The cool evening breeze washed over me, gently caressing my already sweat-soaked body. It was a pleasant sensation, I felt like I was drowning in a pool of water. It was as if someone was embracing me from behind leaving me feeling both hot and cold at the same time.

If it were at all possible then I would have liked to stay like this forever, but I had an auction I was supposed to attend tonight, so I guess the least I could do is to get off my butt and buy myself some decent clothes, I will surely become a laughingstock if I go there in casual clothes.

I decided not to sell my auction pass before I went to sleep in the afternoon, I don’t know why but I feel like attending this auction for some reason. Never thought that I, of all people, would believe in stuff like intuition, I guess all my laziness and boredom must be finally getting to my head.

 

Okay! Time to get up now! 

I opened my eyes and just as I expected, it was evening. The sky was painted with a reddish tint and the sun looked as if it would disappear anytime soon. I could hear the voices of children playing with each other, and the voices of women lightly laughing, joking, and gossiping amongst each other.

 

I glanced at my left side where the girl named Cerise whom I had met earlier today was supposed to be sleeping, and yes, just as I thought,

She wasn’t here anymore 

To be honest, it seemed to me as if she had disappeared into thin air

Was that girl a ghost or something? Considering her appearance it wouldn’t be surprising if she really was a ghost

Creepy…

But I guess I am even creepier considering how I let her sleep beside me even though I had an idea about what she might have been

Agh… I really am hopeless!

Or maybe I am so kind that I don’t discriminate between the living and the dead (Author’s note- he was just feeling lonely) 

 

Not bothering to think anymore about the girl I got up from the ground, patted the dust off my clothes, fixed the swords at my waist, and left the place.

 

***

 

On my way, I bought clothes from a local shop. My clothes included a two-piece Prussian blue-colored suit, a white shirt, and a pair of black shoes. I was wearing something very different from my regular clothing which included a navy blue kimono, black hakama (trousers that Kenshin Himura used to wear in the famous manga and anime Rurouni Kenshin/ Samurai X), and a sky blue haori (clothing similar to a jacket, Katsura from Gintama used to wear this type of jacket over his Kimono, and yeah I am a weeb)

I looked at myself in the mirror, I don’t know how long it had been ever since I last saw myself in the mirror. I guess… I look pretty good…?

 

I stepped out of the trial room; the shop owner, an old lady looked at me as if she was looking at her son who had just returned from a faraway journey. Her eyes were full of tears and she had a smile plastered on her face. Tears and nasal mucus fell down from her face before finally touching her lips which she kept on licking again and again.

“Uopp!!!” Shit I almost puked over my new dress

She looked really weird, to be honest, but I don’t think I should say this right on her face. I walked over to the lady and patted her shoulder, she started sniffing with a handkerchief over her nose. The lady got so emotional that she even gave me a big discount on the clothes, god bless her.

 

 

I left the shop and walked over to the auction site.

Numerous carriages lay standing in front of the auction site which was the big auditorium by the name of Freedom Auditorium.

Many people were getting on and off their carriages, some of them looked beautiful and dignified and some of them looked ugly and vulgar, but there was one thing that was common amongst all these people, all of them had an arrogant look on their faces. They had the kind of look in their eyes that made it seem as if they were looking down on everyone around them.

‘I hope they all step on poop’ I joined my hands and prayed sincerely

Coming back to the topic,

All of them arrived at the auditorium on fancy, jewel adorned carriages,

And here I was, walking over to the auditorium on foot.

 

In the crowd of rich young masters, beautiful maidens, and old geezers, I stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone was looking at me with ridiculous expressions on their faces, well it’s not like I care anyway. I walked past the bewildered crowd and entered the auditorium through the big open gates. The guards at the entrance didn’t even ask me for my pass, I guess they must have been confused too.

After I settled myself at the seat which was designated for me in the auction pass, a young beautiful woman arrived and looked at me with a smile,

“Good evening, sir”

I looked at her and nodded,

The woman didn’t seem to mind my dismissive attitude at all and just smiled at me again,

“I am very sorry for bothering you, dear guest, but could you please show me your pass?”

