It also showed how pampered the princess and the bratty twins were. They were given the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars to spend as they wished by their mommies and daddies.
I was a bit surprised that Lilith and her Scarlet Lilies didn’t have enough on them to get first-row treatment, after all, they’d been high-tier adventurers for centuries now. However, when I considered that it was a yearly event and not something truly rare, thus they likely participated in hundreds of them by now as well and the likely chance that they had their wealth invested in other projects made sense to me.
Anyhow.
It was time to get the show started, evidenced by the appearance of the event’s host. For once, it wasn’t a woman who surrounded me from one front but a shrewd man with golden glasses, a fashionable mustache, and an elegant white suit. He seemed to be a real shameless bastard, a perfect fit for the role of the auctioneer.
How I could tell that he was a shameless bastard as soon as I laid my eyes on him?
It takes one to know one.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” he began by spreading his arms wide apart, “On behalf of the esteemed organizers of this grand spectacle, I bid you all the warmest of welcomes. Whether you’ve come from the farthest reaches of the kingdom or are among the noble families gracing us from right here in Valorian, tonight’s display of history and magic promises to be nothing short of extraordinary.”
His gaze swept over the gathered audience, pausing ever so slightly on Princess Felicity. With a subtle bow in her direction, he addressed her directly. “And of course, we are deeply honored to be in the presence of none other than Her Highness, Princess Felicity Primrose Amabelle Valorian, the Crown Jewel of the Vraven Kingdom. Your grace and presence here elevate this humble occasion into something truly sublime.”
Princess Felicity acknowledged him with a soft nod of her head. Her amethyst eyes were calm and unflinching as she accepted the attention with practiced poise.
The host then turned his attention back to the crowd, gesturing grandly toward the shadowed edge of the stage. “Without further ado, let us begin the showcase. Tonight, you will witness treasures that transcend imagination – artifacts imbued with the wisdom of ancient mages, the brilliance of craftsmen long forgotten, and the power of legends that echo through time.”
Damn. No wonder they chose this dude to be the auctioneer; bullshit was spewing out of his mouth as easily as he breathed.
He raised a hand, and from the side of the podium, two women emerged, each as eye-catching as the artifact they carried.
Their flowing dresses clung to their curves. The clothes were made of sheer, nearly translucent silk that was most certainly done for fanfare. Even in this magical world where women could easily surpass men in strength, it was still men who tended to hold the reigns, thus the organizers seemed to pander to them.
However, my current neighborhood didn’t reflect that sentiment, as I caught multiple reactions from the numerous ladies surrounding me.
Jasmine sat still, she didn’t show much care for the sight of borderline naked women. As a somewhat seasoned criminal, she must’ve seen some stuff.
Kaelira was the same, while Seraphiel began comparing her body to theirs, and ‘somehow’ ended up winning in all categories; sexiness, curves, feminine beauty, facial symmetry, and she even won in having the best hair color. I didn’t know how blonde could objectively be superior to black and red, but I left that question to my cheeky elf.
Vivienne Greenvale giggled as she pointed at the two women while making licking and kissing gestures. She was a real pervert who wanted to lick my Kaelira’s polished abs, and she was also the noblewoman who showed by far the most skin due to her attire choice being a Fujimori yukata-style slutty dress.
Her twin sister, Amara Greenvale merely scoffed at the audacity of the organizers to show her such an unsightly image. She was the bitch who demanded I hand Seraphiel over, but unlike her lesbian freak of a sister, she wanted to attain the elf just for the ‘simple pleasure’ she would draw from breaking her spirit.
The Scarlet Lilies were not impressed, to say the least, but they remained quiet. I could tell their anger without even hearing their voices, their mere aura was overwhelming enough to let me know of their opinion on the matter.
Were they feminists?
Lastly, Felicity yelped cutely and the oldest maid rushed up to her in order to cover the princess’ eyes with her hands.
The host saw it and quickly acted by sending the women back, who merely twenty seconds later came out with significantly more clothing covering their bodies. Between them, they held a long, slender staff carved from polished white wood.
My primordial eyes instantly dissected the artifact’s nature.
The staff was a rare rarity item that was imbued with a single spell – Frostbind, an enchantment designed to temporarily encase a target in ice.
“Apologies for our lack of foresight, your Majesty.” The auctioneer bowed deeply toward Felicity, who merely nodded her forgiveness, though I noticed a weak hint of pink on her delicate cheeks. She was a rather adorable little girl, truth be told.
The man straightened his back and continued; “And here is our first treasure of the evening: the Glacial Aegis Staff! A weapon forged in the icy peaks of the Frostspire Mountains, crafted by a guild of dwarven mages whose very breath turned to frost. With this in hand, its wielder becomes a master of the elements, able to command winter itself to heed their will!”
I just barely managed to resist the urge to snort.
That was a horrible stretch.
While technically he didn’t lie, I assumed, as in the staff was likely from Frostspire, which was the northern part of the elf-dwarf lands, and did channel ice magic. but his phrasing made it sound like it could summon a blizzard or turn a battlefield into an arctic wasteland. The truth? It’d freeze one enemy at a time for a few seconds if they weren’t too resistant to magic – namely didn’t have enough Strength stat to break it apart.
Also, crafted by dwarven mages who breathed ice? What the hell is even that? I’d never heard of crafters breathing ice. Where’s the proof? Anyone could be its crafter, it was not marked by the creator. It could be Joe from next door.
Then what about the portion where he claimed that its wielder would become the master of the elements? I don’t know about you, but that sounded a lot like the description of my Elemental Sovereign class, and boy, let me tell you, shitting out a [Frostbind] didn’t make one into an Elemental Sovereign.
To sum my thoughts up; it was like a bard’s tale, horribly overblown and exaggerated.
The audience, however, lapped it up. The fact that it could summon an ice spell forth made the masses excited. After all, it was a deviant element only available to a select few people.
Gasps of awe and murmurs of excitement rippled through the crowd as the staff was set on a display pedestal at the center of the stage. The two women stepped back while striking ‘elegant’ poses as the artifact glimmered under the stage lights.
I folded my arms while smirking and snickering mentally to my two [Subjugated] girls, <Guess it’s time to see how much these losers are willing to overpay for a fancy ice stick.>
<I bet it will be a dumb amount, after all, humans – including mister human primordial in front of me – love to pay for useless things.> Sera giggled. Your journey continues at empire
<Whatever could you mean?>
<Well, I don’t know, how about a certain someone’s desire to have a giant luxurious mansion in the middle of literal nowhere that’s hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement, a project for which he purchased dozens of slaves and spent nearly 200 gold on materials because he just needed to have a whole harem mansion with a sex dungeon and all the typical depraved human stuff.>
<Welp, now I know who I’m strapping to my dungeon’s dark leather binds first once the project gets completed. Prepare yourself, you cheeky elf.>
<Kya! Master, you perv!!!> She cutely yelped in my mind before accusing me of ugly falsities.
“Five gold!” Amara shouted from next to me.
With that, the annual Grand Auction had begun!