The Fox Girl's Red Eyes
The empire had other auction houses besides the official one run by the Imperial Slave Labor Administration. From highly illegal auctions held in the basements of seedy back-alley pubs to private auctions hosted by nobles, auctions themselves weren't exactly rare. Their credibility just tended to drop the further you went from the official channels.
The place the bartender had told me about was one of those private noble auctions. Specifically, an anonymous one with a slightly shady reputation. Since participants could hide their identities, it was the kind of place where all sorts of sensitive items came up for sale. In truth, their reliability was actually pretty high. Of course, that only held true as long as they didn't show any openings. If you looked like an easy mark, you might get your winning bid snatched away the moment you tried to take possession. That was the problem with these places.
The auction itself was conducted with absolute certainty of transfer. That directly affected their credibility, after all. Fortunately, there was no chance of a beastperson being taken from me. The real issue was if the owner got killed. Then the beastperson would become masterless and could be stolen. The owner's brand would still be there, but considering the price of beastpeople, erasing it was well worth the effort. So as long as I was alive, I just had to go and win the bid. That was the only problem, which made me feel a bit uneasy.
And there was another issue. This one was probably the bigger problem.
Female beastpeople. Most people called them "female beasts," but that felt a bit too harsh. They were still demi-humans, after all. "Female beastperson" or "feminine-type beastperson" would be more appropriate. The problem was what most people used female beastpeople for. They were mostly sex slaves. A delicacy for those with particular tastes. Taking a female beastperson meant you were essentially advertising that you had those kinds of unusual hobbies.
I wasn't confident about that. If I kept a female beastperson, I'd get dragged into all sorts of dirty rumors. The way people looked at me definitely wouldn't be kind. That much was obvious without even seeing it. Besides, female beastpeople had less physical strength than males. They were more agile, sure, but strength still mattered. There were stamina issues too. So I was torn.
Waiting for a male beastperson that was getting harder and harder to find, or using a female one right now. If I could somehow get my hands on a male, I wouldn't even be having this dilemma.
The anonymous auction where beastpeople would appear was ten days from now. So I had some time to think it over. In the meantime, I'd look into male beastpeople a bit more.
Time passed like that.
During that period, I learned one thing for certain. I had to give up on male beastpeople. Completely. Without any lingering attachment. Cleanly.
The prices had gone completely insane. The funds I had were 175,000 marca from catching that Roller this time, plus the 40,000 marca I'd already had, for a total of 215,000 marca. But right now, they were saying that even the cheapest healthy male beastperson would cost at least 250,000. And that wasn't even a price at which you could actually buy one. That was the minimum. The absolute minimum.
Yeah. I was done. I gave up cleanly. If the minimum was 250,000, what the hell was I supposed to do?
So I went with the next best option. For now, it seemed better to buy even a female beastperson and hunt magic beasts to earn money. Even if their strength and stamina were weaker, stable hunting should still be possible. After all, I could apply Berserker to them.
And so the day of the anonymous auction arrived.
I spent some money to get proper clothes made. Along with a mask that completely covered my face. It was actually fortunate that it was an anonymous auction. Even a mercenary like me could participate. If it had been a nobles-only auction, I wouldn't have even qualified to join.
The auction house itself was quite nice. Probably because the items on offer were of high quality. The participants were all equally unusual-looking. They seemed to be here for other items in today's auction. Actually, that was what put my mind at ease. There was an item in today's anonymous auction that was bound to draw quite a bit of attention.
The bracelet commonly known as the "Thunder God's Bracelet." Hapilia's Bracelet. An artifact that allowed the user to wield even a fraction of the lightning and judgment powers of the god Hapilia. There was only one reason something like that would appear in an anonymous auction like this. Its origin was unclear. Or rather, it couldn't be revealed openly. Either way, it was fortunate for me. Since everyone's attention would be focused there, no one would pay any mind to someone like me.
The auction began.
It might be a private event, but that didn't mean the procedures were sloppy. On the contrary, since most items here were high-value, the procedures and methods were even stricter. Since I wasn't particularly interested in the other items, I simply watched quietly.
And finally, the auction item I was interested in appeared.
A female beastperson. The first one of the day. She was quite tall with a solid build. Probably a bear-type beastperson. At that size, she seemed comparable to an average male beastperson.
I participated in the bidding. The starting price was 150,000 marca. But I couldn't even bid twice. In just a few rounds, the price had already surpassed 210,000 marca, and I could only sigh. The bear beastperson ultimately sold for 320,000 marca.
320,000. An absurd number. I'd have to hunt at least one more Grade 6 magic beast to afford that. Still, I didn't lose heart. There were a total of six female beastpeople listed for today's auction. Only one had passed so far.
But that thought quickly cooled off.
The second female beastperson was a leopard-type. She sold for 280,000.
The third was a boar-type beastperson. She looked like she could use her strength pretty well, but her appearance was closer to a pot-bellied middle-aged man, so she went for 220,000. Still, that was over my budget. This was getting tricky.