She asked me while still maintaining the smile on her face

 

I didn’t say anything else, I took out the golden pass from my pocket and showed it to the woman, she took the pass from my hands (only after saying, ‘can I take a look?’) and then carefully examined it. It didn’t take her too long to finish examining the pass, in just a few seconds she gave it back to me

“Thank you, sir, and I am very sorry for bothering you”

I gave her a slight nod, indicating that I didn’t want to talk anymore and the woman, carefully picking up my hint just bowed to me and was about to leave the place.

But just before she left she looked at me once again and smiled at me

Hmm… is this what I think it is?

A sudden thought crossed my mind and I felt like jumping on my chair, but I somehow restrained myself from doing so

Looks like I will at least get to take a girl home with me. What should I do? Oh god don’t tell me that she has fallen for me…

No, nonononono, I mustn’t lose focus now, the auction is my priority right now!!!

 

Soon after that people started pouring inside the auditorium, it was like a swarm of locusts devastating a farm. I could hear the fake laughs and giggles just a bit of a distance away from me, someone was talking about how bad the economic situation had become, a couple of old women were trying to match-make between their children, and then someone said those accursed words,

“Ah! The weather has been so pleasant for a few days, hahaha”

As soon as he said that everyone started looking at him with bloodshot eyes as if they would murder him right here and now. I was one of those people as well. Realizing the change in atmosphere, the man shrunk back in his seat and went completely silent until the auction host arrived.

 

The auction started

…

And then, it ended

...

…

From the start till the end, I didn’t buy a single thing!!!

Every damn thing was so expensive that I couldn’t even make up for the starting price!

 

That’s why,

As soon as the auction ended, I decided to disappear amongst the crowd but before I could do so I was stopped by the auction host,

I almost jumped back when he called me to stay over,

“Sir Alex, you didn’t like anything in the auction?”

The host, a middle-aged man with a thin mustache asked me with a kind expression on his face

 

“The items were good, but… I am looking for something unusual, something that can’t be found easily, if you know what I mean” said the man who didn’t even have the money to make up for the starting price. I really feel ashamed of myself now.

I lied, of course, neither did I have the guts nor did I have the money to buy any of the things in the auction, but I can’t say that, not in front of this friendly-looking guy, of course, I have a feeling that he might turn up on me if I were to do that.

The man’s smile widened after hearing my response as if he expected me to say that I didn’t like anything here

 

He came close to me and whispered in my ear

“Sir, if you want then you can participate in the ‘Special Auction’ as well. For sir, it’s free of charge of course”

He said with a vulgar smile on his face.

The expression he was making just now varied so much from the expression he had just made a few moments ago that I was having trouble considering him to be the same person.

And what does he mean by the special auction? I should probably check it out

But before that, I have some questions I need to ask,

 

“Mr. Host, would you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

His expression changed a bit when I said that, he looked… ecstatic…?

What a creep

 

“Ahhhnything you would like to ask. Please go ahead”

He said while maintaining a smile on his face

 …

I don’t know what I should say anymore

Not bothering to think anymore about his behavior I looked and the host and asked him

“Why me? Why do I deserve…uh… such a great honor?”

(Author’s comment- he spoke this line in the same way as Marlon Brando did in the movie Godfather when he talked with Sollozzo- the drug dealer)

 

“Because of your personality, sir” The Host said in a confident voice

Personality? Mine? Is he nuts?

The man as if hadn’t noticed the confused expression I had on my face continued,

“Sir you arrived here on foot because you didn’t want to wait for too long in the line of carriages, and even after that you didn’t pay much attention to the talk between other honored guests here, you didn’t buy any of our products probably because you considered them to be beneath you, not to mention you didn’t even pay much attention to the flower of our humble establishment”

He said pointing his finger towards the girl who previously came to check my auction pass. The girl was looking at me shyly and to be honest, for a moment I almost fell for her charm too, but! But! As a person who has been rejected right on his face by his first crush, I know full well, that it was all just an act!!!

