I expected to be taken to a cage in a damp cellar. The auctioneer instead took me to a lavish bedroom. He ordered me to enter and then bowed with a smile that looked genuine. The bedroom had several doors and fancy furniture. It was huge, twice the size of my old apartment in NY.
"I know Your Highness must be distressed from all this. I order you to use this room as you please. Relax. I'll have some maids coming to attend to your needs and a meal worthy of a Princess shortly."
He closed the door and left. I looked in the bedroom. It lost only to Alloralla's elven furniture. The bed and pillows were superb, the upholstery of the couch and chairs was monster leather. It wasn't a room but an apartment. It had a servant's quarter with two bunk beds, a walk-in closet, a sitting room on the other way in - I think he brought me from the service entrance - a latrine that didn't smell like shit and a spacious bathing room with what resembled a Roman bath.
The maids entered right after I finished my exploration. They were human and very beautiful. They brought clothes and other accessories. One of them ordered me to come and I obeyed, pretending to be a slave. When I approached, I saw they had slave collars that were cleverly-disguised in their uniform. I followed their lead as they undressed me - I sent my silk panties to storage before removing my upper layers of clothing - and then took me to the bath to wash.
I felt like a Wagyu cow being fed black beer to soften the meat. If they wanted to sell a {Princess}, they wanted her to appear relaxed and natural. The skilled maids gave me a full-body massage and put me in fancy clothes that even had a hole for my tail. The corset was a bit too tight but I believe that was par for the course. Once they were done, I was ordered to sit at the table and eat the full-course meal they served me.
Once I was done with the food, they cleaned everything and the auctioneer came back right after they left.
"Relax, Your Highness. I want to ask you some questions."
Me too, my dear slaver. First, who are you?
> [Royal Auctioneer]
>
> Level 87 male human
>
> Endurance 60
>
> Mind 70
>
> Willpower 100
>
> Charisma 80
>
> Magic 90
>
> HP ~ 700,000
>
> MP ~ 2,000,000
Yeah, the guy was the real deal. And he had {Pinnacle of Willpower}.
She giggled in my mind.
"What is your name, my dear?"
"I'm Princess Mononoke of Theiria."
"I wasn't aware you existed, and I know the names of the Royal family of Theiria. Care to explain your origins?"
"I'm related to the 'silver cat princesses'. I was raised in exile."
"Where?"
"In a trading village on the eastern side of Fulgen." - The one Alloralla cleared of orcs and populated with the captured women.
"Alloralla's refuge, is that the name of the village?"
"I was never told the name of the place," I answered truthfully. Did they name the place after me?
"That doesn't matter. But are you sure you are of the blood of the cat princesses?"
"I am related to them, of that I am sure. I got the title too. My upbringing was very sheltered."
"Well, that confirmed what I needed to know. Go to sleep and tomorrow we'll talk some more."
I stood and walked away without saying goodbye. The doors closed and I heard a latch being thrown on the other side. Time to play. I tried to send the slave collar to the item box and the object vanished from my neck. So did the clothes which were replaced by my living silk bodysuit. I became invisible and incorporeal, then walked out of the room through the wall.
Exploring the auction house, I found it had four basement levels, with a treasure room at the bottom. A lot of high-level guards all along the way. In the first basement floor, I found the normal slave pens filled with gorgeous women. From there I went up, searching for documents or a ledger. I tracked the auctioneer to his office, noticing he vanished from my detection Perks once he entered a heavily warded room.
Inching slowly, I crossed them, using my {Grandmaster Surreptitiousness} to slip through the wards without triggering them. The auctioneer's corner office had bookshelves lining all the four walls and windows to both the main square and the wharf. The view was amazing and there was an enchantment in the glass to allow one to see outside as if it was daylight. The man was writing a letter, writing out the details of our brief interview. Along with some observations he made. They knew about Talbain but he wrote that he might be my bodyguard. At the end of the letter, which was addressed to the King of all people, he wrote his concern that I could be related to Windemere and that he was concerned about the missing slavers I'd killed. He finished with a request for increased security due to the high value of the "goods" he would sell in the next auction. I was touched by his concern.
