Chapter 158: Underworld Auction III
[Holvart Port Town, Auction House]
As Pablo saw the expression of Kaido, he somehow shook his head for a little for sometimes even he thought that Kaido was somehow not taking everything seriously
Even though he was making fun of the pig man on the other balcony across them, both Melfina nor Ingrid felt that somehow quite oppressed by Kaido's rare childish moments
When he glanced at Ingrid, the latter also glanced at him as she said
"It's quite rare to see him having fun on something instead of fighting... . . So let it be for now" she said as she smiled at Kaido
Hearing that Pablo somehow shrugged his earlier remark for he knows that even though he was the first one to meet Kaido, Princess Ingrid was actually the first one who clearly accepted Kaido as a whole no matter who he is or what he is, such her ability to see the ulterior motive of a person played a big role on her having fallen for him
After he thought of that he suddenly asked Kaido
"Kaido-sama! Are you planning to compete with him for this sigil?"
When he asked that Kaido promptly replied
"Compete against him? Why would I? This sigil is simply attractive for everyone... . . Even if I don't do anything, someone instead of me will fight against him for the ownership of this sigil... . . And by then all we need to do is to take the sigil"
"T... . . Take it?!?!" Exclaimed Pablo
"Well yeah! I don't want to cause so much attention anyway since we're under surveillance of the empire, even if we're far from them, we still can't be lax about it... . . And since I have already a bad reputation on the human society, why not use it as my advantage? After all I'm sure that the human country would have informed to the Beastman Country about my existence... . . We don't have to play nice you know!" Explained Kaido
"So... . .so you're telling me that were going to rob whoever win this auction of that sigil?" Asks Pablo with a nervous tone
Hearing that Kaido glanced at h as he tilted his head for a bit as if thinking before replying to him
"Not we but me only... . . We can't show all our hands yet, we don't know how this journey will turn out, in a journey many things could happen because of various circumstances" stated Kaido
"I see so your saying that since your already a fugitive on the run in the human empire, you tend to use this to your alibi to act out" said Pablo after thinking about it
"Yeah mostly like that, and plus it would be a great practice experience since this is the first time I'm doing it" chuckled Kaido as he slowly leaned on his chair
"Huh... . ."
"All we need to do now is wait... . . "
As both Pablo and Kaido were having a conversation, the prices for the sigil went up from 10,000 gold to 25,000 gold
None of the people in the hall seemed to give up on this sigil since they know that the elven nation has many rare material inside their country that would bring any kind of benefits greater than what they've spent here
Due to this the pig man who fought for the price of it felt that this auction was even more difficult to win than the prey one
With that he adruptly shouted a price as he raise it even higher
"30,000 gold"
Although such price was already absurd amount of money, the other participants still didn't heed h as they continued to fight for the sigil's price
"31,000 gold!!!"
"I raise it by 35,000!"
"37,000 here!"
"40,000"
As various voices vibrated across the room even princess Ingrid herself was surprised on how much wealth did this particular people have on hold just for this sigil
As she try to find an answer both Pablo and Kaido nodded at her as the former explained
"Princess... . . Most of this people here are corrupt people so them having this kind of wealth are not surprising at all" said Pablo
"Corrupt people? But they will slander off the wealth of their country" she reasoned
"It can't be helped"
At that words both Pablo and Ingrid turned their heads towards kaido as the latter said
"No matter which places there will be corrupt people, they are like leeches for the government just sucking off their wealth... . . But we're not here for the corrupt people but for that sigil... . ." He reminded her
After that he glanced at the current pig man who seemed to be struggling on winning the sigil's price
"People has unlimited wants and this in turn will never be enough to satisfy a human... . . Greed is always there no matter whether your a human or a beastman... . . As long one is alive greed will be there"
Hearing that even Melfina nodded as she somehow understand the part about greed, because without greed no war nor kingdom nor evolution would occur
But the same greed can also bring destruction for mankind and that part about it is inevitable
As that point was discussed the aforementioned pig man again rises the price of the sigil
"100,000 gold!!!"
At that mention all participants gasp at such a price that was beyond what it should be, but they themselves understood that with such move, one can adruptly stopped such chain and this proves it throughout the different history of auction
When the pig man thought that no one would fight against him for the sigil anymore, a smile suddenly crept up his face as he felt that he already one
But this joy was short-lived when a female voice sounded up and called out to raise up the price
"110,000 gold"
At that people stood aghast at this bold claim and felt like even they themselves was pierced through by such a price that it hurts their pockets
When they turned their gaze at the woman, the woman was actually a cat woman with orange hair wearing a long purple robe that reaches the ground, that would make anyone feel that she was a scholar
"A... . . cat?" Exclaimed Kaido as if interested on the Catwoman
"A cat fighting against a pig? Now that's interesting" he remarked jokingly
Even though Kaido was amused by the woman's bravery, the pig man however wasn't laughing at all as he shot a surging amount of killing intent at the woman
Instead of faltering the woman seemed determined for some reason to acquire the sigil as if the sigil was her last hope of reaching her goal
To break off this weird silence the pig man quickly raise the price even higher
"120,000 gold"
But again the woman raises it after the pig man raises the price
"150,000 gold!!!"
At this even the pig man got even more frustrated as he crushed the armrest of his chair and raises the price again but everytime he did so, the woman would always be there to counter it
"151,000 gold!!!"
"155,000 gold!!!"
"157,000 gold!!!"
"160,000 gold!!!"
"165,000 gold!!!"
"170,000!!!"
