Atlantis

Kou was quite set on his plan, but Miki seemed to be thinking the exact opposite. She wouldn't rest; she'd continue working. Well, everyone coped with their issues in their own unique ways. Kou couldn't fault the girl for how she chose to deal with... whatever trauma went on in her head. "Sou ka," he said as his plan changed entirely. If that was the Lancer's decision, he'd make the decision of not leaving her to go at it alone. Just as well, doing that would hardly produce a different outcome from what he originally intended to do.

A few steps placed him at Miki's side, where he turned to await the arrival of the traders. "Actually, there's no point to me hitting the streets. It'd be better if I just got a read on these traders you mentioned." He was, of course, lying. It would be worse by a veritable mile to do things this way, even if the same result would come about regardless. But... he'd do it anyway. He stood his ground, waiting patiently with only a nod toward Seriri when she announced her plan to find the one called 'Diva' to check with him.

Miki could have done what she'd said she'd do alone. In fact, she sort of expected to after waking up in Kou's lap instead of Akashi's. Her original partner generally left her to her own devices and she'd only informed him of her plans in case he wished to speak with any particular type of merchant, trader or craftsman that she'd have contact with this day. But, much to her own surprise, he claimed he wished to join her in her work today. 'That can't actually be productive...' she thought to herself. So, why would he do something like that if it wouldn't actually benefit his plans overall? She shifted her gaze for the first time in several moments and looked directly at the lad before her, her face full of obvious puzzlement. 'He's not actually just, doing this for me... is he?' she questioned mentally. The actions of the Dragon were straight-forward, though his temperament wasn't easily readable. Kou seemed to be put together in the exact opposite way, where everything he felt was pretty clear, but his actions weren't always in alignment. "Sou desu... your face is easy to read," Miki said softly. "Arigatou na..." she murmured. Her brave face was returning, but it was mostly just an act. Pretending to be brave when she wanted to crumble was a special skill developed over time, one she didn't really know she had but one most people were aware of, given her naturally displeased expressions.

Time would pass though, and Miki would continue to sit where she was, giving advice to many people. Fixing business practices, creating good payrates and benefits for employees, helping management motivate their staff. All kinds of interesting things came out of the lass' mind. One such conversation would be had between her and the same old gentleman who'd been the first one to speak to her during her incursion the previous day. "My son isn't interested in my business nor crafts. I don't know what to tell him though, this is all I know. And I need some young hands around but I can't..." he paused seeming to think over what he would say. "Workers are hard to find with the right skill sets," he finished up. There was something a bit ominous about his statement, and it wasn't missing from Miki. She didn't have an exact placement as to why, but she'd discourage anything resembling forced labor and help this man out to the best of her abilities. "If your son isn't interested in your business, as his father you should look into seeing if any of your fellows has the sort of business he'd enjoy learning. Additionally if you need a worker skilled to help you, you'd do better to have one who has interest in your trade as well. I'd advise looking into developing a set apprenticeship. Finding a young worker willing to work for a slightly decreased pay rate, something like 10 percent, while you share your experiences and expertise. Setting up your son in a similar situation will give him the ability to eventually learn and prosper in his own trade. And in this way you'd be able to guarantee your helper knows their own business and will eventually grow to be a substantial business partner, or someone you could pass your trade on to. Treat them well, teach them well, and watch as they take your ideas and flourish with them. A lot of the other business owners could benefit from that system as well, make sure you share it with your fellows," Miki mentioned. Her face still had nothing but a displeased expression but the old man before her knew and understood what she was saying. If he was having these kinds of problems with his son, perhaps some others were too. They could effectively have their kids learn the trades they wanted while getting paid to do so, and still get hands without dipping into unsavory practices. "That's... novel. And great. Don't worry... I'll make sure the rest of them hear of it. I'll come back if we have any issues," he said holding his hands up in offering of the 20 percent of his previous day's profits. This idea was worth way more than the money he'd just paid for it. And his business would surely prosper. He ran off and Miki spoke to Kou while waiting for the next approach, but only after pulling this pouch towards herself and adding it to the already large amount of currency she'd collected today.

"Ojii-san there, is a true merchant. He was the first to talk to me yesterday. He seems to have the best interests of all the tradesmen and merchants in mind. He's also been working his whole life, he's seen the best and worst of businesses, he has a good sense for things and a reasonable moral compass," she said. Knowing if she could she'd put this man in charge of the tradesmen given his own experiences.

