Chapter 282: 047 - Elmguardian
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"As far as appearances go, I have to say that he is one of a kind, I can definitely see a collector buying him for a good price?" a man from the black market auction house was saying as he rubbed his small goatee with thoughtful strokes.
"That said with how the market is looking right now, and the current affairs of House Kurt it could be months before he is sold," the auction house buyer was saying as he looked at Lirian with intrigued eyes.
"Also since he is blind he will be pretty useless as a slave, and his broken legs will need some time heal because of that I doubt that Lady Izlandi's male escort service's would be willing to buy him, would you tell me how much you're looking to get out of him?" he asked the four soldiers.
The soldiers had to admit the buyer had a point, with Lirian's disability and looks there were only two options for people that would buy him, the first were collectors who want anything they find to be pleasing to their eyes, and Lirian most certainly was.
The other option was for him to become a male escort to please woman, the soldiers regretted breaking his legs to much, because that was a very important part if he was to become an escort.
It would be his duty to provide woman with pleasure and bliss, something that he'd need all three of his legs to be working properly in order to perform well.
Lirian sighed internally, wondering how things came to this, his only hope was to sit in the cages and have no one take an interest in him until his legs healed, he definitely didn't want to land in the hands of some rich collector, and he prayed with his might that he did not end up being bought to become some male whore.
If that were to happen then he would have no choice but to kill his buyer, he was no ones toy to be played with.
"5 gold," one of the soldiers said eagerly, even if that amount was split equally between the entire squad everyone would get a few silvers the conversion rate was 50 silvers to a gold.
The auction house buyer stroked his beard with a difficult expression, "I can push for him to be put up for tomorrow's auction, there should be a lot of collectors here for that auction," he said with a look of hesitation.
The soldiers could see that something was up with the bearded man, "Is there something important about tomorrows auction?" they asked.
The bearded man looked at them with a slightly surprised expression, "Have you been away from the city for some time?" he asked curiously, them not knowing about how important tomorrows auction was, was a shock for him so he could only think of one possibility they weren't in the city when the news spread.
"We've just returned after a month-long mission," one of the soldiers answered.
"Ah," the man nodded his hand in understanding, "Tomorrows auction is very special, we have obtained something exceptionally rare, so we aren't putting just anything on display," he said rubbing his hands together with a sly smile.
The soldiers understood what he wanted immediately, he wanted a cut of the profits, and with many collectors being present it was very likely that Lirian would go for a good price.
The soldiers smiled slyly their expressions matching the bearded man, before long they were discussing terms.
After a while of back and forth's, they finally came to a deal, the bearded man would take a 10% cut after the auction fees were deducted, and if no one bought Lirian they would sell Lirian to the auction house at 2 gold.
The bearded man could naturally tell Lirian's value at a glance, to a true collector, it wouldn't be impossible to get up to 40 gold which was a lot for a single slave, even in the great cities and the capital, a slave of such value was rare.
When the discussions were done the soldiers handed the papers that certified Lirian as a legal slave over to the bearded man, and left with happy smiles as if they had struck gold.
---
It wasn't long before Lirian was brought down into a cellar and locked up in another cage.
Lirian breathed out as he shifted his attention around, he could hear the rattling of chains coming from other cage's in the room, there was a girl silently crying in a cage nearby, and in the cage right next to him he could feel two sharp eyes fixed on him.
"It's rude to stare," Lirian said flashing the person a grin, as he leaned against the bars of his cell with his legs extending out, just moving his legs around hurt, so he sat as still as possible.
Lirian waited for a reply but the person in the other cage said nothing and continued to stare at him.
"You have a name?" Lirian asked, but still he received no reply, Lirian continued to ask questions to fill the silence, but the person in the other cage seemed to have no desire to answer.
"Well aren't you a chatty one," Lirian laughed, "From now on I'll call you Chatty and the little cry baby over there will be Sobby," Lirian said shrugging his shoulders.
"Hey, Sobby would you mind toning it down a notch, I can't hear Chatty's response over all the noise you're making," Lirian said to the girl who was sobbing away.
The sobs suddenly went silent and Lirian could feel the girls gazes land on him scanning him, "Oh how far I've fallen," the girl cried out in dramatically, her way of speaking reminded Lirian of nobles, so he ventured to guess that she was some noble girl, " Even a filthy bandit dares to talk to me!" she said dramatically.
