Chapter 1 - 1

Fisher 1: 1.

Fisher The entire sky was covered with dark clouds, and although it was noon, the sunlight struggled to pierce through the layers of seemingly endless clouds, turning them into a desolation nearly akin to death.

Below, the land was uneven and appeared uninhabited.

But whenever a breeze passed by, the soil trembled slightly, revealing bits of sparkling light that blinked at a colorful and fluffy cluster of tents in the distance.

Those flashy tents, with their ostentatious array of colors, were adorned with strings of shimmering decorations, which set off the text printed in Western Continent Language.

“Kexie Ning Circus.”

This was a circus that traveled and performed across various countries, and the contents of its performances were no different from those traditionally known.

Between the tents, various exotic animals were led around by circus personnel; many performers, painted in bright makeup and donning poofy wigs on their foreheads,

“Mr.

Colin, everything’s nearly packed up; we can proceed to Brian City.”

At the entrance of the circus, a clown-dressed staff member spoke to a middle-aged man holding a cup of coffee in front of him.

The man’s hair was unkempt and bushy, his beard long uncombed, and his belly so fat that it couldn’t be concealed by his suit, making it look as unflattering as a barrel.

“Ah…

Well, if everything’s ready, let’s prepare to leave…

Yes, let’s wait a bit longer for the buyer.

If he doesn’t show up by tonight, we’ll depart.”

“Alright, I’ll let them know.”

The clown returned to the tents, and the man known as Colin rubbed his nose.

The wind in the Brian Wilderness was as sharp and harsh as blades, almost unbearable even for them who regularly traveled between countries.

Saint Nali was still the most hospitable place to live.

The middle-aged man sipped his coffee, thinking this.

There, with the most comprehensive educational and health systems, the brilliance of human civilization existed in every stone of the town’s pavements.

For those like them who wandered, merely entering the city made one feel infected by its comfortable and beautiful atmosphere, almost making one wish to kneel and kiss the spotlessly clean tiles.

Instead of being here making deals, with the buyer playing truant and reluctant to show up.

Colin glanced at the sparkling eyes beneath the soil, only to see them retract back into the ground like little spirits in the next instant.

His pupils narrowed slightly, and he seemed to sense something as he looked towards the distant reaches of the limitless wilderness.

A strengthening sound of hooves, like thunder, shattered the quiet of the field.

On the roadless field, a tiny black dot accompanied by the sound of these hooves approached the circus.

“Coming…”

Colin fattened—ahem, slightly protruded his stomach, finishing the last bit of his coffee before turning around to hand the cup to an employee.

Rubbing his hands, he straightened his excessively corpulent appearance, and then stood at the circus entrance with a courteous smile, waiting for the far-off guest to arrive.

Two black stallions, pulling a carriage behind them, sped towards the circus.

As they neared, Colin could finally see the man sitting at the front of the carriage, holding the reins.

The man, dressed in a tasteful and fitting Saint Nali suit, between light-gloved hands held the reins, his appearance young, handsome, and manly under a black gentleman’s hat, yet his expression was cold, giving him an aura of aloofness that seemed to add a layer of iciness.

“Hiss!”

As the distance closed, the man appeared to gently pull the reins, the two black stallions in front, as though blocked by a great force, whinnied and raised their heads slightly, stopping not far from the circus, panting heavily.

Quickly awakening from his initial admiration of the man’s appearance, Colin felt a sense of dread but kept a friendly smile on his face.

He ambled towards the carriage.

“Grace us with your presence; welcome to the Kexie Ning Circus, I am the ringmaster, Colin.

Nice to meet you, nice to meet…”

The man stepped down from the side of the carriage, holding a Handcane, his leather shoes hitting the soil of the Brian Wilderness, firmly stepping on the curious Earth Spirits beneath wanting to peek above.

The soil jumped a few times and moved away in a small wave as the little spirits seemingly scurried away.

With a neutral expression, the man removed his hat, addressing Colin,

“Hello, Mr.

Colin, I am Fisher, here to finalize a previously arranged order.”

Colin took a moment to assess the man in front of him, his eyebrows suddenly twitching before he hesitantly and apologetically smiled,

“Um…

I remember that it was supposed to be Orn from Philone City finalizing the transaction, not a gentleman like yourself.

Or perhaps, you are just here to see our performance, in which case I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until we’re in Brian City—Oh!”

Before Colin could finish, Fisher lightly tapped his Handcane, a faint smile on his face as he emphasized,

“It’s the order, not the performance, Mr.

Colin.”

“Err, well, we have principles, and by principle, since the order was confirmed, then we…”

“Principles?”

Fisher lightly tapped his Handcane against the side of the carriage, and a small secret door opened revealing a bag with a bloody smell rolling out.

Judged by its length, it seemed to fit an adult man, though it was uncertain whether it could fit someone as corpulent as Colin.

As it rolled, the bag came to rest at Colin’s feet, its mouth slightly agape revealing a frightened, bloody face inside.

Who else could it be if not the original buyer, Orn?

