Route 1: Seems To Be A Distant Past (1)

Scarlett Mila



We are now inside the place where the auction will be held and I cannot help but to be quite amazed to see how the organizers of this even prepared so much. The hall is full of decorations and the bidders who are wearing their own kind of masks match it too well. However, the decorations and how well did they prepare for this event does not change the fact that they are going to down; that this is going to be the last time that they are going to have this kind of event.

When I stepped inside the place, I instantly felt the same ominous feeling that I felt a while ago that literally sent chills down my spine, the only difference is that it is not a single item anymore, there are a lot. Which is so disturbing, like how are they actually be able to transport such item from one place to another?

It is impossible that they are able to do that because there are a lot of guards stationed in each of the borders because it is obvious that the items, they are selling are not just from the empire but also from the other neighboring kingdoms. How can they pass the checkpoints? Well, unless they have a teleportation scroll that will allow them to instantly arrive at one place to another however, teleportation scrolls are expensive. It will surely cost them a lot, though they are indeed earning quite a money in their auctions but they also have to pay for other things such as their liabilities because it is also impossible that they have none.

Actually, there is another possible reason why they are able to easily travel from one place to another although they are carrying quite a dangerous item and that is they have obtained a special pass from the rulers of each kingdom in this world, a special pass that requires a lot of sacrifices, specifically monetary sacrifices. For example, they are going to give half of their income divided to each of kingdom, based from my research and the information given by Aesir and Alarick there are five kingdoms in total. These are, the north, the south, the west, the east and the middle one which is the empire.

Is it unfair? No… Well, I think that it is fair because first and foremost, it is already a gamble to let this group of merchants to enter the territory of each kingdom and because it is a gamble, each ruler needs a something to assure that whatever happens during this gambling activity, they will not be at lost.

And because a lot of nobility want to participate in such event and will spend quite a fortune during the bidding process, the five empires have greatly secured their monetary safety whatever may happen. Indeed, each ruler is a devil that does not give a damn about the lives of its people, its ruler cares more about how fat their treasury is.

Why in the first place? First reason for this is for repairs. Monster attacks are happening a lot more than it has in the past and the money they got from these merchants can be used for repairs of the broken buildings, walls and could also strengthen their defense. Second thing is that it can also be used as a compensation for the families of the knights who lost their lives protecting their territory from monsters. However, although this is one of the reasons, we can never be sure if the families of the deceased knights in each kingdom are really compensated well enough because in the empire, they are not well-compensated. Not to mention that if a town or village is always being attacked the bastard emperor does not care, he can’t even send reinforcements, it is like he really wants the town or village to be wiped out.

Third reason that I could think of but most likely is not also possible to happen is that the money will also increase the salary of the knights. Based on the research I did, the salary of the knights depends on their contribution to the empire.

The imperial knights are on top of the food chain of course, most especially the troop of my father. They are compensated a lot more that the other knights. The second one on the food chain are the knights that patrols the imperial palace because they almost the same weight of responsibility as the emperor’s imperial knights. The third one is the knights patrolling around the towns, the fourth one is the one’s guarding the entrance to the empire’s main town and lastly are the knights in towns or villages that are often being attacked by monsters, risking their lives to protect the people who lives there.

Actually, the empire or rather the emperor is also allocating quite a big budget to the magic tower, giving the mages almost the same compensation as his imperial knights. Why? Because magic is very important to the empire and the magic tower does a lot of researches that needs quite the money to be able to proceed, and these researches are spearheaded by the emperor of course, who else?

“What are you thinking, Lady Mila?” – Cain asked. When we reached our seat, I immediately activated my barrier around the four of us so that no one could hear whatever we are talking about and to them it will look like we are not talking although we are.

Why did I activate my barrier? It is because in this auction house, the bidders should be discreet as much as possible and we are not supposed to mention our names. I heard some of the people here used some kind of codenames such as Lady K, Sir M, Red, Black, Yellow or something.

And of course, because of my ability the four of us do not have to worry much about the people around us knowing our identity.