Kou's eyes widened the moment Miki commented on the easy-reading of his visage, and his head turned away just slightly. "Iie," he said in a soft tone. From there, the wait properly began. It didn't take long for the traders to start walking in one after another. Miki dealt with each on an individual basis, taking small amounts of their profits in exchange for giving them some actual solid advice for their dealings. Kou, or rather Yugi, would have typically thought negatively. There was an interesting balance in the way Miki treated the operation, though. In a way, he could see how the people paying for her advice were benefiting even more than Miki herself ever could from the payment itself. It was... interesting.

One particular interaction between Miki and a trader really managed to catch Kou's attention, after a series of standard dealings. Kou had a few assumptions to make here and there from the others, but he didn't quite like the way this man phrased his issue with workers. Miki handled the man's issue quite succinctly, and yet... there was a switch in Kou's mind, and this meeting had been toying with it throughout its lifespan. 'That doesn't make sense. Even with Merfolk and Humans being divided here, if that kind of problem doesn't naturally fix itself...' Finally, Kou's mind was reaching the realization Akashi had days before, and it was infuriating. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he fell indefinitely silent. He gritted his teeth as well, not even having a response to Miki's words toward him after the trader left. This was bad. Kou was just about 100% certain of the problem here, but he needed one final bit of confirmation.

Kou's tells were much more obvious than Miki remembered after dealing with Akashi so directly for a few days. Even when he turned his face away from her she still felt the intention behind his actions. He even claimed to not want to be thanked perhaps. 'Sou ka, maybe I'm also pretty bad at reading people...' she thought to herself, there was no smile, but perhaps there didn't need to be one.

After her meeting with the one good tradesman, Kou's visage seemed to have changed. She never really got out of Akashi directly what he thought was going on beneath the Banker's tryanny, but he'd said it wasn't good. She could make a few assumptions based on her central beliefs about money, greed and the nature of people. But she was about to find out first hand exactly the nature of the rest of society within Atlantis. And this would come surprisingly in the form of a young girl, who approached the throne and Miki rather directly. Miki couldn't see her directly beneath the thin cloak she wore, which was brown in color, but she saw the shifty movements and realized the lass had a fish half for her lower body. Her face was hidden and she held up a bag of something in front of Miki and started talking really shifty glancing from left to right with a smile on her face which seemed a bit disturbed. Miki wasn't at all bothered by the look on this person's face, but she was outright concerned with what she was offering which wasn't money because when she poked the bag with her ability the pull of it wasn't quite right. "I don't remember seeing you yesterday. And I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I did... do we have business?" she asked of the lass.

She stammered several times still holding up the bag. "We, haven't met but I am here now..." she said looking from left to right and pushing back her hood. Revealing in the moment a mop of dusty looking white hair and yellow eyes with black sclera. She was definitely a fish and that awkward smile let Miki know exactly what type. "I want to make a deal with you. I want to be a merchant too, and I want to learn it from you!" she said excitedly. Miki's eyes widened just a tad, it was a bit early for her to have gained enough of a reputation for a random person to be trying to gain her as a master, though this one wanted Miki not strictly in the teaching sense. "I don't have any money yet, but I am a Mershark and I'm young. I heard yesterday that you can use Mershark teeth for your powers. And I'll give you all the ones I've lost and more for a long time! And I lose them all the time... and they grow back!" she said quickly. She was definitely selling up the traits and Miki could actually use the shark teeth if she intended to run a bone army but... Miki realized this girl must have been in the market yesterday, but she didn't remember seeing her anywhere. She definitely wasn't attached to any of the merchants who'd sided with her as an employee. She would have had some form of currency to offer if she did, the contract protections would have made it so. "I'll give you all this, if you'll just buy me from my master!" she finished and Miki's eyes widened. "Buy you from your..." Miki paused, everything this child shark had said made a great deal of sense. Now, it was something Akashi had realized that Miki hadn't because she wasn't the type to ever see people as things. "Little Shark people aren't Merchandise. I would never buy a person...." Miki spoke these words with a marked bit of defiance. The little shark girl was unsure of how to react in the moment. But Miki wasn't upset with her at all. In fact, Miki was more than willing to make a deal with her. "Your first lesson is contract negotiations. Don't sell yourself short. You aren't property and you aren't merchandise, knowing this, what's your approach?" she asked of the girl rather calmly her eyes were trained on her and she was waiting.

Kou couldn't quell the anger building up within. He had hopes of being wrong, but... he knew better. Maybe he could at least make sure he managed to calm himself before confronting anyone about this...

