Chapter 8: The Cat, the Snake and the Hare

Part 1

Going through the slave market, I looked around for a dealer that fulfilled what I was looking for, along with one that would fit the amount within my budget. Marla next to me however, seems to be worried of my choices.

“Master Lucien, do we really have to go far into the market?”

“Stop sounding so scared for it, the further you go in, the better chance you have of the products being cheaper, isn’t that how it works?”

“I guess…but there’s also something else that becomes available the further you go in…”

“You mean slaves from other races?”

“Ye-yeah…”

“Do you have some sort of discrimination towards them?”

“…I can’t say it’s as strong as discrimination, but you could say it’s an innate fear?”

“You don’t know yourself why you’re like that, yet you still fear it? Was there a time in the past where the races were at war with each other? It’s true that if there’s a strained relationship or barrier in a place for a long period, future generations will still be affected by it even if it’s not there.”

“I believe there were periods of war many millennia ago, but that all stopped with the appearance of the Vitans”

“Who told you that? I don’t remember reading that in any book of the library.”

“Ah, that’s because those are stories sung in the plazas during festivals by traveling entertainers. You’ve never seen one Master Lucien?”

“Can’t say that I have, well, not like it matters. So, why was that the appearance of the Vitans meant the other races stopped fighting?”

“…There are many ways people sang it, but it was either because seeing someone greater than them, the races bowed their heads to them and saw them as their true leaders or because of that fear that is carried for the other races, turned towards them.”

“Meaning?”

“The races might have stopped their wars because of the sight of a greater danger, you know, like why waste potential into something equal or less than you, when there’s something far stronger looking over you.”

“Simply put, it’s not that the races get along, it’s just that they don’t each other as much of a threat as they did millennia ago?”

“That’s the best way to summarize it”

“I see…Marla, did the singers say all of those things you told me, or did you make them up?”

“I think it’s a combination of the two, I remembered what I used to hear from the singers, but I also put together other things I’ve learned since I became your servant and your input in my behavior a few minutes back.”

As always, Marla is showing her insight, but I can’t help but wonder if I should keep someone like her around. If it was just her intelligence I’d welcome it, but I never thought such a little lie would make me worried of keeping her close by…maybe it’s because of how long she kept the lie that I’m worried…

“I see…but, if you know all of that, then why are you still afraid?”

“The difference of power…”

“Meaning?”

“Even if they are bound and are considered, races outside of Humalus have a strong number of things that make them stronger than us…”

“Isn’t that the case with every race?”

“I guess…but even after that, Master Lucien, you’re still young. Do you really believe you can stand your ground against an adult Cannidus or not be charmed by a Sirenean?”

“…Can’t confidently say I can, but at the same time I think those are the best options we have”

“Why do you say that?”

“Other races go cheaper than Humalus slaves, add to that that if we get members of a strong race, it’s cheaper to pay for one of them than 3 or 5 Humalus”

“So…in the end, it all comes down to the budget?”

“Pretty much”

“Aren’t you afraid of them?”

“Of the other races? Why would I? After all, they are just as sentient and advanced as you and me, they just have some things we don’t have, but they would look at us the same way.”

“Understood Master Lucien”

Maybe after seeing my confidence, Marla showed some relief. So the discrimination in this world is a fear of the different, rather than a hatred…you learn something new every day.

“Master Lucien, would that place fit what you want? It specializes in non-Humalus slaves, and since we’re pretty into the slave market, it seems that the prices are lower than further back”

“Yeah…it also seems like a bit further it just goes so cheap that even the slaves are in poor health conditions, I don’t want to be heartless, but I don’t like spending more than it’s worth either”

“Shall we go in?”

With Marla’s leading question, we stepped into one of the slave tents of the area. It was in good condition, but compared to the solid slave houses at the entrance of the market, the structure of the building told you how much to expect in the price range, along with the quality. Buildings in the main area, tents further back, and cart or just outside at the furthest back. That’s how the Germas slave market was structured.

Part 2

“Is there something I can help you with kid?”

The merchant in front of me is of a hefty build, early 40’s, but with clear eyes to differentiate between costumer and window shopper.

“Yes, I have some money with me and I would like to buy some slaves that could double for defense or outdoors work.”

