Chapter 6: The Art of Investment

Not the one I’m imagining?

Treya froze, her mind going blank.

Selling was selling.

It meant treating a person like merchandise, locking them in a cage, branding them with a slave mark, and from then on losing their freedom and dignity, being bought and sold at will, their life and death decided by others.

What other interpretations could there be?

“I don’t understand,” her voice was very faint, like she was talking in her sleep.

The wound on Ryan’s hand had already healed completely. He stroked Treya’s head and said with a smile,

“Of course you don’t understand.”

“Because you’ve only seen the lowest level of trade in the Lower District, where people are treated like livestock.”

“Treya, let me ask you, how much can a useless street urchin be sold for?”

Treya pursed her lips and did not answer. She knew the answer: not even a single copper coin, and you’d even have to pay for a bite of food.

“Then what about a strong and healthy slave miner?” Ryan continued to ask.

“…Over a hundred silver coins.” This was the standard market price, and she knew it well.

“Exactly.” Ryan nodded. “So, a Kingdom Knight who can fight a hundred men alone, a court mage who can cast powerful magic, how much are they worth?”

This question exceeded the scope of Treya’s knowledge.

Knights? Mages?

Those were people who lived in stories, beings she didn’t even have the right to look up to. How could their value be measured in money?

“They… are priceless,” she managed to utter a few words with difficulty.

“No, they have a price,” Ryan’s tone was resolute. “It’s just that their price can no longer be calculated in gold coins. Their value is reflected in fiefs, noble titles, power, and influence.”

“And I, I am in this kind of business.”

Ryan’s voice carried a strange allure, making Treya involuntarily focus all her attention.

“I am a… talent investor.” He had come up with the most appropriate term.

“I look for diamonds buried in the mud, just like you, Treya.”

“A-grade potential.” He slowly uttered the word that felt so foreign to Treya. “I don’t know how you understand this term, but in my assessment standards, it means you possess the talent to become a truly powerful being. The kind of… powerful being that even a king would take seriously.”

Treya’s heart pounded wildly.

Her? A powerful being? Taken seriously by a king?

This was simply a fairy tale! She was just a blind street urchin waiting to die by the roadside.

“That’s impossible…”

“Whether it’s possible or not is not for you to decide.” Ryan interrupted her, repeating the words he had said in the afternoon. “I saw your value, so I ‘bought’ you. But I didn’t use money; instead, I used food, shelter, and a chance to change your fate.”

“I will nurture you, train you, and provide you with all the necessary resources, allowing the potential within you to gradually materialize into true strength.”

“And then what?” Treya asked, her voice trembling. “After you’ve nurtured me… will you ‘sell’ me?”

“Yes.” Ryan admitted candidly. “When your strength is sufficient—strong enough to be noticed by truly important figures, like a Knight Commander or a Mage Tower’s Tower Master—I will ‘recommend’ you to them.”

“And as a reward for discovering and nurturing you, they will pay me a generous ‘recommendation fee.’ This fee could be one thousand gold coins, or perhaps a baron’s title, or a fertile fief.”

“This is my business. What I ‘sell’ is not your body, nor your freedom, but your future, your talent. Do you understand?”

These words exploded in Treya’s mind like a thunderclap.

Talent investment? Recommendation fees?

This was a complex and high-end “transaction” belonging to the nobility and the upper class, something she had never heard of before.

It was a completely different concept from the “human trafficker” she understood.

One turned people into mindless livestock.

The other turned people into heroes of radiant glory, and then profited from it.

Though both were essentially for profit, the process and the outcome were worlds apart.

“Why should I believe you?” Treya’s body was still trembling, but her mind had already begun to race. This explanation sounded… seemingly reasonable.

“Because of this.” Ryan raised his hand, which was wrapped in cloth strips. “If I were just a human trafficker, you would be a corpse right now after biting me. But I’m not, because you are an ‘investment’ worth a thousand gold coins. I need you intact.”

“And this.” He pointed outside the door. “I gave you roasted meat, a clean bed to sleep in, and even went as far as using a precious healing potion to treat an insignificant little wound. Would a human trafficker do that? No, they would only use the minimum cost to extract the maximum profit. But an investor is different. To make their ‘asset’ appreciate in value, an investor is willing to pay any upfront cost.”

Each of his words was like a key, unlocking a doubt in Treya’s heart.

Those “kindnesses” she couldn’t understand now had a cold and realistic explanation.

It wasn’t kindness.

It was an investment.

This realization brought her a wave of relief, yet also a strange sense of loss.

So, the warm bed, the delicious roasted meat, the miraculous potion—none of it was free. Everything had already been marked with a price in the shadows.

“What… do I need to do?” she finally asked the most crucial question.

“What you need to do is simple.” A smile curved Ryan’s lips, the smile of a merchant seeing a deal about to be closed. “Sign a contract with me.”

“Ryan Gray, as your investor, will be responsible for all your future expenses and training. And you, Treya, as the ‘investee’, must obey my arrangements, strive to improve yourself, and not go back on your word when you create value for me in the future.”

“The contract will take the form of a ‘Slave Contract’, but this is merely a safeguard to prevent being stabbed in the back. As long as you are obedient, this contract will not be activated, nor will it be handed over to anyone. Once you have earned enough ‘value’ for me to break even, the contract will automatically terminate.”

“How about it? I think these terms are already very generous.”

Treya froze for a moment.

Did she have any other choice?

No.

Either stay here and gamble on whether this man named Ryan was telling the truth.

Or escape and return to that cold, hungry back alley where the Black Wolf Gang could snatch them away at any moment, continuing to live a life of precarious survival.

The answer was obvious.

“Then… what about my companions? Will they also be bound by a Slave Contract by you?”

For Treya, the other five orphans were not just companions she lived with day and night, but family members who relied on each other when she was at her most desperate and helpless, abandoned in the Lower District.

If the future Ryan described was a fiery pit, then she alone would jump into it…

“No.”

Ryan naturally understood what Treya meant.

He said with a smile.

The combined “value” of the other children was not even as high as Treya’s, so there was naturally no need to waste the precious Book of Contracts to control them.

“They’ll be considered a bonus. As long as you are willing to sign the contract, I will educate them, cultivate them, and uncover their potential as a true mentor, turning them into decent people with a professional skill who can survive independently in this country.”

“I… agree.” Treya took a deep breath, as if she had used up all her strength.

“Very good.” Ryan nodded in satisfaction. “A smart choice.”

He opened the System Shop and exchanged for the “Book of Contracts” in the Special Items column.

[ Book of Contracts ]

[ Price: 10 points (the second Book of Contracts will increase in price to 100 points, and so on) ]

[ Effect: A document with a compulsory effect. After signing is completed, even gods cannot violate the contract. ]