It remains only to find out what kind of so mysterious auction is it. Kyon was about to ask Byron about everything, as he was called by his current supervisor:«Boy, come here quickly, you are the only one we are waiting for!»
Osip was standing surrounded by his group in the far corner of the hall. It was an amusing coincidence that among his supervisors there also was the man who noticed the morning teleportation of Kyon. Having seen the young man approaching, he defiantly moved to the other end of the group, now and then throwing frightened glances in the direction of the strange boy.
During was.h.i.+ng Kyon casually asked information concerning the future «event». As it turned out, the Stones family selects three slaves of the 3rd rank from each sector each year through a rather strange auction: the lot itself was a «vacancy», and who of the slaves would be able to offer a larger amount of money for it – he would go to serve in the manor. It was not the ransom of freedom, of course, but at least the working conditions were much better than at the mine. Applicants, of course, a always was a lot – yet, the salary in the manor was higher, and, accordingly, the family would be received much more money. And the work was, certainly, not operate a pickaxe. Moreover, there were 3 vacancies for the sector. Anyone can try and win, the main point was not to spend money, but to save.
Fortunately, the servants of the 2nd and 1st ranks may not partic.i.p.ate in the «promotion», as they kept the hierarchy of the sector. In addition, the conditions of their work and life, and so on was much better than of ordinary slaves.
Also along the way, Kyon found out one unpleasant fact: in the contract of employment at the mine it was clearly stated that their freedom can be redeemed only after 3 years of work. {Borya said that I was here only a month, respectively, regardless of the amount of money in my hands, I can not buy freedom. So the only chance to get out of this hole is an auction.…}
The young man with a prestigious standing under the jets of the shower, trying to ignore the curious glances from all sides. Fans and envious people, sympathetic and willing to take advantage at the expense of the rich Kyon were the most harmless of them. Much more alarming were the glances of the supervisors, who probably did not accept their public defeat, but did not dare to do anything in the presence of so many witnesses, and a couple of lascivious glances, sticky sliding on the body of a thin, pretty boy.
Fortunately for Kyon, the money of this mine, though paper, still had a waterproof structure, so that he could safely wash with them, keeping close to his heart without worrying about their safety.
After was.h.i.+ng, the group returned back to the living room. On the dais, which served as a sort of makes.h.i.+ft stage, there located a cart with daily rations. At the distribution there stood tall Mob glancing at the slaves from the height of his «position» with a disgusted contempt . However, other people replied him the same manner.
The supervisors took turns to approach the cart one by one and took portions of food for the whole group. There was some delay – Osip through his teeth said something to Mob, to which he just waved away:
«f.u.c.k off, you are a sick man. I said no, I meant no!»
The supervisor vexedly spitting, came up to Kyon with a guilty look:
«Mob clamped rations for you... you and him, do you have any troubles with him?»
Kyon paused a while and then hesitantly nodded:
«Yes... There is a little... Well, I have enough money not to starve, so thank you for your concern.»
«Be strong, boy.» - Osip slapped the boy on the shoulder, causing him to roll over on his side, and went to Byron.
Kyon scratched his head thoughtfully: {Amazing, I thought we settled all the dispures with him…}
Well, no one promised it would be easy.
Soon, Kyon purchased rations for 500 rupees from some exhausted man. What do we have here? A bottle of water, bread, some strange porridge - whether pasta, or mashed potatoes, or both of them together, and then at the same time, a sluggish fruit.... Well, they do not spoil people by gourmet food here.
The guy took a slice of bread and immediately stuck in his mouth a half of it. A month ago it could be called fresh... Diligently chewing actually dry portion, Kyon suddenly remembered his former roommate, Mike. The man then was seriouslyhurted by the beatings of Mob. He randomly pushed the first door to the bedroom. Mike, pale as death, laid in the bed, staring blindly at the opposite wall.
{Poor fellow, he is probably not given food – he is hardly able to work in such a state.} Kyon rarely felt sympathy, but now, for some reason, he felt sorry for that innocent and guileless man. Surely, if nothing would be done, he would die here.
After spending just a second thinking, Kyon poured half of the Synergy into the rations, handed the leftover food to Mike, and left without turning around or saying anything. He heard already into his back a quiet «Thank you.»
The middle of the first area of Synergy, although can leave the body, but only in contact with solid or liquid matter, but not through gas.
The man, not postponing, immediately pounced on the rations. With each piece he ate, he felt a strange surge of warmth and strength in his body, the pain dulled, his consciousness became clearer. {What the h.e.l.l?…}
The Synergy that Kyon poured into the ration would automatically direct the body"s resources to heal Mike"s injuries. He did not regret his generosity: eventually, the energy would be restored within an hour. Generally he tries to maintain 99% of the stock, and the remaining percentage was always spent on various needs of the body.
