<283 - Battle for Goods>
Jaku, who won a box of black bread that could be looted at any time for 50,000 points, gathered the auction participants with a gloomy face.
“If you try to steal the black bread by force, I won’t be able to stop you with my skills. So, I’ll hold a second auction. I’ll hand over the black bread to whoever gives me the most points and forfeit.”
Oknodie, Warrior Ishtar, and Second Princess Masugaki.
It was a judgment to quickly retreat, leaving the heavy burden on one of the three strong contenders, feeling out of place in this gathering.
However, while practicing what he would say by looking at his reflection in the puddle, an ominous guest visited him.
“Dark mana is so convenient♡ The hierarchy is so clear~?”
Pure dark mana forcibly commanded Jaku’s body.
In the end, a box of black bread fell into the hands of Princess Masugaki.
*
After the first auction, the participants realized that it was more likely to suffer losses from each other’s defenses and theft than from a lack of points.
They started to band together, looking for allies.
“Warriors, princesses, Oknodie, all are dangerous. If weaklings don’t stick together, we won’t get anything.”
“Right, I agree! Let’s cheer for each other as women! Shall we gift a bikini armor?”
“I don’t need it…”
The arsonist under the fruit tree, Rosgini, and Bikini Armor Warrior Ppyoi.
“Uhaha! So this is the team we end up with when cornered?”
“Having relationships we can rely on eases the mind.”
Jezel and Son Ohchun, who had been together since the entrance exam.
“I’ll cover your brute force. Just handle the strategy for the auction.”
“Hoho. I’ll demonstrate the insight of a noblewoman.”
Unexpected cooperation formed between Arcadia and Hestia.
“Loser♡ Black bread shuttle♡ You better be a good meat shield~?”
“Never have I regretted learning dark mana so much…”
Princess Masugaki turned Jaku into a useless shield.
“Jaku is practically retired now.”
“…That dark mana of the princess is quite dangerous. If the princess can control even Oknodie…”
Ishtar and the warrior’s companion, Saintess Yufi, looked at the princess warily.
“The remaining pair is ours.”
“I found a white stone. Want to eat it?”
“I don’t need it.”
Assassin Duo Jiang and Oknodie.
As the six groups of auction participants paired off, the boat carrying the second day’s goods approached with a sound.
As if waiting, Jonnas held onto the black cover over the goods to address everyone who had come to the auction site.
“We will now reveal the second item in the uninhabited island auction. Today’s item is [Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll].”
Ppyoi shot her hand up.
“Me, me! I request an explanation of the Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll!”
“Denied. This is not an academy. If you’re a lady’s friend, you should utilize your insight to guess the item’s value and formulate your auction strategy.”
This was a place of practice, not learning!
Instead of patience, they demanded proof.
Ppyoi had a look of disappointment, but this was reality.
An academy, no matter how fierce, is a place for education.
The foundation only provides scholarships necessary for learning; it does not provide direct instruction.
Though the aspiring scholarship students may not know this, the current academy students had no reason to be taught.
“I made a mistake. If it were a Sandkooker, I would have known the details of the petrification scroll much better.”
“Does that mean we’re giving up this item?”
“It’s not necessary to know the value of an item to participate in the auction. Sometimes, you can just glance at someone who knows its value to figure it out.”
“Amazing! Rosgini is such a sharp observer!”
“…Is that a compliment?”
Magic scrolls are usually crafted in the corresponding magic tower.
These scrolls are expensive consumables used by nobles and high-level adventurers, made usable by people unfamiliar with magic in limited areas.
Only a handful of high nobles, wealthy merchants, and capable adventurers outside the respective magic tower can encounter various scrolls.
‘With the modifier ‘absolute,’ I can imagine how exceptional the effect of that scroll is.
There’s no way physical matter turned to stone would easily shatter.’
“Starting bid is 3,000 points. I’ll increase the bidding by 3,000. Bidding starts…”
“30,000.”
Everyone was slightly surprised by Jezel’s declaration to raise the bidding price significantly from the start.
However, if it was Jezel, it was understandable.
Paired with Jezel, Son Ohchun was listed as an aspiring knight student.
He was part of the upper class with decent combat power.
However, he acknowledged the fact that he wasn’t comparable to the seasoned auction participants.
To compensate for his lacking combat power, getting one such scroll wouldn’t be bad.
Still, it felt excessive, and Arcadia, Masugaki, Hestia, and Ishtar didn’t even show signs of raising their hands.
“Let’s follow suit.”
“Okay, 60,000!”
Ppyoi asked after throwing out the initial bid.
“But why do you want to buy that?”
“…I didn’t mean to double it because you told me to follow. Sigh. Fine, it’s my fault for not being specific.”
Rosgini shot a suspicious smile at Jezel while talking to Ppyoi beside her.
“Jezel’s team is strong. They have plenty of food in the magic backpack and decent combat power. If they even bolster their only weakness, defense, they might survive until the end of the auction and gather all auction items.”
“Aha. Countering the competition, huh?”
“The scroll must surely have some use somewhere. Even if it’s not used here, taking it back to the academy might help someday. It’s also attractive that we can get feedback from the Sandkooker, a yellow magician.”
A decision made with various calculations!
“70,000.”
“Jezel. We’ve got a bid of 70,000 points.”
