The vast city of Lockinge is home to humans ruled by Duke Marcus von Berkley, the Great General of the Spear Arts.

It is located east from the great Empire of Eulia and lies beneath a great mountain called Culb.

This duchy wasn't built near a mountain by accident, as the forest surrounding the mountain has medicinal plants, which is of great importance to the people of Lockinge’s Temple and its success.

With its suburban houses with elm wood rooftops, walls and variety of culinary delight, to those from the surrounding land, Lockinge has a mythical atmosphere.

The main attraction is the Adventurer Guild which was built 100 years ago and designed by dwarves.

Lockinge has a flourishing economy, which is mainly supported by armorsmithing, engineering and herbalism. But their biggest strengths are sophisticated cooking and rare crop farming; which were bought from the surrounding farms. Sugar was also a big trade, though not as much as the aforementioned things.

However, Lockinge lacks people skilled in crafting. Dwarves had lived here once, however, they had returned back to their homelands. Lockinge is primarily consisted of humans.

The city of Lockinge was one of the most prosperous cities on the continent. It could even compare to the imperial capital city, Estere; located in the empire of Eulia.

Although the duke is the sole lord of this city, he has vassals who act as his representatives or as a small government. Unlike most cities where the unemployment rates are high, Lockinge offered many opportunities to those with and without education.

This was even more reason as to why people should migrate out of their villages to work here.

The city had many benefits besides the good employment rates; its streets are well maintained and crime is kept to a minimum. That was mainly because the ruler was a powerhouse of the Empire.

Magic schools, massive chains of super markets, guilds of various kinds and entertainment areas made up the city of Lockinge. The Adventurer Guild was in the center of the city. It was the first building to be built when this city was first created.

The first patriarch had great respect for adventurers so he wanted them right in this city. During the most delicate of times during war, they could be the ones who protect the people. While the patriarch and his men were off to war, they could protect the city and lessen the casualties.

Being a large city, Lockinge had enough wealth to even request SS rank adventurers. They were the national protectors of the world.

In Star Fantasy, one could choose your own profession or class. Liam was an adventurer before he became a lord of the city he took over by force. That was before Alecs recruited him to her Guild.

Because the system was so broken, there wasn’t a way to rank level cap players. They were given the legendary SSS rank to categorize them.

‘I wonder if there is information about me at the guild. SSS is not a real rank in this world anymore, after all.’

Arnold thought and looked up at the adventurer guild. They were on their way to the shopping district. The auction house would be located at the very top of the street. There was a street that went both sides that headed for the noble districts.

‘I should make some time to visit the guild.’

He became an adventurer even before the game had an actual plot to follow. Star Fantasy was originally an RPG-based game before the big update that brought a real story. That meant that he was active even before this city was built.

‘I was stationed in this city for a few in-game years after the duke requested me to protect the city against another duke.’

That was how he learned of Luke’s arrival at the manor and the mysterious sword they’d be purchasing today. The sword was rumored to be a semi-star rank.

He heard this from his guild master, Alecs. At first, the sword was in a relic tomb located far from this nation.

One lucky traveler found it and sold it to a travelling merchant. The latter then sold it to an official of the empire from this city. That person was the one in charge of the auction house.

Bruce Penedil. He was one of those guys who bought his way up to the top of the noble circle. He wasn’t of noble blood but his authority was still absolute and ranked higher than most nobles in the empire.

The man wasn’t really a swordsman so the sword was basically useless. He also didn’t know how to use its abilities. Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to sell it for loads of money?

‘The idiot doesn’t know what he’s giving away.’

Forget star ranked artifacts, even semi-star ranked artifacts were rare in this world. Being a DOP, Arnold had countless star ranked items on his battleship. Whenever he was low on money when he was solo, he would sell it to the public. Such items fetched astronomical amounts of money.

The Sanctity Shield that Alitus used was one such item that his guild sold to the public. The Holy Church in the Holy City of Melis bought the shield to gift it to one of their paladins. No one was good enough for the shield, though.

However, one day a boy who was sweeping the floors of the church walked up to the shield. It took only one touch for everyone to see that he was worthy of it. It released a brilliant white light and turned into a tattoo on the boy’s right hand to make it easier to carry around.

When he showed the oracle of goddess Melis, they made him the paladin in charge of protecting the believers of Melis.

‘Alitus was one of the first in the hero party to awaken early. Even earlier than Luke.’

By now, Alitus was in his early twenties. He was already married and had a baby. He was working as the paladin at Head Church of Melis which was located in the Holy City. The Holy City was the capital of the Holy Kingdom. It was east of the Eulia Empire.

Above(north)of Eulia was the fallen kingdom where Flora, the former princess was from. Even to this very day, the kingdom was still under war.

‘She must be fighting for her life right now.’

South of the Eulia empire was the border which separated the human nations from the other races. Meaning, it was the territory of the elves, dwarves and demihumans. Although there was a border, people were allowed to travel freely. That depended whether you had a criminal record or not.

“We’re arriving.” Lauran looked out of the window and said. Arnold nodded and looked towards Luke.

“Luke, remember that you must carry the pride of the Berkley household on your shoulders. Walk proudly and do not embarrass my father.” Arnold stood up to go outside.

“Yes, big brother!” Luke shouted with enthusiasm.

Arnold grunted at him. It would be a while before he got used to being called big brother by Luke. He decided to let it pass since Luke wouldn’t stop regardless.

“Stay here, Lauran. Servants are forbidden from entering.” Arnold said as he straightened his tie. Anyone could tell what a perfectionist he was. There wasn’t a single speck of dust on his dark blue suit.

“Yes…” Lauran bowed and headed back inside the carriage.

Luke and Arnold strode forth to enter the auction house.

