As the price increased by 500 gold coins each time, more than half of the participants gave up on bidding.
When the price soared to 20,000 gold coins, half of those remaining also dropped out, and by the time it reached 50,000 gold coins, only a few were still participating.
– Th-This is crazy…
– Is this amount even recoverable?
– No matter how much you try to profit from that, it doesn’t seem like it’s worth 50,000 gold coins…
– This is madness.
A budget that would take several years for a small city was being traded on a single ledger.
Meanwhile, the nobles whose names were listed on the ledger had grown pale within just a few minutes.
– Wh-What do we do now?
– You’re planning to keep bidding? Are you sure this is something we can handle?
– For heaven’s sake, we’re at 60,000 gold coins now!
The nobles had already exhausted all the money they pooled together among themselves and were now dipping into the Crown Prince’s funds.
Yet the rising numbers showed no signs of stopping.
However, unlike the group of nobles, those still bidding remained composed, and soon the price had climbed to 80,000 gold coins.
From this point on, it was truly a game of chicken.
The nobles who were already in a vulnerable position under the Crown Prince’s thumb would spare no expense in using his funds, and the other participants showed no intention of backing down either.
Eventually, when the price reached 100,000 gold coins, then 120,000 gold coins, and finally 150,000 gold coins, one of the nobles suddenly came to his senses.
– Is there any point in spending more money at this stage?
The amount the Crown Prince would have to cover now exceeded what the nobles had pooled together.
Unbelievable.
150,000 gold coins weren’t just a trivial figure; it was a number only nobles managing large territories or those running major merchant guilds might encounter.
For nobles whose primary source of income was collecting taxes from their subjects, it was clear they could no longer keep up.
– Let’s stop here.
– W-Wait! If we give up like this, do you know what might happen to us?
– I heard the Crown Prince had prepared for a situation like this!
– B-But…
– It’s already 160,000 gold coins! The amount keeps rising even without us bidding! Do you really think there’s any hope left here?
– Damn it…
The plan that the Crown Prince had prepared was something they wanted to save until the very last moment.
If something went wrong, who knew what would happen?
It was clear that a string of unimaginable consequences would follow, and no one wanted to even think about it.
– Understood…
But there was no more room left for them to retreat. They were already plummeting into the abyss.
All they could do was hope that things would proceed according to the Crown Prince’s plan.
Whether or not the nobles gave up on bidding, the auction continued.
The amount had now reached nearly 200,000 gold coins, a figure so high that even the spectators began to doubt whether the trade ledger truly held such value.
When the bidding finally reached 230,000 gold coins, the fierce competition drew to a close, and the auctioneer at last opened his mouth.
“With a total of 232,000 gold coins, Bidder No. 49 has won the auction!”
As the rare and staggering amount was declared, some let out gasps of surprise, while others sighed in resignation.
Most were merely there to test the waters, wearing expressions that said, “Oh well, it was worth a try,” but those who sighed in frustration were mostly among the nobles.
Meanwhile, Elliott who was holding the No. 49 placard let out a sigh of relief.
The person who competed with him until the end was none other than the twin sister of the rat sewer, Miss Sue’s subordinate.
In the end, the auction was won by the Goldmine family.
Now the only problem left is how to take that thing with us.
There likely wouldn’t be any immediate trouble.
The auction house was currently under heavy guard by the Four Families after all.
There was no reason for anyone planning an attack to poke the hornet’s nest right now.
Besides, even if a subordinate of the Four Families wore a mask here, it would be pointless.
They would remember Elliott well and launch an attack as soon as the goods were in his hands.
But the world rarely moves according to people’s expectations.
“Well then, we would like to thank all of you who participated in today’s auction, and we hope to see many of you at the banquet that will follow… huh?”
At that moment, blue magical particles scattered throughout the auction hall.
Though he realized the situation too late, the auctioneer quickly pressed the call button to summon the guards.
At the same time, he tried to reassure the guests.
However, portals of teleportation magic unfolded from the various spaces where the magical particles had been released.
“H-How is this possible?!”
The underground city also had a teleportation-blocking magic circle installed.
Despite this, the blue particles gathered and a portal finally formed.
“Ah, ahhh!”
“What on earth is that thing?!”
From the portal emerged a creature with white fur and long ears. It was a rabbit.
However, unlike ordinary rabbits, these were all massive, each as large as an adult man, and disturbingly grotesque.
They wore outfits made of patched-up suits.
Yet their eyes were swollen to the point of almost bursting, and their teeth were sharp like those of a savage beast, not a rabbit.
Dozens of these rabbits poured out of the portal.
When about fifty of them had filled the banquet hall, someone suddenly flowed out of the closing portal like water.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.”
The figure that emerged from the portal spoke.
“I apologize for the intrusion, but I couldn’t resist attending upon hearing about such a splendid venue.”
Though the figure spoke in a refined manner, not a single guest felt reassured.
After all, this figure also had the appearance of a rabbit.
To be precise, the body resembled that of a human, but the head was unmistakably that of a rabbit.
A strange phenomenon happened. A rabbit’s face was speaking human words.
He was closer to a human form than the other rabbits, dressed in a sleek suit that matched his long legs, and held a pocket watch attached to his waist as if checking the time.
