Home/I Saved the Villain and Fell Asleep/ch 39

Chapter 39

I grinned and tugged at Senté's sleeve.

"It's not a secret auction, and it's supposed to be a regular one, right? Then it should be fine, shouldn't it?"

"Do you even have the money?! Well, of course you do! But I mean right now. That auction requires immediate payment."

"Oh right, I don't have money. Senté, lend me some."

"I don't have enough to buy a mansion either, young lady..."

Even while stuffing food into his mouth, Senté looked at me with teary eyes—it was so funny I pounded the table.

He's just too easy to tease!

"Hahaha, sorry. I keep interrupting your meal. Go ahead and eat. I'll drag Brother to the auction, so don't worry."

"Young lady..."

"He's got a bad temper."

"What? Kali, who's the one to talk?"

"Whatever."

Kali glared at me with an annoyed look, and we started our usual staring contest. He always starts it and always loses.

I ruffled Kali's hair messily as I thought.

If there's anything decent besides the mansion at the auction, maybe I'll buy it as a gift for Kali? The more good things, the better—it's better than nothing.

I'm definitely buying that haunted mansion! Wait for me, my Goblin Hat!!

After a good night's sleep, Irein came to his senses. When I told him I wanted to go to the underground auction on Royce 1st Street, his eyes darted to Senté behind me. He was clearly suspicious that Senté had told me about it. To save Senté's life, I quickly said I'd found out about it myself because there was something I wanted to buy.

"Brother, you must have so many questions right now. I'll explain everything once we get home, okay?"

"Hmm."

Afraid he'd lose his mind again if I said no, I nodded hastily.

"You want to buy the red-roofed mansion on Mt. Rüyer? The one that's supposed to be haunted?"

"Huh? You know about it too, Brother?"

"It's famous."

"What?! The mansion you want to buy, young lady, is that haunted house?"

Senté, who also seemed particularly vulnerable to ghosts, freaked out and tried to talk me out of it.

"That sounds fun. I was curious about what's there too. Fine, let's buy it!"

Irein grinned and clapped his hands together—he looked so reassuring.

"Lord Irein! What about our work?!"

"You do it."

"Pardon?"

"I need to stay with Hari! Someone has to work, right? Can't be lazy, Senté."

"What?!!"

In the end, Senté went off to work alone, and the three of us—me, Kali, and Irein—decided to attend the auction together.

Irein said he'd handle the funds, so there was no problem. With Irein's approval, all I had to do was buy the mansion!

The day when the Goblin Hat—the invisible Goblin Hat—would be in my hands was drawing near.

The auction wasn't as dark as I'd expected. It was actually quite bright. I'd imagined an underground auction would be grimy and gloomy, but it was nothing like that.

The three of us pulled our robes down low and sat in our assigned seats. Pink hair wasn't particularly flashy in this empire, but our faces were the problem.

Irein had an excessively striking face, and I resembled him. Plus, there was Kali, who anyone could tell was a young master of some standing.

"When the mansion comes up, raise this paddle. Keep raising it until you win the bid."

"Do you think anyone else will want to buy it?"

"You never know. But it doesn't matter—the Algenprina can't be outbid."

'The Algenprina can't be outbid.'

Ooh, my heart swelled with emotion at those words. I covered my mouth.

It was my first time holding an unlimited black card, and my first purchase was a castle-grade mansion. Is this okay? Can I really just buy it?

Yes, I can! Because I'm an Algenprina!

"I'm suddenly nervous. Are there any other useful things besides the castle? Like centuries-old wine or rare liquor."

"When you get a bit older, are you going to wander around the mansion with a bottle in your hand?"

"Oh, how about that? It says it's a bowl that endlessly produces water. Perfect for Bibi's water bowl."

"Rejected."

"So cold. You're not going to buy your daughter a gift?"

"Ha, who's your daughter? And how do you even know if Bibi's male or female?"

Huh, come to think of it, do mystical beasts even have genders? I'll have to check Bibi's belly later.

"How about those? Shoes that leave no footprints—perfect for stealing."

"Why would a princess steal?"

Surprisingly, it was Irein who had a good reaction.

"Oh, right. That would be great for sneaking in somewhere."

