The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 091
EP.91 Auction (2)
The banquet hall was still bustling with activity.
Under the bright lights illuminating the space, monsters of various races adorned in beautiful attire engaged in conversation with each other.
Elegant music flowed as the banquet continued in a graceful atmosphere.
Amidst the lively ambiance, a certain change began to unfold.
A special stage was being set up in the center of the banquet hall.
“……”
Those who already knew what was about to happen quietly turned their attention to the center.
So called upon their subordinate monsters, whispering instructions to them.
Those unaware of what was happening asked questions to the monsters around them.
“What’s that?”
Azmo, who had co to enjoy the festivities, asked those around him.
It was a small group consisting of succubus and incubus, all of whom had flushed faces.
“Ah, it’s finally starting.”
In response to Azmo’s question, one succubus promptly replied.
“There are various events at the banquet, and that’s one of them. The order changes each ti, but it’s likely set up for an auction.”
“An auction…”
Upon hearing that it was a stage for an auction, Azmo nodded thoughtfully.
While Azmo’s curiosity was satisfied, the succubus continued without pause.
“Well, even though it’s called an auction, it’s limited to the social circle. There might be rare or mysterious items, but the chances of sothing truly rare are slim.”
That makes sense.
Even if Azmo were new to the social circle, he had a rough understanding of the atmosphere.
This auction was rely a catalyst to enhance the ambiance of the banquet.
Moreover, the auction was exclusively for those participating in the banquet.
Therefore, truly rare items might not be showcased here.
“But don’t count it out completely. Those bidding here are likely to be invited to the official auction house later.”
In the end, this auction being held was akin to a makeshift auction house.
At the sa ti, it ant that spending money here was necessary to attend the official auction house of the social circle.
It was a thorough business.
“Sigh…”
Azmo sighed at the sche of the Demon rchant Association.
At the sa ti, he envied the system of the Demon rchant Association.
Even if he didn’t know what the Demon rchant Association’s image was like, dungeons at least guaranteed minimal growth within the system.
And not only that.
Through such gatherings, dungeons could unite and move forward together in overcoming difficult situations.
‘It’s beautiful.’
Companions advancing together while overcoming adversity.
‘Truly beautiful.’
It wasn’t just about guarding the dungeon alone.
‘It’s a life of protecting together…’
This was true beauty.
For Azmo, who had been guarding dungeons alone on Earth until now, this was a different experience.
If this wasn’t beautiful, then what was?
No matter how many gems and jewels one possessed, no matter if they hung beautiful sculptures or paintings in the dungeon, that wasn’t true beauty.
No matter how much one sculpted their body and appearance, there was still a lack of true beauty in calling it so.
He knew this well, having once pursued beauty in appearance himself.
But eting the current master changed Azmo’s perspective.
It was an opportunity to reflect on the essence of beauty.
At least, that’s how he saw it.
At the sa ti, Azmo realized one thing.
In his mind, the words ‘banquet’ or ‘auction’ had already been erased.
Instead, a different goal took their place.
‘I want to create a system like the Demon rchant Association.’
What if there were a presence like the Demon rchant Association on Earth?
It would likely require a lot of capital.
But it wasn’t just capital.
Those who managed the system would also be necessary.
And what else?
If there wasn’t the strength to uphold it, it would ultimately just be a pretty picture.
It would undoubtedly be a difficult path.
But even so, Azmo wanted to realize his current thoughts by walking that difficult path.
Lost in thought for a mont, he didn’t hear the chatter around him.
‘….’
How long had he been thinking?
It was a mont when the question mark in his mind turned into an exclamation mark.
As he thought about it quietly, he realized he didn’t have to do this alone.
Azmo looked around.
He had already ford a close relationship with the succubus and incubus group he had t today.
Even though he was from a different dinsion, hadn’t he ford more intimacy than anyone else in just one day?
And there were others even more closely intertwined than re intimacy.
Azmo’s eyes turned to Arch Lich.
And he thought of the general manager Celia.
‘Perhaps they…?’
Wouldn’t they support his plan?
At the sa ti, they could provide additional strength.
And if even a great one supported him?
It wasn’t just a dream anymore.
Perhaps an even larger and more powerful group than the current Demon rchant Association would be born.