“Mmm…do you need them Humalus or are you fine with something else?”

“I’d prefer it if they weren’t Humalus, particularly something of the beast races. You know, they are better strength wise.”

“I see…well we have a bit of selection when it comes to that. A shipment came in last week and we haven’t sold too many yet.”

“Mind showing them?”

“With pleasure, besides being beast and good for the outdoors, any other requirement?”

“Appealing to the eye, I guess? But keep that as a secondary requirement.”

“Understood, while you wait, please go behind that curtain and take a sit. I’ll bring out the products in a few minutes.”

With those words, the hefty merchant began walking in the direction of the cages where the slaves were kept at. Marla on the other hand seemed to react a bit to my secondary requirement, but I don’t plan to acknowledge that bloodlust.

The inside of the curtain had a chair and nothing more, normal courtesy would say that Marla would sit, but since having the master standing while the servant is resting is looking down upon, I took the sit with her standing behind me.

“Ma-master Lucien…was there a need to ask for an attractive slave?”

Not letting me ignore it…annoying…

“It’s easier to create conversation with individuals whose appearance doesn’t make you flinch or wince. Besides that, excuse me for wanting to see a cute beast girl, but it’s not like I limited my appeal to only female, so the merchant will probably pick of both genders.”

“I see…wait, could it be that Master Lucien has a thing of beast people?”

“Don’t particularly deny it, however my idea for a partner is that anything is open as long as the individual is easy on the eyes and has a fitting personality to bounce off mine.”

With a bored tone and never looking in her direction, I answered Marla, but she on the other hand seemed to take the subject extremely seriously.

“I-I see…then Master Lucien, how does my looks and personality work for you?”

Way to wear your motives on your sleeve Marla…looks like the merchant is getting here soon enough, let me have a bit of fun with her.

“Looks wise, I’d say that you’re way past simply being easy on the eyes…”

By simply calling her pretty, I could see from the corner of my eye that Marla was as red as a cherry. But it looks like the part she wants to hear about is yet to come.

“…as for your personality, I’d say-”

“Sorry for the wait kid”

“No problem”

The merchant came in, I ended the conversation short, and I could see Marla with a bit of despair due to the absence of an answer…amusing.

“So, what is it that you have to offer me?”

As I asked the question, the merchant began to align a variety of member of the beast tribe, 7 in total, 3 males and 4 females.

“Let see. Well first off…”

He snapped his fingers, and three of the four women began taking their tops off, the men were already bare chested so there wasn’t a problem there. However, he wasn’t amused one of the women, no, she’s closer to being a girl, wasn’t taking her top off.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!? Take your rags off now, you need to show your potential master all of your goods!!”

The girl was scared, tears began swelling, but she was still reluctant and said no to it. The merchant was angry over this and was about to hit her but, I don’t like men hitting women, at least not in front of me, call it a hypocrite’s chivalry.

“It’s fine, miss you can keep your rags on, the same is for the other three, all of you can put them back on”

“I-if you say so kid…”

The merchant hesitated to admit the misbehavior of his merchandise, but he couldn’t show an uglier side in front of his customer.

“Erm, was I was noting before. These are the best I can provide based on what you asked of me. From left to right, in the men you have a saber-toothed Felidas, a Cannidus and a Centuarian-”

“Saber-toothed? From my point of view, that Felidas is from the normal tribe”

“Ah, my apologies. Hey, turn you head towards him. You see, he is from the saber-toothed tribe, however due to an incident before becoming a slave, he lost one of his sabers, however, as you can see, he is a bonafide member of the saber-toothed tribe.”

The Felidas was completely missing his left fang, however the one on his right side showed a long 10-inch saber that was only hidden because of his muscle mass and angle. Simply put, he’s a Smilodon Felidas, besides the saber-teeth, he also had a pair of ears on the top of his head, long and muscular feline-like arms and legs, and a short tail. I want him, but I can’t show my interest for now, unless I plan to have the price rising.

“That seems to be the case…then, continue”

“Understood. All of the men have some sort of knowledge on using a weapon, along with the prized strength of their race, saying that they are great attributes of defense against a bandit would be an understatement. As for the women, we have a Felidas, a Taurian, a Lepunias and a Cannidus. If I may say, the Taurian females are extra popular among male customers, as *cough* you can see why.”

