The Hierarchy on Ketil's farm and why it's important
...in showing Ketil's character and priorities.
Correct me if wrong but the anime and the manga have not canonically explained the hierarchy on Ketil's farm in the story (as far as I know). The last page in vol 9 (after chapter 64) shows extra information regarding the relationships and organisation of the farm. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the panel online, or I was too dumb to, so I have to share my own page:
...ignore the German, to summarize:
Ketil is the head of the family and has the final say about the farm. Thorgil is the oldest and serves in the army -> not needing the farm and not interested in it. Ketil has a daughter, who stays with the husband's family. Olmar is the youngest and Ketil wants him to inherit the farm.
The workers (and Patel) are free people but do not own any land, any money nor have any family. They work for Ketil for survival since they do not have access to any other support.
Farmers in the area own land too, but it's nothing compared to the many fields Ketil has. They keep borrowing money from him and keep themselves in debt, and are dependant on his farm as well. Though they are free too, they are technically below him and his family (hence why the farmers wanted to hook up their daughter with Olmar to have her and them marry into his family too; Gaining access to their wealth and free themselves from debt).
Snake and co are independant mercenaries. Usually the head of the farm hires his own comrades or experienced subjects to protect him -> but since Ketil is a liar and ran away from battles, there aren't any comrades to stand by his side so he has no choice but to hire mercenaries.
On the other page it's explained that Ketil only has three slaves: Thorfinn, Einar and Arnheid. Many that were captured during war were sold off or those that couldn't pay their debt sold themselves as slaves. While slavery was used to create a hierarchy to belittle and dehumanize others, buying and keeping slaves was incredibly expensive. Yukimura compared the expenses to buying and maintaining a new car...
So! The many people seen working on the farm are free farmers themselves who, and their family, are dependant on the farm. Ketil "only" has three slaves with Pater being the only who has bought himself out slavery. Considering it is incredibly difficult to create a stable livelihood when you had nothing previously, most past slaves would stay with Ketil and work under him, which is why I'm gonna make the bold claim that Pater was the only slave Ketil had in recent years. There's nothing that could hint that Sverkel would've and had bought slaves.
It's possible that Ketil saved up a good chunk of money and spent a small fortune on Thorfinn (or perhaps not; The guy was pathetically unmotivated. He might've gotten him for a small price) and uses him as an investment for plowing new land which he'd cultivate, make sure it's fertile, grow something to sell it to Ketil and buy his freedom back -> i.e. Ketil doesn't need to lift a finger for 3 years as he gets a new, fertile land, some extra wheat, and most likely will keep Finny as a free but dependant worker under him. Win-win.
And since Finny is so unmotivated and doesn't know what he's doing, Ketil got Einar as well who has experience working on the field. He, too, is an investment.
The only one who is not is Arnheid. Unless Ketil's wife specifically asked for a maid, there's nothing to gain by purchasing Arnheid. The wife may be older, but she seems perfectly capable of handling domestic tasks; In fact, it seems like she's doing nothing ever since Arnie arrived. A wife like her would even scold Ketil for wasting a fortune on a slave that would just do her work. She openly dislikes her as well, feeling comfortable to punish her for not doing her tasks perfectly or quickly enough.
Ketil treats any other person as an investment, making sure they're in debt and below him so he has access to them as workers, as people who owe him and sustain his farm - keep him as the head of everything who controls everything. But Arnheid is different. Practically speaking, she's unnecessary. There's no need for her to be there other than being Ketil's sex slave. That was the only reason for him to buy her. She doesn't work on the farm, always stays within his reach, spends the nights with him that probably enrages his wife - hence why she's so cruel to her and insists that she takes care of all her duties. It's the only way she can cope and deal with the fact that her husband bought a younger woman to be his sex slave.
One can call Ketil kind in his everyday actions but once you take a deep look into the bigger picture - into the hierarchy he created - it all changes.
A man who ran away from battles and took over a dead man's name to gain a status worthy of a king's protection and hires mercenaries that must be strangers to him unless his secret is spilled. Someone who keeps people in debt or hires them as his - his to stay below him, below his status and within his control so none can even think of stealing from him. He may be kind to Thorfinn and Einar but he uses them for his own investment for even more wealth. And as sweet as he is to Arnheid, saying that she's the only one who understands him, he denies her freedom. Finny and Einar have a chance but because she is his 'favorite', who he cannot bear to let go of, she's trapped forever. Yet when she disobeys just once, that's when he shows how his true colors - he owns her. All of them, and they are to do and feel as he commands. There are no good or kind slave owners.
