Familial Wealth (6)

I stared at Inik for a few moments after she said that, the Hawkkin staring back at me unapologetically as she continued to rest on Kalia's shoulder, her Dark Elf lover stuck on her lap and therefore stuck between everyone else and Inik.

Her suggestion was... an interesting one, since it had many pros and cons to it for many obvious reasons, but at the moment there was a more pressing matter at hand, one that was personal and involved the emotions of those in the family.

Specifically Prixisia, who was an official slave, and then Yiksa, who was an unofficial slave; they both were staring at Inik silently for a few moments, and while I wanted to just ignore Inik's offered advice and do something else, it was also sound, logical advice that made too much sense to just ignore.

The two of them were quiet for a couple of seconds before Prixisia sighed and said "It isn't a terrible idea, but not one I want to hear coming from you of all people... but again, to ignore that avenue of potential workers would be ignorant and idiotic; the amount of debt slaves alone are enough to fill any business, and then you have the criminal slaves... those can be reserved for more intense clientele who want to go a bit harder than normal."

Yiksa nodded as she added "There are probably a few interesting 'finds' inside the Auction Halls as well for slaves who were just wanting to get away from their situation and wanted protection by the Queendom. Lower Nobles and bastard children running from terrible places usually sell themselves as slaves to someone else to escape persecution, so there are likely a few 'classy' slaves waiting to be bought at auction."

"And since I formally worked at the Auction House before, I can pull a few strings with some of the people I know to get lists of slaves currently available for auction, as well as a few of the 'inventories' of the slave houses themselves. If you're looking for something in particular, you're likely going to find it in the Auction House."

"Yeah but... hah... it's just weird, staffing the entire club with slaves, y'know? It just feels odd, but at the same time that's just because I don't really understand how the world works sometimes, and that's alright. So if we did 'hire' a bunch of slaves to work for us, how much do you think that would cost us? I don't know how much 'normal' slaves cost since... well, Prixisia isn't a 'normal' slave."

The Lamia just gave me a small smile before she said "Inik would know better, but the average cost usually sits around 20 to 50 Gold for a one year or two year contract, after which the slaves are free to do whatever they want since they are... well, free. Some slaves will cost more because they are 'skilled' slaves, like they have certain skillsets that make them far more valuable, and that usually doubles their price. Then there are the slaves from rare races like myself who are as expensive as someone wants them to be."

"If you want servers at a club, who are more than happy to have some fun, they won't be that expensive. For the winery though, since you want elegance and the like, that will cost a bit more, and you can also pay for training if you want, or you can train them yourself. Either way, I think relying on labor like that would be more efficient for your businesses than trying to hire free people. It's hard to ensure they don't do real damage to your business, especially with wineries and clubs."

I furrowed my brows at that, looking at Inik first before turning towards Renna as I asked "Is sabotage a common thing even in Birchan? Are there not laws or something in place to prevent it?"

Before Renna could reply, Inik snorted as she said "Laws are going to be broken no matter what, Miss Astra, and I can tell you that I've seen them be broken many a time. For many different reasons. But the amount of people I've had to put chains on thanks to illegal business dealings, bribery, corporate espionage and everything in between is far too high for me to say it doesn't happen on the regular. As much as you might want to believe in those laws, the people of the city don't give a damn about them unless it benefits them."

"That's not true! Birchan is a lawful, good place, especially our guards! They aren't blackmailed or bribed easily!"

I just had to pause at that, my eyes finding Rhefia's as we recalled the time that I let a guard creampie me just so we could enter Birchan without having her arrested, and that... was something that Renna caught, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Ahem... We uh... had to 'convince' a guard to not search our carriage when we first entered, and they..."

Giving Renna a smile, I shrugged and looked away from the frowning woman, while Inik chuckled as she added "I know of a few guards who let some people into the city that they shouldn't, for a myriad of reasons; I've seen them take hefty bribes, I've seen them take some people into the guard house for some 'questions', I've seen them even go into carriages and make them rock before coming out with a grin.

It happens regularly, Duchess, but I will say that the people coming in are petty criminals who don't want to cause much trouble; harder criminals have tried, and failed, to get in that same way, and they got caught and arrested. So don't worry too much about it~!"

"That is not reassuring, Inik..."

I reached over and grabbed Renna's hand, comforting the slightly sulking Duchess as I whispered "It's alright~! I am certain the guards do their jobs properly most of the time~! Besides, not everyone can be as incredible and work focused as you are, my love~! Or as dedicated as Shelur~!"

She pouted at me, but that only made her more adorable as I guided her head towards my chest, hugging her closely and stroking her red hair as I hummed softly, all while the others just watched me and rolled their eyes.