"Ow ow ow, wasn't this slave acting so proud just a few days ago, trying to compare himself with the children of noble families? Now he's finally realized his place, knowing he's just a worthless beast, so he's finally selling himself to a new master?"
"Hmph. A slave is a slave. A lowly thing. Without a master giving him food, how could he even survive?"
"But a slave like this, who has defiled the sacred texts of the sages, who would dare accept him? Just touching him might bring accusations of disrespecting the sages. Ha, he'll probably never be taken seriously again by the nobles of any kingdom, and his future in politics is over."
As the mocking and jeering from people of all nations grew louder, the kneeling male slave kept his back perfectly straight.
He held up the contract in both hands and said in a deep voice:
"My mother passed away from a serious illness. As the son of a slave, I, Wenbin, cannot afford a coffin for her burial. I now offer my own slave contract in exchange. As long as my mother can be laid to rest, I will serve as a slave or servant without complaint for the rest of my life."
If it were any ordinary person, even if not of noble blood, selling oneself to bury one's mother would surely be praised and admired by the world.
But Wenbin wasn't an ordinary person. In this world where slaves aren't even seen as human, he didn't even count as one.
So even though they heard he was selling himself to bury his mother, the people from all kingdoms around him didn't show sympathy or admiration. Instead, they laughed at him even more.
"Tch, so it's just a little slave selling himself to bury an old slave? What's the point of burying a slave? Wouldn't it be enough to just toss the body in some random forest?"
"Hmph. This slave tried to imitate noble scholars by studying books, and now he wants to act like a normal person and sell himself to bury his parent. Pah. Does he think this will earn him fame? Quite the opposite. He's just imitating the virtuous poorly. What bad luck. A slave wanting a proper burial? Ridiculous."
"He even gave himself the name Wenbin. Tsk tsk tsk, a slave not only dares to have a name but even uses a name blessed by literature and fortune. Hah, truly shameless."
The laughter and insults grew louder. Some hot-tempered nobles, seeing Wenbin kneel there without reacting even while being insulted, and noticing a few scrolls placed beside him as if those sacred texts of knowledge were being sold with him got even more furious.
One noble stepped forward and kicked Wenbin hard.
"What kind of trash are you. You dare to bring sacred texts of the sages to be humiliated along with you."
After kicking for a while, they noticed that Wenbin was like a rock firmly rooted to the ground. Their legs began to ache, but he remained kneeling upright, completely unmoved.
Enraged even more, the nobles rolled up their sleeves and lunged at the scrolls beside Wenbin, trying to snatch the texts he wasn't worthy of owning.
Wenbin, who had remained silent through all the insults and beatings, finally moved when they reached for the scrolls.
He lunged forward and threw himself over the scrolls. No matter how much the nobles cursed or beat him, no matter how many fists or kicks he took, he clung tightly to the scrolls beneath him.
The insults from all around became more vicious, and the beatings more violent.
Many who had just been watching joined in to kick him too when they saw that he wasn't fighting back.
More and more people joined the assault, and Wenbin's figure was soon swallowed up by the surrounding crowd of nobles.
Elara watched this scene from the street corner and turned to her guard. "Go find the patrol soldiers. Have them clear the street."
The guard was about to leave when Prince Leland took out his identity token and handed it over.
"Take this with you." With his status as a second-rank noble, the patrol soldiers would surely come without question.
As expected, not even five minutes later, the patrol soldiers from the capital of Geranium Kingdom quickly arrived and suppressed the mob violence happening at the street corner.
Once the crowd calmed down, the guards respectfully escorted the nobles of each kingdom away. Then they used whips to drive Wenbin to the corner of the street and warned him not to appear in public again anytime soon. If he disturbed the nobles of other kingdoms again, he would be treated as a rebellious slave and beaten to death on the spot.
Wenbin was thrown into the street corner. His once-handsome face was now black and blue. His ragged slave clothes had been torn in several places, revealing a strong body covered with whip scars, almost completely unclothed.
Elara stood with Uno at the corner of the street. She didn't walk over immediately, but instead watched Wenbin silently clean up, organizing the bamboo slips and hugging them to his chest. At the same time, she summoned the shadow guard who had previously investigated Wenbin.
"What's his real situation?"
The shadow guard, who had been following Wenbin for several days, lowered his head and replied:
"Master, Wenbin was born a slave. His mother and father were both slaves of a small local noble family in a border town of the Geranium Kingdom. Wenbin was born as a slave's son, treated as livestock by that small family, but he was intelligent and wise.
When he was young, he secretly hid in the corners of classrooms to learn. He picked up discarded bamboo slips and notes left by nobles and taught himself. Later, that small noble family committed a crime and was exiled.
On the way, they were attacked by bandits. Wenbin's father and the entire noble family were killed by the bandits. His mother jumped into a river with him, barely surviving.
After that, he and his mother wandered for years. He not only taught himself the writings of sages but also learned martial arts and inner energy from a wandering reclusive master. His overall strength is not low, and most ordinary fighters might not be able to defeat him.
He has profound knowledge and decent character. While drifting from place to place, he has helped many people robbed by bandits. But because he is a slave's son and unwilling to remain a servant, he began to recommend himself everywhere starting at age sixteen. Unfortunately, due to his status, no one has ever accepted him.
What he received the most were situations like today."
Elara nodded. "Does he have any ties with major powers on the continent?" That was what she cared about the most. She didn't want trouble.
The shadow guard spoke softly, "From what I observed these days and from what I found, he has always lived independently with his mother. He hasn't had any involvement with any factions. The wanderer who taught him martial arts also died when Wenbin was eighteen. Now six years have passed, and no faction has ever been linked to him."
"Alright." That meant there was no issue. His background was clean.
The shadow guard stepped back.
Elara brought Uno with her and walked over to Wenbin, who was still carefully wiping dirt off the bamboo slips.
"Wenbin."
Wenbin had already sensed Elara's approach. Although he was the only one left in the street now, and even though this noblewoman had just helped him out of trouble, he still wasn't sure if she had come for him.
In this world, women often held higher status than most men, especially since he was only the son of a slave.
With his kind of background... he couldn't take the initiative to greet a noblewoman of her status.
To speak first was already a major discourtesy. It would lower their position.