Slave Market
Hello, it is I, Leroy. Today is my third day in this city called Canes Horos. I went out with Sasha to restock some supplies from my armored truck. I also wanted to bring some valuables to sell to secure a defense tool against the hating bastards and to rent an inn. I want to live in one as soon as I can because the orphanage has been making me anxious due to a certain individual.
Masha wanted to come with us, but I insisted that I needed to be independent and try to communicate on my own. He understood my rejection and walked away, looking sad. While walking eastward through the city, I saw many new buildings and shops, it was simply beautiful. The city looked more modern around these parts, even the locals weren't glaring at me for existing! Some even greeted me to my surprise.
10 minutes before reaching the gate, I saw a large open market, as big as a mall. I asked Sasha about it, and she said that it is the slave market. I felt sick to my stomach when I realized that slavery existed in this world. Of course, it existed logically, but it still was not a fact that I had thought about. Mageia's existence severely hindered technological advancement. I wished that I had arrived in paradise instead. I am pretty sure slavery does not exist there. A group of barely clothed individuals of all skin colors and ages was staying outside, lined up with dead, soulless eyes. I asked Sasha why they were staying in the sun, and she said, "Pretty sure a deal is being made right now, all of them are getting bought today." I asked her, "There were some individuals who looked… different."
She said, "Oh, you mean the beast folk? You never saw them before?" Beast folk? What the hell is that? I was honestly creeped out by their appearances. If I saw one of them at night, I would be scared out of my mind. They looked so… uncanny.
Not all of them, of course. Some were straight-up bipedal animals with smaller snouts, some looked barely hairy, with only slightly different head shapes, the last of them looked like humans with tails and different ears, there was only one of them that had every feature of a human, but she had a long striped tail. Were they descendants of that bipedal tiger general? I don't know, I have to ask Sasha.
There were approximately 28 slaves. The children's condition honestly pained me the most.
Claudio: Sasha, please tell me everything you know about the beast folk
Sasha: Sure!!!
On our way to the gate, the little genius Sasha told me everything that she knew about the beast folk literally. It was honestly impressive, her knowledge and way of speaking were superb. She knew my understanding of the language was limited, so she delivered a lecture on the fly to help me understand everything she was saying. I swear, if not for Masha's identical looks, you would've never thought that these two were siblings.
Anyway, here is the gist of it. Sasha said:
"The beast folk are one of the many humanoid races that live in this continent. They were a very respected race. But ever since the war of mad kings 150 years ago, they have been reduced to the weak state they are in right now. They are heavily discriminated against in most kingdoms, however, that is not always the case. In the kingdom of Horokros, they were very welcomed and, in fact, allowed to become nobles and own land there. They have a large, famous city there where multiple races live in harmony, and no, cripples are not welcomed there."
THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT! The only time I was looking forward to traveling to a city, and I get hit with ableism, this world sure does not like me at all.
I asked Sasha about the kingdom of Horokros, and she said
"It borders the Kingdom of the sage Volquis. It is a transcontinental kingdom. After the war between the mad kings was finally over, the kingdom of Horokros traveled here soon after through the ancient portal and managed to take over the fallen kingdom of Izal, making them a mighty force that is troubling the bordering kingdoms."
Sasha was really born in the wrong time and place. It breaks my heart that she could not reach her full academic potential because of some petty, greedy widow. I really hope Captain Aerov fulfills his end of the deal and improves the orphans' living conditions. If I was not growing an invisible cancer in my body, I would have stayed here and taught her everything that I knew, maybe in another time, hopefully.
We reached the gate. Sasha went to talk to the guard about my situation. He came to take a look at me and thanked me for everything that I had done for the kids. I was surprised at first but accepted his gratitude with a smile and a nod. He looked like a trustworthy individual.
We finally left the city. My backpack was empty, and I was ready to finally trade and buy myself some nice equipment for the long run. I needed to bring my medical gear to check on Lady Brenda because her coughs were making me worried, "Please don't be pneumonia". I also wanted to see if I could be a licensed doctor in this world. I wanted to make a living from my profession, obviously, but I am not sure about the process. The book stated that transmuting healers are rare, so I had to ask Sasha again… for the millionth time today.
Claudio: Sasha, sorry, but I have another question.
Sasha: Ask me anything!
Claudio: If I want work as a doctor, where should I go?
