If you hear the words "Slave Trader," you imagine either a fat pig of a man who loves money or a strict-looking lady who is actually nice. However, my expectations were dashed the moment we entered.
"Welcome to my humble Slave Trading Shop, Lord Claus."
The man, seemingly the owner of the entire shop, looked like a thin, middle-aged uncle with brown, slightly balding hair. One you'd imagine smiling wryly while being forced to play with kids in a playground.
But as they say, appearances might be deceiving.
This man's stats… were quite high! Averaging at C+!
Higher than even Father's best knights!
Of course, Father still wins in terms of stats and experience, but still… we can't lower our guard against him.
After the warm welcome, we were led to the waiting room for a short chat. The topic was simple: finding out what sort of slaves we were looking for. However, Father didn't say openly that we needed mining slaves.
If he did, the trader would simply push all the able-bodied men who hadn't been sold for a long time onto us.
In short, bad stock.
"Workers for a secret facility… huh?"
Thus, this was the excuse we made. Since it was a secret facility, we needed varied skills and, above all, loyalty. This would narrow down the list quite a bit.
However…
"…If it's like that, then I can't recommend anyone to you, Lord Claus…" the merchant said, bowing sadly.
At his fearful words, Father raised a brow and asked sharply. "…What?"
"Oh! It's not that I don't want to sell slaves to you, sir. Rather, I just can't select anyone fitting for such a role."
The merchant said this in rapid fire before standing up.
"As such, could you please come with me instead? We'll do rounds of the current slaves we have and let you choose one that fits the bill."
Hearing this, Father and I stared at each other, then nodded with thin smiles.
This was, after all, the suggestion we were waiting for.
Although, of course, we didn't expect the other party to fold so fast… Well, he might've "sniffed" our purpose within that short exchange…? Nah. Can't be that.
With the slave dealer, Stan, leading the way, we headed to the first underground floor.
There, all his slaves were "kept" inside enclosures.
It wasn't like they were jailed behind bars, though—completely different from my imagination. Rather, they could roam around freely and even chat with other slaves nearby. It was almost like a small, enclosed community that simply couldn't move beyond the underground floor.
"Everyone, line up! We have customers here!" Stan shouted as he clapped his hands.
The moment he did, the slaves moved quickly, smiling as they walked toward us. I noticed immediately that not all of them moved, meaning that clap must be some sort of code to filter who should come forward and who shouldn't.
As they approached, some were still chatting with other slaves, acting casually, while the rest looked nervous or had eyes filled with anticipation.
Though, to my surprise, none of them gave a self-pitch. Didn't they want to get out of here? Or were they forbidden from doing so? I was guessing the latter.
While Father and Stan were talking with each other, I began appraising every single slave. There were only about twenty of them, so it didn't take long, even while using the skill Akashic Records.
And to my surprise… there were actually four of them here that were usable.
Two had Mining Talents, one had a Minerology Talent, and finally…
'That girl…'
I stared at the only woman in the line.
No, there were actually two more women present, but she was the only one close to my age. The others were old enough to be my mother.
Her talents, however, weren't related to mining or minerology, or anything useful for our Mithril Mining Project. Rather, it was…
"Sword Princess… huh?"
It was a very specific talent, no matter how you looked at it—almost as if it were her destiny to become such. And of course, it was my first time seeing such a straightforward talent, almost like it was advertising itself.
I stared into her pale red eyes and white hair… along with her pristine white skin. At a glance, I could tell she was suffering from albinism, but that wasn't important.
'She's cute!'
Apart from her talent, that was all that mattered.
Although her stats were a mess, it wasn't like they couldn't be fixed. She had the talent, after all. It should be easy for her to pick up new skills.
"Father…" I called in a low voice, acting like a spoiled brat.
Of course, this too was something we'd decided on beforehand. Although Father was aware of my high-level appraisal skill, he was also the one who told me not to tell anyone about it.
Thus, we did it this way—acting as if I were whispering nonsense to him, but actually conveying the codes for the three bingos we'd gotten.
Father smiled, patted my head, and continued chatting with the trader. He didn't pick the personnel immediately, instead acting curious about everyone first.
Only after fifteen minutes passed did he finally point at the three men.
"Him, him, and him. I'll choose them."
"Oh! What a great pick, Lord Viscount! I'm sure they'll be happy to work under your command!"
And just as the two were wrapping up the discussion—
"Father, father!" I called, pulling at the hem of his clothes once more.
"Rex?" Father raised a brow, confused. This wasn't part of the plan, after all.
That didn't bother me, though, as I went straight to the heart of the matter. "Her! I want her to be my slave!" I said, pointing at the albino girl.
"Her…?"
Father turned to the girl, paused as if considering it seriously, and went silent.
"I—I'll pay for her myself!" I quickly added. "I can afford it~!"
"…Alright." Only then did Father agree, nodding. "But only one, alright? Sorry, Mr. Stan, but add that white-haired girl as well."
"Of course, of course~!" The slaver smiled, rubbing his hands together while sending a sticky gaze my way. "If it pleases the young master, I can even offer her at a discount~!"
"That helps."
"…"
Of course, since I'd already seen this trader's talents, I could guess he was planning to pad her price. Well, even if he tripled her cost, I'd still be willing to pay.
Her talent was just that great, after all.