Singal.
This is a large and bustling city, even busier than Sarleon.
As we all know, if a city has many people willing to go there, it is either because it is safe enough and their personal and property can be protected; or because it is chaotic enough and they can find a lot of excitement...
And Singal is obviously the latter.
A long row of tattered corpses hung on the outer wall of the city, almost completely covered by dense flies. When the wind blew, a puff of black mist would rise from the swaying corpses.
The stench of rotting corpses and decaying vegetables filled the air, mixed with the smell of spices and opium that filled the market, forming a unique atmosphere that belonged to Singal.
Only in the herbal medicine stalls could you smell some exotic fragrance from foreign countries - the kind that would make you dizzy after smelling it.
The snack vendors waved their dirty straw hats and hawked meat skewers. The meat skewered on bamboo sticks was roasted on a stove fueled by cow and horse dung, making a sizzling sound and emitting oil. However, the source of the meat was quite suspicious...
Bales of silk were crowded on the counter, but many of the satins were stained with blood.
Most of the weapons sold by the weapons dealers are old weapons, and almost every weapon has dark brown stains that cannot be washed off.
Some of the D'Shar, who were obviously outlaws, also openly sold their spoils in the market of Sinjar - there were chopped-off clothes, shoes and hats, deformed gold and silver jewelry, and even some shields and armor with clear emblems.
Drug dealers set out their pipes and straw mats directly on the street. Many addicts were lying on the mats, smoking in public. There seemed to be people waiting in line in an orderly manner next to the mats - this was probably the most "orderly" scene that could be seen in the entire chaotic market.
In the middle of the market was a huge booth where slave traders were waving whips and displaying their wares - young men and women with their hands and feet bound, all naked, with every part of their bodies being examined by customers at the booth. From time to time, the traders would pry open the slaves' mouths to let the customers see their teeth.
Of course, the slaves sold publicly were all low-quality goods. Next to the slave booth was a livestock market selling horses and donkeys, and the sales process on both sides looked exactly the same.
There were quite a lot of customers entering the market, but most of the locals with white cloth wrapped around their heads held their wallets tightly and put their hands on the hilts of their swords, as if they were always on guard against what was behind them.
As for the customers from out of town...good luck to them.
Anyway, the seemingly harmless kids around are waiting for their chance, and occasionally some suspicious gadgets will accidentally appear from their sleeves - small blades for cutting wallets.
In addition to the market, the streets and alleys are also filled with people from all walks of life.
There were members of the Knights who wore black armor and horned helmets even in the hottest weather;
There are Snake Cult warriors dressed in green viper costumes;
There were also pagans wearing brown cloaks, warriors carrying long-handled knives, and men in black playing with daggers...
These various people looked very different, the only thing in common was that they all had the same expression - the dangerous look that only thugs who had been committing murder and arson for a long time had.
These heretics and murderers roamed the streets unhindered, while the city's guards, wearing pointed helmets and holding spears, turned a blind eye.
There are many tall courtyards on the street, which seem to be the headquarters of various organizations, but there are almost no guards at the gates. Probably no one dares to stop in front of these courtyards - even the guards in the city avoid the gates of those courtyards.
Murder contracts are posted openly in taverns across Singal, and some are also posted outside the doors of some taverns... From time to time, someone will take a look, but most will leave quickly, perhaps they just want to see if their name appears on the wall.
In the city's more run-down alleys, dirty stray dogs and young orphans fought in the garbage dumps, while members of the Red Brotherhood stood by and pointed at them, recruiting members from these young children.
Some fallen women wearing bright and revealing skirts stood at the door of low and dark houses, providing special services for a few copper coins. Most of them wore veils, probably to cover up some traces of pain and illness.
The 'prophet' in tattered robes was also preaching the benefits of believing in the cult in the alley, and in the small temple behind them, which was even more tattered than the robes, human sacrifices were being performed openly. The fire and blood might indeed bring them some believers.
Only those who are obviously crazy can walk freely in these mean streets. Their madness may be caused by contact with gods or poison, but in any case, only madmen are inviolable...
The groaning begging of lame beggars, the greasy hawking of vendors, the melodious soliciting of prostitutes, the whimpering barking of stray dogs after being kicked, the angry roars of victims, the chanting of priests in various accents...
All this constitutes the symphony called 'Singal'.
Not harmonious, but very "free".
And in the very center of Sinjar, the sound of hand drums with an ominous rhythm drives the heartbeat of the city.
But the center of the city is not the lord's castle, but a luxurious building that is taller than the castle.
The lord of Sinjar was named Tahir, a caliph.
Although nominally serving 'Bahad Khan' Kadan, his service was little more than a periodic attempt to issue a few new orders in the city and to crucify 'outlaws' on the city walls.