Colin quickly shut his fat mouth, fearful of the bloody scent seeping into his body and polluting it.

His eyes trembled as he saw the gentlemanly man extract another bag from the same secret door, except this one jingled, filled entirely with Saint Nali gold coins.

The amount was more than what had been agreed upon in the initial transaction.

“Ah…

ah!

That’s right, principles!” Colin swallowed his saliva, clapped his hands vigorously and righteously spoke, “In our line of work, the most important thing is principles.

Since it was agreed to trade with Mr.

Fisher, of course, we wouldn’t give the deal to someone else…

hahaha…

hahaha, don’t you agree?”

“Mr.

Colin is a humorous man.”

Mr.

Fisher, still holding his hand cane, watched the fat man in front of him with a smile in his eyes.

As his gaze remained flat, Colin hesitated for a moment, picked up a bag filled with gold coins from the ground, opened it to confirm that it was full of authentic gold coins, and then he ignored Orn, who was still wrapped in a bag on the ground.

As he said, he indeed was a man of principle; his principle revolved around gold coins, directing his conscience.

Mr.

Fisher put on his hat, ignoring his actions, and simply spoke,

“Let me see the merchandise.”

“No problem at all, Mr.

Fisher, right this way, please…”

Colin put the large bag of gold coins into his inner coat pocket, his corpulent body getting distorted as he forcefully stuffed it in, and surprisingly, despite the vigorous effort, the large bag of gold coins actually fit inside his coat pocket, or more precisely, inside the fat of his belly.

He seemed to have gotten a bit fatter, even letting out a full belch.

“What country’s magic is this?”

Asked Mr.

Fisher, intrigued.

Noticing Mr.

Fisher’s gaze, Colin awkwardly smiled and explained,

“Just a little sleight of hand, nothing compared to real magic…”

Mr.

Fisher nodded his head, not pressing further.

Even if it was real magic, it was likely this man’s closely guarded secret; there was no need to pry deeply, as that wasn’t his goal.

As long as he could successfully obtain what he came for, Colin was of no concern to him.

“We have guests arriving, get ready to welcome them!!”

Colin suddenly shouted at the front, lightly clapping his hands.

As the sound faded, the tent behind them seemed to come alive, opening up like a mouth to reveal the many performers, steam engines, and exotic creatures inside.

Among them, a tiny elephant jumped around in the hands of an actor like a rat, ethereal steam train filled with indistinct ghostly figures shrieking, an actress took a deep breath and then spewed endless flames towards the sky, and then, from within that fire, another human figure emerged, landing on the ground.

“They are all in rehearsal…

especially those ghosts, we haven’t applied the Revealing Powder, so it’s hard to see them clearly; that stuff is too expensive, we barely use it except for official shows.”

As Colin led Mr.

Fisher inside, he introduced the signature acts of their circus.

Spirit Crossing Train, the locomotive was an expensive mimic of a real steam train made from a Spiritual Body.

Shrinking Technique, using magic to shrink large creatures to complement the performances.

Fire Spirit, the human figure in the fire was a mature Fire Spirit, similar to the Earth Spirits below ground.

Mr.

Fisher’s gaze fell on the deep purple emblems glowing within the folds of the actor’s clothing, then nonchalantly withdrew his gaze.

Slave seals, with the seal engraved, the owner could fully control the slave’s life and actions, which meant all the workers at the circus were slaves.

The master was this fat man beside him, Mr.

Colin.

“These people are all slaves.”

“Ah, haha, you know, it’s a cost issue,” Colin said, rubbing his hands embarrassedly, “ever since those council bumpkins passed the Schon Charter, the hiring cost for workers in the city has skyrocketed compared to before, not to mention the fees for vaccination emblems and so on…

for a small honest businessman like me, these aren’t small sums…”

He seemed very dissatisfied with the Human Rights Schon Charter passed by the Kingdom Council, his pudgy face slightly quivering, he pondered, “What was that saying again, those council scoundrels, sanctimonious bloodsuckers, something something God, ensuring everyone enjoys a unified minimum wage standard…”

“‘We and our successors do hereby vow to God, per this charter, allow adult workers to receive an equal minimum wage…'”

Mr.

Fisher recited the original text of the charter beside him, prompting Colin to clap vigorously,

“Exactly, exactly!

Damned council scoundrels!”

The charter protected all the kingdom’s free and equal citizens, regardless of gender or age…

Except for the slaves and filthy demi-humans.

“We’ve arrived, Mr.

Fisher…”

Having reached the end of the circus, a black tent stood before them; Colin rubbed his hands once more and pulled back the curtain for Mr.

Fisher.

Inside, in the dimly lit tent, only a faint glow lamp hung in the center, around which, shadows whimpered and cowered in filth mixed with excrement and food within stacked iron cages; the deep purple slave emblems on their bodies gleamed faintly, revealing their non-human features.

Mr.

Fisher covered his nose and mouth, seeing this, Colin bowed and apologetically said,

“Mr.

Fisher, you can wait outside; I will have someone bring out the merchandise…

as previously discussed, five female Dragon-man Species, right?”