{Siel}
Siel was working with with Erna, his latest acquisition.
Kojo was seriously wasting her potential as just a slave.
When Siel handed the position of record keeping - that Sal had before - to her he just expected for her to be just okay at the task, but she is thriving!
Not even a month on the job, and she's already outshining others in his organization.
She implemented a new categorization method that upped sale efficiency by twenty-two percent.
Yes, he had given her Sal's skills, but she had natural talent that superseded his.
"So, you see if you were to sell these in bulk at this rate, it would drive sales up."
She told him, while pointing at the catalogue on her desk.
"And do you really think that it would sell that well?"
She nodded, and flipped open a book she went and got from one of the shelves.
"Yeah, looking at the past records I noticed that the majority of the sales occurred every two to three months, but if they were to buy in bulk they'd save around fourteen percent every year. This would incentivize them to buy it this way, drive your sales up, and deprive your competition of their - and those who come for the better deal - business."
"I see. I'll sign off on this, but I also want to keep the option of single sales as well."
"Okay, but...um..."
"Yes?"
"If you were to do that, I'd suggest raising the price of single sales by ten percent. It's not too high of a raise to cause any anger, it will help mitigate any loss of profit from the in bulk sales, and it would give yet another reason to buy in bulk."
"Understood, I'll tell them to get right on that."
He turned to leave.
"Um... sir?"
He stopped, and looked back.
"I h...have a...ugh... request."
...
...
...
"Yes?"
He asked after waiting a few seconds for her to continue on her own, which she failed to do.
"Could you...um...not sell children slaves?"
She flinched, expecting him to strike her for not knowing her place, but he didn't.
"I expect you have a good reason for me not to then? And not just because it makes you feel bad."
That was exactly the reason she wanted to end it, but she already asked might as well finish.
She straightened herself out.
"Yes, um, most slaves get wasted. Their masters are cruel, or negligent, and most end up dying before they reach adulthood. Instead, you could raise and care for them until they are adults, and then have them pay you a monthly fee for your troubles. I know it's a risk, but..."
She knew he'd say no, but she had to try.
She remembered what it was like for herself as a child slave.
Her father had died, and left his family with a huge debt. She was the youngest of ten, so her mother sold her.
Some of her masters were nice, but the majority was not.
Slaves are property, not people. It doesn't matter if you are twenty-four, or six, they'll treat you as such.
"I'll think about it."
Shock reigned supreme on her face.
"You... you will?"
"Yeah."
"You're not mad then?"
He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Why would I be?"
"For my impertinence! I gave you my opinion that you didn't ask for."
He went over to her, and stared into her eyes.
"I'll never get mad for anyone voicing their opinion. I like having - and knowing - all options available to me."
He cracked a heartwarming smile.
"If I decide to take that advice, that is up to me.
I hire people to cover any shortcomings I may have. You may want me to stop trading child slaves just because you sympathize with them," He could see straight through her.
"but you also gave me a lucrative alternative plan. Maybe not as well-paying as straight up selling them, but it is worth considering.
You wouldn't believe how many wannabe revenge seekers I've had to put down already."
Erna was stunned.
To have someone - anyone - actually listen to her was not only unusual, it is downright unprecedented!
Not only that, he would treat her like an actual person, not an object to be used and then thrown away.
All of her fellow slaves he had freed from F.A.R.T also agreed that he was the best master they've ever had.
He gave them days off, paid them, fed them the same quality food he eats as well, and even said they have rights - as slaves!
To say they were grateful would be a massive understatement.
"Thank you, sir!"
She said, while blushing.
"There's no need to thank me."
He brushed a stray strand of her hair out of her face, and tucked it behind her ear.
"Well, you know during my days off Janith has been teaching me to cook."
"You should ask him to teach you how to make P'tenie, it's a delicious flat bread, meat, and vegetable dish."
Her blush deepened.
"Well, i...if you want to, you could come eat me. It! I meant, you can taste it! No, what I meant to say..."
Before she could clarify, Ledina walked into the room.
"Sir, we were contacted by Lynne. She wants to talk with you, and she claims it's urgent."
Siel nodded his assent.
"Understood."
He headed out the door, but stuck his head back in to talk to Erna.
"I'd love to taste your... dish. I'll see you tonight."
He left, but Ledina held back.
She glared at Erna.
"Don't even think about it!"
"Think about what?!"
Ledina shoved a finger in her face.
"He's spoken for already!"
"By who?! I didn't hear anyone say that he was married."
"He... I..., just stay in your place! He ain't gonna be slumming it with you!"