'Bandit!' Lirian thought with surprise, then he ran his hand across the brand 'β' on his arm in realisation, the brand that marked him as a bandit.
"You are talking about this?" Lirian asked pointing to his arm, "How does it look?" Lirian asked in a snarky tone and flashed his brand at the noble girl.
"Is this how my days are to be now?" the girl questioned with her head facing the ceiling of the cellar, her question posed towards deities unknown, "Will my days be spent speaking with the filth of society, murderers, rapist and bandits?" she questioned with heartfelt sobs.
'By my sacred name, this girl is killing me,' Lirian thought rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"What do you think of it Chatty?" Lirian asked turning his brand to Chatty.
Chatty, "…"
A short silence followed, but Lirian knew that Chatty heard him clearly, this entire time Chatty had been focusing on his every word.
"I hear you, and I agree it is a stylish choice on my part," Lirian said, pretending that Chatty was speaking to him.
"You know if you like it so much I can hook you up, I know these guys, they are super keen to give people brands, even if it's the wrong one," Lirian laughed.
"Wrong?" Chatty finally asked curiously.
"So, he does speak," Lirian said flashing Chatty a smile, "But then I knew that, otherwise I wouldn't be calling you Chatty," Lirian quickly added.
"What do you mean by the wrong?" Chatty asked his gaze was sharp as was his voice.
Lirian noticed that Chatty's accent was different, from the people he met so far, and he wasn't the only one to notice.
"You're an Elmguardian!" Sobby blurted out in a surprised tone as she tried to get a closer look at the man in the cage, but unfortunately he was to close to the corner where no light reached.
The man didn't say anything and merely continued looking at Lirian, waiting for his answer.
"The brand should look more like this" Lirian said and used a finger to slowly draw an 'ɱ' rune on his hand.
The rune Lirian had drawn was a rune placed only on murderers, and anyone marked with such a brand would be lined up at the hanging post.
A mischievous smirk was drawn across his face as the two looked at him with wide eyes, "I'm blind you see," Lirian explained, "So they wouldn't believe me when I told them I murdered thousands in a single night," he explained and slowly licked his lips.
"Oh, dear mother and father, I'm in a cell with a madman," the girl cried out melodramatically, and the man's eyes flashed with annoyance as if Lirian had just wasted his time.
"Oh, how far I have fallen, how far I've fallen.." the girl continued to cry pitifully.
"On the contrary, noble girl," Lirian said after the girl repeated her words for the umpteenth time, "You're at the highest point of your entire life," Lirian said shaking his head in pity for the girl.
The girl stopped her sobs once more and looked at Lirian with questioning eyes.
"A long time ago there once was an immortal who wished to know what was the highest point a person could reach…" Lirian started to tell her the story about an immortal whose work he once studied a very long time ago.
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"As far as appearances go, I have to say that he is one of a kind, I can definitely see a collector buying him for a good price?" a man from the black market auction house was saying as he rubbed his small goatee with thoughtful strokes.
"That said with how the market is looking right now, and the current affairs of House Kurt it could be months before he is sold," the auction house buyer was saying as he looked at Lirian with intrigued eyes.
"Also since he is blind he will be pretty useless as a slave, and his broken legs will need some time heal because of that I doubt that Lady Izlandi's male escort service's would be willing to buy him, would you tell me how much you're looking to get out of him?" he asked the four soldiers.
The soldiers had to admit the buyer had a point, with Lirian's disability and looks there were only two options for people that would buy him, the first were collectors who want anything they find to be pleasing to their eyes, and Lirian most certainly was.
The other option was for him to become a male escort to please woman, the soldiers regretted breaking his legs to much, because that was a very important part if he was to become an escort.
It would be his duty to provide woman with pleasure and bliss, something that he'd need all three of his legs to be working properly in order to perform well.
Lirian sighed internally, wondering how things came to this, his only hope was to sit in the cages and have no one take an interest in him until his legs healed, he definitely didn't want to land in the hands of some rich collector, and he prayed with his might that he did not end up being bought to become some male whore.
If that were to happen then he would have no choice but to kill his buyer, he was no ones toy to be played with.
