Melakios actually awoke only because the staff lady came to wake him. She wasn’t related to the four sisters, but she was still pretty. He began to think about the four siblings, and realized they each had something that made them stand out. Kind of.

Jenny wore a green colored uniform and had her braided hair hanging over her left shoulder. Minny wore yellow and had her braided hair over her right shoulder. Fanny wore blue and had long straight hair. And Bunny wore red, glasses, and had her hair tied into a bun with a big red ribbon tying it together.

After being handed a big black robe and a strange white skull shaped mask, Melakios was led to the auction house across the street. It was still pretty early, so not many people were on the road.

When he entered the auction house, he was shocked to see nothing. It was completely empty except for the person on stage. Melakios, upon seeing who it was, tried to turn back, but the door was gone!

“Now now, don’t be so ready to leave! You just got here!”

It was an unnecessarily fat Demon wearing many Soul Items on his body. One such item was a golden goat, hanging from his almost nonexistent neck. He had short goat horns and receding hairline. His beard was unruly and he could be smelled all the way from the entrance of the building.

“Calm down, I’m Azazel, head of this branch. I just wanted to bring you personally to the location! Kukuku, don’t worry, I won’t bite.”

He had a strange smile on his face that reminded Melakios of a certain maid and gate keeper. If the vice head was on equal terms with the leader of the city, what level was the real head? Even if he is just a Soul Monger, it was obvious looking at all the jewelry Azazel was wearing that he had many Soul Items.

Still being cautious, he approached the fat Demon.

“Kukuku, let’s go!”

Melakios felt the air around him start to shimmer and twist, as he all of a sudden appeared in a room with a long window overlooking a grand stage that was brightly lit. The surroundings were extremely dark, almost pitch black. Melakios could see that the window was strange.

“That window will let you look through, but won’t allow others to look inside.”

Nodding at Azazel’s words, he noticed there were other similar rooms like this one on either side of his. But in front of him, in-between the room and the stage, were many chairs filled with black shapes that couldn’t be made out.

Melakios pulled up a chair so he could see out the window easier.

“Let’s see, this button on the side of your chair is to let your waitress know you need food or drink, although it does cost Stones. This contraption here allows you to bid on an item for auction. Just press the number you wish to raise the bid by.”

Azazel handed him a weird disc that had several raised sections. These were numbered 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 300, and 500. Melakios looked into his rat to see that he had about 2,000 Soul Stones available.

‘I guess hunting animals and such isn’t so bad…’

It was another hour before another girl that looked like the sisters walked on stage. She wore a black outfit and had a simple ponytail and wore a more revealing version of the uniform.

“Good day, everyone! I’m your host and auctioneer for today, Lonny! I hope all you big, strong men brought me many Stones! For our first half, we had a generous influx of greater beasts and monsters! The wonderful donator still kept the Cores, so unfortunately, you won’t be able to buy me any pretty things! First up, is a Corpse Mauler!”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

For the next several hours, the carcasses of beasts and monsters were sold. Even without the Cores, the creatures netted Melakios a good extra 5,000 Stones! Now, Melakios was in a sealed room, as to help retain his anonymity as well as make his experience more soothing. Therefore, he couldn’t hear the whispers of the people down in the chairs.

“Who is this talented expert?”

“Didn’t you hear? A young boy arrived yesterday alongside a Gryphon!”

“What?! Impossible! Then this boy must be from a prestigious family! If not, he must be from a high ranking sect or school.”

“I heard he came out of the Forest.”

“No! I heard he was human!”

“WHAT?!”

The rumors began to get out of hand, so Lonny dispersed the crowd for a lunch break. Melakios decided to order some lunch as he waited.

A half hour later, the auction continued.

Melakios didn’t see much that caught his eye, until a collection of Runes showed up.

“And now, we have our monthly income of Runes and Glyphs from the nearby Tengu Family! This little kit is full of just the stuff you need for getting started becoming a Soul Mason! Starting bid begins at 200!”

Melakios decided to wait, but no one was bidding. Was there a problem?

Everyone in the audience was surprised when the middle booth reserved for special guests lit up to signify the person inside had made a bid.

What?! Someone actually spent 200 Soul Stones for such a kit?! This kind of thing could be bought straight from the Tengu Family for 50 Stones! Was this person an idiot?! These kits only held the simplest of Runes and Glyphs as well as some insight into the trade. There was no need for such a thing!

Seeing that an honorary guest had made the bid, Lonny didn’t know what to do. Should she tell the truth? That this was a joke auction item meant for a couple laughs? No! That would mean embarrassing the client and the auction house! That was a definite no!

“Uhh, 200 Stones going once, twice, sold! To the guest in the middle booth!”

Sheepishly looking around with her awkward grin that looked a lot like Jenny’s, she tried to hurry onto the next one. The rest of the auction had nothing else of any worth to Melakios. He didn’t anger anyone, he didn’t cause a fight, it must have gone alright.

Azazel walked in with Lonny in tow.

“I’m terribly sorry, Young Sir. I forgot to tell you of this junk item. The Tengu are very prideful in their work, so they force others to only sell their products at 4 times the original cost. I really didn’t mean to offend Young Sir!”

Lonny was absolutely livid as she began to tear up and shake uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Melakios took off his mask to begin calming her down.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, though? It seems even stronger than Nesune’s stuff.”

The two had their eyes almost rolling out of their sockets as they realized the honorary guest was just a ten year old human boy!