Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Auction (1)
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The heart of the dungeon.
Corpses of goblins and gnolls lay intermingled, the air thick with the stench of blood.
"To dare invade the dungeon of the great one... Make it look as natural as possible so the Merchant Guild doesn't catch on."
At Celia's command, the dungeon's monsters sprang into action.
The goblins hacked at their comrades' bodies with the weapons the gnolls had been carrying.
And that wasn't all.
To be thorough, they used the goblins' own weapons to slash at the gnoll corpses.
At a glance, it looked like the gnolls and goblins had fought each other to the death.
The mutual carnage suggested a fierce battle had taken place.
"Alright, start moving the finished ones right away."
As Celia clapped her hands, the skeletons from Sector 1 approached.
They carefully lifted the gnoll and goblin corpses.
No matter how pathetic they seemed, gnolls belonged to the Merchant Guild.
And harming guild-affiliated monsters naturally came with penalties.
In the worst cases, it could lead to a full fallout with the guild, cutting off all trade.
Of course, Celia wasn't putting in this much effort out of fear of the guild.
It was simply a shame to openly antagonize them when there was still so much to squeeze out of the guild.
Even so, the guild wasn't stupid—they'd investigate for sure.
But without direct evidence, mere suspicion wouldn't let them say a word.
That was enough.
Celia planned to use that time to slowly devour the massive Merchant Guild bit by bit.
She'd already partially secured the handler Molu and the audit team, but it wasn't enough.
Her goal was to fully seize the entire guild in her grasp.
And then offer the swallowed-up guild wholly to her master.
"I hope Master likes it."
Just thinking of the great one brought a smile to her face.
"And set aside three gnolls separately."
No matter how busy things got, she had to show sincerity to the great one.
"Those will be offered to Master. Transport them to the altar with utmost care."
Including the chieftain, there were eleven gnolls in total.
Setting three aside as offerings was more than enough.
She wanted to offer all the dead gnolls, but that risked drawing the guild's suspicion straight here.
For now, she needed to invest boldly where it counted.
Master would want that too.
"Oh! And cut off the hands of the gnolls being offered as sacrifices and preserve them separately."
At the same time, Celia recalled something.
According to Molu, who served closely at Master's side, he particularly enjoyed the "hand taste."
Considering Master's preferences was the duty of a lowly servant like her.
She planned to collect the hands separately and offer them directly as tribute.
At Celia's instructions, some skeletons headed to the altar.
Once the bodies were cleared, the dungeon floor was soaked in blood.
"Death Knight, I need your help."
"?"
At her words, the Death Knight began mopping the floor with a long pole wrapped in rags.
It felt like the workload was increasing, but he decided it was just his imagination.
Just as the dungeon was settling down after a while, a hobgoblin appeared.
The hulking hobgoblin rushed straight to Celia and the Goblin Lord, dropping to one knee.
"Kehk, found the runaway!"
He reported in his gruff voice.
The fugitive had been located.
The fugitive.
Before the gnolls entered the dungeon.
The goblin scouting party had intensified patrols in the nearby forest on Celia's orders.
That's how they discovered the gnoll pack hiding there.
Following the head warden's command, the goblins spotted the pack but held back.
They judged it wouldn't be too late to gauge the enemy's intentions and respond accordingly.
But then a variable arose.
Someone had split off from the gnoll pack.
Of course, the scouts immediately pursued.
However, they couldn't capture the target outright—figuring out its destination was the best they could do.
"Sail Kingdom. Headed toward the kingdom!"
The hobgoblin's report ended there.
"Gone to the kingdom, huh?"
Celia nodded.
The goblin scouts were elite in their own right.
If even they couldn't catch it, the escapee was no ordinary foe.
"But it's a problem."
Princess Irena was currently in Sail Kingdom.
If the escapee headed there, it would actually be a boon for Celia.
However, the White Church had recently flooded into Sail Kingdom.
After some holy knights infiltrated, their full delegation had arrived.
The kingdom was in chaos as a result.
But the kingdom's situation wasn't a concern for Celia.
"Tell Princess Irena an uninvited guest has entered the kingdom."
For her, only the great one mattered.
At Celia's order, a shadow from behind bowed and vanished.
"Now, prepare to welcome our guests. The Merchant Guild will visit soon."
The dungeon's daily routine flowed busily as ever.
In the dead of night, the skeleton soldiers brought tribute.
This time, it was gnolls.
Gnolls were hyena-like monsters known for their speed.
"But these weren't intruders?"
There had been no alarm about intruders entering the dungeon.
"Well, doesn't really matter."
They must have hunted them on their own and offered them up.
