The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 404: The Ashflint Auction(1)

“Welcome our dear guests… Welcome to this extraordinary Auction sponsored by our prestigious Ashflint family!” the old auctioneer said as Lily and Yulian found their seats in the VIP balcony Liam provided.

“Is Victor that emperor you kept mentioning to Liam?” Yulian asked, ignoring the auctioneer who began some stupid introduction.

“Yes, we need to secretly collect allies for the Reckoning, and he can’t do that as a Von Weise heir! So we invented some random personas,” she answered briefly. Wondering what kind of depraved persona he would be using in the other world… Lately, she was experiencing a strange weak feeling of ecstasy. She knew that this must be her soul connection to him, and this made her really wonder what the fuck was he doing. The only explanation for that feeling she could think of was Victor sneaking into some elf emperor’s harem.

Damn it… She quickly shook her head. She needed that sword!

“Oh… Then why did you give Liam a way out? giving him one entire year to pay. Couldn’t you have just demanded those 10 authority points straight away and made him a slave?” Yulian, who didn’t notice Lily’s mood swings, asked. His sister didn’t seem to be the forgiving type.

“Liam is a Scion… We can’t corner Scions…” she said.

“What does that mean?” Yulian frowned. “Scions?”

“You will understand when we return to the family… Now let’s focus on the auction…” she said dismissively as the auctioneer presented some ceramic ducks.

She was totally not interested… Even when the ducks began to vibrate.

“What are we here for anyway?” Yulian asked.

“Slaves… This auction happens once a year, and it is one of the biggest in the world,” she answered.

“Ahh... Is this legal?” Yulian asked nervously as he looked at the audience down below. All his experiences with the police were very miserable.

“In this country, YES!” she said. “I already told you that, so don’t worry!”

“Ok…” he seemed a little relaxed. “Didn’t you just get 40 … Whatever those things were… ”

“Don’t be rude! It is not their fault!” she scolded, interrupting him. “ And, I don’t mind grabbing a few more girls, especially a gem that should appear here!” she said as her eyes twinkled.

“Who?”

“You will see, she should be the last and best object tonight, we just…” she paused and frowned as two men stepped onto the opposing balcony. One was Liam who was almost groveling in front of the guest whom she could only get a glimpse of before a burly bodyguard closed the blinds.

“Shit….”

“What?” Yulian asked. His sister’s mouth was very foul, she kept hurling random curses for random reasons all the time.

“Someone who should not be here…This is going to be troublesome,” she bit her lip. The guest was none other than Titus, Victor’s cousin. That bastard didn’t even care to wear a mask. He feared no one!

“Will this affect our plans?” Yulian asked. He had no idea who this someone was.

“Yes, that guy will definitely be bidding for the ones we want, and Liam would probably side with him!” Lily cursed. She should have delayed the payment of the debt until after the auction… But she would have missed out on the money and the VIP seats. Damn it.

“Then?” Yulian asked. “Should we back down?”

“No… Don’t worry, I already have a backup plan as I expected someone would try to take our loot… It is just that this guy is too troublesome…” she said as her mind turned fast, she could still make things work.

Taking a strange-looking talisman, she pointed it at the balcony and activated it.

“SHIT!” she cursed again.

“What is it this time?” Yulian asked as he watched the look on her face change.

“Those blinds have a sound distortion effect…” she said as she stood up. Even S-ranked voice magnification talismans were useless if the only thing they could hear was noise.

“Bid casually on a few random things before I return… And try not to arouse suspicion!” she told Yulian, “I need to check on a few things!” she said as she left the balcony in a hurry, activating her Shadow cloak skill.

She quickly followed the corridor until she reached the balcony where Liam and Titus should be, making sure no one was nearby, she activated a talisman and pasted it on the door, then put her ear on it. Thankful it worked.

…

"Light had shone upon my lonely world... and my..."

“Stop with ass-kissing already…” Titus interrupted. “Where's Larry? I thought I asked for him!”

“Ah, Larry is no longer responsible for the auction house here…. If young Master Titus needs anything, I would be more than glad to provide it!” Liam said.

