PS: The title of the chapter is wrong, but it is not allowed to be changed. The correct title is "Contrarians and Anti-Routines."
"In Marlin Castle, business is business."
— Grand Duke of Marlin Castle, "Moneylender" Vanderguber Schultz.
The Marlin Castle Talent Market was the largest slave market on the continent. Here, as long as one had the money, one could buy almost any creature on the continent.
Whether it was a serf, a defeated soldier, or a bankrupt noble's daughter, a halfling who was good at housework, a barbarian who was only suitable to be a bodyguard, a blonde Nord, a black-haired, black-eyed Southerner, or even a dwarf or an ogre, they could all be bought in the Marlin Castle Talent Market.
But if one were to talk about what kind of people were the most valuable, it would be the elves with pointy ears.
The elves were divided into three types: high elves, dark elves, and wood elves. Their abbreviations were high elves, dark elves, and wood elves, collectively known as the Three Elves. Whenever an elven slave appeared in the Talent Market, it would cause a frenzied scramble. Elves were beautiful and elegant, and were especially liked by human nobles.
Only high elves would not appear in the Talent Market, because the high elven embassy would interfere with the high elves who were captured. The high elven ambassador would negotiate with the Marlin Castle Assembly to redeem the precious population through a negotiated procedure. Dark elves and wood elves were not protected.
"Dark elves? That's rare, but it's no wonder. I don't know why, but humans always have a special fetish for elves. "Laing casually complained to Emilia.
"Sir, you also like elves?" Emilia was not dressed as a maid today, and looked like Laing's female companion. Seeing that Laing was speaking in a very casual tone, she asked curiously, blinking her big eyes.
After spending more than two weeks with Laing, the girl had become much more cheerful, which also made Laing feel very strange.
"Whatever. I'm here to buy a maid to help you, not to see if she's pretty or not. It's fine as long as she can work well." On one hand, Laing wanted to come out to get some fresh air, and on the other hand, he wanted to get an extra helper for Emilia. As for the so-called dark elves, he really did not intend to bid.
However, as soon as he entered the job market, groups of nobles and merchants came up to greet him. After all, the strong were respected on this continent. Leon was only twenty-five years old, and he was already a mid-Legendary-level knight. His strength was already stronger than many second-rate knight regiments. Even a fool would know that he would become a Sanctuary-level grand knight in the future, so the nobles and merchants tried to leave a good impression on him.
.... Marlin Castle Marlin's merchants were not stingy when it came to making friends with strong people and hiring bodyguards.
"Nice to meet you! Mr. Laing! Are you here for that female dark elf? " Viscount Casanova Casanova, chairman of the Gentlemen's Union Chamber of Commerce and the second most important person in the Marlin Castle House of Lords, walked up with a smile. "If Mr. Laing is interested, we can let you have her!"
"Yes, yes!" The crowd around Laing roared. The people in charge of the Marlin Castle's major chambers of commerce were all here.
"Hahaha! Thank you, everyone. But I'm just here to add a maid to my family. I'm just here to watch the fun. It's not what you think. Otherwise, someone will suddenly appear out of nowhere and teach me a lesson. " Laing responded politely one by one, and then humorously said that he was just here to watch. If he dared to mess around, there would be people who would complain.
Everyone roared with laughter. Everyone knew that Laing and Witch Garland had a close relationship. It seemed that Garland was a witch who liked to be jealous and unwilling to share!
No one knew that Laing was not talking about Veronica at all.
"That's fine. If Mr. Laing likes a maid, just bid. We understand." The nobles immediately expressed their understanding. Seeing that the auction was about to begin, the crowd dispersed.
"Let's go in too!" Laing's seat had already been arranged by the person in charge of the market, so he took a seat with Emilia. The two of them sat in a small box. Emilia tidied up her coat and skirt and sat beside Laing.
The auction had begun. All the guests were seated around the huge stage in the middle of the market. Under the illumination of the magic lights, slaves were brought up one by one under the lead of the slave merchants. Some were even brought up in cages and brought up.
At the beginning, there were some random slaves, such as serfs who sold themselves or civilians who were carelessly captured to escape the chaos of war. Laing had no interest in them. He just chatted with Emilia. "Emilia, if you didn't escape and become a mercenary, would you have become a slave too?"