No such luck. The next person to enter the throne room was a female mer, and obviously not a trader of any sort, despite her intentions of learning to be one. That wasn't the worst part, though. Her hidden face and body, the way she stood, everything about her demeanor during this approach... it all screamed something worse than poverty. The final confirmation came from the Mershark's own mouth; she was a slave. Kou's narrowed eyes became wide, and his hand trembled while forming a fist. This wasn't going to end well for someone, at this rate. The girl was so bad off, she even offered to be purchased by Miki in order to learn the ins and outs of business, likely with the intention of then buying her freedom at a later time. "Tch!" was the only sound from Kou as he bit into his bottom lip, drawing blood from the corner. He'd still leave Miki to her own dealings instead of stepping in with his own clause and intentions, though.

Kou's anger was apparent to Miki, even as she had a look at him out of the corner of her eye. Even so, she couldn't actually be mad at him and wouldn't try to talk him out of his righteous anger in this moment. After all, she'd gotten hers, Seriri had also gotten hers, what position did she have to argue with the lad over what he wanted to do in this very moment. At this very moment she'd even heard the sound he'd made and knew he was leaving her to this, even though he wanted to step in. So she did the only thing she could do at the moment, she spoke to the girl to see if she understood her current position and find out exactly how much fight this slave class had to work with.

That awkward smile seemed to only get bigger as the shark girl trembled just a little. Her mind was working overtime to come up with a deal that Miki would take, that would end with her being able to learn from the woman in exchange for what she had to offer as someone else's slave. She thought about it for several moments, and looked up at Miki and Kou as if trying to figure out what it was about them, that was inherently different from the people of Atlantis. There was power here but there was something else... sympathy, empathy, drive. Both of them seemed to be working through some level of distaste at the idea that she was a slave, but unlike other people who avoided her, this pair looked at her straight on. Miki had even claimed that people weren't merchandise and that she would never buy a slave, but she hadn't outright claimed she wouldn't help the lass out of her predicament. She told her she was to learn to negotiate a contract as if she was free. So if she was free with no money to speak of, how would she have approached the lass to become her apprentice instead of her property. "Sou ka. I know!" she said her eyes widening and showing a great deal of light in the moment. "If you won't buy a slave, will you buy my teeth? I can use the funds to try and haggle my own freedom from my Master..." she said, seeming to have considered it might not work, but it was her last hope so she'd take it. "Then I can come and learn from you directly, in the same way as any other apprentice!" she said this with firmness more than she'd shown before.

"That's a good girl..." this came from Miki with the only smile she had for the day and it was directed at the small girl before her. She hopped from the top of the stairs and walked down to approach her, laying a gentle hand upon her head which the lass looked up from and smiled into. "Here," she said offering the girl a bag of coin which had well over 200 gold coins in it. The Shark Girl's eyes widened. "This is so many, isn't it too much? It has to be like 270 coins..." she said seeming to have a decent eye. "Hai hai, that's exactly right. Shark Teeth are a specialty item, the market for them is rather low and I have a niche use for them so I added a surcharge... now we'll just find your...." she was about to mention finding the girl's master to do something about her freedom but they would soon be approached by a Mer Person obviously more well off. He had a humanoid torso and legs but fins and gills placed about his body, he looked a bit like an Angel Fish but his attitude was anything but. "Oi! Girl no one told you to run off on your own. You've got work to do, in here bothering these people..." the girl shrank away from a hand which aimed grasp her and she hid behind Miki in the way kids tended to do when scared. Miki had no problem with this mostly because she knew something was about to happen. "Hands off... she's a kid not property."

The conclusion this girl came to for her own freedom's sake, was to simply buy her own freedom from whatever master she had. Still seething, Kou scoffed silently. That wasn't the way. Miki made the exchange anyway, but Kou knew it wouldn't turn out well if the shark lass went that route. Perhaps temporarily, sure it would be beneficial, but there was a much bigger problem in the future of such progress.

Before Kou could open his mouth to speak on the matter, there was yet another entry. This particular mer was many of the qualities Kou detested, even from a single glance. A brief exchange occurred between him and the girl, resulting in the latter cowering behind Miki. That wasn't the end though, no. When Miki spoke to the man, Kou's decision had already been made without much thought at all. Seemingly instantly, Kou was beside the slaver. His right arm was fully outstretched, holding his sword at the throat of this man as those crystalline hues glared into the depths of his being. "How many?" he asked simply, his voice minus an ounce of joy, or even mercy. This man would die; of this he had no doubts. First, though, he needed his questions answered.

