Before Gorim could say anything, I reached into my drawstring bag and pulled out one of the papyrus slips.
"Here. I still have this slip with me," I said, handing it over.
"Oh! Then, Michio-sama, I'll deduct 1,000 nars from the bidding price of 700,000 nars," the fat man said, accepting the slip with a practiced nod. "Thank you again for your successful purchase. That brings the total to 414,000 nars."
"Alright," I replied, keeping my tone deliberately calm—though it was always a struggle not to smile happily whenever I see my 40% Discount skill work its magic.
This time, I almost feel bad for the seller—it cut the price from 70 gold all the way down to 41 gold and 40 silver. That puts their individual price at just under 21 gold each. Technically, that makes them my most cost-effective purchase so far. Before this, Lilia and Miria held that title at 24 gold apiece.
Despite the calculations racing through my head, my movements didn't slow for even a second. I quickly handed over the money. My gold was running low, though. If things keep going like this, I will probably have to start using platinum coins next time.
"Ah, thank you very much," Gorim said, accepting the coins and beginning to count them off to the side.
"This is Ram the older one, and this is Rem the younger one," I said, pointing to each of them in turn.
They both blinked, suddenly alert—especially Rem, who looked at me nervously. Ram was quick to respond, though. "Yes, Master."
"Heh, nothing serious," I said with a light chuckle. "Just practicing how to tell you apart. Wouldn't want to mix up your names."
Not that I ever could. Thanks to my meta knowledge, their names are burned into my brain. Even half-asleep, I couldn't get them wrong. Not with Ram's pink hair and smaller chest, and Rem's blue hair and... considerably larger breasts. Worst-case scenario, I could always use Appraisal to double-check.
Still, I do have a simple mental trick to remember their names: Ram has an 'A' in her name, for her A cup. Rem has an 'E,' for her E cup. Though of course, I would never say that out loud to them. Still, it makes you wonder... were their chest size determined by their name, or were they named based on their chest size? A real chicken-and-egg scenario.
Ram smiled politely, while Rem let out a breath of relief—completely unaware that I had just mentally linked their names to their boobs.
"All is in order, Michio-sama. Shall I begin?" Gorim asked with a cheerful smile.
I nodded, and the ceremony was carried out—first with Ram, then with Rem. Once it was done, they both held out their Intelligence Cards to me. Ram smiled confidently, while Rem looked a little shy, but still followed her sister's lead.
[Ram – Female, 15 years old, Oni Warrior, Owner: Kaga Michio]
[Rem – Female, 15 years old, Villager, Owner: Kaga Michio]
"Here, you can check mine too," I said, holding out my left hand for them.
"Thank you, Master," Ram said, studying it carefully. Rem hesitated for a second but then leaned in to look as well.
[Kaga Michio – Male, 17 years old, Adventurer, Free Man, Slaves: Roxanne, Sherry, Lillia, Anastasia, Miria, Vesta, Setsuna, Ram, Rem]
One red, one blue—their eyes scanned the card curiously. Even their hair colors, pink and blue, looked kind of nice side by side. That contrast somehow made these two feel more like sisters.
Ha… it has really happened… I really did it, I got both Ram & Rem together!
This pair of Rare Oni Twins are mine now!!
Seriously, I should be getting an achievement pop-up for this or something!
I was still basking in that thought when Gorim started going over the usual Master duties. Nothing surprising—until one bit caught me off guard.
"And Michio-sama, since they're Onis, it's recommended you take them to the labyrinth at least once a month for combat," he said casually.
"Wait, what? Why do I need to take them there—and what happens if I don't?" I asked, a bit sternly, as this was some whole new information I hadn't heard before.
"Haha, no need to worry, Michio-sama," Gorim said with an easy chuckle. "Nothing serious will happen. It's just that Onis, especially young ones, tend to be a little… bloodthirsty. They need to let off steam every now and then, and labyrinth demons are perfect for that. And since they're combat slaves, I assumed you bought them for your active labyrinth party. So really, it's a win-win."
"I would've appreciated knowing that before the auction," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "So what happens if they miss a few of these… 'venting' trips? Will they go into a rage? Attack me or their own party members?" I asked, glancing at Ram and Rem.
"No, Master, that would never happen," Ram said, placing a hand on her chest earnestly.
"Y-yes! W-we would never do that!" Rem added, flustered.
"Yes, Michio-sama, they're nothing like the other Onis. These two are exceptionally docile. At most, they might get a little irritable if they miss their monthly trip, but that's all. Our establishment takes great pride in our training, so you have nothing to worry about," Gorim said confidently.
I simply nodded. Not like I was going to back out of buying them after learning this before. And honestly, taking them into the labyrinth was always part of the plan anyway—So it should all work out…
Hopefully.
After that, Gorim, the girls, and I returned to the waiting room. Before parting ways, I asked him where he got their maid dresses. He told me they were custom-made by a private workshop in the Imperial Capital. Both Ram and Rem had been there with him before, so they could guide me if needed.
I thanked him, then left with Ram and Rem quietly following behind.
As we walked back, I slowed my pace, positioning myself between the two of them. "First of all, I want to officially welcome both of you sisters to my family," I said, reaching out—my right hand taking Ram's, my left taking Rem's.
"Thank you, Master," Ram replied with a bright smile.
"Th-thank you…" Rem echoed softly, eyes cast downward, a faint blush on her cheeks.
