"I am a slave trader, my dear butcher. I will gift you three of my products of your choice for free as payment for your escort."
Alan had a red coat and dressed cleanly, he had a face that looked extremely shrewd. His body had muscle on it despite his occupation, and he had a full trimmed beard.
Hiro tried to digest the information he had on hand. His girls were supposedly in Partisan the Crown Prince's castle specifically. He told the public he intends to turn them into his playthings but according to Alan that was bullshit.
Rilu said in his last life that she had someone she trusted to ensure his harem's safety. Krayto said the same thing. Both knew Hiro was at odds with Rhyne. Thus the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Could Dylan be the one both of them sent to help him?
"How are you sure they are safe?"
The merchant then traced his fingers around his mouth as he answered. "The public normally believe that Prince Dylan is a hedonist sex maniac, and that he NTR's doms left and right.
This is actually false, as Prince Dylan is loyal to the women he treats as his queens. His public image has been dragged into the gutter due to the machinations of the Princess."
The Reincarnator's blood grew hot at the mention of the one who summoned him into this world. Originally Rhyne painted her brother as this power-hungry bastard who would murder his entire family if it got him what he wanted.
Yet, the more Hiro interacted with the raven-haired princess the more dubious her personality became. If none of what Rhyne told him was true, then the probability that Dylan was also a victim in all this is quite high.
Alan visibly grew unsettled when Hiro failed to give any sort of reply, the merchant then added information seemingly to appease Hiro.
"I stand by the Prince, dear butcher. I am delivering slaves to him but not the kind used for pleasure. The match between Dominii's brother and sister is in four months. Thus the underdog Prince Dylan is trying to muster every bit of power he can."
Realizing he had an extremely limited view of the country's politics and situation, Hiro decided to educate himself as much as he can. Being born ignorant is not a mistake but remaining one on the other hand is a costly sin.
Hiro then flipped the wolf headdress he had and spoke. "I agree to your terms, I will serve as your guard from here to Partisan in exchange for information and bringing me to my girls. Call me Musashi."
The Merchant visibly brightened and approached for a handshake. "Then we have a deal, Mister Musashi. Please follow me to pick your slaves. I have the best pleasure slaves of every preference you might have." He then led the way to one of the carriages.
The caravan escorts all lowered their guard as they waited for Alan to give the go-ahead to start moving once more. Hiro deferred Alan's goodwill for fear of being manipulated.
"I have no interest in sex slaves. In fact, I do not need any slave."
Alan turned around and made a bow as he pleaded. "I am a devotee of the Regalia Shani, please do not treat my gift in contempt. Without you, the Forest Dew rush would not happen and I would have gone bankrupt."
The merchant then signaled to the Escorts who opened the last carriage's door and out came over twenty men bound in chains. Alan gestured to the combat slaves as he continued.
"If you have no need for those to warm your bed, what about warriors to aid you in battle or guard your wives? Aside from the ones I got for the prince, the rest are all available.
"The law of Shani demands I grant you 10% of the assistance you indirectly gave me. Please pick three slaves. They are yours to keep and are my gift to you."
Hiro internally weighed the benefits and demerits of accepting the slaves and after a few seconds decided, it didn't do well to kick a gift horse in the mouth.
In a nutshell, the law of Valorious on slaves was as spartan as can be. Slaves are treated as objects, they can be bought, used, and killed without consequence so long as it stayed within the confines of the law. Any and all actions of a slave are attributed to the owner. This includes any crimes or offenses the slave may have done.
Slaves cannot hold any titles or possessions nor stand as witnesses. The general guideline was anything your shoe cannot do, a slave cannot as well. People become slaves through debt, crime, or birth.
None my fault how one treats his slave similar to no one can force you to care for your clothes and armor. Thus, affection or hate for slaves varies greatly. Others advocate to free them, while others treat them as meat shields, cum toilets or free labor.
The only way for a slave to become human again is if his owner frees him, by paying the debt or amount associated with the crime. The Slavery system while extremely similar to the Battle Harem system granted nothing but control over the slave's actions.
After listening to some basic explanations about slaves Hiro moved to inspect the ones available.
In the past month, Hiro mastered how most of his skills worked. One of the things that annoyed him the most would be the insane amount of detail [Reverie Beyond Hope] showed, so he tweaked a few details to make the info easier on the eyes.
__________
Savij Seismos
Race: Human | Age: 28
Level: 48 | Title: Slave
HP: S | AP: A | STR: A | AGI: B | INT : D
__________
Main Skill: Shield Guardian [C]
Total Skills: [24] | Limit: [0] | Passive: [11] | Active: [12]
Notable Traits: N/A
Notable Skills: [Bastion][A]
Notable Equipment: [N/A]
__________
Regalia Rating: [Initiate]
Lotus Assimilation remaining: E
Ledger Karma: E - 30%
Hourglass Era: Branch | Branches Remaining: 75
In response to the information overload, the reincarnator simplified how the data presented itself. Hiro created custom status screens whenever he used Inspect.
Instead of numbers, a rating was given to the main states in relation to their level. Similarly, only notable skills or effects need to be mentioned for the skills and equipment. While the Regalia rating was still something Hiro didn't fully understand.
'Hmm, pretty decent, I think I would have lost to him if we fought in my last fight. Nothing special though.'
Hiro then spent five minutes checking out all the combat slaves before settling on his choices. Bewildered by the butcher's picks Alan asked for disbelief.
"Are you sure you want those three? They are some of the worse products I own. I failed to sell no matter what I did. I am giving you my professional opinion that they are bad products, are you certain you wish to choose them?"
Yet the only response Hiro gave was "I am, they will serve my purposes. Leave us for the moment, I will join you later, my slaves and I will walk."
Second-guessing people meant doubting their competence. So the merchant gave up and said in defeat "Understood, Hach, we are resuming the journey. Let's go."
Hiro then smiled to the three skinny men with him as the caravan started to roll along. "Now gentlemen, shall we get to know one another?'
