SWNOVELXO Chapter 4: slavery
Bjorg had time to spare before he retired to the inn, so he walked through the city. It was big. Sure, not as big as Tokyo but for a medieval world, it was very impressive. The sun's rays played joyfully on his skin as he was munching on a meat skewer, only cost him five copper coins. It was beef, though they also sold various other kinds of meat, from chicken and pig, to exotic meats like wyvern. The more exotic meats were far pricier. According to the vendor, only nobles ever bought the more exotic meats. They wanted to stand out from the common folk and gladly paid a gold per skewer, just so that they were 'special'.
He couldn't help but chuckle. He was sure that those nobles, were they in modern day Japan, would've been eating gold leaf plated steak too. It did nothing but make you shit gold and look expensive.
They were the kinds of people who would buy premium water… well, in the earth he had originally come from that might've been a waste of money but in the world that had produced Yggdrasil, that wasn't so ludicrous. Pollution was bad and most water was of inferior quality, so you had to pay a pretty penny for good drinking water. How glad he was to no longer be in that world. Yes, starting at level one was shitty but at least they could see the stars. He loved stargazing in his first life, it was so relaxing…
"Come one, come all!" A boisterous voice echoed through the empty streets. It was getting late, the sun was about to set, so not many people were still out. Following the voice, he saw a disgusting scene. A man, as round as he was tall, wearing an expensive suit, was standing before three children, dressed in rags and bound by iron chains. They knelt on their knees and had their eyes glued to the ground, empty and lifeless… he knew what this was… slavers. Slave trade was still permitted now. The golden princess would make it illegal somewhere between now and the start of Overlord. He knew at least that the princess was already alive, 11 years old. In the anime, she was 16, which meant he was around five years too early. Was that enough time to reach level 100? He sure hoped so, if he wanted any chance to be on an equal playing field with Nazerick.
"We have some fine wares for you today! Our first object is a elven orphan with a handle on five first tier spells of the arcane variety! Next-"
Bjorg walked away. He didn't have the power to do anything about it yet. It was hard to turn his back on these children but what was he to do? Storm them with magic arrow? He could only cast that spell four times at his current mp threshold. He would have to become much stronger if he wanted to change anything. Sure, the golden princess would outlaw slavery in the next few years but could he really wait that long, knowing that innocents were suffering in slavery? No… he wouldn't allow that. His moral compass didn't let him.
They were children, innocent children!
He walked back to the inn and got himself a room. The room was on the second floor and was modestly decorated. A bed, a dresser, a desk with chair and a window to the outside. He opened it and gazed out at the night sky. It was beautiful, awe inspiring. He wondered if there were others like him. Sure, every two hundred years, players arrived in this new world but he had broken that cycle, appearing five years earlier than expected. What was to say there couldn't be more like him?
With that thought, he drifted to sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, it was still dark outside, the streets empty. Strangely, he didn't feel tired.
Going by the position of the moon, he had an hour before sunrise. He stretched, hearing joints pop as he jumped up from the bed. He took out one of the skewers from yesterday from his inventory. It was still hot. That proved his theory right. Time didn't pass in the inventory. Good to know.
He bit down at it as he walked out of the inn and over to the adventurers guild.
Inside sat only a tired looking receptionist, half asleep. His comrades weren't there yet, so he browsed the quest board. Rescuing a nobles daughter from some bandits (platinum rank adventurers requested), ogre extermination (gold rank adventurers recommended) and so much more.
"Ah, Bjorg, you are already here" Larry's voice echoed from behind him. Turning around, he saw Larry together with his younger brothers, Remi and Alex. The younger two looked very tired.
"Couldn't we have met up later?" Moaned Alex, dusting off his robes.
"The early bird gets the worm", Larry chided and the twins groaned. They had heard that very often, it seems.
"By the way, Bjorg, you said you could cast tier one spells… how many can you cast before you need to recharge?"
"Only four", he saw their dumbstruck faces and quickly added, "but I have a talent which lets me broaden my mana pool after a certain number of kills. I should need to kill seven goblins and I can cast the spells twice more. Each time, it takes more kills to expand my pool. It takes some time but my potential is limitless"
"Ah- that is the perfect talent for being an adventurer", Larry seemed content with that explanation. With talents, many things can be done.
Alex was jealous. He had more mana than him right now(enough to cast 10 first tier spells) but with that talent, he would outgrow her in no time flat.
This world was inherently unfair. Some were born with power, some had to work for it, that's just how things were.
"Well then, adventure doesn't wait for us, let's go!"