“Unfortunately, since I didn’t receive an invitation, I had to barge in like this. I would be grateful if you could grant us permission to participate in the auction.”
The rabbit gentleman spoke politely, but the rabbits who appeared to be his subordinates were already rushing at the banquet food scattered around the room.
Guests screamed and huddled in one corner.
Watching this behavior, the auctioneer shouted fiercely.
“This is ridiculous! Do you even know where you are?!”
“Oh dear. Is it really not possible?”
The rabbit gentleman politely asked again, but the response did not come from the auctioneer. It came from the entrance of the banquet hall.
“Unknown intruders have been detected. Everyone, eat the pills and confront them!”
The guards rushed in at the auctioneer’s call. They each pulled a pill out of their pockets and swallowed it without hesitation.
Moments later, the guards’ muscles swelled as if they were about to burst.
The guards, armed with their weapons, rushed at the rabbits that were still gorging themselves on the food piled on the tables.
“Oh dear… our little ones are quite wild; you really shouldn’t treat them like that…”
However, contrary to the rabbit gentleman’s worries, the guards mercilessly cut down the feasting rabbits, their weapons imbued with magical power.
Rabbits were beheaded by swords, and their heads were smashed by maces.
But the rabbits did not just sit back and take it.
Once attacked, the rabbits fought back. They lunged at the guards with claws and teeth much sharper than one would expect from rabbits.
The guards seemed to have some experience fighting such beasts and did not easily fall, but the battle did not go one-sidedly.
“Aaaargh!!”
The first casualty appeared.
A rabbit, whose upper and lower body had been sliced off, dragged its intestines as it bit the leg of a guard.
Its jaw strength was so immense that it chewed through the armor, tearing the guard’s leg off.
“Be careful! Their vitality is abnormal!”
As casualties continued to rise, the captain of the guards shouted out.
The fallen rabbits clung on like zombies. They maintained their relentless vitality to the end.
No, even with their heads crushed, they kept moving.
This wasn’t just stubborn vitality; it had to be considered that they simply weren’t dying.
“Aim for the head and limbs! Make sure they can’t attack even after they’re down!”
As the captain’s orders continued, the guards did not remain helpless.
A grotesque scene of madness unfolded.
The guests who were watching began to scream.
Some of the rabbits turned their attention toward the guests.
“Stop them!!”
The auction was already ruined, but the guests must not be harmed.
If any of them got hurt, the reputation of the dog seller who hosted this auction would be tarnished.
Several guards who were aware of this rushed in.
“If only we had been allowed to participate in the auction, none of this would have happened. What a pity.”
The rabbit gentleman who was watching the chaos pressed a button attached to the end of his pocket watch.
“What, what is this?!”
“What are these creatures doing?!”
That small action brought a drastic change to the battlefield.
The rabbit monsters that had just been bleeding and spilling their guts miraculously returned to their original state, as if time itself had rewinded.
“Catch that bastard first!”
Quickly grasping the situation, the captain of the guards ordered everyone to target the rabbit gentleman who had started all of this, and he himself charged at him.
But the rabbit gentleman did not remain idle.
A staff no bigger than a child’s palm emerged from his arms, and in an instant, it transformed into a staff suitable for an adult to wield.
The rabbit took a stance as if he were fencing and scolded the approaching guards.
“You’ve chosen death.”
At that moment, the rabbit gentleman lowered his posture, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.
“What?”
But he hadn’t simply disappeared.
Some of the guards who had been charging at him were suddenly coughing up blood and collapsed.
“What?!”
Not far away, the rabbit gentleman reappeared with his staff in his hand. The hearts of those who had just fallen were impaled on it like skewers.
“What… what is this?”
Before the captain of the guards could even form words at the sight, the rabbit gentleman was already moving around the battlefield as if he owned it.
“Damn it… This is no ordinary foe. Use the overlapping pill!”
Finally, heeding the captain’s order to risk the side effects and try the overlapping doping, the guards who were still pushing their way into the banquet hall began the procedure.
Their already large muscles swelled even more and they changed the dynamics of the battle.
It wasn’t just about slashing with their swords anymore. They were now creating magical waves that started to disassemble the rabbit’s body on contact.
The guards who hadn’t yet used the overlapping pill were busy guiding the still-screaming guests toward the emergency exits.
Then—
Booom—!!
A loud explosion was heard from outside.
“Aaaargh—!”
Screams echoed from the corridor where the guards had been entering.
New intruders appeared.
They broke through the corridor guards and made their way into the banquet hall. Their appearance made one wonder if they were even human.
Their skin was so pale it seemed almost transparent.
They all had bald heads, not a single strand of hair, and wore muzzles. In contrast to their translucent skin, their bodies were soaked in the blood of the guards.
“Well… It seems wild dogs have barged into the rabbits’ playground.”
“White Flame…?!”
Each of the intruders stood with both hands wrapped in a white flame-like aura, shaped like swords.
The Crown Prince’s hounds had arrived at the call of the noble faction.
In a scene descending further into chaos—
Unlike the chaos unfolding below, a man in a plain mask observing from the second floor quietly muttered to himself.
“What a mess.”
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