Sovereign of the Ashes

House Jobbs was deeply involved in the trade of enslaved creatures.

In Ghur’s private manor alone, Sein saw many catgirls and rabbitgirls employed as maids.

These beautiful beastmen possessed an exotic allure distinct from the traditional women of the Magus World.

Yet, none could rival the stunning beauty of the fox priestess named Azelia, who now stood before Sein.

As Ghur had pointed out, this fox maiden was exceptional.

House Jobbs had spent nearly two hundred magicoins solely in her importation.

Considering the extensive efforts to tame and soul-enslave her, House Jobbs valued her at no less than a thousand magicoins.

Given the profit Rank One knights and mages could only gain from participating in an interplanar war, such high-quality goods were clearly not something ordinary people could afford.

Ghur and the House Jobbs had indeed presented Sein with a lavish gift.

Observing the fox maiden, who appeared timid despite her conditioning, Sein paused to reflect before ultimately nodding in acceptance of Ghur’s generous gesture.

Rather than her exquisite appearance, Sein was actually more interested in learning more about the Beastmen World and the priestess profession through her.

“The mage sent by my family to negotiate a deal with you won’t arrive until a few days later. Do you have any plans for now? Or should I show you around?” Ghur asked.

Knights tended to be more idle than mages of the same rank.

Mages like Sein would often spend their time immersed in long experimental research apart from meditating.

Knights like Ghur, on the other hand, usually had a lot of free time after their usual physical training.

When Sein traveled across the ocean some time ago, he had spent most of his time researching.

In the last half of the year, he had been more interested in all the East Coast’s specialties.

Since House Jobbs was a big player in the trading of enslaved creatures, Sein casually suggested, “Why don’t you take me to your enslaved creature market?”

“Sure! Come with me, I’ll take you to the biggest enslaved creature trading center nearby,” Ghur replied.

***

Ghur took Sein to the largest enslaved creature trading center nearby. However, this place was not fully controlled by House Jobbs; the family only owned a very small share of it.

This was the most famous of the three major slave trading centers on the East Coast.

According to Ghur, many divine towers and orders of the knights on the East Coast made large purchases of enslaved creatures from here before interplanar wars as cannon fodder.

After the wars ended, they would supply tons of qualified extraplanar slaves to this place.

Similar slave trading centers existed not only along the East Coast but also near the Viridescent Land where Sein resided.

Although Sein had never heard about it from Master Lorianne, given the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s financial situation, they likely could not afford to make large-scale purchases of cannon fodder without Lorianne considering additional magicoin loans.

This underground city, known as Fredem, was constructed by hollowing out a circular basin.

Ironically, its name, which sounded similar to “freedom” in the common tongue of the Magus World, was a stark contrast to the reality within its walls where millions of enslaved creatures were traded.

Fredem Underground City was different from the underground world Sein had lived in when he was an initiate.

It was vast and brightly lit.

Within this circular giant basin, there were all sorts of slave trading areas.

The underground city was bustling with not only mages and knights like Sein and Ghur but also a large number of extraplanar creatures.

These extraplanar creatures that roamed freely were obviously not slaves; the slaves being traded were kept in cages or special spaces.

Many of them could technically be called slavers.

More than seventy percent of the annual trade in enslaved creatures in Fredem Underground City was facilitated by these extraplanar slavers.

House Jobbs, to which Ghur belonged, might be considered slavers, but they primarily acted as middlemen.

The majority of the profit actually flowed to the suppliers, like the beastman sovereign who maintained a deep partnership with House Jobbs.

The Magus Alliance had grown to the point where the prices for all kinds of enslaved creatures were essentially fixed.

Although the onset of an interplanar war could cause slight market fluctuations, the overall impact was minimal.

This stability was due to the vast size of the Magus Civilization and the huge number of slave suppliers within the Magus Alliance.

If the price of slaves from a plane increased slightly, cheaper cannon fodder from several other planes would soon drive the price back down.

The Magus Civilization exercised macro-regulation over the entire Magus Alliance’s slave market.

While slave owners from various planes earned substantial amounts of magicoins by selling creatures from their homeplane, in reality, it was the Magus World that profited the most.

Without the hundreds of trillions of legions of enslaved creatures, the Magus Civilization could not maintain its dominance over the vast star domain.

Moreover, under the control of the Magus Civilization, the prices of enslaved creatures were manipulated at will.

