"In Marlinburg, business is business." — The Grand Duke of Marlinburg, "Lender" Vandeguiper Schulz.
The Marlinburg Talent Market is the largest slave trading location on the continent, where buyers, with money, can purchase almost any creature available on the continent.
Whether serfs, defeated soldiers, or even bankrupt nobles' daughters, from halfings skilled in household duties and stewardship to brutish barbarians suitable only for bodyguard work, from blond-haired, blue-eyed Nords to dark-haired, dark-eyed Southerners, and even dwarves and ogres, all can be found in the Marlinburg Talent Market.
However, the most valuable among all are the elves, with their pointed ears.
Elves are divided into three kinds: High Elves, Dark Elves, and Wood Elves, abbreviated as High, Dark, and Wood Elves, collectively known as the three Elves. Whenever elven slaves appear in the talent market, they cause a frenzy of bidding wars. Elves, with their beautiful appearances and elegant temperaments, are especially favored by human nobles.
Only High Elves never appear in the market, as the High Elf Embassy would intervene in the case of captured High Elves. The High Elf Ambassador would negotiate with the Marlinburg Senate through agreed procedures to redeem their valuable people, leaving Dark Elves and Wood Elves unprotected.
"There are Dark Elves? That's rare, but not surprising. Humans always have a special fetish for elves," Ryan casually commented to Emilia.
"Does the master also like elves?" Emilia, not dressed as a maid today but rather as Ryan's companion, asked curiously, blinking her large eyes.
After spending more than two weeks with Ryan, the girl had become much more cheerful, which Ryan found strange.
"It doesn't matter to me. I'm here to buy a maid to help you, not to look at whether they are pretty or not. As long as they are capable and can work, that's fine," Ryan intended to step out for a change of scenery and to find Emilia some help, with no real plan to bid on the so-called Dark Elves.
However, as soon as Ryan entered the talent market, groups of nobles and merchants warmly greeted him. After all, the continent respects the strong, and Ryan, at 25, is already a legendary mid-tier knight, stronger than many second-rate knightly order leaders. Fools know his potential to become a great holy knight, so nobles and merchants all tried to make a good impression.
Having money requires spending it wisely, and the merchants of Marlinburg spare no expense in making friends with strong individuals and hiring bodyguards.
"Delighted to meet you, Mr. Ryan! Are you here for the female Dark Elf?" Baron Adelbert Casanova, chairman of the Gentlemen's League Commerce Association and the second most influential person in the Marlinburg Senate, approached with a smile: "If Mr. Ryan is interested, we can certainly make a deal!"
"Yes, yes!" The crowd around Ryan echoed, with representatives of Marlinburg's major trade unions present.
"Ha-ha-ha! Thank you, everyone. However, I'm just here to find a maid for my household and to enjoy the excitement. It's not what you think, otherwise someone might suddenly drop down from the sky to give me trouble," Ryan politely responded, humorously implying he was just browsing and any misstep might draw ire from someone he cared about.
The crowd laughed heartily, all aware of Ryan's close relationship with Witch Giselle, apparently a jealous witch not keen on sharing!
No one knew Ryan wasn't referring to Veronica.
"Alright then, Mr. Ryan, whichever slave you're interested in, just bid, and we'll understand," several nobles immediately expressed their understanding, dispersing as the auction was about to start.
"Let's take our seats!" Ryan's seat had been arranged by the market's manager, so he and Emilia took their place in a small box. Emilia adjusted her coat and skirt, sitting beside Ryan.
The auction began, with guests surrounding the market's large stage, illuminated by magical lights. One by one, slaves were led, brought, or carried in cages onto the stage.
Initially, the offerings were miscellaneous, such as serfs selling themselves or civilians captured in wars. Ryan showed no interest, merely chatting with Emilia: "Emilia, if you hadn't escaped to become a mercenary, would you have become a slave?"
"Perhaps, or maybe something worse," Emilia sat demurely, her hands on her knees. She wore thigh-high cotton socks that day, revealing just a short section above her boots and below her skirt. Ryan had bought her many clothes and stockings, but the best outfits were carefully stored in her room, too precious to wear out.
"I think you could have fetched a good price~" Ryan teased with a smile: "You're so pretty; many nobles and wealthy merchants would want to buy you as their lady, especially since you can speak Gothic, read, do math, and are polite."
"Master~" Emilia looked up shyly, knowing Ryan was joking.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha~"
After several auctions, Ryan finally found his target—a girl with fiery red hair who seemed very docile, not particularly striking but refreshingly plain, making her an ideal maid candidate.
"Lot number twenty-six is Miss Letty from the Kingdom of Estalia," the auctioneer paused, then continued: "Miss Letty is sixteen years old, charming, though illiterate, she is very polite, can count to twenty, and is proficient in household chores, making her an excellent servant candidate. But, gentlemen, if you have other intentions, I won't object!"
The crowd laughed.
"The bidding starts at eight gold marks, with each bid increment no less than fifty silver coins!" After the auctioneer called out, someone immediately raised their paddle: "Eight gold marks!"
"Eight gold marks and fifty silver coins!" Ryan also raised his paddle.
The auction hall quieted, with representatives of major trade unions looking at each other, halting their bids in a tacit agreement.
Citizens and small merchants, seeing Ryan, the legendary mid-tier human hero, interested, also stopped bidding.
The auctioneer continued unabated: "Mr. Ryan bids eight gold marks and fifty silver coins. Anyone else?"
"Eight gold marks and fifty silver coins once!"
"Eight gold marks and fifty silver coins twice!"
Ryan nodded, ready to conclude his bid.
"Nine gold marks!" Just then, someone raised their paddle.
The hall buzzed.
"Who dares to compete with Mr. Ryan?"
"Which blind fool is this?!"
