Chapter 109: Big Auction -6

A familiar, fat Level 19 Slave Merchant stepped onto the stage.

And behind him, not one, but two girls followed.

One pink. One blue.

They walked in perfect sync and stopped in dead center, their movements a mirror of each other.

It was the Twins, Rem and Ram. 

"Let's all have a good auction!" The fat slave merchant announced cheerfully, bowing to the audience with a wide smile.

Rosten stepped up with the same loud voice. "The next exhibit: twin Oni girls. Ram, a 15-year-old Oni warrior, and Rem, a 15-year-old female Oni. They are being sold as a pair. The minimum bid is two hundred thousand nars. Please begin the bidding."

"200,000 Nars!" 

"210,000 Nars!"

"220,000 Nars!" 

"230,000 Nars!"

The numbers flew fast—so fast it felt like the bidders were racing each other to shout the next highest amount.

My eyes stayed on the twins. Ram looked calm, composed. Rem, however, was more expressive. Her single visible blue eye darted anxiously across the crowd—searching for the source of the voices, perhaps hoping to see the face behind the bid.

'Master, this one's going to be harder to predict,' Anastasia's voice came through the party link, slightly tense. 'Individually, a good-looking female combat slave can fetch between 700,000 to 800,000 nars. As twins, the price won't double—but it could easily climb to 1,300,000 or 1,400,000 nars.'

'What?!' My eyes went wide before I quickly masked the shock and returned to playing it cool.

That price was insane. A single platinum coin was worth 1,000,000 nars—and then add another 30 gold coins on top of that?

Just thinking about it made my stomach twist. To put it into perspective, through that amount I could have bought Lillia, Anastasia, and Miria combined at their original prices to boot and still have money left over.

That's how expensive that price was.

'Shouldn't only Wizards be that expensive?' I asked, worried. I had heard before that platinum coins usually only came into play during wizard exhibits in the auctions.

'That's true,' Anastasia replied with a sigh. 'But twins—especially female combat twins—are incredibly rare. If any Nobles are present at the auction, the price could even go beyond 2,000,000 nars. For them, something like this could become a status symbol.'

'Well, thankfully there aren't any,' I replied quickly. I'd been checking the hall with Appraisal constantly and hadn't seen any elaborate titles or nobility-linked names. Still, there was always the possibility that some proxy was bidding on their behalf.

'But you shouldn't worry too much, Master,' she added, gently squeezing my hand. 'Yes, they are combat twins—but only one of them has the Oni Warrior job, despite being the same age. To most people, that makes the other sister seem useless. And Oni Warriors themselves aren't exactly popular party picks.' She explained patiently, helping ease some of my anxiety.

'Also,' she continued thoughtfully, 'there's the biggest issue—both of them have only a single horn. Most people will see that as a defect. No one wants to spend a fortune on slaves who might be sick, cursed, or destined to die early. I don't think that's the case with these two… but I guarantee others will assume the worst.'

Well, if they were being viewed as defective, that might actually turn out to be a blessing—for me and my wallet.

'So… what price range are we talking?' I asked, still apprehensive.

'Maybe around 600,000 to 700,000… It might touch 800,000 nars,' Anastasia answered, though her tone held some uncertainty. 'That's usually what non-combat female pairs go for. Given their unusual situation, they should fall into that same price range.'

I let out a sigh of relief. The earlier numbers had nearly given me a heart attack. Still, as Anastasia herself had said—she had never even seen an Oni before. And even in auctions they were extremely rare.

So in the end, her guess… was still at best just speculation. 

'Whatever their price ends up being, we have to win them… Still, try to keep it as low as possible,' I told her with a wry smile.

'Leave it to me,' Anastasia replied confidently, squeezing my palm as she straightened up from my embrace.

Despite how long our telepathic exchange had felt, it had only taken seconds in reality. Her gaze hadn't wavered from the bidding even once. And the moment there was a lull in the bidding, she struck—jumping the price by a solid 50,000 nars.

"300,000 Nars!" 

"400,000 Nars!" 

"500,000 Nars!" 

The bidding was ferocious, easily blowing past 30 and then 40 gold. It was only when the price touched the equivalent of 50 gold coins that the pace began to slow. I was genuinely surprised—no, shocked—at how many wealthy people were sitting here. It wasn't just adventurers and warriors; merchants, explorers, even swordsmen were throwing in bids.

Anastasia, though, remained composed. She kept increasing the bid in sharp increments of 50,000 nars, expertly weeding out the weak-willed with the sheer force of confidence and coin.

"550,000 Nars!"

"560,000 Nars!" 

"570,000 Nars!" 

"620,000 Nars!" 

I silently celebrated as Anastasia's crisp voice rang out again from within my arms, clear and loud above the murmurs and grumbling of the hall. There were many heads turned—some staring, others openly glaring—but I ignored them all.

No way in hell I'm letting any of you walk away with waifus like Ram and Rem.

"630,000 Nars!" 

Looks like I celebrated too soon. An old adventurer raised his palm, eyeing the twins on stage. 

You senile old bastard. They are the age of your granddaughters. Does it even work down there anymore? Shouldn't you be rotting in a coffin instead of creeping around at slave auctions?

"640,000 Nars!"

"650,000 Nars!"

As I was throwing mental insults at the old Adventurer, two more merchants jumped in, escalating the price one after another.

"700,000 Nars!"

Anastasia didn't even flinch.

Before anyone could open their mouth, she coolly raised the bid again by another 50,000 nars. Her voice cut through the noise like a knife.

