Sandra smiled, her face still friendly as I showed her both of our new licenses. She nodded, "Great, with that taken care of, I can show you my selection. Right this way, you two." Her emporium was grand. Most of the slaves weren't even shown at the front like the other traders. The tent was a purple color, likely to attract attention. She made it shiny with plenty of sparkles on the outside; it almost seemed like a spectacle. It would appear she liked to make the emporium an experience rather than just a simple display. Since she was such a top-level trader, the space they gave her was a lot bigger than normal. She led us to a large outside area where steel cages were lined up all across the outside of her emporium.
The outside was jaw-dropping; the scope we were dealing with went beyond my imagination. Cages big and small lined the backside of the tent. We weren't talking about 10 or 20—this woman had at least 100 different slaves. My shock turned to anger; I felt it from Rune next to me too. His eyes were dark and brooding. This woman—she was a monster. Despite feeling this way, I had to grin and bear it. I looked at Sandra, "This collection is amazing! I have never seen anything like it! I can see why you are a top-tier trader." Sandra practically beamed, "Right? I am very proud of my collection. Feel free to window shop, and if you need, I can recommend some starter slaves."
I nodded, "We'll let you know if we have any trouble, thank you. Alright, Rune, let's find you a slave to start with." We parted from Sandra. Once we got a ways away from her, Rune seemed to grab my shoulder. Rune growled, "What the hell are we doing? We're supposed to be gathering information on Jasmine, not buying slaves." I said in a labored manner, "Trust me, I don't want to do this any more than you do, but I have a plan." Rune raised an eyebrow, "Any plan that involves buying slaves, count me out of." I gave him a devious smile, "Oh, and what if that plan involves saving the slaves instead?"
Rune frowned, "W-what? How would that—" I cut him off, "We buy them and then sell them at a higher price than normal. Then we use you to free them. That is how we are going to make money in this market. Pretty good scam, right?" Rune pondered for a moment, then smiled a little, "That's... devious." I added, "Well, you in? You're a pretty good thief, aren't you? We put your skills to use and get enough money to buy back your sister." Rune nodded, "I'm in, but how do we decide which slave to buy?"
"We'll need to find someone who looks valuable enough to fetch a high price but also someone we can trust to cooperate with our plan," I said, scanning the rows of cages. "Keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they still have some fight left in them. The main issue is going to come later if they realize we're working together. They might see a pattern between slaves I sell and those that go missing. Even if they don't see you stealing them, they could still connect the dots. I was thinking that the slaves we free we could enlist to help us free more slaves. Ideally, we should look for someone who could fit that bill. We also only have 25 gold to play with, so we need to pick with cost in mind."
Rune said in a mocking tone, "Alright, suppose we'll window shop then." There were many different cages all over the back of the tent. The big cages held a lot of slaves packed like sardines. The smaller ones had higher rarity slaves. We could save our money and go for a less rare slave, but they might not listen to us, could have disease, or be too frail.
I scanned the cages. I spotted a batch of demi-humans jammed together in big cages. I also spotted a black arachne in a massive cage. It still resembled a human, but its body was terrifying. It had long black furry legs and a big jaw cutting out of her chest. A person was connected to such a creature. She had all black hair and looked pale as the night.
Next to that cage, we spotted a dragonkin. Her blue eyes and blue hair made her look dreamlike. She had green claws and green wings. She roared a little as we passed. Didn't seem like she was fond of people. I moved past the S-rank rarity slaves towards the more affordable A and B-rank slaves.
Anything higher than C-rank usually got a cage to itself. Most of the S-rank slaves had no price tags; usually, haggling was the norm. A and B-ranks were given price tags. I spotted orcs, half-elves, humans, and other more formidable races mixed in. We ideally need something that could have a high resale value.
We weren't really looking for warriors, just someone who looked trustworthy. Someone who has high resale value could be good. Each cage had information on it, likely written by Sandra. Rune nudged me, "Hey, Key, they got labels above each cage." I looked above the cages. I saw signs that separated each group of cages.
I nodded, "Good eye, Rune." I missed such an important detail. I was mostly focused on ranks. Each sign listed sections in her emporium. Sections were separated into four categories. The categories were: Fighters, Workers, Entertainment, and Pleasure. Pleasure was for slaves that were used for their bodies.
