Chapter 42
Unlike the gambling halls aboveground, the underground slave-auction house was run in secret. Slave auctions were illegal, after all.
Because of that, you had to give a password to enter the auction house.
Luckily I’d read about the password in the guidebook, so once I knew the year it wasn’t hard to remember.
The casino inside was the very height of gaudiness. Champagne popped everywhere and there were people dancing naked. The sound of cards being dealt, the cheers of those winning money and the groans of those losing it — brilliant lights scattered overhead.
It was dizzyingly extravagant, but I didn’t give it so much as a glance. I could feel a burly man watching me. I had to move as naturally and casually as possible, like I belonged.
“Step inside.”
There was an incongruously plain door at the back of the casino. When it opened, an elevator clad in gold revealed itself.
When the man opened the elevator door, I swallowed so as not to be noticed and stepped in.
He got in right after me, pulled the lever, and the elevator began to descend.
‘How curious.’
Was this elevator powered by magic? Looking closely, a large mana stone was embedded at the center of the lever. A mana stone that size — I couldn’t help admiring the scale of the casino.
The elevator went down for quite a long time. By the time the casino’s noise had faded away completely, it stopped moving.
The doors opened and an interior appeared that was lavish in a different way from the casino.
Everyone wore masks like mine, but their outfits were more blatant and provocative. Maybe because their faces were hidden, their behavior showed no restraint.
“The auction will start shortly. Please wait.”
I’d been standing there in a daze, unable to step forward, but the burly man’s voice snapped me back and I got out of the elevator. The elevator went back up.
With the watcher gone, I inspected the area even more carefully.
“Ugh.”
A pungent smell hit me and I covered my nose. It didn’t smell like ordinary perfume; it was a strange scent that made my head feel fuzzy.
‘They’re using a paralytic incense to control the strength of the beastkin.’
I’d read about it in a book. Because a beastkin’s strength can exceed a human’s by tenfold, they control them using a special paralytic scent that only affects beastkin.
Normally it wouldn’t be this strong, but Hoyeon’s power must be so great they’d sprayed more than the usual amount.
The paralytic incense is harmless to the human body, so it didn’t prevent movement. I stepped back and scanned the room.
The crowd below was divided into two groups. One group wore masks but clustered together, chatting — and elsewhere people sat in the seats arranged around the room, waiting for the auction to begin.
I naturally took a seat in the innermost row. A short while later, masked men circulated handing out paddles — apparently to signal bids.
But I wouldn’t be using one of those paddles today.
“Hello. Mind if I sit next to you?”
At that moment a man asked if he could sit beside me, then sat down without waiting for an answer. I looked at him in disbelief. His face was hidden by a mask anyway.
Perhaps sensing my discomfort, he laughed awkwardly and said, “You look startled that I sat down next to you. My apologies. You’re just so beautiful I couldn’t help being drawn to you.”
Ugh. Why was he like that?
His voice was sickly sweet, like butter, and I was about to move, but the next thing he said froze me in place.
“By the way, did you hear? A very special item’s up for auction tonight. You’ll be shocked when you hear it. A beastkin!”
“…A beastkin?”
When I showed interest, the man nodded enthusiastically.
I rolled my eyes. I wanted to bolt, but the beastkin he meant was probably Hoyeon. Beastkin slaves were extremely rare — you might see one at auction only once a year, if that.
Curious if he had more to say, I sat back down and kept my distance while I asked, “That’s interesting. Can you tell me more?”
“Of course, lady. Did you know there are ranks even among the beastkin?”
“…Is that so?”
“Of course — just as there are ranks among humans. Us people here are the top tier. Below us are ordinary nobles, and beneath them the commoners. Beastkin, too, are graded. Commonly seen types like the ‘cat’ or the ‘celestial’ are the lowest. Then practical types like hybrid breeds are mid-tier. Finally, the very rare wolf-kin or cat-humans are high or top-tier.”
