With the crystal clear announcement of the auctioneer, the curtains were finally drawn for the auction. It was time to start, and the auctioneer positioned himself a little to the side of the stage, trying to recognize all of them in their seats so he could appropriately address them during the auction. And yes, he’s still sticking to the tradition of calling everyone ladies and gentlemen as per tradition.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to formally begin the auction by bringing out one item. Of course, what better way to start the auction than by giving everyone a nice back door of display and putting up one of the best products on the table?

By far, this was one of the most dangerous parts of the auction since there were a lot of things that could happen during the first ’round’. Just as an example, a Hybrid might come tearing down the place even though the auction place was completely defended and was located underground.

Two, one of the Hybrids in the room, just like the unforgettable scenario that happened a couple of moments ago when Kazuichi retaliated at the Bulwark who charged at him without reservations.

And last but not least, one of the slaves that they were going to sell at the auction might escape. Or worse, they might even let the others free as well.

That’s why time was of the essence, and the auctioneer had to return to his senses so he could begin. Clearing his throat, he forced his overthinking at the back of his mind, completely destroying it. Right now, he’s got the auction to attend, and he was planning on splurging a little bit since he had no use for money.

Besides, they were at the Yamanashi Prefecture and Kazuichi wouldn’t want to miss this chance at winning something at the auction. At the very least, he had enough money in his black card to buy at least one thing. That’s more than enough for him.

...

The first item was unsurprisingly in a cage, draped with a black cloth so no one knows what was inside. It was unexpectedly small for a Hybrid and too big for a small child. Somebody told Kazuichi that it could neither be a human nor a Hybrid.

Just judging from its scent alone, it was revolting, much worse than the dug-out corpses they stumbled upon during their adventures. Fortunately, the masks that they wore helped ease out the unfathomable gross odor. Kazuichi was coughing slightly, but that didn’t stop him from figuring out what was inside the covered-up cage.

Before the auctioneer could even lift up the cover of the cage, Kazuichi immediately mentioned something about a dog existing within the cage, or something close to that guess.

He was right on the money, within the steel bars of the cage was an infected dog that continued growling under its breath and snarling. One of its eyes was hollowed out, and it continued to sniff in the air while drooling. Apparently, it was clear to the infected dog that there were a handful of uninfected in the vicinity.

If it weren’t for the cage that surrounded it, the dog would’ve lost its bearings and started uncontrollably going around the auction. Its snarls became even worse, and it began drooling more blood than saliva. Clearly, it wasn’t a normal dog, and some of the attendees realized something was amiss in a snap of a finger.

The commotion lasted for a couple of seconds before the people at the auction started wondering how much the infected dog would be. Something like this was rare enough, and if one were to personally buy it from the auction, he or she could prop the infected dog as a guard dog by the entrance.

And as icing on the cake, even the uninfected would be able to use it as a guard dog since it could basically sort out the infected and uninfected. With a little bit of training, the infected dog proved to be pretty useful, and it was an unexpected twist in the auction.

"Any starting bids?" The auctioneer asked out of nowhere, urging everyone to shout out a price so the auction would start. This was a good strategy to have more engagements, and they wouldn’t even notice that they were already too deep in the auction once one of them screamed a price.

Furthermore, since the auctioneer couldn’t really place a price on the infected dog, he gave the attendees a chance to put a price tag on the abomination. That way he won’t have a hard time marking the price on it.

"A hundred thousand yen!"

"That’s too small for an infected! A hundred and one thousand yen!"

"Hundred and ten!"

"Hundred and twenty-one!"

"A hundred and fifty!"

Thanks to the auctioneer’s technique, the price offers started pouring in, starting from a hundred thousand yen. While this may sound like a low price for something being sold at the auction, there was no question that the price was bound to go up, that’s why the auctioneer just kept on encouraging everyone to raise the price up.

"Hundred and fifty-five!"

"Hundred and fifty-six!"

"A hundred and fifty-seven and one!"

"Haha, you wish~! A hundred and fifty-eight!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

There was a craze as people from left to right started blurting out a number. They were having fun, and it was clear that they were getting more and more enthusiastic as the seconds passed. Clearly, they were riding the wave that the auctioneer set them on, and Kazuichi could clearly see it.

"Nee~ nee~ isn’t this awesome?" Tris asked, her face lighting up as the prices continued going up. A part of her wanted to put out a price as well, but she didn’t do it since Kazuichi was obviously against it.

"It is pretty fun, but don’t be swept by the storm. This is just the auctioneer’s usual sales pitch. Don’t forget why we came here for." Kazuichi level-headedly called out, patting Tris on the shoulder as Ayaka nodded her head as well.

Honestly, Ayaka had already screamed a price a couple of moments ago, but it was instantly overturned by someone else. She just wanted to try joining in on the fun.

If she was unlucky though, she’d have received a deduction of more than a hundred thousand yen from her fortune. That’s how scary auctions were.