After a fierce round of haggling, Leilin ultimately purchased these slaves for eighteen thousand Magic Stones.
And right there in the shop, right in front of Lucia, Leilin planted his unique soul imprints in the heads of all six slaves.
In other words, from this day forward, these slaves' fates rested entirely in Leilin's hands.
Moreover, due to the shackles of the soul imprint, these slaves had to obey Leilin's commands absolutely—even if he ordered them to their deaths, they would carry it out without hesitation!
In fact, with a single thought from Leilin, these slaves' heads would explode like watermelons.
"Haha… I'll head back first, won't disturb you!"
Once they returned to the street where the villa was located, Cleo eyed the two extremely beautiful female Knights behind Leilin with a mischievous look on his face, then headed straight back to his own villa.
"Old codger!" Leilin shook his head speechlessly, then led the six people into his villa.
"This is my villa. You'll be living here from now on. Find your own rooms in the back. My bedroom and the basement are off-limits to everyone—is that understood?"
Leilin turned to sweep his gaze over the six newly purchased slaves and issued his instructions directly.
"As you command, Master!" The six of them began to disperse.
"Damian, you stay behind!" Leilin called out to the third-rank apprentice.
"Master, what are your instructions?" Damian asked respectfully.
"From now on, you're the butler of this villa. You're to manage it well whenever I'm not here. I'll also grant you access permissions for the villa's defensive wizard formations later… Your duties include keeping the entire villa clean and tidy, stocking daily necessities, and so on…"
Leilin began issuing casual instructions.
In the City of No Night, this trading hub dominated by Wizards, many things could only be performed by Wizards. Ordinary Knights or Great Knights didn't even possess a Sea of Consciousness—how could they manipulate Spiritual Power, chant incantations, and the like?
Therefore, if Leilin wanted the villa to keep running after his departure, an apprentice-level butler was indispensable.
"One more thing—tell me how you ended up as a slave?" Leilin asked with some curiosity.
When this was mentioned, Damian's face darkened and his body trembled slightly, a trace of pain surfacing on his features.
Clearly, that past held an agonizing experience for him.
But due to the soul imprint's control, he still spoke: "I'm from Iron Fortress, born in an ordinary small town… Later, I was fortunate enough to be discovered to have wizard talent. My mentor took me directly into Shadow of the Bright Moon—you may not have heard of it, my lord, it was only a small wizard organization… Though it was somewhat painful having to cooperate with my mentor on human experiments from time to time, I was still lucky to have survived and became a third-rank apprentice…"
Up to this point, Damian's expression remained relatively composed, but then a look of lingering fear appeared on his face.
"Then… came the war! That damn war! The Wetland Garden, the dominant power in our region, began backing the smaller organizations affiliated with it to expand—just because our leader openly resisted, Shadow of the Bright Moon was made an example of… During the war, my mentor and many senior apprentices were killed in battle. I myself was captured and ultimately became a slave…"
Leilin nodded. In the unwritten rules of the wizard world, Wizards generally could not arbitrarily capture apprentices as slaves, or else the entire social order would have collapsed long ago.
But there was one kind of Wizard who clearly could not expect the protection of laws and conventions — and that was prisoners of war!
Prisoners captured from the various academies, along with Wizard Apprentices from other races, formed the single largest source of wizard slaves in the City That Never Sleeps!
Looking at Damian, whose face was tinged with grief and indignation, Leilin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Back then, if the Black Bones Grove hadn't stubbornly held off the enemy's assault, and if he hadn't been lucky enough to escape right from the start and get away from the battlefield, he might very well have been killed on a whim by a formal Wizard, or captured as a prisoner of war and ultimately sold off as a slave. That could have been his fate.
"That's exactly why I'm so desperate to pursue strength! Only by truly possessing power of my own can I keep my future firmly in my own hands!"
Leilin waved his hand, dismissing Damian.
"Go familiarize yourself with the surroundings for now. I need to head out for a bit and won't be back until evening…"
……
The villa Leilin had rented was quite spacious, with rooms specifically set aside for servants to live in. After six people moved in, it still didn't feel the slightest bit cramped — if anything, it took on a hint of liveliness.
Damian also proved his worth as a capable butler, managing the villa in impeccable order. This freed Leilin from the burden of trivial matters, allowing him to focus entirely on the work in his basement — brewing the ancient potion known as Maria's Tears.
A few days later, Leilin made a trip alone to the old witch's shop, delivering the two vials of Maria's Tears stipulated in the contract. He also set a date for their next transaction.
Once she had obtained the ancient potion, the old witch tried her best to conceal her reaction, but Leilin still caught a flash of wild elation on her face.
Moreover, the old witch indicated that by next month, she would be able to process far more souls — and told Leilin to be ready.