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My heart shattered as I looked at the shattered pieces of my darlings on the floor.

“Exactly what the hell is with that explosion!!!”

I howled and roared out, but no one was able to reply to my question. Nevertheless, with such a massive explosive, I was very clear that there was at least an 80% chance that it was a result of a rat sneaking into the auction house.
After all, there would always be some people with nothing better to do that would run over to my place and cause trouble in the name of self-righteousness.

Every time, they would do this and do that, poking here and poking there. They would always spit in my face after being captured, forcing me to always order their immediate execution.

This time, however…don’t let me catch you guys… or else…
I do have to wonder though… exactly who would have such massive guts to take action today! Everyone should know that today’s auction was different from the other previous auctions, as the quality of the auctioned items far exceeded those from the past. These items came from a few big figures. If something happens to them, those nobles would not show any mercy for the sake of their faces.

All of a sudden, I started to recall the team that my auction house has been chasing for 10 whole years, but have ended up fruitless in the end.
Could it be that they have finally taken action?

“[Number 1].”

Once again, another black shirt person walked out from the corner of the room, dressed and looking exactly similar to the “shadow” earlier.
[Number 1] gave a half kneel, lowering his head and placing his right hand against his chest to show his loyalty to me.

“Your order, master.”
“Go investigate…exactly what the hell is with that explosion. If you find any rats, make sure to capture them alive!”

Due to the extreme anger pent up in my chest, my jaw started to tremble. Only by clenching my teeth firmly was I able to remain in control of myself.

“Yes.” in a flash, [Number 1] disappeared from my sight.

The “Shadows” were guards that I’ve created and trained since my control over the auction house 30 years ago. They were sharp blades that were tempered and polished personally by me, so I had extreme faith and confidence in their capabilities.

Although none of them was able to match me in a duel of strength, the 4 of them had developed a special trait. Using the combination formation “Sacrifice of the weakling”, they were able to match up to 9th rank experts.

Furthermore…they have absolute loyalty to only one person, me.

However…from the massive tremors, they must result from a powerful explosion. Anyone capable of unleashing such a powerful explosion would definitely not be a nobody. Do I…need…to send out another “Shadow”?

I tossed this train of thought out of the window after a few seconds. Regardless of what origin those intruders were, the guards and death servants stationed on every level would be on alert after the explosion. Yakov would also be on the move. Regardless of his goals, I cannot let him get the upper hand.

Furthermore, since there wasn’t any prior warning from the guards, this meant that there were no Saint Rank experts present in the auction house. That could only mean 9th rank was the strongest those intruders would be…. Although it was extremely rare to bump into them in the outside world, to me and this auction house…these people would be hard-pressed to escape from here with all the numerical or strength disparities.

Most importantly, despite being rats that have sneaked into here, they actually dare create such a big commotion! They might be trying to get my forces out from the cave. So, their goal would most likely be the 12th floor of my auction house, where my most valuable…

Darlings…

These dammable rats! Although I don’t wish to admit it, they’ve managed to achieve the greater half of their goal. However, I swear on my name, Kenlov Wilkis, that I’ll definitely not allow you guys to succeed!

“[Number 3]! [Number 4]!”
“Yes sir.”

The remaining 2 “shadows” dashed into the room. They were the people that I’ve assigned to guard the 12th floor. However, with the current situation, the guards would be very scattered. This will lower their combat strength, giving those damnable rats a greater chance to escape.

“Starting from now, you two will guard this room.”
“Yes.”

Regardless of anything, I will not allow any harm to befall upon my darlings!
As I placed the two darlings in my hand carefully back on the display case. Compared to before, my display cases appeared so barren! Only my Ostrovsky Cat’s eye and Ysabelot Crystal managed to survive.

This was better than nothing, as they were after all the two most valuable darlings within my collection.
However, my heart was racked in pain upon seeing the shattered pieces of my darlings scattered across the floor. So painful! I start to become breathless as the pain floods my being, causing tears to flow down my face.

“AHHH~ My Muse Goddess Eye! Your beauty! I was enamoured by you after laying my eyes on you in the Quentis Regal Family’s house! I was even willing to kill my compatriot Quentis to obtain you…but…why do you have to leave me like this…”

“My Durandica Crystal Vase…for your sake, I’ve traded 20 beautiful elf ladies with that vile Earl Zerathak…although I’ve killed him later, and even sold his wife and daughter to the beastmen, that was just to show my love for you…but you…but you…”

“AH… there’s also my soul-stirring Heart of Light…”
“Sir, sorry to interrupt, but there’s something important that this subordinate needs to report.”

A cold and completely emotionless voice suddenly rang out, interrupting in my moans of pains for my broken darlings. Despite the unhappiness in my heart, the “Shadows” have absolute loyalty to me. Them interrupting me at this time, and even mentioning something “important” meant that he had definitely encountered serious trouble.

