CH 46

Tomorrow is the last day of the harvest festival.

Once evening rolled around, all the shops running in the central square were cleaned up and a large space was cleared away.

Next, some lounge chairs without backrests were set up making sure that there were spaces just big enough to move through.

In front of those organized lounge chairs, a special stage was set up. Yes, tomorrow the biggest event of the harvest festival, the auction, would be held.

“How much will the Resistance plate armor sell for?”

At dinner, while Frau was passing out tonight’s meal of beef stroganoff, Ellis brought up the topic to everyone.

“The Merchant Guild thinks it will sell for 1 billion ril, and it probably won’t sell for much less.”

This is information that Reeve had acquired, so it was unlikely that Maria would have lied to her.

“If it is like that, then our share should be half a billion ril, so we will each get 100 million ril per person. With something like that Reeve, paying back your parent’s debt should be a breeze.”

“Yes. Sorry to worry you all.”

Reeve’s parents live in Wheat Grace.

It is a town five days away by carriage from Warren to the south, and its lord is the Durkfienance house.

Reeve’s family is also a noble lineage who live in that area. Despite being nobles, it sounds like Reeve’s father struggled to handle the family’s debt and affairs after her grandfather sold most of their land and spent most of their money on his hobbies.

“In the meantime, I need to have a little fun with that rude bastard Lake.”

Ellis kept her soliloquy to herself.

“Well then let’s go to bed early today.”

The five girls had already wiped themselves down with a bucket and some water, so they all returned to their respective rooms. Starting tomorrow, the bathhouse at night would return to being theirs alone.

Now, who should be first tonight?

“Ellis, I’d like to buy a matching tea set for everyone.”

Ahn……..

“Ellis, I want an eastern Karakuri doll.”

Ahn……..

“Mistress, I hope the Flying Swallow great sword sells well tomorrow.”

Ahn………

“Ellis, I don’t really care about the auction nya.”

Nyahn………

They’re all cute girls.

In the meantime, Pi-tan was tired from all the work he had been doing keeping the city safe from potential troublemakers and had fallen into a deep sleep without the need for his usual nightly lullaby.

The morning for using money came just like that.

Five women woke up feeling refreshed, and Frau quickly whipped up some ham and vegetable sandwiches while wearing the same dress that she had worn in Marsfield.

The auction was cleanly divided into participation seats and auditorium seats, and there was a certain dress code for the people sitting in the participation seats.

Once everyone was ready, they decided to venture to town inside their luxury carriage instead of just walking or riding their Magical horses. Ken put on a good suit, and he acted as their coachman.

In this way, the five members of Warren’s Jewelry Box arrived at their destination in style, using elegance and grace as they descended the steps and took their seats.

“Hau”

A collective sigh escaped the lips of people sitting in both the participating and the auditorium seats.

The girls controlled this place with a noble air.

Everything was going just as Maria, the auction organizer, had wanted.

Maria, who had used this glittering beauty of theirs at the Marsfield restaurant, had put in a special request to have them make another appearance like this at the auction. The purpose was to create a sort of high-class feeling that would create a special mood and loosen the pockets of those people participating. Ellis’s group had already received 50 thousand ril per person for their services.

“Hoh, it’s quite the flashy appearance.”

Flint immediately walked up to the girls scrunched up his butt into the seat between Ellis and Claire.

“The plan is going well.”

Maria gave a satisfied smile as she naturally took a seat between Katie and Reeve.

“I didn’t expect you all to show up so early.”

Baltis appeared out of nowhere, surprising the people nearby before taking a seat between Claire and Frau.

“Tch. I wanted to sit next to my daughter.”

Theseus let out a small word of complaint, but he ended up taking his seat between Ellis and Katie without anything else to say.

What are they doing?

Thanks to these guys, the audience’s attention became even more focused on Ellis’s group during the auction.

As time went on, more and more people continued to fill out the participation seats with most of the incoming participants taking their seats near where Ellis’s group had sat down. Apparently, many of the people taking part in the auction were acquaintances of the guild masters, and they took their seats nearby after giving a greeting.

“How are you doing Flint? Today, I brought my granddaughter with me.”

“So Maria-sama…. I see you are monopolizing Reeve-sama…..”

“Not at all. This was just a coincidence. Ohohohoh.

“Baltis!? Where’s your costume?”

“It was unpopular with the ladies.”

“So they finally managed to pry you away from your daughter, huh Theseus.”

“…Shut up.”

Numerous rich-looking men and women came and went. Eventually, the participating seats were filled with women who wore multicolored dresses with men wearing straight black suits.

And once it was time,

“The harvest festival has entered its final day. And so, let the auction begin!”

It was the Merchant Guild that would handle the auction. The Thieve’s Guild watch over things from the shadows while the Adventurer Guild took care of securing the venue.

