Sandia is a 13 year old boy with a typical southerner's last name. Due to his clever mind set, those around him would always address him with an affectionate name "Sandy". Of course, those that hated him would call him "Sandy lttle liar ".
Born in the capital, Sandy would of course not be able to afford a teacher like those wealthy kids around him. Nevertheless, he still managed to receive a form of education in the temple's welfare program. In merely half a year, he had already learned to write and read. More so than his peers, his ability to write his name and completely recite the first volume of the God's Genesis book is exceedingly good.
Unfortunately, three months ago he could no longer continue his study. Though the temple claims to be offering "free" education for those children in need, but it came at a price. Once the children reached adulthood, these individuals must offer three years of their life to perform labor in the temple. In some cases, these people would directly become clergy's – forever unable to marry and have children.
As a typical southerner, Sandy's parent didn't want their family's lineage to be broken. In addition to this, Sandy also had no interest in the faith. By the age of 13, his interests in man and women matters were already in full swing. As such, he will often peek at his next door neighbor Ellie.
Maybe in two months, he could use his writing and mathematics to either become a bookkeeping apprentice in the nearby grocery store, or follow an old tailor at the street corner.
But these things are all in the future. In Sandy's view, he already has a method to get rich.
Everyday he would wander around in the slave market. Unlike his older brother – a local gang boss- he is a real little bully. Because his older brother stole a purse from a housekeeper of a noble family, his brother was sent to the northwest last year to perform hard labor in a mine.
Different from his brother, Sandy is not a thief, nor will he do such bad things. Despite this, he would still manage to bring back a few copper coins each night.
The capital's slave market is the gathering place of merchants from all over the empire. Many of these foreigners is a first timer in the capital's slave market; therefore, they didn't know anyone. Here's where Sandy comes in. Acting as a guide, he will show the way for these people and help bargain with the slave traders. Of course, he will first explain some explicit "rules" of the trade before the customer makes a mistake.
Because of this situation, coupled with Sandy's clever mindset, he would almost always come home with a few copper coins each day. If he gets lucky and the customer is a wealthy individual, his revenue would increase even more if he spent some extra effort in currying up his favors. His biggest wish right now is to save enough so that he can buy an old boot. The brother of his next door neighbor Ellie (girl) is currently serving in the local garrison. Often when facing the kids of Sandy's age, the brother would always brag about his military boots. For this reason, Sandy became very envious.
Sandy is not only smart; his strongest point is his ability to judge a person from the crowd with a single glance. Which one is a fat sheep or a veteran, all he needs is one look.
Today, Sandy was finally able to locate a target after crossing his arms in a corner for half a day.
In the crowd, there is an odd duo. Though the two is comprised of a man and a woman, but they didn't look like a couple because the man was much younger than the girl. As for the girl, she was around 20 years old and was way prettier than Ellie from next door.
The two may be wearing casual wear, but Sandy immediately recognized several features that wasn't quite right: The way the guy's eyes looked around acted like it was his first time in the slave market – full of curiosity towards everything around him. This feature was very important to Sandy. While the male is a good target, but the woman was the one that piqued Sandy's curiosity the most: despite her feministic charms and her boiling hot legs, the woman seems to be a knight or warrior by trade in her movements. Though the two are clearly part of the same group, but the girl seems to be intentionally keeping a distance of half a step behind the male. Also, the girl was always jerk blocking anyone in the crowd that came too close to the male. Like that, a protective barrier was constantly maintained around the boy as if he was a young master of a wealthy family.
Yes, there's no doubt!
After affirming his own speculation, Sandy then tugged his ragged cap against his head before pushing his way over.
"Sir! Sir!"
Du Wei is currently looking around because he really is curious about the slave markets. The slaves he previously bought for his shop wasn't handled by him, rather, it was done by Marde. Now that he has come to the slave market for the first time, he would of course not le the chance slide by. In his previous life, the presence of a slave market is already near extinction. As he was looking around, a childish voice reached his ears.
Like a loach, a emaciated boy slithered out from the crowd and stood before him. The boy may look thin, but then again, it is quite normal for a child of a poor family. Surprisingly though, the boy in front of him was very clean unlike the dirty children's he seen so far. Clean and tidy, the kid's big eye carried a light that gave others the indication of his clever mind.
"Mr." Sandy easily recited his well thought out lines, all the while not forgetting to put on his childish smile that could strike into the hearts of any adult: "Sir, would you like to buy slaves? Then I think you need someone like me."
With only one look, Rolynn could already see through the kid's purpose. With years of experience in his pocket, how could she not? However, just when she wanted to speak, Du Wei had already expressed his interest: "Oh, really? You? What can you do for me?"
"I can do a lot of things for you. Most importantly, I can save you a lot of trouble….. I can also save you a lot of time – for a distinguished person like you, time is very precious. You see all the people here? They are all here to buy slaves. And the many slave traders here want to sell slaves. You seem to be coming here for the first time, right? I can help you by introducing the situation here! Everything here is very familiar to me. I also know the slavers here: which one is kinder, which one is more cunning, which one is black hearted, which one is the fairest, I know all about it. You see? Am I not very useful to you?"
