A Certain Slave

Elish and Astra were already hours into the auction, and he had just one word to say about it.

"Unimpressive."

Most of the items up for bid were relics and rare objects. Of course, the crowd ate it up, but as for Elish, they were not in the least bit attractive. 

Unfortunately, his grand prize would be the last item to be up for auction since it was the main object for today's event. 

This meant that he would have to sit through the entire boring session.

"I have to say though, it's a bit awkward not buying anything," Elish thought aloud.

He looked towards Astra, who was watching the auction in earnest. He supposed the anticipation of obtaining her wings was her motivation. 

Unlike her, Elish didn't really have a personal interest in this auction. 

But, perhaps something interesting could happen eventually. 

'The night is still young, after all.'

"And now, we move on to the next bidding session," the auctioneer announced.

Suddenly and slowly, one after the other, Elish saw people appearing from the backstage. They were in chains, and from their appearances, he could tell.

"Slaves, huh?" He whispered.

Astra looked uncomfortable at the sight. Who could blame her? Had it not been for his intervention, she would have been one of them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you a major attraction for today's auction, the SLAVES!" 

In total, there were seven of them. Five males and two females. However, as Elish would expect from Scylla, they chose quality over quantity. 

'Of the seven, four are beast folk, two are elves, and finally, the last person... hmm? What is that...?'

Elish's thoughts were interrupted by the auctioneer's loud voice, as he continued his announcement.

"We have seven of the best and highest quality slaves for bid here. We'll start with Slave A." 

The bid for the first Elf began, and of course, the bidders competed amongst themselves for the slave commodities and offered up as much as they could.

"Do I hear fifty million?" The auctioneer asked, on the matter of the elf girl who was next.

Everyone would definitely love to have an elf as a slave, and so they all jumped into the bid.

Both of the elves were female present, so the appeal was through the roof. 

Elves were natural beauties and were usually considered pure—the perfect prey for rich men with sadistic tendencies or a very strong libido.

~Buzzzzz!~ A sound echoed through the room.

"Hundred million coins!" Someone declared.

Hundred million? Who would spend so much on a single elf girl?

Elish looked towards the source of the sound; it was someone in his own exclusive bidding room, just like his. 

'Another Royal Member at Scylla, huh?'

"Hundred million! Anyone bidding higher?" The auctioneer's question echoed across the room.

"Going once, twice..."

"Sold!" The auctioneer said, confirming the sale of the first elf slave to the royal member.

Well, that was no surprise to Elish.

'I doubt anyone in their right mind would waste that much money on a single slave. Not unless they're a Royal, like that guy.'

"Now, for the other elven beauty," the auctioneer announced with a much wider smile.

"Hundred million," the same bidder as last time declared.

There were grumblings and murmurings made by the other bidders, but there was nothing anyone could do about it. 

In the end, money and power were the things that mattered the most in the world, and the auction house was no exception.

"Going once... Twice... Sold!" 

The Auction went on, and the other slaves were sold. However, since the two females were bought by the same guy, leaving the males for the other bidders, the prices dipped considerably as the auction went on.

After all of that, it was clear that the audience was displeased.

"Now, now. There's still one more slave to be sold," the auctioneer said, trying to reason with the audience.

Of course, this didn't make the crowd any happier. The last slave wasn't a female or an elf. Just some random dude. 

… Or so they thought.

"Please, everyone calm down," the auctioneer said.

Suddenly, the crowd stopped their murmurings and anger and started to let out chuckles; some even burst out laughing.

The chubby man expressed relief about this and took for granted the sudden change of heart among the audience. But for those of them who were watching the auctioneer and the auction, they knew what was really happening.

"Look behind you," one of the bidders said, laughing even more.

The auctioneer turned back only to find the last slave, who was supposed to resemble a teenage boy with tattered clothing and unkempt hair, but what he saw was something else entirely. 

He was looking at... himself.

