Chapter 181: Choosing the Auction items
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The study stayed quiet after the communicating stone fell silent.
Sekhmet stood behind the desk, one hand resting near the ledgers, the other still faintly tense from the pressure of gripping the stone. Morning light cut across the room in pale gold lines, but the warmth did not reach his thoughts.
Iron House was moving.
Not just through petty mockery. Not just through rumors.
They were building a stage trap for the auction.
A public failure. A scandal. Panic. Blood.
Something meant to poison Dawn House’s name in front of buyers, merchants, nobles, and every scavenger in Slik waiting for a strong family to stumble.
Sekhmet exhaled once.
Then he did what he always did when too many problems crowded his mind.
He broke the problem apart. One part at a time.
The first part was simple. The auction needed items. Real items. Not promises. Not empty prestige.
And that meant it was finally time to use the treasure he had taken from Benimaru’s hidden chamber.
He closed the ledger, sat down in his chair, and shut the study door fully with a flick of blood control. The latch clicked into place.
No servants. No accidental ears. No Bat Bat barging in to ask if pastries could be stored in the void land for "emergency."
Sekhmet leaned back slightly and spoke inside his mind.
System.
The response came instantly.
[Ding! System awaiting for Host Command]
Sekhmet’s gaze sharpened.
"Sort all the treasure taken from Benimaru’s treasure room," he thought. "Everything. I want a clean list. Separate valuables, tools, weapons, armor, and anything dangerous. Then show me the ten best items suitable for a public auction."
The system paused for a brief second.
Not long.
Just enough to remind him that even magical tools liked making him wait when they were doing something useful.
Then the response came.
[System Command Accepted.
Sorting Benimaru Treasure Inventory...]
[Categorizing by Grade / Sale Risk / Public Display Suitability...]
[Filtering Unsafe or High Exposure Items...]
[Compiling Recommended Auction Set...]
Light formed in the air above the desk.
Not blinding.
A soft red-gold screen, translucent, layered with shifting lines of text.
Sekhmet’s eyes moved quickly.
The inventory was enormous.
Far larger than he had bothered to fully inspect when he first looted it in the orc stronghold. Back then he had only cared about escape. Survival first. Counting later.
Now later had arrived. The list divided itself into neat sections. Chaos stones. Legendary grade items. Raw beast materials. Refined ores. Broken relic fragments. Old talismans. Armor. Blades. Chains.
A ridiculous number of objects stolen, hoarded, or tribute-collected by a half-god orc who clearly believed greed was a personality.
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed as the stone count flashed again. It’s less than 5 million. Enough to keep a business breathing for a while. But not enough to save it forever.
He moved past the stone count. Stones were useful, but publicly selling stones was not how you restored prestige. A grand auction needed drama. Desire. The feeling that buyers were stepping into wealth too dangerous to ignore.
The system narrowed the list further.
[Top 10 Auction-Suitable Selections-
One by one, the items appeared.
1. Legendary Grade 3 Flame-Etched Warblade
A broad crimson blade with runic fire channels along the fuller.
Good display value.
Strong enough to attract high-tier buyers.
Stable. No active curse.
2. Legendary Grade 3 Moonglass Defensive Bracers
A matched pair of silver-clear arm bracers capable of reflecting impact force.
Elegant appearance.
Appeals to nobles and combat users alike.
3. Legendary Grade 2 Void-Touched Hunting Cloak
Dark travel cloak with enhanced concealment against low-rank beast senses.
Useful, fashionable, and subtle enough for public sale.
4. Legendary Grade 3 Steelheart Spear
Long combat spear with balance enchantment and reinforced penetration runes.
Military buyers likely.
5. Legendary Grade 2 Three-Linked Chain Whip
Flexible weapon with independent segmented movement under chaos input.
Rare enough to create bidding competition.
6. Legendary Grade 3 Twin Fang Daggers
Matched assassin-grade blades with silent-draw effect.
High desirability in underground circles and among discreet nobles.
7. Legendary Grade 2 Ironhide Scale Vest
Protective torso armor designed for mobility.
Very marketable, practical item.
8. Legendary Grade 3 Embercore Ring
Ring that stores a moderate fire-charge burst for emergency combat.
Compact, high prestige, ideal for wealthy buyers.
9. Legendary Grade 2 Beastbone Ritual Staff
Decorative but functional caster’s staff with minor amplification properties.
Attractive to scholars, witches, and ceremonial buyers.
10. Legendary Grade 3 Stormcall Anklets
Pair of movement-enhancing anklets with short burst acceleration.
Excellent closing item for dramatic bidding.]
Sekhmet stared at the list in silence. "Good."
Better than good.
These were not the strongest objects in the hoard, but that was exactly the point. The truly dangerous items should never be displayed casually in Slik under public eyes. Strong enough to excite. Safe enough not to invite immediate divine attention.
That mattered.
Because every object had two values in Null.
The price it sold for.
And the kind of eyes it attracted.
Sekhmet let the list hover and continued reading as the system provided a secondary section.
[Items Excluded from Public Auction Recommendation]
This was where things became more interesting. Unknown Relics with unstable signatures.
A blood-channeling axe that radiated enough violence to make the air around it feel wrong.
A cracked idol made from bone and black metal, apparently tied to lower realm rituals.
A heavy set of collar-rings designed for beast enslavement.
And then—
Sekhmet’s eyes stopped.
His gaze sharpened fully.
Because one entry in the exclusion list was not an item.
It was a body.
[Stored Organic Asset: Benimaru.
Species: Half-God Orc.
Status: Deceased.
Bloodline: Confirmed Divine Descent
Threat Assessment: High Exposure Risk.
Sale Recommendation: Not Recommended.]
Sekhmet went still for a long moment.
Benimaru.
The son of a true god.
The corpse was still in the treasure list because the void land and the system treated anything stored as inventory if it could be classified.
For a brief, cold second, Sekhmet actually considered it.
A half god corpse. A son of divine blood.