Chapter 37

After sending William and Bulande to their destination, not long after, Buluoshiwozi's carriage also arrived at her manor. She and her daughter got out of the carriage, and the butler followed them inside.

She took off her gloves and hat and handed them to the butler. Buluoshiwozi said to her daughter: 'Jian, remember, as a woman you should have both a strong side that makes men fear you and a shy side that makes men go crazy for you. You did well on the road; young boys eat up your purity.'

You need to learn to actively capture men's hearts; only then will they be useful to you. Understood?

Although Jian's mother often said such things to her, when she thought of her mother saying the target of the seduction was William, her face instantly flushed red, and she shyly said: 'I understand, Mother.'

'Alright, go rest. I and Kahn still have some things to discuss.' Buluoshiwozi waved at her daughter, and Jian walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

The butler Kahn standing aside reminded: 'Madam, I think Miss might have genuinely fallen for that boy named William; aren't you worried about her?'

Buluoshiwozi shook her head and said: 'As her mother, I naturally see Jian's little thoughts, but the other party is ultimately of common birth. Once Jian grows older and understands the importance of money and status, she won't take such a boy to heart anymore, so you don't need to worry about this.'

By the way, have you found out who sent the people who attacked us this time?

Butler Kahn lowered his head and said: 'Sorry, I'm not sure yet whether it's survivors of the family we wiped out seeking revenge, or merchants in charge of the slave trade from the faction of Duke Luoen we're dealing with.'

Buluoshiwozi said in a flat tone: 'No problem, just kill them all. Anyway, we'll eventually settle the score. Remember to do this cleanly, without leaving any survivors like last time.'

'Yes!' Butler Kahn nodded and then also walked out of the door.

William and Bulande walked along the prosperous street of Bujiadis, whose road surface was entirely made of gray-white stone slabs, and the street was very wide, with carriages often passing side by side in the center, while the space on either side remained sufficient for pedestrians to walk safely.

Bulande was now attracted by the various shops lining the street, seeing goods he had never seen before inside, and he occasionally let out strange exclamations, drawing passersby to glance sideways at the two.

William felt a bit embarrassed by Bulande's behavior, but he had to admit that the prosperity of Bujiadis' commercial street was indeed livelier than he remembered.

In his previous life, burdened by the grief of his parents' tragic death, William had never once relaxed and strolled through Bujiadis' commercial street during his three years at Bujiadis Academy; it seems that accompanying Bulande out for a walk today is a good choice.

As William and Bulande were strolling, a large carriage pulling several iron cages suddenly caught Bulande's attention; he pointed at the cages and asked William, 'Do you know what that is for?'

William followed the direction of Bulande's finger and saw that the cages held people with various animal ears on their heads and sometimes tails, looking strange; he then explained, 'That's a slave trader transporting goods; the cages hold the beastfolk they captured, usually bought by wealthy families to use as labor.'

'Ah, that's really pitiful,' Bulande sighed, but his sigh drew strange looks from the people around.

William felt the gazes of those around him and thought it was unavoidable; Bulande had spent more time with him, and besides, beastfolk are rarely seen in Bigen Village, so Bulande lacks the ingrained bias that people in this world hold against beastfolk.

Generally speaking, most humans in this world dislike beastfolk, but as William, who crossed over from Earth's egalitarian society, sees it, disliking someone solely because of their race makes no sense.

Of course, William still harbors no goodwill toward the demon race, which has been at war with humanity for over a thousand years.

After thinking, William realized he was indeed being somewhat hypocritical; at least beastfolk certainly wouldn't feel any goodwill toward humans who capture them for labor, so mutual understanding still requires an objective basis in the world situation.

As the slave trader's carriage passed in front of William and Bulande, a female beastfolk caught William's eye.

She was a cat-eared girl with light-blue pupils, white short hair with two fluffy ears standing upright, wearing a torn silk dress, and her fluffy tail matched the white color of her ears.

Although the girl's face was dirty with dirt and her gaze was dim, her features were exquisitely refined; by William's aesthetic cultivated on Earth, she was undoubtedly a beauty, so he couldn't help but glance at her twice.

I don't know if it's because of today's encounter with Buluoshiwozi and her butler, but before the slave trader's carriage disappeared from William's view, he secretly used the 【Appraisal】 skill to look at that cat-eared beastfolk girl, and the information that appeared surprised him quite a bit.

