Chapter 006: Human Lives Are Invaluable

Slavery has always existed on the Roland Continent. As early as the time of the Bauhinia Dynasty, which waged wars across the land and nearly wiped out all major forces on the Roland Continent, it nearly unified the entire continent at its peak. In various wars, there were always captives, who absolutely could not be released, yet killing them seemed wasteful. In the end, they were all sold as slaves to fund the military.

During the era of the Gavin Empire, its royal family was originally part of the high nobility of the Bauhinia Dynasty. It was only after the decline of the Bauhinia Dynasty that the Gavin Empire rose to power. Due to inheriting the framework of the Bauhinia Dynasty, many of its systems remained similar; any differences were minor, such as in matters like the military and finance.

As for slave trading, the Gavin Empire’s royal family adopted a neutral attitude—neither supporting nor opposing it—so the slave trade continued to exist in a liminal state.

In the past century, however, with the division of the Holy Church and the decentralization of religious power, royal authority became unprecedentedly strong. The Gavin Empire and the Lanny Empire constantly clashed over control of the continent. Though they wouldn’t go to war so soon, border tensions persisted. This led to a steady stream of slaves.

To the north, the Gavin Empire faced threats from barbarian tribes, and wars with them yielded more captives each year. These captives, combined together, further fueled the slave trade.

Du Fan also heard that in recent years, some mercenaries, driven by greed, ventured deep into the southern deserts to capture women from those tribes. Even legendary elves and orcs were said to be found in the deep mountains, further boosting the slave trade. Of course, slaves like elves and orcs were priceless.

Naturally, for various reasons, Du Fan had no fondness for slave trading. It wasn’t out of some misguided sense of justice—he simply couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of what would have happened if, during his time travel, he hadn’t been lucky enough to land in the hands of a noble young master and instead became a slave.

In his previous life, even in the worst circumstances, people still had basic human rights. But in this world, slaves were treated worse than animals!

However, although Du Fan didn’t have a good opinion of such things, it was almost impossible for him, given his status, to change the situation. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. He frowned, having lost interest, and gave a brief greeting to Taylor and the others before turning to leave.

But after just one step, he felt a tight grip on his hand. Frowning slightly, he turned back and saw Ringo biting her lip, standing there hesitantly, her face pale as if she had encountered some terrible event.

Du Fan sighed and said, “What’s wrong? Want to buy a few slaves to play with?”

Unusually, Ringo didn’t argue. She slowly shook her head and glanced at the several little girls in the cage on the stage, her expression turning extremely strange.

Du Fan followed her gaze and soon understood what was going on. A few of those little girls were clearly barbarians, but it was unclear whether they had been unlucky enough to be captured by mercenaries for sale or had come to fight and been captured—no one knew for sure.

Fortunately, Ringo wasn’t as impulsive this time. If, in a fit of anger, she rushed onto the stage to kill that short, fat man and rescue those little girls, Du Fan would be in serious trouble.

After thinking for a moment, Du Fan realized that if those little girls weren’t rescued, Lady Ringo would likely become difficult to deal with. If she rushed forward to snatch them in a fit of anger, it was one thing whether he could stop her, but her use of magic would definitely be exposed. By then, it would be impossible to clean up the mess.

With that thought, Du Fan could only force a wry smile. He gave another gesture to Taylor and the others before saying, “Let’s not leave yet. Let’s watch for a while longer.”

The temple knights naturally obeyed Du Fan without question, and no one spoke up.

However, Ringo gave Du Fan a strange look before quickly shifting her gaze back to the stage.

Seeing that the people below were captivated by the slaves in the cage, the short, fat man hurriedly made several gestures. This time, the two private soldiers carefully unlocked the heavy door of the cage and whipped inside. Moments later, several gaunt men were driven out. Their skin colors ranged from dark to light, and some had intricate runes painted on their bodies. Clearly, among those slaves were not only barbarians but also Rolanders.

