Chapter 403 The Darkwell Auction
Viktor and Seraphina were escorted in a grand carriage, and on the way, people, especially those of demon races, were calling out to and cheering him from outside.
Viktor had no idea his title as the 'Goblin Slayer' would attract such attention. It seemed that these people were so excited because a rabbitman like him felled the Goblin King.
He could also see a lot of women of various races winking and giving him flying kisses despite knowing that he was married, at least according to them.
How could these women resist such a handsome and strong rabbitman who killed the Goblin King? It was as if they didn't care if the rest of his race was weak or lame.
But they realized that they couldn't underestimate everyone among the rabbitfolk. Who knows if there were others like Azu?
The men could only envy Azu since they heard the rumors about how he got personally invited to the Grand Ball that was going to be held today by the Darkwell Trading Union.
Apparently, all the invites were restricted to top families and adventurers in town. And it was the only place the president of the union, Prince Mevron, would make an appearance for sure.
Who in this town didn't want to see a person of such exalted status? If they were to get noticed by him, surely their future would be set for life.
And now, this rabbitman named Azu was surely on the road to living a grand life after getting noticed by the President himself.
However, very few wise ones among them felt a bit skeptical about all this. They knew that someone like the president wouldn't simply invite a rabbitman from outside without a good reason. Of course, there was always the chance that the president was genuinely impressed by the rabbitman's bravery and strength and wanted to show him some appreciation.
Seraphina was sitting in the carriage, covering herself with a cloak with a hood so that she wouldn't have to embarrass herself until the Grand Ball.
However, her mind was elsewhere, feeling anxious about what was about to come. Today was the day where her race's fate would be decided.
Viktor could only smile, seeing how cute and amusing she was, despite being so old. This made him reaffirm that a person's character and personality were heavily influenced by their environment more than their age.
But he could see that her heart rate was a bit high and held her hands, reassuring her it would be all right, though he also wasn't sure how things were going to go down exactly.
Seraphina's hand froze, but she let it stay like that, feeling his warm hand comfortable.
And when he looked outside, he shook his head as he saw most of the men trying to peep into the carriage to look past his face and see if they could get a glimpse of the rabbitman's beautiful wife, who was said to even outshine the mermaid princess.
Most thought that these were just bogus rumors that simply served the purpose of creating hype around the Goblin Slayer, especially since tales of a powerful adventurer being married to a beauty were quite the trend.
However, some of the people had no idea that Viktor also got an invitation to the biggest underworld auction of the year.
Not just anybody in the town could enter the auction. They need to be vouched for or pay a generous sum to gain admission.
But all Viktor did was simply request an invitation, and he immediately got it. He didn't expect the ones who governed this town to be so generous.
Either they must be looking to make some kind of relationship with him or his 'race,' or there was something else he was missing.
Not long after, the carriage stopped before the tallest building in town. It was a magnificent-looking silver building with a pointy top and at least dozens of floors.
Viktor had already heard rumors that there was nothing people couldn't get in this building. All kinds of weapons, clothes, accessories, and stuff were available in the building for people to buy.
Each floor would be dedicated to different categories, but the prices were sky high as well due to the quality. So only the privileged would enter this building with a straight back, while the unfortunate ones could only swallow their saliva and go along with their lives.
But even then, Viktor could see a crowd of people entering the building. He felt that the auction also had a big role to play since most of the people entering this building were either wearing masks or using disguises that just seemed a bit obvious.
Seraphina prayed to her Holy Godmother so that everything would be alright before entering the building with Viktor, where they showed their invitation in the form of a thick silver paper.
Viktor and Seraphina weren't interested in buying anything and were only here for the auction. They were wondering where they should go when the guard who checked their invitations redirected the two towards another entrance.
The two found themselves entering another section of the building and then guided towards a teleportation chamber based on what Seraphina said.
The chamber was glowing with mystic runes and within just a moment, Viktor and Seraphina found themselves standing before a dimly lit corridor where various other people with masks and disguises were walking towards the only door at the end.
Viktor and Seraphina followed them, and when they entered through that door, they were welcomed by cool air as they saw a dark hall with hundreds and hundreds of seats present.
Viktor, for a moment, felt as if he was in some kind of mega movie theater with the only difference that there was no screen upfront but a stage, and it seemed that the auction was going to start soon.
However, before he was about to look for seats, he saw that there were three roof boxes up above the hall with tinted glass. He didn't have to think much to guess who all might be sitting inside these secretive boxes.