Talking without Masha is torture.
Sasha: With your accent, Claudio, no one will take you seriously, but my best guess is the Merchant Guild. They do not discriminate against cripples as far as I know. You can also sell your goods there!
Claudio: Thanks a lot, Sasha. You are a great help to me.
Sasha started dancing and giggling at my gratitude, 'or my accent', probably. We walked for an hour and a half because the eastern gate was on the other side of the city. Thankfully, we had not encountered any danger ever since we entered the forest. When we were 15 minutes away from my truck, the goblins greeted us and called in Elder Modrar.
Elder Modrar: Greetings, human, what brings you back here? Looking for more lost kids? Hahahaha
Claudio: Greetings, Elder Modrar. I would've laughed at the joke if I had not walked for 90 minutes before meeting you. Oh, by the way, my name is Claudio.
Elder Modrar: Claudio? Like a play on the word cripple in ancient Herathian? Hahaha, that is pretty genius of you.
Claudio: Thanks. I forgot to ask you, how are things in the forest? Are the gnolls causing more trouble?
Elder Modrar: Thank you for your concern, Claudio. Everything is under control so far. Sorry for keeping you busy. We will be on our way.
I nodded my head and continued to walk to the truck with Sasha. She kept pestering me about the language we spoke and if I was an undercover goblin, but I ignored her provocations the whole time.
I have never felt so happy to see my armored truck again. Sasha was looking at me weirdly as I hugged the iron box intimately, she could never understand. I opened the truck and restocked on everything that I was going to use in two weeks. When I was done, my backpack was full to the brim. I opened my safe to pull out three five-ounce silver bars. I wanted to make the most of this trip. I still had another 12 gold bars and 18 silver bars of various weights in the safe, so I was good for a LONG time. I also had probably three months' worth of food and medicine, excluding the backpack that I had on me. If I was not a paranoid rich man, I would've been long gone by now. I really am lucky.
Before exiting the truck, I took one last look to see if I could squeeze anything of value into my backpack, and my eyes landed on Angelica's old makeup kit… I felt pain in my chest, which was honestly ironic, I never knew how much I loved her until she was gone. I hope she met someone better than me and died at the age of 90 while being surrounded by her grandchildren and loved ones.
I squeezed it in and left the truck with a melancholic expression. I gave Sasha a chocolate-flavored ice cream bar, and she jumped three feet in the air while chanting "BUHLAAAAA." I asked her what that meant, but she couldn't give a straight answer. I came to the conclusion that it translated to HELL YEAAAH.
We left the area, but three minutes into walking, I was paranoid about something. I was afraid some stupid gnoll would destroy the solar panels I used to charge my truck, so I went back, slid every panel back into place, and turned on rest mode. The only problem was that if I needed to call it for an emergency, it would take a while to respond to me, but better safe than sorry. If I were in trouble, I would simply hire Viviane to protect me, or use my trusty .45 ACP caliber handgun.
Sasha was eating the ice cream and singing the whole walk back, and I was struggling to breathe because of the heavy weight. After Sasha was done with the ice cream and noticed that I was lagging behind, she offered to help carry one of the backpacks for me. I gave her a skeptical look and gave her one to see how it would work out.
She obviously struggled at first but activated her aura, which caused her to carry the backpack with ease. I jokingly ordered her to carry both of them, but she walked away while singing "I can't hear youuu" loudly in the forest.
***
We finally arrived, the trip was over. Sasha looked normal, while I was covered in sweat. I convinced myself that I was not in my prime because I was being poisoned by Mageia to cope with the fact that I was street-rat level in this world.
The guard greeted us, and we thanked him for waiting for us. I slid a chocolate bar in his hand as a thank you. When we entered the city, he was checking the strange bar that I gave him and decided to take a bite. He devoured the whole bar instantly and drank a gallon of water to quench his thirst.
I dreaded the fact that we had to walk through the depressing slave market again. I told Sasha that we should take another route, but she insisted that the Merchants Guild was faster that way and that I could not walk anymore.
We arrived at the slave market, and everything looked like a horror movie. The slaves were covered in cuts and bruises! All of them, including the children! Some looked like they fought prime Mike Tyson while the others looked like they fought Miyamoto Musashi. My heart was racing all of a sudden when I saw a little kid with a cut-open stomach and his guts protruding slightly to the left.
