Under the City (5)
―The interior of the auction house does not seem particularly special.
"I don't feel that energy from earlier at all, either."
The Goddess and Yohan briefly exchanged thoughts. Both had definitely felt the presence of some entity that was not the Goddess. However, the energy had brushed past Yohan in an instant, like wind scattering in all directions, and since then, not even a speck of a trace could be found.
"Or maybe I ate something bad..."
―Nonsense. It was not just thee; I, too, felt a presence of some kind.
If the Goddess said so, it was no illusion. As far as he knew, calling her intuition "excellent" was an understatement. After all, she could detect people beyond walls as if she had radar built into her eyes.
"Hmm."
Yohan let out a low groan. There was definitely something somewhere in this auction house. And Yohan felt a strong urge to find out exactly what it was. He couldn't tell if it was just the curiosity he'd built up as a grave robber, or an instinct that had developed since becoming the Goddess's Apostle.
"Well, whatever."
If he kept investigating, something was bound to turn up. Yohan jerked his chin toward Falco, signaling her.
"Yohan. I forgot to ask earlier, but is there something here?"
"Uh... there is something, but I don't really know what it is either."
Falco tilted her head at Yohan's vague answer. But Yohan had no way of explaining it any better than that.
"Let us through."
"Hey, out of the way."
While the two of them lingered in the hallway, a fairly large crowd began to gather.
"Ah, looks like it's about to start."
―It seems the auction is about to begin.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Yohan answered the Goddess while casting a glance at Falco. The two of them finally resumed their stopped steps. However, instead of heading toward the auction hall, they moved in the opposite direction.
―Is the auction hall not that way? Why art thou turning back?
"Unlike browsing the market, you have to register first to participate in the auction."
―Indeed. So they do not let just anyone participate.
As far as Yohan knew, the auction house, along with the gambling dens, was a major source of income for the Undercity gangs.
"Right. The value of the items up for auction is significantly higher than what's circulated in the market, so that's basically how it is."
―I understand. Screening participants for security. At the same time, they collect a small entry fee to secure secondary income.
Yohan and Falco immediately headed to the registration desk to sign up for the auction that was about to begin.
"To participate in the auction, you must surrender all weapons. Also, inside the auction hall, magic, sorcery, divine power... well, basically all of that is strictly prohibited."
"Yeah, yeah. Two people, me and her."
In truth, Yohan was slightly worried that the clerk at the desk might recognize that they belonged to a subordinate organization of the Undercity gang.
"Alright, two swords, and this... looks like an antique, but a sword is still a sword."
"Yeah, yeah. Take that too."
Fortunately, his worries did not materialize.
―Apostle. Thou art strangely self-conscious about the most useless things.
"Shut it."
The Goddess, having read Yohan's mind, mocked him in his head. Having his sore spot poked, he clicked his tongue and snapped back.
―The expressions of the people here are vastly different from those outside.
Just as the Goddess said, the atmosphere inside the auction hall was completely different from the outside.
"Wandering around the market is free, so a lot of people just go to kill time. But it's not like that here."
―Naturally. These are people who have paid a fee, however small, to enter the hall.
Sitting in his seat, Yohan scanned the faces of the other auction participants. From guys who looked incredibly suspicious at a glance, to a man with a relaxed face playing with fingers covered in all kinds of rings. Other than them...
"What is that?"
Yohan spotted someone who stood out exceptionally among the auction participants. Falco followed Yohan's gaze and looked in the same direction.
"That's..."
―She is a mere child. Has a young girl come all this way by herself?
"My thoughts exactly."
A girl about the same size as the Goddess when she manifested physically was sitting in the auction house. It was an auction house filled with burly, terrifying thugs, yet the kid didn't show a single hint of fear, which made her stand out even more.
"Well, not our business anyway."
"Maybe she's a polymorphed dragon."
Yohan and Falco briefly bantered. Since neither Yohan nor Falco had ever seen a real dragon in their lives, they both just chuckled.
Murmur, murmur—
An auctioneer stepped onto the stage that had been empty until now. It meant the auction was starting.
"Welcome, everyone, to the auction hosted by the Undercity Family."
―Wait, did he not just openly state the name of their organization? Though he called it a 'Family' instead of a gang.
The Goddess's voice echoed in Yohan's head.
"Well, that's how it is."
The Undercity gang was, quite literally, the ruler of Balifield's underworld.
"Now, onto our very first item."
Soon, a staff member wheeled out a cart carrying the auction item from behind the stage. At the same time, the noisy auction house fell silent in an instant.
―Come to think of it, how are the payments for the auction items settled here?
"Usually, they trade in currency from the Holy Kingdom or the Empire. They accept other currencies too, but they rip you off with insane exchange fees."
―They thoroughly exploit every single avenue to squeeze out money.
"Of course they do."
Yohan and Falco watched the auction for quite a while. Unfortunately, none of the lost items belonging to the residents of Junk Town appeared, but that wasn't what was important right now. He had to find the source of that strange energy he had felt outside the auction house. That was his internal focus.