Both of their hands were equally soft, and honestly, walking between them like that, holding their hands, felt pretty amazing. If I looked to the right, there was a pink-haired beauty; if I looked to the left, a blue-haired beauty—both fully and rightfully mine now!
As we walked, I patiently explained the basic things they needed to know for now. When we reached our seats, I noticed that many people were still casting glances our way. Well, walking between two beautiful maid girls was bound to make me the center of attention.
Once they were seated—right in front of me, alongside Setsuna and Vesta—I pulled Anastasia close again. There were still three more exhibits left, so I had a bit of time to kill.
My thoughts drifted to the Auction entrance costs and their slips. I was definitely glad that system existed; it was the reason I got all these incredible discounts. But just looking at the hundreds of attendees here, it was obvious that only a small percentage of them would actually win a bid. All the others' entrance fees? They are going straight into the pockets of the Quratar Merchant Guild.
Looks like hosting these Auctions was a pretty efficient way to rake in easy money. All it took was a large enough venue and some credibility.
Still, all of that is for the future though—one that depends heavily on the pretty girl currently bidding while sitting in my arms.
Anastasia herself had been quite worried at the start of the Auction, unsure if my Discount Skill would actually activate. I guess she feared that if it didn't work, she would be blamed or even punished for failing to fulfill my order of securing all eleven exhibits.
Fortunately, the plan worked flawlessly. Now all she had to do was make sure the prices for the remaining exhibits stayed as low as possible.
'By the way, do you think bringing all these girls here to sit with us in the auction hall might hurt our plan? Won't it make them realize we're only going for a few select exhibits?' I ask Anastasia through the party link, voicing my concern.
'No, Master. In fact, I think bringing them here will work in our favor,' she replies confidently, her eyes still fixed on the ongoing bidding. 'Right now, many people are still unsure whether you truly have that much money. To them, you're just an unknown adventurer, so they will doubt your wealth and try to outbid you—especially the truly wealthy ones.'
'Yeah, that makes sense. So far, I've only heard people referring to me as some "unknown rich adventurer" who's rented the haunted mansion,' I tell her, recounting what my sensitive hearing has picked up during the auction.
Honestly, I am still really glad I have the Thief job skill—it's the perfect bluff to pretend I am an adventurer. It only lasts an hour a day, but I only activate it when my Intelligence Card is visible, so that one hour is more than enough.
'Exactly, Master. But when they see you've already bought so many slaves and are still bidding so casually, they'll hesitate to compete against you for these "less valuable" exhibits. They'll likely try to save up their money, letting you win these bids so that you'll exhaust your funds before the most important exhibit of all—the Wizard. That's when they'll make their move, using their saved resources to outbid you,' she explains, laying out the typical mindset of the wealthy.
'Well, if they let me win… I can't say I mind that at all,' I reply with a smug grin.
'Yes, and Master, their entire strategy hinges on the idea that you're going to bid on the Wizard… but none of them could even imagine that you're the one person in this entire auction who has absolutely no interest in him,' she adds with a chuckle over the link.
'That's true…' I reply with a wry smile. I can already see a few flaws in this plan, but now that we've set it in motion, there's no turning back. All we can do now… is go all in.
'Master, the next one is the exhibit you want,' Anastasia reminded me quickly as Rosten announced, "Sold," for a regular villager.
Both Anastasia and I sharpened our focus as Rosten called in the next exhibit.
An older man entered the stage, followed by a blonde woman with two antler-like horns.
"Let's all have a fruitful auction," said the Level 39 Slave Merchant with a deep bow.
"The next exhibit is a twenty-two-year-old female Deerkin warrior. The minimum bid is two hundred thousand nars. Now then, let the bidding begin!" Rosten declared loudly.
"210,000."
"220,000."
"230,000."
"240,000."
"250,000."
"260,000."
My attention was initially on Viviana, standing on the stage with calm poise. But soon, it shifted to the bidding floor below. The bids were rapidly climbing, they were already past 50 gold—and Anastasia hadn't even raised the bid once. Worse still, the pace wasn't slowing down at all.
With a quick use of Appraisal, I immediately spotted the reason.
Previously, bids came either from the group of merchants, knights, and adventurers or from the explorers, swordsmen, and beast warriors. But this time… everyone was bidding. In fact, they were all eager to bid—maybe a bit too eager.
'Isn't the auction getting a little too heated?' I asked Anastasia through the party link, noticing the tension in her body against mine.
'Master… it looks like our aggressive bidding earlier may have had an unintended consequence,' she replied, eyes scanning the crowd, her expression thoughtful.
'That doesn't sound like a good consequence,' I replied with a wry smile.
'No, Master. It seems many of the less-wealthy bidders have realized they likely won't stand a chance for the Wizard. So now, they're focusing everything they have on the good exhibits they think they can win… like this Deerkin warrior.' she said seriously.
Well, I wasn't exactly shocked. That was one of the weak points I had anticipated in our plan.
Looks like Anastasia really did overplay the aggressive angle to convince the wealthy bidders. In the process, she may have scared off the poorer ones from competing for the Wizard all together… which we didn't want.
Still, I was counting on their gambler's mentality to kick in eventually. Maybe they would convince themselves they still had a shot at winning the Wizard bid.
But of course I knew, that not everything in this auction was going to go in our favor.
'Looks like all we can do now is… spend more money,' I said with a resigned sigh.
***
[Gorama 27 has redeemed an Extra Chapter from previous week]
***
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