“Is he dead?”

“Who?”

“Larry? If he was not dead then why is not fucking here to welcome me?” Titus asked arrogantly.

“Oh, well… Larry left this city a week ago. I just got promoted, and he didn’t like to keep working under me… He works for my big brother...” Liam said he sounded troubled.

“Oh…” Titus frowned. So it is family drama... Not like he cared. “Then what happened to the goods?”

“The goods?” Liam asked.

“My fucking girls!” Titus flared. “The one I ordered Larry to secure!”

“Oh…” Liam seemed troubled again.

“Oh, what?”

“These belonged to young master Titus?” Liam asked.

“Yes…”

“I am very sorry, young master… The managers had no idea those were young master Titus’s goods… So… We included them in the auction!” Liam said. Lily somehow felt he was lying.

“WHAT!” Titus flared. “Pull them out!”

“Ah… I am very sorry… But there was nothing in the books, and the elders were the ones who made the decision. I have no authority to pull them out now the auction’s item list has been issued, it would really damage our credibility....” Liam said. “If young Master Titus had already paid for them, we would reimburse you immediately!”

BANG

“Fuck… I didn’t pay shit!” Titus cursed. There was the sound of something breaking.

“Then, young master Titus, you only need to buy them now…” Liam said.

“I see… So that was your plan all along…” Titus said in a very cold voice.

“I don’t know what young master Titus is talking about…” Liam played dumb. Lily was liking this guy more and more!

“I will play your game…” Titus said. “Just tell Larry that the next time I see him I will break his legs… And I will break yours too if I ever see you in Vein City… Now get out!”

“Ah… “

Lily quickly jumped away and stuck to the ceiling as the door swung open and Liam was kicked out by a burly guard.

“Just you wait…” Liam cursed in a low voice, looking carefully at the door before smirking and then turning away.

“I see…” Lily said as she watched him leave. After that, she tried to eavesdrop more on Titus, but there was no voice from inside, so she quickly made her way back to her balcony.

Liam was definitely playing a game here to kill two birds with one stone.

First of all, he intended to get rid of the connection between that guy Larry and Titus, probably this was connected to some family feud.

Secondly, he wanted to make Titus pay more for the 'goods'! A lot more!

Well, in the other timeline, the same thing seemed to have happened, though she was not sure how. From the report Victor was doing while investigating Titus, she remembered that it was mentioned that he bought that girl from this place.

Now, it was clear why Liam seemed a little taken back when she said she wanted to participate in the auction.

The bastard was now planning to make her fight with Titus to take some of the heat off himself. And maybe he had some other plans!

…

Roy woke up… and looked up at the white neon ceiling.

What happened?

Yes… That little girl hit him.

“Ahh…” he quickly looked at his hand. It hurt a bit, but it seemed fine. Strange, he could swear he felt his bone crack when his fist touched hers. He was probably mistaken.

“Ahh…” he quickly tried to sit up. It was painful, but nothing seemed broken.

Looking around, he confirmed that he was in an infirmary bed, and to his right and left, were numerous similar beds with young men and women lying on them.

WTF!

Most were asleep, except a few who, like him, had started to wake up.

“So you are awake!” someone said. It was Roxy.

“What happened?”

“Everyone got their asses handed to them!” Roxy shrugged. “You are one of the few lucky ones who managed to get a point though…”

“Oh… What about you?”

“Me?” Roxy smirked. “The moment I saw that Iris was locking the door, I ran away using the ventilation duct!”

“Then How did you know what happened?”

“Ahh… I am a reporter you know! I have my ways!” she proudly said, making him sigh.

“Is it ok for you to tell me that? What if I ratted on you!” he asked.

“You are my brother!” she said, seemingly offended.

“That little girl was also our sister… And look what she did…” he said, looking at his poor siblings.

“He he he... That would be useless... I was caught!” she shrugged.

“Oh… Didn’t they drag you back?”

“Nope, on the contrary,” she began to whisper. “I was granted 10 points for sensing the danger and escaping! it was a part of the test!” she said triumphantly.