"Maybe, but it could be worse than being a slave." Amelia sat like an obedient girl with her hands on her knees. The girl was wearing long cotton stockings today, only revealing a little above her boots and below her skirt. Ryan had bought her a lot of clothes and stockings the other day, but the girl couldn't bear to wear the best clothes. Instead, she kept them in her room as if they were precious.
"I think you can definitely sell for a good price." Clayon grinned and deliberately joked, "You're so beautiful, so there must be a lot of big nobles and rich businessmen who would be willing to buy you back to be their wife. Especially since you know High Gothic, you can read, you know math, and you're polite."
"Sir …" Emilia raised her head weakly. She knew that Laing was joking.
"Hahahaha …"
After a while, some valuable slaves began to appear. For example, a dwarf blacksmith. Many merchants and nobles in the hall fought over him, but Laing didn't make a move. He just looked on coldly. "This dwarf is probably 300 pounds. He doesn't look suitable to be a maid."
"Hahahaha …" Emilia covered her mouth and laughed.
After a few consecutive auctions, Laing finally found the prey he wanted. It was a girl with fiery red hair. She looked very honest, and her appearance wasn't particularly outstanding. However, she was relatively fresh. She was an ideal choice for a maid.
"The twenty-sixth item is Miss Letty from the Kingdom of Estalia in the south." The auctioneer paused for a moment, then continued. "Miss Letty is 16 years old this year. She is very beautiful. Although she is illiterate, she is very polite. She can count from one to twenty, and she can do housework. She is a very suitable candidate for a maid. However, if you want to do something else, I won't object!"
"Hahaha …" Everyone in the auction house laughed.
"The starting price is eight gold marks. Interested parties, please make your bids! Each bid must be no less than fifty silver coins! " After the auctioneer shouted, someone immediately raised his sign. "Eight gold marks!"
"Eight gold marks, fifty silver coins!" Laing also raised his sign.
The auction house fell silent. The representatives of the major merchant guilds looked at each other and tacitly stopped bidding.
The citizens and some small merchants in the back seats saw that Laing, a mid-Legendary-level human hero, wanted the girl, so they also stopped bidding.
The auctioneer didn't care. He continued in a loud voice, "Mr. Laing bid eight gold marks, fifty silver coins. Who else wants the girl?"
"Eight gold marks, fifty silver coins going once!"
"Eight gold marks, fifty silver coins going twice!"
Laing nodded. He thought that he could leave after bidding for the girl.
"Nine gold marks!" Just then, a man raised his own sign.
The auction house was in an uproar.
"Who is it? Who dares to compete with Mr. Laing? "
"Which idiot is it?!"
"Isn't that the southerner? That damned southerner, he doesn't know the rules! "
The big merchant guilds in Marlinburg began to whisper. Viscount Adelbert Casanova frowned and said to Baron Gremmer, who was sitting beside him, "It's that southerner again. He's so stupid. He doesn't know the rules at all. That's why I hate them."
Hearing that someone was bidding, Laing frowned slightly and raised his sign again. "Nine gold marks, fifty silver coins!"
"Ten gold marks!" That person raised his sign again.
Sigh, I met another troublemaker today, didn't I? Laing raised his bid again. "Ten gold marks, fifty silver coins!"
"Eleven gold marks!" The other person raised his bid again.
Laing gave up bidding and looked at the middle-aged man who was bidding with him.
This was a handsome man who looked to be in his early thirties. He was tall and straight, and his facial features were clear and defined. He had a very elegant temperament and was very well-dressed. A pair of black eyes shone with wisdom. When he saw Laing looking over, he nodded and smiled at Laing.
"Eleven gold marks, going once!"
"Eleven gold marks, going twice!"
"Eleven gold marks, going thrice!"
"Congratulations to Mister Hadrian from the Luigi Merchant Guild for winning the rights to Miss Redi!" The auctioneer slammed his gavel and announced the end of the auction.
Laing wasn't discouraged after missing his target. There were many slaves up for auction today, and he didn't have to fight to the death with just one. He began to look for his next target.
The auction continued.
After patiently waiting for more than ten consecutive auctions, another girl was brought up. This girl looked delicate and pitiful. She had a cute baby face, emerald green pupils, long brown hair, slender eyebrows, and cute dimples. She was wearing a simple dress and was shivering in the winter.
"This is the daughter of a knight of the Angel Feather Knights of the Tyrell Kingdom in the south. Her name is Miranda!" The auctioneer laughed loudly. "Her poor father lost in the war and went bankrupt not long ago. She was sold here!"