As numerous items passed by on the stage, Yohan was just about to yawn from the creeping boredom when—
"Our next item is... a bird statue of quite a unique shape."
The auctioneer spoke in a tone that suggested he had no idea how such a thing had even ended up here. Considering his job was to fabricate stories to raise the value of items, he clearly deemed this object to be utterly worthless.
"..."
Yet Yohan, as if he had never felt sleepy or yawned, observed the statue on the cart with a face more serious than ever.
"Found it."
"Is that it?"
At Yohan's mutter, Falco, who was sitting next to him, asked in a doubtful voice. Yohan silently nodded in confirmation. Since it looked like a truly unremarkable statue at a glance, her reaction was perfectly understandable.
―Apostle.
"What?"
―Retrieve that statue, by any means necessary.
"Is that a Sacred Relic too? You gonna chew on it again?"
Despite Yohan's question, the Goddess did not answer immediately for some reason.
―It is indeed something similar to a Sacred Relic. However, it is by no means mine.
"Hmm."
He had a feeling he knew what this meant.
―It belongs to another god.
She wouldn't insist on retrieving it just because it was another god's relic. Yohan instinctively sensed there was more to the story that he didn't know.
―The god who owns that object... is undoubtedly an evil god.
Religions in this world were strictly controlled under the leadership of the Holy Kingdom. Any faith not recognized by the Holy Kingdom was rejected as heresy, and merely maintaining a heretical faith was grounds for execution.
That didn't mean they actually hunted down and killed every single heretic. The Holy Kingdom's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was a somewhat flexible organization, often turning a blind eye to folk religions in rural villages or letting people off if they simply declared apostasy.
However, there were a few faiths that even the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith would grit their teeth and thoroughly suppress. These were the religions that worshipped bad gods who brought harm to human society—so-called evil gods.
"But if it belongs to someone else, we don't really need to care, do we?"
―We must.
The Goddess spoke in an extremely firm tone. Her voice was so stern that even Yohan felt a brief moment of tension.
―Apostle. Couldst thou simply walk past an object that brings utter disgust by its very existence?
"Ugh..."
He had participated in the auction out of curiosity, but from Yohan's perspective, it didn't really matter whether that statue was an evil god's Sacred Relic or not. In fact, since he might get dragged into something troublesome, backing out now was much more suited to his nature.
But since his dear Goddess wished otherwise, as her Apostle, he had no choice. When the boss orders, you do it.
Raise— Yohan immediately raised his hand to signal. The auctioneer spotted Yohan's signal.
"Yes. We will start the bidding at a minimum of ten silver coins."
"Dammit."
What kind of statue was this expensive? The starting price of the statue was equivalent to the price of the carriage he had bought in Junk Town. What was even scarier was that this was merely the starting bid. Although the other auction participants didn't seem particularly interested in the statue for now... if a competitor appeared, the final bid would easily double.
Still, there was nothing he could do. When the boss tells you to jump, you jump. Yohan let out a sigh and scanned the auction hall.
"Are there no other bidders?"
The crowd remained silent. Amidst the silence, Yohan clasped his hands together as if praying, desperately hoping no higher bidder would emerge.
―Thou dare? With a deity right beside thee, to whom art thou offering thy prayers?
The Goddess nagged him, but Yohan simply let it go in one ear and out the other.
"If there are none—oh, wait. Yes! We have fifteen silver coins."
"Fuck..."
A higher bidder had actually appeared. Yohan quietly muttered a heartfelt curse. Fine, let's see what kind of bastard this is. Yohan raised his head and scanned the crowd. He quickly spotted the higher bidder raising their hand and raised an eyebrow.
"What? That kid..."
Of all people, it was the little girl he had seen earlier. For a kid squeezed between all kinds of adults, she was incredibly bold, sending bidding signals with practiced hand movements.
"Are there no other bidders?"
The auctioneer called out in a somewhat excited voice. Watching this, Yohan dragged a hand down his face.
"And what are you looking so excited about?"
He picked a fight with Falco next to him for no reason, but she didn't even spare him a glance, completely absorbed in watching the auction.
Screw it. Yohan raised his hand to signal again.
"Yes, a higher bid... oh my, that's a massive jump! We have thirty silver coins!"
As Yohan raised the bid by a large margin, the quiet crowd began to stir. Some observed the statue with serious expressions, wondering if there was some hidden value to it, while others cast mocking glances at Yohan.
"Excellent. Thirty silver coins. Are there any higher bids?"
The auctioneer's voice echoed through the hall, but the participants only chatted amongst themselves; none raised their hands. Even the kid who had bid fifteen silver coins just stared forward with an indifferent face.
"Going once, twice... sold for thirty silver coins! Thank you."
The moment the sale was declared, Yohan dropped his head. Falco silently patted his back.
―Do not be disheartened. Destroying such an evil abomination is a deed of far greater value.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I know."
Logically, he understood. Finding and destroying an evil god's Sacred Relic was indeed a virtue and a mission that the Goddess pursued. But even so, he couldn't stop his irritation from flaring up.
He'd been played. He had been completely bluffed by that annoying brat.