"The siblings are both crazy."

But haven't I always said it? That Kali is no pushover either.

"This auction item is a one-use prison. The usage is simple! Just hold it in your hand, infuse it with mana, and throw it at the target you want to trap! The size is 2 meters tall by 1.5 meters wide. Bidding starts at 500 silver, going up in 50-silver increments."

"A one-use prison? That's good. Hyung-nim, buy that for me."

Kali shamelessly smiled and held out his hand to Irein. He only calls him "hyung" when it benefits him.

"Perfect for catching a certain girl who bursts out with fiery propulsion in the wrong direction."

Irein's gaze turned to me.

Why are you looking at me?

I slapped Irein's hand down as he started to raise his paddle.

"Customer 154, 750 silver!"

Huh? 154?

I looked down at my paddle—155. So 154 was...

Sure enough, Kali was holding his paddle up.

"Customer 74, 800 silver! Customer 211, 850 silver!"

As the price kept climbing, I punched Kali's thigh to stop him.

"Are you going to stop or not?"

"Customer 156, 1,100 silver! Any more? Sold for 1,100 silver to customer 156!"

That's Irein!!!

I glared at Irein in disbelief, and he and Kali high-fived over my head.

"Ha! I'm speechless. You spent 1,100 silver on a one-use item?"

"A one-use item has its merits. It's a prison that can safely contain someone."

"A prison is still a prison, no matter how safe it is!!"

They're not planning to use it on me, are they? If it's a magic prison, I can break it anyway.

Just as my blood pressure was rising from the two of them giggling without me, the item I wanted finally appeared.

"Ah, a famous item—the 'Haunted Mansion' on Mt. Rüyer! This auction also includes 50,000 pyeong of forest land attached to the mansion site. Bidding starts at 600 gold, going up in 100-gold increments."

"Starting at 600 gold including 50,000 pyeong of land. They must really want to get rid of it."

The market price for a small standalone house was typically around 800 gold. But this haunted mansion, though small, came with an annex. And with the land included, starting at 600 gold was practically giving it away.

I was going to buy it anyway, so getting land with it is a bonus! The moment it appeared, I raised my paddle and waved it.

"Customer 155, 600 gold!"

I wished I could snatch it at 600 gold with no competitors.

But the condition of the attached land must have been tempting enough to outweigh the ghost—paddles went up from all over. I raised mine sporadically, waiting for people to give up.

As the price rose, people began dropping out. Probably because previous buyers had all ended up putting it back up for auction.

Yes. Give up, all of you! The cheaper, the better!

"Customer 155, 1,500 gold! An unexpectedly tight contest! Customer 171, 1,600 gold!"

Before I knew it, it was just me and customer 171 left.

"What? You said no one would want it!"

"I can't see with the robe covering them. Hari, keep raising your paddle."

Customer 171 was sitting about five seats diagonally ahead of me. The way they kept flashing their paddle seemed suspicious.

Looks like a competitor. Ugh, damn it! Of all times!

Paddles 155 and 171 were frantically alternating in the air. I could feel the auction attendees watching us with growing excitement.

The price had already surpassed the cost of a medium-sized fortress. My hand trembled at the insane price.

"Uh, Brother! Is it really okay for me to keep going?"

"Huh? Keep going. That guy's persistent."

Thanks to Irein's nonchalant attitude, my shaking subsided a little, but the competitor showed no sign of giving up.

...Wait, did they just hesitate a little?

I glared at the robed figure, silently begging them to stop.

Did my desperate wish reach them? Finally, paddle 171 stopped.

"The haunted mansion is sold to customer 155! You've won after a fiercely contested battle!"

With cheers, the haunted mansion finally fell into my hands.

Th-that was expensive. What about the price? Irein said it was fine, so it's fine, right...?

"That's suspicious."

"What is?"

"The reason they wanted to buy that haunted mansion. It's suspicious that they didn't give up until the price reached that point without some reason."

"That applies to me too, doesn't it?"

"It's fine because we're Algenprina."

What, is "Algenprina" some kind of magic word?

But I agreed that the other buyer was suspicious. I was buying it because I needed what was there—but what about them?

Could there be... another reason?

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