"Let me see..."
Linde looked around among these alien servants, even activating his active vision, but he didn't find any "special" slaves.
The idea of finding an elf princess or a dwarf master among slaves is simply a fantasy.
Looking at the various alien servants before him, and then at his meager gold coins, Lind knew without a second thought that he should use the money wisely.
The territory hasn't been included in the project yet, so we'll have to use it sparingly.
Linde shook his head, returned to the spot where he had previously sold young and strong slaves, and began to select them.
Eugene didn't say anything, after all, everyone has their own needs.
Soon, Linde selected nearly 400 able-bodied male slaves and 100 young female slaves, quickly depleting Eugene's stockpile.
Linde planned to send half of the male slaves to the mines and keep the other half for construction. As for the remaining female slaves, Linde intended to use them as rewards for soldiers and those who made outstanding contributions, and to assign them to do odd jobs in ordinary times.
Seeing that Linde had chosen so many slaves, Eugene, who was standing to the side, decided to have them all driven out, cleaned, and their identities verified.
After both sides confirmed that there was nothing wrong, Eugene said:
“A young male slave is worth 24 silver coins, so 400 of them would be 9600 silver coins… A female slave is worth 30 silver coins, so 100 of them would be…”
“A total of 126 gold coins,” Eugene said with a broad smile.
In most human empires, the ratio of gold, silver, and copper currencies was generally around 1:100:1000.
That is, 1 gold coin can be exchanged for 100 silver coins, and 1 silver coin can be exchanged for 10 copper coins.
Gold coins are not commonly seen in the market. The vast majority of transactions are conducted using silver and copper coins. Generally, only nobles and wealthy merchants use gold coins for transactions.
Linde estimated that it was indeed a discounted price in the market, and considering the quality was quite good, it was truly good value for money.
Linde readily prepared to pay, summoned a servant, and had the full amount of gold coins retrieved from the mansion, which he then counted out and gave to the slave trader.
After receiving the gold coins, Eugene's smile grew even brighter. He quickly pulled over a servant and whispered a few words to him.
Then the servant brought a fine box and handed it to Lind.
"What's this?"
Linde asked, puzzled.
Eugene smiled and said:
“Your Excellency, this is a small gift.”
Eugene opened the box, and Lind saw that inside lay a badge made of an unknown metal.
It is inlaid with a gem bearing magical marks.
Linde immediately recognized what it was: a special pass from an unknown chamber of commerce.
At this moment, Eugene, who was standing nearby, said at the opportune moment:
"I am from the Shadowbinder Alliance Merchant Guild. Our guild is a special organization that serves nobles exclusively..."
Eugene came to Lind's side and whispered:
"Assassination, transactions, matchmaking, and the sale of contraband are all permissible. A descendant of an earl like yourself is someone we should befriend."
Hearing this, Linde roughly guessed what Eugene did for a living.
Linde originally thought he was at most a well-known businessman in some chamber of commerce, just like his sister who loved money but had never met him.
In the end, it turned out that a big one was hidden away—someone belonging to the Shadowbinder Alliance.
The Shadowbinders Alliance isn't exactly a household name in the Kree Empire, but it's well-known among the nobility.
Their presence is felt throughout the surrounding human empires. Although these people are only paid to do things, one must sometimes be wary of them.
Because sometimes you don't know if someone has offered a higher price to deal with you.
However, these people can be quite useful at times; they are adept at both intelligence gathering and assassination deals.
Such a clandestine assassination organization must have initially been targeted by someone who wanted to eradicate it completely.
As a result, it was discovered that the Shadowbinders Alliance had a high-ranking Shadow Assassin behind them, who was speculated to be at the Mithril or Gold level.
In short, those who wanted to eliminate this organization have basically disappeared without a trace, and the high-ranking officials of the nearby human empires have largely tacitly accepted its existence.
According to rumors, the Shadowbinder Alliance is located in the Orc Empire, south of the Kree and Sass Empires, and not particularly far from Lind's territory, where they don't usually have much contact.
Lin De thought to himself, "So this is what they've come looking for. But if handled properly, it could make up for my current lack of intelligence sources."
Having thought this through, Lind basically understood, so he took the box from Eugene and picked up the badge.
Under the sunlight, the badge shimmered with a hint of magical power.
"As long as you wear this badge, you can find and enter the Shadowbinder Alliance outposts in every city."
There, you can gather intelligence, trade items, and place bounties—all for a small fee of gold coins.
After hearing Eugene's explanation, Lind understood that this badge was a pass for the Shadowbinders Alliance, and all he had to do was wear it.
"Then I'll accept it. I'll definitely come back to you if I ever need anything in the future."
This organization, hidden in the shadows and serving only the nobility, has to some extent resolved the conflicts between the nobles. Moreover, given Linde's current small size, if he could use this hidden hand, he could gain access to a great deal of information and intelligence about the world's most advanced frontiers.
After accepting the badge, Lind invited Eugene to his mansion for lunch.
Unexpectedly, Eugene quickly waved his hand in refusal, saying that there were rules in the organization that forbade them from having close relationships with nobles, and that they could not even have meals or give gifts.
He also said he had other tasks to complete and was about to leave, so he wouldn't bother Lind any longer.
So Lind had to call some soldiers to help Eugene tidy up the camp.
While the servants were packing up, Eugene whispered something to Lind:
"My lord, you can rest assured about these slaves. Our alliance will only do things for money."
Also, as a bonus for joining, there's been a group of orc caravans that have been loitering around Fortified City lately, seemingly plotting something.
According to the latest intelligence, they appear to be heading towards your territory. If it's convenient, we'd like you to gather information about them. If not, that's fine too; we'll pay you a substantial sum in return. What do you say?
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