Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, back when I was a child, I imagined that auctions were a place where rich people in expensive clothing bid for works of art and jewelry--nowadays, when I think of auctions…Ebay comes to mind.”

 

“Did something good happen, Tek?” Sera asks me, speaking in a strange, almost affectionate tone--I think this girl on a subconscious level knows that I saved her, and she is suffering the suspension-bridge effect.

 

Well, I don’t mind when attractive girls like me; as long as I and my girls also like them--I don’t mind returning affection. But Sera, she has an older Sister with a lot of political power who could cause suffering for me and my girls if she really tried…both in the Shiga Kingdom and Saga Empire.

 

“Yes, some difficult work has been going better then I expected.”

 

Thanks to the many Scrolls that I’ve acquired from Viscount Shimen’s mansion--Mara and I have been able to make some good Magic Swords using casting, but we still can’t quite figure out how to do the same with forged blades. But she was incredibly excited when we finished making the first cast sword--she can be cute when she bounces in excitement, and then swings around a sword that is almost double her size, with one hand and almost no effort.

 

“Master, some children who missed the food distribution have come, can we do something about them?”

 

“There were a lot of adults today after all.”

 

Lulu and Arisa have brought along two Dogkin and three Ratkin children--their ages are between 4 - 8 years old.

 

Pochi is about to distribute the sweets that she has been storing in her pockets, wrapped in a handkerchief, when--

 

“Hehe, thanks for it.”

“Bye now, dog girl.”

 

Apekin children run up and quickly snatched the baked sweets from Pochi’s hand, running toward a nearby alleyway.

 

Due to the sudden change in events, Pochi pauses and blinks a few times, before yelling, “Wait! Stealing is bad.” While running after the culprits.

 

“Liza, Tame, please.” I ask the other two to join Pochi, to make sure she didn’t get lost.

 

“Yes, Master!”

“Roger.”

 

Since that’s taken care of, I ask Nana to take the five hungry children to the stalls nearby and get them something to eat. I make sure to remind Nana not to give them something that’s too expensive. She has a soft spot for ‘Young Organisms’ after all.

 

Well, Arisa follows them, so it’ll probably be alright.

 

Soon, Pochi and Tama carry the Apekin children, almost dragging them--they’ve been tied up with a rope that the Beastkin girls got from somewhere.

 

“Master, I’ve caught the culprits.”

“Sinners, to the gallows.”

 

“What should we do? They’ll be dealt with accordingly if we hand them over to the authorities.” Liza looked at the two with sharp eyes.

 

The two little thieves are saying, “Sorry”, “Won’t do it again”, but they probably don’t really regret it. They’ll either end up being slaves, or beheaded if we turn them over to the authorities. They aren’t Thieves, and they don’t really have anything in their Reward&Punishment, especially they didn’t threaten or hurt anyone--and they are children--so I don’t want them to die.

 

I forgive them by giving them a scolding, and a flick on the forehead. I tell Liza to untie them, and have them help with the cleaning-up after the food distribution is finished. The Apekin children are helping with the work while calling ‘big sister’. They don’t seem to have learned their lesson because they try to pickpocket Pochi, but are found out and obstructed by Tama.

 

Pochi gets angry and downs them with her fist, causing them to roll on the ground in pain--judging from how little their HP decreases, Pochi seems to have held back properly.

 

“Hey, Ms Priestess?”

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“The adults are saying something like ‘The Demon Lord will be revived’.”

“The end of an era. Everyone is going to die, they say.”

“Will everyone die?”

 

Not only Demi-Human children, Human children are also encircling Sera with worried faces.

 

“It’s alright, it won’t happen. The hero will surely eliminate the Demon Lord.” Sera says with a sweet smile as she comfortingly strokes the children’s heads.

 

“It’s okay.”

“Master will beat down something like a Demon Lord, like KABOOM!”

 

Tama and Pochi hug me while looking at me with sparkling eyes.

 

“Master, you have a serious responsibility don’t you?” Lulu says happily, but it’s unlikely that she thought this.

 

Only Arisa, who knows the truth, looks like she has mixed feelings--It’s said that ignorance is bliss.

