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I’ve been having horrible luck lately.

In my mutability, I look up to the heavens. My subordinate (Jayjay) is totally useless, if not becoming a huge source of headaches. And even worse, that idiot is now straddled on my back.

“Hah, hah, hah, Edim, walk with, less sway, will you? You idiot. You’re touching, the wound!”
“F-, forgive me. I’m not used to carrying people…”
“Haah, haah, good grief, you can’t stop, being useless, can you?”

That’s my line!

I held back the urge to throw him over and walked into the auction hall.

I entered and looked around. There were well-dressed individuals, many of whom I had heard of when I was still human – socialites and wealthy people. In my pre-vampire days, I might have felt intimidated by their presence.

However, now they were nothing more than a joke. A bunch of nobodies, lacking in financial and military strength, not even worth the Evil God Army’s attention.

What exactly does Lady Tilea want to achieve in a place like this? I was lost in thought, when suddenly,

“Orty, Edim, we are in enemy territory. We must be very careful.”

Lady Tilea spoke out, though she sounded like she was bracing herself.

Eh?! What does she mean? Enemy territory? This assembly of weak insects? My mind was filled with question marks.

“Lady Tilea, this is no enemy territory. This is my—the 2nd Division’s garden!”

Ortidiot shouted full of himself from over my shoulder.

Yuck! Don’t spit when you’re shouting

But, in this case, Ortidiot’s opinion is probably correct. This place is the Second Division’s territory, or rather, the fools’ territory. How could there be enemies here?

I had my doubts, but I shouldn’t let it bother me. It’s always been the case that Lady Tilea’s actions and words are beyond my understanding. As her subordinate, I should simply follow her orders dutifully.

As I was exchanging insults and grappling with Ortidiot, I continued to listen to Lady Tilea’s words.

Gradually, I began to grasp her intentions. Could it be that she wants slaves?

She could’ve easily obtained as many slaves as she wanted if she talked to this fool on my back. In fact, she doesn’t even need to rely on this fool; she could simply command someone from the Evil God’s Army. All of us would promptly procure numerous beautiful and outstanding slaves for her

Indeed, with her power, Lady Tilea wouldn’t need to participate in an auction. Ortidiot seemed to share the same idea and proposed that he would collect the slaves himself.

However, Lady Tilea rejected his proposal. She insisted on participating in the auction. Why would she choose such a roundabout method?

I began to ponder the reason. And I reached a conclusion.

I see! Lady Tilea must want to enjoy the game of the auction. It makes the most sense.

Lady Tilea could use brute force, and there would be nothing she couldn’t achieve. But that might be boring. Playing such a game would be one-sided. After all, there was no one capable of rivaling Lady Tilea.

So, instead of using brute force to obtain slaves, she chose the auction game.

However, it seems Lady Tilea is not very familiar with the rules. Clearly, she is inexperienced. The auction seems to be a new experience for her. Lady Tilea is doing her best by imitating the other bidders around her.

I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but Lady Tilea might be reaching her limit. There are many things that cannot be understood just by watching. Lady Tilea frequently seeks my explanation.

I try my best to answer, but auctions are beyond my expertise. Even in magic school, I only heard about them in passing during casual conversations. Besides, I never had any interest in auctions, so I only vaguely remember those conversations.

If we continue with the auction like this, we might fall into a trap. And my concerns prove to be true. Lady Tilea declared six million gold with both hands.

Oh no! That’s not good!

“Ooh, sixty million from lady number sixty-four!”
“Pbfft! Sixty million?! I didn’t mean to—”

As I thought, declaring with both hands makes the bid go up significantly. Even without knowing the rules, you can somewhat predict it by observing the other bidders. Besides, I saw a bidder who raised both hands and made the bid go up significantly.

Hmm, I’m pretty sure Lady Tilea has seen that too.

Lady Tilea… Yeah, don’t mind it, Lady Tilea!

Well, it’s just six hundred million gold. It’s not such a big deal—wait, Lady Tilea seems to be agonizing!!

B-, but why? The total assets of the Evil God Army are estimated to be several tens of trillions of gold.

Lady Tilea, you are the Supreme Commander of the Evil God Army. Some six hundred million gold is like mere pocket change for you!

Moreover, this auction is the financial resource of the Second Division. It will eventually return to the Evil God Army’s vault.

At most, a few percent in fees will flow to the outside. If so, then why are you so worried…?

……
…………
………………

I-, I see. It’s a mindset of not wasting even a single gold coin.

One gold coin may seem small, but we should not waste it. It’s a principle of thriftiness. I should be careful too. Maybe I’ll consider reducing the expenses of the vampire troops for my followers at the next regular meeting.