Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Joining the Dawn Church
After listening to Oliver’s request, Su Li frowned and said, "You should know that my team doesn’t lack powerful knights."
"Of course, I understand your strength," Oliver quickly nodded, but continued to say, "But what lord would refuse powerful knights? I specifically left three elite knights for you; if you don’t buy even one, I would have a hard time explaining to the directors."
Su Li could sympathize with Oliver’s difficulties.
And just like he said, elite knights are always welcomed by pioneering lords, and there’s never too many of them.
Considering future cooperation with this commerce association director, Su Li decided to accommodate him a bit and bought an elite female knight with an ice attribute at the minimum price of 200 gold coins.
The main reason for buying her was that his team was lacking knights with a water attribute bloodline, and there was not a single elite knight with such an attribute. This meant that the value of the Water Elemental Heart acquired after killing the River Giant could not be maximized.
It’s definitely not because this elite female knight named Amorri had alluring beauty, a fiery body, yet a cold demeanor that incited a strong desire to conquer!
After buying this female knight, Su Li turned to Oliver and solemnly said, "Although elite knights are valuable, they’re not worth a special trip here for me. I think many slave capture teams and slave trade associations in the city can offer elite knights. You should know my purpose for coming here. I hope you can present some truly valuable goods next."
Oliver nodded with satisfaction, his smile confident, and said, "Just wait and see, the next batch of goods will certainly satisfy you."
He clapped his hands, and a slave capture team led three beautiful and elegant young women into the room, each with outstanding figures, their high-slit white nun skirts showing off their beautiful legs to the fullest. Their striking white legs were blindingly bright in the room!
Though this scene was pleasing, Su Li’s face showed impatience, "Oliver, you should know that I need special talents for territory development. What use are these three women? If you continue to present items with no special value, I’ll leave at once. In Marle Castle, there are more slave trade associations than just yours."
Upon hearing this, Oliver’s mustache twitched as he laughed heartily, "Hahaha, Lord Su Li, don’t be hasty. They are precisely where our Gray Market Chamber of Commerce dares to be innovative. Look closely at their ears."
Innovative?
Oliver was not shy about giving his chamber of commerce a gold-plated reputation.
But as he said, these three women might be the Gray Market Chamber of Commerce’s goods that aren’t meant to see the light of day?
Su Li calmed down and looked closely at the ears hidden under the hair of these three women, discovering that their ears were indeed slightly different from those of ordinary humans.
Oliver smiled and explained, "They are half-elves, offspring born from the union of humans and elves. They are not recognized in the Empire or the forests. But here, in the chaotic Border Prince’s Territory, no one cares about their race or identity. So they’ve settled around the forests, and these three women are extraordinary professionals, nuns of the Dawn Church."
Hearing this, Su Li was finally shocked, widening his eyes to look at Oliver, asking, "You even dare to capture church clergy?"
The Dawn Goddess is not a local deity of the Empire; rumor has it she’s an ancient god from the elves, holding dominion over life, fertility, and abundance, encouraging followers to transform the land into a more vibrant state through hard work.
Although her doctrine of changing one’s destiny through effort and creating a beautiful world sounds illusory and impractical, it is not very popular in the Empire.
But nevertheless, she is a deity with many followers. Slave capture teams capturing her clergy would surely anger all her followers. No territory or commerce association would dare to offend a church in such a way; angry believers would tear them apart with sheer numbers.
Seeing the astonishment on Su Li’s face, Oliver finally smiled triumphantly and said, "Here, in the Border Prince’s Territory, a great domain of destruction and hope, inclusion and conflict coexist. Lord Su Li, you can’t view this place with imperial notions. There are too many differences here from the Empire. While knights may be the only extraordinary profession in the Empire, it’s not the only existence of transcendence in the world. Here, in the Border Prince’s Territory, clergy can also have extraordinary abilities. In the elves’ forest, you might even encounter extraordinary rangers and druids. If you’re lucky, you might even encounter a giant dragon mastering the mysteries of Dragon Language Magic."
"Selling clergy here is seen by the elves as being akin to selling imperial knights. Although it’s not quite appropriate, as long as it’s done in secrecy, not many people would come knocking. On this land, the gray areas and somewhat illegal activities are the most prevalent."
"I’ve learned," Su Li nodded and asked, "So what are their abilities?"
Oliver smiled and said, "A powerful blessing technique that can make your soldiers seemingly endowed with divine grace, fighting more bravely, attacking more fiercely and swiftly. Though in most cases, it’s too wasteful to use them that way. Their main role is to guide agricultural production. The nuns of the Dawn Goddess can bless a field for more appealing growth. As you know, the elves always have inherent advantages in farming. They can also help your people heal some less severe injuries."
Healing injuries?
Su Li thought to himself; there were such special professions in the Empire too, namely, pharmacists. Pharmacists could produce potions that greatly heal wounds. Some pharmacists with strong light and wood bloodlines could even produce potions that significantly boosted knights’ combat power.
Today’s information system informed Su Li that the most valuable slave in this slave camp was the pharmacist. And he was also a priest of the Dawn Church, likely connected with these nuns of the Dawn Church.
So Su Li said, "I’ll buy all three of them then. I happen to lack doctors in my team. Do you have any pharmacists here?"
"Of course, of course," with another business deal made, Oliver’s smile was brighter, and he immediately had his men bring in three pharmacists.
These three pharmacists were middle-aged to older men. Su Li asked their names and finally confirmed his target, the hidden priest of the Dawn Church, elite-level Great Druid, Vandar Oak.
With an aged appearance, his wrinkles were like crumpled bark, his eyes turbid, he seemed as if he was about to die. The only eye-catching thing was the green curls on his head.
Green-haired... bear?
Su Li couldn’t help but lift the corners of his mouth slightly. However, to avoid Oliver noticing anything, he only glanced at Vandar and swiftly moved his gaze away, then generously bought all three pharmacists as well.
Since all six individuals had some special value, they cost Su Li 85 gold coins in total. The three nuns were the most valuable, even surpassing the price of apprentice knights. After lengthy bargaining, Su Li bought them for 20 gold coins each. The three pharmacists, due to their poor state, especially Vandar’s convincing act of appearing near death, were sold by Oliver for a total of 25 gold coins.
But after purchasing these slaves, Su Li was out of money to consider the other various clandestine slaves brought by the slave capture team. He needed to prepare a batch of basic serfs for the territory.
With the remaining funds, Su Li bought 5 veterinarians, 10 fishermen, 20 hunters, and a total of 50 serfs. On these two trips, he spent over 700 gold coins at the Gray Market Chamber of Commerce!
The funds he carried were even insufficient, so he had to take 80 gold coins from the knights’ salary fund to cover the gap.
However, he quickly filled the gap. By the afternoon, he set off with his troop, leaving only Schwartz and Reve in disguise to retrieve the 80 gold coins embezzled funds hidden at Marle Castle’s South City Gate after sunset.
Taking the embezzled funds of these corrupt officials gave Su Li peace of mind and no worries.
The city guard captain, even if he couldn’t find this fortune, wouldn’t dare make a fuss, nor would he suspect Su Li, since before hiding the money, Su Li had already left, leaving a perfect alibi.