Tragic love

As the auction began, the broker stood behind Alyssia who seemed to display her disinterest towards many items within the auction.

The only time when he could see her take interest was when it was her own items that were bid upon.

After watching her actions, he stood behind her hesitating to speak or not.

During their first meeting he was the first person to come forward and introduce himself because he had his own purpose that required getting to know new visitors or unusual people that may be of some help to him.

His first impression was that Alyssia and her crew were naive and could be used but upon talking to her he felt that it was difficult to get much past her so he decided to leave his card with her just in case he can later try to build a relationship if she proves to be of use to him.

During the first talk with her he showed disgust towards her unusual appearance but afterward he felt ashamed of himself for his narrow mindedness .

He had known that many types of races exist in the world and devil fruits also exist but he still did not believe Alyssia's poor lie about being zoan devil fruit users.

He did not ask further because it was not his place to do so and he needed to further assess the person in front of himself.

In the end, he just put his feelings during that short moment as a humans natural disgust and feelings of unease towards things they don't understand or recognise which made him feel as if he was being too closed minded.

He knew that after setting up the sale of the Sea King, many would look towards Alyssia and her crew for the many berries that she had earned in one sale.

To him this was something inevitable within this island and if she cannot survive then he could not make use of her at all but also it was something that he himself could not prevent.

For his own purpose, he could do just about anything just so that he could get what he has been looking for.

After that happened and Alyssia and her crew displayed a frightening amount of power to the public easily handling a medium to large sized pirate crew.

Even if the crew were weak in overall strength, the speed that they were defeated and subdued showed how much of a difference in strength there was.

The next thing was the claiming of the ship which was done almost immediately which surprised him and the whole series of events showed him not only their strength but the captains decisiveness that lead to further possible profits for them.

He was still hesitant to approach her with his own purpose and waited to be called but what shocked him next was the capture of one certain thief who had been involved in many stabbings but also two famous assassins who kill from afar with a rifle which showed her skill further.

After being contacted by Alyssia to arrange handing in the pirates to a bounty collector, the additional tasks piled up for him one after another to arrange a buyer for the ship but this also fit with his goals.

He set up the boxes and ship to be sold at this auction precisely as he saw his chance to enter the auction building which only allows access to VIP members or those who have put a largely prices item up on the auction suddenly.

Although he had done lots of trading in this island but also many others in the West Blue, his range of contacts or control within this place is limited and he cannot suddenly ask others for a favour so suddenly.

The money that he had gained from his interaction and working with Alyssia had earned him enough but it was quickly spent on gathering information and asking for additional favours.

Even his own men who are or were on his payroll are not the type of people who would jump into fire if he told them to, so how could he ask them for help.

As the time was drawing closer to his goal, he watched Alyssia for a long time before coming to a decision after getting to know some of her personality.

After the sale of the boxes, Alyssia had made another eleven million berries to add on top of the large amount of money earned from the Sea King, the ship, the pirates bounty but also the bounties of the three people on her ship who would be turned in a little later after the auction.

Suddenly a figure appeared before her and knelt down in front of her.

It was the merchant or broker that had brought her here so she couldn't help but showing a look of confusion.

He kept himself low and spoke in a voice filled with despair. "Please help me. Please… this is my last chance and hope. Please…"

She looked at him and crossed her arms across her chest as she looked down at him. "So… it seems that there must be some sort of story for you to tell me."

The man quivered upon hearing her words as he raised his head. "Yes… of course. How to explain… right! I brought you here for a specific purpose but first let me introduce myself properly. I am Alfred Salem, my past is one of a simple merchant who travels through many islands and trading goods between many islands in the west blue. In my younger years I met a woman and we fell in love…. As you can imagine our life together was not destined to last. We were worlds apart from each other as I grew up a commoner without a family and earned everything for myself but she in fact was a member or a respected noble family."

Alyssia nodded while listening to his tale and then came to a conclusion. 'Oh no.. it's a typical commoner x noble tragic love. I can guess what comes next! Broken up by her parents, sent back and hearing tales of her suffering from afar… etc etc…'

As expected he continued with what she had guessed. "Her family broke us apart after learning our intent to get married and dragged her back home. They felt disgraced that she brought shame to the family but in the confusion she was found to be pregnant which was covered up by them to prevent further shame. They promised to not harm the child if she goes to the army and gain achievements for the family since she had mastered the countries sword art and movement technique. It wasn't until later that I found out about my daughters existence and what had happened to my wife because they kept everything tightly sealed up. Unfortunately a couple of years ago is when things started going bad for them and the family supporting them."

