Temple Sword

Chapter 146 Reemployment of Fair Traders
1321, Saint Andrew's Month (November)
somewhere in hungary
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A somewhat dilapidated small cart was bumping on a dirt road, the road surface was full of potholes and ruts.

An old but powerful horse was pulling the ugly thing, its eyes slightly sad and its head down, looking as if it had already accepted its fate.

It would never be the steed of a brave knight, nor would it carry a wealthy lord from town to town, nor would it pull a luxurious traveling carriage.

It walked forward with its head bowed in dejection, listening to every rude command of his suspicious-looking, unkind-faced master.

On the seat behind the horse sat a scarred man with greasy black hair, black eyes, and black teeth.

The man must be at least 50 years old, but his appearance has deteriorated to the point that no one can guess his real age, including himself.

He didn't count the winters he'd endured, he counted only the money he'd earned, which he had dubiously distributed among his dubious men with the appearance of fairness.

His men have always traveled on their own feet, but that is only their own fault, for instead of buying themselves a horse or a mule, they always waste their money on other things, such as dice games and prostitutes. accompany.

"Boss, take a break!" pleaded breathlessly the bald-headed Pella, the oldest of his men. "Just a moment!"

"Of course, Pella, of course!" The merchant showed his completely rotting teeth. "What else can I do for you?
I have some wine, do you want a drink?Maybe you want some leftovers from my dinner?If you need anything else, please let me know! "

The bald guy didn't understand the taunt, grinned, and walked over to the moving cart, trying to climb into the bed.

But his employer kicked him back hard, dumping the wretch straight onto the wet muddy ground.His two companions just laughed at him, without trying to pull him up.

"You know, I've always been a fair man," the businessman in the seat began his usual speech, and Pera stood up, with mud on her ears and mouth, and walked beside the car with difficulty,

"Maybe I don't always respect the law like everyone else...but I'm honest in life, do you see that, my friends?" He held up an arm so everyone could see the old man's palm and Ugly old scars on the back of the hand.

"And this," he said, raising his other hand, which bears a similar scar, "my friends, these are stigmata! The Lord Himself gave me these wounds so that everyone could see them, Olivier. Your soul is pure before Christ!

Pella, I want to teach you a lesson this time. Next time I give you money, buy yourself a mule with a saddle instead of spending money on useless things!See how impartial I am, if I let you come up, you'll learn nothing. "

In the eyes of the other two young subordinates, what Olivier said seemed to make sense, but they only worked for the old man with black teeth for a few years, and Pella had been working under him for nearly 30 years, and in this For a long time, he didn't seem to have learned anything from the boss...

Of course, Perla did know a thing or two, even if he didn't share much of what was in his head with others.

For example, he knew very well that the scars on Olivier's hands were not given by God.He remembered vividly the damned day when that hideous-looking Templar showed up in their tavern and stabbed their boss' hands.

Their lives were much more lucrative then, they lived in Buda, they ran a loan shark business, organized underground brawls once a week, and each time they were successful.

The tavern they run, while not usually doing much business, is a great little place too.

Pera's heart always aches when he thinks of his days in Buda, when they were rich, Olivier was friends with many influential people in the city, and they lived a life of gold.

Then the old Templar shows up and all good things end in one fell swoop.

Although Pera didn't know the exact reason, he suspected that Olivier should be responsible for the whole thing, because he did go too far.

There must be only one explanation for what happened that day, and that was that his boss had messed with someone he shouldn't have messed with.

The Templars showed up at the tavern, easily defeated everyone, kicked Pella away, and then pinned the boss's hands to the table with the dagger and the knife he had taken from him.

Under such torture, Olivier told him the whereabouts of Goliath, the champion of the underground arena.Soon after, Goliath was found beheaded, charred in the ruins of his burnt home.

It's been 18 years since all of this.

From then on, everything suddenly went bad.Olivier could no longer install a reliable champion in the barn of illegal duels, and the rich who craved bloody matches turned away from him.

The Templar proved that the man was not invulnerable, and Olivier slowly lost his authority.

More and more people began to deceive him, ignoring his threats, and his men became more and more rude to him.

One day, some of his men ganged up against him and robbed the tavern where Olivier kept most of his wealth.

Pera found him in the back of the tavern, beaten to death.

Then, after losing his business, his tavern, and nothing but his last of his men, the loyal Pella, they slept together in the dirty streets with no place to live and nowhere to live. There is no fire to keep warm.

They tried many things after that, at first, they used the little money they had left to hire prostitutes, but because they accidentally broke into another faction's territory, they lost everything again, including the girls, Pera's right arm and Several ribs were broken.

For a long time, the two of them thought this was the end of it all, and then one fine day luck smiled on them.

A scrawny old slave trader arrives in Buda in search of a collaborator, and Olivier and Pella join him without hesitation.

Although their former glory is gone forever, at least they have food and drink every day, and they have something to protect their heads from the wind and rain, although it is just a battered tent cloth.

And money began to flow in, because many families needed strong men and good-looking servants, so fresh "goods" often found new owners.

Of course, the new life comes at a price.The comfortable life of Buda gave way to endless country wanderings, who traveled throughout the Kingdom of Hungary, always taking care to avoid the lands of the powerful and the residences of the kings, while the old man sat in his carriage all the time, Pella and Oli Wells paced by the car.

While the slave trade was not a banned business, no one in power promoted it either.The church clearly opposed this activity and fought the slave traders constantly, but the law always turned a blind eye.

As a result, the slave trade had to be carried out quietly, often on the side roads, displaying their live wares at suburban markets.

