Ugghh… Now that I know there aren't any sweets being sold, I was less enthusiastic about going to the auction now…

I mean… I'm still interested… Just not as interested as I was when I thought there could be sweets being auctioned there…

I was even prepared to bid on them too if they were being auctioned…

Right now I have about three thousand five hundred Creas to my name with more on the way once Emilia manages to sell off our loot.

If things go well, I might even be looking at about another five to six thousand Creas coming my way from her.

Well, that's just potential earnings for now… So the actual earnings might be less and I don't know when exactly the money would be coming in anyway. Still, three thousand Creas is literally quite a fortune already.

We managed to secure seats for the auction despite our last minute arrival to the event. It seems like this place has a few VIP areas they reserve specifically for important latecomers like ourselves.

The building was designed like a two story high theatre with a stage at the very far end and rows of seats arranged to face towards the stage. Along the walls were secluded alcoves where VIP seats like ours would be located, each of them only accessible via another entrance with each alcove being a room by itself with an unobstructed view of the stage.

There was even a servant who had his head bowed almost the entire time as he showed us to our seats, making sure that his eyes never rose above our waist the entire time.

Delmare even got a seat specially designed for merfolk like herself too, where there was a cushion designed for her to lay down her tail attached to the chair.

To bid, we were given a paddle with a number on it where we would raise for the bid caller to see.

Delmare was looking around with wide eyes, "Wow! There's so many people, Aster! What is this place?"

"Ehehe~ It's an auction, it's basically a place where people gather to buy stuff," I explained simply.

"Ooh~ And what are they selling?"

"All kinds of things! It all depends on what people brought to sell on that day!"

"Wow~ Is Aster looking to buy something too?"

Before I could answer, a man wearing a rather flamboyant red suit appeared on the stage with a flourish of lights that was undoubtedly the work of Lumenmancy.

"Welcome dear honoured guests to our auction hall! We have a lot of great items lined up for you today with some special selections as well! So be sure not to spend all your money at the beginning! Now without further ado, we shall start with the first item of the day! Do note that the bids will be in increments of five Creas for now!"

The curtains behind him were raised and a male Inugami appeared on stage, his hands, feet and neck all tied up with chains. Behind him stood two Mahuns who were restraining him with some kind of stick that had a catcher at the end, both of them using said sticks to push him down on his knees.

The Inugami was obviously not happy to be there as he struggled against his restraints, only to be forced down again by the Mahuns.

"Captured along the very edges of the forest outside the Nekinumi Kingdom, I present to you this healthy male Inugami! He's at the peak of his health and is strong enough to do all kinds of manual labour as well! He might be a bit rowdy but with proper training, you're looking at a first class guard or even a tireless labourer!"

The Inugami struggled against his restraints again with a loud roar, almost pushing the two Mahuns off of him until a third and fourth Mahun rushed up on the stage to join in pushing him back down.

"Just look at that strength everyone! To need four people just to hold him down, that's a testament to his strength! Now, shall we start the bidding at five Creas?!"

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Almost instantly, several paddles were being raised in quick succession around the hall and the announcer began calling out the bids rapidly.

"Number one hundred and three, five Creas! Number twenty seven, ten Creas! Number fifty two, fifteen Creas! Number ten, twenty Creas!"

Someone shouted something near the back and the bid caller reacted immediately.

"Number eighty eight! One hundred Creas!! Do we have-- Number fifty two, one hundred and five Creas!"

I felt a tug on my arm and I turned to see Delmare looking up at me, "Aster… What is going on?"

"They are bidding for the Inugami there, Miss Delmare," Katsuki explained for me, her eyes betraying no emotion as she watched the proceedings as though it was something that did not have anything to do with her.

"Bidding? Umm… Do you mean they are trying to buy that man?"

"That is precisely what I'm saying, Miss Delmare."

"You… You can do that? Buy someone with money?"

Somehow, I feel quite relieved that I was no longer the one with the least common sense in the group…

Katsuki shifted her gaze towards the Siren, "It seems you are not aware of the fact that slaves exist?"

"O… Oh… I thought those only exist in stories… You mean slavery exists here?"

