After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

Mu Qiu put down the magic prism and strode over. He was about to pick up the elven girl, but seeing the resistance in her eyes, he paused and asked softly, "Can you stand up by yourself?"

The elven girl nodded her small head with difficulty, the movement so small it was almost invisible. She braced herself on the ground with her arms, struggling to prop herself up.

Every tiny movement aggravated the numerous wounds, causing excruciating pain.

She bit her lower lip tightly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Just standing up was an effort she had to exert herself to the utmost.

After a long while, she finally stood up unsteadily.

Mu Qiu's gaze fell on the elven girl, and he couldn't take his eyes off her for a moment.

The tattered linen cloak that had originally covered her entire body slipped down during the movement, no longer able to conceal her high, firm curves and graceful figure. Her full, rounded body inevitably reminded people of those great thunder elves that make a gurgling sound.

She lowered her head, her long silver hair obscuring her face, revealing only her sharp, pale chin and tightly pursed lips, and shifted her body slightly uneasily.

"Excuse me... how should I address you, Master?"

Mu Qiu snapped out of his reverie, draped his deep purple velvet cloak over the elven girl, and began his self-introduction:

"As you can see, I am a slave owner. From today onwards, we are family. You can call me by my name, Mu Qiu."

"Now, let's talk about your salary. What are your salary expectations?"

The silver-haired elf girl kept her head down, but her body stiffened noticeably, as if she thought she was hallucinating.

What is...salary?

She hadn't originally planned to answer any of his questions, but this one was so unexpected that the girl couldn't help but look up at the black-haired boy opposite her and ask the question that had been on her mind.

"Slaves...get paid?"

"Of course, you've probably heard of debt slaves."

Mu Qiu knew that slavery was a prevalent social phenomenon in Astram, especially in the Orion Empire, where slavery existed within its legal framework and various legal slaves could be traded openly in formal auction houses.

So-called legal slaves refer to slaves who have been deprived of their personal rights by the empire in accordance with the law, such as "prisoners of war," "criminals," "captured enemy foreigners," and "debt slaves."

Debt slaves are a special type of slave. Legally, slave owners are required to pay wages to debt slaves. However, these wages do not need to be actually paid to the slaves. Instead, they are deducted from the expenses incurred by the slave owners for the slaves.

After signing the contract, these debt slaves owed their slave owners a sum of money equivalent to twice their value.

For example, if a slave owner buys a slave from a slave trader for 100 gold coins, and the slave works for the slave owner and earns 200 gold coins, the slave will be considered to have paid off all debts and become a free person. The slave owner should also grant the slave freedom according to law.

However, the expenses paid by slave owners for slaves during this period are also included in the calculation, but the exact amount of those expenses is a murky matter.

Often, these debt slaves, after selling themselves into slavery, find that their debts only increase. Not only can they not pay off their debts even after working for their slave owners their whole lives, but their children also have to continue to work like cattle for their slave owners.

The elven girl had also thought of this.

Ordinary nobles usually buy elves for their own enjoyment, but because elves have a lifespan far exceeding that of humans, some old perverted nobles sign debt contracts with elf slaves, promising to release them once the debt is paid off, making the elf slaves serve the nobles for life.

Not only must they serve the nobles, but they must also continue to serve their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons...

Thinking of such a future, Vera sighed silently and closed her eyes in anguish.

I thought this human couldn't even use such a low-level magical tool, and he didn't pounce on her the moment they met. He must be an inexperienced, naive noble young master who fantasized about winning the elf's true love, which is why he acted so gentlemanly.

Unexpectedly, the seemingly naive and ignorant other party was more cunning than a fox, and wanted to use a debt contract to tie her down for life.

Indeed, humans are simply not worth trusting!

"So, have you thought it through? What are your salary expectations?"

Mu Qiu smiled. He didn't intend to use the master-servant contract offered by the auction house, but instead planned to exchange it for a debt contract from the system.

After signing the debt agreement, he will be able to distribute the system funds to her in the form of a salary, in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

The system only stipulates that slaves cannot collude with each other or distribute system funds without cause.