“I am just thinking on how much money do I need to spend in order to buy all of the items that are to be presented here” – I answered him as I put my hands on the side of my face and I placed my elbow on top of the chair’s arm rest. I am already getting quite bored here, it has been a few minutes since we sat down and I have already said thought a lot of things and the auction has not still began.

“How rich are you really, Lady Mila? You sound like you are not going to lose money if you did what you are saying” – He stated and he actually sounded curious. Well, I guess I am not going to lose money because I have saved quite a lot for the past seven years, not to mention, the first two missions that I did paid quite well. One of the missions I completed is comparable to two years of the income I had with the flower shop and the other is comparable to two and half years of the income I had with the flower shop. So yes, I am really pretty damn rich. Not to mention that the value of money here is so different with the value of money I had in my past life.

If I am going to compare, the value of money here is only half in my past life. Although, my career really pays well and I own a lot of properties in my past life, I will not consider myself as a really crazy assed bitch because in my pass life I need to pay a huge amount of tax with every property that I own and of course the government is also deducting a huge amount from my monthly income.

I understand that the taxes are used to provide the citizens of the county an exemplary public service. But the money that the government took from us does not all go to the improvement of public services because half of that goes directly to the pockets of the dirty politicians.

In this world on the other hand, yes there is still tax and each individual is charged according to the income they have as well, but the tax the empire is asking is not as much as the government is asking in my past life.

“I am rich enough to help you start a business and help you gather new and trustworthy knights and servants. And I can even buy you a new mansion to stay in” – I jokingly said and in my peripheral vision I saw his lips curved up a little. I guess he finds it funny, well I am just telling him the truth.

In just a few minutes, I saw a person wearing a black tuxedo and black mask walking to the center of the stage. I can’t help but to look at the person from head to toe and I also increased my senses and because of that I was able to know that although the person in front is wearing a tuxedo, the person is not a man but actually a woman. And the scent she emits is that of a human being however I can also detect the faint scent of a monster. Most probably it is one of the things to be auctioned tonight.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we welcome you to the annual auction party of our organization!” – She said and I cannot help but to let out a smirk.

“Oooh that’s nice” – I commented because she was able to change her voice. A spell that can change the voice of the caster is considered to be a Class A spell because not only it requires a lot of mana and practice, one wrong move then the caster’s original voice will be gone forever. Also, if the caster accidentally forgot a word or interchanged a few words, the cost will also be the loss of the caster’s voice. So, in other words, it is a gamble to use it.

I am getting quite interested to know who is behind that black mask. Since I have already familiarized myself to her scent then it will be easy for me to find her or simply know if she is around. I will not bother myself to actually catch her after this auction, because she is just a supporting character in our mission tonight. What I want is whatever that ominous thing they are going to present to of course to be able to save those hybrids.

“That person is a girl am I right?” – Cain asked and I nod my head as an answer to his question. Well, I am quite surprised that he also noticed. But he is already a few seconds late. He should be able to know the gender of that person the moment she reached the center stage.

Anyways, I just kept my attention at her and I could clearly see how her eyes moved from left to right and I suddenly her eyes stopped on our position and I could clearly see from my position that she is looking at Cain which made me frown.

Why the heck is that woman looking Cain? After than her eyes shifted to me and when I sensed her bloodlust my frown got even more deeper.

“That woman… Mila you have to be careful, she is up to no good” – Aesir said to me through telepathy

“Her bloodlust is increasing. If I remember correctly, you have never gotten into fights with ladies so it is impossible that she has a grudge against you” – Alarick also added but I beg to disagree with what he just said.

The woman on the center stage clearly has a grudge to me, however it is impossible that she knows that Cain is the person beside me and I am his partner. Unless, she knows right from the start that Cain is going to be here in the auction and she was already expecting that Cain will be going alone and that she was shocked to know that he was with someone.

My hypothesis is that the woman on the center of the stage wearing a man’s clothes I just like me, she definitely knows the flow of the story and she may know the parts that I am completely oblivious too.

If my hypothesis is correct then who is she? How the hell does she know the flow of the story just like me? Did she transmigrate as well to this world?

What the heck is actually going on?