"That's the Southerner, damn Southerner, he doesn't know the rules!"
The major trade unions of Marlinburg murmured among themselves, with Baron Adelbert Casanova frowning, speaking to Baron Greymire beside him: "It's that Southerner again, truly foolish, not understanding the rules, which is why I dislike them."
Hearing someone bid, Ryan slightly frowned, raising his paddle again: "Nine gold marks and fifty silver coins!"
"Ten gold marks!" Again, the same person raised their paddle.
Ah, encountered a troll today, huh? Ryan continued to bid: "Ten gold marks and fifty silver coins!"
"Eleven gold marks!" The opponent bid again.
Ryan then gave up continuing to bid, turning his gaze towards the middle-aged man competing with him.
The man appeared to be in his early thirties, handsome, with a well-proportioned figure, clear and distinct facial features, a very scholarly temperament, and extremely meticulous dressing. His black eyes sparkled with intelligence. Seeing Ryan look over, he nodded and smiled.
"Eleven gold marks once!"
"Eleven gold marks twice!"
"Eleven gold marks thrice!"
"Congratulations to Mr. Hadrian from the Luigi Commerce Association for acquiring Miss Letty!" The auctioneer's gavel fell, declaring the auction complete.
Missing his target, Ryan was not discouraged. With many slaves to be auctioned today, he didn't need to stubbornly persist. So, he began to look for his next target.
The auction continued.
After patiently waiting through several auctions, another girl was brought up, looking pitifully cute with a doll-like face, green eyes, brown hair, slender eyebrows, and cute dimples, shivering in a simple dress amidst the winter chill.
"This is the daughter of a knight from the once Angel Feather Knight Order of the Kingdom of Tiriel, Miranda!" the auctioneer laughed: "Her poor father failed in war and recently went bankrupt, and she was sold here!"
The audience laughed heartily, as if it was a particularly funny story.
Two years ago, with the change of the emperor in the Empire and some political turmoil, the Angel Feather Knight Order from the southern Kingdom of Tiriel took the opportunity to invade the Empire's southern Electorate of Tuscany, hoping to profit from the chaos.
However, the hot-tempered Elector Umberto "Sun Lion" Colleoni not only annihilated the invading enemy with his own Knights of the Ram but also personally led his troops southward, triumphantly marching all the way to force the Angel Feather Knight Order to surrender. Not satisfied with just that, he unreasonably attacked the capital of Tiriel, forcing the King of Tiriel to pay a large war indemnity to satisfy Elector Colleoni and withdraw his forces.
This story is particularly liked by the Empire's people, illustrating the overconfidence of Southerners and the strength of the Empire.
"Everyone can see, Miss Miranda is sweet and cute, only sixteen years old, literate, trained in traditional noble etiquette, healthy, and still a virgin! Those in need of an heir, this is your chance!" the auctioneer announced: "The starting bid is one hundred gold marks, with each bid increment not less than five gold marks!"
"One hundred gold marks!" Ryan, finding her satisfactory, immediately bid.
Seeing Ryan bid, many interested nobles also held back, waiting for the next item.
"One hundred and ten gold marks!" Again, the handsome man raised his paddle.
"One hundred and fifteen gold marks!" Ryan raised his eyebrows, continuing to bid.
"One hundred and fifty gold marks!" The handsome man smiled politely at Ryan, raising the bid.
"One hundred and fifty-five gold marks!"
"Two hundred gold marks!" The man named Hadrian continued to bid against Ryan.
"Damn!" Ryan cursed silently; two hundred gold marks had exceeded his threshold. His adoptive father, Norman, only collected about four hundred gold marks in taxes from Autun in a year (the exchange rate between gold marks and dinars is 1:1). He had money, but it wasn't to be wasted like this.
The audience was stunned by Hadrian's lavish bidding. A noble tried to bid two hundred and ten gold marks, seeing Ryan withdraw, but Hadrian immediately raised it to two hundred and fifty gold marks.
Thus, the girl named Miranda was also taken by Hadrian.
"Emmm~" Ryan felt he might be targeted, so he said to Emilia: "As long as they can work, right?"
"Mm~ It's all up to the master," Emilia refrained from commenting.
After failing to win bids twice, Ryan's interest waned. After a few more slaves were auctioned, an older woman was brought up. She was in her thirties, out of shape, with rough skin from years of hard labor, clearly capable of doing dirty and tiring work. Ryan thought, surely no one will compete with me for this aunt?
He was wrong.
As soon as Ryan made a bid, Hadrian immediately competed, raising the original price of fifty silver coins to five gold marks without stopping, clearly trolling Ryan.
Ryan's face darkened with anger. With a light tap on the table, he stood up: "Emilia, let's go."
"Yes, master." Emilia noticed the deep palm print left on the table, quickly stood up, and followed him, exiting the auction hall.
Just as they left the auction, stepping into the snowy world outside without even having a chance to breathe fresh air, a butler-like person immediately stopped them: "Hello, Mr. Ryan! Allow me to introduce myself. I am the butler of Mr. Hadrian. I am extremely, extremely sorry for our disrespectful behavior!"
The butler bowed deeply, almost beyond ninety degrees.
"So, are you here to show off on behalf of your master?" Ryan replied emotionlessly.
"No! Not at all! Mr. Ryan, what I mean to say is, Mr. Hadrian wants to make friends with you! The slaves Mr. Ryan was interested in at the auction will be sent to Mr. Ryan immediately after the auction ends!" The butler, feeling Ryan's imposing aura, born from battles and slaughters, shouted loudly, bowing even lower.
"Additionally, apart from these, Mr. Hadrian is willing to offer a great gift to Mr. Ryan right after the auction."
"Mr. Hadrian sincerely wants to be friends with Mr. Ryan!"
Unexpected, isn't it?
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