"So who were this family then and what happened?" Alyssia nodded 'Not only is it a commoner and noblewoman story but there is also a secret hostage child. This is becoming a little… hah…'

"I don't know if you have heard of them since you are new here but if you know some history of the grand line you might have some idea from a story from more than fifty years ago. The Rumbar Pirates were once important people in the military of their country but as they left someone had to fill their place… this family rose up to fill that position for a couple of generations but the family head was a useless man who only dabbled in politics and schemes. He forced his sister to gain the family further honour but did not expect her to have such high achievements over the years and as the political struggles continued and her own enemies on the battlefield wished to bring her down a plan was hatched after news of her having a daughter was leaked. I don't know if it was his envy or just his stupidity but what happened next was his fault.."

Alyssia frowned. 'I feel like I am back in my home world reading a typical novel trope…'

He continued as his voice began to crack. "At the age of thirteen my daughter was taken away from the family on one night which was lead by her mothers enemies. Although my daughter managed to bring some of them down before her capture, it shows that she was as talented as her mother… using my daughter as a hostage they… they… and after her mothers death and capitalising on their goals they no longer had any more use for her. I heard rumours that they sold her off as a slave and have been tracking her for two whole years. At this time I have become willing to do anything even if it means kneeling and asking someone for help or even using someone to achieve my goals. So please help me find and get her back. The last rumour that I have heard was that a girl of her description and background had previously been owned by a noble in the island and would be put on sale at this auction."

He continued as she listened silently. "If she looks anything like her mother or me I should recognise her no matter what has changed during her time as a slave but I must save her at all costs. If you can help us and help to look after her I would be willing to offer you my life."

"So you must have intended to use me from the start…" Alyssia nodded. 'Well… now that he has said the general place of origin of the girl I might be able to pick out some clues… but damn! Fate again! Curse you! I was sure that I wasn't going to get involved with the slave business.'

Once a slave is bought out of sympathy, she would buy another and another until she could no longer afford to keep them.

She acted tough on the outside but in truth she was just a big softy, even her crew members would say the same.

Alfred lowered his head in shame. "Forgive me please. I have been desperate and just about extinguished everything that I have had just so that I could find clues of her whereabouts. All I could do was try to catch this chance or wallow in despair for the rest of my life. If you want my life I will gladly kill myself as a way of apology but please look after her for me…or if you can forgive me then I would gladly become a person who would be willing to do anything for you. I have used up all my favours and resources on this island so I cannot afford to treat my own daughter… please help.."

Listening to him desperately pleading and sobbing, she turned her head away from him and bit her lips trying to suppress her urge to help but in the end she looked towards the stage.

The announcer was moving onto the slaves one by one as they were sold for around five hundred thousand berries per healthy human that were explained to have particular talents.

She looked down at Alfred who would not move from his kneeling position and then back at the stage and closed her eyes to begin checking the skills.

Suddenly one set of skills caught her eyes which she immediately purchased so that she could improve her skills a little.

A smirk appeared on her face as she looked at the skills and talents of the person that she had locked onto. 'Very high talent with light swordsmanship and light body based martial arts. Gentle Blade (speed and precision fencing) and gentle footwork are both at a very high level for someone of her age which shows the effects of her individual talents. Let's see her status… in a poor body state and severed tendons in her hands and legs. Her future is ruined…'

She opened her eyes and turned to the girl who was chained up and was in a kneeling position and looked into her eyes. 'She still has fight in her. That is good. Anyways it is good that this room is so soundproof and uses a certain way of communication otherwise he would have spilled everything and made it much harder to make a bid.'

The announcer finished selling yet another among many of the slaves and then pointed to the young girl on the stage.

She was immature and had a fiery look in her black eyes, her long dirty blonde hair was messily handing down her back as her bangs covered one side of her face.

Her physique looked to be either sick or suffering from being beaten and starved on a regular basis.

The announcer looked at her pathetic body and couldn't help but frown but as he was tasked to sell her he could only continue the show. "Now this one has been in and out of many slave owners homes and back into the auction once again for her fiery attitude and her difficult personality but believe me… she was once part of a noble family. Though half blood, she did come from a respected family of swordsmen of the gentle blade style. Now you may begin your bids."

Everyone could tell that he was trying to make her more interesting but the main problem was her attitude and appearance that made her less desirable to them.

Alyssia looked at the speaker snail and the communication snail on the table by her, then she came to a decision as she picked up the communication snail and said into it but she made her voice a little more hoarse and disguised. "Thirty thousand berries."

The announcer smiled happily and then proceeded to look for other bids but he was quickly disappointed. "Sold!"