Chapter 38: Auction (1) (Patreon)

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Arione had found a little mask for Clover which came with a small handle.  She held it up to her face, peering down at the auction floor.

They were currently on the second floor of the temple, overlooking the first floor which had been transformed into one huge stage.  All the statues, except the centerpiece, had been cleared away.  The whole temple had only one ceiling, meaning that as long as people peered over the railings on the higher floors, they could see exactly what was going on in the auction.  As such, all the would-be bidders stood on the second floor with them.

The first floor was reserved for the merchandise, magical contraptions illuminating the center part of the stage.

Arione stood a bit behind Clover, having no need for a mask.  The spell he had cast over his hood, preventing anyone from seeing too clearly into his hood was still active.  Combined with the fact that most of his face was confined in the shadow of his robe, he was just another anonymous bodyguard among many.

The two studied the other bidders.  The three dwarves chatting excitedly and throwing coins to the servers to fetch them more drinks.  The Zimmskarians sitting with grim expressions, lamenting the fact that so many of their country men were slaves but their purse could only reach so far.  Then the Akka Xaluds, Jason with his stone-gaze staring straight ahead and Maria’s head turning this way and that excitedly.

That wasn’t even counting the dozens of other nobles and merchants in attendance.

On the stage, a skinny human started the auction without preamble; introducing the first batch of slaves.

Orc guards brought out two human slaves, both male and immaculately good looking.  Broad shouldered, tall with short cropped blonde hair even Clover had to admit that they were attractive.  But was that really enough?  She was familiar with the adventurer guild’s grading conventions and knew that grade-10 and grade-9 weren’t that high.

“Ten.”  One of the dwarves from the Jayu States said immediately.

“Twelve.”  A minor noble on the second floor countered.

“Fifteen.”  Said another.

To Clover’s horror, the numbers began to go up.

 “What’s wrong?”  Arione asked, alarmed by her shift in mood.

“Nothing… I just… I guess I expected that but… for them to do it so easily.”

“This is nothing compared to Turina.”  Arione muttered.  “Keep your wits about you.  And you’re a merchant, you should know what they’re bidding on isn’t the current worth of the slave.  But what the slave could be.”

Even Arione’s tone was unusually grim.  He found this distasteful as well.

But Clover caught on to what he was saying immediately.  For the dwarves, they were looking for potential star fights for the Colosseum.  Two good looking slaves who weren’t that strong yet? They could pit them against weaker enemies and slowly feed them Cores over time.  They’d be artificially creating a story of a gladiator who was not only physically attractive, but rising to the top through hard work.

As for the nobles, they could dress up the slaves and use them as man servants or shove them into any of the darker sides of the business they owned.  Clover worked as a merchant; she wasn’t completely blind to how nobles mae a big chunk of their money.  Sex trafficking, drugs and even crimes were quick ways to rise to the top.  Clover had never met a noble who wasn’t guilty of doing something.  Especially if the noble family wanted to retain power but didn’t have the talent to own dungeons or perform monster raids.

“Sold.”

The dwarf, Yousef, won the bid and he leaned back in his seat.  As he did, Clover made eye contact with the man.  Less than an hour ago, he had been practically begging her to come visit them at the Colosseum.

He smiled and waved.

Clover gritted her teeth but forced a smile, waving her mask a bit.  It only made sense he would recognize her, she was wearing the same clothes as before and he probably took a good look at the rest of her.

Meanwhile the auction continued.

“100 Gold!”

“112!”

“Sold! To the veiled lady!”

“Sold!”

“49!”

“Sold!”

“Going once… going twice… Sold for 248 gold!”

“Sold for 508! To the gentleman on the second floor!”

Clover watched as men and women had their futures traded for a handful of coins or a fortune, not of their own will but by someone else’s.  These people had their power of choice stripped away from them.

It was hard to watch.

If there was a bright side to all this, it was the Zimmskar Kingdom.  For once, the pink-haired beastwoman felt a hint of pride for her small nation.  They worked vigorously to purchase their fellow countrymen.  Their only real competition were the Dwarves and some nobles in attendance.  However the dwarves stopped trying to buy up the beastman slaves once they had bought a few, the Colosseum needed a variety of fighters not just one race.

The real problem were the nobles on the second floor.  They were here to buy their latest toy and they only needed to buy one beastman slave.  They were happy to trade in all of their budgeted coins for a single slave; the Zimmskar Representatives had to try and buy out all of them.  It did not bode well for the fate of her fellow beastman.

“Sold! The rabbit beastwoman goes to the gentleman on the second floor!”

“The red-haired wolf beastman to an anonymous bidder!”

“Sold!”

