previous Demon King will then move on to try and become the next Demon God. So with all the Dukes ruling over the planet, none are truly the ruler.
The roads in the capital were quite well-made, although seemingly a process of mass manufacturing. The roads in the Empire down in the Underground were all manually made with great care, making them a lot more beautiful than the flat ground.
Arriving at a market, there were plenty of stalls and merchants calling their customers to their place. It was quite lively, but Augustinus just had an annoyed look on his face.
"Is there something the matter, sir?", one of the soldiers in disguise, moved up to him.
"There's something seriously lacking here."
"What might that be, sir? Anyway, we can help you locate it?"
Waving him away, he kept walking around until night fell. Making his rounds again, he found a few places where the lights were still on. Entering them, they were mostly bars and inns. Taking one of his cigars and lighting it, he sat next to a random demon and let his arm rest on the man's shoulders.
An angry look instantly came his way, but Augustinus just smiled, "Give the man another drink, on my fare."
The bartender nodded as he poured another drink for the man, instantly improving his mood.
"Hey buddy, where are the places to have some fun?"
"Hmm? There's an arena a couple blocks down, the bars are everywhere if you want to have a drink."
While Augustinus appreciated the useless intel, he wasn't really looking for these kinds of places. Getting a bit closer, he whispered to the man, "What if I have some darker desires?"
The man stared at the horns, seeing they were quite large, the man knew not to keep information hidden. "There is a slave merchant somewhere in the capital, but those are only for the rich."
Starting to get annoyed, Augustinus stopped bothering to pretend, the man clearly wasn't worth the trouble. "No man, the casino's, the brothels!"
"Brothels? You mean those disgusting practices of the humans? We don't want any of that here. If you want a woman, approach her and show your strength. If you're stronger than her, and she likes you, she'll invite you to her bed."
Feeling that his world had been turned upside down. Augustinus started to laugh out loud. "Hahaha, what a ridiculous thing! Surely you are joking!"
The demon wasn't flattered, sporting an angry look as he lifted his fist to punch Augustinus. Catching it with his right hand, Augustinus grabbed the man's head with his left hand, and smashed his face on the counter, hard enough for it to break.
"Apologies, bartender, reflex."
Augustinus was being serious, his body often reacted faster than his mind could.
"No worries, the strong are right."
Augustinus giggled to himself. 'So Lucas wasn't kidding, what a bunch of fools.'
"Yes, you're right. Excuse me."
Walking outside, he sported a sly look. The soldiers gulped as they awaited orders. Their leader pointed at a random soldier. "You, go look for places that are close to the center, somewhat dilapidated and easily accessible. You, look for a place that manufactures papyrus or paper, cheaply made if possible."
Continuing to walk forward, he sent out soldiers to find specific things for him. While they were hard at work, especially since most establishments were already closed, Augustinus eventually found the slave trader. Entering the place, he found a demon with a large goatee and horns resembling that of a goat. His slim body only made him look more like an evil merchant, but Augustinus just felt at home.
"Good night, sir, for what pleasure have you come here. We have plenty of strong slaves, ones who are in Rank 1 all the way to Rank 3 even," with a nice polite bow, the man introduced his services, but Augustinus wasn't going to play along. To him, only one thing mattered.
"Please show me a variety of strength and ages please. Preferably, I'd like to have a young but powerful slave."
The demon frowned, strength is all that mattered in the end, so why bother looking for younger, usually weaker ones. "Oh, are you going to raise one up yourself? Seeing your slave grow in power is quite a marvelous feeling indeed. Please follow me, good sir."
Brought to a large room filled with cages, Augustinus took his time inspecting all the different slaves. There were even a few humans and a few beings that looked human but had blueish skin. 'Well, it's always handy to have something exotic.'
After going through the entire catalogue, the merchant rubbed his hands as Augustinus pretended to think hard about what he wanted. "Hmm, frankly, I looked over your stock and there are quite a few specimens that caught my eye. But I have to say that I was quite surprised by the amount of weak slaves you have."
The merchant wasn't sure what to say. His face had an awkward look on it, "Well, yes, the arena is a great place to test one's strength and make money. Many are tempted, but fall into debt and become slaves. Besides that, there are quite a few villages that were razed to the ground lately, making our stock become bloated with mostly inferior goods."
Augustinus nodded as if he fully understood what the man was saying, "Then again, I assume as a merchant, you can't say no to them, products are products after all."
"Hahaha! That's what I first believed as well! Sadly, whether I want them or not, the law states that I have to care for each and every single one of them, fulfilling basic needs. Slaves are bought for their strength, these have become more of a waste of space than anything."
Feigning ignorance, Augustinus pushed further, "At first I wanted to buy a strong demon slave that would be able to fight for me, but you have so many weak demons that aren't even mages. Their use is truly zero, yet you're still offering them, might I ask why? Couldn't you just set them free?"
