Reynolds Leywin POV
"Thank you for accompanying me, Reynolds," Vincent Helstea said. We were on our way to meet with a possible new trading partner, but he seemed a bit sketchy.
Vincent Helstea was an old friend of mine, and when we had gotten to Xyrus after Arthurs death he offered a place to stay and a job for me. I accepted both and was looking out for my friend with my job as a bodyguard.
He was the owner of the Helstea auction house, a former small one, that rose to the very top because of his sense for business.
A contact informed him that a certain person had a secret auction, with some rarities for show. The main attractions are supposed to be several beast cores from various different beasts. Vincent knew that he could resell them for a much higher price, and since he wanted to join in the trade of beast cores, he wanted to start his sale with some big hits. He already acquired several A cores, and a single AA beast core, that was from a magma worm. Because of the rarity of the magma mana affinity, which only dwarfs could acquire in the first place, he got it pretty cheap, but with his connections he would find a rich dwarf that would buy it for triple the price.
We entered a small alley. "Masks." Vincent reminded me. Both of us took out a white mask to cover our faces. Both of them covered our whole face and muffled our voices. Vincent sure enough didn't want to be recognized here.
After a few steps Vincent knocked on a door to our right. A small window in the door was opened. "Password?" a muffled voice from the inside asked.
"Griffin-Tail." Vincent answered and the window was closed, only for the door to be opened.
"Welcome. The stairs to the right please." A tall and broad man gestured to a staircase down underground. Vincent nodded and we walked down.
The staircase leads down to a huge room, maybe 10 meters below the surface. The room was lit by light producing artifacts, and around 20 chairs stood in the middle. They were all directed to a small podium where the auction would be held. 14 people were already here and stood in small groups and talked.
I didn't know any of the unmasked men, but there were also some people who wore masks like us. At a sign of Vincent we joined a smaller group.
"I heard there were quite a few elixirs for sale today" one of them just said. He wore a wolf mask that covered his eyes and had white long hair and a beard. He was accompanied by a red haired woman with a hummingbird mask and a green dress.
"Are you a mage or what?" one of the other men asked, annoyed "Who needs artifacts? I heard they had quite the selection of slaves."
At that comment both I and the man with the wolf's mask grimaced. I could see Vincent's face, but I was sure he did so too. The slave trade was a booming business, despite the sanctions from our king and queen. Or maybe especially because the the sanctions where so hard the slave trade had shifted from an controlled environment to sketchy deals in the backyards, where the conditions for the slaves where miserable.
"Please, Ladies and Gentlemen, take a seat. The auction will start in a minute" a man on the podium said in a loud and clear voice. He wore a fine navy suit accompanied by a mask that looked like a swan.
Everyone was getting seated and of the 18 seats 2 stayed empty.
The man on the podium introduced himself.
"I am the man that invited each one of you. I'm glad so many of you came. Let's get this auction started, shall we? The first thing I want to auction is this mana draining device." A servant came from a neighboring room, and pushed a small cart, like a cart where a dish would be served at a fancy place. On that cart stood a small object, which looked a bit like a gramophone. "if you activate this device the cone will suck in all the mana from an area. This bad boy has enough power, to absorb a spell of an orange core augmenter for example." A second servant entered the room and started to cast a spell, which the artifact absorbed like promised.
But I saw through the bluff. Since I had concentrated on enhancing my core since Arthur's death, I had reached the solid orange stage. If I only had it back then, I would have been able to save Arthur. I won't let the same happen to our second child.
"The spellcaster is only at the light red stage, and the spell was pretty weak, even for his core" I whispered into Vincent's ear. He nodded.
But it seemed like a lot of the bidders hadn't called the bluff.
"1 gold"
"5 gold"
"7 gold"
They fought for the artifact. In the end it was sold to a man with a pig mask for 21 gold pieces.
"Next Item on the list is the beast core of a snarler queen. This majestic b class mana beast is home in cold dungeons in the beast glades. They command an army of snarlers and are very territorial."