Clover could see the Zimmskar representative's mood growing darker with every passing second.

Some of these slaves, Clover had never seen before.  The Samak Horde must have more bases around the desert where they were training slaves or perhaps had caught some of them in the last few days.  The list of slaves being sold was endless.  Bid after bid, sale after sale.  More and more slaves poured out onto the stage.

Jason did not bid a single time.

He sat with his arms folded, watching the proceedings.

Just as Clover was beginning to think Jason would not speak at all for the rest of the night, her attention was stolen away by the next slave on auction.

L’teya.

L’teya’s eyes were blank, staring straight ahead.

Clover choked back a cry.

“That’s my friend.”  Clover whispered to Arione.

The mage leaned over the railing, taking a good look at her.

Gone were her armor and battleaxes, gone was the unkempt hair kept in a neat little bun with a leather braid.  L’teya was wearing a slip of a nightdress that hugged her curves.  It left her shoulder bare and her captors had allowed the elf-barbarian’s red curls to fall naturally over her shoulders.  Her scars seemed even more pronounced this way, but only added to the woman’s beauty.

The former-merchant saw as clear as day what their captors were doing.  They weren’t even planning to sell L’teya as a battle slave, they’d chosen to market her as something else entirely.  They’d gotten rid of the fire that made the elf-barbarian who she was.  They’d stripped her of everything but the shell.  She saw the nobles around her lick their lips and felt the heat in the air rise.  It was worse on the first floor, some of the nobles had already started bidding.

“100!”

“500!”

“708!”

The bids kept going up.

She had to win this.

Clover took a deep breath.  If she had to keep her calm.  In an bidding war like this one, those who lost their cool would overbid.  She had to lure out her opponents slowly then up the price when they least expected it.  As long as Clover kept her cool, they had a chance of winning this.

“How much did you say you deposited?”

“15,000 gold.”  Arione said the amount like it wasn’t a veritable fortune.  “And I have 10,000 more on hand if you need.”

Gold had stopped being an issue for Arione a long time ago.

“Ok.”  Clover raisd her placard and called out her bid, her voice cutting through the clamor.  “850.”  

Right after Clover said her offer, the person she dreaded the most countered it.

“1500.”  Jason Carid Akka Xalud.

The bids died down instantly.

It wasn’t because they didn’t have a meager 1500 gold. Plenty of people in the auction hadn’t bought a slave yet and many were willing to pay for an elf slave.  But a lot of the nobles were from the Turina Empire and knew who Jason was.  They weren’t bidding out of concern for their purses but because of the potential repercussions.  No one wanted to get on Scion's bad side, especially when this was the first bid that he placed.

“1730.”  

Yousef, the oldest brother of the merchant company representing the Colosseum from the Jayu States.  He sneered at Jason from across the railing.

Jason didn’t let it get to him.  This was just a game to him but it’d be entertaining to show the dwarf his place.  Since losing Abay Munet, he’d been looking for a frontliner for his party in addition to the mage he had lost.  This elf-barbarian was obviously a warrior despite the orcs trying to sell her as something else.  He recognized a diamond in the rough when he saw one.

“2500.”  He said the number easily.

“...3000.”  Yousef gritted his teeth.

Yousef was like Jason.  He saw the L’teya for what she was, a gem.  A beautiful elven barbarian from the Delirious Jungle, who became a gladiator in the Colosseum? If the rumors concerning Barbarians and their battle prowess was even half as true, she’d be worth her weight in gold.  He’d manage her personally and take extra care about which Core they introduced to her.  The crowd would love her.

“4000.”  Jason tapped a finger on the railing, the only show of emotion he allowed himself.

“5000.”

“5500.”  Clover’s voice was just as composed as Jason’s.

Arione didn’t mind at all it if Clover used all of his gold, he actually welcomed it.  He considered it an investment.  The mage could always get more gold, through many different means.  Finding a skilled Priestess?  That wasn’t something he could do with gold alone.  Especially now that the church was hunting him for being a [Player].

Jason’s eyes strayed towards Clover, one eye twitching.  “...6000 gold.”

“We’re starting to gain attention… that’s not good.”  Arione pulled his hood down, stepped back and bumped into something.

“Master… It’s me…”

Arione turned to see the red-haired elf he had been looking for the last week.  “I was waiting for you…”

“Scarlet!”  He hissed and hugged his apprentice.  “Where the fuck were you?! You know how long I spent looking for you?”

“Mmm.  I was locked in the dungeon downstairs…”  Scarlet didn’t return the hug but failed to hide the smile.  “You never came… and here you are on a date with a pink-haired beauty…”

“You tsundere.”  Arione smiled ear to ear.

