77 Chapter 77 We're Rich!
When Henry was about to reach the exit, he looked at the manager who was walking beside him. “Alright, I won’t make trouble again. Can you please let me stay in the auction?”
“You ruin my reputation, Lord Henry. Your shoes don’t work.”
“I am honest. Do you think I would gladly go on stage to prove my point if the shoes don’t work?”
The manager glanced at him. “The proof is there. Your shoes don’t work. I do not care about the rest.”
“You’re very calm for someone who just had their reputation ruined,” Henry said.
“We’re too big, Lord Henry. This small mistake will not bring down our prestige. Besides, I have something that will make the audience happy. A Gold Rank enslaved giant velobra. Haha. Can you believe it?”
Henry’s eyes widened. “An enslaved giant velobra? How is that possible? That thing is a wild beast.”
“Not just any wild beast. A powerful one. Even with 5 Gold Ranks ganging up on it, they might not stand a chance. In this treasure hunt, where Platinum Rank and above are not allowed to participate, that beast is the best thing to have.”
“I know,” Henry said. “Look, I apologize. Can you let me return to the auction? Nobody needs to know that I return. You can give me a different mask as well. I will tell my father to give your group a better deal.”
The manager sighed. “You act differently when the crowds are looking. Whatever, you can return to the auction. And don’t make trouble again.”
“You got it.”
Aldred was just enjoying the auction when a group of people came and took their seats. He analyzed the group and realized it was Henry. ‘Didn’t they escort him out?’
“Now for the last item of the day! Oh, did I say item? What I mean to say is creature!”
Creature? Why would the auction sell creature? Most creatures weren’t that useful for climbing mountains, not to mention Mount Fargon itself. And most flying creatures, non-native to the mountain, could not fly around the mountain. They had done their research long before they grab their horses to go here.
“Now you might be wondering. What kind of creature is worthy and useful enough to be put in this auction? Well, let me show you instead.”
A large cart covered with a cloth was pushed by 8 muscled men to the center of the stage. They then pulled the cover and revealed a magnificent creature with its black scales gleaming under the light. It flicked out its tongue like a snake and scratched its belly with a hideous-looking claw.
“A giant velobra!”
The audience was terrified and they were about to run away from this dangerous creature.
“Now, please do not be scared. This beast has been tamed and enslaved, so it will not hurt you.”
“How is that possible? This beast cannot be enslaved.”
“Don’t believe me? Let me put it to the test then.” The lady walked in front of the giant velobra and slapped its face. She then hit the belly a bunch of times. “See, even after hitting it, the snake doesn’t show aggression or hostility towards me.”
Aldred bit his lips. His undead couldn’t feel pain, otherwise, that lady would be ravaged by now. He had fought this creature, and it took him a team of ten Gold Rank just to distract it. If he did not have unlimited mana and spammed fire javelin at the beast, he wouldn’t be alive.
The audience watched as the lady climbed onto the velobra, hitting its face and head. She even stabbed the eyes with her fingers.
“If you still don’t believe me, I will enter the mouth.”
And she did. She put herself in the beast’s mouth and smiled at the audience.
The audience watching this was relieved. Because the shoes earlier were defective, they were worried that the beast might go on a rampage.
“Can we test him?”
The lady nodded. “By all means. You need not worry about anything. Look, I am in its mouth, and nothing happens.”
Some people climbed onto the stage and hesitantly walked to the beast. They caressed it at first before they started punching the beast.
“The hardness of its scales is comparable to a rare grade armor. It might be stronger than that.”
One man dared to touch its gigantic claws. “Such sharpness. Any man who covered themselves with steel would be ripped apart by it. No wonder they call this creature beast among beast.”
“When we climb the mountain, there will be powerful beast roaming around. If we bring this giant velobra, we might have a chance to scare them off.”
“Testing and feeling session is over, folks! Please return to your seat as I begin the auction.”
