In a dark room.
A man was sitting behind a desk with his legs crossed and clenching his chair.
A massive body with one head larger than a normal person, and a muscular body that was about to explode. However, on the contrary, the surrounding atmosphere was gloomy and sharp.
Suha, who had just finished reporting, stood in the front, swallowing saliva and waiting for the other to respond.
“So···”
“Yes.”
“An unknown young noble bought a vampire for a huge sum in Cubax. Is this the only thing you’ve found out?”
“···That’s right.”
“You’re not even sure if he has anything to do with my brother’s death…”
The man’s voice drooped.
Suha felt like he wanted to close her eyes tightly. Because he knew it was the man’s habit when he wasn’t in a good mood.
Jack, the leader of Valkilov, that was the man’s true identity.
Ahead of the organization’s most important event, the auction, Jack was in a terrible mood.
His younger brother, John, was attacked and killed while escorting slaves to be auctioned to the city of Domihawk.
What made it even worse was that he didn’t know who he should put this anger on.
The discovery was too late to track them down. He sent men to Cubax to check the circumstances behind the scenes, but what they found was only the report he just heard.
“Uhhh….”
Jack let out a shaky breath.
It had been a long time since he had such a hard time suppressing his anger.
John robbed money from time to time, touched slaves recklessly, and was hateful in many ways, but he was still the only blood relative Jack had in this world.
They had been together from the days when they were rolling on the street until they formed the Valkirov and raised them to become the number one organization in the Third Lord’s territory.
He closed his eyes for a moment, suppressing the rising anger and emptiness again.
Soon, it was time for the auction to start. He would start a more detailed investigation after this.
Knock.
“Come in.”
The knock rang, and an old elf cautiously opened the door and entered the room.
He was a member of the cadre in charge of those attending the auction.
Jack slowly opened his eyes and asked.
“What?”
“Someone whose identity was unknown attended the auction.”
The attendees did wear masks, but that’s just to cover each other’s faces.
The organizer, Valkilov, was naturally aware of the identities of the attendees. They were the ones who gave the invitations in the first place, and most of the time, the attendees were mostly only those who regularly attended the auction.
Of course, sometimes there were attendees without information, and in that case, they paid a little more attention to them.
Normally, it was a report that he would pass on lightly, but Jack turned his attention to Suha, who had posted the report.
“You said John handed the invitation to the guy who bought the vampire.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The escort knight attached to the young human man was said to be a woman. What do they look like?”
“The man had black hair, and the escort knight had white hair.”
Jack turned his gaze back to the old man.
The old man nodded his head.
“Yes, it’s the same. It was a human male with black hair and a human female with white hair.”
“It’s them.”
Those who bought a vampire in Cubax, one that was about to be auctioned off.
Jack was silent for a moment, then slowly got up.
It was not known whether they had anything to do with his brother’s death, but that seemed to be the only thing to look forward to right now.
***
As we went downstairs, the scenery unfolding was quite surprising.
Seats and podium. It looks like an auction house just as I had imagined, but it was because the space was bigger than I thought.
The inside of the auction house was dimly lit by glowstones embedded in the walls, and quite a few people were already sitting in the seats.
At the very back, there were also seats placed on the second floor railing, which at first glance looked like VIP seats.
Following the guidance of the person standing at the entrance, I took a seat and sat down with Asher.
What’s this?
There was something like a numbered picket on the armrest of the chair, so I picked it up and looked at it. It’s probably used when bidding at an auction.
I put down the picket and turned my gaze back to the podium.
Are the slaves coming from there?
The host would introduce the slaves, and the attendees would watch them like a beast in a cage, and if they like it, they bid.
Even if I had never experienced a place like this before, it was a scene that I had already drawn roughly.
I glanced back at Asher, who just clicked her tongue.
She definitely felt uncomfortable seeing all this.
By the way, when would it start?
More and more people started gathering, and the seats were already more than half full.
Some, like me, were sitting quietly waiting for the auction to start, while others were chatting with their companions, and I could hear their conversation through my super sensory.
“This time, there are a lot of high-quality products among the prisoners. They say we should look forward to it.”
“Isn’t it? I wish they had a child I like. I made a special leash to hang it on….”
It was a conversation that was disgusting to hear, so I immediately turned off my mind.
After a while, the curtains on the podium were lifted and a man in a suit with a mask appeared on stage with lights.
“Hello everyone, ladies and gentlemen who took part in the auction!”
It looked like the auction was about to start.
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The host, who greeted the audience with a pleasant voice, talked about something useless for a while, then moved on to the next one.
