Chapter 322

The auction assistant leads them through a series of winding corridors and up the stairs towards the surface, bringing them out at the same spot Cain exited before, the standard item appraisal area.

Once they’re free of the restrictions on abilities, Cain changes back to his human form and steels himself for the inevitable chaos of Tortuga on Auction day. The interior of the auction house is so packed at this point, as everyone tries to get a last minute registration or ticket to the main auction that not only are they not noticed, they almost need to shove people out of the way to leave.

Only the fact that their leaving creates another open space to move into convinces people to let them through, and they slowly inch through the crowd, Cain in front and Aggramor in the rear to keep everyone together. 

Neffie instantly loves the city the moment they’re outside, grabbing Misha and Cyrene’s hands and skipping down the road towards the nearest food carts, where she seems to have noticed something that she likes.

It’s a Takoyaki stand, and Cain chuckles as they return with a large platter of battered octopus balls, making Neffie smirk and Misha give him a conspiratorial wink. Maybe his Ancient form really does taste like Octopus? But that’s a thought for later.

They all snack as they wander, looking in the various stores until they finally come across a Demonic Apparel store that Neffie simply must enter. It seems to be the hit thing with young female Demons, the store is crawling with them, and a bubbly Succubus clerk comes over and welcomes them.

“Hi, and welcome to Infernal Topic. What can I help you find today? We’ve got the most amazing new items in stock straight from our designers here in Torguga. Support Local business today and you can get an extra ten percent off.”

The voice grates in Cain’s ears, but Neffie and Cyrene seem enthralled. Maybe it is an ability that only works on Demons? Or it could be a form of mind control and Misha is simply immune. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to find the voice as annoying as Cain and Aggramor do.

The fashion is at least cute to make up for the annoying sales clerk, and both Cyrene and Neffie are having a blast trying things on, while Misha goes through the racks to find them more and more new clothing options, building outfits for the pair that are more casual than what they’ve been wearing lately for official functions.

Aggramor is in one of his usual Kingly disguises, that still shows the world he is the Demon King, so the entire staff, as well as most of the shoppers are eager to help his companions find exactly what they’re looking for, leading them to spend almost two hours in one single shop, as more and more items are brought out from the back and the warehouse and then combined with items they’d already tried on, until the pair were satisfied.

The Demon King gets a hefty discount here, and Cain suspects that he actually owns the place as part of his extensive business empire, but neither demon minds, and both Neffie and Cyrene end up leaving the shop in new casual wear.

They find Neffie’s cotton candy vendor not long after and she buys up a half dozen bags, saying she’s got to send some home for the others, before they make their way into the entertainment district. Here you find street performers, fancy restaurants, and all sorts of other time passing activities.

One particularly eye catching show is a dance by an Ice type Youkai and a Fire Demon, their elemental abilities creating a stage of their own as they gracefully twirl and sing. Cain doesn’t recognize the language, but it’s beautiful, and they all end up entranced by the skill for a while, before Aggramor decides that a bit of lunch is in order before they head to the auction.

They won’t have to wait in line for the auction, as both have high value items for sale today, though Cain has no idea what the Guild is actually selling this time. According to Neffie, it’s all her mom’s fault.

Lickity got sick of items laying around all over every single Guild House as the crafters ran out of room, so she put her foot down and demanded that the failures be reworked and the unwanted successes be sold off to make more space instead of continually burning through Guild resources making more and more stuff that nobody was using.

Neffie viewed it as a minor tragedy, as she used those unwanted items as costume props to help her attempts to sneak out of the house, but having everything cluttered up would drive most anyone insane eventually.

Even in Cain’s deadbeat last life, he didn’t like too many things laying around the house, so cleaning was one of the few things he still managed on a regular basis other than drinking and gaming.

The restaurant they end up at serves what they’re informed is Southern Continent fine dining options, and only Aggramor recognized anything on the menu. There’s a lot of spicy things in sauces though, and a really good garlic flatbread, so Cain takes the opportunity to record the Chef when he sees them through the kitchen door. One more cuisine option for his kitchens.

They finish off the meal with a special treat from the chef, who declares that children simply must have dessert and brings everyone out bowls of a frozen yogurt, deep fried in a sweet and crispy shell.

The combination of hot and cold, crunchy and soft is incredible, and Cain makes a note to add this skill to a new chef as soon as he gets the chance. One more staff member couldn’t hurt anything, and the other chef puppets already have all their skill options filled.

They start making their way to the auction, following the most direct path, when suddenly Aggramor realizes he’s made a grave miscalculation. This path leads them through the “Adult Entertainment” portion of the district, and Lickity really might forbid him from visiting Neffie if they let her start getting ideas from the fashion in this area.

Thinking fast, he picks the little demon up and turns down another street, going from bad to worse, as this new route has some sort of interspecies erotica trade show going on.

“Forget everything you saw here, and don’t tell your mother.” he whispers, leading the group back out onto the main streets, while the little demon laughs at him.