The banquet hall was still in full swing.
Beneath the lights that brightly illuminated the space, monsters of various races, dressed in beautiful attire, conversed with one another.
Refined music flowed through the hall, and the banquet continued in an elegant atmosphere.
After that pleasant mood had gone on for some time, one change began.
A special stage was being erected in the center of the banquet hall.
“……”
Those who already knew what was coming quietly looked toward the center.
Some called over their subordinate monsters and said something to them.
Those who did not know what was going on asked the monsters around them.
“What is that?”
Azmo, who had gone off and enjoyed himself thoroughly, asked those nearby.
It was a small group made up of incubi and succubi, and all of their faces were flushed red.
“Ah, it’s finally starting.”
At Azmo’s question, one succubus immediately answered.
“There are various events at the banquet, and that is one of them. The order changes every time, but it looks like a stage for the auction.”
“An auction…”
At the answer that it was a stage for an auction, Azmo nodded.
Azmo’s curiosity had been satisfied, but the succubus did not stop speaking.
“Well, even if it is an auction, it is only one held within high society. Rare or mysterious items may appear, but there is a high chance that nothing truly rare will come out.”
That made sense.
Although it was Azmo’s first time in high society, he had roughly grasped the atmosphere.
This auction, too, was nothing more than a stepping stone to liven up the banquet.
Moreover, it was an auction conducted only with those participating in the banquet hall.
As such, even the trading company would not present truly rare items.
“Still, don’t skip it entirely. Those who bid here are highly likely to be invited to the official auction house later.”
In the end, the auction being held this time was a temporary auction house.
At the same time, it meant that in order to attend the Demon Realm Trading Company’s official auction house, one had to spend money here as well.
It was thorough business.
“Hah…”
Azmo clicked his tongue at the Demon Realm Trading Company’s scheme.
At the same time, he envied the system known as the Demon Realm Trading Company.
He did not know what image the Demon Realm Trading Company had, but under the trading company’s system, dungeons were at least guaranteed a minimum level of growth.
And was that all?
Through gatherings like this, dungeons could form solidarity with one another.
‘Beautiful.’
Companions who overcame difficult situations together and moved forward.
‘Truly beautiful.’
It was not about protecting a dungeon solely with one’s own strength.
‘A life where everyone protects it together…’
This was beauty.
For Azmo, who had protected a dungeon alone on Earth until now, it was a new experience.
If this was not beautiful, then what was?
No matter how many jewels and ornaments one possessed, no matter how many pretty statues or paintings one hung in a dungeon, that was not true beauty.
No matter how much one trained the body or adorned one’s appearance, it was still a stretch to call that true beauty.
He knew that well, for he too had once pursued the beauty of outward appearance.
But after meeting his current master, Azmo’s thoughts had changed.
He had been given the opportunity to reflect on the essence of beauty.
At least, that was how it was for him.
At the same time, Azmo realized something.
The words banquet and auction had already been erased from his mind.
Instead, another goal had taken their place.
‘I want to create a system like the Demon Realm Trading Company.’
He wondered what it would be like if an existence like the Demon Realm Trading Company existed on Earth as well.
It would probably require a great deal of capital.
And not just capital.
It would also require people to serve as the gears that operated the system.
Was that all?
If there was no power to protect it, then in the end it would merely be a pretty picture.
It would certainly be a difficult path.
Even so, Azmo wanted to realize his current idea, even if it meant walking that difficult path.
He sank into thought, pondering for a moment.
No matter what those around him chattered about, he did not hear them.
‘……’
How long had he thought?
It was the moment the question mark in his mind changed into an exclamation mark.
Now that he thought about it, there was no rule saying he had to do this alone.
Azmo looked around.
He had already formed a close relationship with the group of succubi and incubi he had met today.
Although he was on Earth, a dimension different from this place, had he not, in less than a day since meeting them, built an intimacy greater than anyone else’s?
And there were those tied to him by more than intimacy.
Azmo’s eyes turned toward the archlich.
And he thought of Head Administrator Celia.
‘If it is them…’
Would they not support his plan?
At the same time, they could lend him their strength.
And if even the Great One added his strength to that?
It was no longer a dream.
Perhaps a group even larger and more powerful than the current Demon Realm Trading Company might be born.
Azmo’s heart began to pound.
But right now, they were in the middle of a banquet.
It would not be too late to draw up a plan after the banquet ended.