Rune growled, "Disgusting." I sighed, "Couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately, we'll probably need to buy that kind of slave." I was hoping to sell to rich folks in town, so a fighter or worker wouldn't be super useful. I needed a slave with good resale value. Entertainment or pleasure slaves would be better. We made our way past the warriors. A few of them called out to me, but I ignored them—they just wanted freedom from their cages. As we passed the workers category a voice next to me quietly called out to us it was a younger woman with a thick mask on. She had long dark blue hair that wen't down her back and bandages all over. She called out, "You should consider buying me, boy. I can make you a lot of money."
We were looking for someone we could keep a rich person happy like a dancer or a courtesan. This girl was nothing of the sort, but my eyes lit up when I saw her rank. S-rank? This woman? She's just a human? I stopped in my tracks. I hated getting drawn in by something, but my curiosity got the better of me. I walked up to her cage and got a better look at the girl. She had aquamarine eyes matching dark blue hair and a black beanie on her head. The feature that caught my eye was a dark black gas mask over her face. Her clothes were falling apart. Her white wool top was in tatters. It was notable that she also had earmuffs on, and on her forehead, she had a cut with a bandage pasted on carelessly.
The girl was not in the best shape. I read her information:
Aurora - S-rank human scientist
Age: 23
Cost: 20 gold
Description: Highly skilled in her craft. She can practically build anything, and her alchemy and potion creation skills are worth their weight in gold. Sharp-minded, but comes with a danger. Slaves with her skill could be worth hundreds of gold normally, but she has a defect.
Defect: Unstable mental state due to years of slavery. Requires strict supervision to ensure compliance and prevent unpredictable behavior. While immensely valuable, her volatile nature has led to previous owners returning her or experiencing... incidents.
I turned to Rune, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think? She could be incredibly valuable if we manage her right."
Rune frowned, examining Aurora carefully. "It's a risk. If she's as unstable as they say, she might be more trouble than she's worth. But... if we could control her, she could help us a lot with our plans." My brain fired off warning signs that this was a bad idea, that she was nothing but a risk. Despite that, I couldn't help but feel we could stand to gain a lot here. A slave as good as her for such a cheap price? I almost couldn't resist; we could make all of our money back in one swoop with her. I decided, "Hey, Rune, get Sandra over here. This woman is the one I want." Rune's jaw dropped, "A-are you sure? She's a big risk." I nodded, "The biggest risks also have the highest returns, and right now we need high returns."
Sandra came over a moment later after Rune got her. She frowned when she saw the slave I was hovering around. Sandra pointed out, "This slave? I was hoping you'd ignore her. She isn't a great starter slave, I can tell you that. I had to put one of my old gas masks on her because she kept spitting and biting at me so much. Trust me, Key, this one is not worth the gold. A couple of her former masters I heard even died at her hands; that's why I was forced to lower her price." I asked, "How much were you gonna charge for her originally?" Sandra sighed, "She has only been in my care for a month, but I already had to lower her price three times. I was trying to get at least 100 gold for her. Then I had to lower it to 75 once the rumors about her spread, then 50, and now a few days ago, I had to lower her to 20 gold. At this point, I almost have to give her away, which is annoying because I paid 60 gold for her originally. The point is, she is a failed investment, one I am not proud of."
I nodded understandingly, "I am ready to take the risk. I am fully prepared to try my hand with her. I could use her in my line of work, you see, and I would be happy to make her useful." Sandra tilted her head, "First the dhampir and now the girl. What is it you do, if you don't mind me asking?" "I'm a merchant with a knack for finding value where others see only trouble. Sometimes, that means taking a few risks." I kept my tone light but firm. "And I think I can handle her."
Sandra raised an eyebrow, her curiosity clearly piqued. "A merchant, huh? Well, I won't say I didn't warn you. Just make sure you keep a close eye on her."
"I will," I assured her. "Now, let's finalize this purchase."
Sandra nodded and gestured for one of her attendants to bring over the necessary paperwork. As we filled out the forms and exchanged the gold, Aurora stood silently in her cage, her eyes flickering with a mixture of hope and suspicion.
Once the transaction was complete, Sandra handed me the key to Aurora's cage. "Good luck, Key. You're going to need it. Oh, and don't hesitate to come back if you need another slave or guidance on ownership."
I took the key and approached Aurora's cage. She watched me warily as I unlocked the door and swung it open. "Come on out," I said gently. "We're getting you out of here."
Aurora stepped out of the cage cautiously, her movements slow and deliberate. Rune and I led her away from the emporium, keeping a close eye on her to ensure she didn't try anything unpredictable.
As we walked back through the bustling marketplace, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Aurora was a risky investment, but if we could manage her, she could be the key to making money in this city.