Travel 

"Tenur, uh? That's a slightly different name..." Mero said to this individual with his knees bent in front of him.

Each slave introduced themselves to him individually, telling him little about their abilities.

Tenur had just done that after the first four slaves had identified themselves and exchanged a few words with their master.

Almost everyone there had the same skills: carrying weights and working manually.

When it was Tenur's turn to introduce himself, Mero could hear better-articulated words and also different things.

"What are you capable of, Tenur? If memory serves me correctly, you said you were a scholar, right?" Mero questioned.

Tenur then said humbly. "Yes, that's what we talked about the other time... I am a scholar and have some practical problem-solving skills.

I am not someone who will take a rock and break it brutally in a few minutes, but rather someone who will try to change its shape through techniques. I would take more time doing that, but I would do something with greater versatility."

"So you're saying you're not useful in physical work..." One of Mero's servants said, laughing as he looked at his colleagues.

"He's saying he can do different things to cover his inability to work hard."

"Yes, he's useless!"

Mero listened to his servants' comments, and as much as he agreed in part, he remained interested in where he could make this man work for him.

As an enslaver, he had to choose to kill or keep his 'belongs' alive. If he chose the second option, he would have to bear the costs of feeding the slave if he desired not to lose the investment.

Since Mero had already invested, he wanted to get the best out of each of these ten individuals to recoup the coins spent.

Before giving up on any of them, he would at least try to test them in different areas his family was involved.

He might only be a less prestigious noble in the Touma house. Yet, even he had access to territories, stores, and various activities that his family was involved in.

'This fellow has greatly improved his physique since I last saw him, but he is not a worker. If I put him with the others, he will either die or not produce anything useful...

I have some things I don't want to do but don't require much physical strength... Maybe I should give him a chance? If it goes wrong, I can just kill him and discard him as a loss.' He looked at Tenur, thinking of a task he had to complete but had been avoiding.

He couldn't send his servants to do that because they were the same as those who had already tried to solve the problem. But, on the other hand, the chance that a slave could read was low, so he couldn't use others.

He had no one to solve problems like this, some of which were not so crucial that he could be harmed because of a mistake.

Then he thought of one of them to test whether this man had any ability.

"You're good with management stuff, huh? Are you sure about that? If I put you in to do a job compatible with that and you fail, are you prepared for the consequences? I'll give you that chance now because I'm in a good mood." He said, testing this fellow.

He could direct him wherever he wanted without regard to the opinion of his 'belongings.' But because of his more calm and observant personality, Mero preferred not to act without considering deeper information.

He could waste his time with a lie from a slave, but that 'belonging' could lose his own life or be beaten for any reason.

Mero had grown up in a society long founded in this way and was used to being feared to the point that no slave would challenge him.

Tenur realized this person was giving him a chance and did not back down. "I am certain of this, my lord. My life is yours, so I know I can make no mistakes."

"Very well. When we arrive in Cusca, I'll direct you to solve the problems in one of my stores. I will give you some time to do this, and then, if you have not solved the problems, your fate will be death." Mero spoke this without blinking, keeping his tone unchanged throughout his speech.

If Tenur failed in this mission, Mero would lose nothing since the situation in this store was already quite bad to the point that he had been dragging the problem out for weeks.

To simplify Mero's story, he had some responsibilities concerning his family. That, in turn, was an organization focused on two large and essential activities in Noskain.

Agriculture and mining.

They had stores all over the state to market basic foodstuffs and minerals.

But in addition to these focus activities of House Touma, it had other sub-activities, such as foundry, clothing, shoe production, etc.

These other activities also required stores or merchants to travel around Noskain's territory, reaching the customers who needed the services.

Mero was rightly responsible for a few of the family's stores, establishments located on the state's borders in regions of low importance.

These stores were outposts he had made while traveling to market his products to have distribution points close to the places he usually passed through.

They were not necessarily stores relevant to the family, and Mero's delay in solving the problems related to them would not harm him.

If Tenur solved these problems, Mero could profit. But, on the other hand, if this slave failed, such a noble wouldn't lose anything. He would just have to go and fix such a thing eventually.

Gulp!

Tenur swallowed his saliva in fear at the thought that he might die just for failing at something he didn't even know about.

But he knew he could not waste opportunities and just accepted that.

"I hope I don't let you down, my lord." He said before being led by one of Mero's servants to the ship's lower deck, where the slaves went.

He might have gotten a chance with Mero, but until he reached the destination of that ship, Tenur would have to work as the driving force of that ship along with the other slaves!

He didn't know that and was more concerned with gaining that young man's trust.

'It looks like I got lucky for the first time since I arrived...' He thought as he saw other slaves introducing themselves to Mero, walking down the side stairs of that area of the ship. 'As much as there is the risk of death, I at least was lucky enough to get a master who doesn't simply treat his property with disregard.

This young man can give me options as long as I show him that by using me, he will become more powerful.' He clenched his fists.

Letting himself be used by someone else was terrible, even more so for someone who was once almost at the peak of the universe. But in this world where he had no powers, being able to please someone minimally powerful and benefit from it would be enough for him.

Therefore, Tenur was firm in his choices, deciding his future as much as possible while trying to ensure his survival.

"Hey, where is Cusca?" He asked one of the slaves closest to him in that group, someone already at the bottom of the ship when he arrived in that compartment.

Upon hearing that, the man, who appeared to be 24 years old, tall, strong, with a black beard and mustache, looked at Tenur and said. "Cusca? Where did you hear that?"

"Lord Mero said we are going to Cusca."

"Oh? So that's it..." That individual said before explaining to this foreigner. "346, we are in Amri, in the northeastern part of Noskain.

Cusca, on the other hand, is a slightly larger city than Amri, in the southeast of Noskain...

Sigh!

The trip there takes at least a couple of months."

"Months?" Tenur realized that such a place was far away and felt he would suffer a bit before getting a position compatible with his skills.

"Sigh!"

'Now I can only wait... Maybe Mero will allow me to improve my position among the slaves before we reach that place.'

Thus, this group's long boat trip began!