Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: How to Ruin an Auction
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"Alright, friend. Who did you say you were?"
"I-I am a nobody, a sinner who failed to recognize a person of importance and committed a grave discourtesy."
Mhm. Very well-taught.
It's just like that old saying: a good beating is the best teacher.
"So, why did you come here today?"
"...To use the auction house."
See? Wouldn't it have been so much better if you'd just confessed from the start?
You could have avoided the beating, handed over the ticket with a smile, and left in one piece, right?
Anyway, the people here are so unfriendly.
To think they wouldn't even consider guiding a lost person, only thinking of saving their own skin and running away.
"Well then, shall we start by taking that ticket?"
I held out my hand, telling him to hurry up and hand it over. This was the original goal, after all.
With a reluctant expression, the noble pulled a sealed envelope from within his robes, where a pocket seemed unlikely to exist, and handed it to me.
"Haha... Then, may I be excused now?"
He said, his tone screaming that he wanted to flee as quickly as possible.
I grabbed the shoulder of the noble as he casually turned his back and said.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Ye-yes? I gave it to you, so isn't our business concluded...?"
"What are you talking about? You have to guide us."
The invitation was just a bonus. The real reason I was looking for you is that I don't know the way, get it?
"Now, lead the way. Quickly."
As I spoke, raising my right fist, the noble flusteredly panicked and nodded his head.
"Ye-yes!"
And so, we followed the noble who took the lead.
After navigating the back alleys for a while, he entered a dilapidated building that looked ready to collapse at any moment. Naturally, the only path was a staircase leading down, so we followed him inside.
Upon entering the building, what I saw was an interior so different from the entrance that it felt jarring.
Clean, patterned tables and chairs, lit torches glowing softly, and a bookshelf with a decent number of books.
Perhaps that's why it felt even more artificial. Who living in a back alley could afford to decorate like this?
But that wasn't what was important right now.
This is a dead end.
"Hey, are you sure this is the right way?"
Did you lead us into a trap, or are you just taking us on some weird detour to mess with us?
When I grabbed the noble by the collar, his face turned pale, and he immediately tried to explain.
"N-no! This is really the right place! Please, come this way!"
The noble walked over to the only bookshelf in the room, stopping directly in front of it.
Is there some kind of device on the bookshelf? Just as I was thinking that, he pushed the bookshelf with both hands, and with a *rumble*, it slid to the side.
'Wow...'
Seeing that, I marveled inwardly at how they had to go to such lengths.
If this were a game, it would've been flamed to hell for being hostile to new players.
How is anyone supposed to find this without being told?
Just picking this specific building out of countless others is an ordeal in itself.
"Let's go."
As I was internally voicing all sorts of complaints, the noble who had taken the lead turned back and spoke to me.
"This isn't the end?"
"There's still more."
Wow, there's still more?
Couldn't you have just made it simple since you weren't going to describe it anyway, author? I would've been in big trouble without a guide. Following the noble down the stairs behind the bookshelf, we now found ourselves in a place that looked like a sewer.
A low ceiling, a musty smell, and the occasional rat.
A long path stretched out, with a channel of water flowing down the middle and walkways on either side.
'Nobles actually walk through places like this.'
After walking for some time, we reached the end of the sewer, which, once again, was a dead end.
"Again..."
I can't take this anymore.
The way to beat a shitty maze isn't to follow one wall, but to smash the walls down.
So, I discreetly pulled a bomb from my inventory.
"We've arrived."
The noble walked toward the wall and then, as if being sucked in, slipped right through it.
"...A barrier?"
"Give me a fucking break."
You'd think they were hiding the Empire's deepest shame in here.
The Empire must have been determined to hide this. There's no other reason for a space like this to exist so deep underground.
Just how much did they want to hoard for themselves?
I followed the noble through the wall. There was a door before me, and when I opened it and stepped inside...
"A changing room?"
It was a room with a large mirror on one wall and all sorts of uniforms and dresses on the other.
"Usually, people come this far in disguise, like me, but you can't enter the auction house itself looking so shabby. You can change your clothes here, then go through the door ahead and present your invitation."
