Herald of Steel

Alexander's main purpose of coming here was indeed this- to inspect the women he would send to the capital as gifts.

This was one of those unwritten rules of Adhania, not explicitly stated but kind of like a common courtesy.

It was expected that if one conquered new lands, he would send the nobleman he served a small part of the loot, 

And since at least on paper Ptolomy was Alexander's superior, in order to avoid any necessary conflict and ill will, he planned to send some beautiful women as well as some of the captured loot.

And that was why Alexander was here, to discuss the price of those women.

"So tell me, what will be the price- both the women and the transportation included?" Alexander posed in a desultory manner.

"My lord, normally such beautiful women such as the ones you requested go for 15,000 to 20,000 ropals each."

"Since you also want me to take them to the capital, I'm afraid I can do no better than 20,000."

To the question, Cassim wriggled his hands flashing a professional smile.

'50 women, 1 million ropals,' Hearing the asking price, Alexander did the math in his head and coming to the answer, snorted, 

'Hmmph! You had to do nothing to get these women. It was I who took the city. And you dare ask for such a price!'

Alexander's voice slightly boomed, expressing his dissatisfaction. 

But facing this tactic of trying to lower prices, the slaver was unperturbed, 

"Hehe, no, no, you misunderstand my lord. The price of these women is never determined by how hard it is to catch them."

"Catching them is easy."

"The hard thing is to just find them. I would be lucky to find a suitable one even in one in a thousand."

Cassim exaggerated the numbers, though it was true that finding a peasant girl whose face and figure fit a nobleman's preference was indeed hard, the harsh physical work and the rough conditions they lived in wiping away a lot of their beauty very quickly.

Saying the slave treader continued, 

"And then there are the training and maintenance costs."

"Expert trainers cost a lot. These girls know nothing at first and it takes a lot of time and patience to teach them. Making a skilled slave able to please a master as esteemed as a noble without breaking her is very hard my lord."

Here the slaver referred to how a nobleman would buy such beautiful slaves for pleasure purposes so would expect the highest level of service from them.

And thus her training had to match that.

"And then there are all the everyday costs. These girls need food, clothes, and makeup of the highest quality." 

"Over weeks and months, all these tend to add up very quickly my lord!"

"*Sigh*, I actually make very little profit on each sale, hehe."

Cassim by the end gave a forced smile as he shook his head ruefully, seemingly burdened by the huge expenses.

'Yet you have enough coin to eat yourself to this size and wear flashy clothes and jewelry such as these,'

And Alexander might have believed the man if he was not so fat and gaudily dressed.

Furthermore, Alexander also had an idea of the expenses for himself as it had to be remembered that he ran a brothel himself.

And those girls there were very much like the women Cassim had.

And he was certain he treated those women much better than this slave trader did, hiring good trainers, giving them meat or eggs every other day, gifting them expensive soaps and perfume and makeup kits to better present themselves in front of the guests, and many of the dresses they wore were custom made to order, requiring them to be sexy, durable and comfortable, hence costing a hell of a lot.

But then even the total cost of behind each girl was less than 2,000 ropals a year.

And this treatment of the girls was seemingly so good that according to Ophenia, many high ranking courtesans had come to the brothel manager Kalopi, expressing their wishes to switch places and come work for her.

This had even turned the establishment he had set up as a kind of personal vendetta into quite a popular destination among the regulars in the district.

So all this went to show that unless Cassim was babysitting those slaves for an entire decade, there was no way he was no way making only a little of their sales.

"Mister Cassim, you make so little profit and yet are able to dress better than me. I must praise your accounting abilities,"

Thus at the businessman's obvious exaggeration Alexander sarcastically commented as such, but knowing embellishing the truth was part of the business, then simply waved his hand and stated. 

"Okay! 20,000 ropals it is. I will give you the price you want." as he felt disinclined to haggle.

Alexander was rich to the point that he felt that the amount of time he would spend haggling over the slight price difference of a few thousand ropals was not worth the headache.

If the man wanted 20,000, he would get 20,000.

But in exchange, Alexander expected premium service.

"Great! Great! My lord, you will not be disappointed!" At Alexander's quick agreement, the slave trade was overjoyed, flashing an enormous smile as his face lit up, turning almost rosy red.

He had been ready to accept the deal at 15,000 ropals or even a bit lower, but now he had made an extra 100,000 ropal profit just like that.

Of course, he would be happy, not to mention the sale totaled to a huge 1 million.

This was more than he made last year, and so earning an entire year's revenue in one afternoon certainly made him elated to the point he even forgot the comment that was made about his clothes, erasing it like it was thin air.

And many would too if they were in his position.

For to give a context of that sale in modern numbers, given Adhania's median earning was 150 ropals, and the US's was 70,000 dollars, that came to half a billion dollars in today's value.

Most people would not care if the buyer commented how ugly they looked in their dress if they were going to make that much money.

But Alexander did have one condition then accepting this price.

So putting a damper on the joyous man, he curtly cut off, 

"But remember Cassim. These women will be sent to the capital. To the king himself."

"You should be aware of the high standards the people there have for such women."

"I do not want to hear anything untoward later."

"Train them well!"

Alexander knew the capital regularly held parties involving orgies using large numbers of such slave women.

And so he wanted to make sure the girls being sent were skilled enough to perform those jobs without creating a fuss or causing any problems.

"Please be assured my lord. The noble sirs will find these girls to their utmost liking. I swear on my name."

And Cassim quickly reassured as such.

The practice of the nobility was not really a secret even among the rich merchants, as even they would sometimes get an invitation.

Many also got their daughters and even wives to participate, as a way to curry favor with these powerful men. 

And so Cassim being the big shot trader he was for so long in this business, certainly knew the quality that was expected of his product.

And he certainly had the means to guarantee that.

"Okay, then I want to see them now. Let's go." 

Thus having reached the price and having cooled himself enough, Alexander was eager to see the product for himself.

And though usually the price was determined after seeing the product, Alexander was confident the man before him would not dare to swindle him.

Not if he wanted to ever do business here.

So after this brief rest, Alexander felt ready to tackle the heat again.

Though that was a decision he came to regret instantly as the moment he stepped out of the cool room, the heat felt like sharp needles stabbing into his skin.

For a second, he even regretted getting into that cool room in the first place.

The heat outside was really no joke.

But as his body slowly acclimatized to the new environment, the large slave trader slowly led Alexander to a large part of the tent at the back, where all the women were housed.

The large number was divided into groups of four or five, placed in small individual rooms, separated by only rugs.

These were hot and humid due to the weather outside, with only small vents along the sides to let in fresh air.

And as Alexander entered, he found the place to be dim and a bit dark, with the air thick with too many oils and perfumes, stinging his nose.

But such discomfort quickly flitted as his eyes focused on the jewels the rooms contained, for as soon as the two men entered, all of the girls dropped everything they were doing to stand up and greet them, bowing deferentially before showing off their faces and figures to Alexander.

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