“Slaves?”

Now this is interesting. Killing them is another issue, but enslaving humanoids? From what I have inferred so far, I would not have guessed that monsters would be organized and strong enough to do so. Plus, wasn’t this place supposed to be isolated? It was at first my guess, but then the goblin tribe confirmed it - we are located near the southern border of Phyrria Empire and then there is another country down south. How are these goblins able to catch slaves? Is it because this goblin village is much closer to the border of the forest, nearing the mountains to the south? Or is it because these humanoids were traveling through this unexplored forest and unluckily crossed paths with a bunch of goblins? Either way, I am pretty confident that they would have some critical information I can make use of. This is an opportunity I do not want to miss.

“Yessss.” Goblin’s voice slithered out of his mouth, leaving room for the foul smell of his breath to escape with itself.

The slaves had long, pointy ears, sitting on the corner of the tent like crabs trying to hide themselves in small burrows, farthest away from the entrance as possible. They looked fairly attractive if not for the dirt and mud they were covered in. Some of them looked like they were taken much better care of, while the others bore many bruises on their skin and faces. These are the rebellious ones, I thought to myself.

“They all are in good health, even those with bruises - we saved them for later. These are fresh catches… We would not let our goods perish in no time, would we? Hahahah.”

I let out my breath as I imitated a smirk. I am not entertained, but I have to be on the same page with these goblins, at least until this trade is over.

“Are these all you have?” I pointed at the slaves cowering in the corner. Those who had their eyes open watched my movements closely - a human talking in a goblin tongue with a goblin. “They seem to be on friendly terms.” must be what they are thinking.

“There are others. It was risky to keep them all together.”

Many of the slaves were stripped of their clothes and probably given little food.

“What skill do they have? They do not look like soldiers.”

“They are not soldiers, but they fight. Elves always do.”

“Where did you catch them from? I thought this place was surrounded by mountains.”

The goblin gave me a suspicious look. Why was it? Did I make it too obvious that I am oblivious to this geography? It surely cannot be that I was born in this forest, so why did I have no clue about the surroundings? But it indeed is surrounded by mountains.

“From the other side of the mountains of course. We saw a group of elves traveling through the mountains. They did not have weapons but we had to put up a fight. We lost many men.”

So, elves are stronger than goblins. I cannot say I am surprised.

“How many do you have in total?”

“We have 68 elves in total. 46 of them are women, and 3 are kids.”

“How much?”

“Those shiny stones you brought - I want 20 stones for one male elf. 40 stones for one female elf. 15 for each kid.”

Why are females more exp… oh these fucking goblins.

“You are a tough merchant. I can give you 18 stones for males, 38 for females, and 10 for kids.”

“19 for males, 39 for females, 11 for kids. This is the lowest I can go.”

“What if I buy all of them?”

“All of them? Then I can take your deal. But, I do not think you brought enough stones.”

“Deal, then.” I opened my storage and dropped enough shiny stones to buy every single elf at my rates. As the stones fell onto the ground, The tent was getting fuller and fuller. Soon, I had enough stones laying on the ground as a pile, reminding me of the trade I made with the other village months ago.

Of course, I did not need to go through the rigmarole of bargaining - I have more shiny stones than these goblins could imagine. It was to show competency in trade - I cannot provide them with what they ask for without making a counter offer. Otherwise, he would just keep inflating his prices. In case we partner up for trading for the future, this is something I would like to avoid.

Though taken aback, the goblin quickly bounced back into reality with a serious expression.

“Great! Are slaves the only things you are looking for?”

“Food, seeds, tools… You tell me what you have.” I paused for a moment. “There are a lot more where these came from.” I pointed at the shiny stones laying on the ground with the tip of my eye.

I could read the goblin’s greed from his breathing pattern. He was exhilarated, breathing heavily through his crooked, green nose.

“We have everything you want.” Goblin stated, rubbing his hands together.