The Absolute: Humanity's Second Chance - 136 Settling Down

”I’ll need to hire workers.” Damien said, and the young lady nodded, noting it down on the paper before her. “Workers, yes. What kind of workers would you like to hire.”

“Mostly builders and planners. Artisans, carpenters, designers…” He began listening a long list of desired workers, and the young lady couldn’t help but freeze. ‘So… so many workers. What are you building, a city?!’ She thought.

“…Oh, and also, I’d like a thousand of each workers please. I’ll pay half the price beforehand.” He added, taking out a pouch of 3,500 gold coins.

And once the small pouch hit the table, the young lady was shocked beyond words once more. ‘Tycoon!! Tycoon!! I knew it. Not only is he handsome, but he was rich from the get go..!!’ She thought, and when she looked up, she realized that Damien was leaving. ‘So fast..? Wait, hold on!!’

“Wa–Wait, sir..!!” She called out.

“I’ll return a week from now to fetch the workers, until then, enjoy your week miss.” He left such words, taking off to the sky just like that.

“Ah, he… he flew. So, was he a combat professionist? I guess, that explains why he has so much money on him.” She sighed, slumping down on her chair. ‘Feels nice to be them. It’s only been two months, and most are getting rich.’ She thought in bitterness.

She then began calculating the money, the number of workers, and desired workers, and then came to a sudden realization that, ‘He paid twice the usual amount for every worker!! Half a gold coin per person is luxury!!’ She thought.

Then afterwards, she began her work and printing out a new request, before placing it on the billboard within the room.

Today, there were not much workers, maybe because it was a Sunday, but that didn’t matter. She put it there, and left to rest on her desk as usual. ‘By evening, things would get busy around here.’

And indeed, by evening, multiple workers of all kinds were flickering around the billboard, boisterous and actively calling their friends and families to come and apply.

Damien’s offer was just too appetizing. Half a gold per person as deposit? Then wasn’t that a gold coin after full payment? That was four months worth of work for the luckier guys.

And those with lesser working environments, that was more than a year’s worth of pay. How could they not rush out sign up?

‘Unfortunately, there’s only seven thousand positions, and a thousand for each profession the young master desires.’ Thought the chubby young lady Damien met.

“Hey, Emily, I’d like to sign up for this.”

“Me too, me too, Emily.”

“Hey, I came here first.”

“Fuck off, dimwit.”

“Emily, arent we friends? Sign me up, sign me up hurry, hurry.”

“…”

But Emily stared at all these people with nothing but exasperation in her eyes. What friend? What Emily? I don’t know you guys, okay? Please go away. Please.

Meanwhile, Damien had just bought about a thousand slaves within the dark market, and also hired a hundred servants for their new home; a large mansion.

“My name is Damien, and the lady of this house is Juliette, we will be your masters from here on forth. Hence you all answer to us, and only us. Is that clear?” He said to all one hundred servants, who nodded to his words.

“This mansion is not that large, so only fifty of you are enough, but with double the number, you will have more rest to enjoy.” He added, and the servants exchanged glances of confusion.

Why would their new master do that? They were even a but dissatisfied, afraid that their pay would also be halved because of that.

But Damien mostly ignored their confusion. “You can also use the lower floors to your liking during your rest period. The gardens there, the pools, so on and so on. Be at ease, and at home.”

“You can treat this place as a sort of paradise. The only thing I want is that; the rooms must be clean and well managed, at all times. Everything must be in order, including everyone. And most importantly, Peace of mind.” He said.

‘Peace of mind..?’ And most of the servants thought in confusion.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

“That simply means that, I don’t want any of you to be a source of stress for me. Work in accordance to your roles, and always remember that, certain actions or words, might bring trouble to me, and ultimately to yoy.” And seeing through them, Damien explained himself.

‘Oooh… So he means that we should always be aware of our positions?’ They thought in understanding. And one decided to raise their hands to speak. “Lord, which house are we serving..?”

It was a young man around his early twenties, with a neat butler fit on his being. He also had silvery hair, and deep blue eyes. A handsome fellow, so to speak.

And quite perceptive too. Damien thought, and also thought about the boy’s words. Which house were they serving? “…The house of Silver. Let me reintroduce myself, I am Damien Silver, and the lady of this house is Juliette Silver.”

He responded, and they all respectfully bowed in greetings. “We greet the master of Silver.” They sang in sync.

“Then you’re all dismissed. You can get accustomed to the manor, and begin work immediately next week. Until then, make yourself at home.” Damien said, and though they were still confused by the treatment, they still nodded.

“Oh, and one more thing, whatever happens in the manor, stay in the manor. Do not be alarmed by anything that you see, hear or feel during your working experience.” He added, turning to leave.

“…”

And the servants were now a bit more than shocked. They were curious what kind of surprise working for the house of Silver would be like… yet at the same time, a bit fearful of what they might have gotten themselves into.

‘What kind of people… are the Silvers.’ They thought. After all, nobles come in all shapes and forms, but one thing about them, was clear and always true; their superior complex.

And the fact that most rumors about them were negative than positive, added more to the innate fear commoners had towards nobles. And these servants, believed Damien was a noble as well.

Meanwhile, Damien himself did not mind whatsoever what they thought about him. He only wondered what Juliette would think, when she heard about this.

Men taking the last name of their women was not rare. But considering his situation, she probably didn’t expect that he would do so.

‘As for my reasons… my original last name is quite heinous and unique. Using Gray, would only be detrimental for my coming plans and goals.’ He thought to himself.

And since he also looked different than before, with his angelic beauty and silver-platinum blonde hair, nobody would associate him with the infamous Damien Gray of the House of Gray.

“Now, as for you all, we will be working on your health first and foremost.” He said, as he arrived at the stables of the mansion, standing over the slaves that he bought.

Yes, slaves.

There were such people in almost every Era of development for most civilizations, and this one, was no different. In fact, to these current humans, slavery was more than accepted.

But to own a slave, one must have a valid reason as to why that person was a slave. Debt was one of them, or being sold by parents, or perhaps even losing war and being collected as goods.

These were all put in documents that slave sellers give to slave owners once bought. Also, depending on what kind of slave, they could either have maximum rights, minimum rights, or no rights at all.

And Damien, bought those that were mostly sold by their respective gaurdians or were goods of war. Those with at least a minimum amount of rights to their name.

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He said, and the slaves he bought obediently did as he said, or else, the marks on their chests, would squeeze at their heart and make breathing hard for them.

‘So they’ve developed to this extent in just two months.’ He thought, as from his guess, the slaves were now branded with seals formed from magic, instead of chained.

But of course, they still wore a cuff on their neck, that had a small chair extending to their hips. If the master so desired, they could use it to yank at them. ‘Life, will always be sad for the weak and the poor…’

He sighed, and from there, began telling everyone about the rules of becoming a part of the house of Silver. That much, was enough for the time being… as even for him, playing noble was a first.