Azmo’s heart began to beat faster.
But for now, the banquet was still ongoing.
Even after the banquet ended, it wouldn’t be too late to make plans.
Since he was benchmarking the Demon rchant Association, it was important to understand the system as much as possible.
Azmo looked at the central stage while swirling his wine glass.
The central stage had been completed without him noticing.
At the sa ti, the lights in the banquet hall all went out.
The light illuminated only the central stage.
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– Successfully absorbed the offering of the Gnoll. –
– Acquired the Gnoll’s trait [Sensitive Sll (C)]. Can be used for enhancent. –
– Successfully absorbed the offering of the Gnoll. –
– Acquired the Gnoll’s trait [More Agile Movent (D)]. Can be used for enhancent. –
– Successfully absorbed the offering of the Gnoll. –
– Acquired the Gnoll’s skill [Quiet Footsteps (D)]. Can be used for enhancent. –
I woke up to the sound of alarms.
And beside , Maru was keeping watch over the surroundings with a sword in hand.
‘He’s doing well, as expected.’
Next to Maru was a newly recruited skeleton soldier who seed to be finding his place as well.
Their sight sohow amused , and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Now that I’m awake, you can stop.”
At my words, they finally relaxed their guard.
‘Cute little guys.’
As I looked around, I realized one thing was missing.
“But where’s the Gnoll’s hands?”
The Gnoll’s hands sent separately by Celia were nowhere to be seen.
I still didn’t know why she sent them separately, but it was better to confirm since she did send them.
“Clink!”
But Maru promptly answered my question.
“Huh? Did you handle it?”
Maru’s response made pause for a mont.
Perhaps Celia sent the Gnoll’s hands not to but to Maru?
Thinking about it, Maru must have also had conversations with Celia during his ti on the Eldorado continent.
‘Ah, was that it?’
Now the puzzle pieces fell into place.
It seed strange at first, but it turned out that perhaps the Gnoll’s hands were ant for Maru, not .
This both resolved the current question and made sense.
‘This could be a way to use offerings.’
Trading among monsters seed quite promising.
‘It could also be a way to build camaraderie.’
Anyway, why Maru needed the Gnoll’s hands wasn’t the issue right now.
The newly acquired Gnoll abilities weren’t important either.
– The Demon rchant Association auction has opened. –
– To participate in the auction, you need a Demon rchant Association auction pass. –
– Would you like to use the Demon rchant Association auction pass to participate in the auction? –
What mattered now was that the auction had opened imdiately.
But what would we bid with in the auction?
All I had were gold and gems.
Recently, through Celia’s report, I learned that the gems I possessed were magical gems.
“I think the gems are enough.”
There had been penalty incidents this ti, and I didn’t know when paynts might be blocked again.
So, whenever I had the opportunity, I had to buy gems.
Anyway, with the penalties disappearing this ti, I even made additional paynts for gems.
In the end, the gems, the magical gems as Celia called them, were more than enough.
“These bullets should be enough.”
At least, I would be able to buy everything I needed.
Just as I was about to touch the screen to participate in the auction.
“Oh, I can’t go like this, can I?”
No matter what, fully exposing my appearance was risky.
If this was the Demon rchant Association, monsters would be coming and going, and I looked completely human right now.
At least I needed to conceal my appearance.
“Maru, bring a mask and a robe.”
And that was quickly resolved.
It was ti to bring out the black mask and robe that I had left after wearing them during the last monster wave.
‘It’s better than nothing.’
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***
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A monster ascended to the central stage of the banquet hall.
It was a giant monster with dark brown skin, the sa one that announced the start of the banquet.
“Ah, everyone. Greetings once again. I am the host of this event, Thunderhead.”
All eyes turned to Thunderhead on the central stage.
“Now! There’s nothing like heating up the atmosphere!”
Thunderhead shouted with a powerful voice mixed with exaggerated gestures.
He continued speaking, encouraging the audience’s response.
“And now, it’s ti for the auction!”
Everyone applauded and cheered at the ntion of the auction.
So even shouted in excitent.
However, Thunderhead’s words didn’t end there.
“It’s still too early to be surprised! So of you might be thinking, ‘Since it’s just a makeshift auction, there won’t be any decent items to bid on.'”
