A Villain's Way of Taming Heroines

The young Hydral replied with a smile, "I seek sheep."

The shopkeeper's hand trembled, nearly dropping his cigarette onto his leg.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

After a series of forceful coughs, he stood up, retreating several steps with utmost caution, "Whose man are you? Hyena? Vulture? Or Rodent?"

"Hm?" Ansel's intonation rose inquisitively, "What do you mean? Your shop doesn't carry sheep?"

"... Are you truly unaware, or feigning ignorance?"

The shopkeeper's hands moved behind his back, his gaze turning cold and stern, "This is the domain of DappleSpider. I advise you to think carefully, friend."

"But I am indeed here solely to purchase sheep."

Ansel spread his hands innocently, "I voyaged to the Celestial Path mountains three years ago and only returned yesterday. What has transpired? And who is this DappleSpider? Was this establishment not previously under the FlamePython's control?"

Upon hearing the name FlamePython, the shopkeeper's expression relaxed slightly, "... That FlamePython was really dead three years ago, and DappleSpider has since taken over his territory... Are you truly a returnee from the Celestial Path mountains? That is indeed rare."

As he finished speaking, the young noble before him produced a vial containing a viscous, pitch-black liquid.

With a smile and a playful shake of the vial, Ansel asked the shocked shopkeeper, "You seem to be a connoisseur. Do you recognize what this is?"

"Redemption... Water!" the man exclaimed, his Adam's apple bobbing, his eyes wide with disbelief at Ansel, "The real deal?"

"Who knows," Ansel shrugged nonchalantly, "I acquired it from a dying priest. Life in the Celestial Path mountains grew dull, so I returned. This is the most precious item I possess. I had intended to contact Viktor to arrange a deal with the FlamePython... only to discover the shop under new management. My plan now is to simply purchase a couple of sheep to take home.

Speaking of which, how fares Viktor?"

"He died alongside the FlamePython, cut to mincemeat," the shopkeeper clicked his tongue, "A rather grim end, friend, ahem..."

The man's demeanor towards Ansel shifted to one of warmth and familiarity; he licked his lips and leaned slightly over the counter, "Let me tell you, our boss, DappleSpider, is more reliable than that FlamePython. If you sell the Redemption Water to her, she'll take at most a twenty percent cut!"

"Forget it, are there still trustworthy souls in this place?" Ansel laughed dryly, "Do you take me for a novice? My past dealings with the FlamePython were built on trust... As for your boss, I'd rather not. I'm here to buy sheep, do you believe me now?"

Seeing Ansel's unwavering stance, the shopkeeper sighed, massaging his temples with a sense of resignation, "Friend, it's not that I'm unwilling to supply you... It's just that, around three years ago, about the time you left, this place was purged. Those who sold sheep either ceased operations or were eradicated. The FlamePython and Viktor died that time."

"Now, not just in the imperial capital, but across the entire empire, there's no open market for sheep."

"Is that so?"

The buyer, freshly returned from the other side of the Celestial Path mountains, expressed his astonishment, "The sheep market is vast; who could have the power to simply erase it?"

"Who else but those two?"

"Her Majesty? She doesn't seem the type to concern herself with such matters."

"Of course, it wasn't Her Majesty, but Hydral... to be precise, the younger one."

The man shook his head with a mix of awe and fear, "He slaughtered every brazen sheep vendor in the black market, the stench of blood reaching the upper city... Damn, back then I was just a lowly thug under FlamePython's command, barely scraping by. I dared not sleep upon returning home back then."

"This is indeed... intriguing."

The noble youth before him marveled, "Did anyone provoke him?"

"Who knows! And it makes no difference whether they did or not... Does Hydral's son need a reason to kill?" the shopkeeper lamented, "Apparently, he detested the sheep trade, and thereafter Her Majesty decreed a ban on it. Nowadays, no one dares to openly engage in it." powered-by-MvLeMpYr

"Not daring to engage openly? The black market has never been above board, so what's there to fear?"

"Enough, you're a buyer of sheep, you're not afraid, but I am," the shopkeeper said with a look as if Ansel was out of his mind, "I wouldn't bet on whether he might decide to take a casual stroll through the black market one day and finish off those still secretly selling sheep."

"A faint heart never won fair trade in the black market... Very well, do you know of any shops that might still deal in sheep?"

"Well..." The man hesitated, "I shouldn't say, especially with both Hydrals in the imperial capital. I reckon even if there are sheep for sale, they wouldn't dare show themselves at this time."

