Chapter 255
“My apologies for keeping you waiting . The next item is what you are all here for . ”
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Mericareed made the signal, and then my Automata was brought out on a fancy table . People immediately began to stand in order to get a better look . Others cheered and there was a round of applause . I knew that it was something special . Something rare . And so it felt good to see their reaction .
“An Automata that was excavated from a preserved ruin . Not only that, but it has four extra cores . It will all be sold as a single set, starting at one thousand pieces of gold!”
Oh, he was being aggressive… But if no one bought it, we would have to wait for the next auction . And I didn’t know if there would even be one . I might just have to stuff the thing in my bag again…
As I nervously watched and perked up my ears, I started to hear the bids come in . My wish was for it to at least cover the one thousand and eight hundred I had spent on the armor…
“Two thousand . ”
The crowd buzzed at this . Even I was shocked . Things were going well!
“Two thousand and one hundred!”
Another voice shouted . A finely dressed man . He was quite plump and looked like a nobleman .
For a while, it was him and the first guy who were competing . I could see quite a few people sighing . It was more than most were able to spend . Yes, the fact that it had exceeded two thousand was quite shocking .
“Three thousand and five hundred!”
Came the shout from some mysterious woman . She had joined the fight with a ridiculous number . The two men fell silent as if to consult their wallets .
“We have three thousand and five hundred! Anyone else?”
Mericareed called provacatively and the two men frantically raised their hands .
“Three thousand and eight hundred!”
“Four thousand!”
They looked flustered but then turned to the noblewoman to see if she would give up . But she was strong .
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“Five thousand . ”
There were audible gasps . Then the Automata was sold for five thousand pieces of gold .
“Mister Asagi . Here are the five thousand pieces of gold . As we take a twenty percent commission, that leaves you with four thousand . Any questions?”
“No . Thank you . ”
Mericareed gave me leather pouches that were filled the coins, and so I stuffed them into the hollow bag . He had guessed that it would be sold for five thousand in the beginning . And even after paying the one thousand, there was a lot left . Yes, we could live quite well with this .
I left the building after that . Manager, Daniela, and Lemon seemed to be enjoying a conversation . The sun was starting to set and the west sky had hints of red in it .
“Ah, there you are . ”
“Sorry to keep you waiting . ”
“Daniela suggested we go out to eat tonight . Since you made so much . ”
“Why not? Will you come too, Lemon?”
“Of course, I will . ”
If there was one day to indulge ourselves extravagantly, it was today . Well, maybe not too much, since there was a fight tomorrow . But today was special . We should enjoy it .
It was obvious what was going to happen once Daniela stepped out to take the lead . ‘Meat, Meat, Meat, Meat,’ read the sign . Haven’t we come here enough?
“Now, let us eat . ”
“This is a nice place . ”
“Ah, meat! Meat!”
The three of them got very excited when the meat was placed on the table . And hey, I didn’t hate the stuff myself . However, it wasn’t good for you to eat it and nothing else . And so I ordered plates of vegetables too . But Daniela was quick to cover the grill in meat first . I wasn’t completely defeated though, and soon found a small corner with low heat, where I could leave a few pieces to sizzle .
“Go to a vegetable store if you wish to eat that!”
“Shut up . Just let me eat my vegetables in peace!”
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“What did you say…?”
“Asagi, Daniela is right . ”
“Exactly, Mister Asagi . ”
“Are you kidding me…”
The loud, yet entertaining battle continued over the grill until we were all so stuffed that we decided to call it a night and disperse . Lemon returned to her fancy inn . Manager went to her room in a tavern . It wasn’t a nice place, but she had been suffering from a gold deficiency during her arrival in the city . Daniela and I started to walk back to the military lodging facility .
The sky was getting dark, but the city was very much awake . We watched the glimmering lights as we dragged our heavy bodies through the streets . Here in the capital, it seemed like people were determined to party and drink until the morning, regardless of what was happening the next day .
As I watched the sight before us, Daniela turned to me .