Whenever tribute was offered, I absorbed its abilities and passed out.
But me passing out now wasn't a big issue.
I'd already patrolled the dungeon with Molu during the day, and now I was home safe.
Plus, Molu was guarding me, so nothing could go wrong.
But then.
"?"
Why send the gnoll's hand separately?
What did it mean?
"Hmm."
No matter how much I thought about it, I had no idea.
If it had been from someone else, I wouldn't have cared.
But it was from Celia.
She surely wouldn't send it for no reason, yet I couldn't guess why.
"Nothing I can do about it?"
I could think about it after waking up anyway.
That would have been the end of it, but another new notification appeared.
An auction, huh.
The timing was perfect.
Absorbing the offered gnolls would take 6 hours.
I'd wake up right in time to join.
The issue was attending.
'Can I even participate?'
I'm on Earth right now.
The auction was on the Eldorado Continent—completely different dimensions.
And I hadn't even attended the social circle; could I join the auction?
As that doubt arose, one item appeared on screen.
"Whoa..."
Even here, it came down to cash.
But the rare items tempted me.
'Temporarily lifts dimensional restrictions?'
Did that mean I could go to the Eldorado Continent directly?
I immediately purchased the auction participation ticket.
If I could join somehow, it'd be a win.
Before that, time to absorb the tributes.
"Molu, keep a good watch around me."
Ordering Molu to guard me before passing out was essential.
The difference now was that Molu had become a 5-star Skeleton Holy Knight.
He felt much more reliable than at 4-star.
With proper skills and traits equipped, no single A-rank hunter could stand against Molu.
"How did it go?"
Serinu, a demon affiliated with the Merchant Guild.
He adjusted his glasses with one hand as he spoke.
His subordinate imp replied immediately.
"Yes, Sir Serinu. When we mentioned the Arch Lich to Arcaneya, she reacted instantly."
Serinu nodded silently.
As expected.
The hottest topic at the current banquet was undoubtedly the Arch Lich.
Dungeon masters and monsters were flocking to see it, bearing gold and jewels.
Meanwhile, Arcaneya was dissatisfied that her presence was overshadowed by the Arch Lich.
"Well, a serpent's jealousy is a fearsome thing."
Arcaneya was a lamia, with a snake for a lower body.
A slight prod at her discontent, and she'd check the Arch Lich herself.
And that prediction proved correct.
At the banquet's upcoming highlight—the dungeon showdown—if Arcaneya won, the spotlight would shift back to her.
And Serinu planned to back her then.
Not for free, of course.
He intended to slowly swallow up the dungeons that way.
"By the way, any info on the Arch Lich and its dungeon?"
Separate from using Arcaneya to check the Arch Lich, the real work started now.
The dungeon he'd thought was a succubus lair.
Yet an Arch Lich and incubus had attended the social circle from there.
Serinu wasn't particularly interested in the incubus.
Only one thing: a full-fledged 5-star being, the Arch Lich.
No succubus could be lord of a dungeon housing such an existence.
'The Arch Lich is definitely the master.'
Serinu had no doubt.
No being surpassing 5-star existed in the human realm currently.
Ask if one was in the demon realm? Even Serinu couldn't answer confidently.
Even as a Merchant Guild member, he didn't know everything about the demon realm.
The guild was a colossal organization.
In it, Serinu was little more than a grunt.
To climb higher, he needed results.
To access more intel, he had to raise his own value.
And that began with monopolizing all info on the Arch Lich.
'Need to find out where it came from.'
With the Arch Lich's emergence, key was what forces it had formed.
Even a 5-star like Vampire Baalcherit could crumble if its faction was weak—leaving openings for the guild.
So he'd ordered subordinates to investigate the Arch Lich and dungeon.
Of course, he'd initially thought it a succubus dungeon, so corrections were needed.
But an unexpected reply came from the subordinate.
"Um... well, you see."
Serinu frowned at the subordinate's hesitation.
"We wanted to correct the info for those we sent to that dungeon, but contact has been lost."
"Contact lost?"
Lost contact—what did that mean?
Had humans gotten them?
No one had the guts to touch guild monsters.
Humans were the most likely suspects.
But once again, the subordinate's answer was different.
"We've already dispatched investigators. We'll hear back soon, Sir Serinu."
Serinu nodded.
With investigators sent, he'd know in time.
"Then for now, focus on the banquet."
Nothing urgent.
He just needed to manage the event.
"Next up, the auction."
Time for the guild to legally suck dry the dungeons' coffers.
"This auction will accept only magistones."
Magistones were the perfect measure of a dungeon's wealth.