In Loki's Honor Life 26 - Chapter 25 - Recruitment from the Grave

I expected to be taken to a cage in a damp cellar. The auctioneer instead took to a lavish bedroom. He ordered to enter and then bowed with a smile that looked genuine. The bedroom had several doors and fancy furniture. It was huge, twice the size of my old apartnt in NY.

"I know Your Highness must be distressed from all this. I order you to use this room as you please. Relax. I'll have so maids coming to attend to your needs and a al worthy of a Princess shortly."

He closed the door and left. I looked in the bedroom. It lost only to Alloralla's elven furniture. The bed and pillows were superb, the upholstery of the couch and chairs was monster leather. It wasn't a room but an apartnt. It had a servant's quarter with two bunk beds, a walk-in closet, a sitting room on the other way in - I think he brought from the service entrance - a latrine that didn't sll like shit and a spacious bathing room with what resembled a Roman bath.

The maids entered right after I finished my exploration. They were human and very beautiful. They brought clothes and other accessories. One of them ordered to co and I obeyed, pretending to be a slave. When I approached, I saw they had slave collars that were cleverly-disguised in their uniform. I followed their lead as they undressed - I sent my silk panties to storage before removing my upper layers of clothing - and then took to the bath to wash.

I felt like a Wagyu cow being fed black beer to soften the at. If they wanted to sell a {Princess}, they wanted her to appear relaxed and natural. The skilled maids gave a full-body massage and put in fancy clothes that even had a hole for my tail. The corset was a bit too tight but I believe that was par for the course. Once they were done, I was ordered to sit at the table and eat the full-course al they served .

Once I was done with the food, they cleaned everything and the auctioneer ca back right after they left.

"Relax, Your Highness. I want to ask you so questions."

too, my dear slaver. First, who are you?

[Royal Auctioneer]

Level 87 male human

Endurance 60

Mind 70

Willpower 100

Charisma 80

Magic 90

HP ~ 700,000

MP ~ 2,000,000

Yeah, the guy was the real deal. And he had {Pinnacle of Willpower}.

She had it.

She giggled in my mind.

"What is your na, my dear?"

"I'm Princess Mononoke of Theiria."

"I wasn't aware you existed, and I know the nas of the Royal family of Theiria. Care to explain your origins?"

"I'm related to the 'silver cat princesses'. I was raised in exile."

"Where?"

"In a trading village on the eastern side of Fulgen." - The one Alloralla cleared of orcs and populated with the captured won.

"Alloralla's refuge, is that the na of the village?"

"I was never told the na of the place," I answered truthfully. Did they na the place after ?

"That doesn't matter. But are you sure you are of the blood of the cat princesses?"

"I am related to them, of that I am sure. I got the title too. My upbringing was very sheltered."

"Well, that confird what I needed to know. Go to sleep and tomorrow we'll talk so more."

I stood and walked away without saying goodbye. The doors closed and I heard a latch being thrown on the other side. Ti to play. I tried to send the slave collar to the item box and the object vanished from my neck. So did the clothes which were replaced by my living silk bodysuit. I beca invisible and incorporeal, then walked out of the room through the wall.

Exploring the auction house, I found it had four basent levels, with a treasure room at the bottom. A lot of high-level guards all along the way. In the first basent floor, I found the normal slave pens filled with gorgeous won. From there I went up, searching for docunts or a ledger. I tracked the auctioneer to his office, noticing he vanished from my detection Perks once he entered a heavily warded room.

Inching slowly, I crossed them, using my {Grandmaster Surreptitiousness} to slip through the wards without triggering them. The auctioneer's corner office had bookshelves lining all the four walls and windows to both the main square and the wharf. The view was amazing and there was an enchantnt in the glass to allow one to see outside as if it was daylight. The man was writing a letter, writing out the details of our brief interview. Along with so observations he made. They knew about Talbain but he wrote that he might be my bodyguard. At the end of the letter, which was addressed to the King of all people, he wrote his concern that I could be related to Windere and that he was concerned about the missing slavers I'd killed. He finished with a request for increased security due to the high value of the "goods" he would sell in the next auction. I was touched by his concern.

After he finished the letter, he sealed it and slid into a paper envelope. Paper. I was amazed. The stuff was expensive. There was no blue-haired bookworm priestess struggling to develop such technology in this world. I had a faint idea of how to make it but honestly, it wasn't my focus. He wrote the King's na next to the seal. The auctioneer was from a ducal house. Razing the city was becoming more and more attractive.

He put the letter on a tray and pulled a book. He started to compile a list of nobles to invite. I was slated to be sold at an exclusive auction. Only the upper echelon would co. After the list was complete with a hundred nas, he planned the seating so rivals would be in sight of each other to increase the bids. I was amazed at the amount of thought he put into organizing his auctions. He also estimated the bids. He thought I would sell for almost two hundred platinum coins. It could very well be my weight in gold.

He did other administrative tasks and I could see he indeed had detailed ledgers about his operations. There was a bookshelf dedicated only to that. With a person this thodical, it was a given.

Too bad his ti had co. I transford into a panther. After putting a {Death Contract} on his head, I bit his neck off. The body along with all the furniture and books in the room vanished into my item box and I captured the ghost.

Assassination (...)

You killed level 87 [Royal Auctioneer]. You gained 1 trillion Exp (base 75,690 x 1,4056,376 multipliers).

No reason to not double-down on such sweet Exp. And since he wasn't a necromancer wanting to abolish death, he deserved to die twice. I turned to the ghost. I couldn't bind him to my will so I had to negotiate. Stupid {Pinnacle of Willpower}. I pumped SP into his soul, triggering {Soulguide} and purifying his essence of all grudges and malice. After I was done with him, he was as innocent and pure as a newborn non-reincarnated baby.

He was unfazed by the fact he was dead. "I am a man... or should I say, ghost now, who prides himself in being useful, Your Highness. In life, I had absolute allegiance to my uncle the King. Now that I'm dead and my oaths were fulfilled, I am free and willing to negotiate. Although I have seen several deaths in my brief life, I must say I am impressed at how clean you kill. I am really curious as to how you learned to Service is not out of the table.> He chuckled,