Miki knew a single purchase made by a single slave wasn't going to change the whole outcome. But what she was doing wasn't for the good of every single slave in creation. No right just now she was building this one up to make sure she was ready to face the challenges to come. Of course, she hadn't intended to let the shark girl meet her master alone, and given his first words upon seeing her, she'd been right to make this assumption. She fully intended to help the lass in her actual negotiations, but it would seem that would be put on hold for a moment.

The walking Merfish, was standing and then rather suddenly there was a sword at his neck and he couldn't even be bothered to take a step forward or back. This seemed to be a common theme among these types, who were so full of their rightness in a situation until someone stronger showed up ready to put an end to them. The man seemed to stammer lightly confused by the lad's simple question, his hands up in the air in surrender. "H-ho---how many what? I don't know what you're talking about, I just came to collect my property and leave," the man said seeming to find nothing wrong with his mind set. "Check the seal on the back of her neck she's mine! I swear!" he claimed as if this was simply a missing piece of property. He even pointed at the lass who in turn tried her best to bury herself into Miki's side. There was a light whimper from the girl behind Miki and she in turn gave the girl a pat on the head as she was clasped on to her. Miki had been in too similar a situation way too recently and something about this man's statements about this girl were deeply annoying to her. "Children aren't property. I don't care what kind of seal is on her," Miki said, she had a reasonable understanding that she could probably remove anything resembling a seal, but the use of such magic when the Merfolk didn't seem to be innately magical, made her realize there was likely an entire market that would need to be erased from existence.

There was absolute stillness in the body of Kou as he stared the slaver down. At least, that was the case until the man spoke of property and seals, making Kou tremble in an effort to resist beheading him then and there. He failed just slightly, as his arm moved in a way that would bring his blade closer to the slaver's neck, though only enough to draw just a bit of blood if the man didn't move quickly enough. What made the situation worse, was that the man didn't even understand the meaning behind Kou's question.

"How... many... people. How many living, breathing people do you have under your filthy heel?" Kou's behavior had shifted once again, almost as if he'd been possessed by something. One could possibly say he was, but only by the deep-seated fury leftover from his previous life. Even after recovering from his brief tremble, Kou intended to press his blade properly against the slaver's neck. "How many!?"

The stillness in Kou's body was noted by Miki, if only because she fully experienced something similar in the days prior to this one. Whatever the case, the lad drew blood from the Merfish who seemed to cry out at the pain of it. He hadn't expected to be injured. In fact, he was the one who constantly injured others, he didn't know what such pain was like and only used it to motivate those lesser than himself. "Ooowww!" he nearly screamed from a cut most would have considered minor. When the question was clarified the lad's blade gained more resolve and he seemed to be burning in a rather furious manner just beneath the surface. But he'd asked the man a question. "Alright, alright. Look I own..." his mind began doing math, because to be honest he wasn't exactly sure how many people he owned at present. "I don't really know, around a hundred. I guess..." he said. But his words were a lie, and the person who knew that to be a fact was the small girl who clung to Miki's side. She'd already proved she had a good eye for numbers by Miki's own standards much better than the average person so when she spoke next it was a soft word only a number. "Two hundred and fifty-three," the shark girl's words were soft, but loud enough to be heard by all in her immediate proximity. She included herself in this number as she was owned by this man.

This man had to be one of the richest in the entirety of the Kingdom after one like the Banker, given the number of people he owned. He also made all his money very obviously off the backs of others with no real cost to himself. He also hadn't tried to make a deal with Miki as such he likely thought to continue without the Banker in place and without assimilating into the new order. His eyes widened, he hadn't expected the girl to speak out, and he knew this under approximation was probably way worse for him than he meant. Still he couldn't help but lash out in anger. "You little bitch! I own you, you can't speak against me!" he exclaimed, the seal on the back of her neck, began to glow encasing her body in blood magic which froze her in place and caused her immense pain. Miki looked to the girl and turned pressing her finger against the seal. Blood Magic was easily identifiable and also strangely something she could stop, using her own mana as a catalyst. Within a single second the blood which tainted the seal disappeared, leaving the girl unharmed and caught by Miki's outstretched arm. "Are you okay?" she asked of the girl, who looked stunned but simply nodded her head her hand ran over the back of her neck, but the seal which had been placed there was gone completely. Dissolved completely by the cleansing property applied to Miki's mana by virtue of her racial bonus.