"5 gold," one of the soldiers said eagerly, even if that amount was split equally between the entire squad everyone would get a few silvers the conversion rate was 50 silvers to a gold.
The auction house buyer stroked his beard with a difficult expression, "I can push for him to be put up for tomorrow's auction, there should be a lot of collectors here for that auction," he said with a look of hesitation.
The soldiers could see that something was up with the bearded man, "Is there something important about tomorrows auction?" they asked.
The bearded man looked at them with a slightly surprised expression, "Have you been away from the city for some time?" he asked curiously, them not knowing about how important tomorrows auction was, was a shock for him so he could only think of one possibility they weren't in the city when the news spread.
"We've just returned after a month-long mission," one of the soldiers answered.
"Ah," the man nodded his hand in understanding, "Tomorrows auction is very special, we have obtained something exceptionally rare, so we aren't putting just anything on display," he said rubbing his hands together with a sly smile.
The soldiers understood what he wanted immediately, he wanted a cut of the profits, and with many collectors being present it was very likely that Lirian would go for a good price.
The soldiers smiled slyly their expressions matching the bearded man, before long they were discussing terms.
After a while of back and forth's, they finally came to a deal, the bearded man would take a 10% cut after the auction fees were deducted, and if no one bought Lirian they would sell Lirian to the auction house at 2 gold.
The bearded man could naturally tell Lirian's value at a glance, to a true collector, it wouldn't be impossible to get up to 40 gold which was a lot for a single slave, even in the great cities and the capital, a slave of such value was rare.
When the discussions were done the soldiers handed the papers that certified Lirian as a legal slave over to the bearded man, and left with happy smiles as if they had struck gold.
---
It wasn't long before Lirian was brought down into a cellar and locked up in another cage.
Lirian breathed out as he shifted his attention around, he could hear the rattling of chains coming from other cage's in the room, there was a girl silently crying in a cage nearby, and in the cage right next to him he could feel two sharp eyes fixed on him.
"It's rude to stare," Lirian said flashing the person a grin, as he leaned against the bars of his cell with his legs extending out, just moving his legs around hurt, so he sat as still as possible.
Lirian waited for a reply but the person in the other cage said nothing and continued to stare at him.
"You have a name?" Lirian asked, but still he received no reply, Lirian continued to ask questions to fill the silence, but the person in the other cage seemed to have no desire to answer.
"Well aren't you a chatty one," Lirian laughed, "From now on I'll call you Chatty and the little cry baby over there will be Sobby," Lirian said shrugging his shoulders.
"Hey, Sobby would you mind toning it down a notch, I can't hear Chatty's response over all the noise you're making," Lirian said to the girl who was sobbing away.
The sobs suddenly went silent and Lirian could feel the girls gazes land on him scanning him, "Oh how far I've fallen," the girl cried out in dramatically, her way of speaking reminded Lirian of nobles, so he ventured to guess that she was some noble girl, " Even a filthy bandit dares to talk to me!" she said dramatically.
'Bandit!' Lirian thought with surprise, then he ran his hand across the brand 'β' on his arm in realisation, the brand that marked him as a bandit.
"You are talking about this?" Lirian asked pointing to his arm, "How does it look?" Lirian asked in a snarky tone and flashed his brand at the noble girl.
"Is this how my days are to be now?" the girl questioned with her head facing the ceiling of the cellar, her question posed towards deities unknown, "Will my days be spent speaking with the filth of society, murderers, rapist and bandits?" she questioned with heartfelt sobs.
'By my sacred name, this girl is killing me,' Lirian thought rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"What do you think of it Chatty?" Lirian asked turning his brand to Chatty.
Chatty, "…"
A short silence followed, but Lirian knew that Chatty heard him clearly, this entire time Chatty had been focusing on his every word.
"I hear you, and I agree it is a stylish choice on my part," Lirian said, pretending that Chatty was speaking to him.
"You know if you like it so much I can hook you up, I know these guys, they are super keen to give people brands, even if it's the wrong one," Lirian laughed.
"Wrong?" Chatty finally asked curiously.
"So, he does speak," Lirian said flashing Chatty a smile, "But then I knew that, otherwise I wouldn't be calling you Chatty," Lirian quickly added.