Certainly, the Taurian, in case that it wasn’t obvious, is of the race that shares features with cows and bulls, and their main point of interest is the size of the female’s breasts, the one in front of me is J-Cup, in case anyone is interested. However, I don’t want to suck on breasts at the moment, so she isn’t my main interest…and Marla, please trying to not so subtly comparing yourself to her.

“What are the attributes that the women have?”

“Mmm…besides the sexual appeal, I’d that most can do housework along with cooking…ah, and the unwilling Lepunias over there is no good with that stuff but in exchange, she’s good with tracking and fleeing. You know, the usual stuff connected to the Lepunias tribe.”

“I see…”

I have a bit of money to spend, but I’d like to have some leftover in case I’d want anything else in the market…well, for now I’ll try to get the saber-toothed Felidas and the Lepunias girl, I don’t need a pleasure giver for now, and having a strong tank in combination with an agile radar seem to be a good tradeoff for the lack of numbers.

“May I ask how much do they go for?”

“The Centaurian is 20 Gold Germas, as the other two I’d say around 13 Gold Germas. For the women…the Taurian is around 30 Gold Germas, the Felidas and Cannidus are around 15 Gold Germas, and the Lepunias is 10 Gold Germas.”

Expensive for the Taurian, just how many big-breasted loving perverts are in this world that the price for someone like her is so painfully different!?

“…Might I ask, why is the Lepunias so cheap in comparison to the others?”

“She isn’t mature yet, so her body is still underdeveloped, she’s from the Northern Lepunias tribe, but recently the market for them has decreased and so has the price for them.”

“Nothing to do with her behavior?”

“Haha…a bit of that too”

If you’re planning to treat me like an adult when you show me breasts and sell me borderline sex dolls, don’t act coy now and treat me like a kid.

“Could you please send all back but the male Felidas and the Lepunias? I’m only interested in those two.”

“Understood. You all heard him, all of you move back outside and wait quietly until I take you back to your cages.”

The five slaves I had no interest in quietly walked out and waited for instructions on the other side of the curtain, but it made me wonder.

“Won’t they try to run away of you don’t look after them?”

“Do you really think someone like me can handle off merchandise as strong as them just by my word? Kid, I’ve seen many with eyes like yours before, although yours are a bit different, point is you know pretty well that nobody is that trusting.”

“Good point, so how do you do it?”

“The answer is in the collars they all wear, depending on the mass and gender of the merchandise, the collar is rigged with a special kind of electrical magic, so if they walk out of a certain range, in this case the tent, they’d get electrocuted until incapacitated”

So, an extremely potent shock collar is the controlling factor…a bit barbaric…this is why I hate slave traders…but, I can’t deny how effective it is either.

Part 3

After making some small talk and haggling the merchant to take down the prices of the Felidas and the Lepunias from 13 and 10 Gold Germas to 10 and 8 respectively, under the pretense that I’m getting damaged goods in the forms of only one saber in a saber-toothed Felidas and a slave that doesn’t listen to all the orders unless they directly cause her to be electrocuted.

While walking towards the desk on the back of the tent where the transaction of ownership papers are at, something caught my eye.

“Hey, mind telling me what is that over there?”

“Mmm? Ah, that’s a weird shipment we got a few months back, it’s a very attracting product but not one that anyone is willing to buy.”

“Why is that?”

“Why don’t you have a look yourself”

As I headed towards the place of my attention, I saw a crowd of people keeping a 4-foot distance from a steel cage, I could make out what was inside but the clear reason why nobody got close was because of the sign.

[Warning Venomous Snake!! Approach at your own risk!]

Yep, the thing inside of the enclosure was a snake, however two very important things were wrong with that sign.

The first was that the colors of that snake were not the ones found in venomous snake that I know of. In my previous life, there is a snake species found in North America known as the Garter Snake, it is a completely harmless and kind of beautiful black snake that has a golden line down it’s spine and a yellowish underbelly. Point is, if this color pattern means the same here as with that snake, then this creature is not venomous.

The second error of the sign was the description of the inhabitant of the cage, while yes, it was a snake, it wasn’t quite a snake.