Containing my anger somehow, I looked at the host again

He was looking at me with fear, awe, expectations, and greed completely apparent in his eyes, looking at him involuntarily made me step back for some reason but then I saw ‘her’, the girl I saw earlier today.

She was chained alongside many other individuals,

 

“Fine”

I don’t know why but I unconsciously agreed to the man’s invitation, his face beamed into a wide smile when I said that

 

***

 

Me and a few other people, around 40 of us were brought to a different room.

The room was very extravagant and luxurious, it was filled with rare items, things that one might not even be able to find if he were to look around the entire continent for years.

The host made me and the others sit on luxurious one-person sofas, there was a big stage before me, and on top of it, several people including the girl that I had met earlier today were standing. The girl had a lifeless look in her eyes, and she seemed to be in a daze.

Did they drug her…?

 

It was then that I noticed,

Some of the employees of the auction establishment were serving drinks to everyone who was sitting on the sofas alongside me, and these people even took the drinks without saying anything.

How foolish, I know better than to drink anything at a suspicious place such as this,

 

Drinks arrived, and I was about to reject them when suddenly, the one serving them handed me a sundae.

I was in a bit of a situation, I really wanted to have the sundae but on the other hand, I was afraid that something bad might happen to me.

I thought about this for a while (0.0000002 seconds) and then picked up the sundae, I figured that even if I were to fall into their trap, it won’t be much difficult for me to deal with it. Hell, I might even be able to make a fortune out of this nasty little scenario.

 

I took a bite out of the sundae,

“Mmmm…it’s really good!”

The taste was great, there was just the right amount of sugar and chocolate in it, and a very high quality milk was used in the preparation of this sundae.

To be honest, this is the first time in my life that I have ever had something so good… it’s so good that I feel like I am about to fall asleep

 I am about to fall asleep?

“Oh shit… I messed up”

These words escaped my mouth and the mug containing the sundae fell out of my hands, my vision darkened, and I fell unconscious

 

***

 

I had a very weird dream,

In that dream, I was attending an auction and then I foolishly ate a Sundae that was given to me for free, and then I fell unconscious. Yep, it was all a dream, a dream, yep a dream, and nothing else. A dream…a dream…? Could it be…?

No! No, no, no, no, no!!! It’s all a dream, yep! If I open my eyes just now then I will find all of this to be a dream.

Now that I think about it, everything that happened today couldn’t have happened in real life, I mean, first of all, that little girl, how the hell could she have disappeared from my side without even making a slight movement. It was as if she was a ghost or something, and I know full well that ghosts don’t exist! They are only there to scare children so that they can sleep without making any noise!

Or well, it could be that she was a slave and that’s why I didn’t notice her disappearance from my side as she might have been summoned by her owner… (Author’s comment- he said this in a low voice)

Hahaha, I must be getting mad, there’s no way a girl like her who was wearing such clothes (she was wearing rags for clothes) and had such a dignified appearance (was dirty and covered with dust) could ever be a slave!

Hahaha…haha…ha…

…

…

Shit!!!

 

I opened my eyes and found myself bound to chains. The chains were strong but the real problem was the blood-red slave insignia on my palm, although, I don’t think it would be much of a problem for me to deal with it. Well whatever, I guess I shouldn’t make any unnecessary moves for now.

I looked around and found that I wasn’t the only one who was bound to the chains, apart from me all the people who took part in the ‘Special Auction’ were bound to the chains too. Looks like these people got fooled. Idiots.

 

“Hey mister, why did you lie?”

I didn’t even need to turn in order to see the one who spoke just now, because the one who spoke was the very same girl I had met just this afternoon

I looked over at her,

Yep, she really is a slave

 

“Go away, kid. Don’t bother me now”

I tried to dismiss her but she just approached me and sat down beside me,

Now that I take a look at her, she doesn’t really look like a slave to me. Rather she looks more like someone from a rich household. Was she kidnapped?