The young man returned to his bedroom and started stretching exercises. Just 20 minutes later, his body was completely cleansed of all kinds of pollution, energy consumption decreased by third, decreased the food consumption, improved his overall immunity.
The next target for the Synergy chosen by Kyon was improvement of his nervous system. To improve the conductivity, to strengthen synapses, to restore neuronal and axonal connections was like replacing copper wires to the silver ones. Transmission of signals from the central nervous system through the peripheral nerves to organs and tissues would be accelerated many times, stress resistance would increase, the work of all muscle groups would become more harmonious. Also modernization would allow to develop resistance to neurotoxins. The senses will also undergo changes: touch, smell, sight, hearing – susceptibility and sensitivity would increase significantly, even his s.e.xual organ would be more sensitive. However, the modernization would take about 15 days.
There was a rumble in the living room. Three men wearing a special uniform - two merchants and one guard with a long sword in scabbard - dragged a bench full of goods on the mini-stage and under the impatient looks of the slaves began to lay out the goods. Drinks, small groceries, dried meat, dried fish, canned food, medical potions, toys and bed linen, clothing and shoes, books – there could be bought almost everything a person needed for life, if he had enough money.
People in antic.i.p.ation s.h.i.+fted from foot to foot at the stage. Finally, they would receive letters from relatives, and would be able to spend money on all sorts of entertainment and yummies…
One of the three in the shop began to call customers with loud cries, so that even those who were still in the bedrooms, went out into the hall and lined up into the queue. Kyon was in no hurry: he did his stretching exercises, checked the keys, adjusted the flow of Synergy, and when the crowd around the stalls melted away, he pulled on his forehead makes.h.i.+ft bandage he had made out of a piece of bed sheet to hide the formation, and went to examine the goods.
Pa.s.sing by rows of clothes and food, he stopped in front of a small shelf of books. Among the tabloid and entertainment fiction, there could also be seen the spines of the books which covered the basic knowledge of the elements, spirit and body.
Kyon picked up a thick volume, judging by the t.i.tle describing the development of the spirit, and opened to the first page when a guard appeared in front of him:
«Hey, first pay, and then leaf it over as you would like to!» - he shouted at Kyon roughly.
«I just wanna read chapter t.i.tles to realize whether it contains what I need. And then I"ll decide whether to buy it or not.» - the young man replied calmly.
«Hmm, okay, but just do it quickly!» - chuckled the man, departing from the bookshelves, but still kept watchful eyes at the suspicious boy.
Kyon didn"t mind – let him stare; it was enough for him rapidly leaf the book over to get memorized all the information. Why spend money (which is not very much), if he could get everything at once and for free? The guy with a satisfied smile took one book after another, quickly flipped through and put in place. Having «recorded» in memory all the available literature – 20 books – Kyon under the uncomprehending looks of the security guard began to explore other products.
«And what? You are not gonna buy anything? Do you have any money at all?» - the man threateningly put his hand on the hilt of the sword, clearly trying to intimidate the young man.
The young man decided not to argue, so he just took a wad of money, and ostentatiously shook them in front of the nose of the guard:
«I"ll pick something else.»
Feeling coaxed by the brown papers, the man, finally, let Kyon be.
One of the three who managed the shop, a plump middle-aged man, was responsible for orders, letters and information.
Having approached him, Kyon asked quietly:
«Could I get some information about a guy named…»
«150 rupees.» - the man lazily interrupted him.
The guy held out three banknotes:
«...His name is Kyon.»
The man took the money and reached into the notebook contained the database.
«Here"s no such a name... What is his patronymic name?» - he asked, squinting the eyes on the guy"s forehead, but a formation with a name was hidden by the bandage.
{As I suspected...} So he is missed in the general database for some reason.
«Well... It doesn"t matter... Just wanted to ask, which sector my friend was sent to, and it turns out his name is lacked here at all…»
The little man shrugged.:
«What else are you going to take?»
Under the anxious glances of fat Babel (what if little b.a.s.t.a.r.d would decide by chance to spend all the money that he so blatantly stole from him and his colleagues) Kyon bought the goods on 7600. He took a backpack, provisions for a week, change of linen. He felt like buying some more weapons, but, alas, it was not listed in the list of goods. The shopkeeper contently counted the money, and Kyon still was glad to have 38,000 rupees left in his pocket.
Babel and the rest of the «robbed» supervisors breathed a sigh of relief. Most of the money remained with the boy, however, for a short time: tomorrow they planned to arrange a thras.h.i.+ng to the insolent to take away everything belonging to them by right.