"Welcome my young friend," Norris said with a smile. "Are you perhaps here to purchase slaves again?"
"Yes," Thirteen replied. "But, I want the special ones, and not the ones sold here."
"Oh dear, are you referring to the ones that I will send to the auction house a week from now?"
"Yes."
Norris rubbed his chin, as he looked at the snake that was coiled up around the boy's neck.
Seeing that the Domini Mortis had a satisfied look on her face, the Slave Master couldn't help but ask the boy a question.
"Can you tell me why you want to purchase those special slaves?" Norris inquired. "But, before that, let's go inside. This is not a good place to discuss these matters."
The middle-aged man made a gesture for Thirteen to follow him to his office in order to have a proper talk.
Thirteen nodded and followed behind him because he also didn't want to discuss these things in the open.
When the two were properly seated, Thirteen told Norris about his encounter with the Purple-Furred Honey Badger, which made the Slave Master almost choke on the tea he was drinking.
"Y-You saw that Monster and survived?!" Norris looked at the seven-year-old with a dumbfounded look on his face. "By the Gods, not many can survive an encounter with the Purple-Furred Honey Badger and live to tell their tale."
As a Slave Trader, he had dealt with many people, so he could easily tell if someone was lying or not.
A single glance was enough to tell him that the boy was telling the truth which made him understand why Thirteen suddenly visited him.
"Well, even with the Monsters I have, I don't think there is one among them who can fight that Monster head-on," Norris stated.
"I know," Thirteen replied. "But, there are two Monsters that I would like to purchase from you."
"Even if I suffer losses?" Norris asked with a devilish mile on his face.
"I don't want you to suffer losses," Thirteen replied. "So, I am willing to buy them higher than the market price."
"Hmm…" Norris pondered a bit before leaning back on his chair. "Tell me what the two Monsters are first. If they are not that high in demand, I will consider your request."
Thirteen nodded. "I want the Pocopoco, and the Chad Skunk."
"Interesting choices," Norris narrowed his eyes. "I can understand why you need the Chad Skunk, but the Pocopoco? That's just one annoying bird."
A moment later, a business-man-smile appeared on Norris' face after making up his mind.
"Since you are a friend, I don't mind selling you the Pocopoco for 5,000 Silver Coins," Norris stated. "It's not a Monster you can find in these parts, so I believed that the Barbarians would buy it as a pet because of its uniqueness.
"I know that it is very expensive, but I believe that some Barbarians would be willing to spend that much for it."
The Pocopoco was a colorful bird that resembled a Parrot.
It specialized in mimicking sounds, including the voices of people. It was also very smart and, just like Norris had stated, it was a monster that wasn't native to this part of the world.
The Slave Master was only able to capture it by pure coincidence because it was injured when he found it, so it didn't take long for him to carve the slave tattoo on its head.
Truth be told, the Pocopoco was similar to the Fluffy White Cat that he had given his sister, Remi, as a house pet.
The only difference was that the Pocopoco that Norris captured was actually a Rank 3 Monster.
However, although it was a Rank 3 Monster, the only thing it was good at was flying away at great speeds, as well as mimicking sounds and voices.
It served no other purpose aside from that.
In the Human Kingdoms, there were a handful of people who used the Pocopoco as messenger birds, who relayed exactly what their Masters wanted to say to the people they wanted to pass the message to.
They could be useful once they were trained.
But, that was the problem.
Taming these birds was very hard because they were a rowdy bunch.
They were similar to the Angry Birbs of a certain red-headed Half-Elf, who would hurl profanities at people with every chance that they got.
"How about the Chad Skunk?" Thirteen inquired. "I am willing to buy it as well."
Norris shook his head. "Unfortunately, the Chad Skunk is a hot commodity. I am willing to sell you the Pocopoco, but for the Chad Skunk, you have to bid on it in the auction."
Thirteen frowned, but in the end, he nodded his head in understanding.
"Very well, I will bid on it during the auction," Thirteen stated.
"Good. Please wait here, while I bring the Pocopoco to you."
"Okay."
Several minutes later, the Slave Master returned holding a bird cage in his hand.
Inside of it, was a colorful bird with a muzzle attached to its beak.
This was to prevent the Pocopoco from saying anything, which made the seven-year-old smile faintly.
His previous host had a Pocopoco pet, and he knew full well how obnoxious these birds could be.
This was why only a select few treated them as pets because they could cause their owners to have heart attacks, strokes, and aneurysms due to how foul-mouthed they were.
Pocopocos in captivity didn't live long lives.
Due to their nature, their Masters would often kill them in a fit of anger because of how annoying they could be.
They weren't strong monsters to begin with, and only fell into the Nuisance Monster Category.
Just like most Monsters, Pocopocos ranked up as well.
But, their Ranks couldn't go past Rank 4.
The only thing that changed whenever they ranked up was their flight speed, which could reach up to 100 miles per hour.
Their voices could also be heard from farther away as their Rank rose higher.
At Rank 1, their voices could be heard from two hundred meters.
At Rank 2, four hundred meters.
At Rank 3, six hundred meters.
At Rank 4, you could hear it from a kilometer away.
"Let's bind this bird first," Norris said. "I don't know how smart this bastard is, but it knows a lot of words. It must have visited a lot of human cities before I found it."
After Norris finished his preparation, he asked Thirteen to drop a blood on the bird's forehead, so that the Slave Tattoo would activate.
Truth be told, the Pocopoco was one of the few monsters that had a strong resistance against the Slave Tattoo.
In short, these birds could choose not to obey an order, and they would not suffer from the backlash of the tattoo on their foreheads.
However, there was one thing that they couldn't do and that was to escape from their Master, whom they were bound to.
In short, once the Pocopoco was contracted to someone, they would have to stay with the person for years.
This was also one of the reasons why they were one of the Monsters with the highest death rates in captivity because they would almost always insult their Masters, and not follow any of their orders.
When the ceremony ended, the Pocopoco looked at its new Master in disdain.
Norris, on the other hand, smirked after Thirteen finished paying up.
"I would like to remind you before you leave that there is no refund for this transaction," Norris stated. "If this bird gets on your nerves, just chop off its head and roast it. Their meat is actually a delicacy."
"I know," Thirteen replied. "But, I'm sure that this bird and I will get along just fine."
If the Pocopoco had fingers, it might have already given its new Master the middle finger. This was evident to the look of disdain that it was giving the boy.
Even in the face of death, it refused to yield.
This was why it was one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, Monsters to tame in Solterra.
But, this wasn't a problem for Thirteen.
After all, he already knew how to tame this Monster, who would become a valuable ally once it truly recognized the seven-year-
old as its Master.
"Thank you for the business, and don't hesitate to visit me again if you need more slaves," the Slave Master stated. "Although I can't sell you the ones meant for auction, everything else on display is fair game."
"Then in that case, I will accept your offer," Thirteen replied.
The boy then walked towards the slaves that were on display, and picked up the ones that caught his attention.