Seeing Du Wei was smiling at him, Sandy natural impulse is to push a bit harder. With the fish already in his mouth, there is no way he can let it go. Hurrying, he followed up with these words: "This place is very crowded with many thieves mixed in with the people. Don't worry though. With me here, I can help you avoid a lot of these trouble….." At this point, Sandy's voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around like a ghost was nearby: "you see that man in a grey suit? He is a cheat, you have to be careful not to go near that guy; otherwise, the guy will steal your wallet."
Du Wei blinked with understanding before smiling.
First impression, he liked the clean faced sly kid.
"How do you know my identity is high statute? The clothes I'm wearing are not expensive." Du Wei shakes his head: "maybe you made a mistake, I'm just a guy that came here to take a look. I don't need a guide."
"You don't need to bully a child like me." Sandy very tactfully smiles, not showing too much only the forefront four teeth – and unlike other poor children, Sandy's teeth are white. He is very attentive to his appearance because he understands that his targets are all people that liked a clean face.
"Your clothing may not be expensive, but the crop is not made from an ordinary tailor. You know, I'm almost became a tailor apprentice myself. My eye will not be mistaken… … There is also this young lady by your side, Oh, please forgive me for the liberty. Although she is such a beautiful young lady, but her attitude towards you is so respectful, if she's not your wife, then she is your follower. Also, your hair is clean with a good shade. With one look, I can already see your posture is different from a poor person….. It's like those nobles living in the northern district!"
Du Wei carefully looked over the kid before smiling: "Your observation is very detailed."
"Of course!" Sandy quickly followed up: "I can save you a lot of valuable time, I can be your guide here, even when you buy a slave, I can save you a lot of money! Of course, if you can give you a few coppers in the end to buy a piece of black bread, then that's enough."
Du Wei showed a pleasing smile as he gave Rolynn a glance: "I like this guy, let him do it."
With that said, Du Wei went forward without looking back. As for Rolynn, she only gave the kid a look before fishing a coin from her pocket and tossing it over.
With his swift reflexes, Sandy immediately caught it in midair – his hand gesture indicated he was extremely skilled at such a motion like it was routine practice for him. However, unlike his usual reaction, Sandy's eye widen in disbelief the moment he opened his palm and took a look at the heavy coin!
Unable to believe his eyes, Sandy quickly coughed up a spit and tried rubbing it against the coin. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, the color remained the same. Then an idea hit him. Holding the coin against his teeth, he bit as hard as he can….
OWW!!!!!!
Is this actually gold?!
Then it finally dawned on him, the figure before him today is definitely of great importance!
Usually, the people he serviced around this place would at best throw him a couple of copper coins after the job was done. And if the customer is a bit bolder, then he might even receive a silver coin like that time a while back.
But this is actually a gold!
A gold coin is enough for his family of three to live for more than a month! In addition, he can also afford to let his father drink a glass of cheap ale every night. More importantly, he can also buy himself a pair of old boots like he always wanted!
Rushing to put the coin away into his pocket, Sandy struggled a bit before finally catching up to Du Wei's side, thus, starting his work day.
"You are familiar with this place? Then I ask you, if I'm going to buy a few slaves today, where should I go?" Du Wei questioned.
"It depends on what you want for the individual." Now that Sandy has received his payment, the kid would absolutely not withhold anything back. As he moved around in the crowd, his thin body was extremely flexible like there was no indication he could possibly bump into anyone – if anything, the kid was like a loach constantly slithering around. As he moved his mouth, his voice was fast and clear: "If you are intending to buy several maids, then my recommendation is for you to take a look at the 'official's slave' shop. Those slaves are all from big households before ending up here – well trained and familiar with proper etiquette. If you bring such people home, then you won't have to worry about losing face. However, if you only want someone to do hard labor, then I got a few places. From your accent, you're not a local right?" As he mentioned the last point, Sandy sounded very cunning.
But this time, the clever little boy was wrong.
Du Wei's accent is indeed a little different from the capital. The reason for this is because he came from Rowling Household. According to tradition, anyone inside the mansion must only speak with the accent of the Rowling Plains – this included Earl Raymond. On top of this, Du Wei also spent a year in the Rowling Plains, so his accent will naturally carry more weight in his speech.
Seeing Du Wei is only smiling without saying a word, Sandy immediately lowered his voice: "What I want to remind you is this. Though all sales here are protected by imperial decree, but you're still an outsider, so there are some rules you must pay attention to. This is especially true for those with influence... Just last month, there were several foreign merchants that wanted to purchase two beautiful slaves for themselves. In the process of bidding, those people had a falling out with a steward belonging to some noble house. In the end, the foreigners were taught a lesson and thrown into a moat outside the city!"
