Chapter 153 : Forced Sale - 1
Chapter 153: Forced Sale - 1
3 hours, 4 hours.
5 hours. 7 hours.
‘We can’t stall any longer.’
I spoke weakly.
“Let’s at least find intelligent, living livestock ourselves. At this rate, we’ll be dragged in front of B empty-handed.”
“…Mason.”
“It’s fine. I haven’t given up.”
Even if Edgar pulled far ahead in the fourth Intermediary Trade—
We still had the fifth Intermediary Trade left.
We could turn things around there.
‘We can, right? Future Diary.’
[Well.]
‘At least say there’s no problem there.’
[There’s no problem.]
‘Put more soul into it.’
[There’s no problem!]
I shook my head.
How could there be no problem?
‘There’s no lifeform more intelligent than humans.’
While my thoughts spun rapidly—
My companions hurriedly purchased intelligent livestock.
Since monkeys had fetched the highest price among what we knew, we decided to unify everything with that.
Even then, I kept thinking.
‘We’ve already lost the fourth Intermediary Trade.’
So now, I needed to figure out how to lead the fifth.
Should we just confront Edgar head-on?
Make him say with his own mouth that he’d sell himself, and place him on the table—
‘Ah. Fighting and conflict are prohibited.’
Or maybe, maybe—
At that moment—
Whoosh.
Our vision shifted.
“Welcome.”
Edgar spoke with a bright smile.
Behind him stood the ordinary participants, their eyes devoid of light.
Aina spoke.
“As expected, their souls have turned pitch black.”
“……”
“Should I fix them?”
I bit my lip and shook my head.
“No. It’s better not to.”
“Why? If we leave them like that, they’ll walk onto the table themselves.”
“It’s already too late.”
I said that and looked at Magireta.
“Right? Noona. It’s already too late for them, isn’t it?”
“When asking a question, be more specific.”
“Edgar already paid the price in the human world and purchased the participants. Now that we’re back here, it can’t be undone. Right?”
“It’s a bad habit to ask questions you already know the answer to.”
I let out a deep sigh.
Armelia spoke with a heavy expression.
“…I agree. Don’t fix their souls now, Aina.”
“……”
“If you do… they’ll be eaten by B while fully conscious.”
“…So it’s better they get eaten while out of their minds. Damn it.”
I glared at Edgar.
Then I said with anger,
“It’s nothing new, but you’re truly garbage.”
“Why?”
“……”
“You’ve survived this far by using every means available. So why shouldn’t I use other humans? I don’t understand.”
“Enough. What’s the point of saying more?”
He shrugged.
At that moment, Magireta clapped her hands.
Clap!
“Enough chatting. Who wants to place their item on the table first?”
“I’ll go first, noona.”
Edgar raised his hand.
Then he gestured to the participants.
Step.
One by one, they climbed onto the table.
Soon, all twelve stood on it.
Edgar spread his arms as if showing off.
“These are the goods I prepared. Please set a price.”
B tilted her head.
“As stated in the rules, I only assign a price to one. You don’t need to place them all on the table.”
“That’s fine. Just price one. But please eat all of them.”
“……”
“That way, the remaining participants will be eight. And half of them will be eliminated.”
He glanced at me.
Just as I thought.
At that moment, B’s eyes changed.
Until now, aside from when eating, she had maintained a somewhat elegant demeanor.
But—
“Slurp. Ah, excuse me… hehehe.”
Drool streamed from her mouth.
She seemed completely captivated by the supreme “goods” before her.
Wiping her saliva repeatedly, B spoke.
“This meal might take a while. Please wait a moment.”
I quietly turned away.
So did the others.
-Crunch. Crack.
A disturbing sound echoed behind us.
“Everyone, cover your ears.”
At Armelia’s suggestion, we all blocked our ears.
With silence surrounding us, my thoughts converged on one point.
Finding a way to turn things around in the fifth Intermediary Trade.
……
……
Huh?
Wait, wait a second.
If I use this method, then maybe—
Startled by my own realization, I unconsciously removed my hands from my ears.
Then I looked at Edgar.
He met my gaze and smiled.
So I smiled back.
Edgar’s expression stiffened slightly.
“…What is it?”
“I just had a good idea.”
“What idea?”
Of course, I didn’t answer.
Instead, I muttered inwardly.
‘A way to eliminate you.’
B devoured all the participants.
We realized it from the end of her ravenous eating sounds.
Slowly, we turned back.
“Ugh.”
Armelia covered her mouth.
She had endured many things until now, but even she couldn’t handle this.
Sienne murmured,
“For once, I’m glad I can’t see.”
“……”
“Though the smell of blood is unavoidable.”
On B’s table lay a small hellscape.
Most body parts had disappeared into her stomach, but like when she ate the pineapple, filthy remnants were scattered everywhere.
Blood, chunks of organs, even eyeballs.
Thud, thud.
B patted her stomach in satisfaction.
“Ahh. I’m full.”
