On top of Verda’s uncle’s carriage, Lagios showed his demonic body without the avian transformation necklace. He shouts to the two horses that pulled the carriage, “Walk faster you four-legged beasts!” He knows that they couldn’t hear him due to his [Silence] magic, but he did it anyway out of boredom for the past two weeks. For Lagios who could encircle the world in almost two hours at top speed, the pace of the four-legged beasts rivals that of the snails.

Only once did a group of bandits ambushed the carriage to quenched Lagios’ boredom. ‘Once! Only once!’ he complained. Lagios had slaughtered all of them before the carriage came to view. None of the carriage’s passengers aboard noticed the ambush, not even the three adventurers hired to protect it. When they did notice, only lifeless bandits remain in their pool of blood. “Bandits these days.” Lagios reminisced those good old days when he controlled a majority of the bandits for his master’s bidding.

“Ohh~ finally!” A city comes into view. Lagios took flight to get a better view of it. Not as impressive as he thought. He had seen grander cities in his hellish homeland. A three-walled city, every human city had at least three walls that encompass them. A huge storage-like building filled the inner wall instead of the usual castle. Stalls occupied the middle wall. They sold anything from armors and weapons to furniture and food. Inns, restaurants, shops, and houses lie inside the outer wall. Humans flood in and out of the gates for an annual event.

On the way, he heard the conversation inside the carriage between the three adventurers, and from Verda’s uncle who… talks with himself. He got information from them blabbering around while he lied down on the carriage roof dying from boredom.

An auction city. A city whose main profits came from auctions. The huge building inside the inner wall will hold the auction. This is where Verda’s uncle planned to go and waste his money. The adventurers will buy new arms and armors in the middle wall. They all will rent a room in an inn inside the outer wall. Verda’s uncle with his money to spend chose a three melain inn. For the adventurers, an adventurer exclusive inn. Lagios never heard the word “melain”. The word stands for an establishment rated based on the services. One, two, three, four, five melain. None as the worst and five as the best. Lagios wouldn’t get a taste of the three melain hotel as he’ll perch up outside the inn… on the roof of it.

Lagios got down back to the carriage’s roof and transforms into a horned red-breasted blackbird before the carriage enters the outer wall gate. Gate guards inspect the carriage and the people on board. Then the three adventurers left the carriage first as the adventurer guild building located near the gate. L&D inn, the three melain inn where Verda’s uncle will stay, and its roof where Lagios will perch.

Lagios perched up on the roof for three days with nothing to do. Aside from fleeing from a flirtatious female blackbird, he heard Verda’s uncle dancing with the prostitutes, heard him bragging as a wealthy noble from king’s landing, and heard the inn’s staff frustration. Lagios had reported what he heard from them to his master. Once Verda’s uncle got back, his cousin most likely would make him disappear like magic.

The time had come for Verda’s uncle to go to the auction hall in the inner wall. A thousand guards surround the auction building. The guards inspect every single people entering. Except for the auction guards, no weapons nor armors were allowed to enter. Twenty-seven years ago, someone barged into the auction building and stole something, after that the security increased and an accident like that never happened again.

But for Lagios who transformed into a bird, the security was redundant. Lagios fly right in from the windows. ‘Whoops, there was a barrier.’ He treated the barrier as if it didn’t exist at all. The barrier warned the caster of the location of the intruder. They come too late. Lagios had already perched up on the chandelier in the auction hall, and they only searched for humanoid or monsters.

From there, he could see everything. It was the greatest vantage point. The guards lined up near the hall’s wall, The people waiting for the auction sat on wide sofas, including Verda’s uncle. The wealthy nobles and merchants sat on the front row while common people or adventurers stand in the back.

A masquerade masked human come to stand on the stage and announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the annual Corhian auction! As per usual there will be many things to auction we even have the artifacts from…” He hooked the attention of the attendees. “… The demon lord!” Loud gasps filled the room. “But before that, The King and the third prince had arrived.”

On the second-floor in the VIP room, The King, and the third prince has the second-best vantage point. Everyone on the first floor rises and bows to him. After the king waved his hand, they all sat back.

“We’re starting off with a bang!” said the announcer.

A man brought a metal box to the announcer, the announcer grabbed the item inside. Four adventurers come to the stage followed by a chained orc that resists them.

“This ranged weapon was found by an adventurer in an ancient ruin. A better weapon than a crossbow! Put in an iron ball, a little ancient powder, and.” The announcer pulled the weapon trigger. A bang and a beam come out from the nozzle. In an instant, the orc’s chest to his head explodes. “Where did the orc go?” He shrugged. “We’re starting at 60 gold.”

“65!” shouted a man in the middle section.

“Come on! This is a weapon from an ancient civilization!”

“75!” shouted a man at the other end.

“It even blew half of the orc!”

“90!”

“It’s light and even a child could use it!”

“One plat!”

“Anyone else?

Closing in three,

Two,

On–“

“110 Gold!”

“Sold! By number 38! We’re gonna continue after the cleanup.”

After that, only four items gained the interest of Lagios. A wyvern egg, an adamantium sword enchanted to the limit owned by a former adamantite adventurer, a set of armor made by the legendary dwarven blacksmith, and an untranslated book found deep in ancient ruins. During the auction, Lagios connected to his master with [Message] to report to him the items sold.

“The last item on our list is the long-awaited item!” A man brought a red pillow with tubular glass encasing a ring inside. “Made by the demon king himself, this one-of-a-kind ring could make the swings of a sword meaningless. No physical things could damage its wearer nor even kill them.”

At that moment the entire room filled with killing intent emitted by Lagios himself. Only nitwits couldn’t feel his killing intent or… anyone else. Lagios let out a sound that reverberated throughout the entirety of the auction hall, “THIEVES!” The attendees shivered, the guards readied their swords, and the king stands ahead of the prince who’s shaking and standing on his knees.

‘Lagios, what is it?’ [Message] Verda.

‘Forgive me, Master, I had lost control.’

‘What are they auctioning now?’

‘The ring Corporis, master. Those THIEVES dared to show the item master made that they stole in front of me.’

‘To whom was it auctioned off?’

‘It has not, Master.’

The security send scouts to investigate what had happened, but they all return with nothing as they hadn’t checked the chandelier that hung from the roof. Even if they had, they would only shoo the bird that perched on it.

The people below him regain their composure and continue the auction. “W-with that, we’ve proven that this item is really made by the demon king himself. Let’s start with… 50 platinum. Any takers!?”

“5050 Gold!” said a man in the front most row.

“52 platinum!” said a man in the row behind him.

“5250 Gold!”

“53 platinum!”

“5350 Gold!”

“5360 Gold!”

“5390 Gold!”

“54 Platinum!”

The bickering of the two men stopped by the announcer’s voice, “Anyone else? Maybe we need a demonstration. This adventurer here will wear the ring and his teammate will slash his swo–”

“I’ll do it!” said a man at the very back leaning against the wall.

The man goes on stage and unsheathed the demonstrator adventurer’s sword and uses his original martial art skill [Thunderous Slashes]. Every slash he gave rumbled like thunder in a storm. This took the demonstrator adventurer by surprise and moved his body to a defensive pose. The skill would’ve sliced his target’s meat like a knife cutting through jelly. But his target still stands.

“60 Platinum,” said the man.

“Anyone higher? Closing in three, t–“

“70 Platinum,” said the king in his VIP chamber. Aiming for the demon lord’s artifact, the king hadn't bought anything thru-ought the auction.

“Sold! To His Majesty, the king of Corhian empire.”