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Gehenna Auction House (1)
Jamie came out of Ars Magna.
The Soul contract was successfully made. With that he could now get his artefact!
“Master, are you even sane?”
Venna seemed to have a different idea.
Returning to her original form from squirrel, she looked at Jamie with a bewildered look.
“It is a Soul contract!”
“Shut up.”
“Shut up! Do you understand what it is?”
He made the proposal to Kiriel, how could he not know?
But he could understand Venna’s reaction. The Soul contract was dangerous.
Simply put, you can think of it as selling one's soul to the devil. Kiriel wasn’t a devil, but as a result, if the contract couldn’t be fulfilled, it wouldn’t make much difference.
“Do I look like a reckless person?”
“… no, but-”
Venna knew it too.
Her Master wasn’t short-sighted. He was someone who knows what he can and cannot do. There were so many things he knows but doesn’t show.
“Nothing is impossible. So don’t worry.”
Jamie patted Venna’s head. As Venna was an inch taller than Jamie, it wasn’t a sight to look at.
Venna seemed distressed and then sighed. It was already done, and now she just had to trust him.
“But how will you win the bid when you have to be with Sir Siegfried?”
With that said, Jamie couldn’t participate in the auction. Smiling, Jamie looked at Venna.
Venna, who couldn’t understand it, asked.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
But instead of answering, Jamie smiled more deeply.
The morning of the second day.
Siegfried asked Jamie with a delighted expression.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Jamie was dressed in a no less flashy attire.
Although it was a secret auction, the people participating in it were upper class. Even if there was no set dress code, people needed to be in luxurious clothes.
Fortunately, Jamie had too many.
His mother, Sears, was very worried for her son, so she put a dozen clothes in subspace.
From functional clothes to suits for banquets.
‘I can wear anything.’
Looking at the clothes, Jamie remembered his mother who wanted to send a servant with him.
-You see I trust my son, but how can I send him to live alone in another place? My son doesn’t even know how to wear clothes by himself, and even eat by himself!
Mother. Your son can wear and eat well too.
-So, think carefully. You have to cook and eat by yourself, and do the laundry and cleaning too. Son, you never did that. So when your mom says good things, just accept it.
Mother. Even in the Magic world there are people who do it.
And there isn’t anything I can’t do.
-Son! Are you not going to listen to your mom?
She was so persistent.
Later, she told Jamie to take a servant unconditionally.
Jamie wanted to be alone, so he refused and with a little help from Siegfried, he was able to come out.
He fully understood it.
On the inside he was a ten thousand years old soul, but on the outside he was an innocent child. It’s strange to have parents who don’t care.
‘It is only a few days, but I miss them.’
When he thought that, Jamie felt shocked.
It was a huge shock to him. Missing someone.
Since becoming a dark magician, feelings ceased for him. He was relieved to some extent because of that, but he had no idea that his unconscious mind was drifting this way.
“What is it?”
Siegfried asked Jamie, who flinched.
Jamie shook his head and answered, “Nothing.”
Siegfried shrugged his shoulders and handed him a mask.
“Use this.”
“This?”
“A must have for secret auctions.”
Siegfried wore a mask with a good looking face. It was a black matte mask with flowers on the outside with gold.
Jamie looked at his mask. The mask was divided into black and white with holes for his eyes.
“… this is an artefact.”
“It is a mask which hides mana. Hide anything which could reveal your identity. I will change the color of your hair.”
The emerald hair stood out.
There must be a lot of upper class people coming to the auction which meant there was no way one couldn’t recognize the characteristic features of the Welton family.
“If the young lord is caught, I will be caught too.”
Information had already spread that Siegfried, the 7th elder, was escorting Jamie Welton.
Like it or not, it was 1+1.
“It will be too huge of a news if I am found out too!”
The Welton heir is out at a secret auction dealing with illegal goods.
Rumors would spread.
“Shall we go?”
Siegfried reached out, and Jamie took his hand with a disapproving look.
And the two disappeared.
The large museum in Saint-Dermain.
It was a place called ‘Redum’ and it was a place to exhibit artefacts and fossils found in Kelton Mountains.
It was a famous tourist attraction even within Seldam Kingdom.
