Like before, I was given a lineup of boys and girls. I tried to be impartial with my selection, but I admitted that my eyes wandered over to the girl’s side a bit more than I wanted it to. Figuro went through each person, one at a time. The prices ranged anywhere from 1 gold coin to 50 gold coins. Some of them were truly very tempting, but this still felt like the last of his stock. Most of these people were guilty of some pretty severe crimes, even on the female side of things.
“I’m sorry, I’m just not seeing what I want.” I finally admitted.
“There is one girl I think you might be interested in.” Figuro finally added. “But she’s a very special case.”
“Who is that?” I asked, looking around.
“I don’t have her with me. She is actually in the capitol city.”
“Then why bring her up?”
“Hmm… perhaps it’s because I saw how you’ve been with the other two girls, and I’m interested in seeing you take care of her as well.”
“What job does she have?” I asked.
“Well, that’s the thing.” Figuro shrugged helplessly. “She doesn’t have one.”
I blinked. “How is that possible?”
“That’s exactly why I’m interested in you meeting her. She may be a spirit or elemental. However, she won’t tell anyone about her origins. She will actually be auctioned off in two months in the capital.”
Figuro raised his hand apologetically. “That’s why I didn’t start with her. However, if you’re in the capital city, you may want to visit her. Ah… the King also set one more restriction. The person who bids on her has to be a noble.”
“Now you’re really screwing with me!”
Figuro smiled. “I think in two month’s time, Old Chalm will be reclaimed. Those people are going to look towards you to lead them.”
“Yeah… but what does that have to do with lordship?”
“You would become the lord of Chalm, yes?” Figuro cocked his head. “From Hero to Lord in only a few months. I was right about you, but I never imagined you’d climb so quickly.”
“I think you’re jumping ahead there…” I said doubtfully, “I have no desire to be some lord.”
Figuro shrugged. “Want it or not, Old Chalm has no sovereign nation. As soon as news reaches the capital, you’ll be offered a lordship in exchange for allowing yourselves to be annexed. Given the citizen’s feelings on the nation, I think you’d want to say yes.”
“Just think about it.” Figuro patted my shoulder. “Let us finish up for the day. Since you have not brought Lydia here, is my assumption that you will take care of the slave ownership yourself.”
“Yeah… I’ll just use Slave Taker. Is that okay?”
Figuro’s mouth twitched but he nodded. “As I said, I’m a pretty open man. Removing and putting on slave tattoos is a painful process, but it seems like simply changing ownership is less painful. Plus, for you, it is cheaper.
I hid a grimace. That was really the only reason I did it. I didn’t want Figuro to upsell me on that kind of stuff.
“Ah… actually, while I have you, what does the slave tattoo do anyway?”
Figuro blinked and shook his head. “Only you could be able to take a slave away, but not even know what it entails.”
“Naw, do not fret. I just find the world strange sometimes.” Figuro shrugged. “The answer is simple. The slave tattoos demand obedience. Besides allowing you to track your slaves. It also allows you to order them and know they will carry out the task.”
“If I can do this anyway, what’s the point of the Slave Order skill.”
Figuro’s expression really did slip this time. “My… some of your questions can definitely take me off guard. The simple answer is that Slave Order is absolute. There is a bit of wiggle room when it comes to ordering. For example, if you ordered a slave to kill themselves, they could refuse. That actually goes all around. If someone was morally opposed to killing, and you demanded it of them, they could refuse… although it would be uncomfortable. The same could go with sex. A woman who was repulsed by a man may refuse sex even under a slave order if her repulsion was high enough. That’s why our questionnaires are important. A woman forced to have sex by the slave mark is radically different than a woman who is willing.”
“So, Slave Order just makes it stronger?”
“Not just stronger, impossible to refuse. If someone refuses to follow through, the order will literally make them. If you had to order a slave to do something that they couldn’t hesitate with, that’s where a Slave Order comes into play. It’s very rare someone has that skill, and even rarer they’d use it.”
Slave order was exactly like I predicted, something I planned to never use.