But he paid wages to the slaves, which was a reasonable payment, wasn't it?

Whatever.

At least he bought himself.

At least he was a young and handsome human man, not an ugly and filthy fat pig.

As long as she is alive, she has a chance to return to her clan and hand the forbidden book over to the Queen.

Even if it means offering up this pure body and being played with day and night, as long as I can complete Her Majesty the Empress's mission...

Vera took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and a poignant smile appeared on her fair face, as if she had already foreseen her future fate.

"Expectations? Then let's make it ten thousand gold coins."

Since the other party wouldn't actually give her that many gold coins anyway, she might as well inflate the price to 10,000 gold coins a year. That would be enough to hire more than a dozen dragon maids, let alone elves.

"Okay, a salary of ten thousand a month."

Mu Qiu nodded in satisfaction.

Great! Very confident!

He likes these high-value slaves who think they're worth 10,000 gold coins a month!

"Then, regarding onboarding benefits, how big of a room would you like to have?"

Vera remained silent for a moment.

She wasn't a child; of course she knew that the humans in front of her were buying her simply to pin her down on the bed and make her make those "hoarse" sounds.

Otherwise, why would I spend a million gold coins to buy her?

Without magic, an elf is nothing but a pretty face and good for nothing except being capable.

The more promises he made, the more hypocritical she felt the boy in front of her was.

You say you'd give a slave 10,000 gold coins a month? Who would believe that?

Isn't it just deducting 10,000 gold coins from the debt and then calling it a salary?

Then we'll find ways to increase her debt, like fining her 10,000 yuan because she stepped in with her left foot first today...

Do you really think you can fool her with this kind of trick? Do you really think she's an elf who's come to the outside world for the first time?

"Master, shouldn't I be in the same room as you?"

Vera spoke in a flat tone.

"I understand, you want your room to be the same size as mine."

Mu Qiu nodded again, noting down the elven girl's request.

He used 10 gold coins to exchange for a debt contract from the system, and another gold coin to exchange for a high-grade quill pen. After drafting the contract, he handed it to the elf girl.

"Take a look at this contract. If there are no problems, sign it."

Vera took the contract, pulled at the deep purple velvet cloak covering her, and carefully read the terms on it.

[1. The "Contractor" must pay the "Contractee" a monthly salary of 10,000 gold coins, which cannot be substituted with any other items.]

[II. The "contractee" must work for the "contractor" for a full six hours each day, with a two-hour lunch break, three days off per week, and 60 days of annual leave per year. During these leave periods, the contractor may not forcibly issue any orders to the contractee.]

[3. All materials, items, equipment, etc., earned by the "contracted party" during their outings will belong to the "contractor," and the "contractor" should provide the "contracted party" with money of equal value.]

[4. The "contractor" shall provide the "contractee" with sufficiently comfortable living and food conditions free of charge.]

[5. If the "contractee" wishes to improve their professional potential, the "contractor" should hire a qualified tutor for the "contractee" free of charge.]

[Six: The "contracted party" shall not harm the "contractor" in any way. The "contractor" shall immediately protect the "contractor" in the event of danger. If the "contractor" has doubts about any aspect of knowledge, the "contracted party" shall unconditionally answer any questions the "contractor" may have.]

[Seven: Without the consent of the "contractee," the "contractor" may not, under any circumstances, demand that the "contractee" sleep with him/her.]

[8. If the "contractor" fails to meet the above reasonable and normal conditions, the contract will be automatically terminated, and the "contractee" will regain their freedom.]

[9. After the "contractee" regains their freedom, the "contractor" shall pay the "contractee" severance pay for (3N+6) months, where N is the number of years worked.]

After Vera finished reading the terms, even the usually composed Vera looked up in surprise at the smiling black-haired boy in front of her.

"Are you... insane?"

Chapter 4: Will the aloof Thunder Spirit also make a slurring sound?

"Do you think the conditions aren't good enough? Is there anything else that needs to be added?"

Mu Qiu was not surprised by the elf girl's surprise.

