章 4: Chapter 4 - Auction Hall
After driving for about 15 minutes, we arrived at a building that looked like a palace. Right at the end of the roof was a projected sign that read "Imperial Auction Hall".
Upon parking my car, Alicia and I quickly entered and walked towards the reception desk.
"How can I help you, sir?"
"I've reserved a VIP room for tonight's auction."
"May I know under whose name?"
"Hiro Denzelnas."
"Yes, please wait a moment."
The receptionist typed something on her computer for a moment before handing me the key card.
"Here are the keys, sir. My friend will take you to your room."
"Please follow me sir."
Alicia and I followed the staff, and after a short walk we arrived at our room.
"This is your room, sir. If you need anything, please press the help button beside your chair."
After saying that, the staff left us in front of our room. Just as I opened the door to our room and was about to enter with Alicia, I suddenly heard someone coming.
"Woah, Miss Alicia! You came to this auction as well?"
As Alicia and I turned to where the voice came from, I could see a dark-haired young man who was probably around my age wearing fancy clothes, and besides him, I could also see four people wearing maid outfits accompanying him, three of whom were women.
He immediately walked over to us.
"Long time no see Miss Alicia! I didn't expect to see you here."
He spoke to Alicia very familiarly, is he her friend? I looked at Alicia to see her reaction, she furrowed her forehead and somehow I could sense that she was not happy. Well, I think I can see where this conversation is going.
" I am sorry, but who are you? And also, stop calling me by my first name."
Alicia said that in an unhappy tone.
I don't know why I wasn't surprised, maybe because I had expected it to be like this. But I didn't expect her to be that honest actually.
The man was dumbfounded at Alicia's response.
"Uh, you don't remember me?"
Alicia didn't respond, she just scrunched her forehead deeper.
"It's me, Randolf Atler. Your classmate at the academy."
"I don't remember."
"Really? But Miss Alic-"
"I told you not to call me by my first name!"
This time Alicia said it in a tone that sounded clearly angry, I didn't know she was this sensitive. I'm lucky enough to be able to call her by her first name, huh?
"Well, sorry about that Miss Middleton."
"....."
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward, because I was afraid that if this situation continued Alicia's mood might get worse. I interrupted.
"Alright mate, that's enough. The auction is about to start, so how about we go to our own rooms?"
Hearing my words, the man gave me a sharp look. He was probably annoyed that I interrupted his conversation with Alicia.
" Who the hell are you?"
He asked in a harsh tone. Geez, how rude. Come to think of it, this guy had been ignoring me from the start as if I didn't exist, right?
"Oh sorry, how rude of me. My name is Hiro Denzelnas, from the Denzelnas family. And I'm Alicia's husband. Nice to meet you buddy."
I said all that in a casual and friendly tone.
"Huh!? What kind of bullshit are you talking about? Miss Al- There is no way Miss Middleton is already married!"
"You can ask Alicia if you want."
"Miss Middleton, is what he said true?"
Alicia just gave him a nod.
"It can't be. But why haven't I heard anything about your marriage!?"
"I don't know mate."
I paused for a moment as I pretended to think, then I smiled a little as I said.
"You're not invited?"
"You-"
Woah, looks like I got him angry. However, before he could say anything I cut him off.
"Ah, by the way. I guess you can't call Alicia Middleton now, you have to call her Denzelnas."
I hope I didn't make Alicia angry by saying that.
The man just looked at me sharply and said nothing, as if he would be ready to lunge at me at any moment. Yet he also looked miserable as if his heart was about to break. Looks like he has a crush on Alicia just like I thought.
Man, I feel a little guilty.
Nah, not really. I'm actually feeling good, I can finally relieved my stress. I mean, i just got disintegrated in the air a few hours ago you know. At least that's how it feels like for me.
"Alright, since the auction is about to start. We'll go to our rooms, bye."
Alicia and I went into our room leaving the man behind, I could still feel his intense gaze before I closed the door to our room.
When I entered, I could see that there was only one sofa that could fit two people and one table in the room. Alicia and I sat side by side on the sofa.
It looked like the people who bought the VIP room were upstairs, and the people who bought the regular seat tickets were downstairs. After seeing the number of people in the regular seats, I didn't regret buying the VIP room.
Since the structure of the venue was circular and the auction stage was in the center, I could also see the other VIP rooms. But the only thing I could see was their room, that's because the supposedly transparent glass in front of us to see the auction stage wasn't transparent from the outside.
However, there was one place that had an open roof and I could see who was inside.
I saw a man and a woman with blonde hair who looked similar. Other than them, I could also see three people wearing clothes that looked like modern soldiers. If I'm not mistaken, they were wearing pilot suits.