He was right about that. The core also seemed to be intact, and no one had started to absorb mana from it. Unfortunately a B-class mana beast couldn't pass on his will, so this core wasnt of value for Vincent. The man with the wolf's mask bought it for 24 gold. He would probably just absorb it, to advance his core. I couldn't see his core, but that was probably due to an artifact he wore. If he didn't have a core, he wouldn't be so focused on buying a core and elixirs, like he said, and if his core was so advanced, that I couldn't see it, he would buy the core of such a small monster, since it wouldn't advance him much and he could just join an adventurer group and hunt them himself.
The auction continued. The host auctioned some more artifacts, most of them performing the way he promised, some lesser mana cores and elixirs and some magical weapons and armor pieces.
After he sold a dimensionring that could hold around 2000cm3 for 200 gold to a rather obese man, he announced the will of a ice mammoth. An ice mammoth is an A class mana beast that was rather famous for its heavy charge attacks in combinations with the formation of ice walls, that made it impossible to dodge the charge.
A mage with an ice affinity might be able to get a beast will from this core.
Vicent also realized that and voiced his first bid of the evening. "40 gold."
"50" the man with the wolf masks countered.
"60"
"70"
"100" Vincent said.
Noone bid higher. The man with the wolfs mask was the only other bidder interested in beast cores of that level. The other bidders had a higher interest in the artifacts and weapons, while one was interested in the lower level of beastcores, and another one hadnt voted at all until now.
"Sold for 100 gold to the man with the white mask" the auctioneer proclaimed.
Vincent nodded, while writing a note. I caught a glimpse.
'I am interested in A-class beasts (and higher). I give you 10 gold for each of these wills, where you only bid as long as I instantly counter offer. '
Then he looked at the woman in the green dress, and pointed to the note he had put in his hands. The woman seemed to understand and casted a spell. The note in Vincent's hand disappeared and appeared in her hand. She handed it to her partner, who read the note and formed a grin. He gave Vincent a barely noticeable nod.
This all happened without anyone except us four noticing.
Vincent leaned over to me. "I have met her before at a different auction. She had bought a wind artifact that allowed to transport light and small objects at an incredible speed. I figured she might have brought it here.
Sometimes I forget how smart Vincent is.
And then, at the next beast A-class core, this time the core of a Thunderbird, it happened as planned.
Vincent started with 40 again, the wolfman countered with 45, and Vincent instantly went to 50. The man upped his offer to 55, and Vincent took a second, before saying 60. The man didn't counter the offer, and Vincent got it for 60, 70 if you include the deal with the man.
The evening went on for some time, and Vincent got 2 more A class cores, while the other man got all below B, since he had a lot more money than he thought he would have.
"In a few minutes we will start with the last few pieces to auction. We will have a short break, so you can get some fresh air."
We were escorted back outside, but not to the small alley, but to the small courtyard of the building. There were some guards here, so we didn't meet up with the other two bidders on the cores. We didn't want to seem suspicious, so the two of us just separated from the other bidders.
"What do you think, how much profit are you going to make with the cores?" I asked him. Vincent smiled. "I think I would be able to sell each one for 200 gold by tomorrow without a problem. But that would be unwise. I will keep them until my auction next month."
Ah yes, the auction. Vincent had collected rarities over the last year and two months ago, he set a date for an auction. He invited everyone who had a name and almost everyone was coming.
"I can auction them off there, and the nobles will bid each other into nirvana." he said with a devilish smile. " Additionally I have some friends that will push up the prices by placing fake bids. If no one goes higher than them I will just keep the item and auction it again next year."
I shiver ran down my spine. This man really was smart. There was no law against these techniques, he had looked into them, and he was planning to abuse that fact.
I just shook my head. "Of course, I can't wait to see that auction."
"Me neither," Vincent agreed.
After a few minutes the host came to the courtyard and guided us back inside. The podium was now filled with a handful of people. They all wore simple clothes and were standing still. They looked like they were drugged.
"As promised, we also have some slaves to offer." The host announced.
"The first slave to be auctioned is this strong man." his hand pointed to a tall man, who was massive. He had muscles all over his body and only wore shorts, so we could see them.
"2 gold" a man on our right placed the first offer.
