Build a Human Empire by Creating Clans

Disrupted business and resulting losses.

The size of the loss was manageable, but not pride.

Because he had never suffered a loss as small as a fingernail in his entire life, his pride was so great.

“It’s not over yet. You still have a chance.”

I tried to talk to the idiot who became a count, but failed.

An idiot didn’t know anything about being an idiot to keep the conversation going.

He had no idea of the secret pact between John and Pinto, who was his older brother.

‘I don’t think it’ll be helpful to tell them now.’

Instead, I decided to meet a man who said he came back with an idiot.

A stranger accompanied by the only surviving idiot.

I’ve never seen him, but the attendants say, ‘The idiot is having a hard time.’

Pinto’s intuition screamed that the stranger had some sort of relationship with an idiot.

“This is Pinto Ramirez.”

As soon as I entered the waiting room, I bowed respectfully with a soft smile.

Those who knew him were astonishingly polite.

But Gerhard, the man the Count called, sat skewed.

Without replying, he gestured to the chair.

Pinto inadvertently twitched one eyebrow, but quickly hid it.

‘Considering the value of the business, I’ll tolerate this much.’

“It’s nice to meet you like this…”

“for a moment.”

As I was about to finish the greeting, a kite came in through the open window.

The kite naturally sat on Gerhard’s shoulder.

Gerhard glanced at the black kite and did not react much.

“Do you keep birds?”

“well.”

At the ambiguous and inelegant speech, Pinto’s fever rose.

‘I don’t even know where you’re from.’

He suppressed the heat rising up to his chin and smiled broadly.

While he struggled to manage his expression, the kite sat on his shoulder and watched him.

There was no looking around or chirping.

I only looked straight ahead, and Pinto was sitting there.

Pinto felt that the kite’s eyes were human.

“hmm.”

Gerhard ran his hand over his neck.

He cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

It’s just that the sitting posture has changed, but the atmosphere has changed.

As if a person had changed, there was a sense of weight.

“Let the story begin. Slave Trader Pinto.”

wince

“Do you know me?”

“You know. Aren’t you the man who sold his people the most in history?”

Pinto hardened his smiling face to look kind.

Selling humans was no great secret.

Human trafficking is only a cover, because it is a fairly large and common business.

However, there were bones in Gerhard’s words, and his tone was sharp.

“Do you have something to say?”

‘You act like a judge with a criminal in front.’

Smiling again, Pinto looked at Gerhard.

For some reason, Gerhard’s eyes met each other in the air, giving the illusion that he was looking at someone else.

“Are you more emotional than you think?”

“It seems that way.”

“ah. I apologize if I sounded rude. But to me, it sounds like you consider my actions to be unjust.”

Heh, Gerhard laughed.

“Do you eat meat?”

“Eat.”

“Have you ever bought or sold a horse or a pig?”

Gerhard nodded.

“What is the difference between selling a human and selling a dog or a pig? I am a merchant. Anything that can be sold will be sold, whatever it is.”

more actively

They sold humans because they could be sold.

Saying that, Pinto smiled without pretense.

“indeed.”

Gerhard continued with a sullen tone.

“Are you satisfied with that job?”

“Worth it? well. It seems like that when your pockets get thicker.”

Pinto crosses his legs as he sits in his chair.

“I know what you are asking. It must be that I have a conscience. I hear stories like this often. It’s not just me, but it’s the same for anyone who sells the same stuff as me. Aren’t you pitiful, do you think it’s right… To put it bluntly, I don’t know. All I ask is whether you can sell it or not.”

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“Humans are sold to other races because they are weak. Isn’t it natural that the strong prey on the weak? So are relations between countries. Minor countries that are weaker than their neighbors are conquered. So are humans. They became slaves because their race was inferior.”

“Are you different?”

“I am different. Although the body is human, the mind is different.”

Tapping his head with his index finger, Pinto took out the necklace from the collar.

It was a handicraft made of metal with a purple light and a faint silvery glow.

“Do you know what this is?”

“It’s made of orichalcum.”

“yes. I got it as a gift.”

A gift of friendship, Pinto shrugged.

He also raised his head higher than before, revealing his confidence.

Of course, Orichalcum was a precious metal.

One of the metals that can’t be used because there are no heterogeneous species.

A metal that humans, at best, do not have the smelting technology to handle.

The fact that the pattern was engraved so delicately meant that it had been handed over by a different race.

How valuable the goods made by this race were to humans.

Receiving this as a gift also meant that there was a deep relationship.

“As you can see from this gift, I have been recognized by him as different from my inferior human beings. Shall we call it honor?”

“You look happy. Was the gift made especially for you?”

“sure. It is a gift made only for friendship with me. do you see The inscription here is engraved with my name and blessing in the ancient language.”

Gehard looked at the necklace and smiled lowly, showing his teeth.

“’To Sanrishiga Reminera, congratulations on your birth.’”

“…?”

Pinto blinked.

“It’s the meaning of the ancient language engraved on that necklace.”

“what···?”