"What do you mean by the wrong?" Chatty asked his gaze was sharp as was his voice.
Lirian noticed that Chatty's accent was different, from the people he met so far, and he wasn't the only one to notice.
"You're an Elmguardian!" Sobby blurted out in a surprised tone as she tried to get a closer look at the man in the cage, but unfortunately he was to close to the corner where no light reached.
The man didn't say anything and merely continued looking at Lirian, waiting for his answer.
"The brand should look more like this" Lirian said and used a finger to slowly draw an 'ɱ' rune on his hand.
The rune Lirian had drawn was a rune placed only on murderers, and anyone marked with such a brand would be lined up at the hanging post.
A mischievous smirk was drawn across his face as the two looked at him with wide eyes, "I'm blind you see," Lirian explained, "So they wouldn't believe me when I told them I murdered thousands in a single night," he explained and slowly licked his lips.
"Oh, dear mother and father, I'm in a cell with a madman," the girl cried out melodramatically, and the man's eyes flashed with annoyance as if Lirian had just wasted his time.
"Oh, how far I have fallen, how far I've fallen.." the girl continued to cry pitifully.
"On the contrary, noble girl," Lirian said after the girl repeated her words for the umpteenth time, "You're at the highest point of your entire life," Lirian said shaking his head in pity for the girl.
The girl stopped her sobs once more and looked at Lirian with questioning eyes.
"A long time ago there once was an immortal who wished to know what was the highest point a person could reach…" Lirian started to tell her the story about an immortal whose work he once studied a very long time ago.
"As far as appearances go, I have to say that he is one of a kind, I can definitely see a collector buying him for a good price?" a man from the black market auction house was saying as he rubbed his small goatee with thoughtful strokes."That said with how the market is looking right now, and the current affairs of House Kurt it could be months before he is sold," the auction house buyer was saying as he looked at Lirian with intrigued eyes."Also since he is blind he will be pretty useless as a slave, and his broken legs will need some time heal because of that I doubt that Lady Izlandi's male escort service's would be willing to buy him, would you tell me how much you're looking to get out of him?" he asked the four soldiers.The soldiers had to admit the buyer had a point, with Lirian's disability and looks there were only two options for people that would buy him, the first were collectors who want anything they find to be pleasing to their eyes, and Lirian most certainly was.The other option was for him to become a male escort to please woman, the soldiers regretted breaking his legs to much, because that was a very important part if he was to become an escort.It would be his duty to provide woman with pleasure and bliss, something that he'd need all three of his legs to be working properly in order to perform well.Lirian sighed internally, wondering how things came to this, his only hope was to sit in the cages and have no one take an interest in him until his legs healed, he definitely didn't want to land in the hands of some rich collector, and he prayed with his might that he did not end up being bought to become some male whore.If that were to happen then he would have no choice but to kill his buyer, he was no ones toy to be played with."5 gold," one of the soldiers said eagerly, even if that amount was split equally between the entire squad everyone would get a few silvers the conversion rate was 50 silvers to a gold.The auction house buyer stroked his beard with a difficult expression, "I can push for him to be put up for tomorrow's auction, there should be a lot of collectors here for that auction," he said with a look of hesitation.The soldiers could see that something was up with the bearded man, "Is there something important about tomorrows auction?" they asked.The bearded man looked at them with a slightly surprised expression, "Have you been away from the city for some time?" he asked curiously, them not knowing about how important tomorrows auction was, was a shock for him so he could only think of one possibility they weren't in the city when the news spread."We've just returned after a month-long mission," one of the soldiers answered."Ah," the man nodded his hand in understanding, "Tomorrows auction is very special, we have obtained something exceptionally rare, so we aren't putting just anything on display," he said rubbing his hands together with a sly smile.The soldiers understood what he wanted immediately, he wanted a cut of the profits, and with many collectors being present it was very likely that Lirian would go for a good price.The soldiers smiled slyly their expressions matching the bearded man, before long they were discussing terms.After a while of back and forth's, they finally came to a deal, the bearded man would take a 10% cut after the auction fees were deducted, and if no one bought Lirian they would sell Lirian to the auction house at 2 gold.The bearded man could naturally tell Lirian's value at a glance, to a true collector, it wouldn't be impossible to get up to 40 gold which was a lot for a single slave, even in the great cities and the capital, a slave of such value was rare.When the discussions were done the soldiers handed the papers that certified Lirian as a legal slave over to the bearded man, and left with happy smiles as if they had struck gold.