BXBX NOVEL Chapter 54 Roly The Rat
A teenage boy suddenly jumped up in front of Ethan like a cheeky little monkey, Jason who was covering Ethan in front perked up as he raised his sword in caution.
"Ayiaa! Young Master don't kill me!" The boy shrieked and jumped back seeing the sharp shining tip of the sword pointed at him.
"What is it brat? Get lost!" Jason jeered as he cautiously put the pointed sword away from the boy.
"Ayo- I saw the Young Master in the slave market so I thought I'd help out with that! Hehe, I know every nook and cranny of this place! I can guide you!" The boy offered enthusiastically.
Albert thought that it was quite admirable that the boy had enough courage to even approach Ethan let alone offer his services.
"There's no-"
Fred was about to shush the boy away but was intercepted by Ethan as he asked, "What's your name?"
"I go by the name Roly The Rat! Third Young Master!" The boy answered with a cheeky ear to ear smile as he bowed in respect.
"Oh? You know of me?" Ethan asked curiously.
"Of course! By now the whole city must be gosiping about you, hehe." Roly said while patting his chest proudly.
"Gossiping good things about me, I hope." Ethan said with a gentle easygoing smile as he peered into Roly's eyes as if directly looking straight into his soul.
Roly The Rat nickname wasn't given to the boy for nothing, he had good instincts and a natural sense of things. Roly was otherwise an orphan but lived a life better than many using his instincts and intellect. He knew when to take a risk and how to make the best of it. And that's how he was surviving in a cruel world such as Akarxia.
He was just like a rat, he could sense danger from miles away, but instead of running away he would bravely capitalize on any opportunity he got—his instincts were telling him that Ethan wasn't someone ordinary.
"Hehe, of course of course! People are praising how Young Master showered the vendors and peddlers with generosity! Young Master Ethan is truly kind!" Roly exclaimed in blatant flattery as he looked at Ethan with admiration.
"Hmph! Don't butter me up now!" Ethan ranted.
"Hehe, so what kind of slave do you wanna buy? I know who the best traders are around here. You can find every kind... robust men, skillful men, beautiful wemen-" Roly blurted in the heat of the moment and abruptly stopped when he felt an acute sense of danger.
He looked up and saw that Ethan was staring at him with a chilling gaze. His sight then fell on Anicia and Earlene as he nodded inwardly in understanding.
Now who knew what kind of absurd conjucture he had made from his 'understanding' but one thing he definitely got right and that was Ethan being pissed.
"Ayiaa! C-come with me... I will just guide you through all the best traders then... This way..." He said hurriedly quickly changing the topic as he began walked ahead of the group guiding them through the market.
As they went from one 'shop' to another, Ethan could finally do what he planned for in the first place.
Every time he entered a shop, Ethan focused his mind on the Temple inside his soul and tried to feel the various particles roaming within it. This way, he could turn on and off the ability to see how much affinity someone had with a a distinct Element.
After Ethan started seeing particles around people who had but not an ounce of Ancestral Blessing, he quickly devised a way to control this ability.
His whole purpose for going to the slave market was to find individuals with extraordinary affinity with Blessings/Elements and recruit them as his subordinates.
Ethan was confident that he would surely find such individuals as without a doubt, all the slaves had a painful, tragic life story. He was sure that there would definitely be some diamonds in the rough sharpened by their tragic circumstances.
Some time passed as Ethan followed Roly and visited quite a few traders, he saw all sorts of people who either sold themselves or were captured and whatnot—but none of them met his requirements.
The sky was starting to get darker and Anicia was getting impatient wondering as to why Ethan wasn't doing the good deed of saving someone.
"Sigh, Of course I'm not going to find them like this just in the first attempt. This isn't a fantasy webnovel from Earth afterall! Darn it, I will have to keep coming to this God forsaken place regularly." Ethan thought to himself in resignation and disappointment.
"Young Master, this here's the best Slave Trader around. See if ya find what you're lookin' for." Roly said as he guided Ethan to another shop.
These so called shops were usually just massive tents that were built with various types of extravagant fabrics, the more lavish the tent was from inside out, the better a trader was considered to be.
"Ho-hoo! Welcome Welcome, how can I help the Young Master today?" A chubby man wearing lavish attire, small eyes and a big nose came out of the tent as he saw Ethan approach.
Ethan once again activated his ability as his gaze quickly went through everyone who was standing on the stone slab in front of the tent.
There were small children, beautiful females, and strong robust men who immediately got in their best behavior as they looked at Ethan with pleading gazes hoping that they would be picked by him.
Ethan was once again disappointed as no one seemed to have any affinity with the blessings at all.
'Guess I will just pick the normal ones... I don't think I can trust the current servants in the mansion that much anyways,' Ethan thought seeing a new possibility.
He quickly pointed at the back side in the corner, there was a young woman with two of her daughters curled up together fearing to be separated apart from each other.
It was a easy choice as the two girls were nearly the same age as him, on top of that it would be much tragic if the family is split apart; Ethan also thought that they could work at the mansion as maids and thats why he chose them.
Ethan walked up to the ladies who were trembling in fear and uncertainty and said in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry... You will not be separated from each other. In fact, now you're free. But if you don't have a place to go then you can work for the White Family as maidservants."
The mother looked at her two anxious daughters who were tightly holding on to her legs in fear and then looked at Ethan who had a kind, benevolent and a reassuring smile on his face as she made the decision in a blink of an eye.
"We will work... For you... My Lord!" The mother muttered weakly and bowed, following her example—the two girls also did the same.
Without wasting any time, Albert promptly settled the deal. The Trader was quite clever and witty, as to leave a good impression he did not charge for the girls and only took money for the woman.
Apparently, many city folks who were present witnessed the whole scene as Ethan publically freed the three ladies and even offered them a job at the mansion—which presented Ethan's name in even more favorable light to the populace.