chapter_0507

507 – Let’s Do a Public Auction

507 – Let’s Do a Public Auction

Just one shot was fired, but the rising dust left everyone covered in dirt.

Saebyeok took out a handkerchief and wiped the children’s faces, so I wiped Haneul’s face as well.

“Haneul, you can’t just use what you wrote anytime, okay?”

“Yes…! I’ll ask for permission before using it…!”

“Oh, you’re so good.”

Swish, swish—

After patting Haneul’s head, I squeezed through the fallen trees with the children.

It was to pick up the magic stone that Haneul had grabbed from the goblin.

Thanks to that, my whole body got dirty, but I couldn’t just leave Haneul’s first hunting souvenir behind.

“Shall we go home and wash up now?”

“Master…! I’ll prepare the bath…!”

“Haneul will?”

“Yes…!”

As soon as we got home, Haneul ran towards the container house.

It seemed she was going to prepare for a bath in the makeshift shower room set up by the Ggaemmi Guild.

I didn’t have to help her prepare for the bath, but since Haneul wanted to take the lead in doing something, I watched her while chatting with the other kids.

“Ugh.”

Haneul took out a large pot from the tent and placed it over the campfire.

Then she started to scoop water from the pond with a ladle.

“…Haneul, are you really trying to heat pond water?”

“Yes…!”

Is Haneul really going to boil the water herself for the bath?

Now that I think about it, how did Haneul take a bath before?

I tried to recall, but I had no memory of seeing Haneul take a bath.

I approached Haneul, who was carrying fresh water.

“Haneul, how did you take a bath yesterday?”

“The magician sister did it for me with magic.”

So Jeong Yuna cast a spell to clean her up.

In that case, it made sense that she might not know how to take a bath in modern society.

“Haneul, you don’t really have to…”

Just as I was about to explain about bathing to Haneul, she started to create a fire by rubbing two sticks together.

Sasa—sasa—

Watching her rub the wood together piqued my interest.

It reminded me of the time I had used friction to start a fire in the past.

“Oh…”

Where did Haneul learn to do this?

I continued to watch Haneul as she worked on starting the fire.

Sasa—sasa—sasa—

Haneul’s speed in turning her palms was quite impressive.

However, there were still some areas where she lacked expertise.

“Haneul, using a string makes it easier.”

“A string…?”

“Yeah. Want to see?”

Using a string for friction ignition was much more efficient than using just hands.

Sasa—sasa—!

Using the unique speed of the Beastmen to rub the wood, smoke quickly began to rise.

“Ma-Master…!”

Haneul looked at me with eyes full of respect.

Thanks to that, I felt a sense of pride as a survival mentor.

“When the ember is created, blow on it with your mouth…”

I transferred the ember to the kindling and blew on it.

The ember quickly engulfed the kindling and began to blaze brightly.

“Wow!”

Haneul’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

The family also applauded, saying it was amazing.

Ahem.

I puffed out my chest, but then tilted my head in confusion.

This wasn’t what I intended; what was going on?

I stood there for a while, feeling perplexed.

**

Hanyeoreum was resting in a building, looking down at the park through the window.

One of Hanyeoreum’s hobbies was searching for the children who might be in the park from the high building.

“It looks like they’re in the container…”

I could see the children through the leaves.

The one who stood out the most among them was Gyeoul, who was starting a fire by rubbing wood together.

“Why?!”

Why did Gyeoul’s survival spirit suddenly resurface after being absent for a while?

Hanyeoreum hurriedly ran toward Gyeoul.

“This is the magic stone that Haneul got for the first time! Haneul should keep it!”

“I’ll treasure it for life…!”

When Hanyeoreum arrived at the park, the children were sitting around the campfire.

As she approached the children who were chatting away, she asked, “Gyeoul? Why did you suddenly start a fire?”

“Uh… this is…”

It was hard to say that I got swept up in the atmosphere and started the fire.

What should I say?

As Gyeoul hesitated, Haneul confidently shouted, “I’m heating up the bathwater…!”

“The bathwater…?”

The water that was starting to boil vigorously due to the heat of the campfire.

Seeing this, Levinas poked Gaeul in the side.

“Gaeul, if you take a bath with that, you might turn into a Gaeul soup!”

“Bark?!”

Gaeul raised her hands to her cheeks in despair.

Then, the wolf Divine Beast, Mungmui, who had been in the guild building, came closer and lay down next to the campfire.

Seeing this, Levinas covered his mouth and chuckled.

“Just kidding! There’s no such thing as dog cuisine in this world!”

Hehe.

Levinas laughed by himself.