Rosgini gestured silently to Ppyoi.
“Add 30,000 points. We’ve joined forces, right?”
“Do you really want that so badly?”
“I just don’t want to hand it over to that suspicious squinter.”
“Hmm… Okay, I’ll add!”
“100,000.”
Jezel smirked and turned her head.
“Rosgini, we have a bid of 100,000 points. In one minute, if there are no new bids, it will be confirmed at 100,000 points for Rosgini.”
As Jonnas watched the time pass on his wristwatch, he announced that the auction was confirmed.
“Day two auction item [Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll] has been sold to participant Rosgini for 100,000 boarding points.”
They invested a somewhat excessive amount of points, but it surely has bound Jezel’s ankles.
“Alright, let’s hold out until the last day, relying on the scroll. We can gather what we can find and eat, even if it’s raw fish; we should be able to last somehow.”
Ideally, they would get the scroll, keep it, and last as long as possible before gathering more auction items in the latter half, but if they were ambushed along the way, using the scroll was an option they had to consider.
However, other students were also aware of Rosgini’s late-game strategy.
“Rosgini, shh!”
“What’s going on suddenly?”
As Rosgini glared at the finger pressed to her lips, wondering whether to bite it or not, Ppyoi gazed at her with the same bright tone as usual, but with a subdued expression.
“Ambush.”
“!!”
“With this aura… probably two people.”
“No way. There are fire magic traps set on the way down to the cave…”
Before Rosgini could finish her sentence, something flew from the front.
Ppyoi, who was defending Rosgini with agile movements to deflect projectiles, tensed her body.
“What kind of traps did you set?”
“Wooden pillars engraved with explosive spells. If the plant vines binding the pillars snap at ankle height, the wooden pillar falls, causing explosion, shock, and flash damage.”
“If we recover the trap so the pillars don’t fall?”
“…The pillars etched with spells will remain?”
The silhouette of the intruders slowly approached the campfire lit on the cave floor.
As they saw a huge wooden pillar being hoisted in one hand, Rosgini went blank.
“How strong could they be!?”
“Sorry. Even if I haven’t learned Mana Refinement Technique, I haven’t stopped training my strength.”
Chapter 1, Frenzy of Hestia.
The hidden powerhouse, who didn’t trigger the chapter boss due to Oknodie’s mine removal, threw the wooden pillar.
Boom!
Inside the cave, a dazzingly bright explosion and shock turned it into chaos.
Hestia’s charge, rushing in like a tank, was halted by a round shield that popped up from the ground.
As expected of a Bikini Armor Warrior with excellent evasion, Ppyoi quickly stepped out of the shock range and returned with a low tackle!
Boom!
Ppyoi, who was kicked far away with a shield still intact, saw a heavy mass of flame rising towards Hestia’s face.
Whoosh!
A destructive mass split apart under the ax swing, scattering flames.
Then seven fiery arrows in succession, shot from Hestia’s waist, exploded into a hand axe that she hurled out.
“Ambush?! How petty!”
With a huffy complaint, Ppyoi extended the long whip in the cave, repeatedly blocking Hestia’s hand axe threatening Rosgini.
One after another, the whip trying to bind Hestia’s axe was suddenly reeled back in front of her.
Thud! Thud!
“Oh my. A whip that even blocks bullets. I never expected to find a skilled weapon master in the lower class. Should I call you a friend of ours, Di?”
“Guns are much more petty!”
“I’m sorry. I hold no personal grudges. It’s just that… you should have considered that if you carry excess treasures for your skill, you’ll encounter this kind of situation. We’ll be taking that scroll as bargaining material when negotiating with Jezel.”
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Ppyoi readied her shield against Arcadia.
“Pfft. Are you underestimating my marksmanship?”
It’s not easy to block all with a tiny shield.
Arcadia confidently aimed her gun.
However, Ppyoi’s evasion far exceeded Arcadia’s expectations.
‘…So fast!’
As the muzzle pointed towards her body, Ppyoi dashed between the flickering ember from the extinguished campfire and the darkness.
Every shot Arcadia took missed Ppyoi, but just as she finally caught sight of her target, Ppyoi deflected with her round shield.
Finally breaking through the interference and reaching out with her whip, Ppyoi found Hestia’s axe heading straight for Rosgini.
“Tsk. You forced my hand.”
Slice!
Though there was no murderous intent, Hestia aimed to hit Rosgini with the side of the axe.
But when the scroll was torn, Rosgini’s entire body absorbed all the impact of the axe, influenced by the [Absolute Defense Petrification Scroll].
It felt like punching a hard wooden block, rock, or wall, only for the punch to bounce back!
“Oh no. I’m out already.”
Ppyoi couldn’t hide her dismay, and Hestia’s face too fell as she lowered her axe.
“Then what happens to the petrification?”
“Like this.”
Hestia pointed at the petrified Rosgini statue.
Ppyoi poked Rosgini’s skin with her finger.
The hardness was substantial, even more akin to metal than rock!
Indeed, it matched the description of the absolute defense scroll.
But this scroll had a critical flaw.
“So when will this wear off?”
“We wouldn’t know.”
“…So do I have to fight 1 against 2?”
“Do you forfeit, or do you want to fight?”
Ppyoi boarded the forfeit-exclusive boat returning to the cruise ship with the statue of Rosgini.