“But! After this auction, that thought will be completely shattered!”
Everyone was astonished by Thunderhead’s confident ambition.
“I guarantee the quality and rarity of every item. And you’ll be able to see items available only at this auction!”
Cheers erupted in response to his words.
“Of course, for this auction, we’ve changed the rules so that only magical gems can be used for bidding!”
As Thunderhead finished speaking, those who had been cheering fell silent.
“Magical gems…?”
What were magical gems?
They were gems imbued with magic or supernatural powers.
Because of this, the potential uses of magical gems were endless.
They could be used to enhance power, research magic, strengthen equipnt or weapons, or create jewelry imbued with power.
However, they were rare.
Their utility was high, but their quantity was low, so their prices were high.
But conducting an auction only with magical gems?
It was natural for so to express dissatisfaction.
However, Thunderhead continued speaking without paying attention to them.
“Instead, paynt will be received afterwards!”
In other words, as long as you succeeded in bidding this ti, paynt could be made later.
It was sothing possible in the Demon rchant Association.
“Now, do we need to continue stalling for ti? We’ve prepared artworks to impress your eyes!”
Additionally, monsters ascended to the central stage.
Each of them held a painting in their hands.
“Just looking at them, aren’t they truly magnificent? These are paintings by a famous artist among human nobles. You can almost feel the vitality bursting out as if it will tear through the paper! We’ll start the bidding for each painting with one magical gem!”
Before the words were finished, so monsters started bidding fiercely.
What started with one gem quickly reached ten.
Though seemingly useless paintings, hints were hidden in the auctioneer’s words.
Paintings by a famous artist among human nobles.
This implied that they could be sold to human nobles.
In other words, if a monster had connections with or access to human nobles, they believed they could profit more than the value of the magical gems.
Of course.
“Fourteen magical gems!”
There were also monsters who bid fiercely without caring about such considerations.
“Yes! The gentleman over there has bid fourteen magical gems! Is there anyone else willing to challenge!”
It was Azmo.
With no further bids, the painting went to Azmo.
After the bidding for the painting ended, it was ti for the gemstones.
After the gemstones ca the sculptures, all of which were truly beautiful.
The beings bidding, aware of the value of this beauty, were mostly succubus and incubus.
Of course, this was just a taste.
Luxury items like these served rely to set the atmosphere in the early stages.
Knowing this fact, many remained silent.
And among them was a particular entity.
A figure cloaked in a black mask and robe.
Simultaneously, they drew the attention of the demon currently leading the banquet, Sernu.
Sernu spoke to their subordinate at their side.
“Find out discreetly who that person is. Also, recheck and reinforce security in the banquet hall.”
No matter how you looked at it, they were a newcor.
They were certainly not present when the banquet began.
Yet, they appeared like a ghost as soon as the auction started.
‘Who could they be?’
Normally, one would directly inquire or expel such a person from the banquet hall.
But that wouldn’t do right now.
‘They’re a powerful presence..!?
Trendous power emanated from that figure.
Though their entire body was concealed by a black mask and robe, their overwhelming power couldn’t be hidden.
‘Who on earth are they?’
And shortly after, the subordinate returned.
“Sir Sernu, there are no issues with the security in the banquet hall. It’s already operating at the highest level.”
The subordinate confird that there were no security issues in the banquet hall.
Then why was there a ntion of a newcor participating in the auction?
“But there’s sothing strange. We couldn’t find any information about the person you ntioned, Sernu.”
The Demon rchant Association is vast.
And its intelligence network is considerable.
Yet, there was no information available about this person.
“Hmm.”
They wanted to imdiately remove the robe to confirm their identity.
The problem was, the opponent was too powerful.
Just the thought of provoking soone with such formidable power?
Absolutely out of the question.
There was nothing to gain from needlessly provoking them.
In the end, Sernu’s choice was clear.
“Let’s just watch for now. If the other party remains quiet, there’s no need for us to act first.”
There was no need to poke a hornet’s nest for no reason.
Besides, the other party didn’t seem to harbor any ill intentions towards the Demon rchant Association.
Perhaps they could even beco a valuable partner for the Demon rchant Association?
With a glimr of hope, Sernu continued to keep an eye on the figure in the black mask.
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