Kiba glanced at the private booth occupied by Vasco and Maynard. The glass walls restricted surveillance from outside but for him, it was no problem. He saw Vasco and Maynard making fun of masses as if they both belonged to a superior race while groping female staff. There was complete disdain in their voices and actions as if those outside their families were nothing but ants.
"Before the era of evolution, the ancestors of these nine families belonged to the same masses they are making fun of now," Kiba smiled at the irony. "And when the world changes again, who is to say the royalty of today wouldn’t be slaves of tomorrow?"
From the world’s perspective, Kiba could no longer be considered to be a part of the masses. He was strong, rich, successful, and popular among the opposite gender. In fact, in his present form, he has to suppress the urge of treating human beings as ants.
As such, he has natural vanity and arrogance that comes with such existence. He might make fun of almost everything in this world except for the dreams and aspirations of others. Even the most outlandish dream wouldn’t make him change his stance.
This was due to his own dreams. The dreams that have accompanied him when he had nothing...
And that was why he didn’t look down at people in the normal seating rows when they envied the VIP patrons and desired their lifestyle.
After all, in this world, there is one thing that is free for everyone.
Dreams.
And they should be free from insults and oppression of others.
"Dreaming big is never wrong," Kiba cleared his thoughts and closed his eyes.
People around him were engaged in idle chatter while waiting for the auction to began.
A few of them glanced at Ashlyn from time to time. They were so fascinated by her beauty that their blood pumped vigorously. Many of them were on the brink of drolling.
A confident youth named Lambert wanted to start a conversation with her. He was handsome and his looks were fairly popular among women.
Lambert got up from his chair to walk to Ashlyn. He has already prepared a conversation in mind which has worked well for him till now. He was confident of getting even an unacquainted woman interested in talking with him.
"Don’t disturb her," A young man named Pollard grabbed Lambert’s hand to stop her. "Unless you want..."
Pollard trailed off in between. His throat turned dry when he thought of what he was about to say. Just the thought made his fine hairs stand up in fright.
"What’s wrong in making a conversation with a hot woman?" Lambert pointed to his handsome facial features and said. "She would appreciate my interest, and who knows, maybe we can even become a couple."
Many adventurists would often fall in love after facing dangers together. This was rather very common so many believed nothing could bring a man and a woman together than danger.
Lambert has the perfect damsel-in-distress scenario in mind where he could rescue her from a ferocious beast and she would proclaim her love...
"Stop daydreaming, fool!" Pollard suppressed his urge to beat his friend. "Did you got kicked on your head or something for you to even dream such a thing?!"
"Pollard!" Lambert was angered by his friend’s behavior.
He was sure his friend was just jealous of his luck with women and wanted to stop him from getting a beauty.
Pollard didn’t need to be telepathic to know what his friend was thinking. He pressed his forehead and took a deep breath before saying, "Haven’t you heard about The Great Disaster?"
Lambert knitted his eyebrows.
"Of course, I have," Lambert nodded and said. "The Great Disaster is kind of sexist as it only targets men in the forest... Those targetted by this disaster can never expand their family name nor they enjoy the greatest pleasure since-----"
Lambert stopped and his entire face started soaking with sweat. With great determination, he took a glance at Ashlyn. She was resting with her eyes closed, a peaceful smile on her face.
"There is no way she is that disaster!" Lambert recalled the details he has heard from the poor victims. "Sure, she is as beautiful as the demoness they mentioned and wearing a similar outfit but that’s no proof... Most importantly, there is a big difference you failed to notice!"
"Difference?" Pollard was startled. He wondered if he has assumed things wrongly. If he had, then he felt he was wrongly taking away his friend’s chance for such an amazing conquest.
"Yes," Lambert said with a confident smile. "The evil demoness only sports a cold expression and she never smiles! No, that evil demoness does smiles when she is about to shatter treasured jewels but that’s it!!"
Pollard was stunned by his friend’s answer. He glanced at Ashlyn and noticed the serene smile that was completely different than what the rumors have mentioned.