“It’s you, [Number 2]. What’s the matter?” turning my head around, I noticed that the “shadow” present was the one that I’ve dispatched to bring that wretched intruder to the basement.

At this moment, a rare look of seriousness was actually present on [Number 2]’s face.
“Eleanor Hamelin…has escaped…”

What felt like a bucket of cold water washed over my entire body, causing me to tremble and shiver.

“What…did you say?”
“Eleanor Hamelin has escaped.”
“Es…escaped…”

All of a sudden, I felt like I’ve entered a dream world, as the entire world didn’t feel real at all. As this happened, I shot a subconscious look at one of the walls of my storage room.
Hanging on it was the 7th most precious collection…a white dagger with a poisonous snake engraved on its grip.

No. It cannot be counted as a collection. Instead, it should be named as proof of my embarrassment.

If it wasn’t due to the grace of the great sir at the time, I would’ve been dead already. That was the only time I had been that close to death since taking up the position as the master of the auction house.

I angrily vowed to myself at that time that I would make Eleanor Hamelin wish she were dead. Hence why I locked her up in the basement to let her witness the death of her companions. We infected them with incurable diseases or tortured them to near death before throwing them into the basement to let her watch them die.

To witness the slow death of your close friends, to watch them beg for their live in a feeble voice, yet unable to do anything to help, if that isn’t the worst kind of torture, then what is?

However… every time I sent someone to take a look at her, she… Eleanor Hamelin… that madman would smile at them and say:
“Aren’t you going to kill me yet? If you don’t kill me now, you might regret it if I manage to escape from here~”

That lunatic, madman, psychopath, maniac!!!

No, she is worse than a lunatic, because not only is she crazy, she is also as treacherous as a viper. She would hide in the dark corner and jump at your when you least expect it.

And someone as terrifying as that… has actually managed to escape?

No… that’s impossible! In order to prevent her from fleeing, I’ve even used the hardest material I could find to lock her up, that handcuff was made from Madrica Silver you know? And I’ve also thrown away the key since very long ago.

Moreover, I didn’t even dispatch anyone to watch over her because I knew they would be turned into her tools.

“How did she escape!”
“No clue, but according to this one’s investigation, she should have been broken out with help of outsiders.”

“The handcuffs seem to be cut by a sharp weapon, and there are the same traces of cuts on the bar of the cells, they are probably cut by the same weapon.”
“Additionally, I have discovered a few other Madrica Silver handcuffs in the same condition. I infer that someone probably got caught on purpose in order to save Eleanor. After an inquiry from Mr. Clown, he admitted that he had indeed captured a few mice that attempted to sneak in and locked them in that place.”

As [Number 2] continued to speak, the fear in me had grown bigger. It would’ve been better if Eleanor Hamelin had escaped by herself, but since she was saved with outside help, that could only mean our enemy still consists of another unknown organization.

However, to cut a Madrica Silver would require an artifact at the very least. Inferno would’ve detected it if there was any fluctuation from an artifact, just who was it… who was capable of taking an artifact past Inferno without him noticing…

All of a sudden, a bulb was lit in my head, and only two words came into my mind.

That organization…

That’s right, only that organization has the resources to sneak in an artifact without being noticed.

Recalling that time when the organization was just founded ten odd years ago, they would leave a slip of paper that says: “Tonight, we will take away one of your slaves — From that organization.” And then on the next day, we’d find a sleeping slave near the entrance.

In other words, that organization had already grasped the technique to sneak in unnoticed at that time, only that they couldn’t find a way to bring the slave out.

After that, I’ve made use of my every connection to search through the entire harbor city, and I’ve even managed to get the great sir to take action, but we still couldn’t find any trace of that organization.

It was as though they never existed in the first place and just faded into thin air.

That organization is just like a needle that’s been prickling my soles since forever, it’s making me restless for the longest time.

And now that they have discovered the existence of Eleanor Hamelin, they finally took action again.

Now that Eleanor has the support of that organization, her danger level has soared up by several degrees. The explosion just now must’ve been her doing, in order to tell me that she has escaped.

Damn it! The most troublesome individuals have finally gotten together…

Dammit dammit dammit!!!
Why didn’t I kill her when I had the chance?!

Eleanor’s smirk emerged in my head again, as though to ridicule me for my idiocy.

Endless remorse and anger is making me go crazy. With all reasons lost in me, I unconsciously kicked the things closest to me.

“Bam!”

With the power of a 7th rank warrior, the display case was split into half by my kick, and then…

“Clink! Clang!” Those two sounds rang out as though to reflect my broken heart.

My precious… my beloved… my most important darlings…
They’ve turned into nothing but fragments…

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhh!! Eleanor Hamelin! That organization! No matter how powerful you are, I will definitely find you and slaughter you whole!!!”