‘Let’s get that sword.’

◇

--Welcome ladies and gentlemen!

When Arnold and Luke got to their seats, they heard the announcer had already begun with the auction. Although nothing had been sold yet so they were right on time.

‘It’s a relief that we got here in time.’

Auctions usually took place early in the morning. Some would take place late at night if the occasion allowed it.

The plump merchant on the stage was holding a magic item that acted as a mic. It was a small crystal.

‘That’s interesting. To make up for the lack of modern technology, this world uses magic to create their very own technology.’

Things like televisions didn’t exist here since this game was supposed to be a fantasy-like experience. Bringing modern world things into the game would ruin the experience.

--Let us begin the auction. First up is…!

The curtains rolled up. Behind the auctioneer were multiple cages with humans and demihumans inside it.

The slave trade was first on today’s schedule.

Luke’s expression hardened.

‘Shit. Please don’t go berserk. You’ll destroy this entire building.’

Arnold thought hopefully. He looked back to the stage and his eyes widened.

‘Flora!?’ Arnold almost jumped out of his seat.

There, in one of the cages was a certain girl. She looked to be around Arnold’s age. She had purplish hair and eyes. Judging by the collar around her neck, she was a war slave.

There were lots of cuts and bruises on her body. Her hair which was always a vibrant purple was now full of dirt.

‘Are those aura restraints?’

Arnold saw that she was handcuffed by a special pair of handcuffs. There was a magical formation around it.

‘Are these people idiots?’

They must’ve thought Flora was an aura user since she was so powerful that she was able to fight hundreds of men at once.

That was a wrong decision to make.

Flora was a powerful swordsman because she worked hard in her training in swordsmanship. Aura didn’t play a role at all.

Arnold’s guess as to why Flora wasn’t breaking the handcuffs was because she was too exhausted. The fallen princess had to singlehandedly protect the nation her family abandoned after all. She never slept properly ever since the invasion on her kingdom started.

Looking at her dazed eyes, Arnold knew that she was near death.

--Please choose from the lineup of beauties before you. I assure you that they only need a bath and healthy food before they can be made servants.

Besides Flora, there were others with the same collars around their necks. Elves, dwarves, catkin and humans. It was like a variety of feast for the eyes since they were all female.

He wanted to meet Flora in a more pleasant way. He had no idea she would be captured alive and brought as far as this place.

“B-Big brother, do you know her?” Luke grabbed Arnold’s arm. He had noticed Arnold look intently at the girl.

She was also staring at him because his gaze was so intense that it was obvious he was looking at her.

“No. I just find her attractive.” Arnold whispered as the announcer took everyone’s votes.

The elf girls were being asked for the most. It was rare for humans to get a taste of elves, after all.

Arnold raised his number flag and shouted. Luke, who saw him get up, looked curiously at him.

“Two hundred gold to the girl with purple hair!”

The entire audience looked towards the source of that shout.

“What the hell!? Is that the duke’s son!?”

The nobles made a ruckus when they saw they were in the same room as Arnold. If anyone could mess up an event, it was him.

--Eh? Are you sure?

The auctioneer asked to confirm whether he heard that right. Two hundred gold wasn’t anything to scoff at. It was enough to buy an entire plot of land to build a village.

“…..” Even the girl raised her head in wonder and looked at him.

“Wha…” Luke’s mouth hung open in shock.

“Must I repeat myself? As you already who I am, you can put the bill on my father’s tab. I will sign the document when the auction is over.” Arnold said coolly as if the money was nothing.

The crowd looked at him silently with their mouths open.

“What are you waiting for? Send her up here or else!”

–Yes!

The auctioneer pulled Flora by her arm and sent her off stage. He told her to go up to the man with the dark blue suit.

She walked slowly up the stairs of the audience seats. Everyone gazed at her. When they got a close look at her, she was actually a beauty. It was a shame that she would be defiled by that scum.

–It seems the first product goes to the heir of the Berkley household!

The auctioneer looked back at the audience after wiping his brow.

–Moving on! This girl is…

Flora finally arrived in front of Arnold. She could now see how huge he was. Not only was he fairly muscular but he was handsome too.

He looked at her with eyes looking at an inferior being.

“State your name, slave.” He spoke with authority in his voice.

“…..” Flora’s mouth moved but only whispers came out. She tried licking the inside of her mouth but her throat was still too dry.

Arnold sighed. He looked at Luke. “Give me that juice you bought.”

“O-Okay.” Luke didn’t say anything and only gave the pouch with the juice in it.

“Drink.” Arnold gave the drink to Flora.

She sucked on the pouch so much that squirting noises sounded. She breathed deeply as she felt the pits of her stomach being blessed with the fluids.

“…My name is…Flora Renard….”

“I see. I am the eldest son of the great general of the Spear Arts, Marcus von Berkley.” He pointed at Luke. “This is Luke.”

“N-Nice to meet you, ma’am!” Luke bowed.

Arnold sighed. Bowing to a slave was already humiliating.

“Luke, I’ll take her to the carriage and come back. Sit still, alright?"

◇◇◇

“That your brother?” Flora spoke when they exited the auction room. Her tone of voice didn’t fit her beautiful face. She spoke like a barbarian. Hoarse and impolite.

It was a very informal way of speaking to one who was your master. But Arnold didn’t say anything about it.

“More or less. He’s adopted, technically.”

“I see. No wonder you look nothing alike.”

Arnold stopped when they arrived in the corridor. Flora looked at him from behind with a confused gaze.

“Renard is the name of a fallen noble house from this nation. Can’t you come up with something better?” Arnold looked at Flora. His mouth opened as his words poured out. “Princess of the fallen Luthial bloodline?”