36 C33 Auction (5)

(A/N: I feel bad for cucking you all so much. therefore, I Bless you with a bonus chapter. I am a benevolent lord, after all.)

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As of this chapte, the patreòn is 12 chapters ahead at chapter 45. I'll be writing and posting another 3 chapters for patrons today as usual.

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Gimme dem stones fool. I'm to lazy to think of something witty to say. Oh, and enjoy the chapter!)

POV Lily Aldaine

The Beast King sent me to the Ephia Duchy in the Fortis Kingdom to free some citizens that were taken from our kingdom and enslaved. I gladly accepted, but before I left he gave me a warning. The warning was simple. Don't underestimate the new Duke of Ephia, and if I run into him I'm to comply with all orders, as long as they don't hurt our kingdom or go against my morals. I was confused because the new duke of Ephia is only a child, but the serious look on the king's face made me think twice. The rumors about the new Duke/Prince have been extravagant, to say the least, so I never believed them. Now, I may need to rethink those earlier assumptions.

When I met the Prince, I was shocked. At first, I thought he was here to participate in the auction, but then I remembered what the king said. He must have found out about the auction in his territory. He's wasn't here to participate, but to arrest everyone. Then he said something that scared me half to death. 'Remove her memories' he said. Just the thought of someone being able to steal my memory from me is terrifying. The king was right. After begging the prince, he agreed to hear me out. Then the same man that would've stolen my memories disappears and reappears with a cup! I've heard his pet bird has space magic, but this servant of his has it too?

As we spoke I couldn't help but think this boy can't be six years old. He holds himself better than most grown Nobles I've met. Our entire conversation was like speaking to a man in child's clothing. Ewww. Let me reword that. It was like speaking to a wolf in sheep's clothing. That's better and sounds less creepy. I'll have to make sure to comply with him as the king said.

POV Syrin

"I would like to apologize once more for inconveniencing you, Your Highness. We didn't have time to get approval before coming, and it's easier to ask forgiveness than to ask permission." Lily says.

"I understand. You don't have to apologize anymore. The auction is set at a certain time, and you weren't sure you would get permission to intervene in time for it. It makes sense." I say and she seems to calm down.

"Your Highness, when will you be making your move?" Lily ask.

"When my forces are done with the rest of the city." I said.

"The rest of the city?" she asks.

"When this auction started, my forces have been clearing the city of everybody and everything syndicate related." I inform her.

"Are you sure it can be done before the auction ends? This city is big, and I'm sure they're spread out everywhere." She asks.

"You don't have to worry. It'll get done. Now, let's watch the rest of the auction." I say and turn my attention back to the beautiful auctioneer.

"The last block of the auction is here!" The auctioneer exclaims and the curtain behind her opens revealing half-naked slaves. I was expecting them to be dirty and mistreated, but they look clean and unblemished. I guess no one wants to buy damaged goods. "We have thirty slaves that passed our thorough scrutiny for auction tonight! Let's start with the men, and save the lovely woman for last." She says and a guard pushes a dwarven man in chains forward. He looked to be in his forty's with a thick beard. "This slave is a Dwarven blacksmith that was picked up on his travels through the Eos Empire. He's relatively young for his kind and is a three-star blacksmith. The bidding will start at 50,000 gold crowns. The minimum bid increase is 1,000. The bidding starts now!"

The bidding starts and the price climbs quickly. He's a three-star dwarven blacksmith, so I understand the fuss. The blacksmith guild is everywhere just like the adventurers guild, and they have tests to see how experienced you are as a blacksmith. One star all the way up to five stars. The reason this dwarf is getting so many bids is that he's a dwarf. Dwarfs are innately skilled blacksmiths, and a three-star dwarven blacksmith is just as good as a human four-star blacksmith. The scrutiny that dwarves have to go through to move forward in blacksmithing makes the human tests look like they were written by children. He's also very young to be as skilled as he is, as dwarves live for 200 years, and that doesn't count the increased lifespan from ranking up.

"This is disgusting. I don't know how people can just buy someone and think it's normal." Lily comments.

"Yes, but we're here to stop them, right?" I say.

"Yeah, I just wish that we could stop this everywhere." She says.

"Slavery and crime, in general, will always happen no matter how much you wish for it to stop. We could go from city to city, town to town, and village to village killing and arresting criminals, and it wouldn't end crime. Do you know why?" I ask.

"No." She shakes her head.

"Because as long as people have free will they will do as they please. Crime is a normal feature of social life. It can never be eliminated. What we can do is reduce it and try to control it as best we can, but it will never be eliminated. Think of it this way. We've made slavery illegal, yet it still happens. The proof is in front of you now, but in making it illegal we've reduced it to something that rarely happens in a hotel basement. Do you understand?" I impart some wisdom I learned from an article back on earth about crime rates. Lily becomes quiet with contemplation.

The dwarf is sold to someone in a VIP room, and the auction continues. The make slaves can be put into two categories strength and skill. The dwarf would fall under skill, and strength would be high-rank adventurers, soldiers, etc. There was only one man that fell into the strength category, as it's hard to catch someone that's strong enough to fight back. He seemed to be drugged with something and was wrapped in chains. The man looked to be in his late twenties with sandy blond hair, and cat-like ears and tail that seemed to belong to a lion.

The auctioneer said he's a rank 76 fighter that was found exhausted outside of a dungeon. When they brought him forward, Lily looked surprised to see him. She then gnashed her teeth, tightened her fists, and growled slightly. I guess she knows him somehow. I'll find out more when this mess is over. Let's just say he sold for a little more than a million. I haven't seen a single male sex slave, but who knows people have weird fetishes. I'm sure ladies want some company in the bedroom too, and not selling slaves for the opposite sex seems like a waste. You would be cutting out half of your clientele. God, I need to stop thinking like this.

"Master, your forces have finished with the city, and are now converging on the hotel." Souei informs me.

"Tell them to wait outside until I give the order."

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