"Alicia, do you know who they are?"
I pointed at the five people. When Alicia saw them, she looked a little surprised.
"Ah... That's the Prince and Princess of the Royal Family."
What? So it's them, I've heard about them in my past life. But because I only read the novel before their characters appear, so I don't know their appearance.
As far as I know, the two of them are twins. And unlike the princess and prince siblings that usually appear in other novels, their relationship is very close and good. Although I don't know if that's true or not.
"Do they want to buy something from this auction?"
"I don't know."
Suddenly a voice came from the direction of the stage, and Alicia and I turned our attention towards it. I could see a woman wearing a black dress coming up to the stage.
"Alright everyone, good evening and welcome to the Auction Hall. Tonight we're going to hold an auction that's a little different from the usual. That's because tonight we have a special guest."
The woman then pointed towards the VIP room where the prince and princess were.
"Tonight we have a special guest from the Royal Family of the UEMA Empire. Princess Gracelyn Dunkeld and Prince Claus Dunkeld."
The prince and princess waved their hands at the applauding visitors in the regular seating area.
"Alright, so as not to waste more time. Let's start the auction right away."
The large door behind the woman opened and a cargo container came out of it.
"Tonight's first item is an accessory made from a rare mineral taken from an asteroid around the Anarkyn star system."
After that, there were several other items being auctioned off such as accessories, artwork, weapons and others. But there were no items I was interested in, after all I was here for the Mecha auction at the end. I should have just come late.
Looking over at me, Alicia seemed to be quite bored as well. That's because she was just playing with her smartwatch, I wonder what she was looking at there. Maybe I should just ask.
"Alicia, what are you doing?"
"Just sorting the files that I need to prioritize later."
She answered without looking at me. She's even working at a time like this, huh? This girl is so serious, it would be better if she relaxed a bit.
"Hey, I'm going to order some snacks from room service, do you want anything?"
"I dunno, just pick something."
"Really? Are you okay with me making the order?"
"Just do it."
"Alright, don't regret it."
"En..."
She just nodded and continued using her smartwatch.
Well, what should I order than?
Looking through the menu list on the tablet provided by the Auction Hall in the room, I decided to order a box of pizza, fries, and expensive-looking candy. I thought the Auction Hall only sold high-end food, but it turns out they also sell junk food like pizza and fries.
"Alicia, how about a drink?"
"Just tea."
"Okay."
I then ordered tea for Amelia, and black coffee for me.
After ordering, I then returned my attention to the auction stage.
"The item this time is a pair of protective accessories made by a dwarven craftsman from the planet Santean. These accessories can emit an electromagnetic shield that can withstand level 3 laser bullets, although it can only be used to withstand laser bullets not projectile bullets. But it's better than nothing, right?"
I then looked at the tablet provided by the Auction Hall to see the item more clearly. I was quite interested in the design, the accessories were a pair of necklaces with white and black snow-shaped pendants with cream-colored straps.
Maybe Alicia would suit that necklace, but what should I do with the other one? Should I wear it myself? Nah, the design is too feminine, no way would I wear something like that. Ah, right. I can give it to Melissa, her hatred towards me might be a little less if I give it to her.
"We'll start the price at 100 thousand credits and the minimum bid is 10 thousand credits."
The price was much higher than I expected, but I would still bid. I pressed the button on my tablet and bid 110 thousand credits.
"Okay, VIP No. 8 bid 110 credits. Anyone else?"
"You're bidding on something?"
Alicia seemed to have noticed, probably because she heard our room number.
"Yeah."
"What kind of item?"
I gave her the tablet and showed it to Alicia.
"Hmm....this is indeed a nice necklace, especially since it was made by a dwarf from the Santean Planet."
Alicia then handed the tablet back to me.
"But the design is too feminine, do you want to give it to your mother?"
"I bought it for you."
"Eh'..."
Alicia suddenly dropped the tablet before I could receive it.
"Oy! What if the tablet gets broken?"
While catching the tablet, I realized that someone had bid 150,000 credits. I then raised my bid to 200,000 credits.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you buy me something like that?"
I could see Alicia's expression was a mixture of astonishment and surprise. I know it's the first time I've ever given something like this to her, but was it really necessary to be that surprised?
"I just thought that it looked good on you."
I saw on the tablet that someone else had bid 250,000 credits. This guy is so annoying, just give up damn it! I then bid 500 thousand credits.
I looked at Alicia, then she looked at me with a puzzled look.
"I just want to buy you something, okay? I'm still your husband even if it's only in name, so I'll still do my duty as a husband. That's how I do things."
I don't know if I managed to convince her or not, but Alicia pondered for a moment then nodded and returned her gaze towards the auction stage.