Starting with the fourth female beastperson, the real beauties began to appear. They weren't work-type so much as the kind that made people go "heh heh heh." She was a cat-type beastperson, quite delicate and fragile-looking. But the price came out to 340,000 marca. Higher than the bear from earlier. I wondered if that was even right. There was a reason, though. Two guys had been competing fiercely in the bidding. Whenever one raised the price, the other immediately followed, and the amount had shot up that high in an instant.
The fifth was the same. This time it was a dog-type. Her appearance was excellent, and her chest was large. Quite large. Those same two guys competed again. In the end, another bidder won her for 330,000.
I should just give up. I'd been thinking about this too simply. This wasn't a place I could fit into. I needed to save up more money. Or find another way.
Suddenly, I really started to hate the emperor. Why did he suddenly ban beastperson hunting and create this mess?
A few more auctions passed, and now it was time for the last beastperson of the day. A cage was brought up onto the stage. The white cloth covering it was immediately pulled away.
Inside was a fox beastperson with hair as white as the cloth itself. She had crimson eyes.
But... she was small. She looked young. Her arms and legs were slender. Her height wasn't that tall either. Was she even an adult? No matter how I looked at her, she didn't seem like one.
"We will begin the auction! The starting price is 80,000 marca!"
The starting price was quite low. 80,000. The previous five had all started between 100,000 and 150,000. I was seriously conflicted. This fox beastperson was the last one today. And there wouldn't be any more auctions with beastpeople for a while. There might be one in a month or two, but I couldn't wait that long. If there was some guarantee, maybe, but waiting indefinitely felt too burdensome.
So I hesitated. Should I buy even this one? She was cheap, so I felt like I could recover my investment quickly. No matter how frail she looked, if I applied Berserker, couldn't she at least handle Grade 3 to 4 magic beasts?
In the meantime, the price had risen to 100,000. So I bid 105,000. Then the guy who had bought the cat beastperson bid 110,000. The one who bought the dog raised it to 115,000. Why were they raising it so quickly? Were they just rich?
I bid 120,000. It immediately became 125,000, then 130,000. 140,000, 150,000, 160,000... The two kept following. But they didn't seem particularly aggressive about it. Maybe they had already achieved their goal for today? That thought crossed my mind. They didn't seem as fiercely competitive as before. Or maybe their budgets were running low.
So I went all in. If I bid this and still didn't win, I'd just give up cleanly.
"180,000. We have 180,000. Is there anyone who would like to bid higher?"
And then silence fell. The two who had each bought one beastperson earlier didn't bid any further. They stayed quiet.
"Then I will begin the countdown. 5, 4, 3..."
Really? They're not going to bid anymore? For real?
"2, 1. Sold to customer number 113."
Oh. It actually worked. I guess going all in after giving up was the way to go.
The fox beastperson's cage was covered with the white cloth again. But I had seen her looking in my direction. I thought our eyes had met. Even though I was wearing a mask.
The white cloth was fully drawn over her, and the cage was lowered from the stage, but I couldn't shake the image of those red eyes I'd seen at the end.
Since I'd won the bid, I left the auction house immediately. Part of me wanted to stay until the very end and watch the Thunder God's Bracelet auction. But leaving now was the right move. That way I'd draw less attention. Having people swarm around me wasn't a good thing.
The auction continued without me as I headed to the back of the auction house. When I showed my number tag and said I'd come to collect my item, the staff guided me to a side room.
One auction house employee, one magician, and the cage in the back. The white cloth was still covering it. But I could tell the fox beastperson from earlier was inside.
"Welcome, sir. I will assist you with the payment settlement."
Since it had cleanly gone for 180,000, I took out an imperial bond from my pocket and handed it over. The employee checked it thoroughly, and the magician also used magic to verify the bond. They were quite strict. Usually they didn't have a magician double-check.
"Confirmed. Thank you."
When the employee said that, the magician beside him spoke up.
"Where would you like to receive the brand mark?"
Without a word, I rolled up my shirt and showed my side. Doing it on the arm or leg was dangerous. If a limb got cut off, the brand itself would be released. The magician immediately cast the spell. The branding magic itself was quite high-grade, but stamping a mark onto something that already had the branding magic applied could be done by even lower-level magicians. Still, it was something to be envious of. Since I couldn't even do that much.
"It's done. Congratulations on your successful bid."
With that, the two completed the transfer. The employee pulled back the cloth on the cage and opened the door.
The fox beastperson's red eyes looked at me. Her face was expressionless.
"Let's go."
I spoke, but the fox beastperson didn't move at all. Then she let out a small groan, clutching the restraint around her neck as she writhed in pain. The pain that came immediately if she didn't obey her master's words. The fox beastperson bit her lip as if she had no choice and forced herself to stand.
Like that, I left the room with the fox beastperson.
Whew. Now I just had to disappear quietly. As secretly as possible.