The Cornflower Witch Chapter 133

After leaving the “Gold Forging Hammer” district, Hylial returned to the market and wandered around for a few circles.

Many first- and second-tier students gathered there these two days. She encountered many along the way. Some were purchasing items, while others were selling their own products and experiences.

“Teaching the ‘Bloom-Flowering Method’, 20 Gold Coins, can provide guidance for one month.” So teaching could also earn money.

“Selling special ‘Travel Hardtack’, replenishing exploration consumption, 1 Silver Coin each.” Compressed biscuits made from high-quality wheat flour, convenient for carrying.

…

Throughout the day, Hylial didn’t buy anything, but she gained a lot of knowledge. It turned out there were so many ways to earn money through side jobs.

The next day was the official opening day of the market.

The usually spacious market roads were now packed with people, many of whom had come from other garrisons to trade and purchase.

“Strong Orc servants, 5 Gold Coins each, limited quantity~”

“First-Order Beast Fang Bighorn Sheep from the western continent, 20 Gold Coins.” There were also special livestock and animals for sale.

“Professional scribe, helps manage a team’s finances or run a shop, monthly salary only 50 Silver Coins.”

“Velvet long-sleeved evening dress, 80 Silver Coins apiece~”

“Volcanic basalt, absolutely fire-resistant, 2 Silver Coins a piece.”

Walking along the bustling street, Hylial had to pull her hooded cloak tighter to avoid bumping into others. After a while, she finally arrived at the area specifically for trading slaves and servants.

There were many sub-humans from different races here. Of course, there were also normal humans, but they were mostly looking for employers rather than selling themselves completely.

After some inquiries, Hylial learned that the situation here was broadly divided into four types.

Firstly, there were slaves who had been trained and branded. Once purchased, they completely belonged to you and could be used as you wished.

Secondly, there were employees looking for employers. They often had different skills and could work as scribes, accountants, cleaners, nannies, chefs, etc. They had to be paid monthly, and if an accident or death occurred during their work, a huge compensation had to be paid to the Woodland Association, so they were generally not mistreated.

Thirdly, there were servants. These servants were mostly sub-humans from various peripheral regions or small countries on the surface. They had not undergone slave training and were not entirely slaves, but were required to serve the Woodland due to exchanges and obligations. As students of the Woodland, they could also hire them, and the price was low. If they died in an accident, only points would be deducted from the Woodland Association, and there would be no severe punishment.

Fourthly, there were temporary laborers, who were usually only used for short-term tasks, such as assisting gardeners in harvesting large wheat fields, helping cut down forests, transporting miscellaneous items, and dismantling buildings.

Among these four types, slaves were the most expensive, because to ensure that slaves would not harm or be useful, the merchant guilds had to spend a lot of energy training them.

Next were the employed laborers, whose wages were not significantly different. They could be used for various medium-to-short-term jobs. It could be said that employees were temporary workers with advanced skills and longer working hours.

The cheapest were the servants. They could be hired without spending too much money, but the downside was that these servants were often untrained and lacked strong rules and restrictions. If they ran away or resisted, it depended on the employer’s own methods.

Due to the agreement of the Woodland Alliance, humans, elves, moon rabbits, and lizardmen could not be slaves. Therefore, most of the slaves and servants here were various beast sub-humans or non-human creatures.

After walking around, Hylial felt that the prices of slaves were all very high. If she hired a large number of them now, she wouldn’t be able to afford the expenses. Moreover, she herself had a slight aversion to slavery, probably due to the education she received on Earth.

Although it might seem strange to care about such things in this social environment, she still found it difficult to accept.

After comparing her options, she decided to look for sub-human servants, and these sub-human servants were much cheaper. “Are you looking for someone to help manage your fields?” A professional manager, seeing Hylial’s interest, immediately walked over and asked.

“I recommend minotaurs. They are strong enough and can do a lot of heavy work.” As he spoke, he patted a tall minotaur nearby. The minotaur had black-brown curved horns and a robust physique.

After looking at the minotaur, who was twice her height, the girl shook her head. “A single minotaur eats five portions of food a month, which is too unprofitable. Besides, there are only five minotaurs here.”

If she were to add more people later, she would have to find sub-humans from other races, which would be too messy to manage.

“Then I recommend the goblin gnomes over here. They eat little and are numerous. 10 Copper Coins can support one for a month.” He then led the girl to a cage where noisy and dirty goblins were confined. Their eyes were full of cunning, not at all like they would honestly work.

If she were leading a war, these might serve as cannon fodder, but for farming, these guys would be too difficult to manage.

The girl shook her head again.

“Then how about this, the werewolves from the Greedy Wilderness. They are disciplined. As long as you are stronger than them, you can make them obey.” Saying this, the manager summoned a group of werewolves.

These werewolves had wolf heads and human bodies, and many had scars on their bodies, probably from being defeated in tribal wars and sold to the Woodland. However, their individual strength was not strong, and training them as slaves wouldn’t fetch a high price, so they could only serve as servants.

Werewolves… Hylial looked at these guys. Although they were a bit unruly, there seemed to be no better options.

While she was hesitating, she heard a commotion from not far away.

“Croak, I want to eat. You guys promised.”

“Dough, croak.”

“No dough, no work, croak.”

Hylial turned her head at the sound and saw another group of strange toads being brought over. They looked like enlarged frogs, capable of walking upright, but their skin colors varied.

“These are toad sub-humans from the Southern Continent, reportedly from the Hot Rain Swamp area,” the manager said, flipping through a booklet in his hand.

“Can they work?” Hylial asked curiously.

“Probably. According to reports here, they used to work in Rain Pit City, but recently Rain Pit City’s economy has been bad, so the city lord sold many of the toads in the city.”

“These toads are too low in value as slaves to train individually. They are now being sold in a package deal, 20 in a group, for just one Gold Coin per group.”

“They require food made from flour daily, and also need to soak in water, otherwise their skin will crack after a long time.”

Seeing that the girl was still looking at these guys curiously, the manager continued to introduce them.

“If you hire them, you must ensure that the attrition rate within a year does not exceed 20%. After all, they are not slaves, but association servants. If too many die, the association will issue you a fine and deduct a certain amount of points.”

“Then let’s take them.” Seeing these croaking little guys, Hylial felt it was a kind of fate.

Compared to the werewolves, these toads were more controllable and appeared much kinder.