If the Magus World wanted the price of slave creatures to rise, it would rise. If it wanted the price to fall, it would fall.

Very few planes in the Magus Alliance could take advantage of the Magus World in this regard.

After arriving at Fredem Underground City, Ghur first took Sein around to House Jobbs’ properties.

House Jobbs owned multiple stores in this vast underground city, primarily concentrated on the third floor.

The slaves they sold were mostly beastmen, weaselmen, cynocephali, and a type of savage beast averaging around ten meters in size.

These categories marked the four allied planes with which House Jobbs was currently engaged in the slave trade.

Among the four types of enslaved creatures, the weaselmen were undoubtedly at the lowest end of the scale.

Standing less than 1.6 meters on average, they were the cheapest bottom-tier cannon fodder for interplanar warfare.

Their advantage lay in high quantity and low price, resulting in good sales.

Cynocephali were slightly more premium compared to weaselmen.

Adult cynocephali were stronger than weaselmen, and a few individuals among them could wield elemental power.

A scientific study from the Magus World revealed that cynocephali possessed traces of dragon genes—a finding corroborated by the major divine towers.

Though the amount of dragon genes in cynocephali was negligible, many mages believed it to be the reason they could wield elemental power to a certain extent, despite their generally low intelligence.

Within House Jobbs’ enslaved creature trading business, the beastmen held the most significant role.

The Beastmen World had a vast array of beastmen species, yet House Jobbs only traded a select few.

The minotaurs from Burr Tribe, hogfolks from Pigg Tribe, and Ratmen from Maus Tribe were the most commonly sold beastmen slaves.

While beastmen slaves of other races were also available, they were more scarce.

For rarer and more in-demand slaves like foxgirls, catgirls, and rabbitgirls, House Jobbs recommended booking in advance.

The type of beastmen House Jobbs tended to sell depended on the supply channel of the beastmen sovereigns they had befriended.

Hard-working and physically strong minotaurs were Beastmen World’s best-selling combat slaves to the outside world.

Sein recalled seeing minotaurs in Mystralora City when he was still an initiate.

It was clear that the prosperous slave creature trade on the East Coast had not closed its doors to their western neighbors.

“These were rare slaves of the alliance that we at House Jobbs imported just a thousand years ago from the Savage Worlds Group,” Ghur said as he walked up to a giant iron cage.

Slapping the cage hard, he continued, “See this big guy? I can give it to you for two hundred magicoins if you want it, consider it a friendship price.”

Inside the giant iron cage lay a giant gray wolf, nearly ten meters in size.

This creature possessed a Rank One life level, and its body still bore some fresh scars.

It was unknown whether these were caused during the taming process or if the wolf had been injured before it came to the Magus World.

The gray wolf opened its eyes, glanced at Ghur, then closed its eyes again.

Despite its Rank One life level, its physique was truly impressive.

In the Astral Realm, an increase in life level did not necessarily mean that creatures grew larger in physical size.

Sev was also a Rank One magic beast, but it could only grow up to two or three meters at most.

The ten-meter-tall giant wolf in front of Sein was undoubtedly a favorite among many knights.

In interplanar warfare, such powerful mounts were not only impressive but also highly effective in combat.

After all, physique was also a part of strength.

At least in a close-quarters battle, Sev would not stand a chance against such a large beast.

Ghur’s offer of a relatively rare Rank One creature for only two hundred magicoins was certainly a gesture of friendship.

However, having already received many gifts from House Jobbs, Sein refused to take advantage of their kindness.

He observed the giant gray wolf with interest but ultimately declined the offer with a shake of his head.

Next door to House Jobbs’ store, a more lively trade in enslaved creatures was underway, drawing more attention than the one Sein was in.

As Sein’s gaze drifted toward the commotion, he first noticed a pure white mare adorned in pearls and silk.

No, to be precise, it was a centaur.

Moreover, this centaur was not some labeled enslaved creature on display.

With Ghur’s previous explanation, Sein could quickly tell that this female centaur, accompanied by several centaurs, was an extraplanar slaver.

Sensing someone’s gaze on her, the female centaur turned to look in Sein’s direction.

Despite the equine lower body, her face was strikingly beautiful, rivaling the allure of the fox maiden Sein had just received.

Her rare silver hair cascaded down, complementing her white horse body.

A white veil masked half of her face, and she had a silver metallic totem scepter in her clutch.

At the sight of the female centaur, Ghur could not help but whistled appreciatively, clearly also captivated by her beauty.