Who hid My Corpse!

Lair's gaze swept over pairs of uneasy and terrified eyes. The cramped room was packed with over a hundred people, filled with a pungent smell that made Lair frown, but at the thought of the value of these guys, his frown quickly smoothed out.

"Hey, where are you planning to sell them?" Lair asked Harlow behind him. "Rhein?"

"Rhein is indeed the biggest buyer, but they don't want them all," Harlow squeezed into the room next to Lair, then blocked the children, not to protect them, but to show Lair that these goods belonged to him. "Especially lately."

"What's been happening lately?"

"Rhein just experienced a once-in-twenty-years famine, so they have enough resources themselves," Harlow grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Even we go there to source goods and then sell them back."

"I see, I thought you were going to say Rhein only wanted boys."

"No, they want girls too."

"Rhein even wants girls? Why, tired of using the backdoor?"

"It's for reproduction," Harlow shrugged. "Girls are tools for reproduction, boys are toys. Of course, whether it's a tool or a toy, the primary condition is that they must be good-looking. You've been to Rhein, you should know that looks are the most important thing there. The closer you get to the higher-ups, the more they care about that. There's even a fixed template, and those who are closest to that template are the easiest to sell... Of course, that's a secret that ordinary people don't know."

"Heh, I'm not an ordinary person now," Lair raised an eyebrow complacently, then asked, "What about the ones who aren't good-looking? Send them to the mines?"

"Only the stronger ones are sent to the mines," Harlow said. "The too weak ones won't be taken."

Lair assumed an "I see" look: "Too skinny to mine, right?"

"No, it's their bodies can't withstand the spell's catalysis."

"What?"

Harlow looked at Lair like he was an idiot: "Did you really think random kids could handle such heavy work? If it's just about physical mining, wouldn't it be better to use adults? Rhein wants children because they aren't fully developed, so they can be directly catalyzed by spells, forced to grow into what they desire, and the too weak children can't endure the cost of spell catalysis."

"Since that's the case, why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because you're not even a Silver Merchant," Harlow said. "Think about what would happen if word got out. Rhein prides itself as the largest Orthodox, how could they allow those Copper Merchants running around to know their secrets? So that's also Rhein's condition. We can do business with them, but participation requires being above a Silver Merchant, which is why I never took you along, understand?"

Lair naturally caught the undertone in Harlow's words—"I had my reasons for not bringing you before, but I hope you can let bygones be bygones and bring me along in the future."

To this, Lair's response was to hum and cross his arms.

Harlow thought Lair was showing off the Contract Seed he held in his palm, that is, his status as a Reserve Merchant, but actually, Lair wanted to show off the middle finger grasping the Contract Seed, which was more important than anything.

"So, those who aren't too good-looking and whose bodies can't quite handle it?" Lair looked again at the hundreds of children in the room with bound hands and taped mouths, "No one wants them?"

"Those will be sold to other places."

"Oh, where?"

Harlow really didn't want to explain so much to Lair, but he thought about how this guy would only have two outcomes: either a successful deal with Rhein North Church, making him a Gold Merchant, in which case it wouldn't hurt to tell him, or a failed deal where he gets killed on the spot, making it also fine to tell him. Investing in a Reserve Gold Merchant is never a mistake.

So Harlow said "follow me" and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Lair looked back. As the door closed bit by bit, the light from outside gradually diminished, and the unrealistic hope in the children's eyes faded with the light, turning into despair.

This couldn't help but remind Lair of the carriage he personally closed a week ago in Rhein, stirring a strange, indescribable feeling in his heart.

"What's wrong?" Harlow asked.

"Nothing," Lair stepped back two steps, then looked up at a whole row of low houses connected to the one he had just entered; each door was tightly locked, the locks rusted and mottled, clearly used for many years, "Are all these yours?"

"How could that be," Harlow said irritably. "If they were all mine, would I still be just a Silver Merchant? These belong to other Gold Merchants. Technically, you're not supposed to see them... but since you want to know, I'll let you take a look; just don't spread it outside."

Lair patted his chest: "Of course, you understand me, right?"

Harlow rolled his eyes, thinking it was because he understood him that he gave such instructions, but he didn't say it aloud.

"Alright, follow me." Harlow led the way, and Lair leisurely followed.