Chương 7: Chapter 8 : Auction

When Arthur left the library, with nothing else to do, he started roaming around the town to pass the time, after 5 minutes or so of walking he noticed a crowd not far from his position, in front of the crowd was some kind of stage.

Since he had nothing better to do he went toward it to see what's going on, the crowd of people seemed to be cheering and shouting from excitement and in the middle of the stage, in front of them, there was a man smiling and trying to calm down the crowd

"Now now, ladies and gentlemen if you would please calm down so we can start the auction."

After hearing what the men said, everybody calmed down a little except a few who were whistling and shouting, but they soon stopped too because of the angry gazes of the crowd.

After everything calmed down the man in the stage noticed the absolute calm in the crowd and took the opportunity to speak

"Thank you for your long wait as I can assure you that you will not be disappointed after all the waiting as the 'merchandise' of today is one of the best we ever had since the opening of our auction. Please, if you would like to participate in the auction all you have to do is raise your hand and name a price when the bidding starts and if your price is the highest, you will get the 'item', now let the auction begin!".

Arthur was quite interested in this auction because in his previous life auctions were very rare and made in private, so he never got to participate in one, though he had everything he needed in his storage, something may pick his interest and the idea of participating in an auction made him a little excited.

Arthur appraised the man like always and got to see his name and LVL

Edward Fonel (Human): LVL5

Just when Edward finished his announcement, a big muscular guy walked in from the backstage carrying in his hand something covered with a white piece of cloth, he walked near Edward then put the covered item on the table which was in front near him, he then walked where he previously was.

"Ladies and gentleman, the first item to be auctioned is something that may interest many of you, I present to you the fire Attribute skill book :[Flame tornado]!, it was obtained in a dangerous hunt made by one of our adventurer friends"

"OooOoOoo!"

all the crowd was amazed by the skillbook, and that's because it was extremely rare to find one and even if there was, it will not be auctioned as most people will use it instead of selling it.

What was amazing about a skillbook is that even if you are unable to use magic, if you learn a magic skill like this [Flame tornado], you could use this attack even with your inability to use magic, after all, it only costs mana, and every being possess it, so for those not born with capacities to be a mage, using a skillbook to obtain magic skills was like a blessing to those people that allowed them to be a bit stronger or maybe have a trump card to use in a fight, and even for mages who would learn a skill book related to the their attribute when they execute this skill it would be many times more powerful than normal.

The crowd was stunned for 1 minute or so, and Edward was grinning at them as he was expecting this reaction from the participants.

Arthur was more amazed of the reaction of the crowd more than the appearance of the skillbook because he didn't expect skill books to be this rare, when he searched his storage he found hundreds of skill books , but he didn't learn them as they seemed really weak and useless to him, so he just kept them in his storage ring, and now seeing the eyes of people were full of greed and envy toward this single skillbook, he understood that he completely underestimated the value of skills in this world.

Since he wasn't interested in this skillbook he decided not to bid for it and wait to see other items.

After waiting some time, Edward said

"The starting price of this skillbook would be 1000 gold coins, may the higher bidder win!" Just as he finished talking, everyone started raising their hands and bidding

"1050 gold coins"

"1060!"

"1100"

The price of the skill book was rising non-stop, even after reaching 2000 gold, the bidding never stopped, and all of a sudden, a young man from the front of the crowd sitting in a luxurious chair and holding a fan in his hand said calmly

"10,000 gold coins"

All the crows turned silent when they saw who talked, no one dared to raise his hand and bid more than the young man said because they knew he was someone important and no one dared to provoke him, he was a well-known noble in this town and it is rumored he had strong backing behind him, whenever he wanted to buy something, no one would dare to stop him from buying it.

The young man was quite handsome, he seemed to be in his twenties, he wore an elegant white robe with gold symbols on it, he had jewelry in his hands and neck which seemed really expensive, there was also two breath-taking women beside him, they seemed to be his maids since they wore a maid outfit.

Truthfully speaking, the price of the skill book could have risen to 20.000 gold coins or even more but since the young noble spoke no one dared to oppose him.

The auctioneer Edward seemed disappointed by this turn of the events but nevertheless, he kept a smile on his face and said

"10.000 going once, 10.000 going twice, 10.000 going thrice, SOLD! Congratulations to Mr. Feylord for buying this skill book"

Everybody looked dejected since this young noble called Feylord was here, no one expected to get anything if it picked the interest of Feylord.

The item was passed to Feylord, he then waved his hands and one his maids passed 10.000 gold coins toward the big muscular guy who brought the skill book in the beginning of the auction.