“Oh… Good for you…” he sighed again. “So… Do you need anything from me?” he asked. He noticed that she didn’t seem to care about the others.

“Yes… Iris is interested in you, and she wanted me to tell you a few things…” Roxy said, lowering her voice.

“Iris? That legitimate bitch? Didn’t she trick us?” he asked hatefully.

“It is a part of the test… Listen up, after this test, each of us will be getting a chance to choose one of the legitimate heirs as our Master, she wants you to choose her!”

“Oh. A Master?”

“Yes… Apparently, we still can’t enter the family without the right bloodline, so after the awakening ceremony, they are creating a new rank for us, Guardian Heirs. It is above that of Outer Heirs and just slightly below that of Inner heirs!”

“Oh…” Roy didn’t sound impressed.

“To guide us after that, we must each choose a master who is an inner or elite heir… Iris wants you to choose her!” Roxy said.

“Is she sure I will survive this test?” he asked.

“She read your file, and she likes you regardless… If you fail, she will make sure to hire you in her mall…” Roxy said.

“You are going to choose her?”

“I am not sure yet… But I like her a ton more than the others I met…” Roxy said. “And she had a really sad story… She was just like us until a few months ago…”

“Oh… Are our other supreme legitimate brothers here?” he asked rudely.

“Don’t let them hear you phrase it like that, and yes, some of them… they are called Rex and Max… “ she sighed.

“You don’t like them?”

“You will know when you meet them… Now focus on recovering…” Roxy said, patting Roy’s shoulder before she left.

He sighed and relaxed on his bed. Then he sat up again.

“Can I help you?” one pretty nurse asked.

“I need to go to the restroom…” he said as he prepared to stand up.

“Ah… Let me help you…” she said in a seductive voice.

“No thanks…” he said, hitting the feverous nurse’s hand away as he made his way to the restroom. He knew women like her, wanting to cling to the rich while scolding the poor!

Closing the restroom door, he quickly took a note that Roxy stuck under his collar.

BE CAREFUL.

THE REWARDS ARE BIG, BUT EVERYTHING HERE IS A TEST, FROM THE NURSES TO THE FOOD!

NEVER TRUST REX OR MAX... THEY ARE SNAKES!

I ALREADY TOOK CARE OF YOUR SISTER, SHE WAS TRANSFERRED TO A GOOD HOSPITAL AND WILL BE FINE… JUST FOCUS ON SUCCEEDING, THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!

IRIS!

“Is this letter a test too?” he wondered as he crumbled it and threw it in the toilet. Regardless, if she really took care of his little sister, he was in her debt!

…

In a lonely Auction balcony the poor door swung open.

“Did you finish snooping around?” Yulian asked when he noticed that Lily returned.

“Yup…”Lily said as she took her seat. “What is that?” she asked, noticing a vibrating porcelain duck that was in Yulian’s hand.

“I wanted to buy something not to draw attention to us, and this thing is nice…” he replied. “It is for relaxing purposes…”

“...” Lily sighed. All perverts think alike.

“A maid came and dropped this while you were away,” Yulian said, giving Lily a catalog. Opening it, she could see that it was full of photos of naked women and men. The goods for this auction.

“Is the one on the last page you wanted to get?” he asked, licking his lip.

Lily quickly flipped to it, squinting at the very pretty girl on the last page.

“Yes… But you can’t touch her!” she said.

“Oh… I never said I planned to…” Yulian said. He seemed a little upset.

“Don’t act like that, this one is more trouble than you can ever handle…” Lily, who could easily read his thoughts, said, “But if you managed to control her right, she would be a very efficient weapon!”

“What do you mean?”

“I will tell you when the time's right…” Lily sighed as she looked at the stage below.

The first phase of the auction ended and the old auctioneer was changed to an old Masked dignified lady, followed by two women who were dressed in black dominatrix leather suits and armed with two whips.

“Ladies and gentlemen… Now, we will start the ‘real’ auction…” she said as from the backstage, a line of naked chained men entered the stage. All of them had one thing in common, they were damn hot!

“The first batch… Let’s start!” the old woman said as one of the dominatrices cracked her whip, making all the men start to demonstrate their bodies in exotic poses.

