Chapter 140

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Episode 31 - Auction [4]

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The butler had given me a list of the items that would be auctioned during the second part of the auction.

Just like the Shitty witch and the other guy.

’I can’t read this.’

I couldn’t exactly say I was blind and needed someone to read it to me, so I had to play along.

I pretended to study the list carefully while sharpening my hearing at the same time.

I wanted to see if I could overhear the Shitty witch or that other guy muttering anything.

’No, wait, I think I can interpret their emotions.’

I slightly turned my head and observed their emotions.

They were difficult to interpret since they showed very little.

But, in short, their thoughts went something like this.

’How convenient that this has pictures.’

’There’s nothing interesting here besides the final auction item.’

’Heh, this one looks nice. I could put it on my slaves’ dicks.’

"...?!"

I decided it was better to stop trying to read their emotions. I focused on the list again and thought.

’So this has pictures, huh.’

I set the list down after a few minutes, and the Shitty witch’s voice said:

"My dear, did you find anything eye-catching?"

I already had some knowledge of what would be auctioned during the second part, so I nodded.

"Oh, yes, I found what I was looking for."

"Wonderful. I’m happy for you, although I didn’t find anything useful for my own needs."

’No, you definitely did.’

I decided to take the opportunity to ask a few questions.

"But what items interested you, even if they weren’t what you were looking for?"

The Shitty witch rested her elbow on the armrest and her cheek against her knuckles.

"Well, if you’re asking for my opinion, I’d say certain relics created by Arcanists and a suit of armor that, at first glance, looks like simple yet elegant clothing."

’So it is here.’

I focused solely on the armor the Shitty witch had mentioned.

"Armor that looks like clothing? I don’t think I saw it in the pictures on the list."

"What? Really? My dear, it seems you were very focused on finding what you wanted."

I nodded, pretending to be innocent and nervous while feeling even stranger for acting that way.

The Shitty witch seemed to take pity on me and explained:

"It’s just as I said, my dear. There’s a very beautiful and elegant suit of armor. It’s mostly black and comes with a long coat, boots, trousers, a belt, a button-up shirt underneath the coat, and it even includes a pair of very lovely clear glasses."

"It really sounds more like fashionable clothing than armor, doesn’t it?"

"Ha, ha, yes, we thought the same thing, my dear. I’d like to buy it, but I don’t have anyone to give it to. Though perhaps you do."

The Shitty witch looked at me with a mischievous smile. I feigned slight embarrassment while remembering Mia’s possible reaction to her words.

"N-no, I don’t have anyone... but... well, I do have a friend."

’Ugh, I want to throw up. I need to go to the bathroom.’

The Shitty witch’s smile widened as she pressed on.

"Ha, ha, I caught you. So you do have someone in mind. Tell me, is he handsome?"

’Damn it, how did the conversation end up going in this direction?’

I wanted to hit myself, but I remembered that wasn’t possible and that I wouldn’t feel any pain anyway.

"Please, let’s not talk about this..."

The Shitty witch burst into laughter as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Heh, you’re very amusing, my dear. You’ll probably win that man over, so I support you if you want to give him that armor."

Well, at least they wouldn’t suspect anything, no matter how little, when I tried to bid on the armor.

"T-thank you for your kind words."

"You’re welcome, but make sure to buy a set of bedroom toys as well."

’Go fuck yourself, bitch.’

I really wanted to spit thousands of curses right into this woman’s face.

Now that I thought about it, it wasn’t the shitty Witch’s dialogue in the game that always got on my nerves.

I couldn’t remember who was responsible for creating this character.

’The worst part is that this won’t be her only appearance.’

Eventually, the shitty Witch would run into the players as they progressed through the game’s story Chapters.

She was the one who always ruined many of the players’ strategies.

That was why some players took the opportunity to kill her early, as soon as their characters had enough power.

Holy Land was an open-world game, so you could go anywhere as long as you had unlocked that map or obtained access to it through quests.

’I can kill her without much difficulty if I catch her off guard, but...’

I didn’t have that luxury of time.

