At night, in one of the dark alleys of Radan.
"Captain, the boy will be auctioned tonight."
"Hmm, alright. Good job, Tate."
"What is the plan, captain?"
"We strike when the boy will be presented for the auction."
"Yes, captain"
"…Also, take anything of value."
A plan was being brewed to attack the auction house in the dark and desolate alley, all the while a demon listened to them from the top of a building.
***
I was bored.
Really bored.
"haaaa…"
Spark~
A bulb lit in my mind, and I got the perfect idea.
'hehehe.'
I laughed quietly so as not to disturb James, who was asleep in the same room as me.
'Let's go hunting!'
I quietly got up from the bed and went to stand in front of the mirror.
Rustle~
Rustle~
I searched for my clothes and mask.
'Here it is.'
I wore a black suit with matching colour shoes. It had a white shirt and a red tie to complement it.
'Damn, if I looked this handsome, I wouldn't have died single.'
Soon after, I put on my demon mask that had two horns and four fangs.
'Now, that I am ready. Let's go hunting, baby.'
Thump~
I landed on top of a building, and my gaze wandered to the surrounding buildings that resembled 80s European structures with flat roofs, making it easy to move from one to another.
Quite roads lit by lamps on the pavement with occasional noises from drunkards that swayed while moving, and the huge moon hanging above the city with the stars as its assistant gave the whole city of Radan a majestic look.
"Haaa…" A gentle breeze touches my cheeks, making me sigh.
"Everything is beautiful in this world."
…
"I guess I should start moving now."
Soon after, I started running and jumped from one building to another.
Until…
'What is the plan, captain?'
'We strike when the boy will be presented for the action.'
'Yes, captain'
'…Also, take anything of value.'
…I heard the voice of two men.
'So, they are planning to raid an auction house, huh?'
"Interesting…, I should follow them."
"hahahhah"
The demon laughed and followed his prey.
***
"Get the lighting ready!"
"A bit to the left!"
"No, right!"
A lot of men could be seen preparing for the auction that was going to be held tonight.
Among them, a man in a dark blue suit was asking his assistant, Smith, about all the preparations.
"Smith, are all the preparations ready?"
The man was 6 feet tall.
"Yes, sir, all the preparations are ready."
He had black hair parted from the middle of his head and green eyes.
"What about the security?"
He looked nervous.
"We did all the security checks, too, sir."
Extremely nervous.
"Are you sure, Smith, that everything is prepared?"
Because…
"Yes, sir."
…Tonight, he was going to host an auction with important guests.
"Nothing should go wrong tonight, you know who is going to come, right, Smith?"
"Yes, sir."
"How long until the auction starts, Smith?"
"Sir, the doors will be opened in half an hour."
"Good, then do a final check and come back."
"Yes, sir."
***
Liam followed the two men, who later became one because the other went to bring more people.
The man walked through the alleys to get to the black market.
He then wore a robe and mask.
The black market had a lot of people who wore black robes and masks to hide their identities.
Though the shops were small, the product prices were high.
And unlike the commercial district, it was quiet.
The sellers and the buyers did the negotiations silently so as not to let it be known what they bought or sold.
'So, this place has black markets too, huh?'
Guess the saying 'Where there is light, darkness follows.' was right all along.
Liam followed the man and soon reached a big house.
The house windows were black, and the inside couldn't be seen.
The man went in front of an old door and knocked with two short and three long pauses.
Creak~
The door opened, and the man went inside.
'I guess it was…, ah, two short and three long pauses.'
'I got it.'
Liam did the sets of action, and the door opened.
A bulky black man in a dark suit opened the door.
The black person looked out to see a short man covered in a black robe and a demon mask.
He looked at the short man for a few more seconds, then asked a question.
"You were not followed, right?"
"No."
Liam answered while altering his voice by pressing on his throat using mana slime.
"Come in then quickly."
Phew~
'I thought I was caught.'
The black person closed the door, and a long corridor presented itself to Liam.
'Should I go along the-'
"Go straight along the path. When you reach the end, push the middle top book on your left."
The black man instructed professionally, his voice neither too low nor too loud.
"Thank you."
"No need, just go already."
Liam did as instructed.
Tak, Tak~
In the long corridor, Liam walked slowly.
Not because he was scared, but for…
'Wow, it really looks like I am in a horror.'
…he just wanted to feel the atmosphere of being in a horror movie. Thus, acted scared.
The corridor was dimly lit by crystals attached to the ceiling, on both sides were bookshelves filled with books.
Liam walked for two minutes, and as the black man said, he reached the end.
'The middle top on the left…'
'The middle top on the left…'
'Found it.'
Cre…ak
He pushed the book, and a flight of stairs going up presented itself in front of Liam.
Step~
Step~
'Damn! I really feel like I am in a horror film'
Soon, he was greeted in a hall.
The hall was spacious and had neatly arranged seats.
People with robes and different kinds of masks were seated in their places.
Small quarters were stationed at the top of the hall for vip guests.
A man came to Liam to ask if Liam wanted the vip quarters.
"Sir, would you like to sit in the vip room?"
"What does the vip room offer?"
"A girl to massage you and a great view of the product with a bodyguard stationed outside to protect you, sir. It will cost 1000 kottar per hour, sir"
"No, thank you. Here will do just fine."
'Who would give a 1000 kottar per hour just for this place to be attacked?'
'Protection, my ass, I am stronger than any of your bodyguards.'
"Then enjoy your time, sir."
The man bows slightly and leaves.
'Where should I sit?'
Liam looked around to find an empty seat in order to sit.
'Ah, there is an empty seat.'
"Excuse me. Excuse me, please."
Woosh~
As soon as Liam sat, the curtain drew and a man with a microphone appeared.
"Hello, hello"
The man had black hair parted in the middle and green eyes.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, to today's auction! I am Jack, your host for tonight's auction!"
The man greeted and made some small jokes to ease the atmosphere before beginning the big show.
"Without further ado, let's start the event you have all come for!"
"For the first item we have is…"
'haaaa…'
'Man, I wish I had money.'
I saw as one item after another got auctioned. Bidding for each item started from 100,000 kottar.
"Number 26! Bidding 234,000 kottar!"
"Number 88! Raised it to 250,000 kottar!"
'Ouch, what is this pain? Why am I so poor?'
'As I thought, I need to go on more raids.'
I heard excited shouts from the audience and the announcer.
"Wow! A solid bidding of 500,000 kottar from number 91!"
'Should I rob them?'
My inner devil tried to coax me into robbing them.
'take a breath in…'
Haaaa
Huuuu
'…then breath out.'
But I suppressed the devil's whisper by taking breath in and out.
The bidding went on with each item and with that…
Sometimes the audience cursed for not getting the item they wanted.
"Son of a…"
Others lamented the fact that they don't have enough money.
"If I had a little more money."
…
The final item was presented, but the boy was nowhere to be seen.
"We acquired this one from one of the monster corpses. The monster itself had a deep orange core."
Soon, a bone was shown.
"Ladies and gentlemen, now we will display for you all the final product of the show."
"Yes! Now I present you with a monster bone that has a skill!"
***
Somewhere in the audience seat, there sat a man with a black robe covering him from head to toe and a tiger mask on his face.
"Captain, when do we strike?"
A man with a similar get-up but a donkey mask whispered by the side.
"Not yet, we strike when the kid is displayed, Tate."
The man with a tiger mask said while looking at the bone exhibited on the stage.
"Yes, captain."