Moreover, since he was benchmarking the Demon Realm Trading Company, it was important to learn as much as possible about its system.
Azmo swirled his wineglass and looked at the stage in the center.
The central stage had been completed before he knew it.
At the same time, the lights in the banquet hall all went out at once.
The light shone only on the central stage.
* * *
- Successfully absorbed the gnoll offered as a sacrifice.
- Acquired the gnoll’s trait [Sensitive Sense of Smell (C)]. It can be used for enhancement.
- Successfully absorbed the gnoll offered as a sacrifice.
- Acquired the gnoll’s trait [More Flexible Movements (D)]. It can be used for enhancement.
- Successfully absorbed the gnoll offered as a sacrifice.
- Acquired the gnoll’s skill [Quiet Footsteps (D)]. It can be used for enhancement.
When I woke up, the alerts had already sounded.
And beside me, Maru was standing guard over the surroundings with the magic sword in hand.
‘As expected, he’s doing well.’
Beside Maru was the new skeleton soldier who had recently joined us, and that guy had settled into his role in his own way too.
The sight was strangely funny, and I let out a laugh without realizing it.
“I’m awake now, so you can stop.”
Only then did they lower their guard at my words.
‘Cute little guys.’
I looked around and soon realized that one thing was missing.
“By the way, where are the gnoll hands?”
The gnoll hands Celia had sent separately were nowhere to be seen.
Even now, I did not know why she had sent them separately, but since she had sent them, it was better to check.
“Clack!”
But at my question, Maru immediately answered.
“Hm? You dealt with them?”
At Maru’s words that he had dealt with the gnoll hands, I thought for a moment.
Could it be that the gnoll hands Celia sent were not meant for me, but for Maru?
Come to think of it, Maru must have had various conversations with Celia when he went to the Eldorad Continent as well.
‘Ah, so that was it.’
Only now did it feel like the puzzle pieces were falling into place.
I had thought it was strange, but as it turned out, the gnoll hands might have been a gift for Maru rather than me.
That would also resolve my current question.
‘Sacrifices can be used that way too.’
Transactions between monsters seemed quite good.
‘This must be another way to build intimacy.’
In any case, I did not know why Maru needed the gnoll hands, but that was not the issue right now.
The gnoll abilities I had acquired this time were not important either.
- The Demon Realm Trading Company’s auction has opened.
- To participate in the auction, you need a Demon Realm Trading Company auction participation ticket.
- Would you like to use the Demon Realm Trading Company auction participation ticket to participate in the auction?
What mattered was that the auction had opened right away.
By the way, what did one bid with in an auction?
All I had were gold and jewels.
Recently, through Celia’s report, I had learned that the jewels I possessed were magic crystals.
“I think I have enough jewels.”
There had been the penalty incident this time, and I did not know when payments might be blocked again.
So from my perspective, I had to buy jewels whenever I had the leeway.
In any case, after the penalty disappeared this time, I had even made an additional purchase of jewels.
In the end, I had more than enough jewels—magic crystals, as Celia called them.
“This much ammunition should be fine.”
At the very least, I would be able to buy all the items I needed.
Just as I was about to touch the screen to participate in the auction.
“Ah, I can’t go like this, can I?”
No matter what, it was dangerous to reveal my appearance completely.
For starters, if it was the Demon Realm Trading Company, it would be crawling with monsters, and right now, no matter who looked at me, I was human.
At the very least, I needed something to conceal my appearance.
“Maru, bring me the mask and robe.”
And that was solved quickly.
The time had come to take out the black mask and robe I had worn during the last monster wave and then tossed aside.
‘It’s better than nothing.’
* * *
A monster climbed onto the central stage of the banquet hall.
It was a huge monster with dark brown skin, the same one who had spoken at the beginning to announce the start of the banquet.
“Ah, ah, everyone. Allow me to greet you once again. I am Thunderhead, and I will be serving as the host for this event.”
Everyone focused their gaze on Thunderhead on the central stage.
“Now! There is nothing quite like this to heat up the atmosphere!”
Thunderhead shouted in a powerful voice, mixing in exaggerated gestures.
He encouraged the response of the audience watching him and continued speaking.
“It is, of course, an auction!”
At the word auction, everyone applauded in response.
Some even shouted.
But Thunderhead’s words did not end there.
