Watching the couple, who clearly believed they were selling themselves into servitude for their child yet looked somewhat expectant and happy, Saiga fell silent.
It was not as though he could not understand their thinking...
Serving as someone's servant was bitter and exhausting?
But if one truly spoke of hardship, their family could not afford to send their child to school to learn to read. In the future, there were plenty of jobs outside that were harder and more exhausting than serving a household, with far worse conditions. Even then, they might not be able to compete for those jobs.
Besides, children bought and raised from a young age would not become ordinary servants in the future. That would not be worth the cost.
More likely, they would become young masters' study companions, pageboys, or bridal maids. Their treatment and status would be better than those of ordinary servants. If they were lucky and clever, they might one day become household stewards or senior maids.
For families who could not even afford to let their children study, this could even be called a leap across social classes.
"Truly... a damned feudal age."
Saiga did not explain much to them. They would not understand, and even if they did, it would not be a good thing for them.
Knowing too much while lacking the ability to change their circumstances was more painful than knowing nothing at all.
Along the way, Saiga explained matters clearly to parents concerned about where their children would go and worried that he was a swindler. He took in several children, bought many more with money and grain, and picked up a few abandoned children by the roadside.
When the Blood God Child delivered the final invitation, Saiga looked down at the infant in his arms. The