“Is your friend’s name Sanrisi or Remine?”

Only then did he understand the meaning, and Pinto widened his eyes.

I flipped the necklace I had given to Gerhard and looked at the ancient fish.

I tried to read the text, but because I didn’t know the ancient language, I couldn’t read it and just stared at it.

People who knew the ancient language were rare among the different races.

“And just in case, was your son born from an egg?”

What else are you talking about?

“The pattern on the back belongs to the Naga. It is born from an outgoing egg.”

Gerhard laughed softly after saying, “It’s fun.”

A red fever rose from the bottom of Pinto’s neck and instantly reddened his forehead.

The word lie rose up in me with a fever, then caught in my throat and stopped.

Gerhard’s attitude was too natural to think otherwise.

“I didn’t know you were well versed in ancient languages.”

“You take pride in knowing better than your friend.”

“You don’t know him.”

“Is it so?”

Ughdash.

As if letting it go, Gerhard spoke softly.

The name of the orc who bestowed a gift on Pinto from beyond the Great Plains.

Pinto believed that he was the only human who knew the name.

That trust was broken, so he trembled and opened his mouth.

“How do you name it?”

“well.”

“…I heard that there are people who serve even the Lord. Did you hear him?”

Gerhard did not answer.

I closed my mouth and looked at Pinto quietly.

Pinto got goosebumps because the gaze seemed to know everything he was hiding.

“Excuse me.”

He shook his head and smiled awkwardly.

“I thought that Kyung and I would be able to follow the same path, even if they were different.”

On the same road, Gehard muttered, and Pinto nodded.

“yes. A partnership.”

He took the scroll out of his pocket and spread it out on the table.

“If there was a mountain made of gold, what would it be?”

The scroll was a map of the entire Great Plains.

Among them, the focus was on the gray mountain range, and several symbols were drawn on it.

“Reserves throughout the Gray Mountains.”

Pinto put his finger down the right side of the map.

The place the finger touched was above the town marked Olymus.

North of Olymus is near the beginning of the Gray Mountains and there is a mine symbol.

“This is a treasure that Count Doreen would have obtained if he had done a good job.”

“Are you the one who told me this?”

“It was a good offer to both of us.”

“And now you propose to me.”

Pinto rubbed his hands gently and smiled softly.

“I am a merchant. There is no force or territory, and all you have is money. Imagine that I eat delicious food by myself. Would you like to look good?”

“so?”

The words were short, but the question contained a lot.

Why did you propose to Gerhard and not Olymus?

How do you dig for gold after you get it?

What is the reward if the job is done?

“Doesn’t Sir Edar, the lord of Olymus, serve the same person? Then, no matter who you propose to, shouldn’t you tell it to the same person?”

Gerhard snorted lightly.

“And the mining will be handled by someone else. In fact, the owner of this mountain range is separate. You are waiting after you have already finished your preparations. We are making a deal with him.”

“It’s a deal, I have nothing to sell.”

“no. There are a lot of them. Earl John Doreen accepted quite a few defectors.”

“It’s like selling people to buy gold.”

As the voice became heavy, Pinto spread his palms and shook them.

“Didn’t you sell ten people to buy an iron sword back then?”

“It did.”

“It’s a better world now than it was then. It’s not an iron sword, it’s gold, and the exchange rate is good. Turan supplies the humans, Olymus gets the relay money, how about it.”

Gehard replied to Pinto, who was pouring words with excitement as if he had placed gold in front of his eyes.

It was an answer without a moment’s thought.

“no. I won’t.”

tall

Pinto hardened his face with a smile.

“Do you know how big a punishment this is?”

“know.”

Pinto let out a long sigh.

Leaning his upper body forward, he spoke softly as if admonishing.

“no. Kyung doesn’t know. Earl John Doreen took from me twice as much money as he could make for the sheep out there. every year too. I promised to give you three times that amount if the business was successful.”

The word “three times” gave strength.

However, when Gerhard didn’t move, he narrowed his eyes.

“Is that because of morality?”

“no.”

Pinto shook his head, leaned back against the backrest, and looked at Gerhard.

“kyung. Think again…”

“Didn’t you say They say they are sold because they are weak. Then I speak as a strong person. No more human beings will be sold into slavery on my land.”

“…”

Gehard’s declaration made Pinto frown.

I opened and closed my mouth several times to say something.

Nervously, he left his seat and stood up.

“You will regret it.”

And when I turned my back to leave the waiting room, Gerhard said.

“I’ll give you some advice.”

Suddenly, the mood and tone of his voice changed.

As if reading along, the strange feeling of awkwardness has faded.

But Pinto’s emotions boiled over and he didn’t notice it.

“If you go to Olymus, don’t talk about selling humans.”

“Do you think I will accept it?”

Gerhard smiled.

Pinto read the sneer on his face and left the waiting room.

I bit my lip and suppressed my anger as I passed the hallway.

‘Asshole! If I save a human, it’s enough. As long as there is a lord in Olymus, there is no need for Turan to be involved in this business. I thought of my master and treated him kindly, but he came out like this?’