The palm in my hand remained steady, her breath calm and controlled. Meanwhile, I was the one struggling to keep cool. I gently caressed her smooth waist, grounding myself, trying to stay in character—eyes half-lidded, outwardly composed.

But inside?

I was holding my breath.

I could feel the gazes of all three remaining bidders on me as they turned around in frustration. The old guy, probably unable to see this far back, gave up first—dropping his hand with a grunt of resignation. The two merchants held on a little longer, staring in my direction for a while, but eventually, they gave up too, one after the other.

"Seven hundred thousand nars. The current bid is seven hundred thousand nars," Rosten called out loudly, his voice carrying through the auction hall. "Does anyone else wish to bid?" he asked, sweeping his gaze around the room.

This guy always stretches out the final moments like he is savoring it. Just slam the hammer already, man. If he takes any longer, we will be attending that old adventurer's funeral here.

While Rosten kept us all waiting, I noticed a pair of red and blue eyes fixed on me from the stage. I forced myself to ignore them, staying in character. I didn't want any slip-ups at the finish line.

Finally—mercifully—Rosten brought down his gavel three times and shouted, "Sold!"

And he did that before the old geezer could drop dead. Lucky bastard.

'I was really afraid someone would call out a higher price at the last second,' Anastasia admitted with a mental sigh. '700,000 nars isn't cheap, but it's still a good deal considering the circumstances,' she added, a smile in her voice.

'You did amazing. Thank you for all your hard work,' I said, tightening my embrace around her.

'Thank you for your praise, Master,' she replied happily.

Reluctantly, I let go of her soft warmth and stood up as Rosten called for the winner to head to the backroom.

'Master, there are still five exhibits before the one you actually want is up next,' Anastasia reminded me helpfully.

'Good,' I nodded, grateful she remembered the order—especially since half the room had gotten up at some point to go check the listings.

Instructing Anastasia and the girls to wait, I made my way down the stairs. Since I wasn't in a rush this time, I took the opportunity to do some quick mental math.

Judging by the last few rounds, most of the bids were closing between 50 to 70 gold. At least, my last three had. If I average it out to 60 gold per bid, that means I will need around 660 gold total—that's 6 platinum coins and 60 gold—to secure all 11 girls. And that's just a rough estimate. Prices could spike past 70 gold at any moment in this kind of auction.

Before entering the auction, I had 4 purple coins and about 120-something gold, which I mentally rounded up to 5 purples and around 20 gold. Silver and copper? Basically worthless at an event like this.

"Ha…" I sighed, suddenly feeling a lot more broke than I expected.

I had walked in here with high hopes—thinking I could easily win even a high-priced female wizard if one showed up. I was feeling blessed, like my level-up system had gifted me a jackpot just in time for this shopping spree. But now? Now I was learning the cruel irony of being too lucky.

Who would have thought that getting swarmed by more than eleven beautiful, unique waifus in one auction would feel like a punishment? This isn't one of those situations where you can pick your favorite and walk away. If I don't buy them now, someone else will—and once they are gone, they are most probably gone from my life forever. I wouldn't even hope to get another second chance.

Sigh. What kind of absurd situation is this? I get isekai'd, score two busted cheat systems, and get god-tier waifu encounter rates… only to end up too poor to afford all of them? This feels like one of those cruel "pick your favorite and leave the rest" scenarios in a visual novel. I call scam.

While I was still lost in thought, I arrived at the waiting room.

Inside, I saw the fat merchant already seated with the twins. As soon as he spotted me, he stood up—so did the girls.

"Thank you for the purchase, customer," he said politely, extending his hand.

"Thank you, Master," Ram and Rem said in unison, bowing deeply.

Wow. Hearing both of them call me Master at the same time hit me different. Suddenly, it felt like I had become one of those kings in stories—surrounded by his loyal beautiful harem and servants all bowing in perfect sync.

"You can call me Michio Kaga," I said politely, shaking his hand while offering the sisters a pleased smile and a nod.

"Michio-sama, I am Gorim. A slave merchant from the small town of Kelm—west of the Imperial Capital," he introduced himself with enthusiasm, his fat hands gripping mine for a full minute. "If you ever find the time, do visit my humble establishment," he added with a grin. Only after I gave him a polite nod did he finally let go.

I told him I wanted to finish the ceremony first, which he was more than happy to agree with. Still, the man was a chatterbox. All the way to the backroom, he kept rambling about different routes to reach Kelm—by field walk, by carriage, even the supposed 'scenic' mountain path. I just kept nodding along politely, waiting for it to end.

Eventually, we arrived at the backroom where the guild temple was located. The Level 43 Merchant looked up, clearly surprised to see me again so soon. Judging by his expression, he hadn't expected me back here this quickly.

While Gorim was busy showing the papyrus paper slip to the merchant, my gaze locked with the twins.

Even without their physical differences, it was easy to tell them apart. Ram stood still and composed, her posture straight and confident. Rem, on the other hand, was nervously fidgeting with her thumbs, occasionally stealing glances at me—which they were both doing but Rem was much more frequent.

My eyes couldn't help drifting to their maid outfits, particularly Rem's. They were exactly the kind of dresses I pictured when I thought of "maid attire". I made a mental note to ask Gorim later where he got them from.

Just then, Gorim finished his discussion and turned toward me with a broad smile. He was clearly about to bring up the payment.

Sigh. I would have been a lot more anxious if I hadn't already dealt with the money issue ahead of time.

***

This chapter is an extra chapter and it is redeemed as a birthday gift to my supporter Whitewings

Happy Belated Birthday Whitewings!

May you live long and a very happy life so that you have less things to complain about 😝