With that Ledina stomped off.
Erna stood there thinking about what she had just said for about five seconds, before heading to the kitchens to make her and Siel's dinner.
Siel meanwhile went to his office to talk to Lynne.
"Hello."
"WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU!"
She was being hysterical.
"I was in a meeting. Where are you, and why are you contacting me?"
He calmly sat down.
"In the fucking woods outside of Meerburg! My old boss figured out that I left."
"Yeah, that figures. I thought it would have happened sooner."
"YOU KNEW!"
"Yes, I had a meeting with some of his men, and them being incompetent, they let it slip that they knew where you are headed."
"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT?!"
"I couldn't risk contacting you while you're around the target. So, calm down, and tell me what happened."
"What happened? What happened is I'm fucked!"
"How so, did some of the hunters get away?"
"No, they're all dead."
"Then, why are you..."
"He's a god, a fucking god!"
He cocked an eyebrow at that.
"What?"
"A god isn't protecting him. When those marauders attacked and almost killed him, he turned into a god, and killed them all - including a high-rank!"
Siel didn't respond at all.
"Did you not just hear me?!"
"Godling."
"What?!"
"He didn't turn into a god, he turned into a godling. I can't believe I didn't see this before."
"I heard what you said. I just don't know what the fuck that is!"
"A baby god."
"I thought... don't gods come fully grown?!"
"Some do. But when gods have offspring, they have to grow into their power and sphere of influence."
He cracked one of the very few genuine smiles he does have.
"This is great!"
"How?!"
"Because if I play my hand right, you can guide him into the type of god I want."
"Her."
"Huh?"
"It's a her. The god is a girl, and her name is Patty."
"Patty? The godling's name is... Patty?"
"Yes, and he can speak to her whenever he wants to. Heck, he's so sure of his strength that he tells her to shut up often!"
Siel knew that the lizard could fight above his rank, but to talk down to a godling itself?
For the first time in a long time Siel found himself seriously cautious about this monster.
Just how strong is it?
"I think I should just leave, we can find another way."
"No."
"No?! You didn't see what I did! It wasn't self-defense, she slaughtered them. There's no way I can even fight to flee, if she decides to smite me!"
"Gods aren't omniscient, and they are easily lied to. Just feed into their superiority complex."
"And what if she figures out who I am?! She. Will. Smite. Me!"
"And what do you think she'll do once she notices that you've fled like a guilty person? Forget and forgive?"
"Fuck!"
Knowing that he'd have to nudge her into the direction he wanted, he used the universal convincer - money.
"A thousand shields."
"Wh...what did you just say?!"
"You're right, I'm asking you to risk your life. So, I'm going to give you a price worth risking your life for. A man would face a devil for half that price. So, what say you?"
The sense fairy that resides in every person's head was telling her that something that sounded too good to be true normally was.
Well, it would have said all of that. If not for the fact that the greed gremlin bashed its head with a shovel, stuffed a bunch of dirty socks in its mouth, buried it in a shallow grave, and hurried back with a very convincing argument to accept the very real risk.
...
...
...
Money.
"What say I? I say I'm already here, might as well see it through."
"Good, here's what I want you to do."
_________
{Darisyn}
Far above the ground of Agriuz Darisyn soared on his black energy crackling wings.
He had traveled out of Waldstaat and through Hexeia - which is like an L, surrounding Waldstaat from the south and west, and finally got into Agriuz a few days ago.
Getting through Hexeia was slow going due to him avoiding all of the witch hunter patrols.
He could have fought them, but there was no reason to have them alerted to his presence.
Besides, now that he's finally in Agruiz, he can start looking for a monster lord for real.
Although technically everything past Agriuz is apart of the empire, and there's even kindoms out there, everything is a little less tame.
Outposts filled with enough soldiers are strategically placed throughout the regions to make sure their hold on the lands are kept, but not enough soldiers to keep the peace.
If you live out there, you better be able to protect yourself.
Seeing a city, Darisyn tucked his wings in, and came in for a smooth landing in the grasslands outside of the city.
As he walked, he took on his human form.
He heard Gargolose ask in his head.
I told you already.
We are more likely to find a monster lord here, and that's because they're less likely to have been wiped out.
Monster lords are dangerous...
Are you done?
Somehow Gargolose felt as if he was being chastised, and it was making him feel shitty.
As I was saying, monster lords are dangerous, so the adventurers guild will keep track of any who are in a given area.
So, all I have to do...
Indeed.
It was easy enough to get through the gate.