I rushed to the scene and was stopped by one of the guards who had a traumatized look on their faces. I asked them, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE!?" They sighed and said, "The deal went to shit, and the master took his frustration out on the slaves."
I was honestly shocked, but there was no time for me to ask any more stupid questions. I said, "I will help them for free, no money needed, so please let me through!"
Their eyes shined lightly, and they smiled at my words. They helped me enter the perimeter with Sasha, who was equally terrified at the scene.
The kid with the slashed stomach had someone whom I assumed to be their sibling crying at their dying body. The kid was coded blue on the triage code, he was going to die sooner than the other slaves.
When I rushed towards him, the other kid was frozen in fear and reasonably traumatized. I grabbed her shoulder and said, "I promise I will save him. I will need your help, so please focus!" Light came back to her eyes as she cried, "Pweas save my bruddar." She was maybe five years old, max. The brother simply lost too much blood. I needed her for a blood transfusion, sure, they may not have the same blood type, but it was better than doing nothing.
I quickly put on some latex gloves and pulled out a vial of Midazolam it is a muscle relaxer. I injected the needle into the hanging gut, and it relaxed after six seconds. The next part was going to be pretty painful, and I needed to disinfect the area anyway, so I pulled out a can of Phantom Spray and started spraying it on the wound. The kid's face looked relaxed, too relaxed for my liking. I wish I had a nurse to check his heart rate and help me with the procedure, but I was alone.
I gently and smoothly pushed the gut back in his stomach and skillfully sutured the abdominal wall layers that consisted of muscle, fascia, and lastly skin. The area looked professionally clean, as expected from yours truly. Next, I checked on his condition. He lost too much blood, thankfully, he wasn't in hypovolemic shock just yet. It seems like I arrived at the right time. The heart rate was reasonably high and irregular. He needs blood right fucking now, or else he will die of shock. Lastly, I asked the girl, "Do you want to help your brother get better?" She nodded her little head with tears in her eyes. I said, "Your brother needs your help. He needs a little bit of your blood. Is that okay?"
She looked scared, but when she thought of her brother, she agreed to my request.
I sterilized her thin arms and inserted an IV catheter in her arms. I told her to look at me the whole time and reassured her that this was to save her brother. I really am gambling right now, but I have no choice. If I don't do the blood transfusion, he will die. If I do it and they don't have the same blood type, he will die. All I can do now is wait and pray.
I told the little girl that her brother was going to live, and her face brightened up like the sun. I hope he really pulls through. I turned to the other slaves who were less fucked up than the kid and began helping everyone from worst to best. It took me three hours with constant checking and fixing any bruise and laceration. Half of one of my backpacks was empty.
The kid finally opened his eyes. The crowd that gathered around us the whole time all equally cheered, and I thought to myself, 'What a bunch of hypocrites!' They did nothing the whole time but obstruct my work and watch as if we were in a zoo. If not for the guards shield-bashing them, no one would've lived.
The kids were crying quietly next to each other; the older one seemed fine, and I was thankful that, by some miracle, they shared the same blood type. The kid looked about Masha's age, he had dark hair and hazel eyes. His sister looked like a carbon copy of him, if not for the age difference, I would've thought they were twins.
The kid weakly looked at me and said, "Tha...nk yo...u." I patted his head and told him, "You can thank me when you get better, kid. You need some rest, and also, if not for your sister, you would've been long gone." He said, "Is that tr...ue, Mira?"
She flexed her little arms and said, "I gave you my strong blood, and you survived, brudder!" Mira was reasonably tired from the blood transfusion, so I gave her some juice with electrolytes. She thanked me and said she never tasted something so delicious.
The slave owner came back drunk out of his mind from a tavern. Everyone was frightened to death. The kid was in a very weak state right now, and he could not take any extra useless stress.
He was shouting at the guards, demanding an explanation. He thought that they agreed to some expensive healing mage while he was away. I grabbed his attention by throwing a silver bar at his feet.
Claudio: I healed everyone for free. This silver bar is the price for those 4 children. Do we have a deal?
The master laughed his ass off. He turned sober real quick and said:
Master: So you healed the barely livin useless slaves of mine for free? And you want to buy some worthless, talentless children on top of that? HAHAHAHAHAH! You are an angel pretty one, thank you.
I never wanted to shoot someone more in my life. I believe with all my heart that shooting this bastard in the balls is not morally wrong.
