The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 7: Toad Servants

Vol 2 Chapter 7 Toad Servants

After leaving the Forging Gold Hammer district, Sylutia returned to the market and walked around for a few rounds.

Many First Tier and Second Tier students had gathered here over the past two days, and she ran into quite a few of them along the way. Some were buying supplies, while others were selling their goods and sharing their experiences.

"Teaching the Flower Blooming Method, 20 gold coins, includes one month of guidance." So teaching could earn money.

"Special travel hardtack for explorers, one silver coin each." Compressed biscuits baked from high-quality wheat flour, easy to carry.

...

By the end of the day, Sylutia hadn’t bought much, but she had learned a lot. There were so many side jobs to make money.

The next day, the market officially opened.

The usually wide market road was packed today, almost shoulder to shoulder, with many people coming from other camps to trade and shop.

"Strong orc servants, five gold coins each, limited quantity~""From the continent's west, First Tier Beast Fang big-horned sheep, 20 gold coins." There were also special livestock for sale.

"Professional scribe, will manage your party's finances or run your shop, salary only 50 silver coins per month."

"Velvet long-sleeve gown, 80 silver coins each~"

"Volcanic basalt, absolutely fireproof, two silver coins per piece."

Walking through the bustling street, Sylutia had to keep her hooded cloak wrapped tight to avoid bumping into people. After a while, she reached the area dedicated to trading slaves and servants.

There were many other-race sub-humans here, and of course normal humans too, but most of those humans were looking for employers rather than selling themselves outright.

After asking around, Sylutia learned the situation was roughly divided into four categories.

First were trained and branded slaves. Once bought, they belonged entirely to you and could be commanded freely.

Second were staff seeking employers. They usually had specific skills and could work as clerks, accountants, cleaners, nannies, cooks, and so on. You paid them wages each month. If they were injured or died on the job, you had to pay hefty compensation to the Hidden Grove association, so they were rarely mistreated.

Third were servants. These servants were often sub-humans from various border regions or small states. They hadn’t undergone slave training and weren’t full slaves; they served the Hidden Grove due to exchanges or obligations. As a Hidden Grove trainee, you could hire them, and their cost was low. If accidents led to death, the association only deducted points and did not punish too severely.

Fourth were temporary laborers, used for short-term tasks like helping gardeners harvest large wheat fields, felling forests, hauling goods, demolishing buildings, and so on.

Among the four, slaves were the most expensive because the guilds invested a lot of effort to train them so they would not harm others and would be reliable.

Next were the employed laborers, who received wages similar to each other and were suitable for medium- to long-term work. Essentially, these were skilled temporary workers who stayed longer.

The cheapest were the servants. You could hire them without spending much, but the downside was they were often untrained and not tightly regulated. If they ran away or rebelled, it was up to the employer to deal with it.

By the Hidden Grove alliance's agreement, humans, elves, moon rabbits, and lizardmen could not be enslaved, so most slaves and servants sold here were various beast-type sub-humans or non-human creatures.

After a circuit of the area, Sylutia felt that slave prices were too high; if she hired a large number now, she simply couldn’t afford it. Besides, she had some aversion to slavery, likely due to the education she’d received back on Earth.

Although it was odd to hold such views in this society, she still found it hard to accept.

After comparing options, she decided to look for those sub-human servants, since they were much cheaper.

"Are you looking for people to manage fields?" A professional manager saw Sylutia’s interest and immediately approached to ask.

"I recommend minotaurs; they're strong and can handle heavy work." He patted a tall minotaur beside him, who had dark-brown curved horns and a powerful build.

Seeing a minotaur twice her height, the girl shook her head. "A minotaur eats as much as five people per month. Not worth it, and there are only five minotaurs here."

If she later added more hands, she would have to keep recruiting different races, which would be chaotic to manage.

"Then I recommend goblins. They eat little and there are many of them, ten copper coins will do for a month." He led her to a nearby cage where noisy, filthy goblins were held. Their eyes were full of cunning—I couldn’t picture them as honest workers.

If she were leading a war band, they might be useful as cannon fodder, but for farming they would be too unruly.

The girl shook her head again.

"How about these savage werewolves from the Greed Wastes? They’re disciplined; if you’re stronger than them, they’ll obey." The manager called over a group of savage werewolves.

The werewolves had wolf heads on humanoid bodies, many bearing scars, likely sold to the Hidden Grove after tribal defeat. Individually they weren’t powerful and couldn’t fetch a high price even when trained as slaves, so they were sold as servants.

Werewolves... Sylutia looked at them. Though some were stubborn, there didn’t seem to be many better options.

She hesitated, then heard a commotion not far away.

"Ribbit, I want food, you promised."

"Doughball, ribbit."

"No Doughball, no work, ribbit."

Sylutia turned toward the sound and saw a group of strange toads being brought over. They looked like oversized frogs that could stand upright, their skin colors varied.

"These are toad sub-humans from the continent's south, supposedly from the Hot Rain Swamps." The manager flipped through his booklet and answered.

"Can they work?" Sylutia asked with curiosity.

"Roughly yes. According to reports here, they used to work in Rain Basin City, but since the city's economy worsened, the lord sold many of the toads from the city."

"Their value as slaves is too low to justify individual training, so they’re sold in bulk—twenty per lot, one lot for one gold coin."

"They require flour-made food every day, and they need to soak in water, otherwise over time their skin will crack."

Seeing the girl still curiously watching the little creatures, the manager continued.

"If you hire them, you must ensure a loss rate under twenty percent per year. After all, they’re association servants, not slaves. If too many die, the association will fine you and deduct points."

"Then I'll take them." Seeing the ribbiting little creatures, Sylutia felt a sense of fate.

Compared to savage werewolves, these toads seemed more controllable and friendlier.