Scarlet ignored the word.  It wasn’t the first time he heard his master mutter words from his homeworld, where [Players] came from.  “What about the rest of our party?...”

“No.  You and I…”  Arione shook his head.  “This isn’t the best place to talk about it.”

The young red-haired mage bowed his head.  “I.. see… and you’re date?”

Clover was still in the midst of bidding. “6800.”

“That’s our new priestess.”  Arione’s expression darkened.

He had found Scarlet, his apprentice.  Right now, they were bidding for L’teya, the elf-barbarian.  Once they won the bid or figured out who L’teya was bought by, it would be easy for a man of his skills to grab the elf and leave.  The only one who was unaccounted for was Lock Slaveborn.  Lock Slaveborn, whom Arione was 99% sure was a player.

Was there really a need to wait for Lock?

The Mana Vow around his heart reacted, a flash of pain like someone poked him with a needle.

“I need to make sure.  As soon as I’m 100% sure…”  Arione observed the stage, studying L’teya.

He could see why Jason and Yousef were in over themselves.

“7500.”  Jason still had gold to spare and he showed it by creating a gap wish each bid.

“...7600.”  Yousef’s face was red and Arione saw the man clutching the railing so tight his knuckles were turning white.

Arione must have noticed it too, she put the nail in the coffin for yousef.  “8500.”

“Pigshite!”  The dwarf let go of the railing and cursed, leaning back into his chair.

He wasn’t really mad, he shot a smile towards Clover shaking a finger at her.  For him this was just part of the business, win some or lose some.  He didn’t have the high stakes that Clover did nor did he have any idea of how nervous Clover was.  Now there were only two players in the game.

“8800.”  Jason countered.

“Ladies and gents! We have 8800 gold! A record price! Do we have another? Will the pink-haired lady raise?”

Clover raised the placard.  “9000.”

It was a small increase compared to before.  Arione saw the Akka Xalud Scion smirk as he upped the price.  “10,500.”

“Clover, you can use all 25,000 gold.”  Arione whispered.  “But don’t forget our promise.”

Clover hesitated.

She knew the value of gold.  If she bought L’teya for 25,000 gold, how much would Lock cost?  How would they pay Arione back?  Could they even pay him back?  In a moment of clarity, Clover took a step back from the auction and looked at the situation.  Was this really the right way to go about rescuing her friends? Wasn’t this just switching out the orcs for Arione?

Could she trust him?

“Going once!”

Clover couldn’t let L’teya fall into someone else’s hands… was a month together with L’teya really worth that much gold?

“Going twice!”

Scarlet looked at Clover, her face twisted in turmoil.  Then he looked at his master Arione.  Then the red-haired mage remembered Lock Slavebor.  The desperate look in his eyes as he spoke about looking for his companions.  How the man shifted from being a sword-demon in one moment, to the most awkward person Scarlet had ever met.

Lock had told Scarlet to take care.

It felt nice when Lock said that.  It was like Lock didn’t want anything from him, but still wanted Scarlet to be well in the future.  No one ever said nice things like that to him without wanting something in return.  

Scarlet wanted to help.

“Lock’s alive.”  He blurted out.  “He helped me escape.”

At that word, Clover fell out of her thoughts and came back to reality.

Lock was alive.

Lock Slaveborn was alive.

Lock, L’teya and she could gather together and get out of here.  The three of them could pay back any amount of gold… with Lock’s uncanny luck and unrelenting will, Clover started to believe that everything would be ok.  It was strange how just the fact that Lock was still out there gave her courage.

“15,000.”  Clover raised the bet, years of her merchant background telling her that this was the final blow.

Jason’s eyes widened and stared across the railing at her from the other side of the temple.  His eyes bore into hers, bloodlust evident.  

“Bitch…”  He whispered.

“Going once!”

Somehow Clover had said the number right above Jason’s budget.  He didn’t come here to play bidding wars, he came here to massacre the orcs.  But it wasn’t even about the auction, he could take L’teya after killing everyone.  It was the fact that someone beat him.  More humiliating was the fact that this someone was a filthy beastman, who were a race of slaves.  

“Going twice!”  

Jason’s centipedes squirmed underneath his skin, threatening to get out.  The Core he absorbed [Hive Mother] cried for her children to be released; that they were hungry.  The leash he kept on his innerself was corroding and he wanted to let it disappear.  Jason Carid Akka Xalud wanted nothing more than-

He saw a familiar face next to the pink-haired bitch.

Not her hooded bodyguard, no.  But the boy next to him.  The red-haired elf brat.  Wasn’t he?...

Wasn’t he that accursed mage’s disciple? The one who followed him around?

"Arion Popwindale?"

“SOLD!”