The stench of rotting corpses even spread to the wealthy areas of the town, but as long as Tahir continued to pay tribute on time, Khan Kadan rarely interfered in Singal's affairs, because he knew that even if he sent out an army, he would not be able to conquer the forces in the city.
In fact, most Pendor people believe that Singar is not so much a territory of the D'Shar Principality as it is a free territory outside of order and morality.
Because the orders and laws issued by Khan Kadan and Caliph Tahir only served to provide topics for residents' gossip, the power and justice of the city were entirely determined by the dinar.
And in this city, the person with the most dinars is not the city lord Tahir, but a slave trader named 'Ramon' - so, Ramon is the 'messenger of justice' in this city and the real boss of Singal.
Fruzi's slave-hunting group traveled thousands of miles to the Noldor Forest to commit crimes because of a reward.
The person who offered the reward was Ramon.
Ramon is quite famous. In fact, the name Ramon is more famous than the ruler of the Desha Principality, 'Bahard Khan' Kadan.
Because he is the largest slave trader in Singal, and the largest slave trader and ransom broker in the entire Pendor continent.
In other words, he is the spokesperson for all slave traders in Singal.
Even Leon was very familiar with the name Ramon, both in his past life and now.
Ramon's nickname is "Good Brother" - in the previous life, players would say this nickname when joking, because players would sell the captives to him after getting them, and they met Ramon the most times.
But after arriving in the continent of Pendor, Leon discovered a wonderful coincidence - Ramon actually had a nickname like "Good Brother".
However, this was not because he had any connection with the Brotherhood. In fact, Ramon was not a member of the Red Brotherhood, but his slave trading business was more successful than all the Red Brotherhood agents.
He made Singal's slave market the first choice for purchasing slaves across the entire continent, and was the recognized leader of all slave traders in Singal.
Ramon got the nickname "Good Brother" mainly because he was good at making friends with people - those who ignored his "friendship" and were unwilling to regard him as a "good brother" would usually be sold as slaves or simply disappear mysteriously before long.
Well, it's possible that they could be found - like a bloated corpse in the lake behind Singar.
Five of Singal's first six judges were found on the lake in this way.
The last judge resolutely enforced the most fair Singalian justice, which was determined by the number of dinars stuffed into his hands. Therefore, this judge has been serving as a judge of justice for several years in peace. After becoming Ramon's good brother, he lived a very comfortable life.
Therefore, Ramon must be a 'good brother' - all Singalians admit this, including the city lord Tahir...
That luxurious building, taller than Tahir's castle, is Ramon's property.
It looked like a luxury hotel.
Perhaps it is indeed the most luxurious hotel in the entire Pande continent.
After all, this large building, which covers an area of ​​nearly ten acres, has six floors above the ground alone and provides three hundred luxurious suites, enough to accommodate thousands of people comfortably.
But in fact, the real body of the building lies below the ground.
There are three underground floors, each with different secret rooms.
That was Ramon's slave auction house. Unlike the low-end slave booths in the Singar market, this was the only place in the entire continent that could sell those "top-quality goods" - such as noble girls of noble blood, or Noldor girls with stunning beauty.
At this moment, Ramon was in a small luxurious secret room, handing a glass of wine to a middle-aged man in aristocratic robes.
On the stage behind him, there were some girls wearing veils - or rather, just veils - beating hand drums to a cheerful rhythm.
"Good brother, are you sure that Fruz can really get back the Noldor noble girl?"
The man in the noble robes looked to be in his forties or fifties, burly and greasy, but his face was covered with a golden beard and his hair was also golden. It was obvious that he was not a Desha.
There were two hot and revealingly dressed women sitting on his left and right, posing and flirting, but he didn't seem to have any interest in the women next to him at the moment. He just took a sip of wine and put the glass on the table.
"I just got news from him half an hour ago. He has succeeded. After all, he got a Noldor girl a few years ago... I miss the auction back then..."
Ramon shook the red liquid in the cup and did seem to be reminiscing about the past.
"That was the famous piece that made your auction house famous. Of course I know that... But they were just three elven girls, not Noldor nobles... What I needed were noble girls! You also know that it is not easy to let a large army pass through the kingdom. I took a lot of risks..."
The greasy nobleman reached out and pushed away the woman who was about to feed the wine glass to his mouth.
Ramon shook the hand holding the wine glass, and the two women left tactfully.
"Aldfred, my friend, you have to believe in the power of dinars... Although Fruz is a shameless bastard, as long as there are enough dinars in front of him, he will definitely bring back the goods you need..."
Ramon seemed quite confident in Fruze's slave-hunting group.
In other words, have confidence in the dinar.
He raised his glass to Aldfred, inviting him to drink.
"But, when can he get the goods back? ... My dear brother, I don't have much time..."
