Chapter 72 - Episode 15: It is a Tip-off
Good day! I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
The bidding for Fawn Tart Hornbone is finally about to begin. His father, the current head of House Hornbone, is also in the venue, so there is no doubt the price will skyrocket! He must be made to pay a fortune!
"One red gold coin."
I'll blow past the start immediately. I won't do something like piling up blue or yellow gold coins bit by bit. I've made the price equivalent to 1,000 gold coins at once!
"One red gold coin and five yellow!"
Now, the head of House Hornbone is raising the price stingily... I wonder where he will give up? If it continues like this, it might become a duel between me and the head. But I'll go until the very limit!
"One red and one blue!"
Just when I thought that, a voice rose from a completely unexpected direction.
It seems to be some lady. Presumably, she is someone who had a romantic relationship with Fawn somewhere... her eyes are gleaming and it's scary!
"One red, one blue, and one yellow!"
Now, next came a man with the appearance of a slave merchant.
His aim is probably resale. Whether he knows the head of House Hornbone is here or not, he must be planning to sell a 'slave who looks very much like Fawn Tart Hornbone' at a high price.
...As for the head, he might be thinking that even if the slave on stage is his son or a lookalike who looks infinitely like his son, he can at least use him as a body double.
Princess Scola is also missing, but it was an engagement that was once decided. If he's thinking that maybe it could be swapped for an engagement with the 5th or 7th Princess, then he surely wouldn't want to let go of Fawn. After all, it's an engagement with the Royal Family. There's no way he'd miss that chance.
"One red gold coin! Three blue gold coins!"
The head is doing his best to raise the price despite being stingy... but no matter how much financial power he has, others are not losing in terms of obsession.
Immediately after the head bid, ladies, young misses, merchants, and even young men who might want revenge on Fawn bid one after another from all directions.
...Does this mean I don't even need to step in?
Oh, but it would be something if I did nothing, so I'll hike it up all at once here.
"One black gold coin."
...
"O-One black gold coin and two blue!"
"One black and five blue!"
"Two black!"
Oh, good. It's progressing at an unbelievable pace. Since we'll make a huge profit at this point, I'll just leave it alone. Ohohoho.
And so the bidding dragged on and on... and finally ended.
"Then the successful bidder is number 34! The winning bid is six black gold coins and four red gold coins!"
...The one who won the bid was the head of House Hornbone. Good for him, being able to successfully buy back his son.
Six black gold coins is surely a painful expense even for Hornbone, but well, he can't replace his son.
The head of House Hornbone will have to work hard to scrape together the money from now on. After all, there's no way he'd be carrying six black gold coins around.
So, well... let's decide to overcharge him a bit later.
"Then we shall leave the procedures for later... and with this momentum, let us move on to the final bid of the day!"
Now then. Finally, the last one has come.
Surely... no one would have thought that the princess of this country would stand on stage as a slave. Yes.
"The final slave is a slave who looks just like 'Princess Scola Shaf Orchesta'! This beauty is like no other! Please see her up close!"
When we opened the audience seats near the stage, well, they swarmed and swarmed, a huge number of people rushed toward Princess Scola all at once.
By the way, I have Princess Scola dressed like a 'fake princess.' I've placed a cheap tiara on her head, put her in a scandalous dress, and tied her to a magnificent chair, so the view from right by the stage is perfect.
Princess Scola is saying 'au au' or something, but it's not human language, so it's just a bit amusing. Yes.
"Then, we shall start this one from one black gold coin."
As soon as the bidding started, the price skyrocketed in the blink of an eye. And the one turning pale is the head of House Hornbone.
His son's fiancé, and a member of the Royal Family at that, is acting as a slave in a place like this.
...Even if she were a lookalike, there's no reason not to put out money here. In the end, he ends up squandering money here again.
In the end, Princess Scola was won by House Hornbone. The winning bid was nine black gold coins.
...Adding nine coins to the six black gold coins makes fifteen.
This is enough to surely make even a high-ranking noble's house tilt a bit, but I wonder if they'll be all right?
Once the auction ended and it was time to disperse, the customers began to spend their time as they pleased, returning to their respective cabins or starting a review session for the slaves they just bought.
...And behind the scenes.
"This is troubling, customer. To present an amount you don't even have."
"I will definitely prepare it immediately! I can produce it as soon as I return to the mansion!"
"There's also the possibility you'll just run away, right? That won't work for our business."