"Alright then, I shall continue my search elsewhere."

Ansel nodded, foregoing further discussion, and turned to leave.

"... Hold on!" The shopkeeper abruptly halted Ansel, his gaze falling upon the young man's empty palm, his teeth gritting slightly. "Here's the deal, you hand over the Redemption Water to my boss... and I'll direct you to a place that likely still trades in sheep. You'll need both a recommendation and proof to gain entry, and I can assist you with that.

The goods inside are all top-notch, no worse than the two by your side."

The young nobleman paused, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Yet, when he turned around, his tone remained indifferent. "To hand over such a valuable item to a stranger for the sake of two sheep... my friend, do I look like a fool to you?"

"If you truly distrust me, then go and inquire about the reputation of the DappleSpider first." With the enticing bait of the Redemption Water, the shopkeeper couldn't afford to be picky. "And let me tell you, the reason I don't trade in sheep isn't just because I'm afraid. It's also because the DappleSpider herself was once a sheep. freewebnøvel.com

If she found out I was directing you to a sheep trader, I'd be as good as dead! This is my sincerity... all you need to do is mention in front of her that I was the one who recommended you to hand over the Redemption Water."

"Hmm..."

Ansel stroked his chin. "If your boss is as reliable as you say, then it's not out of the question. I'll go and inquire about the DappleSpider's reputation. Once I have the results, I'll come find you."

"Good, good, my friend, you mustn't forget about me! I promise to find you the best sheep shop!"

Amidst the shopkeeper's ecstatic words, Ansel waved his hand, leading Seraphina and the others away from the shop.

Having held her confusion for a long time, Seraphina, who hadn't understood a word of the conversation between Ansel and the shopkeeper, immediately asked upon stepping outside, "An... Master, what is a 'sheep'?"

"...It's a person," Marlina replied in a low voice, her expression complex. "Less than the poor, less than the lowly... a slave."

The matter of slave trading... was quite chaotic within the empire.

Throughout its thousand-year history, slave trading had been repeatedly reinstated and abolished, oscillating back and forth no less than ten times.

Sometimes it was due to the current emperor wanting to highlight his benevolence and wisdom, other times it was because a certain emperor simply didn't care, or even forgot about the relevant laws, allowing the sale of people to go unregulated, thus leading to the resurgence of slave trading.

"A... a slave?" Seraphina paused, then said with a disgusted expression, "So this black market even sells slaves? That's disgusting!"

"So..." She leaned in close to Ansel's ear, whispering excitedly, "Ansel, did you destroy all the slave-trading shops in the black market before?"

The young girl hugged Ansel tightly, rubbing against him with great joy. "I knew Ansel wasn't that bad. If it weren't for fate... hmph, if it weren't for that damned thing, Ansel would definitely be a very good person!"

"A good person, huh..."

Ansel stroked Seraphina's head, sighing softly. "What I did then was not out of kindness or morality, Seraphina."

"It was simply because I found such absurdity... displeasing."

In that world, the institution of slavery brought about significant changes in the mode of production and a leap in productivity. Looking at the history of humanity in that world, the existence of slavery during that historical period was undoubtedly an important link in the advancement of society.

But here, in this era... slaves existed for a different reason.

Extraordinary beings, as entities superior to ordinary people, would make some people with certain resources but no extraordinary abilities feel a great sense of humiliation and oppression.

And since they were powerless to resist and dared not resist, they created a class that was even lower and more humble than themselves, similar to how they compared to extraordinary beings, to transfer this sense of humiliation, and even to fantasize about the pleasure extraordinary beings felt when oppressing them.

These "slaves" would not disappear simply because of the existence or abolition of the slave trade, they would just change their name — they were not entirely for providing better labor, but as a tool for venting, a tool for people to trample on, to… comfort those who faced the extraordinary.

Thirteen-year-old Ansel, even though he had already recognized his fate, even though he was facing the endless pressure that made him despair, still despised this absurd and morbid reality that reduced the value of people to dust.

The Ansel of today is still the same.

It's just that now, he no longer has the spare energy to do these "extra" things. Change may come one day, but it's not something he should be considering now.

In fact, the thirteen-year-old him had almost given up caring about these things, but the Ansel of that time still had friends.

However...

"If it's about relaxation."

Hydral, who had once glimpsed the prosperity of that world, stared at this thousand-year-old empire through his mask, revealing his fangs with a smile.

"I should also do something... that brings me joy."

*