For a moment, Pollard felt his friend was right. After all, the devil is in the detail and he has made a strong point.
But then Pollard once again looked in Ashlyn’s direction. He now started believing his friend was delusional and wrong!
"Check the person next to her!" Pollard pointed towards the person.
"Hmm?"
Earlier, Lambert didn’t check if Ashlyn was accompanied by someone. He believed that was unnecessary as he has total faith in his capabilities.
But now, since Pollard pointed out and the topic was important, he looked on the seat next to Ashlyn. He saw a golden-haired man resting with eyes shut.
"Traitor of our gender!" Lambert exclaimed in shock. He collapsed down on the floor and his body started trembling from horror.
"Yes! The traitor!" Pollard agreed with the identification. "The one who taught the demoness the greatest evil art the world has ever seen!"
Lambert felt chill crawling through every bone.
He wouldn’t have believed Ashlyn was the demoness as long as he hasn’t seen Kiba but now that he did... he wanted to slap himself!
"How could I be so stupid?" Lambert placed a hand over his crotch area. He felt the outline of Treasured Jewels Guard and he felt a little better.
He secretly sighed in relief knowing he has spent his money wisely when he purchased Treasured Jewels Guard from the famous Byron’s Charm Shop.
The shop was overpriced with the cheapest guard costing $9999 but he no longer thought about the cost.
"Pollard, thank you so much for saving my life," Lambert was crying in joy as he leaned in to hug his friend in gratitude. "I survived a disaster thanks to you."
"It is fine," Pollard calmed him a bit. "Nothing is going to happen to you."
Lambert wiped his tears and sat back in his premium seat.
"I was truly deceived by the smile of that demoness!" Lambert said after he got his act together. "Why is she smiling like that?! It is totally different from the details we have heard!"
Lambert felt his friend was smart so he asked. After being rescued from a crisis, he now fully trusted in him.
Pollard placed a hand over his chin and contemplated a bit.
"I think the reason is simple," Pollard said after some time. "The demoness knows she is the most beautiful being here... So she is expecting to find some victims and this is making her smile."
"Damn! As expected of the demoness, she is truly frightening!" Lambert felt his skin crawling.
"The truly frightening figure is the traitor," Pollard corrected his friend. "He must have known the high probability of finding victims here... so he intentionally brought her in the auction!"
"Fucking hell! That traitor is truly sinister!!" Lambert now felt the demoness was saintess compared to the traitor of their gender.
Back in his chair, Kiba smiled ruefully. Since Lambert and Pollard were looking in his direction, he felt their gazes and then heard their conversations.
"Just like I feared... my honest reputation is being tainted by those damn storytellers," Kiba wanted to cry but he had no tears to shed.
He glanced at Ashlyn and saw her in the same condition as before. He wondered just how her smile was connected to her meeting with Denisa.
Kiba turned his head towards the stage and sighed.
"Just start the auction already."
The auction stage was large.
Currently, it was curtained by red drapes. On either side of the stage, there were large virtual screens. They would activate the moment the auction began and show the items on the stage so that everyone could witness them without any difficulty.
RUSTLE
The rustling sound of the curtains opening up ringed out.
"The auction is starting!" Many noticed the curtains sliding away.
The chatter in the auditorium immediately stopped and everyone focused their eyes on the stage. At the same time, the virtual screens also started displaying the projection of the stage.
On the stage, a middle-aged man named Wassily Brown appeared. He was mostly bald with a few strands of black hair behind his ears.
He was accompanied by a woman who has a slender waist and tempting curves that were half-visible. She was his assistant and also a psychological mean to entice male patrons during bidding wars. Wassily was sure as her figure was just too sexy to resist especially among hot-blood youths.
Her name was Yasmine and she stood alongside him.
Wassily donned a professional smile and rubbed his hands.
"I welcome you to 57the grand auction. Every year, we host two auctions; one before the opening of the core region and another afterward. Both auctions offer life-changing opportunities and I hope you make the best of them!"