In this country where slavery was prevalent, once you became a slave, you were no longer considered a "person" in terms of law or reality, but rather the private property of your master.

He not only provided slaves with wages, but also provided them with comfortable housing and three meals a day free of charge, hired professional teachers for them free of charge, allowed slaves the right to holidays and rest, and fully respected the slaves' personal opinions.

Even if the slave's contract with him is terminated, he will provide the slave with a severance payment of 3N+6.

In a sense, after signing this contract, apart from the nominal master-servant relationship between him and the elf girl, their relationship will actually be closer to that of employer and employee.

In this way, they could easily escape, causing his investment in slaves to go down the drain and maximizing his losses, while also avoiding being betrayed by the slaves. Even a witch who wanted to destroy the world would feel that he had to be the last one to die upon seeing this contract.

"Did you use special ink to write clauses elsewhere that I can't see?"

Vera was still somewhat incredulous.

The terms of this contract can't be described as generous; they're practically heavenly!

Even if she weren't a slave, let alone the fact that she's currently just a slave, she feels she might still be tempted to sign the contract.

When she used to work in the royal city, her wages were settled in silver coins. She had to work three jobs every month: delivering flyers earned her eighteen silver coins a month, delivering newspapers earned her twenty-seven silver coins and fifty copper coins a month, and helping out at the breakfast shop earned her forty silver coins a month. She remembered all of these clearly.

Even after he worked hard to support himself and successfully graduated from the most prestigious mage academy in the royal city, becoming a noble elven mage, he still worried about money every day.

From serving as a sparring partner and tutor to those elf ladies, earning a dozen or several dozen gold coins a month, to becoming stronger and stronger, she could earn hundreds or even thousands of gold coins a month by hunting monsters.

However, hunting monsters alone is too risky. Maintaining the wand and buying magic scrolls and various potions cost a lot of money. After deducting these expenses, the amount of money that can be saved in a year is still not much.

She was exaggerating by saying 10,000 gold coins a year, but the other party actually wanted to pay her 10,000 gold coins a month...

There must be some kind of trap up there, right?

Once you sign the contract, you'll become a lewd elf whose mind is filled with nothing but intimate moments with your master. There must be some kind of trap here, right?

"I wrote this contract in front of you, didn't you see it?"

Mu Qiu rolled his eyes, thinking that the elf girl looked a bit silly.

It's just 10,000 gold coins a month, right?

She's a moon elf, after all; shouldn't she be among the nobles of the elven class? How come she acts like a common elf who's never seen the world?

“But…” Vera couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you know this is just an ordinary debt contract?”

"If you really give me 10,000 gold coins, I can use those 10,000 gold coins to hire a high-level contract master from the Adventurers' Guild to break my contract..."

"I know."

Mu Qiu nodded: "If you want to do that, I won't stop you, but I suggest you wait until I take you to buy some potions to help you heal your injuries before you leave."

Vera: "..."

If the contract is real, she won't want to leave.

"correct!"

Mu Qiu slapped his forehead. He looked at the silver-haired elf opposite him and noticed the deep purple bruises on her wrists and the dark red scabs on her ankles. Suddenly, he realized something.

He did not mention in the terms that he would help her heal her injuries.

This must be written down!

If it wasn't written in the terms, he could only use his personal wealth to treat her, or have her use her salary to buy potions.

But if it's written in the terms and conditions, he can legitimately use the system's funds to treat her.

"Wait a moment, let me revise the terms again."

Hearing Mu Qiu's words, Vera felt a sense of relief.

This is right.

That clause was just meant to tease her; it couldn't possibly be real!

The real terms should have been that she would have to wear lewd clothes in the manor every day, kneel down and kiss the tips of her master's shoes when she saw him, kneel on the ground and beg for his forgiveness when she made a mistake, and climb into his bed every night and make lewd noises...

"It's written, take a look."

Mu Qiu handed over the revised contract, and seeing that Vera was unmoved, he nudged the silver-haired elf girl's shoulder.

"ah--!"