Needless to say, the barbarians were obviously so, and most of them were prisoners from various wars in the north. Those with dark skin belonged to desert tribes in the south, almost all of whom had been captured by mercenaries. As for the Rolands, their origins were more complicated; some were clearly prisoners of the Lanni Empire, but many were their own people with downcast eyes, showing deep despair when they saw the crowd below.

Du Fan found this strange and couldn’t help but wave at Taylor, asking, “Knight Taylor, what’s the matter with these locals?”

Taylor glanced at them and said, “Oh, these are generally prisoners from prisons across the land. Their crimes aren’t severe enough for death, but they can’t be released either. So the authorities simply sell them into slavery. This way, they don’t have to spend money feeding them, and they still earn a good sum. Although the empire prohibits such practices, this is the north, and those officials don’t care about imperial laws. They take as much money as they can. After all, everyone turns a blind eye. No one dares to openly challenge them. Of course, aside from these, there are also ordinary civilians who are forced into slavery when they can’t pay taxes or debts. Lord Du Fan must be aware that the taxes here in the north are three times those of the empire and even the south!”

Du Fan frowned slightly but said nothing more.

Taylor seemed to realize he had said too much and quickly fell silent.

The short, fat man on stage began shouting loudly, “Come and take a look! These are strong men who have already been trained! … Come on, look at their physique, their build! If you buy them to work, one of them can replace two… no, three! Look at their muscles, their figures! They only need one meal a day, and you don’t even have to feed them meat! Ten gold coins! Just one gold coin each! … What? Too expensive? Not expensive! Not expensive! You can ask around. I, the fat man, am always honest in business. I focus on making small profits through high sales volume. Otherwise, how about this… buy one, get one free! Buy a man, and I’ll give you a little boy—how about a huge discount?”

The short, fat man talked nonstop, gesturing wildly and extremely excited, as if he wasn’t selling slaves but priceless treasures.

At his signal, the private soldiers whipped them, instantly energizing the previously listless men. A few of them glared angrily at the soldiers, only to be punished with more whips.

Seeing that no one had bid yet, the short, fat man grew impatient and started jumping around. Finally, sweating profusely, he said, “Nine… no, eight! Just eight gold coins, and I’ll give one free! This is the lowest price I’ll go!” Although the price dropped by only two gold coins, more people started bidding. A few people in fancy clothes at the front bid, and they sent their subordinates with money to take the slaves away. The short, fat man’s face turned red as he collected the money. Before leaving, he even added a chain around one of the men’s body, while the free boy was simply tied up with ropes before being taken away. Du Fan watched for a while longer, then frowned and asked, “Why do those people look so listless?” Taylor hurried over and said, “Lord Du Fan, this is your first time dealing with slave trading, right? These strong men are usually very difficult to train. If they have any spirit, they might even rebel. So, according to industry rules, they’re not given food for a few days before being sold, only water. This way, they won’t die of hunger but can’t escape, and their temper is broken. Once taken back to work, they’re much easier to train.” Du Fan sighed, feeling slightly uneasy, though the feeling passed quickly. In this world, no one is anyone’s savior. Being asked to buy slaves whose purposes were unknown, although he had the money, he really had no interest. Finally, after a while, those strong men were taken away. The short, fat man, with a red face, stored the gold coins away, then clapped his hands to signal his subordinates to bring in the next group. This time, without even needing to whip them, a group of about ten girls, seemingly around twelve years old, were driven out. The short, fat man laughed lewdly, walked up to one of the girls who seemed fairly developed, pinched her face, then ripped open her clothes, revealing her small breasts like pigeon chicks. He grabbed them and said with a grin, “Look, look! What delicate little girls, what charming figures! Though young, after a few years of raising them, they’ll become beautiful ladies. If any lord prefers this kind of thing, they can be bought now, cleaned up, and eaten! And these girls are all pure. Gentlemen, if you want them, hurry up! Just fifty gold coins each! Fifty gold coins!”