CH 24

It’s my third day of doing delivery quests here. I haven’t been to the farmlands outside, but I think I’ve walked all over the inner part.

I see slavers for the first time since I came to this world. I’m thinking about Rurika and Chris too, but I’m also told that buying a slave could be an option if I’m going to keep working solo. They’re pretty serious about it too.

Apparently it’s not that rare for adventurers to form a party by buying slaves, because their scope of activity is pretty narrow when working alone.

I learn from the slavers that apparently there are different ranks of slaves.

Criminal slaves. The amount of time they have to serve as slaves depends on their sentences. They have to be freed when their sentence is up, so not a lot of individuals buy them. It’s mostly people involved in agriculture or mining. There are also people who committed serious crimes and were sent to the front lines of defense of the dark forest.

War slaves. These are prisoners of war or people who were captured in general. Important people are released if their ransom is paid, but when it comes to regular people, they were having trouble figuring out what to do with them, so they sold them.

Debt slaves. Many of these are citizens who didn’t pay what they owed, or sold themselves for the sake of their families. The terms and conditions for these can be displayed when they are sold. The more favorable the terms are for the buyer, like the inclusion or exclusion of sexual work, the more the slavers pay, because it makes them easier to sell.

War slaves and debt slaves don’t have a clear liberation date, but it’s possible for them to buy themselves back. Of course, if they’re employed as assistants to merchants for example, they receive less than half of what regular employees get.

Also, even if they’re slaves, their buyers are obligated to provide for basic living conditions. They are penalized if they do things like not feed them because they’re slaves.

If they are hired by adventurers, they have to be able to fight, or at the very least agree to fight. Mostly it’s the former, because having someone drag you down is worse than just fighting alone.

I ask about the price, and it’s well past what I have. Of course, prices go down depending on the conditions, but it’s still not a value one can casually spend.

I ask if they have any beast people or elf slaves, and I’m told no. Both men and women are pretty popular, so unless there’s a major problem, they’re usually sold pretty quickly here in the kingdom.

I leave the slavers and head for the guild. There’s a heavy mood in the air.

“Did something happen?”

I ask an adventurer I know, and I’m told a caravan that left for the capital five days ago was destroyed. It was a pretty large scale caravan, but it also had an escort of over ten people. I remember them passing by us when I first got here.

“What did it?”

“Apparently it was monsters. A nearby villager who saw it came here to report it on the fastest horse they have.”

“And that’s why everyone is gathered here?”

“They’re talking about forming a hunting party. This was reported yesterday, but they’re talking to the survivors to try to get some more information.”

“Is it compulsory?”

“Probably for the adventurers that live here. Although there’s probably going to be restrictions in terms of monsters and rank.”

That’s when the guild master shows up. He’s a big muscular man.

“You’re all here, and I assume you already know what’s going on. All adventurers ranked C and above will be joining this hunt. We will be hunting orcs, and it’s believed there are at least thirty.”

“And the reward?”

“All participants will receive ten silver coins, with further rewards depending on their performance.”

“Are adventurers below C rank barred from joining?”

“They can join the hunt if they have experience fighting orcs. But keep in mind that there might be a superior species among them.”

“When will we leave?”

“Early tomorrow morning. We will be going by wagon, so bring your own horses if you have them. Things such as food and potions will be provided by us. Any other questions? If not, all participants take care of the formalities. Dismissed.”

People C ranked and up are processed one after the other, while D ranked adventurers discuss with their parties whether or not to join.

“Are you going?”

I’m asked, but since I have no experience fighting orcs, I say no.

But does that mean the road to the capital is closed? I only reserved a room in the inn until today. Should I get an extension?

I work out a plan while I look at the quests. There are a few hunting quests, but are they going to just sit here now that the orcs are making everyone busy?

I look for quests that aren’t on the way to the capital… And see wolves. There are medicinal herbs near there, and is this a quest to pick magic energy herbs? I’m going to accept the quest to pick magic energy herbs, and hunt wolves if I can.