 

“Mister I didn’t die”

She said again

“Yes, you did, you fool. Trust me, I am already dead so I can tell if you are alive or dead. The first time I met you, I already knew that you were dead”

I tried to explain but I don’t think I really got through to her, I guess I shouldn’t use weird explanations like that, it will only make me look like a fool

“I am dead?”

The girl cocked her head and asked me with a surprised expression on her face

“Yes you are”

I replied firmly

“Then I want to live”

The girl said these lines all of a sudden

“Why?”

I asked her, god why the hell am I wasting my time on some depressed kid!!? I swear I am just too noble!

“Someone told me that dying is the only way to get out of this place”

She said in her monotonous voice, her emotionless face, for the first time contorted to become something sorrowful,

“I see, well, I guess dying didn’t help you then, hah?”

 I said and looked at her

“No…”

She muttered in a voice full of sadness and despair 

“Then that makes it easy for you, don’t you think? You just need to live and then you will be able to leave this place”

The girl looked at me with a surprised expression on her face, 

“B-but… living didn’t work out either…”

“Don’t worry it will work out this time, since I am here with you”

The girl smiled at me when I said that and tightly hugged me.

How soft…

This girl would make a great pillow

 

I was enjoying the comfy feeling

“Wow, you sure are getting close with him, aren’t you Cerise?”

When I was suddenly interrupted by a sweet but cold voice.

 

I looked over at the source of the voice, it was the woman who had checked my entry pass just before the auction started.

She was looking at me with derisive eyes as if I wasn’t anything more than a toy in her eyes. This bitch…

Cerise jumped away from me as soon as she saw this woman

 

The woman came over and sat beside me,

“What miss? You want to hug me as well?”

I asked her in a joking voice

But then something contrary to my expectations happened,

 

The girl leaned over me, entwined her pale and slim arms around my neck, and kissed me, she didn’t even pay any attention to the little girl Cerise or the other people present in the room

At first, I was shocked because of the sudden kiss but it didn’t take me much time to get back to my senses,

I kissed her back but just as I was about to put my tongue in her mouth she separated from me and looked at me with a teasing expression on her face, after that she hugged me and started licking my ear, my neck, and then finally my chest.

It was getting increasingly difficult for me to control myself, after all, I was merely just a boy of seventeen, I didn’t know how long I could have held back the urge to pin her down on the ground.

I wanted to kiss and lick her too but she wasn’t allowing me to do that at all 

The licking and nibbling continued and reached a critical point but then suddenly,

“What the hell are you doing? Time’s up!”

The host entered the place and separated the woman from me, her entire face had a reddish glow to it, and to be honest she was looking very seductive.

The woman made an expression as if something very unfair had happened to her but that expression only lasted till the host cleared his throat, after that the woman made the perfect poker face, glanced at me for the last time with slight traces of pity on her face, and then she left without saying anything else.

The host threw a towel at me and told me to wipe the woman’s saliva that was drenching my entire face, ear, neck, and my chest.

After that, he left the place too

 

Cerise came by and helped me wipe off all the sticky saliva that was smeared on my body, she didn’t say anything, no, to be precise, she actually looked as if what she saw wasn’t anything at all, as if she had already gotten used to watching things like this.

Her indifferent expression made me feel sick for some reason. I felt like patting her head but in the end I didn’t do that, I was afraid that she might misunderstand me. The last thing I wanted in life was to be branded as a pedophile 

 

***

 

After 15 minutes,

I and the other people were called upon the stage,

Various people lay sitting in front of us, all of them looking at us as if they were trying to appraise us like goods. I guess that’s how it works for slaves, they are nothing but commodities to be bought and sold.

 

The host called us and made us stand in a straight line

After that, he started the ‘Real Auction’

“Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the main event of tonight’s auction, ‘Buy My Slave!’”

 

The audience broke into cheers and the auction started, this time it was the real auction!