Pov Kira:
We managed to buy that thing, but we’re almost out of money now, but I’m still in doubt about the conversation the master and Byakko were having, after we leave here I’ll ask the master or Byakko about it.
“Are you sure Father gave permission for this?” (Irius)
“Yes, it looks like Byakko and the master realized something we don’t know.” (I)
“We’ll talk about this later.” (I)
“The screaming stopped, finally stopped.” (Byakko)
“Are you okay Byakko?” (I)
“Now I am, but it was unbearable to hear that scream.” (Byakko)
“Why couldn’t anyone else hear?” (I)
“Leave these questions to be asked later.” (Irius)
Anton and Tania were silent knowing it wasn’t time to talk, Byakko was becoming visible for all to see, so the couple was surprised to notice him the moment he yelled, it seems Anton hadn’t noticed him before due to concern for his wife.
Nira looks like she had noticed him before but was quiet, when I looked at her it looked like she was thinking about something.
I tried to talk a little with everyone to distract everyone from what just happened, we were talking for thirty minutes before someone knocked on the door and opened it.
Knock Knock
After entering we saw that it was just the receptionist Vampire Jay, this time only he was present holding a large box.
“I apologize for the delay, I was waiting for the item the participants bought last to be safe for transport.” (Jay)
As soon as Jay entered he closed the door behind him, after apologizing making a slight bow he opened the box, when I looked inside I saw a big transparent crystal egg with that thing we last bought inside, it seemed to be paralyzed inside the egg and sleeping with closed eyes.
“The specimen you purchased should be under control for the next three days inside this crystal, a powerful spiritual technique was used to force the specimen to sleep, so I suggest you think about how to handle the specimen during that time.” (Jay)
Receptionist Jay closes the box and gives it to me, so I hand it to Sophia to hold.
“Now that the auction is over, it’s time to pay for the purchased items, totaling 71 Crystal Coins and 3000 Gold Coins.” (Jay)
“Here it is.” (I)
I hand the receptionist a leather bag with 72 crystal coins, he opens it and checks the value, after putting the bag he takes out another large white leather bag and hands it to me, after checking I see that there are seven thousand gold coins. gold, that’s the change for the money.
“On behalf of the Black Market, we thank you for participating in this great annual event and I invite you to come back next year as well.” (Jay)
After saying a few words of thanks he opens the door and makes another slight bow.
“To leave please follow me.” (Jay)
We all followed him through a maze of corridors before leaving in the same room where we arrived, there we went through another corridor that came out in the same store falling apart, I made the couple and Nira wear clothes similar to ours to hide their appearance before leaving the store.
We went straight back to the mansion in silence, on the way we realized that it’s about dawn, we spent the entire night at this Auction without realizing it.
———–
Pov Zenos:
Everything was going so well, I took advantage of the auction to see how the clandestine trade worked and what kind of items appear in it.
At first, I saw a lot of items, but when it came to the slaves and seeing how that auctioneer treated them like any other item she was selling, it ruined my good mood.
Seeing all this using Kira’s senses was like wearing VR glasses, some Alchemists soon appeared but I didn’t like any of them, the auctioneer talked a little about them, one was researching poisons and testing on common people she kidnapped to see the effects From his research, another Alchemist was studying addictive drugs he sold to various criminal groups, and the last was a woman who used orphans and beggars for experiments to create physical enhancement potions.
I didn’t want anything to do with these types of people, if I found them elsewhere I might even kill them, it seems I won’t get a good Alchemist in this Auction, but between the presentation of these Alchemists suddenly appears a Dwarf Blacksmith with excellent skills, then we found out about his wife and got a Tailor with a God’s blessing.
The personalities of this couple were very strange, but I could see that they cared a lot about the other, we also got the former Black Market receptionist Nira.
Everything was going fine until I heard that deafening scream, I momentarily lost control of my connection to Kira, but it must have been better for her not to hear my own scream when I heard that sound.
The screams were full of feelings, it seemed like a lot of screams mixed with feelings of sadness, anger, hate, pain, etc.
I could hear and feel all this from those screams, and from Byakko’s reaction, I thought I wasn’t the only one.
Érica and Freya who were next to me were startled by my sudden scream, but I said I was fine and that they didn’t need to worry, so I resumed my connection with Kira.
Byakko asked me to compare that creature, but he didn’t even need to ask, I was already considering whether I should or not.
No creature deserves the kind of torment that this Fairy is going through, sometimes between the screams I can hear different voices asking to die, asking for help, saying that it will kill everyone, and hearing this scream makes something inside me hurt a lot.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to help this poor creature, but at least I’ll be able to end her suffering if I’m not able to use my abilities to help her.
I wanted to ask Byakko a lot of questions about this but I’ll leave that for later, I was waiting for them to come back, after sharing Kira’s senses of sight and hearing for so long I was mentally drained, especially after hearing that Fairy’s screams.
But before I go to sleep I want to take care of the slaves, they will need to make a decision for themselves, I’m still giving them an opportunity for freedom in the future, let’s see what they decide.
Soon they arrived and I bring everyone to the ballroom where I took care of Freya and the others a few days ago.
