Chapter 149: She’s yours
Han Shuo was greatly startled to see Lisa appear inside a cage. His originally wandering gaze became a bit harsh.
Han Shuo had once borne hatred towards Lisa, but as the two spent more time together, he discovered that she wasn’t as bad as he had originally thought. She’d then protected him whenever she could. All of this had slowly changed Han Shuo’s impression of Lisa.
Lisa’s eyes were brimming with tears as she was held captive within the cage. Her bright, clear eyes were now dim and lackluster, suffused with a sense of helpless despair. This made Han Shuo’s heart ache with pain.
“Is there some feud between the Addison family and Bob Ascher? Why was the Addison family suddenly destroyed and branded with the tag of traitors?” Han Shuo looked coolly around his surroundings and asked Emily.
Emily had felt that Han Shuo had become a bit on edge when Lisa had appeared, and she couldn’t help but ask when she heard Han Shuo’s words, “You seem to care a lot about this Lisa?”
Nodding, Han Shuo turned to explain, “Lisa is one of my classmates in the necromancy major back at the Academy. We’re good friends and she’s helped me quite a few times. I definitely won’t sit idly by now that she’s in dire straits.”
Emily was startled when she heard Han Shuo’s words and then responded, “The Addisons were already on bad terms with Bob Ascher before he wanted to rebel. However, because the Addison family had a certain status within Valen City, Bob Ascher didn’t dare to do anything.”
“But now that Bob Ascher is obviously intent on thoroughly grasping Valen City in his hands, any family that doesn’t answer to him must be wiped out. It looks like the Addison family was one of those unlucky families. From the intelligence gathered by the Dark Mantle has been able to obtain in recent times, Bob Ascher has commenced his actions using a variety of excuses.
“Little Lisa’s body is now eye popping, but I must warn you all that she’s also a necromancer. The magic dampening cuffs on her wrists must not be taken off.” The organizer on the stage was still describing Lisa.
The bidders beneath the stage were exceedingly interested in Lisa, and her price increased rapidly. It’d been raised from the original 300 gold coins to over six hundred gold coins, double the original.
When Bryan had been sold originally to the Academy, he’d only been worth five gold coins. To think that Lisa would command such a high price, more than a hundred times more than Bryan’s price. It looked like people were greatly interested in this renowned Lisa.
Those beneath the stage were originally participating in the auction, but bids kept sounding out from the boxed seats above towards the end. Lisa’s price kept climbing up from six hundred to seven hundred gold coins.
Han Shuo watched the proceedings with a cold eye as he suddenly made a move and activated the magical box and keyed in a price of a thousand gold coins. The bid of a thousand gold coins was displayed after the space in front of Han Shuo whirred, causing the noisy hall to immediately quiet down. Everyone’s gazes turned towards Han Shuo’s box in astonishment.
“She’s just a female slave and isn’t worth a thousand gold coins. Your actions will cause others to take notice of us.” It was apparent that Emily didn’t quite understand as she looked at Han Shuo.
“I must save this girl. There’s no point in hemming and hawing and slowly adding on to the price. One high price can cause others to stop in their tracks.” Han Shuo said as he looked at Lisa in the cage, lying there as if she were dead.
Indeed, the bidders, who’d been greatly eager to bid, all stayed their hands with displeasure.
A female slave for the purposes of pleasure wasn’t worth a thousand gold no matter how they looked at it. Although Lisa’s status within Valen City had once been lofty and thus was of some temptation, a thousand gold coins wasn’t a small sum. Setting aside her status, any other slave of equivalent looks would only be worth fifty gold coins.
Therefore, when Han Shuo’s high price of a thousand gold coins was placed, the organizer happily slammed down the gavel after calling out three times. “Congratulations to bidder number 83, you only need to swipe your crystal card within the box and transfer a thousand gold into our trading house’s accounts. Little Lisa is all yours.”
To the current Han Shuo, a thousand gold coins wasn’t a big deal at all. His trophies from the Dark Forest in recent times had all been worth tens of thousands of gold coins. Therefore, he didn’t even frown at the thought of a thousand gold coins and took out his crystal card, prepared to swipe it through the slot within the box.
