"Twelve!"

"Thirteen!"

The bidding war was relentless, but Arthur took his time because he knew that Avadil wanted to milk whatever he could from the audience. 

"I am going for a bit," he told Dia before teleporting to the balcony from which Avadil oversaw the auction. Unfortunately, the one sitting beside him was none other than Ma, and the manager jumped from his seat to allow Arthur to sit.

"Seika!" Ma said as he offered his chair. "We were discussing the matter of the artifacts and their placement in the bid. Is there something wrong?"

"Avadil," Arthur went straight to the point, "Where did you find the hobgoblin at?" he asked unceremoniously. Avadil frowned when he heard his questions, his brows furrowing heavily.

"A merchant never reveals his source, Seika," it seems that even Avadil was offended by his question, and Arthur would have been understanding on most days. But, unfortunately, today was not one of them.

"Listen, Avadil," his aura overflowed, threatening. "I am deeply sorry for behaving in this way. I truly am. However," he said with barely-restrained self, "I need to know where you found it."

Avadil took a moment to study Arthur as if pondering the feasibility of the situation. Then, without answering, he turned toward the hobgoblin in the cage and then back at Arthur.

"The monster is looking at you," he said with fascination. "What relationship do you two exactly share?"

His words made Arthur turn toward the cage. This balcony was closer than his to the hobgoblin, and Arthur could see its eyes from beyond the bars. They were glowing, restless, and, most importantly, full of disbelief.

"A bond you should fear," Arthur said as he got closer to the railings. "Tell me, Avadil," he said calmly. "Where did you find it?"

"KAKAN!"

The hobgoblin let out a deep, furious growl as the runic lines lit up to restrain him. The fire appeared from within the cage, but it was quickly extinguished with the runes.

Arthur's heart skipped a beat when he saw the fire. It was violent, almost as powerful as his, and it was evident that this goblin was one of the five that he strengthened long ago.

"Give me an estimation of the price the artifacts can total to," Arthur said to the auction master, who clapped his hands and stood up.

"I can't say for their price, but my people expect nothing less than one hundred thousand."

"I will bid using the money from them, is that alright?" Arthur said as he turned to Avadil. The bids were still rolling, having reached twenty thousand by now.

"It would be a pleasure," Avadil nodded with a smile. "As for your earlier question, we can talk about it if you win the hobgoblin. How does that sound?"

Arthur didn't say anything and gave a slight nod before teleporting back to his balcony. Dia turned to face him the moment he arrived.

"Arthur," she said, standing up from her chair. "Please, tell me what is going on, and I will help you."

"I need to save it because I was the one to raise it a few months ago," he instantly answered when he heard how concerned and gentle her voice was. "I can't believe I allowed them to suffer alone."

"You had a lot on your plate, too," she said with a frown, grabbing the edge of his shirt. "You have been struggling this whole time to survive. So, why do you feel like you are responsible for everything going on in this world?"

"Because if I am not responsible, who is?" Arthur said with a frown. "Everything bad that happened," he was talking about Ellen, "I could have prevented it if I was a bit more careful and caring. If I only noticed it earlier, prevented it sooner, and didn't do everything thinking that it would harm me in the end, I wouldn't end up like this."

"You don't want to end up with me, someone who loves you? As the lord of a city with people who are grateful for you? As the savior of countless people in Shades City or countless more that you are going to save with your artifacts?" 

"I have yet to save anyone,"

"You saved me, idiot. I was blind, alone, and dying. You saved me from that fate and all of this power. You were the one to give it to me. Haven't you saved Gala from dying too?" she said and continued before he could ridicule himself. "You allowed her to leave this world, and that is saving."

"I am not trying to lick my wounds, Dia," Arthur said with a smile. "There are things that I feel, even if logic disapproves of them. I feel responsible for a lot of things, and not trying to find those I know is one of them."

"I... understand. What are we going to do now?" she asked, saying 'we' instead 'you,' and it made Arthur grin.

"We are going to bid to our heart's content."

"Twenty-two!" another bidder called.

"We have twenty-two for Count George," the lady said with a smile. "As your Lily, I am honored to receive these bids. However, don't you think they are quite lacking? I heard that intelligent monsters have a one-hundred chance of rewarding skills!"

"That is..."

"Aren't those just rumors?" the crowd muttered, but the lady seemed prepared for their suspicions.

"We brought here an expert in monsterpedia," she said as she gestured to a man in the crowd. "Please enlighten us with your knowledge."

The crowd turned to see a man rising from the crowd. It seems they all recognized him as a scientist of the kingdom. It was an aged man shriveled like a leave who coughed before speaking.

"It is true."

There were no other explanations, and the lady smiled in embarrassment. However, it was enough for the crowd, who were thirsty for confirmation.

"Twenty-five thousand!"

"Twenty-six..." the Knight of Nobility also rose to the occasion, but a voice interrupted his bid.

"Thirty thousand."

Everyone turned to look at the person who made such a bid, and it turned out to be no other than the Seika. The Knight of Nobility gritted his teeth as he was about to place another bid despite the panic of his vice-commander.

  "Thirty-one thousa..."

"Thirty-five," Arthur raised another bid before he could finish and turned to face him. "If you want to compete with my wealth, then you need to wake up from your dream. Otherwise, I will turn it into your nightmare."

"You are bluffing," the Knight of Nobility coldly said, and he turned to look at a balcony high above them. Arthur followed his gaze and realized he couldn't see who was on the patio. "Thirty-six thousand!"

"It must be the Ancient One," Dia said with realization as she looked at the balcony above them. "He is the one representing the nobles of this kingdom, so his wealth is even bigger than the Duke of Contracts."

"If they are truly willing to spend more than one-hundred thousand for a skill," Arthur glared at the balcony and felt a pair of eyes glare back. "Then I have no choice but to fight them."

"Seika," Dia began but couldn't continue her words. "You are weak in comparison," she mercilessly said. "If you truly fight against them, then they would crush you without caring about his majesty's loyal subjects."

"I have ways to make a stand, even if they are stronger," Arthur didn't find offense in her words because that was indeed the case. He was still trying to evolve into a Vetus-ranker, but the Duke of Battle was an Astra-ranker.

"I will stand by your side, no matter what," she said with a smile. "Fight the world, and the world will be my enemy."

"I don't think we need to fight anyone," Arthur smiled. "If I am short on money, then I will simply pay using artifacts. The only way that I am losing this is by running out of artifacts, or if they are suddenly unwanted."

"Thirty-six thousand for a skill! Furthermore, it must be a high-ranking skill. Maybe it is their infamous fire?"

"That is not a skill, idiots," Arthur sighed. "Forty-thousand!"

The crowd gasped at him flaunting his wealth. Of course, Arthur had no reason to raise the price this way, but he wanted to weed out the other bidders.

The Knight of Nobility started to panic as well, looking back at the Ancient One in his balcony. After receiving some sort of message, the knight continued to bid.

Forty-one. Forty-five. Forty-six. Fifty. Fifty-one

The exchange they saw was brutal because it showcased Arthur's wealth for him to spend so much money on a monster. Each time, the Knight of Nobility would seek the Ancient One before bidding until Arthur grew sick of it.

"If you need to take his consent to bid, then why doesn't he do the bidding himself?" Arthur smiled at the Knight of Nobility. "You are simply proving that you are nothing but a puppet, Knight of Nobility.. If you have no money, then step aside."

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