The Prince (WMMAP FanFic)

Ch 21 : The Auction Begins

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"You-"

"Arion!"

"SHHH" Arius suddenly covered their mouths. He let go in a few more seconds.

"How are you here?" Gunther whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"Sir Knight said you fell sick."

'huh...FELIX! Sick! SERIOUSLY! That's the lamest excuse I've heard in ages!'

"ahaha... I felt better , plus I was worried about you guys so I came."

"Thanks" Gunther said. Willow went ahead and grabbed Arius's shirt.

'huh...'

"What's wrong Willow?" Arius asked

"Let's go.." She said as she began stepping forward into the basement.

Arius used magic to make an orb of light. Yes. Magic. He had figured out the seal which Claude placed on him and was able to make a slight hole in the seal, so now he can use mana but in extremely less quantity.

Before them was,

"The basement...is empty?" Gunther looked at Winslow. Winslow looked at Willow. And Willow looked confused.

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"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome! And thank you for your patience! Now the moment you've all been waiting for !"

Slowly the red curtains behind the man began subsiding and revealed a girl with long light green hair and golden eyes.

"A beauty this one is! Her green hair ! A symbol of the Deferim Tribe ! "

Gasps could be heard as the guests were surprised by the origins of the girl.

"The starting price, eight thousand gold coins! "

The auction had begun and one by one hands rose. It went from eight to ten and from ten to fifteen. The guests were wholeheartedly enjoying while Felix sat with a grim face as anger was welling up inside him. He stood up and asked for the bathroom. He commanded the knights (using a magic artifact) to slowly begin to surround the mansion and break the carriage wheels so none of the guests could escape.

Mia was the one sent for auction first and although she was scared of everything that was happening, she had faith that her brother would save her.

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The kids were now back on the first floor, Willow was leading them to the preparation room, which they suspected was where the slaves had been moved to, if they weren't in the basement. Arius was surprised by how well she knew her way in the mansion. Willow successfully led them to a room where children were clothed in colorful garments and prettied up like dolls. Two men stood guard at the entrance of the room. All the children inside had their hands tied up with ropes and binded to hooks on the wall.

They decided to charge at the men since there were only two of them.

"Wait no, if we make noise more people could come. We should do it silently." Winslow suggested. 

"...uh How?" Gunther asked.

Arius snapped his fingers and a magic circle appeared over their heads for a few seconds.

"Invisibility. Let's go" Arius said as he began silently walking up to those men. They easily passed through the men without them noticing. Arius and Willow looked around to search for Lifa and the rest, whereas Winslow and Gunther knocked out the men with a strike to their heads from the back and then straight in their groin.  

*Thud*

Their bodies fell down; Gunther dragged them inside so they don't attract attention of the passerby's. The invisibility spell wore off rather quickly; Arius had begun cutting the ropes  binding the children and Willow was reassuring them and asking them some questions. 

"Mia! is she here!?" Gunther shouted as he observed the children in the room. 

"Hey! quiet down! " Arius whisper-shouted, as he freed the last kid. 

"Oh-uh sorry...I just..." Gunther mumbled. 

"Not here. Let's go." Willow said and began walking back to the hallway. Winslow suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. 

"Woah lil sis' wait a sec." Winslow said and faced back towards the children who seemed half scared and half happy.

"A-Are you going to help us?" one of them asked.

"Don't worry, the imperial knights will be here soon. Just try to hide somewhere for a while." Arius said and their faces brightened up.

"Okay so now where do we go?" asked Gunther, facing Willow and Winslow.

"The Auction area." Willow replied, making Gunther and Winslow widen their eyes. 

"Y-You mean the stage? where all the slave traders and nobles who're buying them are ?" Gunther asked a bit shaken. Willow nodded. 

"The first group of children is there right now. The second and third group is here."

"Okay so let's head there then. Willow you're staying here." Winslow stated. 

"I'm coming alo-"

"Protect these children, they're already afraid as they are." Winslow told her making her reconsider before agreeing to stay with the children. "And stay safe." Winslow said before waving her goodbye and walking into the hallway. Surprisingly, Winslow also knew his way around the mansion quite well. The invisibility spell was once again activated.

'Felix is probably among the guests at the auction room...even with invisibility he can probably sense mana and would know I'm there...if he sees me... and using magic at that.'

Arius gulped at the thought.

"It's after the left corridor ahead." Winslow said as we neared the area. 

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