"Very well then. Three hundred and ninety thousand Nars. The current bid is three hundred and ninety thousand Nars. Is there anyone else who wants to make a bid?" Rosten called out loudly. "No? If there is no one else who wishes to place another bid, then three hundred and ninety thousand Nars going once… going twice… sold!" he declared, stamping the wooden lapel three times.
"The Dragonkin tribe slave has been sold for the price of three hundred and ninety thousand Nars to the gentleman over there. Will both the successful bidder and the exhibitor please proceed to the backstage room, where the formalities of the purchase will be handled?" he said, gesturing towards them.
The Adventurer stood up and walked towards the side door near the stage, while the Slave Merchant escorted the Dragonkin man offstage from the other side.
"The auction can be a bit intense," I said to Anastasia with a wry smile. Forty gold coins had been the original prices for both Lillia and Miria, so thirty-nine gold coins for just a guy still felt a bit steep.
"The Dragon Knight was one of the more popular choices," she replied calmly, analyzing the situation. "That is likely why they brought him out first—to get the audience bidding fiercely right from the start."
So even she doesn't believe that the order of the list was selected by lottery.
"Anyway, you were so calm and composed, Anastasia. Just like a seasoned merchant," I said, looking at her appreciatively and rubbing her palm with mine. Honestly, she seemed like a whole different person the moment the bidding started. I could still remember her tired, frightened face yesterday in the labyrinth… and the flushed expression she had when she orgasmed last night. Now here she was, cool and calculating—yet another side of her.
It was like seeing three completely different girls in one. And honestly, I wanted to uncover even more of her faces and expressions.
"Thank you, Master," Anastasia murmured, her cheeks tinting with embarrassment.
Around us, through my sharp ears, I could hear the murmurs of nearby attendees. Most were commenting on how getting a Dragon Knight for under 400,000 Nars wasn't a bad deal—but still, many seemed intent on saving their money for the Wizard later on.
"The next exhibit," Rosten announced swiftly.
Looks like they don't waste much time between exhibits. Probably so the atmosphere doesn't cool down—keeps the energy high and encourages impulse buying.
The next one on stage was a female Adventurer. She was the one who wasn't bad looking, but in the end, she hadn't made the cut for me. I took a deep breath and focused on sticking to the plan Anastasia had put together.
It wasn't anything complicated. All I had to do was act laid-back while she placed bids on each exhibit. I remembered her exact words:
'The plan is to make it seem like Master has a lot of money. So, if you stay calm and uninterested while I keep bidding, even if we don't win most of them, people will start to think that Master has deep pockets and a lot of money to throw around.'
Which honestly wasn't far from the truth. I did have a lot of money right now. If I wasn't so greedy and hadn't taken a liking to so many girls in the Big Auction, we probably wouldn't even need to resort to tricks like this.
'And once most of them believe Master is loaded,' she had continued, "they will start letting us win—thinking it will drain your funds before the Wizard exhibit. But they don't know Master has no interest in the Wizard, and just wants to win those 11 exhibits. Which is still quite a lot. So we need to keep up the act and bid on every one so no one figures out our real targets.'
Honestly, the plan was solid. The only risky part was whether Anastasia knew when to stop bidding. We didn't exactly have money to waste—and the last thing I wanted was to accidentally win a male slave. But after watching how she handled herself during the Dragon Knight bidding, I was feeling way more confident about this whole strategy.
At the very least, I know I couldn't have come up with anything better in such a short time. I was really glad I brought her along.
"The minimum bid is two hundred thousand Nars. Then please start…" Rosten's voice echoed in the background as the next bidding began.
I was a bit surprised that the minimum bid for this female was set at 20 gold—double that of the male Dragonkin. Then again, I had been told several times that female slaves tend to fetch a much higher price than males. Looks like that was true after all.
"200,000 Nars!"
"210,000 Nars!"
"220,000 Nars!"
'An ordinary-looking female combat slave would normally go for around 400,000 to 600,000 Nars. Since she is an Adventurer, her price should fall closer to the 550,000 to 600,000 Nars range,' Anastasia informed me through the party link, even as she casually started placing bids, increasing the amount by 50,000 Nars—five gold at a time.
The bidding wasn't as fierce as it had been for the Dragon Knight. There were more people participating, sure—even some fancy-looking knights and a few hooded figures—but the atmosphere felt lukewarm. No one was getting fired up or trying to outbid each other aggressively.
"470,000 Nars!"
"480,000 Nars!"
The price slowly crept up towards 500,000 Nars, with only five serious bidders remaining.
"530,000 Nars!"
Anastasia raised the bid again, another cool five-gold increase. At this point, I had gotten used to her bidding style. It didn't even faze me anymore. Still, I could feel the attention on us—people were watching, whispering. I even caught someone mutter something about the Cursed Mansion.
How the hell did they figure out I was the guy renting that place? Is there a picture of me circulating around or something?
In the end, Anastasia didn't bid again, and the final price settled at 600,000 Nars. The winning bidder was a hooded merchant. I informed his name to Anastasia, but she didn't recognize him. So, nothing useful to dig into there.
Still, 60 gold was a hefty price. That was the original value of Roxanne herself. But I guess it made sense—Adventurer slaves are highly versatile and always in demand.
As soon as the exhibit ended, I sat up straighter. I could even feel Anastasia's body tense up beside me—she was clearly more focused now.
