"600,000 Nars"
"650,000 Nars" Anastasia enters the bidding, in a loud sharp voice.
"660,000 Nars"
"670,000 Nars"
Her bid only paused the momentum briefly—the bidding resumed just as fiercely.
'Master, it looks like it's going to be very difficult to keep the final bid low this time,' Anastasia said through the party link.
'Yeah, it definitely feels that way,' I replied, struggling to maintain my nonchalant demeanor under the heat of such aggressive bidding.
'The typical range for a beautiful combat slave is 700,000 to 800,000 Nars. But this one is also a Deerkin warrior—warriors have a chance of becoming Knights one day. And owning a Knight-slave is a major status symbol. Not to mention, their horns can fetch a high price, which increases her value even further. Plus, she's an illegitimate noble child… That alone is swaying many of them to bid aggressively. Master, the final price will definitely exceed 800,000 Nars. I just don't know by how much,' Anastasia explained, in a worrisome voice.
She made solid points. I had already noticed Elves, Beastkin, Merchants, Explorers, Warriors, and even Knights all competing for her without pause.
'Don't worry so much about the final price—just make sure we win her,' I said firmly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.
'Yes, Master,' she replied, confidence returning to her voice.
"910,000 Nars."
After a long back-and-forth, Anastasia's 50,000 Nars increase was finally enough to make the last five bidders withdraw at once.
We waited silently as Rosten called the bid once… twice… and then slammed his lapel, announcing, "Sold!"
Only then did both of us allow ourselves a small, quiet sigh of relief.
As Viviana looked at me with a smile from the stage, Anastasia's voice echoed in the party link. 'I'm sorry, Master… I really tried my best, but we still ended up with such a high price,' she said softly, her head lowered, purple hair masking her expression.
'It's fine. I don't blame you. Don't dwell on it—just focus on the upcoming ones,' I replied, squeezing her hand again in comfort.
She gave me a small smile as I stood up.
Telling the girls seated in the aisle ahead to remain seated, I walked down towards the waiting room. My sensitive ears caught the surrounding murmurs—people whispering that 91 gold was quite a high price for a Deerkin warrior. Some were even speculating that I must be the spoiled son of a rich noble, here just to splurge on exotic slaves at the auction.
Well, I would be feeling a lot worse if I actually had to pay that full amount.
Luckily, I still had 17 more papyrus slips.
So there was no way I was going to pay the real full price.
"Hello, I'm Michio Kaga," I introduced myself to the bowing pair in front of me in the waiting room.
"Michio-sama, I am Torvan, a slave merchant from the city of Elmbark," the older man replied, bowing with perfect etiquette.
"Elmbark? Where's that?" I asked curiously, letting him know I wanted to finish the ceremony first.
As we walked toward the room—Viviana trailing silently behind us—Torvan attempted to explain where Elmbark was. Attempted being the key word. Every city he mentioned as being nearby was completely unfamiliar to me. Maybe if Sherry were here, she would have recognized them all instantly. All I managed to gather was that Elmbark was somewhere in the northeastern part of the Empire.
When we reached the Guild Temple room, Torvan handed a slip to the seated merchant. I, however, shifted my attention to Viviana.
She stood quietly, her lavender-blue eyes fixed on me with subtle interest. Her long blonde hair, her clear, pretty face, and the calm, composed air she carried—she looked like every man's dream girl. Not just beautiful, but elegant… the kind of woman you could actually imagine marrying.
"You're really beautiful, Viviana," I said honestly, offering her a smile.
Her red lips curved into a graceful smile. "Thank you, Master," she replied softly, bowing her head with poise.
Just then, Torvan turned back towards me, and I handed him the papyrus slip.
"Michio-sama, it's the auction's policy to deduct the amount already paid through these participation slips. So I will subtract it from the 910,000 Nars," he explained, pocketing the slip. "That brings the total down to only 545,400 Nars," he added with a wide grin.
"Alright," I replied.
I was definitely relieved the discount worked—but also a bit concerned. The final price was uncomfortably close to a platinum coin which was worrying. Also I didn't have enough gold on hand to cover it. Which meant…
I would have to use a platinum coin.
"Here," I said, handing him the coin with a purple shine.
"Thank you very much," Torvan said with a grin as he took the coin. "Please wait here for a moment, Michio-sama. I will bring you your change," he added politely.
I narrowed my eyes slightly but gave a nod, curious to see what he meant.
Torvan walked over to the Level 43 Merchant sitting behind the table. That Merchant didn't even spare me a glance this time—he must have gotten used to seeing me coming to this room.
I overheard them discussing something about change. In the end, the Merchant took the platinum coin from Torvan, opened a drawer in the table, and began taking out and piling up gold and silver coins.
So the Merchant's role here includes providing change, in addition to overseeing the transactions. That's good to know.
I would have to ask Anastasia later if there were more places like this where I could exchange coins. It honestly seemed like the easiest way to double my money. Though, I had a feeling this kind of service was exclusive to merchants… which still won't be a big problem for me.
After a while, Torvan separated the coins into two piles. For one pile, he took out an empty drawstring bag and poured the coins in it. The other pile he placed on a plate and presented to me.
"Michio-sama, please check—this should be 454,600 Nars," he said respectfully.