10.000 gold coins seemed a lot to carry with just 2 hands, so in this world they used magical bags that could contain various things and they used them when adventuring or for storing big amounts of money, it was kind of like the storage ring but very limited as those bags could only contain a specific weight('AN: for example a magic bag that can hold to 50KG, you can put anything into it until it reaches the maximum weight which is 50KG)

After one of the maids passed the bag containing the money to the muscular man, Edward proceeded with the auction.

The rest of the items were amazing but they didn't bring much excitement as the skill book, nonetheless there were still some amazing items in the eyes of the people but to Arthur all of it was garbage, the items sold in this auction couldn't even remotely compare to what he had so he didn't participate in any bidding and his excitement and hype lessened a lot, his hopes for the appearance something good were long gone.

After an hour or so of bidding, the crowd was depressed, and that's because almost half of the items auctioned were bought by Feylord and they couldn't do anything about it, he took all the good things, his prices were not even high but because no one could oppose him, he could buy them cheap, even Edward was sad because of this.

He expected to earn a quite a lot but all the items sold to Feylord were almost sold at the same price that was on the market if not cheaper.

Edward sighed then thought 'at least the last item will sure get us a fair amount of money even Feylord Buy it'

He then exclaimed toward the crowd

"Ladies and gentlemen we have approached the end of the auction, and we have saved the best for last, our last item is very special and I assure you it will please a lot of you "

After he finished talking Edward waved his hand toward the muscular man, the latter nodded and headed downstairs to bring the last item.

When Arthur heard the auctioneer, even though he lost all hope in finding something interesting he still looked forward to seeing the last item, after all, the auctioneer said it was the best thing in this auction.

After a couple of minutes the muscular guy came to the stage with the supposedly 'item' but what it totally surprised everyone in the crowd even Arthur as they were expecting to see an item and not a living being, what accompanied matchless and all the crowd's eyes were focused on her, even Arthur was stunned by her beauty but she looked devoid of emotion and had gorgeous but cold eyes that.

She was dressed in a simple ragged grey cloth that covered her from the chest area all down to her knees and she was chained in her legs and hands and also had a collar around her neck that was connected to a chain which was where the muscular guy dragged her from.

She had bruises all over her body except her face, even though her size was of a small, no one would think she is a kid, her demeanor was of a woman, Arthur thought that the idols from his past world were "trash" compared to this girl.

Edward couldn't stop grinning when he saw the amazement of the crowd and shouted

"As you may have guessed, our last 'item' is not an actual item but a slave, and a special one at that, she has a beauty second to none and is a demon! Yes! You heard me right, she from the demon race so there is no need to feel sorry someone for someone like her, she can be used as a simple servant or a sex slave but unfortunately she can't fight due to her powers being sealed, as you may know, we can't use slave contracts on demons so we have to seal their power so they can not harm their master, the starting price is 25,000 gold coins. "

Some of the crowd were still amazed by the beauty of the demon girl, and others began bidding with all the money they had, deep in their hearts they wished for Feylord not to bid for the girl, but when they glanced at him they lost all hope, he seemed very calm on the outside but some could see that his eyes were burning with lust and obsession and many knew that Feylord liked to have beautiful women around him as you may have noticed from the 2 maids standing next to him, he couldn't wait a minute before he raised his hand and said

"100.000 gold coins I bid 100.000 gold coins, give her to me!"

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Lucy's POV/3rd view of Lucy

Lucy was an orphan child, all she could remember was that since she was 4 years old she was alone, she didn't know her parents or anything about her family, but she did know that she was a demon and she was living in the human continent.

She lived her life running from either empire soldiers or Holy Church army who were slaughtering every demon they could find, be it a child or even a baby they were like brainwashed people all they knew was killing demons.

She didn't know why her family abandoned her, but nevertheless she struggled for her life and by the age of 10 she began to understand more about the world, after all the running and struggling with her life she managed to be strong at fighting, she also learned to control magic by herself and little by little she became very skilled at it , you can say that her magic was strong so even when any normal soldier from the Holy Church attacked her she could defend herself, but even with her strong magic abilities she couldn't win against numbers.

As the years passed and the fighting continued she became considerably strong until she wasn't afraid of the Holy Church, however surprisingly they didn't come for her anymore, many months passed without any pursuer, so she became a little bit relaxed and less anxious about the danger.