“Welcome all of you, this auction was longer than expected.” (I)
“We are back master.” (Kira)
“We accomplished almost everything we wanted with this auction except for an Alchemist.” (Irius)
“We will have to wait a while now, we are short on money after this auction.” (I)
“Master what am I supposed to do with this creature?” (Sophia)
“For now take it to my how much and leave it there, I’m not in the mood to do anything about it today, I’ll do it tomorrow, now I have to take care of others.” (I)
“I also have to think about what I can do for this Fairy.” (I)
“All right.” (Sophia)
When I looked at the three slaves I see the couple looking at me suspiciously while Nira is appraising me with her eyes, I can’t blame them for suspecting a strange child behaving like the leader of the people who bought them.
“Everyone can take off these disguises now, there’s no need to hide here.” (I)
“Yes Master.” (Kira)
“Let me return what’s left of the money, Dad, here.” (Irius)
“I’d already forgotten about that, thanks for remembering.” (I)
Irius hands me two bags, one small in normal leather and one big in white leather, I kept them both knowing that the total value is 3 crystal coins and 7000 gold coins.
“(I’m almost broke after this auction, I don’t think I’ll get an Alchemist for a while now.)” (I)
After taking the money from Irius I go back to looking at the three new faces, none of them take their eyes off me, they must have realized by the way the others talk to me that I’m the leader.
“Let’s start the introductions, my name is Zenos and you must have already noticed that I am the leader of this group.” (I)
“Don’t be fooled by my appearance, I’m not a child so I advise you not to treat me as such, now let’s go to the performances.” (I)
“The man who brought you is called Irius, the one in white behind me is your sister Irina, the Gray Elf who is beside you is called Kira and the Tiger cub in your arms is your hired spirit Byakko, the Black Elf who also brought you is called Sophia and from left to right these are Leo, Caryna, Alice, Freya, Érica, Nolan and Diana.” (me)
As I introduced each of the people in the room I pointed to them so that newcomers could remember their names, Nira paid close attention to Kira’s face and name, she met her when she was still in her Storm Killer outfit, Kira spoke to her during the auction so she now knows Kira’s name, race, and face.
“Now it’s the three of you to introduce yourselves and then we can talk about what decision each of you is going to make about whether to permanently join our group or not.” (I)
When I finished talking, the first one to step forward was Nira, she took a few steps until she got in front of me and knelt down.
“My name is Nira, I’m a former Black Market receptionist where I worked for ten years.” (Nira)
“It’s nice to meet you Nira, but please, next time you want to find someone to pass on a message, find someone less dangerous.” (I)
“I’m sorry if this caused any discomfort for you, but in the situation, he was in he was the only one I could get in touch with who could get my message across.” (Nira)
“Alright, have you heard from Kira and the others what we expect from you?” (I)
“Yes, I was in doubt finding the proposal they said was absurd, no one who would buy slaves in the Black Market would make this proposal for them, I still don’t know how much I heard is true, but I promised that if she were to buy me I would be loyal to her and I intend to keep my promise.” (Nira)
“Just to be clear, you have two options, one is to permanently join our group and the other is to be an outside contractor doing some trading work for us, if you choose the second option you will be rewarded for your work and then from accumulating the same amount we spent buying you to pay us, you are free to do whatever you want.” (I)
“For the first option you will be freed from slavery right away and still have some benefits I can’t count on, but you will have to be loyal to me and the others in this room.” (I)
“So I’m going to ask, have you made your decision yet?” (I)
“I’ve never had anyone to trust in my life, I sent a message to a person who didn’t even know the name out of desperation, so I was very surprised when she showed up there, I don’t know how much I can be of use but I see a much better way to me here than if I were alone.” (Nira)
“I choose the first option!” (Nira)
“Okay, stay by Kira’s side for now.” (I)
“Yes sir.” (Nira)
I must say that I was sure she would choose the second option, I was surprised how determined she was to choose the first option, but I think one of the biggest reasons for this is because of Kira, now it’s just the couple, me I turned to look at them before I spoke.
“Which one of you is going to perform now?” (I)
To my question the two-step forward after nodding at each other.
“First of all I must thank you and your group for shopping for me and my wife, thank you very much.” (Anton)
“I must also thank you for the same reason, thank you.” (Tânia)
“Part of the reason for this is that we were already looking for an Alchemist, a Blacksmith, and a Tailor, so there’s no need to say thanks.” (I)
“You say that, but I saw these three let two Alchemists pass the auction without making a single bid.” (Anton)
“I wouldn’t want that kind of person with me.” (I)
“The truth is that a person with a Blessing from a God-focused on creation will always be targeted by others, may even be forced to work for the government depending on the Kingdom or be kidnapped and sold, I learned this the hard way and I will not commit the same mistake again.” (Anton)
“Neither my wife and I have any family besides each other, I think she has already made the same decision as me.” (Anton)
“You’re right darling, I share the same thought as Anton, the proposal you gave Nira was also offered to me and my husband during the auction and we agree it’s very good.” (Tânia)
“I am a Dwarf Blacksmith, my name is Anton and I choose to join your group.” (Anton)
“I am a Runic with Tailor work, my name is Tania and I choose to join your group.” (Tânia)
“I’m glad the three chose to join the group, it helps me a lot, welcome.” (I)
I’m glad they each made their decision and it was something I really wanted them to choose.