Chapter 147 - The Lucrative Slave Trade
Chapter 147: The Lucrative Slave Trade
At the natural salt mine, the light cavalries were rushing back at top speed.
In the white and alkali soil behind them, a long line of footmen was forming a slightly curved formation as they walked towards the dune in the south. Their speed was neither fast nor slow, as if they were calm and steady.
This was a marching pattern that only elite troops had.
While ensuring the marching speed, they also able to ensure that they had sufficient stamina. This was something that normal troops not able to do.
This required a high degree of discipline.
The 10 desert bandits sped up their horses and their return journey.
This was because they all knew that this was the expedition army of the Kingdom of Grey Mane from the Mannheim Coast in the northern part of the Nahrin Desert. They wanted to occupy their homeland and enslave them to become colonial army!
This important information needed to be quickly returned to the Oasis Lookout and reported to Lord Kant!
They had to rush back at night.
It would take at least an entire day to rush back.
The Oasis Lookout was still heavily guarded. At night, there were Swadian militia with heavy spear in hand and a large wooden shield on their left arm. They were in neat rows patrolling the inner side of the city wall. They were in teams of ten and were extremely cautious.
Especially the prisoner of war camp, which was strictly guarded.
For the sake of these 2,000 Jackalan captives, every militiamen were filled with nightshift and reduced their rest time.
Time slowly passed.
The late night was gradually replaced by dawn.
“Woah Woah Woah –”
The male grouse began to crow like a chicken. It stood at the top of his chicken coop and flapped it wings, proudly declaring its ownership of the chicken coop and the female grouse.
The first light appeared in the sky. It was already dawn on the second day.
A new month.
It was also a new week.
“Dong Dong Dong.”
The wooden door of the room was knocked lightly.
Kant, who had not fallen asleep, woke up very quickly. He opened his eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Outside the door, a Swadian footman was standing there respectfully. He reported respectfully, “My Lord, Mr. Joslin of Reyvadin and his trade caravan have arrived.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kant nodded, sat by the bed and quickly put on his clothes. At the same time, he instructed, “Let Manid be in charge of welcoming them.”
The footman outside the door replied, “Mr. Manid is already receiving them.”
“Well done.”, Kant praised.
After the footman finished reporting, he left on his own and stood by the stairs as a guard again.
Kant put on his clothes, washed up, and walked down the stairs.
On the first floor of the council hall.
Manid was chatting with the leader of the trade caravan, Joslin, with a smile on his face. Occasionally, he even let out a few laughs. Although it was still dawn, the atmosphere between the two parties was very harmonious.
Kant walked down the stairs, and the two of them stood up to greet him.
“Good morning, Lord Kant.”
“Good morning.”, Kant nodded.
He said on the chair and to Joslin with a smile on his face, “You came at the right time this month.”
“It can’t be helped. The Kingdom of Vaegirs is too short of slaves.”
Joslin shrugged with a helpless smile on his face. “Lord Kant, the last time we brought back more than 500 Jackalan slaves, in less than a day, they were all snatched by the mine owners of the snowfield iron mine.”
“Well, this means that they are very popular, right?”, Kant chuckled.
“Of course.”, Joslin nodded.
At the same time, he stood up, took out a letter from his pocket, and respectfully placed it on the table. “Lord Kant, this is a letter personally written by King Yarogelk to express our most sincere gratitude to you.”
The peasant woman who was waiting on the side walked over, poured a cup of date palm water for the three of them, and handed the letter to Kant.
“Let me take a look.”
Kant tore open the envelope and looked at the beautifully drawn envelope.
It was written in the language of the Vaegirs.
However, he still understood it.
On the letter, King Yarogelk expressed his gratitude. He said some words of friendship with a hint of flattery. At the same time, he also pointed out at the end that if Lord Kant was free, he very much hoped that Kant would be a guest at Reyvadin. He would use the most ceremonious national etiquette and led all the noble families to welcome Kant’s arrival.
After putting down the envelope, Kant said to the leader of the trade caravan, Joslin, “Help me thank King Yarogelk for his kindness.”
“It’s my honor.”, Jocelyn nodded.
“And.”
Kant’s expression became slightly solemn. He turned his head and said to Manid, “You will be in charge of counting the captives. All of them will be handed over to Joslin before morning. It’s best to settle all of them before morning.”
“They are already being counted.”, Manid replied.
“Very good.”, Kant praised.
Manid was meticulous in his work. It was not without reason that he could become a business genius at such a young age.
He then continued to report to Kant, “When Mr. Joslin’s trade caravan arrived at the fortress, he had already arranged his nephew and the footmen I sent to count the Jackalans at the captive camp. If there are no accidents, the count will be completed soon according to the time.”
Kant raised his eyebrows with a smile on his face. “As expected of my trusted Manid.”
“You overpraised me.”, Manid lowered his head humbly.
The three of them chatted happily.
After a short while, the wooden door was pushed open and the Swadian footman walked in.
The footman who acted as the guard at the door reported in a deep voice, “Lord Kant, the nephew of the merchant, Joslin wants to see you.”
“Let him in,”, Kant replied.
“Yes.”, the footman nodded and turned to leave.
A young man walked in quickly. It was the nephew of Joslin. the leader of the trade caravan.
His face was filled with joy as he bowed respectfully to Kant in the council hall. “Seeing you in the morning is like seeing a warm sun. Good morning, my Lord.”
“Okay.”, Kant nodded.
However, he looked at Joslin and smiled. “He wouldn’t talk like that in the past.”
Jocelyn smiled awkwardly. “I found a teacher in Reyvadin who teaches noble etiquette. After all, he’s going to lead his own team in business. These basic etiquettes are necessary.”
“That’s true.”, Manid nodded with a smile.
Kant smiled and asked, “Is the result out?”
“It’s done.”
The young man nodded and bowed respectfully. Then, he reported, “There are 2,096 captives this time. As the payment of 30 denars per captive, we will pay 62,880 denars.”
“More than 60,000.”, Kant raised his eyebrows.
This was a huge amount of money!
In the game, this amount of money was not a small number. Even a noble would be moved by it.
After all, the value of this money was enough to sustain a large number of elite troops for several months!
“Yes, a total of 62,880 denars.”
The young man repeated.
However, there was some hesitation on his face. He looked up at his uncle and said slowly, “But there are 293 jackalan captives here. I can’t distinguish their value, so I haven’t counted them.”