After he finished the letter, he sealed it and slid into a paper envelope. Paper. I was amazed. The stuff was expensive. There was no blue-haired bookworm priestess struggling to develop such technology in this world. I had a faint idea of how to make it but honestly, it wasn't my focus. He wrote the King's name next to the seal. The auctioneer was from a ducal house. Razing the city was becoming more and more attractive.
He put the letter on a tray and pulled a book. He started to compile a list of nobles to invite. I was slated to be sold at an exclusive auction. Only the upper echelon would come. After the list was complete with a hundred names, he planned the seating so rivals would be in sight of each other to increase the bids. I was amazed at the amount of thought he put into organizing his auctions. He also estimated the bids. He thought I would sell for almost two hundred platinum coins. It could very well be my weight in gold.
He did other administrative tasks and I could see he indeed had detailed ledgers about his operations. There was a bookshelf dedicated only to that. With a person this methodical, it was a given.
Too bad his time had come. I transformed into a panther. After putting a {Death Contract} on his head, I bit his neck off. The body along with all the furniture and books in the room vanished into my item box and I captured the ghost.
> Assassination (...)
>
> You killed level 87 [Royal Auctioneer]. You gained 1 trillion Exp (base 75,690 x 1,4056,376 multipliers).
No reason to not double-down on such sweet Exp. And since he wasn't a necromancer wanting to abolish death, he deserved to die twice. I turned to the ghost. I couldn't bind him to my will so I had to negotiate. Stupid {Pinnacle of Willpower}. I pumped SP into his soul, triggering {Soulguide} and purifying his essence of all grudges and malice. After I was done with him, he was as innocent and pure as a newborn non-reincarnated baby.
He was unfazed by the fact he was dead. "I am a man... or should I say, ghost now, who prides himself in being useful, Your Highness. In life, I had absolute allegiance to my uncle the King. Now that I'm dead and my oaths were fulfilled, I am free and willing to negotiate. Although I have seen several deaths in my brief life, I must say I am impressed at how clean you kill. I am really curious as to how you learned to Service is not out of the table.> He chuckled,
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Yes, that is nice but I would like very much to live. You showed you have the power to resurrect the dead as you murdered me twice," He retorted.
There was no use lying to the ghost. They were as sensitive to falsehoods as they were honest.
"I am a pragmatic person. The information I hold is already in the books you stole from my heirs and I sense you'll bring my House to ruin. It can't be helped with the power you hold, I guess. Which species are we talking about?"
"By original ones I assume you are the creator of the silk-folk? Goodness gracious, we bit more than we could possibly chew there. I see you removed the slave collar, how is that even possible, for curiosity's sake?"
"Any Attribute pinnacle is worth it. Make me handsome and we have a deal."
"Windemere. The creator of the silk-folk. You are not related to the silver cat princesses, you are related to King Locksley!"
"I can be both. And much more. But now, let me make you your temporary house."
I crafted a silk figurine the length of my index finger. Then I used {Cloth Body} to bind his specter to the figurine, creating a cloth golem. He wasn't truly alive, only animated. I could put him in the {Item box} anytime I wanted.
"This feels odd. But I am yours to serve, Your Highness."
He would have to pass the trial of the tabard but I wasn't worried about that. It was almost impossible for a purified ghost to lie to me.
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The auctioneer's knowledge was extremely convenient as he taught me how to bypass the magical wards and locks in the whole auction house. I killed all the guards and looted the whole building. I would loot the building whole later on but I needed it to be empty. A single living macroscopic creature of sufficient size to have System stats would stop me from sending the building to my infinite item box once I separated it from the earth.
The auction house had enormous stores of wealth and valuable objects. He often bought rare items from merchants and stored them for any length of time, preparing themed auctions to sell the items for the maximum profit. He had treasures and high-denomination coinage from all over the world. He even had one of the Second Demon Lord's horns. I wasn't aware anything had survived that magical nuke.