The merchant only lifted his shoulders in defeat, "Setting them free would mean their death. They have nobody to rely on, nobody willing to pay their debts. These losers are at the bottom of society. No family to rely on, no partners, no nothing. "
"A bunch of trash you can't get rid of, basically? Or do you have other overheads besides feeding them?"
"Yes, while we may be dabbling in the trade of slaves, the Duke has written down specific rules that we have to follow. We pay a lot of maintenance costs for them."
Rubbing his chin for a bit, Augustinus put on a pensive face, like he was going to make a terrible decision. "Look, sir, I'm a merchant as well, and I've always looked up to this type of trade, your position is one I've been wanting to get for a long time. Sadly, I was tasked with becoming a teacher to some demon kid because I lost a bet."
The merchant nodded as he noticed the genuine feelings and connection he had with the man. "I like you, no, I've looked up to you. So I want to help you out as well. I'll take these."
Taking out a notepad, the names of a bunch of demons were noted down. The merchant instantly recognized them as the most worthless of them all. "This will put me at a loss, a massive one. But to strengthen our bonds, I'm willing to take this risk. I won't come back after this, but when I get enough funds again I'll be back to invest in a proper demon."
Smelling the possibility of a repeat customer, the merchant knew he could get on the good side of the man in an instant if he did a simple thing. "How about I give you one for free per slave you buy? That should at least get you out of the red zone, no?"
To the merchant, they were truly a waste of space, even just a single slave purchased would please him immensely. In the Duke's land, the rules for slaves were meticulously written down. If one couldn't pay their debts, they would enter slavery, but not to the debtors themselves. Whoever purchased them would pay off some of the debts, while the Duke's treasury would cover the remaining.
There were some loopholes, but the demons who took advantage of it were harshly punished, and it was made clear that if a certain level of debt was acquired, the person would remain a slave for the rest of their life. No contract would be able to release them.
"Oh, good sir, such a proposal is simply too good for me, I would bet you'd suffer immensely if you made that change."
Almost feeling the concern from Augustinus, the merchant felt like he should go even more out, in the end, they were just eyesores to him, getting on the good sides of a loaded customer like him would be worth the trouble.
"How about this, sir? We change the deal from earlier, to one slave free per two slaves, but you get to pay it off in installments with no added interest."
"Oh, that would truly help me out. Sir, with such a deal, I would be able to come back a lot sooner."
"We merchants know how to make a good deal."
Closing in on the deal and signing it, Augustinus walked out of the slave merchant with a seal on the back of his hand, capable of commandeering the slaves to his will.
Augustinus knew he could've played it differently to scam the man out of the slaves, but he truly wanted to have a good relationship with him. The slave trader would become the source of his income. If that was the case, he needed to bleed a little, he just made sure to keep that to a minimum.
It didn't take long for the soldiers to meet up with him again. Seeing all the demons behind him, they wondered what happened, but kept quiet.
"You, lead me to the houses you found, you two, go to a nearby bar and spread rumors of a place that can fulfill your desires. You, go print some flyers for a casino."
Handing out his orders in a spectacular fashion, he quickly bought two dilapidated houses next to each other in a random alleyway close to the market. His funds were still fine due to his choices, but would take a plummet next.
With all the demons in the room of one of the houses, they barely fit. They were all extremely beautiful women and a few handsome men, but all extremely weak. Augustinus was just accompanied by a single soldier, who felt a bit awkward since the demons didn't have the happiest of faces.
"All right, let's get to it, shall we? Do any of you understand the situation you're in?"
The eerie quietness put the soldier on guard, but Augustinus simply took another cigar to smoke away. "You're all slaves that I bought, but you're all weak, right? Frankly, I don't care about your powers in the slightest."
The demons suddenly were confused, looking around at each other to find an understanding. "I didn't buy you all just to beat you up, though I guess some of you will get a pounding," the massive grin on his face put the demons off.
"How many of you are willing to have intercourse with someone weaker than you?"
The demon girls looked at him with a glare, but Augustinus just raised his fist. "Because you'll do so with a smile on your face. Each time you have sex, you'll pretend it's the absolute best you've gotten."
One of the girls suddenly stood up, "Why should we do this! We're not just some toy to play around with!"
Augustinus removed his smile as he slowly stood up. His presence was something to behold. While not even an official mage, he still had powers strong enough to kill everyone here.
"From this point on, you're my products and employees. If I like your attitude, I might give you some time off or let you serve me personally, but otherwise, you'll be working for me. Of course, I'll be paying you a commission fee for every demon you can convince to play around with. You can use the money for whatever you want, you can even buy your freedom if you want."
Hearing that, the demons instantly perked up. Having a slave earn a wage was already unheard of, but the man in front of them was even willing to give them freedom if they worked hard enough?
With a big grin, Augustinus stared at the group before him, ready to create another empire from the ground up.