They walked down the stage and returned to their seat.
The lady smiled before she strode to the side. “Now, most of you already know what it is, and all of you know this creature can help you in your journey. Giant velobra is a powerful and versatile creature that can swim deep, fly high, and climb tall. This means that you can bring the creature when you climb. Should you fall down, the creature can glide to catch you. Now that you know its benefit, I will reveal the starting price. Anyone would like to take a guess? 25,000 gold coins? Not even close. It’s 40,000 Gold coins.”
The audience wasn’t surprised by that price. Having a powerful beast as a slave was much better than hiring a random adventurer. The problem was loyalty. Although the adventure guild put a lot of rules to prevent it, people still got betrayed as long as the incentives were good. That was why people here only brought their most trusted subordinates, friends, and even families. Those adventurers who gathered strangers to form a group would not survive for long as they did not have each other’s back.
Loyalty was expensive. And no one knew how much it cost. Only with enslavement spells could they assure loyalty, but this spell can be broken, and the empire banned enslavement spells because it drove people with talent away from the country. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“45,000 Gold coins!”
“47,000 Gold coins!”
“49,000 Gold coins!”
“55,000 Gold coins!”
Bartrem and Mary were trembling in excitement.
“55,000 gold coins… such a huge amount of money.” Bartrem trembled. He was a poor man with a meager salary. Never had he ever heard of a huge amount of gold coins before. Only delusional people will spout those amounts, but not here.
And the bid kept on increasing.
“Why do people willing to bid a huge amount for a velobra?” Aldred was shocked and confused.
Mareona, Sophia, Mary, and were all poor in some sense, so they did not know what problems rich people had.
One of the glaring problems rich people had was they valued their life greatly. And to protect this valuable life, they needed loyalty. Long ago, when enslavement spell was allowed, this wasn’t a problem since they could enslave their subordinates and obtain their forced-loyalty.
But ever since the ban, loyalty became an expensive commodity.
The man beside them, who Aldred knew was Henry, raised his sign.
“100,000 Gold coins!”
The audience gritted their teeth. They did not bring enough gold for this.
One man took a palm-sized golden card with exquisite engravings all over it. He shook the card and it revealed golden numbers: 78,412. The man sighed. “I should have deposited more gold.”
All of them regretted not depositing more money to the Adventure’s guild bank. They never expect to use a lot of money on this journey.
Henry smiled. He also did not bring enough money, but he talked with the manager before and said that his father would pay him, so he wasn’t worried.
Aldred notice that nobody increased the bid, so he smiled and raised his sign.
“110,000 Gold coins!”
Henry frowned and stared at Aldred. ‘This guy tried to piss me off again? Wait, no no no. He doesn’t know that it’s me.’
“120,000 Gold coins!”
Henry smiled, feeling proud that no one could match his bid
“150,000 Gold coins!”
Henry was shocked. How much gold did this man bring with him?
Mary hit his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Increasing the price.” Aldred giggled.
Henry clicked his tongue.
“160,000 Gold coins!”
Aldred smiled as he put up the sign.
“165,000 Gold coins!
Veins bulged from Henry’s forehead.
“180,000 Gold coins.”
‘What about that, huh! I bet your peasant ass couldn’t afford it.’
“200,000 Gold coins!”
Henry’s mouth was wide agape. ‘Fuck! What about this!’
“250,000 Gold coins!”
Aldred smiled wide behind his mask and pretended to let out a sad sigh as he slumped on his chair.
Henry held his laughter. He finally defeated that man in a bid. Although the price was a little too high, he did not make any losses. A giant velobra was strong and powerful. If he brought it home, his father would not be mad.
Aldred on other hand was trembling. He trembled because of fear. Fear that he couldn’t hold his laughter as he tricked Henry to buy Nicky at 250,000 gold coins.
‘Hahahaha! I am fucking rich!’ He looked at Pongo who seemed to notice his gaze and they both high-fived.