"24 white-gold coins!" Lone bid, knocking out yet another of his competitors.
'This is going well. Only four more people are still bidding. Maybe I can get that orb for under Gilbert's estimate? That'd be nice,' Lone thought.
With that in mind, he continued to enjoy the thrill of a bidding war.
Slowly, time kept ticking on by, and only Lone and one other person were in contention for the mana orb. The current bid was Lone's at 42 white-gold coins.
His opponent did some calculations in his head and then frowned and shook his head, choosing not to bid any further. The orb clearly wasn't worth any more to him than the 40 white-gold coins he had previously bid.
"45 white-gold coins!" a familiarly unpleasant voice shouted.
Lone glanced over at the voice's owner only to be met with a smug grin of contempt. "That motherfucker..."
Grimsley frowned. "Why on the Primal's blast'd Altros would 'at little bawbag wan' ah fookin' mana orb? I 'eard the limp-dicked cunt couldnae use magic at all."
Gilbert shook his head sadly. "I can think of two reasons and perhaps they are both correct."
Lone kept bidding as they spoke, but his attention was firmly placed on Gilbert.
Sophie turned to face the dragonkin as well. "Well? What excuse does that pathetic man have for bidding on the item Lone desires?"
"Well, the logical answer would be that he actually wants to put the time and effort into developing his unique skill. As you all already know, every summoned hero regardless of race, species, or world of origin, is gifted with a single unique skill upon arrival on Altros," Gilbert explained.
Sophie actually didn't know that since she cared very little for studying unlike Lone, who was more than aware of such a fact.
There wasn't much information regarding this topic available at the local library, but it was, indeed, mentioned in the odd history book here or there.
"His particular unique skill is called Persuasive Retreat. It lets him talk his way out of difficult situations and it has no rank restrictions or limitations, meaning in theory, if I tried to kill him, he could convince me to let him go regardless of how much I wanted to end his life. A grim example, but a fitting one," Gilbert explained.
He then sighed deeply. "Thankfully, it has a high chance of failure since it uses his MP to fuel the persuasion attempt which scales with the rank of the target and on their desire to kill or harm him. He also has no assisting skills like Acting or Persuasion which makes it even less likely to trigger under extreme circumstances. If he wants the mana orb to train that skill in the hopes of a rank-up or two to lessen the MP burden, then we can't really fault him."
"And the other reason?" Lone asked before yelled, "65 white-gold coins!"
"Well, the second reason is a lot more likely and a lot more fitting for his personality. You want it. That's all. He tried to kill you via proxy of that Blue Orc Chieftain, now you appear before him with all of his former slaves who are freed from their contracts and collars. He's angry and being petty, but you could use this to whack the hornet's nest, so to speak," Gilbert suggested as he stroked his goatee and grinned.
"Oh?" Lone's interest was piqued.
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The king of Milindo tapped his index finger against the bone throne's armrest with some anxiety.
'We expected the bid to perhaps reach a single ruby-gold coin in the worst of situations. That would be a fine price to pay to temper the foolish hero somewhat. He'd still be allowed to use the mana orb from time to time and help further establish us as a new member of the Free Nations' Alliance in that case...' Ralph of House Heidron, the King of Milindo, thought.
He shook his head. 'We cannot afford to spend three ruby-gold coins on what amounts to no more than a useful bauble. Clearly, the beast with nine tails is taking advantage of our foolish hero's lust for misery. It is time to end this farce.'
"Hero, stop bidding at on-"
"Five ruby-gold coins!" the nine-tailed beast yelled at the top of his lungs, effectively drowning out the soft but stern voice of the king.
Daisuke's face boiled over with rage. He slammed his fist down on the massive tooth that he was leaning against as he shouted back, "Ten ruby-gold coins!"
The animal with sentience wore a disappointed expression and shook his head sadly. "A shame. I actually wanted that orb. Oh well, it's yours, oh mighty and wise hero of Milindo, Child Lover."
Daisuke could not project any more anger and visceral hatred even were it possible. "My name is Tamiko Daisuke, not Tamiko Daisuki!"
The animal who had just effectively scammed the royal family out of four in ten parts of its entire wealth shrugged. "Potato, potahto. If the glove fits..."
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"Why you-"
"Hero." The king's voice was colder than even the frostiest of ice magics. "Be silent. You have shamed us and our royal kingdom more than enough for one day. There will be consequences for emptying the royal treasury as much as you have deemed to do so on this evening."
"What?" Still fuelled by his emotions, Daisuke spun around. "You said I could bid as much as I wanted! If I pass the limit, the stupid thing goes to your idiot son. Give it to him then. What do I care? If it's so much money to you, then don't pay for it."
Ralph of House Heidron, the King of Milindo, shot out of his chair at a speed Daisuke couldn't follow with his eyes. The next moment his face was being pressed hard enough into the toothy banister to contort it horrifically.
"We and our foolish hero ask forgiveness from the Undying Teller. Our foolish hero is new to this world and still thinks of himself as a godly being thanks to his uniqueness. The royal family of Milindo is more than willing to pay the final bid, assuming no others shall surpass it," the king said confidently while shooting a particular look at the filthy beast who had helped cause this mess.
The animal's golden irises burned with defiance. "I'm good, thanks. Though I am interested in the orb, my pockets don’t quite run deep enough."