After I was done with the guards, I assumed my "Princess Mononoke" persona and went to the servants' quarters.
The second basement was entirely dedicated to them. These slaves, mostly women, and few men did everything in the auction house, from serving guests, performing sexual services for some of them, cleaning the place, etc. Following the auctioneer-golem's advice, I did some triage. A few of the enslaved servants, encompassing half the men, could not be released. He told me that often they were granted access to the women as a reward for excellent service. On the other hand, the women that performed well were spared these rape sessions.
You could force a slave to do work but you couldn't force them to do so willingly or to the best of their ability. There were always subtle ways to sabotage one's work. And no-loopholes orders didn't work either. Those wicked policies were in place to stop the servants from uniting. It was hard to do so when you knew you had to step on your... coworkers? Dunno. When you had to step on your fellow slaves to avoid getting the short end of the stick. It bred a pecking order mentality that destroyed any chance at cooperating for the mutual betterment.
A twisted and deranged version of the prisoner's dilemma. After all, even the ideal prisoner's dilemma mental exercise had its Nash equilibrium where the prisoners infinitely betrayed each other. And that was assuming the prisoners were perfectly logical creatures.
I did the gruesome job of separating the chaff from the wheat among the servants. Then I threw {Force Javelins} at the brains of all the guilty ones at once. I brought them back and killed them again. No reason to not harvest the bonus Exp and these beasts deserved that.
I loathed these sexual offenders when I was a man. Now that I'd lived this long as a woman? Oh, boy. The next gang of rapists I meet would get the javelins up their bent over assholes and out the crown of their heads. Even then, I purified and dismissed their souls. Leaving darkened evil souls behind was like littering the spiritual world. Sometimes they could come back and turn into undead or worse. It was a minor thing with these weaklings, akin to the blood that stained the ground, which I cleaned with {House Magic} as a matter of principle.
After getting oaths and putting geasa on the living servants, I led them to help the prisoners at the slave pens. I had to use the {Royal Geas} on them because they were too scarred to fully cooperate. I couldn't have them escaping on me before my plan fully unfolded.
I walked into the room and threw a few gradual light spells at the ceiling. The auctioneer guaranteed me that there was no infiltrated slaver or guard among them.
"Good morning, ladies. I come in peace to release you. I ask you to remain calm and patient. I'm going to remove your slave collars," I spoke softly as I raised the figurine. "Do your thing."
"Release Collar! All of them!" The auctioneer-golem commanded.
All the collars opened and fell to the ground, from the prisoners and servants alike. That was a nice trick that was bound to the current holder of the collar's soul. One I didn't know. What I knew was that it beat chewing the collars' magic out by a mile. The women cried in relief, hugging each other. The bravest of them tossed the collars away from them. I opened the cages and let them out. The female servants quickly helped the women get dressed and I led everyone to the main auditorium of the auction house.
"Okay, everyone. I'm going to free you soon but I am not yet done with the place. It will be extremely dangerous to go outside before I finish my work here. You will all be given one gold piece when you're released. I'm going to lead you to the guest rooms on the second floor where you'll stay for a few hours. I do not intend to hurt you but anyone that doesn't cooperate will be punished."
One of the women, a noble human lady by the lengthy and well-kept mane that decorated her head, raised her hand. "Yes? You may speak."
"Will we be able to return to our homes?"
"Yes. I'll even escort those that want to leave Rerin out of the city but I won't protect you as you travel. The only thing I can guarantee is that if you stay with me until the end, you'll fear no slaver for they will be all dead. Just like this guy here," I said as I showed them the auctioneer's head, still dripping blood.
I felt the need to shock them so they could believe my words. Now that they knew I could kill the almighty lord of the auction house, I knew they would behave. I put the full weight of my social Skills on them.
"Now, I can't let you go yet. I need to prepare for our departure and that will take a couple of days. I hope you cooperate and trust me. I wouldn't go through all this trouble if I intended to hurt you. You'll have food and water available and comfortable beds to sleep while I work. You can ask me anything that's not personal."
