Chapter 2178: Jacoba Prince and Princesses
Today, the siblings were accompanying Bolbo to the depot to bring in the orders. The items here were sold in wholesale quantities, which usually came in sturdy boxes just a bit smaller than one cubic meter.
This would make things convenient if one wanted to maximize their space. There were also bigger crates for bigger items, of course, but everything was standardized.
There were also different standards of boxes. There was the default one, which seemed sturdy enough, but there were also the ones that were designed to handle most trips on carts or on foot. The packages provided extra protection and could allegedly withstand attacks from level 15 monsters and below!
It was very expensive. However, they were reusable. The cost was added to the item unless the merchant had their own packages.
The siblings couldn’t help but tut. Who bothered with these details? No one did, but when someone did, it was quite convenient.
Now...if they could find ways to steal the various technologies...
"Stop dawdling!" a roar from behind the echoed, followed by slaps at the back of their heads. "Don’t think we couldn’t see the calculations on your ugly faces."
"YOU!"
Who’s ugly!? They were well-known lookers, okay!?
How dare this bald guy call them ugly!!!
"What? Want to say something?" Balbo asked with a threatening tone of voice, raising his fist to make his point.
The two gritted their teeth, focusing on the task at hand.
There were broat vehicles that could be used to load items and bring to their carts at the entrance plazas.
They did not know how these people could coordinate more than one broat at all! How could they move in sync? They were not sure. Could it have something to do with the special saddles around the broat?
If they could figure it out, they would definitely make a lot of money!
Broats might be helpless against strong beasts outside, but they were perfect beasts of burden within territory lines. They were not too violent and had many uses.
Anyway, the two had to load dozens of boxes to be transported via the beast car to the outside.
They were damned heavy, and they carried one each. If it weren’t for their relatively decent levels as town locals, they would’ve been crushed by the packages’ weight.
The infrastructure in Alterra was quite advanced and well-maintained. However, sometimes, there were still accidents that could happen especially when the person was careless.
For example, in this area, an abrupt change in elevation was avoided in most cases, and everything was one surface. If the area had higher elevations, then they would just add slopes and ramps if the space allowed.
However, there were areas where an abrupt change in elevation was inevitable, like with certain items that had to be stored above ground level. For example, certain grains. There were no pests and rats in Alterra, but rice sacks and some other crops and items had humidity requirements.
So, at a moment of carelessness, Casso tripped, causing him to drop the item. Right at his feet.
"AHH!" he yelled. This item was very heavy and he didn’t exactly have defense equipment on.
Bolbo’s assistant in-charge of this sector rushed over and slapped him. "You dare damage that, and I’ll cut off your limb!"
Pak!
This caused Casso to fall. The man narrowed his eyes, gaze sharp and menacing.
Casso’s eyes were oozing with malice. However, as a slave, he could not harm a single hair on this bastard’s balding head!
How annoying!
Balbo, who was nearby, sighed and shrugged, not caring about his fate or his reaction.
Cessi wasn’t having an easy time either. She was dragging along several items on a wheeled platform, and she could feel the blisters under her feet were grazed over and over. She ranted as she pulled, as if it somehow lessened the hassle.
The twins were muttering curses under their breaths the whole time and they were finally ignored after transferring the goods, with the master intent on exploring Alterra more.
Whenever he went to a shop, the master would buy something and the slaves could only watch. Most slaves did not have money.
Not only were their money taken away when their status dropped as slaves, but they didn’t get salaries anymore. They were just fed and thrown into shared shacks to live. The money they got to make posts was sent by their mother’s people at the start, though this stopped eventually.
They never once stopped to think and wonder if there was something that happened to their mother that she suddenly stopped exchanging letters with them.
They also hadn’t considered that they were living well compared to other slaves who could not eat more than a day and worked almost all hours of the day. They insisted on comparing with the Alterran slaves, who had the chance to go free with their own abilities.
Even the prisoners of war in Alterra lived better than the vast majority of slaves. After all, even if the work was heavy and seemingly endless, they were generally not starved and had water to drink. Only those heinous criminals who weren’t threatening enough to be killed on the spot were whipped and tortured.
Very few territories were like Alterra, where their slaves could live freely and could even buy their own freedom if they were of good character.
And with Alterra’s influence, many places associated with them had the same model, developing long term. Terran territories doing this was easily understandable, while some of the aborigine territories following suit were simply following the flow, not necessarily because they agreed to the ideology.
In fact, a good fraction of the locals, Alterran or not, might actually believe Alterran policies were too kind and unprofitable.
They watched as the bastard filled his hands with food, a lot were scrumptious and goaded their stomachs.
This bastard! This bastard! They kept cursing. When he abruptly paused his steps, they cursed even more.
At some point, after a few rounds of transportation, Balbo’s feet stopped.
"That guy is familiar..." he muttered and the siblings followed his line of sight, seeing a middle-aged man who indeed looked familiar. It seemed like...he was a merchant back in Jacoba?
He was talking with someone with violet hair!
"The back view of that woman is familiar, too!"
"It’s definitely her!" Casso exclaimed.
Cassandra!
Finally found that bitch!