The old businessman had an established way of working, and he had no intention of changing it: he drove his rickety, one-horse slave cart through poor serf villages, and those who could not afford one meal a day. Families bargained for the children they sold.

He usually paid one mark of silver for a child, since the average price of a slave in the market was three marks of silver.

Sometimes when his goods were sick or dying, he would sell them for two marks, get rid of them as quickly as possible.

On other rare occasions, he could sell a girl with fairer skin and rounder breasts or a more muscular boy for four marks.But he never paid more than one and a half marks to those poor families.

And once the transaction is over, there will be some new empty tombs in the village, so that the landlord will think that his serf's children are dead and avoid further suspicion.

Olivier was disgusted by the small serf villages in the impoverished areas of the kingdom. He never cared about the fate of others, he only cared about how he could profit from them.

But for some reason, his stomach always twitches whenever he sees a heartbroken father or a crying mother selling her child for a dirty silver coin.

After suffering for a few months, he offered the old slave trader a new idea: instead of buying other people's children, it is better to kidnap orphans, beggars and all kinds of vagrants, so that you don't have to spend money to buy goods, and then pay a higher price. sold.

The old man shook his head and said that as long as he is still alive, he cannot be kidnapped.

Olivier heard what the old man said and remembered it in his heart.

Not long after, he had his second best idea, and on a beautiful spring morning, the two continued their journey: Olivier in the carriage, and Perla at his side. .The body of the old man was taken far away along with the thawed water of the Danube.

That was 15 years ago.

From then on, the companions came and went, and all kinds of people became slaves for three or four marks silver coins, and finally the old man's old horses died, and they skinned the horses, sold the skins and meat, and made a fortune, And bought a new horse, and the rest of the money was used to refurbish the carriage.

Their wallets are getting heavier and their stomachs are getting fuller, and only Olivier and Pera have remained the same for the past 15 years, and the little prison van that has ensured their livelihood can hold ten people .

"We'll get to Butch soon," Olivier wanted to encourage his three men, "maybe just two more days, three days at most, and then we'll make a lot of money! It's a good idea to raid that team idea, isn't it, kids?"

Others grinned as they recalled the night of struggle and success.

In the forest not far from Bulgar White Castle, they stumbled upon a camp full of strange wanderers who wandered aimlessly through the kingdom in their own carriages.

They adopted their usual tactics: hiding in the bushes, and when everyone was asleep, they shot arrows from all directions, killing those who were not needed, leaving only the goods they had picked out in advance.

Soon, screams and howls were heard throughout the camp, and the survivors, terrified by the sight of the flames and the dead, tried to flee, but Olivier's squad knew exactly how to keep the men together.

But there are still two old mercenaries in this team, they have not completely forgotten their old profession, so the slave trader lost two men before the battle ended, and the remaining captives were tied up and locked in the carriage .

Olivier actually didn't mind paying less food and wages for two men, and he would sell his slaves in Butch before looking for new men when the winter was over.

"This will be our last big deal of the year, boys!"

He drove the wagon into a little clearing at the edge of the forest, cried out with joy, and stopped to camp for the night.

"We're going to have a good Christmas and we can buy a nice big barn and spend the winter in it...let's say in Page! Come spring, we'll get on with our blessed business with renewed vigor!"

"Do you want me to let them out, boss?" Pera asked happily, and Olivier waved his hand and jumped out of the carriage.

"Let me come," he said, and happily walked to the rear of the prison car and walked to the locked door, "let me have another good harvest!"

Olivier took out a long key from the worn pouch hanging on his belt, and used it to unlock the padlock that locked the carriage door.Then he carefully put the key back and opened the small wooden door, which allowed the light to enter the compartment.

This time the small prison van was full, and ten tied up people sat on uncomfortable stools, some of which were stained with their own urine, staring angrily at Olivier who appeared at the door.

"My children!" the slaver clapped his hands. "It is time for supper and bed!"

The occupants were brought out one by one, and their fetters were untied, and they took turns to do so, and then they drank a glass of water, a quarter of the bread, and a mouthful of ham, and were led back into the carriage, put on their fetters, and proceeded to It's the turn of the next person.

Of course, these jobs are all done by other people, and Olivier just oversees them and makes sure everything goes smoothly.During this period, he checked his fresh goods several times and calculated how much money he should be able to receive.

Unfortunately, most of them were in their 30s, but what else could he hope for in that caravan full of homeless people?

But there are two fair-skinned, pretty good-looking women here. If he didn't want to sell them for a good price, Olivier would really like to enjoy them every day.

And what about the rest of the men?Inside was a strong, well-built man with thick hair and good teeth.

But it was the children who satisfied him most.

They might have been orphans, he didn't know, but they seemed to be of good parentage.All three of them were in good health, obviously noble though their clothes were worn out, and they had little belts on them before.

Strangest of all, two of the three were twins, looking like two identical eggs.Olivier wondered if there was a way he could sell them for a good price, but didn't know exactly how.

The third was a boy of nine or ten, who had a small dagger in his girdle, and a purse full of silver coins in his pocket.

The only thing left on him now is the dirty little pouch around his neck, in which someone has woven a red cross, probably his mother, and has dried lavender in it that has lost its scent.

The bag was of no value, but the rest of the boy's belongings were real treasures to Olivier, and the ten-year-old was like a golden egg, although every time the old slaver opened the door he always used his hottest , The most disgusting eyes looked at him.

It doesn't matter, Olivier thought, whoever buys him will break open the golden egg, all he knows is that he will not sell him for less than four silver marks.

Just as Olivier had no idea of ​​the child's identity, Eli Barto didn't know what kind of test would be waiting for him next.

(End of this chapter)