Chapter 133: Purchase Complete
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133: Purchase Complete
—Twenty-seven!
—Twenty-eight!!
—Sold! Twenty-eight gold coins! Sold!
The afternoon auction was in full swing. Seated side-by-side in luxurious chairs were the Beastkin mother and daughter. They mirrored each other’s poses—legs crossed, stroking their chins, or nodding in contemplation.
Regrettably, since I was here as security, I was relegated to a modest folding chair behind Lady Lymain and Theodora. Not that it mattered much.
I wasn't even sitting; I was standing. The items coming up for bid were far more valuable and intriguing than I’d expected, making it impossible to just sit back and watch.
"I'll just stand and watch."
"Is that so? You are more than welcome to sit, you know."
"Your legs might get tired," Theodora added.
"Haha. No way. I’m fine."
I stood up, restless with excitement, but Lady Lymain didn't actually buy that many materials. From my perspective, a parade of monster carcasses passed by that made me think, 'They're selling something like that?'
Perhaps it was just because it was my first time at such a massive auction, but she mostly gave them a disinterested look and let them pass.
A woman wearing a white half-mask stood beside them as an attendant, assisting with the bidding. However, since the Madam wasn't calling out any prices, the attendant simply stood by in silence.
Whoa, they even sell stuff like that?
The carcass of the final boss from the Wispales Great Labyrinth appeared. There are only three "Unconquerable" Great Labyrinths—Calax, Roanmarie, and Hechituk. However, the criteria for being classified as a "Great Labyrinth" is simply whether the floor count exceeds fifty.
The Wispales Great Labyrinth was apparently a sixty-six-floor dungeon. It appeared only about fifty years after Roanmarie, so the city surrounding it had a long history and was quite large.
The item on display was the entire corpse of Raum, a massive Demon Species monster from the final floor of that labyrinth. It was a seven-meter-tall avian demon with pitch-black feathers and strangely protruding forelimbs tipped with long talons.
It even has wings.
They were torn and battered beyond use, though. The first rule of hunting powerful flying monsters is to strip them of their mobility. Consequently, nine out of ten winged monsters that had appeared so far had their wings completely pulverized. The remaining one out of ten usually had them at least partially mangled.
Either way, they were effectively useless.
A variety of exotic monsters appeared for a while, but the general atmosphere in the auction house remained indifferent. It was likely just my novice eyes finding everything impressive.
If no buyers stepped forward, items could be snatched up for a pittance, so eventually, someone would place a bid and everything would sell.
—The next lot has a stock of two! The statues that guard the entrance to the Demon Castle in Roanmarie’s 3rd Stratum! Gargoyles! As always, they have been properly sealed with anti-petrification reversal scrolls! The flawless specimen starts at thirty-five gold coins! This other one has a slight chip on the tip of its right foot, so we will start the bidding at twenty-five gold coins!
The Gargoyles were up. Just as Theodora had said—that fifty gold would be plenty—the flawless one started at thirty-five, while the chipped one started at twenty-five.
They started with the chipped one first.
—Twenty-seven!!
—Thirty!!
—Thirty-one!!
—Thirty-two!!
As the price climbed slowly, the Madam whispered to the attendant beside her.
"Forty-four."
The attendant cleared her throat and shouted at the top of her lungs.
—Forty-four!
Despite her slender frame, her voice was loud and piercing. Clearly, having a good set of lungs was a prerequisite for this job. The price had been ticking up by ones—thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven—until the Madam’s jump.
With the declaration of forty-four gold coins, the hammer fell. We got it for six gold coins less than expected.
"Theodora. Does a little chip on the foot really make that much of a price difference?"
"For someone who processes and sells materials, it doesn't matter at all. But for those using them for research, they're worthless unless they're in pristine condition."
"Ah, I see."
Right. Come to think of it, this auction was packed with groups of Scholars who bought and analyzed carcasses for research, not just material merchants. From a merchant's perspective, it was wise to target lots like this to avoid bidding wars with those people.
Apparently, most of those Scholars were using research grants from the Magic Tower, so if they really needed something, they’d keep bidding even if the price hit the stratosphere.
Since a merchant needs to turn a profit, there was no reason to compete with people like that.
"Whew, I can finally relax a bit."
"Pfft. Were you nervous we wouldn't get the Gargoyle?"