I nodded and counted: 45 gold coins and 46 silver coins. That is definitely how much should be left—after deducting 54 gold and 54 silver from the platinum coin. Also I had avoided using my Purchase Negotiation skill to get more coins here, not wanting to risk it overriding the effects of Discount Negotiation.
Thankfully, what I was worried about didn't happen. Since the purchase price was just shy of a full platinum coin, I had been concerned that Torvan might realize something was off—that deducting 10 silver shouldn't drop his earnings this much. But I guess they fully trust their Calc skill blindly… and I couldn't be more grateful for that.
"Shall I begin, then?" Torvan asked after I confirmed the amount.
"Yes," I replied, turning to face Viviana and lifting my left hand. She responded with a soft smile and lifted her hand as well.
Torvan began chanting and soon completed the ceremony.
[Viviana – Female, 22 years old, Warrior, Owner: Kaga Michio]
I smiled delightfully as I looked at her intelligence card, seeing my name on it. Somehow, this ceremony always feels more like a marriage ritual to me. In some ways, the bond between Master and Slave is surely even more intimate than marriage.
"Here, you can check out mine too," I said, offering her my hand. She nodded politely and studied it carefully.
[Kaga Michio – Male, 17 years old, Adventurer, Free Man, Slaves: Roxanne, Sherry, Lillia, Anastasia, Miria, Vesta, Setsuna, Ram, Rem, Viviana]
After that, we returned to the waiting room, said farewell to the grateful victim of my Discount Skill, and made our way to the Auction Hall.
"Welcome to my family, Viviana," I said with a smile, gently holding her soft hand in mine.
"Thank you, Master," she replied, smiling back beautifully.
She was just a bit shorter than me—though with her horns, she would probably be taller.
While I explained the things she needed to know, I realized she was actually the closest to me in my real age among all the girls. Not that ages from a peaceful, technologically advanced Earth and this magic-filled isekai world can really be compared.
Still, it bugged me that I hadn't figured out which fictional work she was from. Regardless, she was very attentive, nodding politely at everything I said.
We climbed the steps to the heated Auction Hall. The current exhibit was a buff-looking warrior, but I ignored him. Also this time, I didn't feel nearly as many eyes on me—maybe everyone was getting used to me bringing the girl back.
As I got closer, I saw Ram, Rem, and Vesta chatting, while Setsuna sat between them, staring straight ahead quietly. But the moment I arrived, they all straightened up and sat perfectly still.
I just shook my head and got Viviana seated with them, taking my usual seat beside Anastasia while holding her close. She immediately told me a report on the exhibits I missed, which I appreciated.
With me back, Anastasia got even more aggressive in her bidding, pushing the price quite high, even for many male exhibits. I was seriously worried I might end up being forced to buy an unwanted slave, but thankfully that didn't happen. Though I did notice even more dirty stares being thrown at me from people up front.
Interestingly, Anastasia only pulled this stunt occasionally, and only when there were many other active bidders. So I can be sure that she was still being quite cautious.
Soon, Anastasia warned me about the upcoming exhibit, instantly putting me on alert.
A Level 10 Slave Merchant stepped nervously onto the stage. Behind him, a girl literally hopped up after him.
It was Shea.
"I hope for a good auction," the Slave Merchant said, bowing politely. Shea mirrored the gesture, her breasts jiggling with the motion.
"The next exhibit is a fifteen-year-old female Rabbitkin with a Swift Scout job. The minimum bid is two hundred thousand Nars. Now then, let the bidding begin!" Rosten announced quickly.
"200,000 Nars"
"210,000 Nars"
I immediately noticed through Appraisal that every single bidder was a Sex Maniac job holder. I glanced at the proud, innocent-looking Rabbitgirl surveying the crowd happily and shook my head. She really had no idea who she was appealing to here.
'Master… While she's a beautiful combat slave who would normally go for 700,000 to 800,000 Nars, she is, in the end, a Rabbitkin. Because of some… interested parties, her price might go as high as 400,000 Nars, putting her in the same range as attractive non-combat slaves,' Anastasia explained through the Party Link, sounding almost bored.
I nod agreeing with her statement as still only Sex Maniacs were bidding and that too quite slowly.
"400,000 Nars" Anastasia's quick decisive bids put an immediate stop to all the perverts wanting to bid on my rabbit girl.
Maybe the Sex Maniac in this Auction weren't wealthy enough, or maybe they just didn't think she was worth that much.
Rosten did his best to drag out the moment, stretching the final call in hopes someone would counter the bid. But in the end, no one did.
"Sold!"
Shea excitedly hopped in place and waved at me from the stage, making her chest bounce even more. Honestly, it was impressive how clearly I could see it from this distance.
I resisted the urge to smack my own forehead at her overly enthusiastic behavior, as I had to keep up my bored act. She only left the stage after Rosten told her to step down—and even then, it took the Slave Merchant calling her twice before she finally left, pouting.
I stood up and headed downstairs, overhearing all kinds of mocking remarks. Some people even said they wouldn't pay even 20 gold for a Rabbitgirl—no matter how good she looked.
Still, one thing was certain: I had firmly established myself as someone with money to burn. In their eyes, there was no other reason an Adventurer would pay such an outrageous price for a "useless" Rabbitkin.
Not that I need to explain myself to them.
Though I do kind of dread the judgmental look Sherry's going to give me when we get back home.
***
This ends the Roxanne POV Chapters that won in the last poll.
***
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Kyrah
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