“Ple-please stop glaring me like that…”

But rather, a Squanan, a Lamia to be exact. Right, the creature squirming in the cage is a Lamia, but the description of the sign and how the way the merchant described her don’t seem to fit the individual. I wonder if it’s the fear of the venom or if it’s because this isn’t a high-quiality slave trader that he didn’t get his information straight? Well, maybe I’m just wrong in my views and the man has his facts straight.

If it is that I’m wrong, then it’s understandable why something like a Lamia hasn’t been sold off after so many months. But, if I’m right, then that means that I found myself an attractive buy and possibly, at a cheap price.

Why would I buy a Lamia and not another one of the slaves from before…? Well…you could say that…I’m attracted to her, not the snake part, but the human half I mean. This sounds hypocritical of me, since I just told the man before that I was looking for a woman, but I can’t help but be infatuated by her. Her hair is long and black just like her snake body with two long strands of golden hair running through it, her skin is of a tanned shade and her two eyes glimmer like a pair of jewels, to say nothing how she’s dressed, due to it being mostly rags, it’s clear breast area is on the bigger side, she is clearly a beauty that would make many others to shame…erm, I’ll confirm something, personal tastes aside, I need to make sure that my intuition is correct, even if it’s by word of mouth.

“Excuse me”

As I pushed my way through the onlookers, I came within the invisible circle created around the cage and approached the Lamia.

“Oi kid, if you know what’s good, then don’t get too close you hear?”

“Hey kid, stop it, why don’t you?”

Others however tried in dull attempts to stop me, maybe they wanted to stop me, a kid, to get too close to the infamous snake, but another side of them wondered what happened if someone approached her. While ignoring their warnings, I approached the cage and I cross sat in front of the steel bars and talked with the Lamia in a low voice that no one on the other side of the 4-foot invisible circle could hear.

“Hey, my name is Lucien Mercelious, mind telling me yours?”

With a soft voice, I began talking to her, she seemed dubious of me but began talking. I wonder how long will it be before Marla comes with the merchant to see what I’m doing.

“…My name is Cleo…”

“Oh? So you can speak my language without problems, then can you read what it says in that sign on the side of your cage?”

“I can’t, I can only hear and speak the language but reading and writing it is beyond me”

“I see, well, it says: [Warning Venomous Snake!! Approach at your own risk!] However, I have a different theory, but I want to hear your opinion first. So, are you venomous?”

“…Can’t say I am, I heard them talking about it, but I didn’t correct them”

“Why is that? Or rather, why would you tell me the truth?”

“I figured that if I fixed their error, I’d get sold off to the first pervert that came along. So I played the part of meek girl and waited for someone with at least enough balls to approach me, and that’s you. So, kid, would you be my master?”

The meek looking tanned beauty, was actually a predator waiting for better prey…well, not like I can complain for that.

“It depends on two things. One is based on what the man selling you says and the other is based on what you say.”

“I don’t know for him, but what would it be for me?”

“Do you truly believe that I’m a kid?”

“…fufu, can’t say I do, while sure, your body is that of a meek child, I can tell your eyes are of those of someone older and wiser. Is that all?”

“Almost, if you know I’m just a child in body, do you still want me as your master?”

“Of course, having someone like you as my master, I can’t predict how it will turn out, but it’s definitely better than staying here until someone else decides to get close to me”

Almost as if on cue, Marla and the merchant called me out on the border of the crowd.

“Master Lucien! Please come here, it’s dangerous being there!”

“So, kid, you done sightseeing and ready to finish your purchase?”

Was this guy planning on me to get her too?

“Sure, ah, if you don’t mind, as long as it’s at a reasonable price, I’ll take the venomous snake off your hands too”

I said that as I got off the floor and patted the dust off. The man just smiled and answered.

“Sure kid, how does 25 Gold Germas for all three of them sound?”

“Isn’t that cheaper than you should?”

“Consider it a discount for buying three faulty products from me at the same time”

With those words, I accepted the deal with the merchant, the crowd around us, the other two slaves and Marla, looked between me, the merchant and the Lamia Cleo. In their eyes, I was the stupid kid that bought off from a ripoff slave trader, three slaves with problems and one of them being the infamous merchandise that nobody dared to even touch. And while that might be true and he really is ripping me off, but, I’m satisfied with getting what I planned to get here and more.

End of Chapter 8