Yulian couldn't help but swallow… Those guys were big!

“Tsk…” Lily clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Pathetic… They should be ashamed of themselves instead of showing off like this!” she said as she relaxed in her seat. Compared to Victor, those guys were nothing.

Yulian didn’t really get what she meant. He just kept his silence, being a little thankful that his sister was not reacting like some ladies in the audience who began to fight over the men while drooling.

Soon enough, the amount of money that was thrown around became mind-numbing. Yulian who lived most of his life in poverty could only sigh. Maybe he should have really sold his body to some rich lady instead of suffering in the back of the allies…

“Next…” the old woman said as the first batch was sold.

A line of pretty girls in some very revealing clothes and chains entered the stage.

The whip cracked again, and the reluctant girls began to do as the men, exposing themselves in various poses.

“This is disgusting…” Yulinan said, righteously, though his eyes that were about to pop out betrayed him.

“Why even bother trying?” Lily sighed.

“A man has to always stand on the side of justice!” he said.

“Whatever…” she sighed. This was the main difference between her brother and Victor. The former has a sense of justice, the latter would sleep with Lady Justice and then cheat on her the next morning... No, that's wrong... Victor never really cheats! it is not cheeting if everyone knew he was collecting a harem... DAMN IT!

“Let’s start with number 11…A fair 19-year-old maiden from the southern marches was sold to repay her father’s debt…” the old lady began explaining. “The minimum will be 1,000,000,”

“2,000,000!”

“3,000,000!”

“4,000,000!”

“7,000,000…”

“8,000,000!”

“15,000,000…” Lily quickly doubled it.

“20,000,000!”

“21,000,000!” Lily bid again.

“22,000,000!”

“25,000,000!” Lily increased the price.

“30,000,000!” Titus entered the bidding at last.

“35,000,000,” Lily increased.

“50,000,000…” Titus increased again.

“80,000,000…” Lily increased it as the audience gasped, was that girl really worth all that money?

“Sis… We only got 112,000,000 for Liam… ” Yulian commented.

“Then we should have 32,000,000! Left… They are plenty enough!” she said.

“Ahh… make those 30,000,000…” he corrected her.

“What?”

“The duck…”

“Fuck you!” she cursed.

“Regardless… Two million will not make much difference! Will we be alright?” he asked nervously, ignoring her foul mouth.

“We will…” she said, taking a bag of untraceable cash from her ring and setting it to the side. She borrowed this from Margret. “We probably wouldn’t need to use those…” she said mysteriously as she glanced at Titus’s balcony. She was right, he didn’t bid anymore. Why? Simple, that bastard had already decided that Lily and Yulian would not leave this city alive.

“Are there no more bids? 3… 2… 1… Number eleven goes to the occupier of Balcony 4! “ the old woman said. “Next is number 12…A girl from the city caught scamming old men out of their savings…”

Lily didn’t bid on this one.

“Why not bid?” Yulian asked. The girl looked hot.

“She doesn’t have a bloodline… “ she said.

“You can tell?” Yulian asked.

“Once your bloodline is high enough, you begin to feel such things…” she said. Although she couldn’t be sure what bloodline each had, she could feel it if someone had something special.

“Oh… So we only need people with good bloodlines?” he asked. His sister already explained some things about bloodlines.

“No… But Titus only wants those, and I plan to only bid against Titus, to confirm his stupid suspicion!” she said.

“Ahhh… Titus is that guy on the other balcony?” Yulian asked.

“Yes, he is a very nasty and powerful piece of sh*t… Now he thinks we are working with Liam to rip him off, those girls were supposed to be his at a discount!” Lily said, “And I am going to play along as he will no longer bid…”

“Oh… Then we are now his target?” Yulian squinted his eyes, realizing that Liam was using them. “Will he be waiting outside?”

“Yup… But, if he decided to do anything funny, I might as well make him regret coming out of that little cell he was in!” she said coldly, sending a message to Kai using a routed phone. Telling him to intercept any communications about family troops deployed in her vicinity... And to say 'Hi' to Rita who was assisting him.