Chapter 11: The Bargain

Some round things wrapped in dry leaves, various clothes similar to the ones the slavers wore, some bricks, two sleeping bags made of leather, spearheads, and a net sack of tiny potatoes. The slavers' belongings were already laid out in front of Seb, who was sitting cross-legged.

All of that is a lot and must be very heavy. I can't imagine how painful it must have been for Leva to carry that thing for days.

"Come on, my friend. My pants, the shoes, and our four boxes of emergency food, in exchange for the woman, two shirts for the ladies, these potato seeds, and a night's stay with us. that." Seb bargaining for the umpteenth time. During the negotiations, I gave a few directions on what to buy and what not to buy. "Well, you know what? I guarantee you'll love the food. It tastes like it came from heaven."

Negotiations went on for a long time, and now the sky was dark. Manu and Kat had shifted to sit by the fire.

I glanced at Leva, who was now shivering with cold. Poor her. I have to solve this problem. Fast.

"Sorry, I can't, Seb. Shirt, pants, emergency food and shoes. I'll take all of that for this lady, potato seeds, and a night's stay by your bonfire. Accept or decline. That's the only choice." Tosa chuckled. "You know, right? We are selling living thing and this is not just any living thing. This is a human with decent abilities and no major injuries." The slaver pointed at the red-haired woman. "Look at her. You don't want such a beautiful woman to join your colony? I've put a very low price on her, you know."

Seb scratched his hair. It looks like this is his limit. He couldn't get any more words out to negotiate.

"Well, just accept the offer." I whispered.

The blonde man looked at Kat. "Hey, are you willing to give me your shirt, Kat? No need for the underwear, just the shirt."

And of course, Kat just froze. I have to order her to take off her shirt.

Well, at least I can see that plump cleavage again.

Now, wearing only her black bra and panties, Kat handed over the shirt. Her face turned red, and she tried to cover her chest with her hands.

What a cute gesture.

"Well, looks like I'll have to get naked again." Seb sighed. "Just a minute, I'll do it behind the bushes."

"You don't have to be completely naked, Seb." Manu stands up and sits down. "I can split my clothes in half."

Instead of answering right away, Seb looked at Leva, who was now hugging her knees while looking the other way.

"Just give it to her." Seb said.

"I don't need it!" Leva snapped. "I don't have to be pitied by you guys! I'm fine with being naked! You'd better wear that thing!"

Wow, you are fierce, Leva.

"I told you, don't scream like that!" Reha raised his whip. "This is one of the reasons you were sold into slavery!"

Leva had snuggled up to embrace the whip, but Seb protected her with his body instead. As a result, Seb's back was decorated with a long red mark. The man writhed on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Hey, are you insane, Reha!?" Tosa pushed his partner. "She is practically theirs, you have no right to hurt her anymore!"

"Sorry, it's become a habit." Reha snorted. "In our tribe, I really hate this bitch, and it's only been the last few days that I have been able to vent my frustration."

With a worried face, Tosa turned to Kat and Manu, who had their weapons ready. My two colonists took the initiative to do it themselves.

"Listen to me." Tosa said in a cautious tone. "I guarantee you, you will lose to us. The way you hold your weapons still looks stiff, while we are quite trained. We are not lying when we say we don't want any conflict to occur. Our tribe leader has warned us not to disturb any group, be it small or large. He believed there would be vengeance from the gods. We'll be in trouble ourselves if we get caught killing other people on our way."

Reha laughed wryly. "That's why our leader hates this bitch. She likes to cause trouble and spark conflict. Conflicts can develop into bloodshed. The old man doesn't want anyone to die among the members. It will only make our peaceful tribe cursed."

I clenched my hands tightly. Can their words be trusted?

[If the tension is too high, then your colonists can take the initiative to attack themselves.]

Maybe I need to get Seb to reduce the tension.

"Ah, but we can't just leave right away. We still need your bonfire. We could ask for your fire, grab it with a twig, then go from here and camp somewhere else. But, it's getting too dark, we'll have a hard time finding firewood." Tosa chimed in. "And, of course, you don't want to share your firewood, do you? Your bonfires will become small."

Seb faced Tosa again, but this time he was silent. It seemed that this was also beyond his negotiating abilities.

"Oh, I'll give you guys a bonus for this commotion." Tosa continued, smiling again. "But sorry, we can't give you big stuff...." The slaver stopped when he noticed the carcass of a rabbit near the bonfire. "Ah, or I can teach one of you to preserve food, while you have meat."

"Really?" Seb's face lit up a little.

That's something valuable. Food preservation is required in certain situations. For example, if my colony gets big animals from hunting. They won't be able to finish it right away, even though there's no refrigerator here. And, of course, it would be a waste if they threw the rest of the meat.

However, I don't want my colonists to be with these bastards for too long.

"You seem to like the idea, huh?" Reha said to Seb. "Well, you guys do need that kind of skill. However, I have a condition. I don't want this bitch to be released before we really leave. She must be very resentful of us and will annoy us. Just look at her eyes." The bald man pointed at Leva, who was glaring at him again, then pointed at a tree a few meters away from the bonfire. "We'll tie her there. Don't worry, she won't freeze to death."

Seriously!? To what extent are you willing to torture this woman!?