"Alright, VIP No.1 bid 600 thousand credits. Anyone else?"
Why won't this guy just give up?
Hah.....
I then raised my bid to 1 million credits.
"Woah, looks like VIP No.8 raised his bid to 1 million credits. Anyone else?"
"Why did you raise your bid that much?"
Alicia asked me, and I could feel a hint of anger in her voice.
"Well....you know. I guess I was a little annoyed cause this guy kept bidding all the time."
"
I said that while smiling wryly and scratching the back of my head. Hearing my response, Alicia's gaze sharpened even more.
Why? Why did she get angry? This is my own money, you know? Ah no, it's my mom's money.
"Give me the tablet."
"Eh..... Why?"
"I'll bid next, you're spending too much money."
"But-"
"Give, me, the tablet."
"Yes, mam."
She said it with a smile but somehow that smile looked scary.
After taking the tablet from me, Alicia managed to win the necklace for 1.2 million credits.
"Congratulations to VIP No. 8 for winning these accessories. And to the Princess, it's a pity but it looks like you'll have to bid for another item."
Princess? So that was her. I looked at Alicia and it seemed like she didn't expect it to be the princess either.
"Wow, you managed to beat the princess."
"It's your money you idiot! I was just helping you bid."
We both looked towards the Princess and Prince's room, and I could see the Princess smiling towards our room. Somehow I felt that that smile had the same aura as Alicia's smile just now.
I wonder why she didn't continue to bid, her allowance wasn't enough?
After that, our snacks arrived and I immediately forgot about the princess.
******
A few minutes later.
"Attention everyone, because today's auction is coming to an end. As usual, we will start the Mecha special auction. Here's the first Mecha!"
The large door behind the woman opened, slowly I could see a 6/7 meter tall silhouette coming out from there.
"This is a Defender Class Mecha made by the Ken Defense System company from the Mandra planet, this Mecha has armor that can withstand 50mm caliber HE bullets and even cannon shells. And an electromagnetic shield that can withstand laser bullets up to level 8. The price starts from 35 million credits."
Wow.... That's a lot of money. Well, the Mecha being auctioned in this place is indeed a special Mecha that has been modified, the specifications are different from the standard.
"Hiro, do you want to bid?"
"No, I'm looking for the Vanguard Class."
A few moments later, it seemed that I had found the Mecha I was looking for, it was a black Vanguard class Mecha with gray lines on some parts of its body.
"Alicia, let me see the description on the tablet."
I moved closer to Alicia to look at the description on the tablet together. After seeing the description, I was even more convinced that this was the Mecha I was looking for.
"How is it? You want to bid on this one?"
"Yeah, just keep bidding until 90 million. If the price exceeds that, just end it."
"Okay."
It didn't take long for Alicia to win the Mecha for 50 million credits, but there didn't seem to be many people interested in the Vanguard class. If you looked around, most people only chose the Guard, Sniper and Defender class. The Vanguard and Supporter class were not in great demand because they were more difficult to use than the other classes.
"Alright, Alicia. Let's go home."
"En..."
Since my business here was done, I stood up and asked Alicia to go home. I contacted the Auction Hall that we would be back soon, and in less than a minute, they arrived with the boxes of accessories we had bought earlier.
" Sir and Miss Denzelnas, these are the items you bought from the auction. Regarding your Mecha, we will deliver it to your residence tomorrow morning."
"I understand, then we'll leave first."
"Hope you enjoyed your time here, please come again whenever you want."
I took the accessory box and walked out of the room to our car.
I finally have my own Mecha, I can't wait to try it on. I have to wait for my pilot suit to be finished before I can try it on though.
On the way back home, in the car, Alicia asked me a question.
"Why do you suddenly want to be a pilot again?"
I was confused as to why she would suddenly ask that, so I decided to answer honestly.
"Just in case."
"Just in case what?"
"You've heard of parasyte, right?"
"Yeah."
Alicia nodded seriously.
"Their movements are getting closer to our planet, right? I was just thinking of becoming a pilot to protect us from them."
"You don't intend to register yourself as an Official Pilot?"
"No, I'm going to become an Independent Pilot."
"Why?"
"It's troublesome, isn't it? If this country tells me to go into space to fight space pirates or Parasyte I have to comply, and I don't want that to happen."
I paused for a moment before continuing.
"I just want to protect myself, my mom, you, Aunt Julia, and Melissa."
I said that with as serious a tone as possible
That's right, that's my primary goal for now. I don't want to be told to go to war again, that sucks.
I looked at Alicia who was silent, I couldn't see her expression because she was looking out the car window. I could see her reflection in the car window, but it wasn't very clear.
But she looked beautiful as usual.
After that our journey continued quietly until we got home.
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