At the auction, the host smiled as he held a loudspeaker and addressed the bidders. "Next is the final item, and also an exceptionally valuable one. All interested guests, please take note—especially the gentlemen." As he said this, his gaze carried a tacit understanding shared between men.
This item was not listed on the catalog. After all, for something explicitly banned by the Empire to appear in a royal auction house would be somewhat—
As long as no one "admitted" to having auctioned it, that was enough.
The host then gestured below the stage. Three burly men pushed a cart draped in red cloth onto the platform. A large square crate sat atop it. Though no one could see what was inside, the expressions of the surrounding nobles suggested they had already guessed its contents.
The host said mysteriously, "Can everyone guess what this is? Let me first tell you that this item has a starting price of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, with each bid increase no less than ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. This is an extremely precious item." He successfully stirred up the atmosphere in the auction hall and drew the bidders' attention.
"Esteemed guests, please take a close look." As he spoke, he abruptly pulled away the red cloth.
A flash of red light revealed an enormous iron cage. Curled up inside was a young girl.
The girl was mostly naked, with only shells covering her vital areas. Because she was curled up, her appearance was hard to make out, but her figure was exceptionally perfect. Her skin was white as jade, and her short light-green hair was particularly distinctive.
"Perhaps everyone is wondering why a girl like this has such a high starting price, the same as the beauties we have trained. But if