In the basement of such a place, a ‘secret auction’ was being held, in an infinitely close area.
“There are so many people. Is this really a Secret auction?”
“Few people come to the Redum museum.”
“Is that so?”
“A place like this usually has a mobile warp machine.”
At the mention of mobile warp, Jamie smiled.
Warp magic was one of the top Space magics. It needs an astronomical amount just to put power into an artifact, so he couldn’t imagine how such an expensive thing could be made portable.
“That is how secret this is.”
Siegfried put his thumb and index finger together in the shape of a coin.
After all, secret auctions deal with everything from illegal to rare. Moreover, the commissions of such auctions were huge, so the profit alone would be huge.
A few portable warps wouldn’t be that difficult to obtain.
“Waste of money.”
“A kid shouldn’t say that.”
“But can kill people?”
“That is, fine.”
Siegfried smiled. Seeing this handsome man made Jamie angry so he looked around. There were many people and everyone had bizarre masks on.
There were thousands of people who wanted to stand out.
As he was walking along with Siegfried, two men and a woman passed by.
The calming scent of the forest lingered on the tip of his nose.
“Uh?”
“What is it?”
“Just now…”
Jamie looked back but the people had disappeared.
The smell of the forest.
There was no way such a perfume existed, and Jamie knew there was only one race which smelled like it.
‘Elf?’
As he said that, he shook his head. What nonsense.
Why would elves come here?
In other words, unless an elf was caught by a slave trader, there were no elves who could set foot in such dirty places.
“Must have been a mistake.”
“Come on, let’s go. Entry time is up.”
A space too large to be said to be under the museum.
Mana could be felt everywhere, it seemed like space expansion magic was used.
It could have cost a lot to expand on this scale, but the place holds secret auctions which meant they had a lot of money.
Siegfried, who was looking at the seating ticket, looked at the number on the chairs.
“Over there.”
Pretty far ahead.
It must have been difficult to get the front seats, which meant Kiriel had used all her influence.
As they went, people who were participating started to take their seats.
In the seat next to Jamie, was a thick man who made the chair feel cramped.
“Sorry.”
The man apologized yet, Jamie felt like he was a nuisance.
Jamie clicked his tongue and sat.
And found two people, a man and a woman sitting diagonally.
‘Are they the same people?’
It was clear that they had a large body and the scent of the forest.
But now there was no smell. As if it was erased.
He wondered if they were real elves, but no matter how much he thought, why would elves come here?
Since they were the race which pursued goodness, they hated secret auctions.
“Why are you being like this?”
“Nothing. Please stop worrying about me. I can't even see anything ahead.”
“Hm. Seeing this, I feel like you were given many privileges when growing up.”
Instead of an attendant, Jamie promised to follow the advice and words of Siegfried.
He didn’t intend to follow everything, but not following everything would be a violation of his promise, so he would follow one or two things.
The lights went out.
All the lights were directed to the stage. It was where the auction items were displayed and the red curtain opened as a man walked out.
“Wow! Today is such a good day! Precious people have visited the Gehena Auction House!”
The host had on a red tuxedo and a funny clown mask.
With exaggerated gestures he greeted.
“Nice to meet you all!”
But no one said anything. Yet, he continued despite the cold reaction from the audience.
“People who have been to this place know very well that we all lack patience, so I would like to introduce the first auction piece. Are you all looking forward to it?”
No response this time either.
The host just shrugged seeing that.
“What no fun people you are. Well! It doesn’t matter because customers are kings, right? Come on, bring it in.”
The host was a pro. Although it was difficult to not feel flustered in such situations, he moved on smoothly.
With a rattling sound behind the stage, a large wooden crate appeared.
Large enough for one or two people to fit in.
“The first prize is a slave!”
Gehena Auction house was a secret auction house. It dealt with illegal stuff too. Which meant slave trading.
“Everyone will be shocked since these ones are hard to find.”
Unlike before, the host was speaking in a serious tone.
“Open it.”
And when he said it, the men who brought the box moved the sealed top on it.
Jamie narrowed eyes at the content.
Siegfried, who was next to him mumbled in a startled voice.
“Elf…”
What was in the box was an elf man and woman who couldn’t move with restraint devices.
A hard hit from the start.