“……”
“Oh, don’t worry. I can still eat more. Ah, right, I haven’t told you the price yet.”
Tap tap tap.
B tapped the armrest with her index finger.
A Mini Bulletin Board appeared in front of Edgar.
■ Edgar Tyler’s Profit
* Revenue: 5,036 Gold coins 98 Silver coins
* Cost: 0 Gold coins 15 Silver coins
* Profit: +5,036 Gold coins 83 Silver coins
This is insane.
What was Edgar’s last profit again?
36 Gold coins 98 Silver coins.
Which meant—
I spoke to B in a cynical tone.
“You bought them for 5,000 Gold coins.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Edgar.
“Your cost last time was 3 Silver coins, right?”
“Yes.”
“And now it’s 15 Silver coins. So you bought twelve people for 12 Silver coins?”
“That’s correct. Buy cheap, sell expensive—that’s the basics of business.”
He had made each participant sell themselves for just 1 Silver coin.
How could a person’s worth be just 1 Silver coin…
Well, even if he had paid a fortune, it wouldn’t change the fact that he was trash.
I turned back to B.
“I understand that you prefer intelligent food. But I didn’t expect you to pay as much as 5,000 Gold coins. For a monster to value humans that highly…”
B shrugged.
“They’re the species currently ruling the world, aren’t they? I think 5,000 Gold coins is a fair value.”
“……”
“In a way, humans are my juniors.”
I tilted my head.
Juniors?
‘Ah, wait.’
Come to think of it, where did Kaid say he met B?
Right—the territory ruled by the Second MVP.
Then—
“Don’t tell me you’re the Second MVP?”
“Huh? Ahaha, no. But you even know about MVPs. Magireta couldn’t have told you—impressive.”
“……”
“Why did you think I might be an MVP?”
“I heard you ‘reside’ in the territory ruled by the Second MVP.”
I deliberately used the word reside sarcastically.
But B simply shrugged.
“I see. In any case, I’m not an MVP.”
“But you’re from a species that once ruled the world, right? Like Odline being a Celestial, and Helena being an Elf.”
“You really do know a lot.”
“What species were you?”
B’s gaze became slightly distant.
Just as she was about to answer, Magireta’s voice cut in.
“Don’t answer that, B.”
“Lady Magireta.”
“You mustn’t let your guard down even for a moment around my little brother. You never know how he’ll dig in.”
“Hehe. Understood. Still, I quite like Mason.”
“I feel the same.”
Being liked by demons or monsters brought me no joy whatsoever.
B spoke.
“Now then, please place your items.”
“……”
With a deep sigh, I placed the monkey on the table.
B smiled.
But only smiled.
Unlike when she saw the participants, she didn’t drool.
That made it even more despairing.
“I’ll buy this as well.”
She said, and devoured the monkey.
Soon, she tapped the armrest, and my Mini Bulletin Board appeared.
■ Mason Gear’s Profit
* Revenue: 374 Gold coins 66 Silver coins
* Cost: 6 Gold coins 97 Silver coins
* Profit: +367 Gold coins 69 Silver coins
I recalled my previous profit.
‘So she paid about 190 Gold coins.’
Edgar got 5,000.
I got 190.
That was more than a 26-fold difference.
One by one, my companions also placed their monkeys.
Their prices were similar to mine.
When everything ended, we had no choice but to face despair.
“……”
No one dared to speak.
After organizing my thoughts, I spoke to Magireta.
“Noona. I have one question.”
“You can ask ten. I just won’t answer what I can’t.”
“You should be able to answer this. According to the rules, 50 percent are eliminated. The total number is twenty, right?”
“It’s a bad habit to ask what you already know.”
I bit my lip tightly.
Magireta continued with a smile.
“It says ‘50 percent of the final participants,’ doesn’t it?”
“……”
“The participants eaten by B won’t be able to take part in the fifth trade. I’ll interpret that as forfeiting. You could also call it dropping out.”
She continued smiling.
“Of course, they’re not part of the ‘final participants.’ The final count is eight—Edgar and your group combined. That won’t change.”
“……”
“How unfortunate, little brother. I don’t like Edgar either, but his plan worked perfectly.”
I remained silent.
Magireta said nothing more.
As we fell quiet, laughter came from elsewhere.
“Fufufu……”
“……”
“Hahaha!”
It was Edgar.
After laughing, even wiping tears, he spoke.
“It’s finally over. Finally over.”
“……”
“Well, saying it’s completely over might be an exaggeration. No matter how big the gap between us is, three of you will survive.”
“Edgar.”
“But whoever survives probably won’t be sane. You all seem quite close.”
His expression shifted instantly.
Like a madman, his emotions fluctuated wildly.
“If they’re mentally broken, they’ll be easy to deal with. Once this quest ends, I can quickly finish the rest.”
I didn’t respond.
My companions looked at me anxiously.
I grabbed the Diary Book and initiated a Secret Conversation.
[Don’t worry.]