“To kick things off, we have a Karakuri doll drinking tea! Starting bid is 100 thousand ril.”

“200 thousand ril!”

As it was exactly what she wanted, Claire immediately screamed out an off higher than the starting bid.

Nobody else reacted.

After all, Claire was clearly giving a look that said it would be impossible to beat her.

Flint, who was sitting next to her, was a little rattled, and so shaking slightly, he leaned over and whispered, “If you just look at it a little, you can easily figure out that doll’s internal structure and make one yourself.” Claire ignored him.

Rather than any sort of trick, the doll’s unusual look was really cute, and she wanted it.

“Sold at 200 thousand ril!”

As soon as the auctioneer’s gavel hit the podium, a collector made their way over to Claire’s seat in order to collect the 200 thousand ril.

“Do you wish to pay in cash or in an exchange certificate?”

“Cash!”

Claire excitedly pulled out the ril from her wallet, and she forked it over to the collector.

“I have confirmed the payment. Your product will be at the reception desk. Do you want your receipt now or at the end ojou-chan?”

“Please do it at the end.”

The Merchant Guild takes full responsibility for the items put on sale, so most people choose to have the receipts filled out at the end as there is very few worries about being cheated.

“Next is this beautiful painting.”

The auction proceeded.

Frau was able to make a successful bid for five sets of teaware that she liked. Once it was all over, Frau was all smiles as a result.

“Tea time will be even more elegant from now on.”

The auction continued on until the Flying Swallow great sword that Ellis had thrown up there on a whim had come forward.

“The starting bid is 22 million ril!”

“30 million!”

“35 million!”

“38 million!”

“It’s selling so well,” Claire said to Ellis from over Flint’s lap. Flint inserted himself into the conversation and added, “This could very well go up to 50 million.”

However, a voice called out shattering Flint’s estimate.

“100 million!”

It was Dams that shouted out.

As everyone’s attention was drawn to him, Gray panicked and pulled on Dams’s arm.

“Hey! What are you yelling without permission? Where are you getting this money anyway?”

But Dams shrugged him off and said,

“Don’t we have plenty of money from the king?”

Naturally there were no more bids after that, and the crowd got quiet.

It was certainly an unusual situation, but it is true that Flying Swallow is one of the best abilities to have on a great sword. During this ambiguous atmosphere, the auctioneer called everyone back to attention.

“Sold! At 100 million ril.”

The Flying Swallow great sword was sold off for twice what Flint thought it might reach, and the collector made his way over to Dams.

“Will you pay the 100 million in cash or guild exchange note?”

“Hey, pay attention. The collector is here, and there is no way that the Hero would refuse to pay him, right?”

Despite the aggravating behavior from Dams, Gray complied and pulled out 100 million ril from his Adventurer’s bag for the collector. Once he had confirmed that everything was in order, the collector then turned to Dams.

“Would you like to confirm the Flying Swallow ability in this place?”

This question was really just a ceremonial question that the collector had to ask. The Warren Merchant Guild guaranteed the abilities of all items sold at the auction, so there was no reason to worry.

All anyone ever said here was, “No, go ahead.”

“I’ll do it on stage for all to see.”

“Certainly, yes.”

When the collector received the answer from the barbarian sitting before him, he hesitated for only a second before nodding and setting up some armor dolls that were prepared in advance just in case.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Dams headed on to the stage, waving to the crowd as if he was some great entertainer being welcomed before their bit.

Taking the sword in hand and repeating the command word, the armor dolls in front of him were easily separated in two after a single slash.

“Any problem?”

“None at all.” Dams shook his head at the collector’s question before raising the sword high above his head.

Thus the thrown away Flying Swallow great sword was bought for 100 million ril by the Hero’s funds.

Ellis was clutching her sides using every last bit of willpower she had not to break down laughing.

“Hey Ellis, let’s have a drink this evening.”

Feeling a little mischievous, Claire tried out a joke to see if she could push Ellis over the edge. Meanwhile, Flint was a little annoyed that his prediction ended up being so far off the mark.

The last item that appeared at the auction was the center-piece item: the Resistance plate armor.

“The starting price is 300 million ril!”

As soon as the auctioneer started the bidding,

“400 million!”

“500 million!”

“600 million!”

“650 million!”

There were far more people gunning for this item than any other item in the past. Everyone wanted it no matter the cost.

“700 million!”

“750 million!”

“800 million!”

“810 million!”

“820 million!”

“1 billion!”

The bidding quieted down at this point.

One billion was what the item was projected to sell at.

Will it be determined at this? Or will someone go beyond expectations?

By the way, it was Gray who had called out the 1 billion ril bid. He was willing to spend everything he had for the sake of God’s revelation.