"Hahahaha!" The citizens and nobles present all burst into laughter as if they had encountered a very funny story.
Two years ago, the Empire's emperor changed, and the political situation was a bit chaotic. Therefore, the Angel Feather Knights of the Tyrell Kingdom in the south took the opportunity to invade the Tuscan Kurfürst territory in the south of the Empire. The rogue knights of the south wanted to take advantage of the situation.
As a result, Umberto Corleone, the bad-tempered Elector of Tuscany, not only annihilated the enemy with his Ram Knights, but he also led the army to the south in person. Not only did he beat the Angel Feather Knights into surrendering, he also marched to the capital of the Kingdom of Tyrell unreasonably. The king of Tyrell had to pay a huge sum of war reparations in order to make Elector Umberto retreat in satisfaction.
This was a story that the people of the Empire liked very much. It told the people of the south that they didn't know their own limits and also showed the power of the Empire.
"I believe everyone has seen it. This Miss Miranda is sweet and cute. She is only sixteen years old this year. She can read and write, and she has also learned the traditional noble etiquette. Also, she is healthy and a virgin! Those who need someone to give birth to their bloodline, hurry up! " The auctioneer said loudly, "The starting price is one hundred gold marks. Each bid must be no less than five gold marks!"
"One hundred gold marks!" Laing looked at it and felt very satisfied. He immediately called out the price.
Seeing that Laing had called out the price, many of the nobles who wanted to buy the item stopped and waited for the next item.
"One hundred and ten gold marks!" It was the handsome man again. He raised his sign.
"One hundred and fifteen gold marks!" Laing raised his eyebrows and continued to call out the price.
"One hundred and fifty gold marks!" The handsome man smiled politely at Laing and continued to call out the price.
"One hundred and fifty-five gold marks!"
"Two hundred gold marks!" The handsome man named Hadrian continued to call out the price to Laing.
"F * ck!" Laing cursed inwardly. Two hundred gold marks was already beyond his expectations. His adoptive father, Norman, only earned about four hundred gold marks a year in taxes in Ortne. The exchange rate between gold marks and gold denars was one to one. He was rich now, but money shouldn't be spent like this.
In the auction house, the crowd was also shocked by Hadrian's wealth. One of the nobles saw that Laing had given up, so he tried calling out two hundred and ten gold marks. Hadrian immediately raised it to two hundred and fifty gold marks.
Thus, the girl named Miranda was also taken away by Hadrian.
"Emmm …" Laing felt that he was being targeted, so he said to Emilia, "Just one who can work is enough, right?"
"Yes, everything is up to you." Emilia refused to comment.
After taking two shots and not getting anything, Ryan's interest was greatly reduced. After taking down a few slaves in succession, an auntie was brought up. She was already in her thirties, her figure was out of shape, and the skin on her face had become rough due to years of labor. However, at a glance, one could tell that she was capable of doing dirty work, so Ryan thought that no one would snatch this auntie from him, right?
He was wrong.
Hadrian saw Laing bid, so he immediately called out the price. The middle-aged woman, who had originally bid fifty silver marks, did not stop when the price went up to five gold marks. Clearly, she wanted to compete with Laing.
Laing's face was as dark as ink. He was angry, so the geno prototype slammed the table and stood up. "Emilia, let's go."
"Okay, Mister." Emilia noticed that there was a deep handprint on the table. The maid quickly stood up and followed him. The two of them walked out of the auction hall.
They had just walked out of the auction hall when they saw the snow outside. Before Laing could breathe in the fresh air, a man who looked like a butler stopped them and said, "Hello. Mister Laing. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mister Hadrian's butler. I am very, very sorry for the disrespect we have shown you. "
The butler was very humble. He bowed more than ninety degrees.
"So? Are you flaunting your prowess for your master? "Ryan replied emotionlessly.
"No! Not like that. Mister Laing, what I want to say is that Mister Hadrian wants to be friends with you. At the auction, the slaves that Mister Laing likes will be sent to Mister Laing immediately after the auction. " The butler could feel the pressure coming from Laing. It was the kind of pressure that came from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. He immediately shouted and bowed even lower.
"At the same time, in addition to that, Mister Hadrian is willing to give Mister Laing a big gift. Right after this auction is over. "
"Mister Hadrian really wants to be friends with Mister Laing."
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