"No, not exactly... well, maybe I was a little."
Regardless, after securing the Gargoyle, she went on to win bids for twenty-four more high-grade monster materials. The total spent reached nearly 1,800 gold coins, and the last item she won was obscenely expensive.
That one item alone swallowed up nearly 300 gold coins.
—Sold! Two hundred and eighty-eight gold coins!! Sold for two hundred and eighty-eight!
It was the entire 7th segment of a Volcanus Deathworm, a Stratum Boss entity from the 60th floor of the Hechituk Great Labyrinth. I couldn't fathom why it was so expensive. After the auction ended and we headed outside, I asked the Madam.
"Madam, what exactly was that last thing you bought?"
"You mean the Volcanus Deathworm?"
"Yes. It wasn't even the whole body, just the seventh segment. Why was it so expensive?"
At first glance, it looked exactly like its name suggested—a segment of a giant worm, like a piece of sliced blood sausage covered in a thick hide that looked like hardened lava.
Since it was the 7th segment, I assumed the monster was a giant earthworm-like creature with dozens of similar segments. Were they all this expensive?
"The seventh segment of a Volcanus Deathworm contains an organ called the Frost Core."
"A Frost Core?"
I’d heard that the 6th Stratum of Hechituk was so hot that you’d be cooked to perfection just by standing there. Artifacts to protect against the heat were mandatory, and the monsters there were supposedly hellishly hot.
"That creature moves freely through the underground, which is far hotter than the surface of that scorching land."
"Wouldn't it just get roasted instantly?"
The surface was made of hardened lava, but beneath it was a boiling, flowing mess of molten rock. A creature that moved through that like it was nothing...
"The Frost Core in its seventh segment serves to cool the Deathworm's body."
The Frost Core was an organ that used magical power to perpetually emit a chill close to absolute zero. Apparently, if the creature didn't swallow boiling lava and then defecate cooled lava through the Frost Core's influence, the entire 60th floor would melt away, leaving nowhere for people to even step.
"Whoa, it's a total refrigerator. So it stays cold forever without using mana?"
"Not quite. Once the creature is subjugated and becomes a corpse, the function stops after only about three months."
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? It is, after all, a type of Mana Core. For a mana-based lifeform, it’s an organ that functions like a heart. Isn't it more remarkable that it keeps working for three months after being ripped out of a corpse?"
"Ah, true."
There certainly were a lot of peculiar materials. An organ that constantly emits cold... that was pretty impressive.
We didn't stay until 6:00 PM as I’d told Ravi. We left the auction house around 4:30 PM after winning the Deathworm segment.
The materials the Madam purchased would be delivered quickly via a large airship. Apparently, they deliver to pre-arranged locations free of charge. The after-sales service was top-notch. If I had the money, I’d want to participate in an auction too.
"Aven, would you like to go check on the Gargoyle statue?"
"Oh, can I check it now?"
"Yes. Just a quick inspection before it’s loaded onto the airship."
"Understood. I'd love to."
And so, we went to a large clearing behind the main Labros building. Various auctioned materials were laid out across the wide space, with the items purchased under the name of the Golden Glove Syndicate gathered in one area.
"Whoa, it looks even bigger up close."
Currently, it was hunched over like Rodin’s The Thinker, so it was just over three meters tall, but they said it would reach nearly five meters once the petrification was lifted and it stood up properly. Of course, it wouldn't stand perfectly straight; like most Gargoyles, it would have a slight slouch.
Beside it lay a spear that appeared to belong to the Gargoyle. Apparently, it was an accessory that came with the main body.
"How do you lift the petrification magic?"
"You just have to dispel the anti-petrification reversal magic."
"Ah, right."
The massive wings wrapped around the hunched Gargoyle's body were stone, so I couldn't tell the color, but they appeared to be feathered. I had expected leathery, bat-like wings. To my surprise, they were feathered.
"Let us move it first. We aren't going to dispel the magic here, after all."
"Oh, we can't do it right here?"
"If we dispel the magic here without proper restraints, wouldn't the freed Gargoyle go on a rampage?"
"Ah, right."
The purchase of the Gargoyle was complete. Now, I just had to take it back and eat it.
"Ah, Wright Brothers. I'm coming for you."
"Hmm? What are you talking about? Hurry up and follow us."
But first, I had to follow the Madam and Theodora.