Chapter 24: Auction (1/2)

"Ladies and Gentlehest honor for athered here today for one reason and one reason only, I presume? It is to have the chance to obtain rare and valuable items in this auction!"

Applause thundered in enthusiasentleman's ardent introduction

"If everyone in the audience would now kindly turn to face the back rooures that have decided to bless us with their presence Please joinand Queen of Sapin!" The auctioneer was the first to flick out the tail of his suit and genuflect The audience i themselves respectfully in a bow since they couldn't kneel in their seats

The King and Queen, in response, stepped out towards thein front of me and waved their arms slowly in a practiced motion

"Next, the one thatround of applause for Vincent Helstea!"

The auctioneer's introduction was followed by another round of applause as Vincent stepped up next to the King and Queen, giving a deep bow in return

I re down below at the crowds of people ere supposed to be of her class than me, but I couldn't help but look at them as if they were…

No… I shouldn't think like that I'h puberty yet No point in acting like soaze toward the King and Queen, studying the always carried, he didn't have a do presence,it easy to believe that a majority of the citizens of Sapin would respect hiiven it to him The Glayder fa of Sapin I wasn't surprised to see that King Glayder's aze over to the Queen, soht my eyes that I didn't really notice at first Strapped to the backside of her dress was a white wand I couldn't sense heran artifact that could hide it or she was at a level high enough where I couldn't sense it

Queen Priscilla caughther pearl white teeth Her s me flinch and quickly turn away I could feel how hotThe word beautiful wouldn't do justice as aI had noticed ever since co to this world was the fact that I lacked any sort of sexual attraction towards these older woht've been due of the lack of necessary hormones currently in this prepubescent body, but the ht about it, I felt like it boiled down to the fact thatreborn into this world

I had never really been interested in hu that wouardiansexually Maybe that was just me; no way to tell

Of course, that also didn't e like Tess, Lilia, or even this ice princess here They could be the very personification of beauty itself, but it didn't change the fact that their mental level was that of a child This was the reason I wasn't able to see Tess as anything other than a friend or a sister toher attraction towards me Maybe when she's older and h Being popular sure was a hassle

"…kuu" I looked down to see Sylvie staring atto say 'are you serious?'

"Haha…" I couldn't help but laugh in embarrassment as I pushed Sylvie's face in a different direction to redirect her hurtful stare with htly squeezed ht now Tell me if you want it so I can put inthe owner of this place," Vincent whispered

"Thank you" I turnedauctioned off

"This short sas forged by athat the quality during the forging process is top class The core of this weapon isthis sith just a little e of the blade, enhancing its cutting power and even having a old!"

Excited cries erupted iht to beco them to bid I remained motionless, my head propped up on e screen that nified the items so the audience in the back was able to see However, while the little shock ability could be handy, it was obvious that the sword itself was subpar at best compared to the blade I had wielded in my previous life

Vincent had been constantly shi+fting his gaze betweenI would at least be interested in the weapon that most people would kill over

I shook my head in response

"No worries! That was just the start! Let ot I have the items you wanted in the back I'll have one of the workers deliver it toclosely to so only I could hear

My ears perked up as I abruptly turned to hi er than I expected but I finally htistered to the unsuspecting eye I thought it would be so you would want so I snatched that too while I could," Vincent replied softly, shooting me a wink

"That's more than what I had hoped for" The mask was essential for me to become an adventurer, but the coat would no doubt be useful as well

"Don't worry about it and just stay safe I' happens to you, you know," he chuckled

I just sive ain like I had done to the the way There were several beast cores, most of which were B-class or lower The prices for those were astronoold, and each class ure exponentially There were a few s I wanted

The King hi an A-class beast core It wasn't until a e actually absorbed the core that they would find whether a beast core still contained a will or not Chances were slim to find a core that still had its will still intact; even if it did contain the will, it had to be compatible with the user Most beasts, however, had already passed it on to one of its offspring or instinctively chose to disperse their will before dying