Alfred looked anxious and picked up the glass but did not drink.
"To be honest, Aldfred, I don't quite understand...why are you in such a hurry? And why would a noble like you spend so much money on a slave?"
Ramon shook his head and smiled: "I can see that you don't like beauty..."
"Good brother... I am just not interested in vulgar women, but I am still very interested in the Noldor elves..."
Aldfred shook his head and smiled, with a hint of caution in his eyes.
"Aldfred, it seems that you don't trust me... I have the most beautiful women in the whole continent, but you have never even looked at them... And you want a noble girl from Noldor - if you just want to get the Noldor elves, then any Noldor girl will do. Why do you only want a noble girl?"
Ramon put away his smile, stood up, walked closer to Aldfred, and said word by word: "Friend, you don't want to be my brother anymore, do you?"
Aldfred's face twitched a few times, but then he laughed: "Good brother, don't joke, the drums here are too loud, I can hardly hear your voice..."
Ramon also smiled and waved his hand, and the girls wearing only veils and beating tambourines behind him all left the secret room.
"Now that we are alone, Alfred, tell me the real reason - I know you are definitely not the final buyer!"
Ramon took the bottle and filled the glass held by Aldfred with wine.
"Well, to tell the truth, I will present the noble maiden of the Noldor to the king! It is my king who wants... Tsk... this wine is really good!"
His good brother poured the wine himself, and Alfred certainly couldn't refuse. He took a sip, and then probably thought it was really delicious, so he drank another sip.
"For the king? You mean Ulric? No wonder so many mercenaries entered the Noldor Forest... I thought your Sarleon Kingdom hired so many mercenaries to wipe out a certain Noldor tribe..."
Ramon was obviously surprised as well: "Why would Ulrich want to get the elven noble girl? It can't be to marry an elf, right?"
"Hehe... The king doesn't need to report to me when he does anything..."
Aldfred shook his head, apparently not wanting to reveal any secrets, but a trace of ferocity appeared on his face: "But I have to seize this opportunity! Maybe you don't know, I was blackmailed by Ulrich before!"
Ramon frowned, then quickly reacted: "King Ulric blackmailed you? To get enough dinars to recruit mercenaries? Your Kelredan Castle has been quite wealthy in recent years, so it's normal for the king to come to borrow money..."
"It's not a loan, it's a threat. Ulric knows that I sold civilians in my territory to Singal as slaves. He used this to threaten me and asked me to pay 100,000 dinars! Otherwise, I will not only lose my title and territory, but also be ruined..."
Aldfred said this through gritted teeth, then picked up the glass and drank it all.
"Are you still going to fulfill the king's wish? I don't think you are such a magnanimous person..."
Ramon shook his head, a smile on his face again, and he picked up the bottle and poured another glass for Alfred.
"Fulfill his wish? Hahahaha... Ramon, my good brother, I bought it from you with money, of course in order to sell it to him at a higher price! I have to make back the money he blackmailed me! And... hiccup... give me a higher status!"
Aldfred lifted his glass and looked at it, burped, then raised an eyebrow and drank another glass.
Apparently, the wine was really good, addictive even, and Aldfred seemed a little confused.
Ramon frowned. "I can understand that you want to sell it to make a profit... But, can a Noldor noble girl make Ulric give you a higher status? He is not that kind of person... What is the reason?"
"Because the blood of the virgins among the nobles of the Noldor...hiccups...the virgins can cure the king's disease!...If I can get the noble girls of the Noldor, I can...hiccups...in turn coerce Ulric!"
Alfred seemed to be a little crazy and started saying all kinds of things.
Ramon smiled deeply and his voice became softer: "Then the king must be willing to pay a lot of money..."
Aldfred tilted his mouth and showed a strange smile: "Pure Noldor noble girl...hiccups...three hundred thousand dinars..."
He staggered and fell, and the wine glass fell to the ground.
The red liquid spilled from the cup onto the carpet, turning the originally red carpet into a bluish-gray color.
This is definitely not wine, probably some kind of hallucinogen!
Ramon smiled as he looked at Alfred, who was lying on the ground in a drunken state, and shook his head: "Since it's so profitable, how can I let you make the difference? My good brother..."
He exhaled and clapped his hands twice.
Hearing the sound of Ramon high-fiving, several men in black appeared at the door of the secret room: "Master Ramon."
A man in black who looked like a small leader came in with his head lowered. It seemed that they were both respectful and afraid of Ramon. The small leader didn't even dare to raise his head when speaking to Ramon.
"Throw this baron to the auction house and notify Castle Kelredan to pay 10,000 dinars to ransom him!"
"Gather all the brothers, let's go and 'welcome' the expensive cargo... According to Fruz's habit, he should bring a small team back first, right? Haha..."