My thoughts began to wander. I remembered the day Arthur and Adam had a spar. He had surprised us with a complex movement technique. I remember that Jasmine had eyed him for the rest of the trip, which was basically begging him to teach her more, at least for Jasmine's standards. Adam spent the rest of the trip trying to defend his honor, saying that Arthur only performed that well, because he was holding back so much, while Helen continued to mock him. Durden, protective as ever, started to spar with Arthur instead, while being very careful with him. Angela had continued to chat with Alice, mainly, how life as a mother was. Good days. Until, well...
Vincent elbowed me, noticing me tensing up, which brought me back to the present. The auction had continued, and several of the slaves were already sold.
"Next we have an elven girl." The host announced. "Wait, where is she?" An assistant of his rushed to the room next to us, and came back with a girl, who looked no older than six. I don't know how elves age, but I know they live up to 150 years, even without a core. If they had a core, they could become much older, just like humans with a core would also live longer.
"20 gold" the man to our right said.
"25 gold" the obese man upped his offer
To my surprise Vincent raised his voice "40 gold" He sounded angry, even through the mask. Of course he is, I am too. How could they do that to a child? I had a son, but Vincent had a daughter around the same age. I am sure he imagined Lilia in her place, and wanted to help her.
"50 gold" the obese man countered having a perverted grin.
"60" Vincent said.
"70" the man answered
"100. Back off pervert" Vincent said, his voice now aggressive.
The obese man didnt seem to have the money, to keep bidding.
"100 gold, sold to the man in the white mask." The auditioner announced.
After that Vincent stayed quiet. There wasn't anything interesting for him anyways. The last items were all artifacts, albeit strong ones and weapons. He had enough connections in these areas and would buy such weapons directly from the artificer/smith for less.
After the the auction ended, we went to the exit. Here we paid for the items we bought and received them.
"What about the elf?" Vincent asked.
"Do you want to drag her through the streets?" the man at the counter asked ironically. "We will deliver her to a place of your liking in Xyrus."
"I am here with a carriage. I will take her now."
The man behind the counter shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care." He turned around and shouted "Get the elf girl here" some seconds later the assistant dragged her here. I carefully lifted her and carried her to the carriage that already waited for us.
At a closer look she had silver hair and green eyes. She didn't react to anything and her eyes just stared into nothingness. That poor girl.
Vincent followed me. When we had entered the carriage and the doors were closed we took off our masks.
"Is she okay?" he asked
"She is drugged, like I thought. I can't say anything about her mental state because of that, but her pulse and temperature is promising. I also can't see any big injuries and I doubt that she has any. As soon as we're back home I will have Alice take a look at her."
"Good Idea, I will get in contact with the authorities tomorrow."
After the short drive we entered Helstea manor. We were quiet, since we didn't want to wake Lilia or Tabitha. I layed the little girl on a couch and hurried to get Alice. I carefully woke her up. "Hey honey" she said "Why did you wake me up?" she asked, confused.
"We have a bit of a problem, and would like you to take a look." I said.
She nodded and followed me back. At her the look she gave me, I knew she thought I had done something stupid again. I was partly hurt, not because she did it, but because I knew she was right to expect that from me. I really had to work on that.
As she entered the room, she immediately saw the girl. She rushed to her, and started to check her. "What happened to her?" she asked me, noticing her state.
"She was a slave, probably drugged." I said. "We don't know any more than that."
Alice nodded and I knew I had to explain to her later how we found her. Not that I had a problem with that.
Alice began casting a spell. I knew the spell, I had seen it many times before. She had casted a diagnostic spell and checked the girl.
She let out a breath. "She is fine. The drug is not causing any long term damages and it will have lost its effect by tomorrow. Except that there is a small food deficiency, but that's it.''
She stood up and grabbed a blanket and wrapped her into it.
"I am heading back to sleep," Alice said. "You should get some sleep too, tomorrow will be quite an exhausting day."
I nodded and followed her back to our bedroom. A few seconds after I layed down, I had already fallen asleep.
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>2.7k words
Again, no Arthur this chapter, but don't worry, I will release another chapter today. (Arthur POV)
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