“Sorry, Miss Su Yao, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s okay. You should have told me earlier.”
In the forest near Moravia, Su Yao helped Chlorel and Sofia down from the griffin. Sofia earnestly apologized, a faint blush visible on her fair face from nervousness.
Originally, she had planned to come with only Chlorel, but the silver-haired, red-eyed beauty had given her a look that said, “I can do everything,” and Su Yao couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
She hadn’t expected the elegant and perfect half-elf to be afraid of heights. Because of that, she had been tightly embraced the entire way, nearly suffocating.
Chlorel’s petite frame was already small, and Sofia’s strong arms wrapped firmly around her waist like a tiny corset, making every breath feel heavily constricted.
But considering that Chlorel’s chest was pressed against her back the whole time, Su Yao decided to let it slide this once. Somehow, she understood the meaning of pain mixed with pleasure…
Luckily, the dungeon’s core didn’t require breathing air, or she’d probably be hypoxic by now.
Next time, they’d have to choose a land mount instead. Thinking this, Su Yao led the two of them into the city.
Today was not a day for trading with Hilvi; this time in Moravia, Su Yao had two other errands.
First, to handle personnel matters at the Maze Tavern, and second, to find an excellent construction team.
Of course, the latter was not urgent. Even a single architect would do, as many of the new employees already knew how to build houses.
The three arrived at the black market, which was close to Moravia’s city walls, just a short walk from the city gates.
The filthy environment and foul stench remained unchanged. In a fantasy world with a technology level similar to medieval Western society, urban sanitation was always a challenge.
It was almost a miracle that no plague had broken out here.
Oh, right, this world had magic.
Passing by the scattered black market merchants on the outskirts, Su Yao came to the place where she and Sofia first met.
“Crack, crack…”
The familiar sound of whips lashing flesh rang out. She had no idea where all these slave owners got their endless energy, but they seemed to take great delight in punishing others.
The blonde little girl frowned as she glanced at the slave-selling shops. As someone from a modern civilized society, she would never get used to “slavery,” though she didn’t resist it outright.
She already understood the basics of this world: in a low-productivity society, retaining some outdated systems was common.
Aside from the kidnapped, most people here, even if not slaves, would probably end up beggars or criminals elsewhere.
Of course, some were already criminals, though she put aside their crimes for now.
Fixing such backward systems would require an Industrial Revolution—no, an Educational Revolution.
It was truly sad that such a convenient “cheat device” like magic was monopolized by nobles, rendering it inaccessible to the masses…
Sorry, she was thinking too far ahead. Her plan was to establish a magic school, but that was for much later. Right now, selecting slaves was more important.
But today, for some reason, healthy female slaves were scarce.
Though she could buy handsome young men as attendants, having a large gender imbalance among staff would affect organizational management, reduce operational efficiency, harm employees’ physical and mental health, and cause all sorts of other problems.
(To translate: she just wanted to buy some pretty female slaves to take back—she’s lustful!)
Got it? She needed to buy enough cute female slaves to serve as attendants.
“Boss, do you have female slaves?”
“No, you’re unlucky. The last batch of female slaves was just sold.”
Su Yao asked a slave trader who looked somewhat approachable. The man was a bit stunned before replying, probably not expecting a girl to ask.
Learning from last time’s experience, Su Yao, Chlorel, and Sofia had all worn hooded cloaks today to hide their faces.
Unsurprisingly, there was a reason female slaves were far fewer than before.
“Do you know why they were bought?”
Though it wouldn’t help, she was curious why suddenly so many female slaves were needed.
“I heard the brothels have been doing well lately, with many adventurers around. That’s probably why.”
Really? Her dungeon was already impacting the slave market’s business? What could she say?
Food, drink, and lust—ancient wisdom wasn’t wrong.
Fine, on to the second matter. Male economic slaves? Soon a large batch of new employees would join, so buying them wasn’t cost-effective.
Just a couple more days in the 996 hellwork schedule, she could endure…
No, she couldn’t! Let’s go find some more pleasing ones, preferably weak and timid. She wanted to dress them up as girls.
“Miss, are you looking to buy female slaves?”
Oh? Just after leaving the previous shop, this man stopped her. He must have overheard her conversation with the other slave trader.
Is this what they call “when all seems lost, a new path appears”? How lucky!
“Yes, I need some hands, preferably female.”
“Perfect, I still have a few left. If you want, I can show you. But are you noble?”
Like all black market merchants, the man was bundled up to hide his face, afraid of being recognized.
Strange—why did he need to confirm she was noble? Afraid she couldn’t afford it?
It didn’t matter. Even if she wasn’t, Chlorel and Sofia behind her certainly were, so she counted as one.
Money was no concern; Chlorel still had over ninety gold coins.
“Yes, lead the way.”
To reassure him, Su Yao took out the Lord’s Crest Hilvi had given her. The man was slightly stunned, glanced around, then his tone turned obsequious.
“No problem, Miss. They’re all in the basement of a house inside the city. Please follow me.”
This guy was probably an opportunistic merchant. Judging by his words, he didn’t have a shop in this market. Maybe because of the female slave shortage, he started “stockpiling.”
Annoying, but Su Yao had no choice…
After leaving the black market, they followed the man through a maze of alleys until stopping in front of a somewhat run-down three-story building.
During the day, few people were around. Judging from the signs in the nearby alleys, this was likely Moravia’s version of a “red-light district.”
Yet this building stood out from the nearby brothel buildings—its blue-gray stone bricks were covered with vines and moss, and its curtains were tightly drawn.
It was obvious no one had come here in a long time. Though suitable for holding slaves, especially those sold to brothels, Su Yao felt an indescribable sense of discord.
The creaking old door hinge interrupted her thoughts as the man invited them in.
“Please come in, honorable noble lady.”
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