The Auction's Noisy Buzz and Michael's Sudden Entrance

The atmosphere in the fortress had turned strange lately.

Originally, right after the dungeon raids began, the fortress had been lively for a while.

That was when people first paired up, filled the fortress, and mixed their excitement with the determination of those who wanted to achieve even better results than last year.

But after several weeks, failures in the raids started bringing out deaths and injuries.

From that point on, silence settled over the fortress. It was because they had finally realized what they were truly facing.

The purifiers also paused their purification for a short time, stockpiling their stamina and resting at the quarters.

This was necessary so that when more dungeons began appearing, they could purify properly.

Thus, when the places where pairs stayed were quiet, the areas where ordinary people moved became increasingly noisy.

This was because an auction house for items from dungeons was opening.

Rewards obtained from dungeons could be taken personally, but most people sold them through the fortress auction.

That was the fastest and easiest way to convert them into money.

Though a certain commission had to be paid, there was no need to haggle, and all potential buyers gathered in one place, making sales quick.

But the real value of the auction house appeared when selling artifacts.

The Hand of Appraisal in the fortress wrote the name and abilities of the artifact on paper, and staff placed them in a visible area.

Then, printing the expected auction price and date along with the details, they sent them to various places.

Those who received them came straight to the auction house if they wanted the artifact.

The auction house was generally open to the public, but on days when artifacts were being auctioned, only those with permission could enter.

Usually the royalty, nobles, and rich people came, but the purifiers and knights who had paired up and stayed in the fortress could also enter.

This way they could see for themselves how much their artifact would fetch at auction.

Although the auction house was always noisy, this year it was noisier than ever.

“Starting from the Remedy of the Nameless, ‘Transparent Ring’ too! Spring has barely started, yet two incredible artifacts have already appeared.”

“The Remedy of the Nameless is an inherited artifact, but the Transparent Ring is said to not be one?”

“Yes. Because of that, royalty and nobles from various countries are flocking to hope to attend this year’s first auction. A ring that makes the wearer transparent! How can anyone not envy it?”

Nobles entering the auction house chatted excitedly in loud voices as they went inside.

And Irene stood a little apart, listening to their conversation.

“Haa……”

As they passed, a long sigh escaped her on its own.

The Transparent Ring.

The story of that artifact shook Irene’s insides.

‘If I had known this, I should have refused Michael’s offer back then.’

Why had I refused to divide the rewards?

Irene looked at today’s auction list in her hand.

【Transparent Ring Expected auction price: 1.5 million gold】

Auction prices were generally set conservatively, so the final winning bid would likely be over 3 million gold.

‘Compared to what I remember, it’s still a lot cheaper.’

In my previous life, the Transparent Ring had been traded for the third-highest amount in history.

But even if they paid ten times the amount written on this paper, it still wouldn’t reach the past figure.

There was a reason for that.

【Special note: Limited to five uses】

Unlike before, the Transparent Ring had a limited number of uses.

‘The Hand of Appraisal really touched it for a long time.’

Even when appraising the Remedy of the Nameless I had, it had taken quite some time, I thought.

When I went to have the Transparent Ring appraised, the Hand of Appraisal really manipulated it as if something was strange for over an hour.

Then it added this special note.

‘There really wasn’t any limit on uses before.’

That was why the price had skyrocketed so ridiculously.

But this time, there was a limit on uses, so the expected auction price was set much lower than what I remembered.

Of course, it was still an expensive artifact.

‘Everyone was beside themselves with joy.’

It was glorious just to gain experience in high-level dungeons under Michael’s command, and now they had an artifact too.

Unlike the princesses’ meeting, the number of people who had participated in raids here was small, so they would receive a truly large sum of gold.

Naturally, the news spread quickly.

Precisely, people directly involved grabbed and talked to everyone they met.

“It was a good decision to join Michael’s gathering. It was an honor to learn from him, but I didn’t know he would understand our circumstances so well.”

Naturally, from that time on, more and more people began coming to Irene’s gathering, expressing their wish to join.

Of course, it was unclear whether Michael would come along again, so they had spoken ambiguously, but.

What was certain was that many wanted to leave the princesses’ gathering.

Irene and Cynthia, who had confirmed that, were overjoyed.

“If this continues, won’t we become the biggest gathering in the fortress?”

Saying that, the two read and organized the letters pouring in.

‘Things are getting bigger and bigger…… Even if we save 100,000 gold, it would still be hard to leave the fortress right away.’

At first, Irene had thought like in her previous life—cold treatment—and wanted to leave Michael’s side as quickly as possible.

But Michael treated her so warmly.

That wasn’t all.

Friends who could be called friends appeared, and they chatted nonstop without rest, and she had become even closer with the maids and received a lot of help.

Moreover, people who knew and sought her out had increased throughout the entire fortress.

Although she was a bit far from the goal of saving money and quickly leaving, Irene thought that this situation wasn’t bad at all. No, it was rather the first time she felt joy.

She had been sold to the count’s family in her childhood, isolated, and forced to endure only hardship and grow up.

Even after coming to the fortress, things hadn’t changed much.

Now, being surrounded by people and receiving goodwill was a first.

Irene had only now realized how addictive the goodwill of others was.

‘When I leave, I’ll live quietly alone again.’

Then…… wouldn’t it be okay to enjoy this a little more?

“Irene.”

At that moment, someone stood in front of Irene and called her name.

A familiar voice—it was Michael.

“You’ve arrived.”

Irene hurriedly organized the paper she had been holding and stepped back one pace to greet him.

As Michael appeared, the gazes of the people in the auction house turned toward him.

“There, Michael is here.”

“Then the woman in front of him is the pair who got the Remedy of the Nameless?”

The people’s gazes swept over Irene and stopped at her fingers.

As the gazes poured in, Irene covered her hands inside her sleeves.

It was disappointing that she couldn’t admire the rare artifact any longer, and tongues clicked here and there.

If it had ended there, it would have been fine.

“It’s not bad looking, as rumored. Michael also didn’t know how to evaluate faces and bodies.”

“Even with that, I would want to hug him if he were a paladin.”

Ah.

Irene’s head started to ache.

Even in her previous life, she had often heard that kind of insult.

In the count’s estate, she had barely eaten and lived, but her chest and hips had gained useless fat.

Once her body began showing curves, the maids in the count’s estate had sent lewd glances.

Then, finally, an old merchant who came and went to the count’s estate hadn’t suggested sending Irene to Rodiam the Count?

It was the same even after coming to the fortress.

When it was known that Michael rarely met Irene, some knights in the fortress had thrown dirty flirtations at her, avoiding the eyes of the purifiers.

When Irene firmly refused, they had complained.

“Why? Did the God’s Sword come at night and poke you? Right, since she looks like she would enjoy it, even a priest like that would have peeked under her skirt once.”

They had spoken vulgar words and laughed.

And yet they couldn’t take their eyes off Irene’s body.

Thankfully, the fortress had strict rules against breaking the law.

If it hadn’t been so, someone would surely have entered her room at night someday.

‘Compared to back then, it’s somewhat civilized.’

Because she was accustomed to insults, this level was easy to overlook.

“Pardon me, please come inside the auction house… Michael!”

Ignoring the whispers, Irene was about to say she would go inside the auction house when Michael immediately approached the man.