Odeta let out a bark of laughter, "Ha! Did you forget, Delmare? You were almost the victim of one yourself! Those people who brought you to that island and kept you there were intending to sell you as slaves back then! If they hadn't met with whatever forced them to be unable to return, you might also have been sold on that very stage too!"

Delmare's face paled slightly, "I… I see… Umm… Does Aster have slaves too?"

Katsuki did a curtsy, "I am Aster's personal maid and slave."

Eh? I was sure Katsuki had forgotten her role as my slave, it seems like I was wrong about that.

Delmare turned to look at me in surprise, "Didn't you say you rescued her from her father?"

I shrugged, "It's a long story actually… Umm… I'll tell you about it later…"

She nodded, right as the announcer shot a ball of light that exploded in a small shower of sparks in the air.

"Sold to number eighty eight for three hundred Creas! Congratulations!"

Huh, only three hundred Creas? That's pretty cheap considering Katsuki was worth a hundred thousand…

I went ahead to use my [Screen] on that guy and I quickly realised why he was sold for so cheap.

[Name: Kiole

Title: Meathead, Bastard

Race: Inugami

Gender: Male

Current Mood: Rage, Anger

Stats:

27 Strength

18 Dexterity

15 Endurance

5 Magic

Skills:

Hunting (Tier 2)]

Damn… That's some pretty low stats… And he only has one skill with no magic potential too… Even his strength isn't that high either…

That was when I realised those four people pushing him down were just simply pretending to be overwhelmed by him to make him appear stronger than he actually was. Guess this place isn't really that reputable since they do use these kinds of tricks to lie to their customers.

Now I pity the guy who spent three hundred Creas on him.

The curtains dropped and the Inugami disappeared behind the cloth, prompting the announcer to call out the next item on sale.

"Next, we have this interesting artefact that was recovered from one of the dungeons! It's a music box that lights up and plays songs when you tap on it! Behold!"

The curtains were raised once again and a pedestal was brought out, revealing the artefact to be… A smartphone.

Oh… I'm guessing some guy took the route where they would appear as their original selves. Then they went to the dungeon and probably dropped it or… More likely, died inside it before dropping that.

To the people of this World, they probably think it's some kind of weird tool that the dungeon created.

"Ara, ara? How interesting~ I wonder what kind of person dropped that?" Mother mused, clearly knowing that the object was brought here by an Off-Worlder.

The others didn't seem to notice and were more intrigued by the weird looking 'music box'.

In the end, it ended up getting sold to someone for twenty Creas.

Good luck getting it to work after the batteries run out…

"Now for the next item of the day, we have a crime slave that was captured for stealing! Please take a look, honoured guests!!"

The curtains raised themselves and a middle aged girl appeared on the stage, her wrists and ankles bound securely with rope.

Anyone could see that she was afraid and panicking at the current situation, which wasn't helped by the fact that she was also gagged too.

But for me, I quickly realised her clothes were ones that looked like they were common from my old World, prompting me to use [Screen] to check her stats.

[Name: Karen

Title: That Fucking Thief, Off Worlder, That Fucking Bitch

Race: Mahun

Gender: Female

Current Mood: Fear, Anxiety, Anger

Stats:

8 Strength

11 Dexterity

8 Endurance

10 Magic]

I knew it! She's an Off Worlder! I bet that smartphone belonged to her as well!

And here I was, just wondering when the next time I would actually meet another Off Worlder would be. At least this time I was fortunate enough where this Off Worlder isn't trying to kill me or something.

Heck, she doesn't even have any skills either…. But how is that even possible? Surely she must have received something from the character creation right? Or did she choose not to pick any skills at all?

Also… What the hell did she do to get those titles?

Hmm… Maybe she used the unfortunate transmigration or something in the character creator to make her land in this mess?

Oh well, there's not much I can do for her anyway.

What? Did you really expect me to help someone out just because they are an Off-Worlder? I'm not a saint, you know?

If she at least has some sort of skill in making sweets, then maybe I might buy her. But from the looks of it, she doesn't even have any skills for that.

Guess I'm leaving her to her fate.