Minotaur Iron Hammer

The slave merchant saw Claire stop and urged her on, "Thirty Gold Coins is a great deal, and look how beautiful she is."

"Even if she's beautiful, she's a rose with thorns. I'd rather spend thirty Gold Coins to buy five Minotaurs. They have strength and can work. What does this Half-elf have? She doesn't even know the common tongue, so I wouldn't even be able to communicate with her after buying her."

The slave merchant clicked his tongue. It was true, otherwise, he wouldn't have brought the Half-elf and the Minotaurs here.

"Alright, if you don't want the Half-elf, you can look at these Minotaurs! Each of them can do the work of several people. They are definitely excellent workers."

Claire walked over and looked at the Minotaurs for a few moments, then shook her head again, "I could buy them, but there's no need."

The slave merchant's face fell. Claire's Barony was already the most remote place. South of here, there was no more land, just the sea. He couldn't possibly transport these slaves back.

So, with a pained expression, he pleaded, "Please reconsider, can I give you a further discount?"

Claire sighed, "Seeing as you've traveled so far, it must have been hard. How about this, I'll give you one hundred Gold Coins, and you sell them all to me."

Although Claire's current assets exceeded fifty thousand Gold Coins, she still wanted to save where she could. It only took a few words anyway.

Just as Claire expected, the slave merchant's expression became conflicted for a moment, then he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and went all in.

"Deal!"

"What I said earlier about all of them includes that Half-elf," Claire reminded him.

"Of course! Since she wasn't selling anyway, consider her a gift for you."

Claire didn't bother Regan and directly took out a small bag of Gold Coins from her Spatial Ring and tossed it to the merchant. She had one hundred Gold Coins on her.

"I have a few questions for you. Is the Orc Empire still at war with us humans?" Claire asked casually.

The slave merchant opened the small bag, counted the Gold Coins inside, and replied without looking up, "Of course. These slaves are from there. But you don't need to worry, the war zone is several human kingdoms away from here. No matter how they fight, it won't affect this place."

Claire smiled. She wasn't worried, she was just asking.

After counting the Gold Coins in the bag, the slave merchant showed a happy smile. "Then these slaves are yours. If I have new goods in the future, I'll bring them for you to see."

"Farewell!" Claire replied.

After the slave merchant's men unloaded all the iron cages filled with slaves, he led his caravan away, leaving behind only a trail of dust.

Claire waved her hand in front of her nose, dispersing the dust, and thought, I forgot about this before. It seems road construction also needs to be put on the agenda. Otherwise, not only will it be difficult for transportation between Nafu City and the villages within the Barony, but even for other merchant caravans to enter. If I want to develop the entire Barony, internal self-circulation alone is not enough. I still need to attract wealth from outside.

The iron cages were placed on the ground. The Minotaurs inside looked at the surrounding crowd with curious eyes, and they lowered their heads.

"Can you speak?" Claire walked up to a Minotaur that looked like a leader.

The other party raised its massive head and looked at her with its round eyes. Its innocent gaze, paired with its large head, made it look particularly simple and honest.

Seeing that the other party didn't speak, Claire probed again, "Moo?"

"..."

"I can speak the common tongue. Once you buy us, are you our master?" the Minotaur asked.

"It's good that you can speak," Claire said, then casually sat cross-legged opposite it. "How were you captured?"

"On the battlefield. We couldn't defeat you, so we were captured," the other party honestly replied.

"How did you end up on the battlefield? Don't Minotaurs usually live in tribes? I rarely see anyone among you who likes to fight."

"My village suffered a famine, and we were starving. Then I heard that the Orc Empire was recruiting and offering food, so I went to the battlefield."

"That's it?"

"That's it," the other party replied honestly.

"Crack!" Claire directly used the key to open the iron cage.

This action startled the surrounding crowd, who quickly retreated a few steps. Those were Minotaurs over two meters tall, and a charge from them could turn them into meat paste.

However, the Minotaur inside didn't come out when the cage was opened. Instead, it advised, "Perhaps you should lock the cage again. They seem very afraid of me."

Claire almost couldn't help but laugh at its words. As expected, this Minotaur was just like she had read about in books – honest, simple, and kind, not easily causing trouble.

"What's your name?"

"Iron Hammer."

Claire smiled, "Iron Hammer, right? I want to sign a contract with you."

"A master-servant contract? We already signed one." Iron Hammer glanced at the parchment in Claire's hand. That was the master-servant contract they had signed.

These master-servant contracts were not simple written agreements but magical contracts. Claire could completely decide their life or death with that contract, which was why those nobles could buy these slaves with peace of mind.

"It's not a master-servant contract, it's a labor contract. You help me move bricks and build the city, and I'll make sure you get enough to eat. How about it?" Claire smiled. These Minotaurs were indeed very strong. If they were used for city construction, the speed of construction would be much faster.

"Enough to eat... really?!" Iron Hammer's eyes lit up. They would even go to war for a meal, let alone move bricks.

"More than that, if you can earn money in the future, you can come here to buy back your master-servant contract and become free people again. What do you think of this offer?"

"Hooray!" Iron Hammer exclaimed excitedly, unsure if he was more excited about becoming free again or about getting enough to eat.

Claire then took the key and opened the remaining twenty-two iron cages. The surrounding crowd felt their vision darken, and suddenly, they were surrounded by Minotaurs as imposing as walls.

Seeing the curious and astonished expressions in the crowd's eyes, the Minotaurs became a little restless and could only stand scratching their heads.

"What you said earlier about helping you work to get enough to eat, is that true?" Iron Hammer asked again.

"Of course," Claire replied with a smile.

"Grumble~"

Just then, one of the Minotaurs' stomachs happened to rumble. Everyone turned to look. The Minotaur was so embarrassed it wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

"It's okay! We can eat after we finish working!" Iron Hammer said quickly, afraid Claire would think they were scammers trying to get free food.

"Let's eat first. How can you work on an empty stomach?"

Nafu City currently had hundreds of workers laboring every day, so food was prepared in ample supply. Soon, someone pushed a large basket of bread and chunks of meat out from the city.

The moment they saw the bread, a string of stomach rumbles followed, like drumming.

However, without Claire's permission, they all just stood there, wiping their mouths, making no other moves. Claire nodded in satisfaction; this group of Minotaurs was quite obedient.

So, she said, "Eat."

The Minotaurs didn't fight over the food. Instead, they were very orderly. Iron Hammer distributed the bread at the front, and the other Minotaurs lined up behind him. After receiving their share, they ran to the side to eat.

This made Claire even more relieved. Such orderliness indicated they could be managed. Coupled with the Minotaurs' naturally honest disposition, they shouldn't cause any trouble in Nafu City.

However, she soon saw that the large basket of bread was quickly consumed by more than half. Claire had people bring out several more baskets of bread and other food.

But the food that was brought out disappeared at a visible rate. Even the citizens watching couldn't help but exclaim, "They can really eat! I wouldn't be able to eat that much even if I hadn't eaten for three days."

"Will this bankrupt the Viscount?" someone had already started worrying for Claire.

More and more people gathered to watch. However, they weren't particularly afraid of these Minotaurs anymore.

Claire had people run back and forth five or six times before the Minotaurs' eating pace finally slowed down. They could eat even more than Claire had imagined.

Thanks to "Your Backyard's Sow" for the 500 Qidian Coins tip, and "MRWHAT" for the 100 Qidian Coins tip!!!!!

Also, to the person who said they'd give me monthly votes if I updated twice a day, hurry up and cast them! I update twice a day every day!