“Then let’s start the auction! The bid method is to call the bid price with the prepared picket on the chair you are sitting on. Now, this is the first product!”
A half-elf woman walked out from the side of the podium, bound. No life at all in her eyes.
“The first prize is a female elf! It’s hard to find an elf with this kind of beauty and red hair like this. Now, let’s start the bidding with 20 gold!”
One of those sitting in the seat immediately lifted the picket and the full-scale auction began.
30 gold, 40 gold, 70 gold, and quickly climbed to 100 gold with little fuss. Then there was no more bidding.
“It came up to 100 gold! Does anyone have any more bids?! I’m not saying this for nothing. Elf slaves of this quality are really hard to find anywhere!”
The host continued to push the bid, cut the last count, and shouted as if it were a pity.
“Congratulations! Gentleman 56 has won the elf for 100 gold!”
After that, the auction continued smoothly.
A lot of different races came out as slaves. Starting with humans, beasts, elves, and other rare races.
The host also tried to explain how they had captured some of the slaves. Because that was also a big part of raising their price.
In particular, when a fallen noblewoman from Santea came out, the bids skyrocketed and soared to 500 gold.
“···”
The dirty, sticky heat of the auction house seemed to cling to my body.
I patiently watched the auction quietly.
It was only after they had sold about ten people that the reason for my participation in this auction finally appeared.
“The next product is a vampire!”
I opened my eyes a little wide and looked at the person who was being dragged onto the podium.
A girl with black hair and red eyes, not only her hands, were restrained like other slaves, but she also had a gag in her mouth. At first glance, her face resembles Rudica.
“Vampires are called a cursed race, but let me warn you in advance that you don’t have to be afraid! Young vampires cannot use their own blood-handling abilities, unlike adults! The taste…”
She glared at those who sat in the audience seat with hostile eyes. For a moment, our eyes met.
It was the time when the host’s explanation continued and I was slowly preparing to lift the picket.
“Hello there.”
Someone came up to me and sat down next to me.
“Are you enjoying the auction?”
I turned my head.
The figure of a man whose muscles seemed to burst all over his body caught my eye.
[Lv. 68]
What was impressive was the level above his head.
A skilled person who is close to level 70.
He spoke to me out of nowhere and immediately revealed his identity.
“My name is Jack, the head of Valkilov.”
“···”
“I’m sorry, but I have something I want to ask you for a bit.”
As I stared at him, he smiled and continued.
“You bought a young vampire from the city of Cubax. You also received an invitation.”
“I did.”
“It was my younger brother who handed you the invitation. He was escorting slaves here to the Domihawk, and some assailants attacked and killed him.”
“Is that so? I’m sorry.”
“···Yes, I am also very sorry. That’s why.”
His eyes gleamed like a beast.
“The timing is really complicated, so I’m just asking, but do you know anything about it?”
I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know.”
He gazed at me, sighed, and leaned back against the chair.
“If I twist and pull out your limbs one by one, would I get the same answer?”
“···”
“I grew up with good observation skills, you see. You killed my brother, right?”
I got caught.
Did they catch up from the place where we killed those trash, or was it because of my participation in this auction?
It wasn’t important, really. Because he was already convinced that I had killed his brother.
Come to think of it, before he died, he said that his older brother was the chief or something. I didn’t think I’d come here and find out like this.
And here I am, trying to keep it all quiet.
But then it failed.
I said with a chuckle.
“I killed him.”
“Why did you kill him?”
“Well, why do you think?”
He let out another long breath, as if to quench his anger, and said.
“Looks like you still don’t know your situation. What do you think I’ll do to you from now on?”
“···”
“I will take you to the torture chamber. There are a lot of excellent torture technicians in our organization. I guarantee you will feel with the flesh and bones of your body that such pain exists in the world. You’ll beg and beg again. As well as that escort bitch sitting next to you.”
Said the guy, growling.
“If you want me to give you a chance to die comfortably, answer my questions sincerely. Who are you, and why did you kill my brother?”
“Can you afford it?”
He laughed at my words.
“Afford? Stop such pretentious bluffs, child. There is nothing I can’t handle in the territory of the Third Lord. Are you even the Lord’s hidden child? Or…”
“I am the Seventh Lord, Ron.”
The voices stopped abruptly.
He looked as if he didn’t understand what he just heard.
“···What?”
“Do I have to tell you twice?”
I rested my chin on my hand on the armrest and turned my gaze back to the podium in front of me.
He said indifferently while looking at the auction that had just begun and listening to the rising bid price.
“I am Seventh Lord, my name is Ron.”