Another woman, this one a half-elf, raised her hand. "Can you try to hire us some armed escorts? You'll give us a gold coin and I know that's enough to hire mercenaries to protect us as we go back home. We can even organize ourselves by destination so we can pool our resources."
"That's great! I can do that. I can't promise it though, because I'm going after some very important people. There will be some chaos but that will make it easier to slip out undetected. Any other questions?"
They asked a few questions, some of them personal. The beast-kin and were-kin women were the most receptive and friendly, no doubt because of my {Matriarch} Perk.
I explained to them I would put wards blocking them from leaving the apartments. While they would be basically trapped and kept as prisoners again, that had to be done to guarantee the secrecy of my operations. I made it clear that my goals were to stop this rampant slavery and to release the people unjustly enslaved, but in that order. There was an implied threat everyone understood. Especially the released servants as they knew I'd killed their former coworkers.
I separated the resigned group of people in teams of up to eight, keeping the humans together. I knew they held some bias as those things were hard to shed. I sent the women ahead and kept the men for a little one-sided conversation.
"Okay, guys. You know I killed the other men. You also know why. They raped the women, a crime I won't ever forgive. Now, I'm not going to separate you from those beautiful women there. I won't tell you what to do, just the consequences of crossing that one line. I hope you behave for your own good."
I mimicked a pair of scissors cutting something at the waist height to finish pushing the point across. They all nodded in agreement.
Then I led them to the nice guest apartments on the second floor. I had enough beds in storage for everyone and after we moved the furniture here and there, they were all comfortably accommodated. I filled the common room with more than enough food, freshwater Nenandil created for me, and sundries to last them a month. With that done, I erected the wards and let them to their own devices.
I had to carve a seam through the ground, creating a clear separation between the auction house and temple from the planet's crust. Once I was done with that, I would clear the temple, lead the freed slaves out and steal the buildings. So I dove into the Earth and carved that seam. I had to harden the rock of the block I was creating as there were micro-fractures in the bedrock layers between beds of gravel that allowed seawater to seep through. I think this area was a landfill. Natural or artificial, it didn't matter. Once the buildings were out, it would probably fill with water or even destroy part of the wharf from the sudden influx of water. The hole would have the volume of dozens of Olympic swimming pools.
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I inspected the temple and Talbain had already destroyed the wards. I couldn't sense him around and I hoped he was alright. The werewolf was decked in excellent enchanted gear that improved his fighting prowess by at least the equivalent of thirty levels and protected him from silver. I wasn't too worried about his survivability but I couldn't quell the last sliver of doubt.
Pushing those worries aside, I closed my eyes and used my detection Perks. Everyone in the church was human, and most of them were followers of Bundeus. Striking them might tip my hand but I trusted that {Shrouded from Divine Eyes} would give me some degree of secrecy. I remembered that the stone curse triggered a report when it broke but it was blocked by that Perk.
I couldn't let such a juicy target slip. My burning anger compelled me to act. I transformed once again, becoming a mighty dire jaguar. A ghostly, invisible dire jaguar. As I walked through the walls, I tossed a Force box all over the building and did my grim business.
The priests, acolytes, and nuns didn't have a chance. Their main defense was the divine magic of their god and that was as useful against me as gently spraying water on a duck's back. The few attending believers that didn't register as clergy I knocked out with my magic. I looted the temple as I went. If I couldn't get the building, I would at least get the objects and documents.
I wrapped the still living church-goers in Force cocoons and shoved them out the door with a large dozer blade. I felt like Hal Jordan but without the neon suit. And my constructs were transparent. That created a little commotion but I didn't care. I closed the hole in the force box shut and cast another over the auction house.
Now I only had to kill the nobles (including the King) and slavers in the hit list compiled by the auctioneer puppet and escort the freed slaves out. The sudden vacuum of power would surely work as a cover for our escape.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.