When no one else laughed, Levinas opened his Horned Rabbit eyes wide.

“Did Levinas make a mistake?!”

“Uh… actually, there are dog dishes…”

“What?!”

Gasp.

Levinas, with his mouth agape, suddenly knelt down in front of Gaeul.

He bowed his head as if to apologize.

“Gaeul…! Levinas never knew there were dog dishes…! I’m sorry…!”

“It’s okay.”

Pat, pat—

Gaeul patted Levinas on the shoulder.

Hanyeoreum, who had been watching with a warm smile, turned to Haneul.

“Hey, Haneul.”

“Yes…?”

“You don’t have to prepare for a bath like this anymore.”

“B-but…”

Hanyeoreum placed her hand on Haneul’s head.

It was a gentle touch, but Haneul flinched.

“There’s a bathroom at home. Should I show you?”

“Yes, yes…”

When Hanyeoreum extinguished the campfire, Haneul looked disappointed.

Even while walking home with everyone, Haneul kept staring at the extinguished campfire.

“Haneul, what’s wrong?”

“Well, Master worked hard to start it…”

“I’m fine. I didn’t get to take a bath, but I enjoyed doing various things with you, Haneul.”

“Ah…! I had fun too…!”

Haneul’s tail swayed gently.

Joy suited Haneul the best.

**

We returned home and finished showering.

The bathroom in modern society was more than enough to impress Haneul.

“Master…! The bathroom is really amazing…!”

“Yeah. Isn’t it great?”

“Yes…! I want to make lots of convenient things like this someday…!”

After finishing her bath, Haneul returned to the container, saying she would study harder.

Having a sense of purpose was truly a good thing.

“…What should we do now?”

“Um…! Hmm…”

What should we do?

Should we just go back to the dungeon for a bit?

While I was pondering, Hanyeoreum approached us.

“How about a public auction?”

“A public auction?”

“Yeah. One of the guilds went bankrupt this time. Their assets are going to be auctioned off.”

“Oh…”

So the harsh reality was coming out here.

It was unfortunate, but it was also intriguing.

Just as I was thinking about participating and just watching, Levinas tapped my shoulder.

“Wanga, what’s a public auction?!”

“Uh… it’s when someone’s property is seized for not paying taxes properly. The government sells that property at an auction, which is called a public auction.”

“What?! What if Levinas doesn’t pay taxes?!”

“No, Levinas probably pays taxes properly. Taxes are automatically added when buying and selling items. The guild even pays it separately.”

“Gasp! Really?!”

Was he proud to be a model taxpayer?

Levinas puffed out his chest.

I looked at Levinas and then up at Hanyeoreum.

“Can we participate in the public auction?”

“Yeah. Of course. There’s no age limit for participation. Do you want to go see the Master later?”

“Yes.”

**

We took the Master’s car to the city hall.

Just in case, we packed a lot of cash.

“How much did everyone bring?”

“Levinas brought thirty thousand won!”

“Gaeul, you brought a lot!”

“I brought some anchovies.”

“I brought this much.”

The one who brought the most money among us was Bomi.

Bomi had brought a whopping two hundred thousand won.

“It looks like the auction is about to start; we need to be quiet once we go in, right?”

“Yeah!”

The public auction took place in a large hall that resembled a screening room in the city hall.

From trivial items to things that looked expensive at first glance.

Just watching the various items and the people competing to buy them made it worth coming here.

It felt like I was introducing the children to a broader world.

“Excuse me, what are you going to buy?”

“Let’s just watch for now. Usually, the important items come out later.”

“Ah…”

Is the Master aiming for the precious items at the back?

I wondered what kind of items would come out in the latter half.

With anticipation, I continued to observe the auction situation.

Just then, a new item was being brought up at the auction.

It was none other than a keychain with the key to a motorcycle.

It seemed that buying the key would also get you the motorcycle.

“The model name is MX3200RR, and the minimum bid is…”

“Baegeun!”

Before the auctioneer could even announce the starting bid, our Gaeul raised her hand high.

Gaeul’s eyes were shining, but her gaze was not on the motorcycle or the key; it was on the doll attached to the keychain.

“Bae, one hundred won…?”

The auctioneer looked at us with a bewildered voice.

One hundred won surely wouldn’t buy a motorcycle.

I thought that, but for some reason, no one was bidding above one hundred won.

“Uh, the minimum bid is one hundred won, so…”

The auctioneer looked around at those participating in the auction, but for some reason, no one was calling out the minimum bid.

They just glanced at us.

“Baegeun! Baegeun!”

In the quiet auction hall, only Gaeul’s loud voice echoed.