At least that was what Luke thought, but he couldn't shake the strange feeling he got when he stared at her. It felt like he somehow knew her, but that wasn't possible. In his previous life, he very rarely interacted with the natives, and someone who would dare break into a black market would have been memorable to him. Then why wouldn't the feeling go away.
[Luke, you should save her.]
The sudden message blocking his view startled him, but he was lucky that no one was paying him any mind with what was happening on stage. Taking the time to read the message, he couldn't understand why the demon king would want him to save some stranger. Was she someone the demon king knew? If he could feel the previous demon king's emotions, that would explain why he felt like he recognized her, which was an unpleasant thought. He didn't want to be influenced by someone else's emotions.
"Why?" he whispered, just in case someone noticed him talking to thin air. When the demon kin
"Why don't we put it up for a vote?" the announcer suggested. "If you wish to see her fight unarmed, raise your hand. Keep your hands down if you want her to be given a weapon."Luke scoffed. So the man was taking the coward's way out. He didn't want to disappoint the audience, as it was his job to entertain them, but he also didn't want to take responsibility if something went wrong. Now he was trying to push the responsibility onto the audience so he wouldn't be blamed. Well, it didn't matter to him as long as people chose to keep their hands down.Several people had raised their hands, obviously wanting to see her brutally killed. They were either part of the group that didn't want to see a fight and only wanted to see blood spilled, or they were part of the group that wanted to see her severely disadvantaged. Fortunately, the majority was on his side, probably thinking that the outcome was too obvious. There was no way she could have won against the goblin with just her bare hands
The cheers and jeers drowned out most of the noises coming from the cage, which made it even more difficult for him to determine how well the fight was going. It was bad enough that they were so far away that they could only barely make out what was happening. He wished they had front row seats so he could get a better idea of how strong she was. Well, he could sort of make out some things despite all these issues.Luke could definitely see that she was just as nimble as he expected her to be with the way she kept dodging the goblin's attempts at hitting her. Even with her handicap, her skill shone through. She had yet to make a counterattack as she was probably trying to determine the best way to fight the goblin while preserving her strength for what was to come next, which was smart. The people in charge of the event would probably do something to ensure she wouldn't leave the place alive.Of course, he already had something to find to handle that. He still had the
Laurel frowned as she felt someone's glare piercing into her back. As a thief and someone who spent time around demons, she knew how to differentiate between the different kinds of glares people had. There were the I'm annoyed with you, the I'm going to kill you, and the I'm going to beat some sense into you among the few she could name. This one, however, felt like a mix of the first and third. The former made sense since these people wanted to see her dead, but the latter wasn't one she expected.She considered the possibility that one of the other harem members was here. The fact they didn't come to her aid would mean they wanted to see her take a beating or wanted to get rid of her. Of course she could be wrong, and they weren't here. She could just be imagining things, but she could still feel the glare. When she got out of this mess, she was going to hunt down the person and figure out what their deal was.At least the goblin thought she was dead, giving her time
The announcer declared, "To make up for this oversight, we will allow you to decide her fate."People immediately started to discuss different ways to torment her. 'Kayla' grimaced in disgust at all the crude things coming out of the audience's mouth, while Grace shuddered and curled in on herself. Luke, on the other hand, had hoped for this very scenario, but it looked like he underestimated just how bloodthirsty the audience was. Many of them wanted to see how long she would last against the staff or how long she could endure torture before she broke.That wasn't his goal. He needed to save her and somehow convince her that they were on the same side. Unfortunately, he doubted she could do that latter easily and within the black market. He would need to transport her to a safer location before revealing just enough to convince her to trust him.As he was about to shout out his suggestion, someone else beat him to it. "Why not keep her as a pet? She would make
The rest of the auction ended up mellowing out after the stunt they pulled. It was almost anticlimactic for the auction to simply end after all the items had been sold. Unfortunately, he had been unable to get his hands on the last items on his list despite his best efforts. Peacesong, the Restored Sphere, and Glimmer, Crystal of the Victor, ended up in the hands of others, and he could only grit his teeth at their loss. It didn't help that he read the item descriptions to see exactly what he lost out on.[Item Information][Peacesong][Mythic][A golden harp that once belonged to the angel Seraphina. It has lost a good chunk of its power since it has been lost in the mortal world, but its music remains heavenly.][Every time you play it, those that listen to it receive a temporary boost to all stats depending
Things had gone smoothly after that. After seeing all the money laid out on the table, he had no excuse to continue to treat them poorly. Seeing him get on his knees and apologize for his actions had amused Luke greatly. The other two, on the other hand, had looked at him with an unreadable expression.Now they were walking away with Laurel in their possession, but the quests regarding saving Laurel hadn't been resolved quite yet. He assumed it was because they were still in the confines of the black market. She wouldn't be safe until they left the place and returned back to the Kingdom of Shadarwen. Unfortunately, they had to wait for Samuel in order for that to happen.Luke scowled as he thought back on how the announcer had believed they were poor. He hadn't been wrong. They had actually spent all the money they had. The look on 'Kayla' and Grace's faces after he told them this once they were out of earshot would have been hilarious if it hadn't been so serious and
Samuel remained silent, which was undoubtedly an admission of his guilt not that Luke expected anything less. They both knew the truth, and it would have been pointless to try to pretend otherwise. The others were waiting anxiously to see what would happen next. With 'Kayla' being the only one with a weapon and was stuck carrying Laurel, she and Grace would be unable to defend themselves properly if something did happen.The first one to make a move was Samuel, who raised both of his hands and clapped, "Not bad."Not expecting that response, 'Kayla' and Grace stared at each other, wondering what was going on. Luke, on the other hand, wanted to sigh in exasperation. He had suspected that Samuel did this as part of his test since he still didn't trust Luke and the others, but it didn't make it any less annoying. Because of his stunt, they missed out on valuable items that they couldn't normally get at their level or ever."Will you now stop testing us?" Luke asked
The moment they reappeared in the Saintess's meadow, Laurel moved. She shoved herself off of 'Kayla' who cursed at the sudden movement and stumbled forward as she regained her balance. Laurel, on the other hand, took the opportunity to lunge for the weakest person in their group, Grace. Unfortunately for her, Luke had expected this and grabbed her by the wrist and flipped her onto her back. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her.Luke kept a tight grip on her hand. "I suggest you don't try that again, or else I will take matters into my own hands."She glared up at him, which he ignored, as 'Kayla' stomped her way towards them, obviously intent on getting payback for what happened. He rolled his eyes at her behavior. The both of them had known she was awake, so she had no excuse to be surprised by Laurel's stunt. If 'Kayla' had not known about it, then she was a complete disgrace for being both an angel and human. She had been the one literally carrying Laurel o