The merciful slaveholder

""Good morning, master.""

As Ye Tian and Angela entered the villa, more than twenty slaves hurried to greet him respectfully.

Those slaves were slightly old and if Ye Tian hadn't bought them, they would probably have been killed as a slave's value lowered as they aged.

Since arriving at the estate, Ye Tian never took the initiative to humiliate or beat them unless they made a mistake.

Although the slaves were not fed good quality food, they nevertheless received their fill.

It was no wonder then, that they were so grateful and respectful of Ye Tian. A slaveholder like him was very rare.

"Not bad, you have taken good care of the crops!" Ye Tian remarked while inspecting their work.

The slaves were visibly relieved by the compliment. He realised his slaves worked diligently, and his crops and seedlings were growing well as a result.

"I have decided to give you some extra food tonight. Tell me, how long has it been since you last had meat?" He asked with a faint smile.

grrrr

The slaves' stomachs rumbled loudly…

Some even started drooling.

"Master, I have been a slave since I was a child, thus I have never tasted meat before." One elderly slave built up the courage to speak.

He seemed to be at least fifty or sixty years old, but his actual age wasn't even forty. But the years of constant labour, little food, lack of sleep and no warm clothes made him look older than he actually was.

"Then, you shall eat meat tonight!" Ye Tian announced.

Ye Tian calmly followed his announcement with, "Work well and you can eat meat."

"Thanks for your kindness, master." The slaves cheered and wept in gratitude.

"Now go back to work." Ye Tian said with a wave of his hand. As he turned to leave the villa with Angela, a smile crept across his face.

The system notification rang in Ye Tian's mind.

[Beep! Congratulations. The loyalty of the twenty-four slaves has exceeded 80%! Congratulations on gaining 24 free stat points]

5kg of meat for 24 free stats - what a bargain!

Yesterday, their loyalty was 79%. However thanks to a little meat, their loyalty increased passed 80%.

These old slaves had no future, so their loyalty could be improved with little effort. To them, warm clothes and a full belly was a luxury.

At their age, none thought about freedom anymore. After a lifetime of servitude, they wouldn't even know what to do with themselves if they were freed.

Host: Ye Tian

Identity: Junior Slaveholder

Strength: 90

Constitution: 90

Dexterity: 90

Charisma: 75

Slaves: 24

High quality slaves: 1

After distributing his stat points, Ye Tian felt like a different man. His reaction speed was incomparable, and he was filled with explosive amounts of power. He could probably even challenge a veteran gladiator now.

"Let's go have a look at the slave market," Ye Tian said once they'd left the villa.

Angela shuddered as she remembered the place Ye Tian had bought her from. But, she quickly recovered. She knew that Ye Tian was a good master and wouldn't sell her.

Plus, she had decided that if Ye Tian were to abandon her, she would just commit suicide!

Rome had many slave markets, all of which started bustling with activity before sunrise. Groups after groups of slaves were sent here. If they wore white caps, they were prisoners of war; if their legs were powdered white, they were for sale. Wooden plaques on their neck indicated their age, place of origin, and skills, as well as the names their master gave them.

However, at this point in time, the Roman slave markets were in a bit of a slump. This was due to the Social War that broke out last year, not only had the Roman Army failed to suppress the insurgents, they continued to lose battles, one after the other.

On the southern front, the Roman consul Lupus and his eight thousand men fell in the battle; while on the northern front, Cilo, an ally of the insurgent's leader, ambushed and slew the Roman commander Caepio and his men.

During this time, the Italian 'Allies' dealt Rome a heavy blow. Out of bitterness, many Italians were enslaved and sold in the Roman markets.

However, the Romans were annoyed and panicked by their repeated defeats, resulting in a slave market slump.

Today, the market opened for the first time that week, so Ye Tian arrived very early.

"Satan, I haven't seen you in a long time. What kind of slaves are you after today?" A middle aged man greeted him with a faint smile.

A hint of disdain flashed in the man's eyes. He had initially wanted to purchase Ye Tian's villa, but Ye Tian had offered more money for it.

Satan; the name Ye Tian chose for himself. It may have been childish and out of place, but he believed it was more appropriate than his Chinese name.

Besides, soon he would become the Supreme Emperor of Rome -- Europe...no, the whole world!

"Hey Colt." Ye Tian replied, "What a coincidence, I think we really are destined to meet. You should thank the gods for our encounter."

Ye Tian smiled. He could see Colt hated him; after all, the man's loyalty stat was in the negative. He knew Colt would definitely kick him if he was down. However, he was not afraid. Colt was only a small, insignificant slaveholder anyway.

"I hope you still have the money to buy slaves today!" Colt said with a sneer

Ye Tian replied with a cold smile, "Relax! Even if you became a slave, I'd still have enough to buy you."

Due to Rome's successive defeats, none of the slaves up for sale were ex-soldiers. Ye Tian found this disappointing.

But today, he came to buy young, beautiful female slaves. They were easily trained and their loyalty was quick to rise to 100%.