"Now, let's move on to the third bid. The third exhibit, please come to the stage!" Rosten announced loudly, and from the side of the stage emerged two figures: a Level 12 slave merchant and a rather tall female.
My breath hitched.
There she was—standing in the center of the stage—a tall, short-haired Dragonkin girl. Even from this far, those melons looked massive!!
She was standing still, a small smile on her lips, but I noticed her red eyes were scanning the crowd beneath the stage.
"I wish for a good auction," the kind slave merchant I had met earlier said, bowing respectfully to the audience.
"The slave being exhibited is an fifteen-year-old female of the Dragonkin tribe. The minimum bid is two hundred thousand Nars. Then, please begin," Rosten declared once more.
"200,000 Nars!"
"210,000 Nars!"
"220,000 Nars!"
"230,000 Nars!"
"240,000 Nars!"
Unlike the previous female, there was a lot more excitement this round. The bids came in fast, and I felt like there were pins on my chair. I couldn't sit still hearing all these random people try to buy my Vesta!
'A beautiful non-combat slave usually goes for 400,000 to 500,000 Nars. But as a rare Dragonkin, her price could climb to 550,000 Nars,' Anastasia said, her voice calm and focused through the party link.
In contrast to my inner turmoil, she remained perfectly composed. Her steady voice helped calm me down too. I gave her hand a light squeeze in silent appreciation.
Just as the price reached 250,000 Nars, Anastasia raised her hand.
"300,000 Nars!"
As before, she casually bumped the bid by five gold.
Most of the room didn't even turn—they already knew who the voice belonged to. But there was a pair of bright red eyes that locked onto me with pleasant surprise. I grinned and gave her a playful wink. No idea if she could actually see it from this distance, but I did it anyway.
"310,000 Nars!"
"320,000 Nars!"
The bidding continued, but now only a few participants were raising their hands. The atmosphere had also noticeably cooled down.
As my palms grew sweatier, the bidding kept climbing, easily surpassing 400,000 Nars. Vesta's eyes were still on us—on me—and I did my best to maintain a laid-back appearance. Thankfully, I had someone beside me who was calm enough for the both of us.
"480,000 Nars!"
With a casual lift of her hand, Anastasia once again raised the bid by 50,000 Nars. Three of the remaining bidders dropped out immediately.
"490,000 Nars!"
One stubborn merchant held on. Of course, it had to be the same guy who lost the bid for the male Dragon Knight earlier.
Drop dead, you fucking fatty! If looks could kill, he would have had a heart attack by now. Honestly, if I had a Death Note on me, I would have written his name down without hesitation—I already knew it thanks to my Appraisal skill!
"540,000 Nars!"
Despite my inner rage, Anastasia remained cool as ever, though I could feel her grip on my hand tighten just a bit.
The fat merchant craned his neck to glare back at us, but I didn't even bother looking at him. My eyes were locked with a certain beautiful redhead's instead. I was sure Anastasia ignored him too. The man gave one last bitter glance before silently facing forward and lowering his hand.
"Five hundred and forty thousand Nars. The current bid is five hundred and forty thousand Nars," Rosten called out.
I understood why the merchant gave up—he had probably reached his limit. Meanwhile, Anastasia looked like she could raise another 50,000 without breaking a sweat.
"Anyone else wants to bid...?" Rosten asked, stretching out the moment.
Why is this twirly-mustache bastard dragging this out? Just announce it already!
"If not… then five hundred and forty thousand Nars going once... five hundred and forty thousand Nars going twice... and sold!" Rosten hammered the gavel three times, declaring the final sale.
My heart, which had all but stopped, finally kicked back into rhythm. I let out a deep sigh of relief and sank into my seat, which was now thoroughly soaked with nervous sweat. I looked up at the redhead on stage and smiled—she smiled back.
"The successful bid is five hundred and forty thousand Nars! Both the successful bidder and the exhibitor, please proceed to the room backstage to finalize the purchase," Rosten announced, gesturing towards a side door.
Vesta and the slave merchant promptly exited the hall.
'You did an absolutely amazing job, Anastasia,' I told her through the party link, clasping her hands in both of mine and looking at her with pride. A pleased smile spread across my face. In my mind, I was already chanting: Viva Anastasia! Praise Anastasia! She had not only helped me win Vesta—she saved me a pile of money doing it.
'I was a bit afraid that the merchant would raise the price again,' Anastasia replied, her voice soft in my mind, as she shyly looked away under the weight of my praise. 'But at least it stayed under the maximum limit. I will try to do even better next time, Master.'
'No, you really did great already,' I said with a wry smile. She didn't know it, but in the original story, Michio used a much more aggressive bidding strategy—raising the price by 100,000 Nars at once, double of what Anastasia was doing. That final bid reached as high as 640,000 Nars… which is 64 gold. In contrast, Anastasia's calm strategy saved me 10 whole gold coins. And right now, every single coin counts. So yes, she really did do a fantastic job.
"Alright, I have to go. You stay here in my stead," I said, noticing Rosten already calling out the next exhibit.
'Don't worry, Master. Your next target is still two exhibits away,' Anastasia said with a reassuring smile.
I nodded at her and stood up.
Let's go make Vesta mine!
***
[Gorama 27 has redeemed an Extra Chapter this week]