She always hid her appearance so she didn't attract any attention, even if she was a demon no one would guess that as she basically looked more like human than a demon, especially because demons usually have horns, but she knew her beauty would cause big troubles so she lived years hidden and barely communicated with people.

She didn't trust anyone and that's because she knew that all humans were the same, that they would use anyone for their benefits and because of her beauty they would sweet-talk her to gain her trust until they could lay their hands on her body, but unfortunately even though she vowed to never trust humans, she broke this vow and trusted a man.

She fell in love with him because he was kind to her even though she never showed him her appearance and helped her when she was in need, as time passed and she stayed with the man and she fell in love with him and with his kindness, she never had a family who cared for her so having someone kind and warm who managed to break through her distrusting heart was something she always yearned for.

As time passed, they began to be closer to each other, and she began to open up to him, she showed him her real appearance but he didn't seem very surprised, he complimented her beauty but he didn't have the lustful eyes that all the men had when they looked at her so she felt more secure and trustful towards him.

Some random day she wanted to surprise him in his house, but as she was coming in, she heard him talk to some people and after hearing the conversation she began shaking and tears flowed from her eyes non-stop.

What she heard was that the man she fell in love with was apparently someone the Holy Church sent to seduce her and bring her to their base.

She couldn't control her emotions and regretted the day that she trusted him and fell in love with him, she realized that all the months she passed with him and all the kindness he showed her was all but a big lie to lure her in. The poor girl was so broken that she cried real blood, she really was mentally broken as she thought she had someone in her life but she was just alone, and all the happy life she had was just an 'illusion, she tried to escape after hearing the conversation but the men noticed her and due to her being shaken and mentally unstable she couldn't muster up the strength to escape, so they bound her movements and sealed her powers completely, she didn't even resist as she was still in shock.

that man's personality changed completely after capturing her and he started to laugh maniacally

"He-he-he, do you even know how much it was hard for me to put that kind act? Damn slut, do you know how much I wanted to do you? But I had to hold in my desires because of orders from higher-ups, now that you are captured I'm sure they wouldn't mind right?"

Ss he finished speaking he grinned at the other soldiers from the other church, they nodded their head with eyes were burning with desires.

Days passed and they used her body however they like, she was physically and mentally broken, and she couldn't do anything, after some time she stopped reacting to people and all she would think about is just "kill kill kill kill", she wanted revenge for what was done to her, but she didn't have the strength to do that as her powers were sealed by these guys, so as time passed and they kept using her to satisfy their desires her hatred became more terrifying and she waited for the day she could muster up the strength to free herself from the seal.

These soldiers kept her detained for 2 whole years, they lied to their higher-ups so they could have their fun with her more but one day she finally was able to break from those shackles, unfortunately she didn't have much power to kill anyone of them as she was severely weakened, she waited for the perfect moment to escape with all the strength she muster.

She kept fleeing for months, she was afraid they would catch up to her due to her slow speed, but fortunately, nothing happened.

Since then she never trusted anyone and she killed without mercy any men she could find as her hatred for men was terrifying, after all, what has been to her, she had the right to loathe them.

Time passed quickly and her strength kept weakening until she became barely able to walk and due to that she was captured by some people who claimed to be slave traders, they were also captivated by her beauty but they thought she was virgin and didn't touch her and they chained her and locked her away in order to sell her at the auction house expecting to get a fortune from a virgin beauty like her.

As she entered the auction stage following the muscular man and being chained in all over her body, she stared at the crowd who was eyeing her lustfully, she was used to those disgusting eyes so she just stared coldly at them without emotion, she didn't care who would buy her as she would kill them when her powers were back.

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POV Change to the original one (AN; I mean by that Arthur POV)

As he stared at this chained girl, curiosity got the better of Arthur and he was suspicious as to why someone with her appearance would end up in an auction house, he loathed the idea of slavery but he couldn't really do much about it, even if he supposedly freed all the slaves in this town that wouldn't save the others in the rest of the world, a man just cannot show and change something which has been here for ages , it was irrational.

As he appraised the girl he saw this:

"ting"

Lucy (Demon): LVL44

He was surprised by her high level, she was the first person he saw with a LVL this high, he guessed that she must've been strong when her powers weren't sealed, and to be honest he was captivated by her charm and appearance, even though she was this beautiful she had such a cold piercing eyes and emotionless face, she was just like a gorgeous sculpture.

He decided that he would buy her, as she would be beneficial to him in providing information, but Arthur wasn't a human from this world so he wouldn't force her, he would let her choose either to follow him and if not, he will set her free and let her be on her way.