Not only was the slave now identical to the auctioneer, but he was making weird poses and dancing in a funny manner. It was funny to everyone because it seemed like it was the auctioneer who was doing it. 

His fat and short figure dancing all around cracked everyone up.

It turned out that the final slave was a shapeshifter, a breed capable of changing their appearances to whatever suits them—one of the most notorious and haughtiest races in the world.

The auctioneer blushed with so much embarrassment that it soon transformed into something else.

Rage! 

"Y-You! How dare you? Who ordered you to turn? Change back! Change back now!!!" He screamed at the slave.

The slave, still with the appearance of the auctioneer finally stopped his silly tricks. 

He cracked a mischievous smile and then changed his head back to his original form but left the physique of the auctioneer.

As one would expect, this silly antic caused audience to laugh even more. 

The auctioneer was red with anger at this point, and he reached within his pocket to bring out some sort of scroll. 

The scroll glowed, and suddenly the slave started screaming, kneeling down and holding his head.

"ARRGGHHHHHHHH!!!"

"I said change back!" He commanded.

The slave immediately complied, still screaming and groaning, his tone reminiscent of pure agony.

"Oh?" Elish murmured to himself and looked closely in order to see the reason behind the sudden event.

"A Slave Crest.".

It was only natural that slaves had one. It prevented a slave from going against their master and also allowed the master to command the slave to do anything or simply punish them. 

Normally, as the original owner of a slave, no scroll was needed to enforce the slave crest. However, since the auctioneer was not the original owner, he needed a scroll to act as a medium for enforcement.

Needless to say, the slave wouldn't be disobeying the auctioneer or pulling any other funny tricks anytime soon.

The audience booed the judgment of the auctioneer, and some still let out some chuckles.

"Now then," the auctioneer cleared his throat to regain his composure and command decorum.

"Let us proceed." He smiled.

"We'll begin the price from five hundred thousand coins. Any takers?" The auctioneer asked.

No one responded.

"Any takers?" He repeated.

No one wanted the slave.

The auctioneer had a conflicted look. The slave he was supposed to sell. No one was interested in buying him. At least, that's what everyone thought.

A buzz was sounded, and a voice came forth.

"I'll take him."

Everyone turned toward the direction of who had said that. It was none other than Elish.

Elish had to say, he was interested in this shapeshifter. 

Not just because of his little stunt earlier, though that had relieved his boredom for a bit, but there was something else. 

Besides, he seemed like an interesting character.

"Any higher bid?" The auctioneer asked.

No one responded. 

Of course, who would be interested in a troublesome sneaky little shapeshifter? It would most likely cost them more to maintain such a slave than to actually use him. 

Besides, it was a general rule that shapeshifters could not be trusted. They were one of the most scorned races. And, after that stunt the slave just pulled, no one would like to have him as their slave.

"Going once... Twice... Sold! The last slave has been sold." The auctioneer announced, a sense of relief in his voice.

'I can't say he blamed him. That particular slave must've been a handful.'

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen. The moment you've all been waiting for." The auctioneer declared after regaining his composure.

The slaves were le out, preparing the stage for what everyone had been expecting.

Everyone's voices could be heard at this point. It was finally time to bring out the main sensation of today's auction.

"I hereby present to you, the fairy wings!"

Everyone cheered and marveled at the wings which were brought to the stage. Even Elish had to admit, they were indeed beautiful, a perfect fit for Astra. 

The wings were a combination of many colors, brimming with purple and red hue, with blue trimmings around the edges, and they emanated a bright low glow.

Elish looked beside him to see Astra's reaction to this sight; she was crying. 

He saw the longing in her eyes, the craving she had for what was once hers. 

'Within a matter of minutes, those wings will be mine. So don't you worry, little one.' 

Elish guessed it was time for him to now actively participate in the auction because from then on, things would start to get very engaging.

'No one stands a chance.'

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[A/N]

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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