Master: Come to my store, I will hand the slaves' contracts and discuss other things
Claudio: Lead the way
We walked inside his mall sized market. I really have no idea why someone so rich would be so angry about losing a deal this much. He cannot be this financially irresponsible, so I assumed he was the son of a rich noble or merchant, or else he would be begging on the streets.
He purposefully walked me in zigzags to let me check out his sex slaves. I really was not interested at all. I have the libido of an old, wrinkled man. Besides Angelica, I never even thought about other women that way.
We finally arrived at his office, and he went to a modern-looking sink and turned it on to wash his oily face. I was honestly surprised that this world had an understanding of fluid mechanics, since everything I'd seen so far was pretty medieval.
He sat down on his desk and began praising me for my work out there and my patronage.
Master: I cannot thank you enough, my savior, you really saved me from an earful from my old man, and the silver bar that you disgracefully thrown at my feet was of an exemplary quality. Answer me, good sir. Are you from paradise?
Claudio: My name is Claudio, and please stop wasting our time and hand me the contracts
Master: You also don't like wasting time? Say, wanna be best buddies? Hehehehe
He laughed like that Family Guy. He reached for his drawer and pulled out 4 contracts that were glowing blue. He said, "Mister Claudio, add your blood on the contracts and sign here, here, and lastly here."
I was honestly skeptical. I am a cripple, I am sure he could already tell. Either he was messing with me, or this procedure requires no mageia.
I did as he asked, and with each stamp, I could feel something moving in my soul. I remembered that mind-breaking pain from a week ago, and this feeling was different from it. I could feel something move against my soul, which honestly disturbed me.
I asked the smug bastard, "Sir, I never personally owned a slave before." He understood what I was trying to get at and started explaining:
Master: There are three ways for someone to get enslaved. First and most common one: crime. Second most common one is debt. The third one is voluntary.
Master: You could do anything you please to a slave, if they hurt you or go far away from you, their souls would be destroyed as a result
Claudio: What if I wanted to free them? I am not interested in owning any slaves.
Master: Well, that's just plain stupid, but it is your money, though. You can simply destroy the contract physically, and at the same time, remove the small lump that you felt a minute ago in your soul. If you destroy the contract and die before removing the lump, then your slaves would die with you.
Claudio: Sure thing, are we done?
Master: You don't wanna buy another useless slave on your way out? Heheheheheheh
I grabbed the contracts and quickly left the room. I was a breath away from shooting the bastard but I composed myself. I reunited with Sasha, and she asked me, "What are you going to do with the slaves? I was shocked by your decision, you know."
I simply said, "I will bring them to the orphanage and end the contracts right there." Sasha was at a loss for words. She simply nodded her head and stared at nothing. We went to the siblings, and they were really happy that I bought them. They said that I would treat them better and that I was kinder than the old master, but I stopped them right there. I told them, "You are not slaves. I will bring you to an orphanage where a kind woman will help you." They were confused; that thought never crossed their mind. I brought the other two kids over. They didn't know about me buying them. They had the least cuts and bruises, so they were the last priority for me at the time. The crowd was still gathered outside. It was late afternoon.
I told them I was buying them, and they were delighted as well. One of the kids was a human boy while the other was a beast child. He looked pretty human, he was less hairy than the others, with a small pair of fluffy ears and a round tail.
Claudio: You two, what are your names?
Human kid: My name is Myrad! Thank you so much, mister!
Bear like child: uh… my name is Arktos, thank you for buying us, kind sir!
Claudio: Nice to meet you, kids. My name is Claudio, and I will explain everything when we go home.
The severely injured kid went back to sleep. He was simply too stressed to stay awake. I asked Mira, his sister, about his name, and she said it was Julian.
I sprayed the leftover phantom spray on his wound so that he wouldn't be in agonizing pain while I carried him to the orphanage. I had to be careful not to open his wounds, so I walked very slowly and lightly the whole time.
I told Sasha, who had a sad face, to lead the other kids to the orphanage before it got too late since I already memorized the route, and to prepare a bed for Julian. Little Mira was going to cry because she was afraid of being separated from her brother, but I told her to go prepare his resting place before another kid took it!
She nodded her little head and raced Sasha and the other kids to the orphanage. After 20 minutes of walking, I finally arrived, and I couldn't wait to see the look on Nola's face.