He convinced himself with this excuse but deep in his heart he felt that something was special about this girl although he couldn't let himself think that as he didn't want to trust anyone, as they say, "A heart has its reasons which reason knows not"

Arthur heard the bidding going up, faster than ever before, then he saw the noble Feylord bid 100.000 gold but he didn't care about all that as he was sure he would get her in the end after all the amount of gold he has in his storage is by no means little.

After the crowd heard the bid of Feylord, no one dared to bid, but they were reluctant to let go of the bid because they were captivated by the beauty of the girl and they wanted her for themselves, but whenever someone tried to raise his hand to bid they were stared at angrily by Feylord, if stares could kill he would've killed all of them.

After some hesitation everyone just gave up, after all even if they won the bid, they didn't think Feylord would them off easily, he would kill them and claim the girl anyway.

Edward was quite happy, as he heard the price Feylord said, 100.000 gold coins was by no means a small amount, even nobles cannot have that much money, Feylord is a Special noble who was rumored to have ties with the royalty so it was normal for him to have much gold than normal nobles and it is also because of those rumours that no one dared to provoke or even anger him as the consequences of doing so would be tragic.

Just as Edward was going to begin the countdown of the bid, someone from raised his hand, it was someone from the back of the crowd, everyone stared at him with dumbfounded faces, they couldn't believe that someone dared to oppose Feylord.

The man in question was dressed in black, you couldn't even see his face, his hand was covered with black pointy gloves, even the auctioneer was shocked by this turn of events as he didn't expect someone to raise his hand.

Everyone stared at Arthur but he didn't care and just raised his left hand and showed 2 fingers.

Edward stared at the black-robed man and saw his hand and said hesitantly

"D-dear sir, by 2 d-do you mean 200.000 gold coins....?"

Just as he said that all the people who couldn't understand why Arthur showed 2 fingers were stunned, after all, to bid 200.000 gold coins is something that would happen once in who knows how many years, so to see something happen in front of their eyes was shocking.

Arthur just nodded to the auctioneer to confirm his bid and just stayed there waiting silently.

At the front of the stages, where there were VIP customers, Feylord stared at Arthur furiously, he couldn't believe someone was bold enough to bid higher than him, he was determined to get the demon girl no matter what as he was enchanted by her beauty and wanted her for himself to enjoy and no one could take her from him so he just snorted and turned his head toward Edward and said

"250.000 gold coins!"

Edward was still amazed by the actions of the black-robed men then he heard the voice of Feylord bidding , he was feeling fear and happiness at the same time, happiness because he would get a big fortune and fear because he didn't want to offend Feylord, he was just a meager auctioneer and if he sold the girl to the black-robed man, there was a chance Feylord would hold a grudge against him so when he heard the bid of the young noble he breathed a sigh of relief but he didn't dare to relax yet, he glanced toward the black-robed men at the end of the crowd.

Edward was not the only one who turned his gaze toward Arthur, everyone turned towards Arthur gazing at him with excitement and fear.

Arthur was kind of annoyed by this young noble, he was persisting and he didn't like stubborn people, so he appraised him unconsciously and saw

'ting'

Feylord Lernon (Human:Fire attribute) : LVL17

His level was quite high, and he also was a mage, plus he had a fire attribute at that, it explains why he bought that skill book at the beginning of the auction, but even him being a mage and a noble didn't matter much to Arthur as he just raised his left hand again and showed 5 fingers meaning 500.000 gold coins.

Just when Arthur showed his bid, there was complete silence, no one even talked , everyone was shocked by the amount that was just bid, they didn't expect him to just bid the double amount that was previously bid, even Feylord who was usually calm had stunned eyes, his hands were shaking and he started to feel fearful of losing the bid, after all even though he had strong backing, he had a budget he couldn't surpass so he just stood from his chair and shouted at Edward

" I BID 1 Million GOLD COINS!"

Just after he finished his shout he turned his head toward Arthur to see his reaction but all he could see was Arthur showing 2 fingers again but he knew that this didn't mean 200.000 gold coins like previously but it means a whopping 2 million gold coins, it's not that easy to procure that much amount of money , even him a prestigious noble who had royalty backing, getting 2 million gold is doable but very hard, he couldn't match up to this black-robed man so all he could do was just sit angrily on his chair with his head shaking from anger and ferocity.

Edward dazed for a couple of seconds before he shouted

"2 mmmmMillions going once, going twice, going thrice! SOLD ! Congratulations to this esteemed customer who had won this demon girl, please come here to redeem your 'item' "