Vanj made his way back, the new slaves were oddly silent, despite occasional curses thrown at him.
He made his way past the cages towards Lana's.
He regretted hitting her so hard to establish himself, after all, good behavior needs to be rewarded.
"Lana, Let's go you will be meeting the bosses," Vanj ordered Lana as he opened the cage.
Lana rose to her feet before walking out,"Yes master ~"
Other girls gave them disgusted stares as they made their way out towards the bosses.
As she was now she could easily be mistaken for his daughter, which allowed him to casually pass through the heavily guarded town centre.
"Do not call me master in public. Got it?" Vanj demanded.
"Sure~" She responded shortly.
They approached the same gate. It had been a couple of hours since Vanj had visited; however, he knew Bosses usually talked for at least 12 hours.
As they were let into estate Lana clung to him, clearly scared.
Not that he could blame the slave, after all, bosses were powerful in their own right, even he felt fear whenever he had to approach them.
"Once we are In, I want you to obey everything without a question. Just bow and do whatever is told understood?" Vanj asked to which Lana merely nodded.
"Only speak If granted permission." He continued as they approached the door.
The atmosphere was even more suffocating than the last time, a clear indicator that meeting had an unpleasant topic.
Vanj gulped as he opened the door, he heard the mumbled voices of the bosses as he approached the meeting hall.
"Enter, Vanj." He was called as soon as he approached.
He looked towards Lana for a moment before entering.
As the duo entered Lana bowed deeply before following Vanj closely.
As Vanj took a seat she stood behind him, her eyes closed and hands in front of her.
"So is that the new slave you talked about?" Shade pointed towards Lana.
"Yes, this is Lana."
Lana bowed as she was introduced.
"Hmm, for someone recently captured she seems to obey you properly." The orc looked suspiciously at the harpy girl.
Shade chimed in, "She looks like a member of upper class so it makes sense she has manners and knows how servants act."
Vanj sighed in relief however Shade continued.
"Nobles would never be able to behave so perfectly as the servant. Tell me, girl. WHO ARE YOU?!" Shade rose from his seat, startling other bosses.
He wanted to test her reaction, to his presence many faltered, many fell to their knees.
A mere child should never be able to resist.
And he was right.
In next moment he saw Lana's composure break as she trembled.
"I... am Master's servant..."
"You know fully well that's not what I want to hear. Speak or you will be killed right now."
"I... am the 4th daughter of Lucifer, my mother was forced to have me and has been taking care of me ever since, We were given money and forced to move here recently... however she... got sick... and I lost her... so now I only follow master..." She was on the verge of tears as she tried to hide behind Vanj.
Ariel hated uttering the name of Archtraitor, however, he served her goals even while bound in Hell. Demons should show recognition.
"I see... Lucifer..." Shade didn't know that name.
"How old are you? Servant." Shade continued questioning.
"I am... 12 Cycles old my lord...." She spoke with tears in her eyes.
"And yet you speak so eloquently, is Lucifer a member of Iguva's nobility?" Another question that piqued Ariel's attention.
Fear in the fallen angel's voice was evident as the name of the grand emperor was mentioned.
Not only Shade but everyone in the room had visible fear plastered on their face as the emperor was mentioned.
When they tried to establish a foothold in Vitpacar they were mercilessly pushed back by his Champions.
If they had enslaved a member of his own Nobility, Blackwater would be eradicated without mercy, they could exist under his general's nose due to them not interfering with Iguva's plans.
However, if Vanj had kidnapped and enslaved a daughter of Iguva's noble.
It would be over for them.
And to his great fortune, Lana shook her head. "No, I haven't seen Daddy in so long..."
Ariel was sure her acting had improved, she started enjoying playing the role of a harmless little girl.
Shade nodded, "Good, and you are willing to die for your master?"
"Yes," She responded with confidence.
"Good. Now tell me... How were you able to get so many harpy girls trapped in such a short time?"
"I... Just told them I needed help... and they followed me..." She spoke with a shaky voice.
"Hmm..." Shade nodded before turning to Vanj.
"Do you plan to sell this one, Vanj?" Shade asked.
Vanj's gaze fell on Lana's worried look, she clearly didn't want to be separated from her master.
"No... If possible I wish to keep her. I believe she will bring great profit to the cartel."
Shade nodded, finally sitting back satisfied with the answers.
"I will allow you to keep her, but rest of the slaves and all of the profits will go to us. Understood?" Shade smirked under his hood.
"Unless you want to give away the girl... then you could take a cut of the profit."
"I... I want to keep her!" He retorted, to which Shade merely nodded.
"Those slaves aren't trained yet are they?" The Black scaled Lizardman asked.
"No... They were just captured and are defiant." Vanj spoke solemnly.
"I will send some of my trainers, we can't them rebelling in the middle of an auction," Lizard stated.
"But..." Vanj was about to speak before being interrupted.
"Having such a haul of harpies, We cannot afford not at least to give them a full day of training," Lizardman stated.
"I agree. Despite untrained slaves being expensive if they were young harpies, we still could increase their value if we at least broke some of them." Orc added, his mind clearly focusing on the value of the new merchandise.
Vanj dared not speak, bosses had ordered that they would handle the slaves and so he had no more right to complain, Shade's words might have sounded like a question but it was an order.
He would keep Lana and Bosses would take the rest of the harpies.
'I don't feel sad...' He thought with surprise despite losing the opportunity to make an immense amount of money.