But, reality is sweet.

“1.2 billion!”

The venue fell into silence.

The Hero rifled through his adventurer bag before turning towards his party members.

“Guys, hand over all the money you have!”

Only Gise was as frantic as Gray was, pulling out every single ril he had.

“Hey, do we have enough?”

Gise’s face was a pale blue as Gray counted up all the money.

“Dams, Peach, Cliff, put out everything you have.”

But the three of them were nowhere near as worried as Gise was.

“Oh, I lost my wallet.”

“Why do I have to spend my own money on this?”

“That’s my drinking money for tonight.”

Gray and Gise turned pale.

Altogether, the two of them only have 1.1 billion ril.

They are short of the 1.2 billion, and right then, the heartless declaration from the auctioneer echoed across the audience.

“Sold! at 1.2 billion ril.”

The Hero Gray was defeated at the auction.

“Ha ha ha! Let me try on that Resistance armor!”

It was Lake Durkfienance who had made the successful bid for the Resistance plate armor.

Lake delivered the 1.2 billion ril worth Merchant Guild exchange slip to the collector, ignoring ceremony just as Dams did, and took the stage.

However, unlike Flying Swallow, nobody there–with a few exceptions–had ever seen the Resistance ability in action. As a result, there was not the level of annoyance as had been before, and the spectators were excited to see what would happen.

Lake fastened the Resistance plate armor.

“By the way, who will be casting the spell for the test?”

The old magician who had been prepared beforehand took the stage, and he was about to cast the {Fire Bullet} spell.

“That old geezer is boring! That black-haired ojou-san over there is a magician right? Hey little girl! How about attacking me for the test?”

Lake nominated Claire.

The venue became even more excited for this.

Just about every youngster in the city knew Frau, Reeve, and Claire from their appearances around the city, and they would take any chance they could get to see those three up on stage.

On the other hand, this action made every single member of the Workshop Guild into an enemy of Lake.

But Lake, completely unaware of this, continued to call up Claire.

“Come! It is a test of my new Resistance plate armor, so it requires a gorgeous lady such as you to give off a show.”

Truly a man with plenty of room upstairs.

Claire gave Ellis a sideways smirk before standing up from her chair and giving Lake a large grin. “Should I shoot you with the magic I am best at?”

Hmm.

Lake snorted.

“I don’t mind. {Fire Bullet}, {Ice Fog}, {Lightning}, or {Earth Javelin}. Use whatever you want, but forgive me when it does nothing.”

“All right.”

Claire nodded once again before going up the stage.

“I will go with that.”

“Bring it.”

To Lake’s chagrin, Claire slowly started casting her spell.

“Wait a moment!”

“Stop this!”

When Theseus and Flint hear the spell Claire was preparing, they both stood up to rush to Claire’s side, but her party members stopped them both.

“You ossans are quick to act.”

“Just watch.”

“Claire has already become an adult.”

“Nya.”

Claire’s spell was completed.

“Let’s go! {Explode}!”

{Explode} does basic damage of 20, and it costs 9 MP in order to cast. It is Claire’s strongest attack magic.

Through her Magical ring and self affinity, Claire is able to reduce that MP cost down to only 5.

Because it takes time to knead the spell together, and because of a limitation of range, Claire has typically replaced it though with {Lightning Shower}, which has a longer range, covers a wider area, and can still kill or at least gravely injure someone with its basic damage of 10.

By the way, {Explode} is also the spell that a young Claire had used to blow off her uncle’s head to avoid his attempted rape.

Theseus and Flint knew about these circumstances and how it had become a trauma for her, resulting in her joining the Workshop Guild.

What they did not know was that Ellis had already assisted her in overcoming that trauma.

Along with the tremendous roar of the explosion, Lake’s whole body was engulfed in hot air and flames. The Resistance plate armor certainly stopped exactly 10 magic damage.

But the remaining 10 damage from the spell…….

Fufufufufufufufu

“Oh, he’s still alive.”

“Damn!”

“Claire-chan is the best!”

“Amazing. To still be standing after such a beautiful explosion.”

“It’s not him but the plate armor that’s amazing.”

“Indeed.”

“Hit him again!”

Angry yells and loud laughter permeated across the audience seats.

The boy who had disappeared inside a hot cloud finally emerged from the smoke. He survived due to most of the damage being shaved off due to his armor, but there was still a little charring and smoke rising from his hair.

“I have confirmed the Resistance…”

The moderators rushed to Lake’s side once he had lost consciousness after confirming his armor’s effect.

“Huh?”

The moderators noticed once they were by his side. Lake had not taken too much physical damage. It seems that he was more in shock due to the explosion’s noise rather than any real injuries.

But Claire would not say anything and left the stage while twirling her staff.

