Kazuya had handed out soul contracts he had prepared to every slave that he had brought. While the ones on guard duty were to be briefed after a few of them had successfully completed the process, there weren't many that hesitated to come under Kazuya's banner.

Why would they? All of them had basically given up any hope of ever getting out of their predicament. It was either they would win the favor of some n.o.ble while partic.i.p.ating in the coliseum or dying in the hands of other partic.i.p.ants. All of their other choices had been almost the same. In the end of it all, they were nothing else but slaves.

This young man had offered them an opportunity amidst the risk of death they would have faced in the coliseum anyway. They would not be bound up by chains but rather treated as real subordinates as long as they did not break any of Kazuya's rules or orders.

"(This is…)" Nell had three copies of soul contracts in front of her.

One of them were hers, Lucia's and the other one was borrowed from the others that had just received it from Kazuya.

Kazuya was dealing with the others who had already signed the soul contract one by one. He each gave them an a.s.signment after asking a few questions so he was currently ignoring the looks Nell had been giving him.

"(Why?)" The three contracts baffled her as hers was the only one that was different.

While they were indeed similar to the aspect of their souls being bound to Kazuya, hers was a lot less strict compared to even the one that had been prepared for the little girl who was quietly sitting beside her.

"Are you done looking it over, Nell-san? My turn is coming up so…" one of her recruits asked for her contract back.

"Ah, sorry Levin. Here you go." She fell back into her thoughts after giving the girl's soul contract.

While it had been intentional for Kazuya to have a different contract prepared for her, his reasons for doing so was because of their previous relations.h.i.+p. There was no way for Nell to know about such events so she would never have been able to guess his intentions.

Whatever her decision was, Kazuya would have accepted. Even if it had not been intentional, his bias towards this former close companion of his left him with not being able to predict her finding about the difference between her contracts and the others.

For Kazuya, even if she did choose to bind herself with the soul contract, Nell would have ended up under his command like all of the others.

"Have you come to a decision?" Kazuya walked in front of Nell after he had completed the process with the rest of the slaves.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"No. I have already given you enough time to consider. If you haven't come to a decision by now, there would be no need to think about it anymore." Kazuya shook his head and rejected her coldly.

"I—" before Nell could say anything, the little girl beside her stood from her seat and walked in front of Kazuya while holding her contract.

"You want to stay?" Kazuya looked at the little girl who met his gaze with a look of determination.

*nod*

"Lucia…" Nell looked at the determined girl who was younger than her and sighed.

She felt a little bad for hesitating too much. The two of them had already talked about the matter and have come to a decision even before Kazuya had arrived. The contents of her own contract had been favorable compared to theirs but aside from losing all her memories of Kazuya and their group, everything had pretty much been the same.

Using a soul contract as a back-up for the imperfect slave system. That could say a lot about the young man that they would be serving.

"I'm in too!" Nell stood beside the little girl and did not miss the split-second change in Kazuya's expression.

"It may take a long time until you get another chance of freedom. Are you sure?"

"Our fates would not have been much better if we chose out freedom right now. Besides, after what you just made us experience, I think that you would let us remain as we currently are, right?"

-

While Kazuya had officially accepted the people who would be the pioneers of his own force, an incident was currently taking place that had been caused by his recent actions.

*CRAs.h.!.+*

A n.o.ble threw the cup he had been served towards the wall.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" he stared at Etha with eyes full of rage.

"Please do not blame Etha, it was me who sold the products without considering her opinions on the matter." Raizer remained calm and faced the angry n.o.ble as well as another who had come with the same complaint.

The fuming n.o.ble appeared to be a middle-aged man who had been a regular customer who often purchased young and attractive girls who were sold to their shop. The one who remained silent was a relatively young man who had set his eyes on the rebellious Nell because of her seemingly untamable nature.

"Is this how you do business? We have clearly shown our interest in the two people in question." The calm n.o.ble broke the silence with a slightly threatening tone.

"I was not aware of such arrangements. Besides, while those products may have been in Etha's care, I am the person who ultimately decides who to sell to." Raizer did not back down.

*SLAM!*

"Bulls.h.i.+t! Do you really think that we don't know what kind of merchant you are!?" the angry n.o.ble slammed his fists on the table.

"Very well, if this is how you would like to act… Jessie-sama are we all here not aware of what kind of person you are? If it were not for us, would you think that the capital would not investigate the numerous increasing number of young girls missing in the commoner's districts?" Raizer grinned.

"You…" he felt like a fly had flown into his mouth.

"Bryan-sama, the women soldiers that were increasingly missing under your family's care had stopped when you came here, right?�� Raizer turned to the younger n.o.ble and looked him directly in the eye.

As a merchant who dealt mostly dealt with the dark desires of n.o.bles and their descendants, how could Raizer not know about these matters? The things he had done for these two and the products he had procured for them were not limited to just a few.

"I'm curious. Just what is the ident.i.ty of the person that decided to take people a person from both the Vera and Castro family have their eyes on? They must have some extraordinary background or have something on you that would make you defend them so stubbornly." Bryan showed a smile that had not appeared to be a smile.

He knew what kind of merchant Raizer was. Even if he had been forced to sell the slaves that they had their eyes on, he would have placated them by providing a method to contact the person who got them. This way, he would wash his hands off the incident and it would be between the people themselves who shared the same interest.

"For the sake of the Castro family, I strongly recommend that your curiosity be abandoned. Even if you drag the Vera family with you… I can only say that I have done my best in trying to dissuade you about pursuing the matter."

"Refusing to give me any crucial information about this only makes me more curious. Do you know how much work I've put into making that woman into a criminal slave? My father has barely gotten over the damages I allowed so that her group would infiltrate deep enough into the trap I set for her."

 "I apologize, my hands are truly tied. I can only dissuade you from trying to bring a calamity onto your houses or yourselves just because of pieces of flesh that can easily be replaced." Raizer refused to budge.

"I see… we have nothing left to discuss then." He stood up and gestured his angry companion to leave with him.

Jessie, glared at Raizer one more time before reluctantly leaving with his friend. There weren't many who tried to offend them in the capital so he was furious that someone had gotten something that he had his eyes on.

"Are we really going to leave things like this!?" Jessie who was still not convinced asked his younger, yet wiser companion.

The two of them met in Raizer's shop and got to know each other after confirming that their interests did not collide. They often shared methods on how to deal with the 'products' they had bought from Razer's shop and exchanged opinions about them.

"What do you think about Raizer's warning?" Bryan was curious about his companion's opinion on the matter.

"Someone who can bring a calamity towards a Marquis and a Duke's houses? Does he think we're stupid? Only the royal family can be so bold!"

"Indeed. The Eberbach family is out of the question either since there is only Sodinsama in that family. That greedy merchant most likely has been paid a handsome amount to act as a deterrent," Bryan came to a conclusion.

"Then our actions…"

"Of course, investigate and we shall take back what is ours!"

-