“Asagi . About the fight tomorrow…”
“Yeah, I know . We really are going to end up fighting each other, after all . ”
“Yes . But I was quite sure this was going to happen . ”
“Hmm…”
“And so, Asagi . I want you to come at me without holding back . ”
She sounded so serious that I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks and look at her . Her expression only served to enhance the gravity in her tone .
“Can’t we just playfight and get it over with?”
“No . I want to fight you for real . ”
“But I…”
“You do not want to hurt me, is that it?”
“Yeah . I’m not being conceited here . But I know that I’m capable of causing you harm . ”
We’ve been fighting together for so long now . I was able to analyze my own abilities .
“Indeed . And I am capable of hurting you as well . But still, I want it to be a real fight . ”
“But why? Why is it so important?”
I picked up a sword to defend myself, and after that, to earn a living . It wasn’t something I did just to hurt people .
“We have come this far together . I want to see how strong you and I have become . ”
“You always traveled alone before . ”
“Aye . And I mostly avoided combat . There didn’t seem to be any reason to poke my head into places that were dangerous… But my level has been raised after we started traveling together . I want to put it to the test . And I have all my armor now, as well . ”
You needed a certain amount of power to be rid of all danger . Daniela had been weak and could not face it .
Back in Fhiraldo, Daniela had rarely even used magic . She had even been wearing a mask to hide her identity . Well, she still tended to do that every time we entered a new town… Regardless, it did seem that being partnered with me had made her less paranoid about the possibility of danger . I was happy about that . And of course, it allowed her to become stronger . It was no wonder she wanted to put it to the test . Besides, we would be wearing the decoy bracelets . This was really the perfect time for it .
And so I gave Daniela my word . She listened and then chuckled happily .
“Great . Now, to the next place!”
She said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the course that would lead back to our room . Damn it…
I was prepared to wake up the next morning with a blinding headache, but found myself surprisingly clear-headed . My stomach felt fine and I hadn’t over-slept either . I was in good shape .
“Morning, Asagi . ”
“Morning, Daniela . ”
She had already been awake and now rolled on top of me .
“Hmm… I am still tired…”
“Don’t go back to sleep . We have to fight . ”
“Yes… Ahh… All right…”
“Now, get off of me . ”
She muttered something as I pushed her away and went to wash my face . When I came back, Daniela was up and putting on her armor .
“It looks good on you…”
“It was expensive . I would be angry if it did not . ”
She was wearing the clothes made of wind dragon material that she had purchased from the White Lily . It had a wind magic boosting effect . And then on top of that, she wore the wind dragon armor from yesterday’s auction… Well, the gauntlets and boots from it . There would be a dramatic spike in any wind magic she used .
“I need to wash up . ”
“Yeah . ”
I started to get dressed as Daniela moved to the bathroom .
The wind dragon shirt . Poncho . Pants . Waist mantle… Daniela was all in wind dragon, but not me . My light armor was made of ice dragon .
“As for my weapon…”
Schwarz Tempest, Glampanzer, Ashikirimaru, Cocytus Lance . I had a lot more to pick from now… I had been hoping to find something new at the auction, but that hadn’t happened . They were all just about looks… Except for the wind dragon armor and that bow .
“This one . ”
Daniela had seen me fight with the one-handed sword many times . And so I decided to take the greatsword with me . As it was too big to unsheath from my back, I had it strapped over my shoulder like a bag . It was bulky, but what could you do .
“Hmm…the greatsword?”
“Yeah . I think I showed enough of the one-handed sword during my fight with the Manager . ”
“Yes, you were quite a threat . I doubt I would have been able to block those attacks . ”
“It’s not meant to be…”
But in my mind, Daniela was the strongest . I had to think of a way to beat her if I wanted to win .
It was almost time . I looked at the clock and saw that it was just past breakfast . I was still full from last night . Daniela was the same, which was very unusual . And so we left our room without eating .
We didn’t talk at all as we made our way to the arena . But it wasn’t because we were in a dark mood . I could tell that she was trying to concentrate and prepare .
“Well, here we go . ”
“Come at me with everything, Asagi!”
And here we were, on the stage and facing each other . The companion I’ve been traveling with . We swore to live our lives together . And it was to this loved one that the point of my greatsword was now directed at .