 

***

“Good evening, Head Priestess.”

 

“Oh my, Sine Nomine--you’re elusive like always.” She looks her age when I saw her at the Duke’s Castle back at the ball--but for some reason she looks young in this room.

 

“I’ve come here today to ask about any Oracles regarding the Demon Lord.”

 

“Oh? You’ve annihilated it, right? The Oracle from Tenion has told us that it’s been ‘Annihilated’.”

 

“It must have been defeated by a passing hero.”

 

“Fufufu, let’s leave it like that.” She laughs lightly.

 

“There are rumours among the people on the street that the Demon Lord is hiding itself in the underground, under the Duchy Capital. Didn’t the temple announce the annihilation of the Demon Lord?”

 

“I’ve told his excellence, the Duke, directly. But the ‘Annihilated’ Oracle hasn’t come to the other temples yet--so we can’t announce the Demon Lord’s demise from the Tenion temple alone.”

 

Don’t tell me, there are other Demon Lords out there?

 

I’d hate it if there’s something like a ‘Great Demon Lord’.

 

I return the Resurrection Artifact to the Head Priestess. I have, of course, refilled it with Magic.

 

“Thank you, Sine Nomine. I’d prefer that there won’t be a situation where this is needed.”

 

“I agree with that sentiment.”

 

When I’m about to leave, I’m given something by the Head Priestess.

 

Leniency.

 

Which is a Magic Item that lets you erase a single crime that has been etched into your Reward&Punishment. It’s not clear what the Head Priestess intends by giving me this Item, but since it looks useful, I quietly accept it.

 

***

I put on one of the wigs that I bought downtown, and walk into the red light district. There are many gentlemen walking around with hooded cloaks, so I’m unexpectedly inconspicuous.

 

I am here to secretly visit the Dark Auction that’s ‘secretly’ open during the Martial Tournament. It requires a written invitation to enter, but since a lot of the nobles who died to the Demon Lord carried it--I have a lot of them in my storage.

 

Since you can hire agents, I decide to--the commission fee is 1 silver coin for each displayed item, it has to be paid whether or not the item succeeds in selling.

 

The agent will take 10% if the item is sold at a higher price than the minimum fee. Since I’m told that items which haven’t been appraised won’t sell well, I have to pay extra to get the official Appraisal in the auction hall. There are 10 official Appraisers in the auction hall to issue them.

 

I’m going to exhibit Potions, and Weapons.

 

The Magic Potions are one I made after changing my name to Sine Nomine, they increase Vitality and a little Health. I knew that they would sell well, because of some conversations I overheard from some of the old men--the materials come from the Hard Newts, so I can make a lot of them, and their Market Price is quite high.

 

It’ll be troublesome if the person who takes the medicine dies during intercourse, so I lowered the quality slightly.

 

They sold at a much higher price than I expected--I guess I should try making Potions to regrow hair, or enlarge breasts.

 

The Weapons are mock Magic Weapons made from Monster materials, and a few of the trial runs from the Magic Swords made from casting--they are under Mara’s name, but no one knows her--she stays in the mansion.

 

People who look like nobles were buying the Cast Magic Swords--the person who’s buying them looks familiar. I check my Heads-Up-Display, it’s the Duke’s Military Accountant. He’s generously paying 100 gold coins for each.

 

I get 780 gold coins in total.

 

I decide to stay and see if there’s anything that I want to buy.

 

Mixed among Magic Tools, they’re exhibiting things like: fallen young Noble women, illegal Potions, or Level-Up Potions.

 

I also manage to buy:

Nature Magic: Fake Patch

Nature Magic: Unlock

Nature Magic: Lock

 

The last day is going to exhibit the featured products like: ‘Princess of the Fallen Kingdom’, ‘Research Book of Ancient Language’, ‘Engine of An Airship’.

 

Princess of the Fallen Kingdom, she can’t possibly be Arisa’s and Lulu’s sister right?

 

It seems that the King will also attend the Tournament’s final, tomorrow. Moreover, Ringrande and the third prince will be doing an exhibition match before the final--if a disturbance is going to happen, it’s either during the match or the wedding.