So the auction house is on the other side of this.
It took a long time to get here.
"So, may I go now...?"
"Yeah. Drop dead."
-*Slice.*
In an instant, I drew my sword and separated the noble's head from his body.
As a fountain of blood was about to erupt from the clean-cut surface, I kicked the corpse into the sewer water to be carried away.
"Is it okay to kill him?"
"It's better than letting him live and having him become a nuisance later."
If I let him escape and he came back for revenge later, it would be a pain.
I'm just taking care of it beforehand to prevent such a misfortune.
The death of a noble would normally be a big deal, but there are no security cameras anyway, so no one will know who killed him.
If you kill someone and don't get caught, isn't that an assassination?
"Anyway, if anyone needs to change, do it now."
"I think I'm fine."
"Me too!"
I was still in the black uniform I wore as a professor, and Liche's attire, while not luxurious, was simple enough to pass. Yui was already wearing a dress fit for a young lady, so she was fine.
In that case.
"Does that mean only I need to change?"
"Yeah."
Only Luna, who was wearing leather armor, needed to change.
"Um... I've never worn a dress before. Liche? Could you help me?"
"Ah, yes. Luke, you should step outside for a moment."
"Why? It's not like we haven't seen everything already."
"That's different from this!"
"Iron Body."
The male protagonist getting kicked out while a girl changes? Such a tired cliché.
On the contrary, I boldly crossed my arms, rooted my feet to the ground with Iron Body, and didn't move a single step.
"Ugh...! Yui, please help...!"
"Huh? I don't think he'd budge even if all three of us pushed."
Liche tried her best to push me out, shoving at my chest, but it was no use.
I'm a real man. A woman's strength won't even make me blink.
"Liche. Let's just do it. I don't mind."
"Ugh..."
Since she herself said it was fine, Liche helped Luna change into a dress.
Still, as a last resort, she turned her back to change, but I don't know why they made such a fuss when I couldn't see anything with her back turned anyway.
While Luna changed into the dress, I looked around to see if there was anything else.
There weren't just clothes here, but also accessories like rings and necklaces.
Among them, what caught my eye the most were the masks.
An important item that conceals one's face and guarantees anonymity.
There were many types of masks, from a plain white one with only holes for the eyes and mouth, to an eye mask that only covered the eyes, like one you'd wear to a masquerade ball. The variety was diverse.
"But what's this...?"
Among all the masks, there was one that stood out, making me wonder if it was an Easter egg left by the author.
Still, I like this kind of thing, so I put on the mask without hesitation.
The mask I wore didn't just cover my face but my entire head, which inevitably narrowed my field of vision.
"Yui. How do I look?"
"Huh? Eek...!"
Hmm. Seeing Yui's reaction, I'm satisfied.
Just then, Luna and Liche, who had finished changing into their dresses, glanced at me, startled, and took a step back.
"......!"
"Wh-what is that?"
"You guys hurry up and pick out a mask, too."
I don't know if we have to wear one, but masks are the unwritten rule in places like this.
Besides, there's no benefit to showing our faces.
"I'm fine with wearing one, but do you really have to wear *that* mask?"
"Yeah. I really like it."
"That...?"
"Respect my taste."
You'd think I'd cut off someone's head, hollowed it out, and put it on.
I don't know why they're so surprised.
"If you're ready, let's go."
When I opened the door at the end of the changing room, there was another spiral staircase leading down.
"Hah... More stairs."
Today of all days, I found myself missing escalators and elevators more than ever.
We descended the stairs for about five minutes. At the bottom was a building so lavish you'd never think it was underground.
A red carpet was rolled out all the way to the entrance, as if to show off their wealth, and two large men stood guard in front. I walked confidently toward them to present my ticket.
"Ticket, please."
"Here."
I showed the guard the ticket I'd received as a gift from the noble I'd killed earlier.
The guard inspected the ticket carefully, checking if it was a forgery, before finally speaking as if his check was complete.
"Ticket confirmed. Are these people with you?"
"Yeah."