Pinto thought of the lord of Olymus in his mind.

Like Gerhard, I had never met him, but it didn’t matter.

Gold mines, and deposits throughout the mountain range.

There was no naive person in the world who would drool at the sight of it.

Like Gehard, there must be two servants of different races who are bound by sympathy.

‘If it’s the same guy, it’s enough to ask Ugdash. No matter how much Ji hates it, as long as the owner likes it, it’s fine.’

Gehard and the lord of Olymus, even if you don’t know who the two bastards are, they must be of different races.

This race never judges by considering humans.

Pinto was confident.

They can make you an offer their owner can’t refuse.

###

“Edar.”

I opened my eyes to the soft, warm sensation in my hand.

The vision and hearing he shared with the kite returned, and the sight of the tavern covered his eyes and ears.

I looked down and saw my hand on my lap.

Calliope was sitting close by, placing her hand on mine.

A face that doesn’t show any emotions because it’s dizzy shows concern.

“Okay.”

It was because of the feelings he had while exchanging conversations with Pinto via Gerhard.

Pinto was a frequent adversary in previous episodes.

But I’ve never had a face-to-face conversation before.

He was a low-level merchant, so he rarely showed up in person.

It was all the more so because when there was contact with me in the first place, we always met as enemies.

So, the only time we talk face to face is right before we slit his throat.

After talking more deeply through Gerhard, I can understand his personality.

‘I must be more shameless than that guy.’

It was a conversation that left nothing but unpleasantness.

Unpleasant feeling that you don’t get used to easily even though you know it from experience.

And this discomfort was not felt only by Pinto.

‘It’s been very, very wrong in this world. It’s a world where selling a fellow countryman is dignified.’

A similar thing happened in the history of the previous life.

During the Age of Discovery, there was a time when Africans sold their own people to Westerners.

What they received by selling their people was guns and gunpowder, and with them they conquered their neighbors.

They then enslaved their conquered neighbors and exchanged them for guns and gunpowder.

Needless to say, the exchange of guns and gunpowder led to conquest again.

‘The people of today are no different from then.’

What happened to the history of the previous life after that?

The loss of manpower was accelerated by frequent wars and slave trade.

Losses that cannot be compensated will soon lead to a weakening of power and a decrease in the supply of slaves.

When the number of slaves supplied declined, Westerners decided to supply them themselves.

Supply was hunting, and that was the slave hunting we commonly know.

‘It’s the only way I’ll go through the same thing.’

No, it’s better if it’s the same.

At least it’s because it’s a human-to-human relationship.

There is no such thing as the disappearance of the human species.

The targets that Pinto sells humans to are races such as Orcs and Goblins.

The reason they preferred human slaves was usually to increase the species.

It was to find humans as objects of breeding.

‘Because humans are similar to elves.’

Its appearance, which was hated as a monkey by them because of its vague resemblance to elves, became the reason that races like goblins and orcs preferred it because it resembled elves.

‘I have a pact with Mishu right now. If the agreement is maintained, it will be difficult for the different races to invade human territory. We have no choice but to be satisfied with the supply of slaves from merchants like Pinto. But will they be satisfied even after the contract is over?’

No way.

Even now, because of the lack of numbers, the kingdom and the civil war between the tribes were an unending tribe.

They even plundered races stronger than themselves, such as the dwarves and the dwarves.

There is no way that such a tribe would leave people weaker and outnumbered than themselves.

‘If they attack in a divided state like now, the human species will disappear.’

The most terrifying thing about Orcs and Goblins was that they did not have mixed blood.

The children of orcs are orcs no matter who their parents are, and so are goblins.

In addition, the fertility of cockroaches multiplied several times in just a few months no matter what species they crossed.

That was the power that allowed them to belong to the representative system even with their savage habits.

‘Since I rejected Pinto’s proposal, Ugdash will intervene sooner or later.’

Ugdash, chieftain of the Ironmist clan.

He was an Orc based near the Gray Mountains and a supporter of Pinto.

He liked hunting men just as much as Rhaeragon the Human Butcher.

The difference is that Raeragon enjoyed hunting itself and killed the prey after hunting, while Ugdash’s purpose of hunting was to enslave humans.

‘His stronghold is adjacent to my territory. You must negotiate with me if you want to keep the slave trade going. Otherwise, if I block the road, I’ll be helpless.’

Pinto saw Gerhard and the lord of Olymus as different people.

Sooner or later, Pinto will visit Olymus and offer him a deal, just like he did with Gerhard.

But I had no intention of selling humans to fill my stomach.

Of course, I intended to repeat exactly what Gehard said.

In that case, Ugdash and Pinto must choose one of the two.

‘Fight me and submit, or surrender without fighting.’

I had never heard or seen that orcs avoid fights.

What’s more, the human slave he loved so much was at stake.

‘I was thinking of developing the territory as quietly as possible. Things don’t go the way you want.’

Pinto’s statement that he was waiting after he was ready was suspicious.