Despite his effort, Sandy was beginning to doubt his abilities when the little fortune god in front of him remained indifferent as ever. Pushing on, he raised his tempo to work even harder: "In General, the slaves here are divided into several types. The first type is the 'official slaves', of course, they are also the most expensive. Due to their family's fall into ruin and their citizenship revoked for some reason, these slaves are usually the most sought after. Only just recently, I heard the daughters of some convicted noblemen's in the previous coup were auctioned off. At the bidding day, the amount of people fighting for these girls were hitting the roof! Aigh, who wouldn't want a nobleman's daughter in their home to be used as a slave? Just the prestige of owning such a girl would make the owner look good."
Du Wei's brow slightly wrinkled because he is very well aware of what this little boy is going on about. To be more accurate, his Rowling Household had also recently fallen into ruin. If not for his existence, then the tragic fate of becoming a slave would definitely have befallen on his family.
Sandy continues to speak, "aside from the 'official slaves', the secondary type are the barbarians from the Northwest. Those guys are strong, very strong. When working, they are definitely not slouches. However, if you buy such a guy back to only do menial work, then it would be a total waste."
"Why is that?" Du Wei finally opens up to question. Relieved by this, Sandy quickly follows up, "because the value in those barbarians lies not in their physical labor, rather, it is their ability to care for horses. If you have a pasture, then buy a couple of these Northwestern barbarians home. I assure you, once you've done that, the harvest in the following year will increase exponentially!"
Du Wei nods in understanding.
"However, you do need to pay special attention to them. Though these barbarians are good slaves, but their temper is particularly wild and difficult to discipline. This is especially true in their habit of constantly wanting to escape. If you do not send guards to monitor their actions, then the likelihood of them fleeing is a likely chance. After all, their life is that of an outlaw, fighting to death are not uncommon in their culture."
"And what else?"
"There is also the third type of slaves. These people are originally the citizens of the empire. Due to being impoverished and unable to support themselves, such people would sell themselves to a good master. As long as you are willing to feed them and house them, these honest individuals would always be loyal to their master. Most importantly, they would never run way."
Upon touching this point, Sandy actually whispered something inconsistent with his age group: "Aigh, in such times, who would want to sell themselves into slavery if not for the fact that they couldn't make it through."
When Du Wei heard the last part, he was somewhat surprised and gave the kid an extra glance.
"The last is the guys from the Southeastern Sea. Those indigenous people are the cheapest and the most numerous around here. If you intend to go for these slaves, then you must be careful in your choice because good and bad are always mixed together. In order to maximize profit, those black hearted slavers would always put several weak and old souls together with the strong and sell them in groups. Aside from this, this bracket of slaves is also separated into two groups. The former is the type that has lived in the empire for many years or is even a second generation slave. Even if they can't speak our language, they can at least understand us. Such a person is called a 'mature slave'. The latter is the freshly caught slaves brought in by the army in the recent expeditions. These people are called 'raw slaves' due to their unwillingness to accept their fate. Normally, these people like to flee and are unable to communicate with us. As such, their pricing is the lowest. Of course, there are exceptions if the slave is a natural beauty."
Explaining up to here, Sandy suddenly turned around to face the three dirty looking boys drawing close to Du Wei: "get lost, Dick! This is my guest! Can't you see me here! If you want to do business, go somewhere else!"
The shifty looking boys were only 3-5 feet from Du Wei when Sandy shouted. Seeing things weren't going to play out, the leader of the group stepped forward and uttered some scolding words: "Sandy little liar! You're always bad for my business!"
With that, the dirty kid gave both Du Wei and Rolynn an unwilling gaze before turning around to mix back into the crowd.
Sandy lets out a sigh before smiling: "don't worry about those guys. They are the gold fingers roaming this street. But don't worry, since I'm here, they won't bother you. Nonetheless, you still have to be careful because their numbers are quite numerous here."
Du Wei gave Rolynn a look because he was never worried about these little thieves. Though Roylnn's strength isn't that of someone standing at the summit of the martial world, but with her abilities, dealing with a few thieves is not a problem.
Rather, he was more interested in the kids: "Just now, all those guys were thieves?"
"Hush!" Sandy facial expression change, quickly whispering:
"You mustn't ever say so! If those guys heard you saying the word 'Thieves', then they will come seeking trouble for you. This is the rule of the road, you understand?"
Du Wei inwardly laughed as he said, "But you ruined their plan. Wouldn't they bother you instead?"
"Humph." Sandy curls his mouth: "all of us grew up together in this street, brawling here and there is normal for us. Even we bullies would only bully those from the outside, never against our own. Also, my brother was once a boss in this place. Considering my brother's name, those guys won't make trouble for me. Sure, we might brawl once a while if things don't work out, but wouldn't really hate each other…. And have a look around us, there are so many outsiders, business is everywhere."
The truth is his words were only half true. When doing this business, its unavoidable that he would incur the wrath of some gold fingers. Nonetheless, all of them did grow up on the same street, so they won't really have a falling out over something like this. Though a few bruises is bound to happen, but it's all worth it if he can take home a few copper coins by the end of the day.
And today he earned a gold coin. Even if takes a few punches when he goes back tonight, it is still more than worth it!