Apotheosis of a Demon - A Monster Evolution Story

Chapter 28

"...A demihuman?"

"Is that... a beastman?"

Within the dark auction hall, all eyes were on the stage. The flames revealed a single girl of white, standing alone.

With the thief revealed to be the girl who had been with them until now, Tiz almost leaped from his seat. He glared at the girl.

"...Shedy!"

But was that girl truly her?

The first time he met her, he thought she was a ten-year old kid. The second time, she looked closer to eleven. Perhaps his first estimation was wrong, he thought. Nothing more.

It was true that kids possessing high magic, as they often did among the nobility, tended to grow up faster. Yet Shedy, standing on the stage, looked as if she had gained another year of age and height within as many days. The little girl was already turning into a young lady. She was showing the first hints of a deadly beauty.

However, it wasn't the most eye-catching thing about her. The audience was all staring at the pair of long, snow-white ears softly dangling from her head.

There were canine species with drooping ears, true, but the longest among them was only around 10 centimeters. No one had heard of, nor seen, such a species of beastman to have ears so long as to reach her chin. To have ears of a rabbit.

"...so, that girl was a rabbit beastman!!" Salia's shout echoed within the silent hall. Her words couldn't be clearer.

"...rabbit?" "A rabbit..." "Rabbit...!!!"

Mutters sounded out one by one. As they began to comprehend the words, the attendees ceased seeing her with fear and terror. Desire flooded their eyes.

"Get me that bunny!! That critter is MINE!!"

In one of the second floor booth seats, a chubby middle-aged noble leaned over the railing and screamed.

Tiz knew that face. He was the brother to the king of this Trestan Kingdom. Yet his position did nothing to deter the other attendees, full of the rich and the nobilities of other countries. Prompted by his shout and blinded by greed, they stood up, one after another, and gave orders to their own subordinates.

"Catch that rabbit girl!"

"No, auction her! I'll pay one hundred large golds!"

"My trading firm will secure her! Get the bodyguards in here!"

"Don't fuck with me! That rabbit belongs to Trestan Kingdom!"

"This is an auction, who the hell cares about that?! Grab her already!!"

A rabbit beastman. A race hitherto unseen, unheard of. And the girl was a beauty too, at that. She would fetch an absurd price.

Dozens of bodyguards were tripping over each other to fulfill their given orders. They flooded toward the stage. Seeing them, the auction host spat out orders to the surviving guardsmen.

"We're taking her for our auction! Capture her, but don't you dare harm a hair on her head! I'll pay every one of you a large gold coin once she's in my hands!"

Shedy just blankly stared and blinked. Her scarlet eyes swept through the hall, stopping at the approaching wave of guardsmen and escorts, and narrowed in disgust.

"Alright, just stay calm-aghk!"

A lithe swordsman was the first one to get up on the stage. Just as his bare hands were about to grab the girl, his movements inexplicably slowed down. The girl dashed in. Her dagger tore through his throat.