“It is still too early to be surprised! Some of you are probably thinking this. Since it is only a temporary auction house anyway, there won’t be any worthwhile items, right?”
“However! Once you see this auction, that thought will be completely shattered!”
At Thunderhead’s confident declaration, everyone was astonished.
“I guarantee the quality and rarity of every item. And you will be able to see items that can only be found at this auction with your very own eyes!”
At his words, cheers spread from place to place.
“Of course, in light of that, we have changed the rules so that all bids in this auction can only be made with magic crystals!”
As soon as Thunderhead finished speaking, those who had been cheering fell silent.
“Magic crystals…?”
What were magic crystals?
They were jewels containing magic or supernatural power.
As such, the uses of magic crystals were endless.
They could strengthen one’s power, or be used to research magic.
Alternatively, they could be used to enhance equipment or weapons, or to make accessories imbued with power.
But they were rare.
Their usefulness was high, but their supply was limited, making their price expensive.
And yet the auction would be conducted only with magic crystals?
It was only natural that some would be dissatisfied.
But Thunderhead paid it no mind and continued speaking.
“Instead, payment will be accepted afterward!”
In the end, it meant that as long as one succeeded in winning the bid this time, payment could be made later.
In a way, it was something possible precisely because it was the Demon Realm Trading Company.
“Now, is there any need to keep dragging out the time? To begin, we have prepared works that will simply delight your eyes!”
Additional monsters climbed onto the central stage.
In their hands was a single painting.
“Is it not truly magnificent just to look at? This painting was created by an artist famous among human nobles. You can feel the vividness, as if it might tear through the paper and leap out at any moment! We will start at one magic crystal for this painting!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than there were monsters placing bids.
The magic crystals that started at one soon reached ten.
In a sense, it was nothing more than a useless painting, but there was a hint hidden in the host’s words.
- A work by an artist famous among human nobles.
In other words, it could be resold to human nobles.
To put it simply, any monster with ties to a merchant group was confident they could extract more than the value of the magic crystals from it.
Of course.
“Fourteen magic crystals!”
There were also monsters who paid no attention to such things and boldly threw out bids.
“Yes! The gentleman over there has called fourteen magic crystals! Is there anyone who wishes to challenge that?”
It was Azmo.
When no one placed an additional bid, the painting went to Azmo.
After the bidding for the painting ended, next came jewels.
After jewels came sculptures, and they were all truly beautiful.
Most of those who recognized the value of this beauty and placed bids were succubi or incubi.
Of course, this was only a taste.
These luxury items were merely for livening up the mood at the beginning.
Because everyone knew this fact, there were far more who remained still.
And among that group was one particular being.
A being whose entire body was covered by a black mask and robe.
At the same time, it was also a being the demon currently leading the banquet, Serinu, was watching closely.
Serinu spoke to the subordinate beside him.
“Find out who that person is, discreetly. And inspect and reinforce the banquet hall’s security again.”
No matter how he looked, it was a being he had never seen before.
They definitely had not been there when the banquet began.
And yet, as soon as the auction started, they had appeared like a ghost.
‘Who are they?’
Normally, he could simply ask the other party directly or drive them out of the banquet hall.
But right now, he could not do that.
‘They are powerful…!’
An immense power could be felt from that being.
Though they had covered their entire body with a black mask and robe, they could not conceal the power emanating from them.
‘Just who are they?’
And after a moment, the subordinate approached again.
“Lord Serinu. There is no issue with the banquet hall’s security. The security level is already operating at its highest setting.”
His subordinate said there was nothing wrong with the banquet hall’s security.
Then how was it that a being he had never seen before was attending the auction?
“However, there is something strange. I cannot find any information about the being you mentioned, Lord Serinu.”
The trading company was enormous.
At the same time, its intelligence network was considerable.
And yet, only that being could not be identified.
“Hmm.”
He wanted to strip off that robe at once and confirm their identity.
The problem was that the other party was far too powerful.
To lay hands on a being who possessed such mighty power just from the sight of them?
Absolutely not.
There would be nothing good about provoking them unnecessarily.
In the end, Serinu had only one choice.
“For now, just watch. If the other party remains quiet, there is no need for us to make the first move.”
There was no need to stir up trouble for no reason.
Moreover, the other party did not seem to bear any malice toward the trading company.
Perhaps they could become a good partner for the company.
Holding on to a faint hope, Serinu continued watching the black mask.