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Chapter 106: Signing a contract with Fiona

Reiner stood with his companions in a corner of the slave market, and in less than half a minute he felt like leaving.

The market was small to begin with, there were barely any slaves for sale, and most of them were human, followed by orcs, while there were only a handful of demi-humans.

The weather was cold now, yet they wore only thin clothing.

Afraid they would freeze to death, the slavers had them sit around a campfire for warmth.

Reiner really did not want to buy any other kind of slave.

After all, if he did, his Slave Appraisal System and Thought-Eavesdropping System would become useless.

He would only buy top-grade demi-human slaves.

Reiner stepped forward and asked, “Are these the only demi-human slaves you have?”

The slaver looked back at Reiner, exhaled a white puff, and said, “Where could we get demi-humans around here? Those creatures basically live in the south of the continent; we can’t catch them up here.”

Reiner froze for a second, realizing this was outside his knowledge base.

“Then what about these humans? How did they become slaves?”

“Some are bandits, others are prisoners captured in war,” the trader said, pointing at a woman sitting in a corner, “and some sold themselves because of debt they couldn’t repay.”

Reiner sighed.

It seemed he would have to go south to pick slaves.

Fortunately, he had just accepted an escort commission for a group of merchants.

On this trip back to Melod, he had to bring back several demi-human slaves.

Reiner looked down at the listless demi-human slaves and used Appraisal.

He found that they were all inferior slaves, basically worthless and far below his standards.

Nora gently poked Reiner’s shoulder and asked expectantly, “Are we buying, Master?”

“No, none of them are any good,” Reiner shook his head.

“All right,” Nora said, a little disappointed.

Reiner took everyone home.

The next day he went outside the city again to see whether Fiona would show up.

Tomorrow he had to escort the caravan to Melod, and he would not return to Cannon for at least half a month.

Luckily, he had not waited long before Fiona emerged from the bushes.

“You work fast, Reiner,” she said, her expression a mix of gratitude and worry.

An orc set a heavy bag in front of Reiner.

When he opened it, it was full of glittering gold coins.

Every coin bore the pattern of an ancient tree.

Judging by appearance alone, they were proper Barnite gold coins.

“Where did this money come from?”

Fiona answered softly, “We made it ourselves; after I said goodbye the day before yesterday, I borrowed a mold for minting coins from Lord Aidan, so from now on our tribe is officially connected to human society.”

After speaking, she looked back at the orc guards who protected her. “Go back first; I’ll return later on my own.”

The guards glanced at Reiner, then turned and disappeared into the bushes.

After they had gone, Fiona looked at Reiner nervously and whispered, “Let’s go, I’ll fulfill my promise and form a contract with you. I also hope we can work together more in the future.”

Reiner nodded, lifted the pouch, and handed it to Martina behind him. “You’ve sacrificed quite a bit for the tribe.”

“It’s nothing, sacrificing myself alone is fine; as long as they can grow strong, I’m willing to do anything,” Fiona lowered her head.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Reiner draped his black cloak over Fiona’s shoulders.

Fiona spoke slowly. “Actually, as long as the gate guards see that the orc coming in is me, they normally won’t stop me; Lord Aidan has already spoken with them.”

“I don’t like attracting attention, so let’s disguise ourselves anyway; as far as I know, even though you formed an alliance, the townsfolk still have some prejudice against you.”

Fiona nodded. “True enough, I’ll do as you say.”

Once in the city, they headed straight for the slave market.

Reiner grabbed a slaver, explained the situation briefly, and took him to a small room.

“My lord, where should I place your seal?”

“On my arm is fine.” Reiner unbuttoned his thick wool coat and extended his arm.

Three pact marks were already stamped there, belonging to Nora, Martina, and Daisy.

Now he was about to add a fourth.

When the slaver finished stamping, he looked Fiona up and down. “Where do you want the seal on your slave?”

Reiner thought for a moment and gestured to him. “Please step outside for a bit; we’ll be quick.”

The slaver looked puzzled but handed the seal to Reiner and left the room.

Reiner asked her, “Where do you want it? Choose an inconspicuous spot, or your tribesmen might notice and it could cause trouble.”

“Somewhere hard to see?” Fiona pondered, and a faint blush rose on her cheeks.

“Don’t get any weird ideas.”

“Could one of your women stamp me? It’s inconvenient if you do it.”

“As you wish.” Reiner handed the seal to the reliable Nora, gave a few instructions, and turned away.

After a moment, Reiner heard Fiona yelp.

When he looked back, she was limp and weak, and Nora was helping her straighten her clothes.

Elyanna hugged her staff and leaned over, staring at Reiner’s muscles.

“What, are you interested in me?”

Elyanna shook her head and asked, “No, I’m just curious about the pattern on your arm.”

“That’s a pact mark. Every time I buy a slave, I have to stamp one; it’s a tool for controlling slaves.”

Elyanna extended her cold finger and poked the pact mark on Reiner’s arm.

At that moment, the System’s voice sounded in his ear.

[Detecting another element, awakening new element strength for Host…]

[Congratulations, Host. You have unlocked the right to use the Dark element.]

Reiner hummed happily.

The number of magic attributes he could use had increased by one.

Elyanna suddenly said, “As expected, this is just a crude domination spell. You humans store magic in a seal for your own use; you really are clever…”

Reiner’s eyes lit up. “So you actually know how to use this?”

In Melod, stamping a pact mark usually cost about 1 silver coin.

If he learned domination magic, he could save himself some money.

“Of course, and the incantation is quite simple, but sadly you can’t use shadow magic…”

A cold wind blew, and Reiner shivered.

He wrapped his clothes tighter and said dismissively, “Anything is possible; just teach me.”

“You’re not going to claim you can use shadow magic too, are you? Stargazers who awaken both Light and Dark attributes like me are rare; for a human to awaken Light is already abnormal, and if you also awaken Dark…”

Reiner cut her off. “Just teach me, and leave the rest to me.”

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