They had magical sensors for detecting monsters and demons, but a quick spell from Darisyn masked his demonic presence.
The city isn't like those further west.
The buildings are more open, relying on pillars and columns to keep the roofs aloft.
The houses each had courtyards, with the richest having the largest ones.
Vertical gardens added much needed fragrance into the air, as the sewage was drained above ground.
Vents on the ground in the buildings let out heated air from the raging furnaces underground, keeping the city warmish through the cold months.
He made his way to the board denoting where everything is in the city.
Then, he swiftly made his way to the adventurers guild.
He first went to one of the quest boards to check if any posted a quest to get rid of a monster lord, and when he saw none, he went to an empty line to talk to a receptionist.
The human was stocky, with two day stubble on his face, and face that said 'If I could trade your life for five more hours of sleep, you wouldn't be here right now.'
"Excuse me, I couldn't see any quests for subjugating a monster lord, is there none available here, or has it already been claimed by a party?"
If there just wasn't any around here, he'd just move onto the next town or city until he'd find one.
But if some party is just doing it, he'd rather not waste time and just take it from them.
"Where's your adventurer plates?"
The man nonchalantly said, while his dead eyes just kept staring straight ahead.
"I haven't adventured in a long while, I don't have them."
"Then I see no reason to tell you anything. Goodbye."
Ignoring Gargolose, Darisyn kept conversing with the man.
"You don't need to be a guild member to get information."
"Yeah, but I'm the one who'll have to deal with your angry family because your dumb-ass got yourself dead fucking with monsters on a whole other league!"
Darisyn pulled out some gold.
Which finally got the man to actually show some life in his eyes.
"I'm not from around here, so you don't have to worry about any raging family members. As for me going outside of my league and dying, you don't really give a single... fuck, or do you?"
The man palmed the gold.
"No, I really don't, but that's not the only problem."
"Oh, then what else?"
"Them."
He looked over at a group that included a female centaur, a guy halfling, a human woman, and a fire elf man.
One glance was all it took Darisyn to tell that the centaur was the muscle, the halfling a rogue, the elf was a close combat fighter, and woman was a healer.
They were close enough to overhear his conversation, and the elf is giving him the stink eye.
"What about them?"
"It's their quest, they just signed onto it."
Darisyn looked back to them for a second, before placing more gold on the counter.
"They weren't going to accomplish it anyway."
The elf's hand went to the hilt of his short sword, but the healer grasped his hand.
"Please, don't! He's not worth it."
The elf was still staring at Darisyn.
"Please, for me?"
With that the elf look lovingly at her, then with a final glare at Darisyn, left with the rest of his party.
Indeed.
"You know you're very calm about pissing off Mid-rankers, are you even Mid-rank?"
The man looked Darisyn up and down. "You sure as hell don't look like it."
"No, I'm Low-rank. Now, as for the quest I paid for?"
"Hehe, it's your funeral."
He gave all of the pertinent information to Darisyn, who left directly afterwards.
He didn't even make it a hundred feet before he ran into the centaur and halfling.
The centaur motioned for him to follow while fingering her halberd strapped to her flank, and halfling flipped his topcoat to showcase his daggers.
The message was clear; come with us, or they won't even find your body.
Now, as everyone should know you should never follow someone who's threatening you to a second location.
You are more likely to die rather than escape.
Knowing full well of this, Darisyn immediately followed the centaur.
He followed them to a old house, with cracks on its foundation, it's paint long since faded, and vegetation growing all over it.
Standing in the courtyard was the elf and human.
When Darisyn walked into said courtyard, the centaur stayed at the entrance blocking any attempt at escape.
Darisyn, however, was hardly concerned about that. He just kept walking straight.
The elf broke out an insidious grin.
"Your damn mommy should have taught you not to fuck with your bett... Guh!!"
Darisyn had shot off a telekinetic spell that blasted the smug elf backwards.
Then, he bashed the woman's head into a pillar, knocking her out cold.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!"
The centaur had her halberd out, and was about to charge him. When Darisyn let loose a bolt of lightning. Electrocuting her, until she fell over onto her side frothing at the mouth.
The halfling was slack-jawed staring between the centaur and human.
"You will want to sit this one out."
Darisyn told the guy.
A flash of light drew his attention back to the elf. Just in time for him to dodge a stream of fire, only for it to pivot in the air and head right back for him.
This time he used a shield spell, and it harmlessly dissipated on it.
"I'm going to melt you alive!"
The elf used his kind's native ability.
His skin hardened and grew fire retardant, and an unquenchable flame spread across his body. Making him the very embodiment of fire.
