CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: GRAIN AND SLAVES

Under Baron Hatton’s rule, the population was growing.

From Hatton’s comments about buying grain, Ryan could already tell that the man must have taken in a large number of slaves at the end of last year.

His grain supplies were no longer sufficient—he was already relying on purchases to get by.

But this problem was even more pressing for Ryan.

"The imperial merchant caravans always arrive at Northwind City first, and only then distribute goods to the various counties. Though in Silverstream County, some goods might be held back early—Viscount Hogg’s wealth might rival that of a count."

Hatton spoke enviously as he followed Ryan into the Imperial Trading House.

Grain prices in Northwind City were lower than in Zero Crossing City, though transporting the goods still cost money. In the end, the total might be slightly cheaper—but nowhere near enough to satisfy demand.

The moment Ryan stepped into the Trading House, he caught a distinct scent.

"Wine?"

In theory, wine should be in high demand in the Northern Wind Province—given how cold it was—but brewing alcohol required grain, and this province was sorely lacking in that. As a result, wine had become a luxury item here.

When Ryan had visited Viscount Miles in Zero Crossing City, not even he had brought out wine.

Faced with the attendant’s enthusiastic recommendation, Ryan suppressed his desire and said:

"Just grain for me."

"And how much grain does the Baron wish to purchase?"

A woman introduced as Ossie approached Ryan with a warm smile.

Ryan flipped a gold coin toward the deep neckline of her dress.

"At least 10,000 gold worth. What do you say?"

Ossie’s breathing visibly quickened at that moment, her smile instantly turning sycophantic.

Despite how nobles in Northwind often tossed around numbers in the tens or hundreds of thousands during meetings, in practice, 10,000 gold coins was already a very large sum.

If you removed the Imperial level of transactions, small noble deals typically involved tens or hundreds of gold at most.

Even Ryan’s earlier deal involving a few thousand coins in Zero Crossing City was considered high-value.

Once Ossie confirmed the deal, Ryan continued:

"How much to transport the grain to the Tundra Territory?"

"Tundra Territory?"

It was clear Ossie had gathered some information on the province’s nobility. Upon hearing that name, she looked troubled.

"Seven hundred—no, at least eight hundred gold coins."

She seemed worried this Baron from the frozen north might not be able to pay.

"I’ll give you nine hundred. I want the grain delivered to Tundra as fast as possible."

In this matter, Ryan didn’t mind paying a little extra—without a tip, he couldn’t guarantee the grain would even arrive intact.

"Absolutely, absolutely."

The power of gold wiped away Ossie’s hesitation. Her smile grew laced with flirtation.

"Hold on."

Ryan coughed as he pulled his hand back from her softness.

"I also need livestock. Send them all together—oxen, horses, mules, chickens, ducks, goats, vegetables too. I’ll send someone to give you the quantities later."

Ossie’s chest heaved with excitement, her eyes practically glowing with the reflection of gold.

"I’ll personally select the best for you, Baron. They’ll arrive in Tundra Territory within two months at the latest."

"Good. Now—do you have any slaves?"

"Yes."

Ossie nearly pressed herself against him.

The Imperial Trading House naturally had its own slave division, just a short distance down Merchant Street. But the one managing it wasn’t Ossie anymore—it was a team of rugged men, led by one with the strength of a Bronze-rank Knight.

Every year the Trading House traveled north from the Empire, facing long journeys and endless troubles. As a result, even their slaves were carefully selected—not the skinny, sickly kind of peasant serfs.

"Baron, these are the best of this year’s shipment."

The bronze knight smiled as he spoke, then cracked his whip loudly against a nearby iron cage.

Clang! The jolt of power made the terrified slave girls inside cower together, trembling.

They wore nothing but sheer veils over their bodies—green-eyed, sharp-eared girls that made one’s blood stir just to look at them.

"Elves?"

Ryan was taken aback. He looked toward the knight, who responded with a sleazy grin.

"Usually, elves aren’t sold openly. These were originally reserved for Viscount Randa, but... well, he doesn’t want them anymore."

Ryan understood why. Cold Mountain County had been ravaged thoroughly. Viscount Randa was probably overwhelmed and in no mood to spend money on luxury.

That viscount had always been quite decisive.

"Show me the rest."

Ryan spoke calmly, showing no reaction.

"These ones were brought in from other provinces—catgirls. With the orc invasion, many of the northern provinces were overrun, and the number of available slaves rose sharply."

"These were the first batch captured and delivered here."

"And these over here—they’re said to have noble bloodlines. It can’t be verified anymore, of course. Their families were once wealthy, but now... hehe."

The slave handler was clearly exaggerating, hoping to drive up the price.

Looking at the delicate, trembling slave girls, Ryan felt his blood start to rise—but in the end, he asked:

"Do you have any others?"

Sensing this young, clearly vigorous noble’s interest, the knight nodded after some thought.

"Of course. We have more than two hundred slave-apprentices with knight potential, and thirty full knights. I’ll take you to see them."

They circled around, and though these were also slaves, they were treated with far stricter security. Each was chained tightly in iron.

After examining them, Ryan found none that satisfied him. The backgrounds of this group were obviously problematic.

"How much for those female slaves?"

Ryan finally asked. He knew that if he wanted slaves to build roads or develop land, he’d have to seek them from noble families.

"Those four elves—3,500 gold coins each."

"The catgirls—300 each, and the regular female slaves—150."

"That expensive? Why not just go steal them?"

"Why steal when this is faster?"

In the end, Ryan reluctantly "rescued" five catgirls and five regular female slaves. As for the elves—the risk was too high.

If word got out that he had bought elven slaves, and the elven race caught wind of it, Tundra Territory would never survive the retaliation of their elders.

It was said there had once been a kingdom on the continent that went to war with the elves—for no other reason than that it had too many elven slaves.

Without sufficient power, even being sneaky wouldn’t help.