“I do not know anything.”

Once Claire had left the stage, the auction ended successfully.

By the way, Claire had confirmed with Ellis beforehand to reduce {Explode}’s power beforehand so as not to kill Lake yet.

“Damn it! Now the Resistance equipment is completely out of our grasp!”

After the auction, Gray had gone into a rare rage.

“Let’s just think about trying to buy the armor back from that aristocrat,” Gise said to try and calm him down.

But after Dams had said to him, “You didn’t have enough money? You suck,” Gray was feeling a little too stressed to be able to just calm down.

“We could have bought it if you hadn’t insisted on getting that great sword!”

“Don’t go turning this on me. You just didn’t get enough money from the king. Aren’t you the one in the wrong here?”

Dams’s complaints were unfair and unfounded, yet they still disheartened the emotionally unstable Gray.

Resistance equipment are a set of legendary armor composed of a chest piece, gauntlets, and boots. When these three pieces are together, it will create a bonus effect that will provide ‘physical reduction of 10’ along with the magical damage reduction to every member of the party.

Gray had already acquired the Resistance gauntlets and the Resistance black metal boots. After that, the Resistance plate armor was all that was left, but Gray never imagined that he would be obstructed by something like this.

“Damn it…”

Walking towards the alley wall, Gray hugged his knees and faced the corner in his usual habit.

“Killing me,” Peach muttered under her breath, wanting to throw up.

“Gray, pull yourself together.” Gise was starting to get worried.

Dams and Cliff started eating some kebabs that they had picked up from a street stall, completely uncaring towards Gray’s predicament.

Then a man with a shaved head stepped forward, interrupting the Brave party’s internal strife.

“Heya folks. How bout listening to a story from a brother bandit?”

“What?”

“I don’t think it’ll be a waste of time for you all.”

Gise was naturally wary, but he did not wave off the skinhead immediately because there was a possibility that he might be from the Thieve’s Guild.

So the skinhead cut to the chase.

“A little birdie told me a bit ago that you all are in need of some Resistance armor.”

“Yes. Were you also at the auction site?”

“Oh no, but I do have something here that you might be interested in.”

The skinhead took out some spikes from a bag he was carrying over his shoulder.

It was a set of Hyaaha armor. A very vulgar set of armor that consisted of a metal ball and chain over the chest which connected two spiked shoulder pads and covered nothing else.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

The stranger rubbed his bald head and smiled.

“There is someone among you who can appraise right? How about giving this a little look-see.”

Gise stared at the man for a long time before beckoning Cliff to step forward and appraise the armor.

As soon as he was finished, Cliff’s face distorted in shock.

“What’s wrong Cliff?”

“Gise. This is Resistance Hyaaha armor…”

Gise couldn’t believe his ears.

“What did you say!?”

“There is no mistake!”

Gise’s eyes immediately snapped back to the skinhead stranger.

“You, where did you get this?”

But the skinhead remained calm, and gave the Brave party an apologetic smile.

“Actually, I am a fugitive from the Magus army. I stole this from the Demon Lord when I escaped to the streets, but I am scared of what will happen to me when I am found. That’s when I saw you were willing to buy that other armor for 1 billion ril. If you were to buy this, then I could use that money to escape from my pursuers, and you would get that armor you so desperately wanted.”

Gise dragged the still sulking Gray away from the wall, and he urged him to try on the Hyaaha armor.

“Oh, what a cool looking piece of armor.”

“Just put it on.”

Gray changed out of his shirt and slid on the Hyaaha armor.

A light began to wrap itself around Gray, completely enveloping him before wrapping itself around his four companions as well. The bonus effect of ‘reducing physical damage by 10’ had certainly been activated.

Gise started to think.

If they were to do away with this skinhead here, then this armor would be theirs.

But amongst this group, there was a single honest man.

fool

“Thank you! Please take this 1 billion ril as our thanks!”

Gray stepped ahead of Gise and happily handed over the money.

“Thanks!”

The skinhead then immediately took hold of the bag of money and disappeared into the darkness.

In this way, the Hero continued on his journey in a majestic form of wearing only black gloves and black, spiky shoulder pads on the upper half of his body.

It seems that the man in question did not care about the appearance so long as he had the three legendary armor’s effects.

And then in front of Ellis’s mansion.

“You did well, Ken.”

Ellis praised Ken who had obediently moved according to the scenario she had put forth. Ken had acted as the enigmatic skinhead, and the Resistance Hyaaha armor was her own product made from Ken’s old armor that was about to be thrown away.

Ellis had successfully maderipped off 1.1 billion ril from the Brave party.

As Ken obediently handed over the cash with a smile, Ellis made a small note to herself in the back of her mind.

“Ken and Hanna do good work.”