Even though this was an auction a place for competition of wealth, all the participants however was switching their gazes between the unknown woman and a pig man as they raises the price in a counter pattern, trying to outbid the other
Instead of being depressed, they were somehow quite amused by it that they somehow felt what Kaido felt at the moment as he watched The exchange
The pig man however was already flowing in rage as the countdown was announced by the host as his price was raised up by 170 k gold
"170,000 gold going once! Going twice!!! Going... . . "
As the host waited for someone bro shout out, the pig man however felt insulted as the host deliberately slowed his wordings as if expecting something
When he thought that he was about to win a shout came out as the price goes higher that cause a commotion inside the hall and raises everyone's morale and causes cheers all over the place
"200,000!!!"
Adruptly everyone cheered and roared as the price went up again that even the host himself was smiling from ear to ear turning the whole auction house into a lively place except for one person
"200,000 gold going once! Going twice!!! Going thrice! Sold to the cat woman over there!!!"
At that the whole auction hall erupted with cheer and applause as they congratulate the woman for fighting and bitter fight of wealth, for this people however has only one rule "wealth is power"
As this rule stand out, anyone that has enough wealth will be respected by others causing them to cheer loudly
The pig man however felt repulsed as he gritted his teeth and went to rage as he stormed out of the room
After witnessing such scene himself even Kaido couldn't help but praise the woman for her tenacity as he stood up and excused himself
"Where are you going?" Asked Pablo
At that question the other two simultaneously glanced at him
"Where? Well to get the sigil of course... . . Melfina! Come with me" commanded kaido
"Yes Kaido-sama!" Said Melfina
After understanding what was about to happen, even Ingrid felt pity for the woman who struggled so hard just to get the sigil as she requested something to Kaido
"Please... . . Don't make her suffer too much" she begged him
At that Kaido clearly understood the wavering feeling of Ingrid
"Since she showed me an interesting show... . . I'll do her a favor"
At that both Kaido and Melfina left the room to finish their task
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As they walked along their corridor Melfina immediately slit the side of her slim one piece dress on her thighs to enable herself to move like she used to, since for this part she needed to move as fast as possible
"We're going to finish this as quickly as possible before anyone noticing it understood?"
"Understood"
As soon as they turned to a corner they saw two robust lizard men in a black suite standing at an intersection with an Intent to stop anyone from passing through this place
Consequently the two robust lizardmen also noticed them, as they quickly tried to stop their advance
"Over there... . . You two! This place is currently occupied! Do your business elsewhere!!!"
Seemingly misunderstanding both Kaido and Melfina's intent as they approach as a couple was about to do something in the dark place of this intersection
They in turn halted them as they tried to make them turn around
But the person himself thought otherwise
"Melfina!"
Seemingly understanding his intent, his personal loyal elf assassin immediately made her move after a long time of being docile as she unsheathed her blade dagger and rushed towards the two lizard men
Surprisingly the two lizardman professionally reacted to her sudden charge as if they have rehearsed this and quickly pulled their weapon inside their storage and engage Melfina
With their unrelenting movements, one could distinguished as these two people was a professional on their job as they didn't falter to a sudden surprise attack
After parrying Melfina's dagger with a sword, the other one immediately skipped beside her and slashed his sword down straight at her
Immediately she uses blink to get away and put some distance between them as she unsheathed another dagger from her storage
One equipped with a sword and shield while the other a great sword, the battle would be obvious as an advantage for Melfina who's job was not appropriate for a long term fight
But instead of faltering for a bit, Melfina suddenly smiled as she knows herself on how much she improved during the days of her rest
With the experience of fighting against an Archdemon, Melfina was determined to become stronger for she couldn't even protect Kaido
She regretted fully her weakness when the time Kaido fell unconscious for days and blamed her inability to protect him even though she made an oath to protect him
Thus with this failure she turned it as her fuel to improve herself and prove again that one day she will be able to fight toe to toe with the Archdemon and protect Kaido even if it meant of sacrificing her life to achieve this
"Bunshi!"
At the moment she mentioned this she quickly split herself into three clones and charged forth altogether towards the two lizard men
Not faltering the two lizard men fought against the the three split elf unrelentingly and manage to hold her
Unfortunately the main body immediately appeared behind one of the lizardman as she continouesly assualted his behind
"Quick attack! Critical strike! Assassinate!"
With this series of surprise attack successfully hitting their target, even their tough body started to bleed as the lizardman's back bleeds non-stop
Noticing the situation of his partner the other lizardman charged against Melfina
"You bitch!!!"
Surprisingly Melfina casted not a combat technique but a magic spell as she showed her progress to Kaido and casted shadow magic
Stabbing the ground Melfina casted
"Shadow assault!!!"
At that mention numerous shadow protruded out of her shadow in a form of a spike and assaulted the lizardman like a serpent and skewered it immediately
"Gah!"
With two lizardmen pinned down by either injury, deep wound, or her clones, the main body calmly centered between the two as she finished them off
"Purge!!!"
With a shadow type Mana enveloping her dagger, she swiftly spins around as she cuts and beheaded two lizardmen right on the spot that even surprised Kaido
Kaido himself was speechless as he witness Melfina's improvement during the days of not fighting at all, this in turn made him felt relieved as he didn't made the wrong choice on picking her to be his companion from the very first day they met
With a life and death battle one can improve, and the result was now showed in front of him as Melfina actually trained herself in magic and was able to use shadow magic, a variant of dark magic
"Clean this up before anyone notices them" he ordered
"Yes Kaido-sama!" Replied Melfina
Leaving her to her own device, Kaido immediately went for a few steps before he arrived at the dark hallway and saw the pig man on the auction hall was actually thinking the same as him, as he and his men surrounded the cat woman against the wall threatening her to hand over the sigil
"Now this is interesting"
At that mention the pig man shouted
"Hand over that sigil if you don't want to die you bitch!"