Emily suddenly reached out her hand and stopped him. She swept the crystal card in his hand to the side and said, “Let me. If we use your card, the name on your account will be registered in the trading house. Although they will keep your information confidential, it will be easy for Bob Ascher to know your identity if he wanted to investigate you.”
Han Shuo felt that her words made sense and said, “Alright, I’ll transfer a thousand gold coins to your crystal card and you can use a secure card to make the payment.”
Emily actually hadn’t planned on letting Han Shuo do so originally, since a thousand gold coins wasn’t much to her either. However, when Emily was about to pay for Han Shuo, she noticed Chester eyeing them from the side. She finally nodded and accepted Han Shuo’s suggestion, transferring a thousand gold coins from his card to hers and then paying for Lisa.
Some female elf slaves and two fox women were auctioned off next, including a very fierce berserker. Han Shuo’s group didn’t make any further moves and watched everything happening around them with cold eyes.
“We should come and canvass this place late at night next time. We shouldn’t walk around since you participated in today’s auction.” Emily fully explained everything about the trading house, including things to watch out for, as the auction progressed.
He nodded and agreed, walking out of the room with Emily and Chester. He was planning on leaving with Lisa when his sharp eyes noticed that someone had entered through the door.
His body suddenly halted and Han Shuo made a gesture towards Emily, then spoke in a low voice, “You and Chester go take charge of Lisa first, I have something else to attend to.”
Han Shuo quickly left after saying these words and threaded through the crowd with large strides, abruptly appearing in front of the door and heading towards Lawrence, who’d just appeared. However, two people appeared beside Lawrence before Han Shuo had even drawn close and they took one step forward, staring at Han Shuo alertly.
Lawrence finally noticed Han Shuo at this moment and looked at him with surprise. He then turned his head and spoke sharply at the two men, finally waving at Han Shuo afterwards.
Lawrence asked him with great astonishment when Han Shuo drew close to him, “Bryan, what are you doing in Valen City?”
“I had a few things to take care of in this area. What are you doing here?” Han Shuo asked.
His face growing frosty, Lawrence spoke in a cold voice, “Something’s happened to my cousin’s Addison family and now even Lisa’s fallen victim to a plot to make her a slave. I heard that she was being auctioned off here and have come to rescue her.”
Lisa and Lawrence’s family were related, and it seemed that he was well aware of what had happened to her family. This was why he’d purposefully made the trip from the capital. This also raised Han Shuo’s opinion of him. It would appear that Lawrence was one who valued family.
Logically speaking, there was a limit to how close cousins would be, not to mention that Bob Ascher gave labeled the Addison family as traitors. Such a crime was enough to cause all relatives to pause, as it would be easy for them to become embroiled as well. For Lawrence to make his way here from such a far distance was enough for Han Shuo to view him with new eyes.
“You’re too late, Lisa’s already been purchased for a thousand gold coins!” Han Shuo looked at Lawrence and said with a slight smile.
“It must be that old dog Calvert. Lisa’s family and his family have never gotten along. He must’ve been one of the instigators for what happened to Lisa’s family this time. He would certainly be willing to spend large sums to buy Lisa and take her home to torture.” Lawrence’s face darkened and he spoke to the two behind him. “It looks like we’ll have to be the burning and looting sort of robbers today.”
The two behind Lawrence had no expressions on their faces and wore very ordinary, loose clothing. There wasn’t much that could be gleaned from their outfits, but Han Shuo discovered that one was a swordsman and the other a mage after he concentrated a little. However, he couldn’t determine how strong they were.
“How would I let Lisa be taken by others since I’m here? Don’t worry, I’ve got Lisa.” Han Shuo could be certain that Lawrence was truly worried about Lisa and spoke with a small smile.
Lawrence noticeably heaved a sigh of relief when he heard these words and spoke heartfeltly towards Han Shuo, “Bryan, I owe you one!”