I guess the King was hoping to get lucky The Queen, on the other hand, bid on aand a couple other items useful for conjurers

As we approached the latter half of the auction, the ite in value As more and more itee, square container, covered by a sheet, was rolled out onto the stage by a feorkers

I couldn't help but grow agitated as the auctioneer reether with only a dirty sack to cover their private areas

It disgustedon the young female slaves that were soon stripped to show their assets like ani born in a s slaves had et the fact that slaves actually existed in this world

My world abolished slavery hundreds of years ago, so the idea of owning a slave was soet used to

Me the slave traders that had abducted Tessia came back to mind If I hadn't been there to rescue her, ould've happened? A shi+ver ran downabused by a corrupt aristocrat Now that I think about it, didn't I inadvertently prevent a war fro between the humans and elves?

The taste ofthat I had bit down too hard on my lower lip, I quickly wiped the blood off of er

Tabitha and ht of the slaves, but they simply shook their heads and focused their attention on Ellie and Lilia instead Even though the Helstea family was a very pro slaves and opted to simply hire uilt but he quickly regained coainst this, but it couldn't be helped that the popularity and deto the little princess, but I couldn't guess what fro tedious I was beginning to think that it would be better to hold off on getting a decent sword for now and just settle for a decent practice sword untilup fro uard na twinkle in his eyes

The beady-eyed, bony conjurer underneath that hood continued ireedily fixated on my bond

After a fewout a stifled cough in response, he straightened his robe as he spread out his nor down at rin, as if he had every right to do what he was going to do

This foolish plebeian has the audacity to…

VINCENT HELSTEA'S POV:

It was a pity Arthur wasn't able to find a suitable sword

No e; I' to at least one of the it hile to visit this hubut hued to secure an A-class beast core froed to build quite the network Let's just hope that the beast will is still intact" He clasped et your hopes up too much, Dear You kno rare it is," I could hear the Queen mutter quietly in response

The Queen turned back to resume her conversation with Alice andabout the kids

His Majesty and I turned our attention back to the ly oppressive presence filled the roo my body

I tried my hardest tobloodlust, buton? This was the uard inside, as well asthe outside of the roo pressure continued gripping at my insides

I could feel beads of cold sweat slowly rolling down my face as if they, too, were afraid

With much effort, htly to see if they kneas going on

While they were at least able to move their bodies, it was clear that they were just as confused as I was

I had no idea what to expect next I had assuer, yet here I was, at death's door, trying to struggle out of his icy grasp

What in hell's na?

ARTHUR LEYWIN'S POV:

damn it I lost control

I quickly turned away fro on the floor, hoping no one had noticed

I had only ive Sebastian a little scare, not to terrify every person in the roo a quick peek around, I let out a s that my , but they were both far away enough to not get directly affected

I didn't think it would be this bad with this body ofintent loose Even when I was up against the slave traders, I had chosen not to emit any kind of intent in order to catch theuards had their weapons unsheathed and positioned to defend around the royal family by the time I had withdrawn the pressure I had exerted onto the room

"Who's there? You dare try and attack the royal fa roared as he pushed his wife and children behind hi a spell as she herded her frightened children, as well as uards

Vincent used an artifact in his hands to call for uards inside and had the others scout the area for any assassins that may be, or had been, nearby

Time ticked slowly for me as everyone in the roorabbed uards ran around eapons held close

My father had stopped by, but, aftersure that ere okay, left to try and search for the mysterious attacker

It wasn't until they confir an intruder on the roof of the auction house that everyone had calh of relief, but unlike everyone else, my relief wasn't for the fact that the intruder had been killed, but the fact that I had been provided with a convenient scapegoat

Thank you, intruder on the roof Your sacrifice was not in vain

"Oy Sebastian How could a royal guard fall on his arse by a little inti to die early like this" A hooded augh in front of his comrades