Once the final phase of Chapter Two begins, I’ll need to find Clana as quickly as possible.

I only had about five minutes, or perhaps even less, to find her.

’It would be easy to know in advance which private room is hers, but I can’t ask about that.’

This entire place was under constant surveillance.

Trying to find out the identities of the other special guests could attract unwanted attention.

Sighing, I hadn’t realized how quickly time had passed.

The second part of the Auction had already begun.

The Auctioneer’s voice echoed powerfully throughout the Auction Hall, just as it had the first time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to begin the second part of this grand Auction."

Clap! Clap!

The man applauded, followed by a few claps coming from one of the Private Rooms.

"Very well, very well, now I will present the first item."

Clap!

He snapped his fingers, and an altar appeared before him.

Resting atop the altar was a sword.

The man picked up the sword and raised it so that everyone present could get a better look at it.

"This is a Legendary-Rank sword, forged from the bones of a noble-status Great Ancient One."

"It possesses nearly indestructible durability and is compatible with any type of energy."

"The starting bid is thirty billion gold coins."

The bidding for the sword began with tremendous momentum.

A total of fifty people joined the bidding, while the rest made no move at all.

"Sold to Room V45!"

The Legendary-Rank sword sold for five hundred billion.

The next item was the core component of a Legendary-Rank staff.

The core, extracted from a Class 10 Wild Beast, sold for a lower price than the sword.

The third item was a Legendary-Rank magic wand.

And so, one after another, dozens of items began to appear.

Almost all of them were of Legendary Rank, and even one or two were of Mythic Rank.

’It’s so easy to find these items.’

To be honest, obtaining items of such a rank was anything but easy.

I didn’t know how the villains managed it, but even the imperial family didn’t possess that many Legendary Rank items, let alone more than one Mythic Rank item.

Even so, items of the same rank kept appearing in large numbers.

Even the Quality of the Elixirs reached Mythic, and there were about three of Divine Quality.

The auctioneer’s shouts and emotions overflowed to the point that they started to irritate my ears.

’When will it appear?’

Some of the items I was waiting for still hadn’t shown up.

"Sold to room V56."

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen, we have acquired an armor that, at the same time, doesn’t seem like one. It was quite a surprise to find it among the ruins of Babylon."

"According to our investigations, this armor was used by one of the earliest heroes among the Awakened. The materials it is made from are unknown, but they are so durable that we were unable to leave even a single scratch on it."

"We believe it is a Relic, as it remains in such perfect condition that, so far, only Relics have demonstrated the ability to remain intact for thousands of years."

"So then, how about we start at twenty billion gold coins? Please keep in mind that the armor’s rank is unknown."

Several rooms began placing bids while the Auctioneer announced the others’ offers, starting an intense competition.

However, I didn’t make a move yet.

The Shitty witch sitting beside me looked at me and asked:

"Darling, you’re not going to try for it? Aren’t you supposed to be trying to win over that man you’ve been thinking about?"

I turned toward the Shitty witch and said:

"I’d rather wait until the end, when no one else raises the price."

It felt like a waste of time to compete against several people at once.

So it was better to compete with the last person who was about to obtain the armor.

Besides, if the price rose too much, I could always let it go.

The Shitty witch seemed to understand what I was thinking and nodded.

"My, darling, it seems you’ve given me some good ideas."

"What are you talking about? Anyone could think of this. I’m not saying you wouldn’t have thought of it... well, you know what I mean."

"It’s fine, darling. I understand."

Slowly, the competition for the armor began to die down.

The price had already risen to one hundred billion gold coins.

"It seems we have a winner. Room V61 will take the armor in three, two, and..."

I quickly raised the bid, and the auctioneer’s expression changed.

"My, it seems room V91 has raised the price to five hundred billion."

Room V61 did not raise the price again after my bid. I smiled inwardly.

It was certainly a lot of money, but I had more than enough, and this armor would be very useful to me.

"My, darling, it seems you’re crazy about that man if you’re willing to spend that much money."

"...!"

I should kill her right now.