Peter looked amused at all of this. "Very well, consider yourself and your family forgiven. The summoned hero though, should he live to see another of our auctions happen, will be barred entry. This is a lifetime ban."
"We understand. Thank you for your kindness, Undying Teller. We of the royal family of Milindo shall see ourselves out. We have no further business in this establishment tonight." And with that, the king gathered up his son and daughter and then dragged the now unconscious Daisuke out of the booth, leaving his advisors and dukes by themselves.
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Grimsley slapped himself to perform a makeshift reality check. "Laddie, ah dinnae ken if ye just did the bravest or stupidest thing ah've ever seen."
Lone shrugged. "We were going to make enemies tonight no matter what when we win the baby girl. It's a shame I couldn't get that mana orb, but what happened to that sack of shit sure was satisfying."
Gilbert furrowed his brow and sighed. "I expected you to rile up the hero, not the blasted king... It might be impossible for you to leave Milindo now without the possibility of the royals retaliating. Regardless, if we were uncertain of Duke Malik's future intentions, now it's practically impossible for him to not try to murder you the moment he has a chance."
Lone frowned. "I... actually didn't consider that angle. I got caught up in the heat of the moment. Uh, did I just screw myself?"
Sophie gave him a look that said that yes, that was likely exactly what he had just done.
Gilbert shook his head. "No, no. I can request for help from a powerful adventurer group or perhaps even from the grand guildmaster herself. It just means you might be forced to live in the local guildhall for longer than expected and a cut of any quest earnings will be taken to help pay off whatever aid I'm forced to acquire to help get you out of Milindo. Nothing too serious granted you don't leave the building without my permission."
That stung a bit, but Lone understood the hidden message behind Gilbert's words. "I promise."
"Lovely, now, if you could not antagonise either the church or the empress of the Taslo Empire as well, or, Primals forbid, both of them, then I'd be very thankful," Gilbert requested in a tired manner.
"Haha..." Lone laughed wryly. "I'll do my best."
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Several interesting items were put on display and eventually found a variety of new owners.
A few supposedly lost texts of the Church of the Primals were immediately bought by the religion's representatives without challenge.
A peculiar salve that was stated to change one's gender but only if the user suffered from a very specific disease was bought by one of the two individuals that had won a free pass at the entrance.
The man seemed very excited upon winning the bid for only five silver coins - his life’s savings. So much so that he burst out crying and had to be removed from the hall because he was making a scene out of thanking Peter repeatedly.
Grimsley bid on some enchanted forging tools but lost to his old elven rival, Master Seloph. It took a lot of room service to calm him down after the condescending glare he'd received from the woman had sent him into a rage.
To be fair, he barely had a copper to his name, but no one really blamed him. He'd been through a lot lately. Who had the right to chastise him for venting the way that he did?
A strange umbrella made of stone that, oddly enough, summoned the rain was bought by a very ecstatic farmer - the second lucky winner of the free entry pass.
A rather large collection of jewels - some magical, some not - was purchased by Empress Okuldia of the Taslo Empire.
Lone was surprised by how deep and smooth her voice was and there was a certain... profoundness to it. No doubt, she was a very powerful individual.
Now more than ever did Lone deeply wish to be a B-ranker so he could effectively see through other people’s power bases.
Regardless of his wishes, however, the auction continued.
A dozen or so more lots came and went with all of them interesting Lone, but none enough so for him to actively bid on them. Were there not a child to save, perhaps he'd have gone on the spending spree of a lifetime.
"Why, dear guests, it seems that we've almost come to the conclusion of tonight's wonderfully successful auction!" Peter exclaimed in joy. "Only one lot remains, and I can assure you all that it's a very, very special lot indeed."
He waved his hand to the backstage, signalling for his assistant to wheel in the aforementioned item.
"I'm sure many rumours have been making the rounds regarding our final lot tonight. A baby Golden Foxkin, yes?" Whispers and excited murmurs spread throughout the rows of seats as well as the private overhead booths at his words.
Peter's gorgeous assistant was pushing a slightly larger mechanical cart than the prior ones, and the cloth hiding what lay atop it was magically enchanted to prevent early prying according to Gilbert.
"I wonder how many of our guests this evening are convinced that the rumours are not merely just rumours but facts, hmm?" Peter teased as he gingerly held onto a corner of the magical cloth covering the item.
"Well, allow me to give you all a little... surprise," he said as he wore the devil's grin and ripped the covering clean off.
Everyone could see a small body no larger than a cat with two large furry ears and single tail the same size as the thing's own body.
It was sleeping in a cage atop a silk pillow. It seemed to be a little cuddly fox whose fur was pure golden save for a patch of white that poked out from its round belly.
What was revealed was no Golden Foxkin but a simple Golden Fox.
"Indeed, this is nothing more than your regular Golden Fox that you can find two countries over in the Plains of Astur!" A dark chill entered Peter's voice.
"We at the Deposit Conglomerate do not appreciate rumours and attempts at burglary of our goods well before the auction's date has even been confirmed. You know who you are. You have been placed on one of Master Deposit's many, many, many lists. Do try not to earn a place on any more, hmm?" The elation and enormous sense of mirth Peter exuded was almost tangible.