---It wasn't long before Lirian was brought down into a cellar and locked up in another cage.Lirian breathed out as he shifted his attention around, he could hear the rattling of chains coming from other cage's in the room, there was a girl silently crying in a cage nearby, and in the cage right next to him he could feel two sharp eyes fixed on him."It's rude to stare," Lirian said flashing the person a grin, as he leaned against the bars of his cell with his legs extending out, just moving his legs around hurt, so he sat as still as possible.Lirian waited for a reply but the person in the other cage said nothing and continued to stare at him."You have a name?" Lirian asked, but still he received no reply, Lirian continued to ask questions to fill the silence, but the person in the other cage seemed to have no desire to answer."Well aren't you a chatty one," Lirian laughed, "From now on I'll call you Chatty and the little cry baby over there will be Sobby," Lirian said shrugging his shoulders."Hey, Sobby would you mind toning it down a notch, I can't hear Chatty's response over all the noise you're making," Lirian said to the girl who was sobbing away.The sobs suddenly went silent and Lirian could feel the girls gazes land on him scanning him, "Oh how far I've fallen," the girl cried out in dramatically, her way of speaking reminded Lirian of nobles, so he ventured to guess that she was some noble girl, " Even a filthy bandit dares to talk to me!" she said dramatically.'Bandit!' Lirian thought with surprise, then he ran his hand across the brand '' on his arm in realisation, the brand that marked him as a bandit."You are talking about this?" Lirian asked pointing to his arm, "How does it look?" Lirian asked in a snarky tone and flashed his brand at the noble girl."Is this how my days are to be now?" the girl questioned with her head facing the ceiling of the cellar, her question posed towards deities unknown, "Will my days be spent speaking with the filth of society, murderers, rapist and bandits?" she questioned with heartfelt sobs.'By my sacred name, this girl is killing me,' Lirian thought rolling his eyes in exasperation."What do you think of it Chatty?" Lirian asked turning his brand to Chatty.Chatty, ""A short silence followed, but Lirian knew that Chatty heard him clearly, this entire time Chatty had been focusing on his every word."I hear you, and I agree it is a stylish choice on my part," Lirian said, pretending that Chatty was speaking to him."You know if you like it so much I can hook you up, I know these guys, they are super keen to give people brands, even if it's the wrong one," Lirian laughed."Wrong?" Chatty finally asked curiously."So, he does speak," Lirian said flashing Chatty a smile, "But then I knew that, otherwise I wouldn't be calling you Chatty," Lirian quickly added."What do you mean by the wrong?" Chatty asked his gaze was sharp as was his voice.Lirian noticed that Chatty's accent was different, from the people he met so far, and he wasn't the only one to notice."You're an Elmguardian!" Sobby blurted out in a surprised tone as she tried to get a closer look at the man in the cage, but unfortunately he was to close to the corner where no light reached.The man didn't say anything and merely continued looking at Lirian, waiting for his answer."The brand should look more like this" Lirian said and used a finger to slowly draw an '' rune on his hand.The rune Lirian had drawn was a rune placed only on murderers, and anyone marked with such a brand would be lined up at the hanging post.A mischievous smirk was drawn across his face as the two looked at him with wide eyes, "I'm blind you see," Lirian explained, "So they wouldn't believe me when I told them I murdered thousands in a single night," he explained and slowly licked his lips."Oh, dear mother and father, I'm in a cell with a madman," the girl cried out melodramatically, and the man's eyes flashed with annoyance as if Lirian had just wasted his time."Oh, how far I have fallen, how far I've fallen.." the girl continued to cry pitifully."On the contrary, noble girl," Lirian said after the girl repeated her words for the umpteenth time, "You're at the highest point of your entire life," Lirian said shaking his head in pity for the girl.The girl stopped her sobs once more and looked at Lirian with questioning eyes."A long time ago there once was an immortal who wished to know what was the highest point a person could reach" Lirian started to tell her the story about an immortal whose work he once studied a very long time ago.