The man spread his arms like delivering a speech. At that moment the room dimmed and a spotlight shone down on the central hall. He leaned close and whispered in my ear.
“The one coming out tonight is that very top-tier cat-human. Not only beautiful, but agile and destructive — very useful.”
“Are you planning to bid on the beastkin too?”
“Of course! Not only me — everyone here has their eye on that beastkin. How about it, lady? Want to try for it?”
“I see.”
The auctioneer climbed the podium. His voice boomed through the underground hall.
“Thank you all for coming tonight! This will be a very special evening. Please take home whoever you fancy. Now, for the first lot!”
A girl in shackles was brought up.
“Ten!”
“Thirteen!”
“Fifteen!”
Bids rang out as soon as she appeared. The terrified girl stood barefoot and trembled.
While everyone focused on the auction, I stood up. The man who’d been sitting beside me looked at me.
“You probably won’t get that beastkin. In fact, none of the people here will get even one slave tonight.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”
The man looked puzzled by my cryptic remark. I smiled at him serenely.
“I have a lot of money.”
“Ah! Ha ha — well, that startled me. I’ll have to do my best not to lose to you, then.”
He clenched his fist, playing along. Of course I didn’t have a lot of money, but my claim that nobody would get a slave tonight was true. There was no need to raise needless suspicion.
I left him and approached the man who’d handed out the paddles.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
When I spoke, the man on duty looked up. I swayed slightly; he hurried to support me.
“What’s wrong?”
“This incense is stronger than last time.”
“Oh, yes. We couldn’t help it. The beastkin prepared today is exceptionally powerful.”
“I understand. But I’m sensitive to this scent… could you give me an antidote?”
I couldn’t know how strong the fumes had been previously, but I’d already established myself as a regular.
The man looked troubled. Antidotes generally weren’t available.
But when I said the next thing, he had no choice but to hand one over.
“If there really is a beastkin, we’ve prepared for it, but I can’t pass out before the ceremony. I might buy that beastkin today…”
“…All right. Here — spray this like perfume.”
He handed over enough antidote for a single spray.
I took the bottle, smiled, and turned away. I then took out a perfume bottle I’d prepared with water and misted it, then smiled as if I’d used the antidote he’d given me.
“I feel a bit better. By the way, have you heard anything about ‘Vincente’?”
The masked man’s eyes widened at my mention of ‘Vincente.’
Vincente.
He was the dark underworld lord who ran this casino and the slave auctions. No one knew his real name, but his closest confidants and VIPs called him Vincente. That alone could suggest a connection between him and me.
(Of course there was no such connection.)
It didn’t matter; the man swallowed the lie and believed.
When his pupils flickered, I stroked my jaw in feigned embarrassment.
“This is awkward. I thought an order had already gone out — that Vincente had agreed to show the cat-human to me before auction.”
“I… haven’t heard anything. What did you say?”
“That Vincente would show me the cat-human before putting him up for auction.”
I lifted my gaze. Thank goodness for the mask — without it my look of a predator studying its prey would have been obvious.
“But… auctions are supposed to raise the price through competition…”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not buying — just looking. If Vincente approved it, would he really make an exception otherwise?”
I got him to agree. He still looked uneasy, so I delivered a final blow.
“Remember what happened to the person who ignored Vincente’s orders at the last auction.”
“Gah.”
“Shall I tell Vincente about this?”
“No — no!”
When I said it with a hint of threat, the man shook his head in terror and led me deeper inside. Following behind him, I wasn’t sure whether to smile or not.
‘I only said that because I’d heard he killed those who disobeyed — I never thought the order really existed.’
It turned out he had, but it left a bad taste.
We’d walked a fair way in when the man suddenly stopped. It was so dark I couldn’t make out much, and as he halted I stepped ahead to get around him.
“This is…”
“A special cage made using mana stones.”
“…Really, remarkable.”
Contempt laced my voice.