"Um... excuse me... but are you really going to enter wearing... that mask?"
"Is there a problem?"
You're the ones who put them out for people to wear, aren't you?
If so, I can wear it. Why are you talking as if I shouldn't?
"Ahem... It's nothing. Please enjoy your time."
The two guards opened the doors, revealing a large, circular space. On the tiered seats, various participants were already in the middle of an auction.
***
"The next item is here!"
The auctioneer, standing in the middle of the auction house, shouted as he held up a case containing a fearsome-looking sword.
"This sword was forged from the tooth of an A-rank monster, a Hydra! The bidding starts at 50 gold! Minimum bid increment is 10 gold!"
*Tsk.* The man clicked his tongue.
Selling an item like that for money, without even knowing if it's real or fake.
Whether an item up for auction was genuine or not could only be known after buying and appraising it.
In other words, no one knew if the sword the auctioneer was holding was truly made from a Hydra's tooth.
So who would buy it? The rich nobles who loved to gamble, of course.
The humans who collected rare artifacts and magical tools, the ones who collected all sorts of swords. Those were the people who bought such suspicious items for exorbitant prices.
If this were an auction held by the imperial family, items would be appraised before being listed, but there's nothing like that in the underworld. If you get fooled, it's your own fault.
The reason the man was occupying a seat in such a place, clicking his tongue, was because of his job.
His profession didn't really have a name. His job was to receive a list of auction items with target prices from the organizers and drive the bids up to at least that amount.
While the man was lost in thought, their exclusive game began.
"60 gold!"
"We have 60 gold!"
"80 gold!"
"Currently 80 gold!"
"100 gold!"
"100 gold! Any more bids?!"
Exactly 100 gold.
After that, silence.
The bidders must have thought the sword wasn't worth more than 100 gold.
However, whether the sword was real or not, 100 gold was too little for something with the 'Hydra' name attached.
The target price for the Hydra sword this time was 200 gold. That was his job, and even if he couldn't reach it, he had to get the bid as close as possible.
So, the man casually raised his hand and increased the bid.
"110 gold!"
Raising the bid like this was a subtle way of advertising that the sword was genuine, not a fake, and a fine weapon to those unfamiliar with Hydras.
If he raised the price too much at once, his intentions would be obvious. He had to raise it bit by bit, as if testing the waters, to make his opponent think they were in a psychological battle.
Only then...
"120 gold!"
...would they follow.
At the sight of someone else raising the bid, the corners of the man's mouth lifted behind his mask.
The man waited for a moment, watching the auctioneer begin his count.
And just as the auctioneer began the final countdown to close the bidding.
"130 gold!"
He subtly raised the price.
The battle continued like this, and when the price neared the target of 200 gold.
"190 gold!"
Having reached the cusp of his target, the man thought.
'Please, just one more bid to hit 200 gold...!'
However, the opponent who had been chasing him all this time suddenly seemed to lose interest, and no response came.
"190 gold! Sold!"
"Ah..."
The situation had turned, and he'd ended up winning the bid by accident.
Still, it didn't matter. This happened on rare occasions, but since he was a plant from the auction house, he wouldn't actually be buying it even if he won the bid.
It would probably be stashed away somewhere and brought back up for auction later.
'This one was a shame, but I just need to control the next one better.'
This mess happened because he got too greedy trying to meet the target price.
He'd play it safer next time.
With that in mind, the man steeled himself as he looked at the next item up for auction, a replica Elixir.
However, on the next item, and the one after that, the man couldn't avoid winning the bid.
The reason was that someone was constantly walking a tightrope with him, avoiding the final bid.
It was as if they were reading his mind, somehow knowing the exact moment he would stop and stopping at the same time.
At this point, he understood.
The other person was doing the same job as him.
And that they were trying to mess with him.
'What son of a bitch...!'
The man whipped his head around, searching for the culprit.
Then, he spotted a man who would raise his hand to bid right after he himself had called out a bid.
But... he was wearing a mask that was suspicious at a single glance.
'...A boar?'
That's right.
He was wearing a boar mask over his head.