"Race: Bright Moon Clan"

"Level: 17"

"Magic Aptitude: Heroic"

"......"

Another Heroic-level magic aptitude! When did Heroic-level magic aptitude become so cheap?!

William complained in his mind, then made up his mind and shouted to Bulande: 'Bulande, hurry up and follow.'

'Wait for me, William!'

Bulande saw William chasing after the direction the slave trader's carriage was heading, and hurriedly gave chase.

Fortunately, the carriage hadn't gone far before it stopped at the back door of a shop, where I saw the shop's staff unloading beastmen in shackles from the carriage one by one. William stepped forward and said to the pot-bellied slave trader standing in front of the carriage: "Hello, may I ask what the price is for this beastman?"

The slave trader turned his head at the sound, saw that the inquirer was a boy about ten years old, and waved his hand, saying: "Kid, go play aside, don't bother me while I'm doing business."

William sighed, realizing that his current body put him at a disadvantage, so he pulled out a full bag of copper coins from his backpack, shook it in front of the slave trader, and said: "I just want to know, how much are you asking for that beastman? If the price is right, I'll buy it."

Although that's what I said, this bag of copper coins is the money my father David got from selling the house for my tuition; my father said that if I got a government-funded spot, he would treat it as my pocket money, but I can't freely use this money until I enroll at Bujiadixueyuan and secure the government-funded position.

Upon hearing the rattling of William's money bag, the slave trader, who had dealt with money for many years, immediately judged that William's bag was full of copper coins, absolutely over a thousand, and instantly changed his expression, smiling at William and saying:

"Oh, young man, you have good taste; that female beastman you're eyeing has a decent appearance and great strength—she's suitable for hard labor or for whatever preferences you might have. As for the price, I'll give you a discount: five hundred copper coins—what do you think?"

"That expensive?"

William was somewhat surprised; although he had never bought a beastman in his previous life, he knew the market price—ordinary beastmen ranged from one to two hundred copper coins, and better ones could sell for over three hundred—so the trader's quote of five hundred copper coins was indeed quite high.

Bulande, standing nearby, seeing William's expression, regardless of whether the slave trader's quoted price was inflated, put on an air of knowing and said directly: "You profiteer, you're asking way too much! Do you really think we don't know the market?"

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Bulande's words, the slave trader not only didn't feel guilty, but instead spoke solemnly: "Young man, you've wronged me; go ask around elsewhere—I, Fat Blazhe, may not have the cheapest prices, but I never swindle anyone; I sell things at exactly the price they are worth."

Look at the clothes on that beastwoman—pure silk—her status in her tribe is definitely not low, and when we captured her, several beastmen were guarding her; my men were almost all injured, so asking for an extra five hundred copper coins is truly not expensive!

Bulande looked at William, as if asking whether it was really as the slave trader said.

William thought for a moment, feeling that what the slave trader named Blazhe said might be true, since he had noticed the trader's remarkable attire from the start, and furthermore, using his Appraisal skill he saw that the trader possessed heroic-level magical aptitude; if the trader knew this, he would likely ask for an even higher price, so William nodded and said:

"Alright, I'll take it for five hundred copper coins, but I can't pay the deposit today; I have to wait until tomorrow to come and buy it."

Blazhe, hearing this, felt that the boy before him might just be teasing him for fun, but as a businessman he had saved face, and he amiably said to William: "Tomorrow works too, but I'll say this up front: if someone else wants to buy that beastman during this interval, I won't specially hold it for you, so don't come complaining to me then."

"Won't happen; I've also noted the shop's address—I'll come again tomorrow."

Having said that, William took Bulande and walked back the way they came.

Bulande, walking behind, couldn't help but feel curious, caught up and asked: "William, aren't you afraid that the beastman you liked will be bought by someone else when you come back tomorrow?"

William laughed and shook his head, saying: "Don't worry, aside from me, no ordinary person would spend five hundred copper coins on that beastman."

Bulande thought about it and then realized something, gave William a strange look, and asked: "William, speaking of which, what do you intend to do with that beastman after spending five hundred copper coins on it? You wouldn't be thinking of doing that kind of thing, would you? I have no idea when you gained such experience!"

William was somewhat speechless, annoyed, and said: "What are you thinking? I'm not planning to do that kind of thing; anyway, you'll find out later."

"Alright, then I never asked."

Bulande had grown accustomed to William's frequent pretentious mysteriousness, so he wasn't surprised by William's evasive answer.