Locked inside the cage was a creature with a humanlike build, but its skin was covered in animal fur, and it had sharp claws and fangs. Even covered in wounds and blood as it was, it still bore some resemblance to Bruce in his current form.
A werewolf... or rather, a Rupur.
It roared as it hurled itself desperately against the cage, its face twisted and its scarlet eyes filled with pain, rage, and hatred, with little trace of reason.
"Ho ho ho! This Rupur is my shop's most highly recommended product! It's a gladiator fresh out of the arena, so its combat abilities are outstanding. It's also the highest-level product I have! Although various circumstances have greatly reduced its strength, with proper training, it could still become a powerful fighter. What do you think, Lord Hero? Would you be interested?"
The monster merchant... no, he ought to be called a slave trader now. His shrill voice, as grating as a cracked gong, came from beside them as he cackled and recommended his prized "merchandise" to Chuan Wenwu and Bruce, completely oblivious to Chuan Wenwu's grim expression.
"Sla... ves?"
Chuan Wenwu noticed that the cages imprisoning the demi-humans were already stained with blackened blood. Every demi-human inside was listless, covered in wounds and filth. From the corner of his eye, he even caught sight of a bloodstained pelt that had yet to be disposed of in a dark corner of the shop. Vicious-looking instruments of torture hung on the walls... it was hard to imagine what sort of lives these "slaves" led here.
He had taken Bruce to a veterinary hospital for treatment before, and had also taken him to a pet market to see whether he could find him a companion. But the scene before him, this slave market, was far worse than even a pet market. It was more like a slaughterhouse-dark and cruel, treating captured "slaves" as livestock for customers to pick over.
The prisoners here were not only beastfolk with strongly animalistic features. There were also many demi-humans with few such features, who looked almost identical to humans. Seeing them confined in such conditions, Chuan Wenwu instinctively felt pity-the empathy any person with a conscience possessed.
"Yes, slaves! Useful servants who will never lie and can never betray their masters! They've all had a Severe Curse placed on them. If they disobey their master's orders, the curse can even cost them their lives in serious cases! Like this-"
As the slave trader explained, he snapped his fingers at the werewolf still furiously slamming against the iron cage.
A Magic Circle glowing purple appeared on the slave trader's wrist. At the same time, the lines of a Magic Circle on the imprisoned beastman's chest also lit up.
"Gaaaaaaah- Uuu..."
The werewolf first pounded its chest with its hands, its face contorted in agony, then collapsed and rolled across the floor in pain, its cries growing weaker. The slave trader snapped his fingers again, and the glowing Magic Circle on the werewolf's chest instantly dimmed and silently disappeared.
After that torment, the werewolf lay exhausted on the floor, its chest heaving, no longer possessing the strength to ram the cage.
"Just one simple command can inflict unbearable punishment on them. Slaves can never defy their master's wishes. They're wonderfully useful tools! What do you think, Lord Hero? Interested in buying a few absolutely loyal slaves? They can make your adventures much more convenient. If you run into danger, you can even abandon them to buy yourself time to retreat... in short, there are plenty of advantages!" the slave trader pitched to Chuan Wenwu with a beaming smile.
"...How did they become slaves?" Chuan Wenwu asked, his brows tightly furrowed, answering with a question of his own.
"Oh dear, oh dear, why would you suddenly ask such a question, Lord Hero? That's a trade secret. I can't just go telling outsiders!" The slave trader shook his head repeatedly, then gave Chuan Wenwu a somewhat suspicious look. "Lord Hero, why do you look so upset? Could it be... that you pity these slaves?"
"I hate the word 'slave,' and I hate slavery." Chuan Wenwu narrowed his eyes and stared coldly at the slave trader.
At Chuan Wenwu's blunt expression of disgust, the slave trader's ingratiating smile instantly froze, as though he had been doused in ice water. But he quickly forced an even more slippery, insincere expression onto his face, rubbing his hands together as he gave a dry laugh.
"Oh, Lord Hero, surely you don't mean that... slavery is a legal and ancient custom here in Melromarc, as well as in many neighboring countries. After all, we practice human supremacy here. This was never a suitable place for demi-humans and beastfolk to live. If we didn't tame them, keep them in line, and give them the opportunity to 'serve,' their lives in this world would surely be even harder! We're 'managing' them, letting them fulfill their proper value. It's a win-win arrangement!"
His words were steeped in deep-rooted prejudice and self-righteous arrogance, as though he were stating an indisputable fact.
Chuan Wenwu's brows drew even tighter. He could feel Bruce tense beside him, a suppressed growl rising in his throat. Rage burned in his now-intelligent eyes as he stared at the miserable plight of his kin inside the cages, then glared fiercely at the slave trader. Chuan Wenwu gently patted Bruce's arm, signaling him to stay calm.
"Value? Win-win?" Chuan Wenwu's voice turned cold as he surveyed the despairing eyes and filthy surroundings. "You call stripping away freedom, inflicting pain, and trampling dignity 'giving them value'? You call one-sided exploitation and abuse 'win-win'? You've certainly got a unique dictionary, shopkeeper."
The slave trader's expression darkened as well. His tone lost its warmth and took on a hint of warning. "Lord Hero, I respect your position, but please watch your words. We run a legal business, licensed by the Kingdom, and pay hefty taxes. These slaves all come with 'proper' paperwork, too-either they're prisoners of war, criminals convicted of serious offenses and their families, or people who sold themselves voluntarily... this isn't some shady business."
He deliberately emphasized the words "proper" and "voluntarily."
"Prisoners of war? Criminals? Voluntary?" Chuan Wenwu scoffed, his gaze sharp as a blade as it swept over the clearly underage demi-human children and the women with numb, vacant eyes in the cages. "Are you certain every 'product' here comes from the 'proper sources' you claim? Are you certain there's no coercion or deception behind this so-called 'voluntary' arrangement?"
Although Chuan Wenwu was only eighteen and had limited learning, he would never be arrogant enough to believe that the course of his homeland's development suited every civilization.
But the slavery that still existed in this world, trampling the dignity and freedom of intelligent beings, was undoubtedly a vile relic that needed to be discarded. Nothing could beautify or whitewash this bloody trade.
The slave trader grew somewhat uneasy under his gaze, but still forced himself to hold his ground. "Lord Hero, you're being rather unreasonable. The Kingdom makes the rules. We merely follow them. If you're dissatisfied, you should go to the Royal Palace and argue with the king and his ministers. Why pick a fight with a humble merchant like me? I'm just a businessman, supplying the 'products' important people need!"
He deftly redirected the conflict toward the system above him, absolving himself of responsibility.
Chuan Wenwu fell silent.
He knew there was some truth in what the slave trader had said. In this world, especially in the human-supremacist Kingdom of Melromarc, slavery was legal and commonplace. The merchant before him was, at most, a cog in this rotten system, and might not even be the worst one.
If I smash up his shop right now and free these slaves, then what? Where can they go? Can I protect every one of them?
That would only alert the enemy and put him squarely on the wrong side of the Kingdom's laws. Before he possessed enough power to change the status quo, doing so would undoubtedly be foolish.
Before you continue