With a yell he charged at Darisyn, sword sheathed in flame. Each footstep was explosive in their sound, reaching the ear faster than they had any right to.
Normally this would wreck his opponents' nerves, and allow him to swiftly cut them down. Darisyn, however, is anything but normal.
He dodged the elf's first thrust, next his side swing, and finally open palmed him in the nose.
Blood spewed from his broken nose, hit the ground, and started melting it.
The elf however was more surprised that Darisyn was even able to break his nose, a feat only those who are also Mid-rank should be able to pull off.
Using that confusion to his advantage, Darisyn swiftly bashed him on the temple.
He hit the ground with a thud, out cold.
The halfling had his daggers out, but he was trembling in terror.
Darisyn vanished right before his eyes.
He lowered his weapons, grateful that monster chose to spare him.
"Here."
The halfling spun around to see Darisyn standing there.
He flinched in fear, dropped his daggers, and prayed to his goddess to spare his life - he even swore to her that if he lived, he'd marry a good woman and name all of his children after her, even if they were all boys!
Instead of being killed on the spot, a sack of coins were dropped in front of him.
"That should cover any medical expenses your party incurred. Also, tell the hothead that those diversionary tactics might work on inexperienced monsters and opponents, but not on people who know what they're doing. He should have used his fire magic to keep me at a distance and tried to tire me out.
Your true leader should have reacted sooner.
She's right that most would assume that the elf was your leader and the most powerful, but obviously not everyone will make that fatal mistake, and so she should have acted sooner.
The only true mistake the centaur made was yelling before attacking me, there was no reason for her to lose control of her emotions like that.
If she's truly angry at someone, just attack them.
As for you, I like how you kept your head; but even if you don't rush to attack, don't drop your weapons.
That's all. Have a good life."
Darisyn turned on his heels and walked away.
Why do you believe that?
So, I'll assume that you killed everything that challenged you.
And tell me, after you showed your strength like that, did you keep getting challenged?
No, they saw you as weak.
You don't go out of your way to kill a bug. If it bites you sure, but not if it doesn't.
By killing them you were basically yelling from the top of your lungs that they were a threat to you.
Whereas I just decimated that party, and then gave them advice and the means to get back to peak health.
So, you would be a tough adversary in their eyes that could kill them, but is ultimately defeatable.
As for me, I'm an immortal god in their eyes, one who thinks so little of them that even at their strongest he has no worries that they'd lose.
I mean, if any of you were really all powerful, you wouldn't have to kill to make us submit.
So, even though most will die, most humans will take a shot.
For fame, or for coin.
They kept talking about the subject as he made his way out of the city, and took off flying in the direction of the monster lord.
__________
He made it there after only a few hours of flying.
It was a quaint little spot.
A calming breeze almost constantly blew threw here, carrying the scent of dozens of species of flowers, butterflies flitted all around, and under a massive oak that would provide the best shade resided a singular entrance portal to a dungeon.
It's so small and nondescript that most would assume it was a newly formed dungeon.
A mistake a couple of Low-ranks regretted.
Out of the twenty who went in thinking they'd be the first ones to explore a new dungeon, only one severely injured one escaped.
Turns out that it was actually an ancient dungeon owned and controlled by a monster lord.
The man didn't actually see the monster lord, but considering how many differing monsters were working together as an army could only mean that a monster more powerful than them all had forced them to obey.
After that, and because monster lords can be incredibly dangerous - like leading a monster army to attack cities, a large reward was placed on his head.
------------------
Quest : kill the monster lord
Reward: 600 shields
Details: four hundred miles southwest of the city of Argone in a small clearing near Xiling hill is the entrance portal to a monster lord. No information on the lord exists. The reporter is sure that there is at least orcs, ogres, lizardmen, and banewolves there.
Suggested rank of subjugation adventurers : High
As for all of the Mid-rankers who think that they are strong enough to kill this monster lord and his army, rank up, and attain untold wealth in one go - you are a fucking idiot! We put suggested rank here for a reason! The only good you'll be in a fight like this would be fodder! Think of your mothers who won't even have a body to bury!
------------------
Now, Darisyn, who is a Low-rank, and had seen the information, went right on ahead without a second thought.
What greeted him was a dreary landscape, complete with an always overcast sky, plains of tall grass, a creepy forest; oh, and an army of monsters, which also included a land dragon.
The monsters who wielded weapons pulled them out, others just bared their fangs and claws, all were ready to rip Darisyn to shreds.
Darisyn cleared his throat.
"Take me to your leader."