Ch.189For Sale: S-Class Superhuman, Never Used. (3)

Since the other party started with formal speech, I decided to respond with appropriate politeness.

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-[Yes] (me)

-[It’s currently still in auction status. Are you looking to purchase it?] (me)

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Of course, if that politeness was met with something like “Can you give me a discount?”…

Even though I wasn’t particularly concerned about the “price” itself when selling those two bastards.

It would still hurt my pride, so I was ready to exit and block the user at any moment.

But contrary to my thorough preparation, the other party had prepared an answer more definitive than I expected.

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-[Yes]

-[Actually, I was wondering if you might sell those two directly to me]

-[Oh] (me)

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They were suggesting something I hadn’t anticipated: Forget the auction! Let’s just do a direct trade!

But immediately accepting would be amateur behavior in transactions.

Sure, until yesterday I was confused because this crappy game’s auction function was different from what I remembered, and it had been 4 years since I last used it.

But I wasn’t inexperienced with real-life secondhand transactions, so I decided to lay out the negotiation table in response to their eager messages.

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-[Well, if you want to buy them, they’re already listed in the auction house, so couldn’t you just bid there?] (me)

-[No, because then we’d get unnecessary attention-seekers jumping in.]

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‘Ah, they want to avoid others interfering and preventing them from buying cheaply?’

Seeing how they immediately bit at my casual remark, I took a moment to consider how to respond.

But only briefly.

‘I’m unconsciously acting like a merchant here.’

After all, the fundamental reason for this transaction was to dispose of prisoners who were preventing us from using our superhumans, while gaining some profit.

So I nodded at their attitude and, following the unwritten rules of negotiation, decided to start by asking for double what I actually wanted.

Actually, slightly more than double.

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-[Ah, okay]

-[Let me just confirm something first]

-[These are the level 60 Axion and level 55 Reti, correct?] (me)

-[Yes, that’s right]

-[I want to buy both]

-[Okay, since we’re trading directly instead of through the auction house, it’ll be 2,000 gold for both.] (me)

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I had only quoted this price as a starting point for negotiation.

In reality, the combined price of the two superhumans I listed in the auction house was 888 gold… and I was fully prepared to round it down to 1,000 gold.

I was ready for them to say “Okay, 1,000 gold, thank you!” and complete the deal right away.

But was this unknown person that desperate for superhuman reinforcements?

Or were they just incredibly wealthy compared to someone like me?

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-[2,000 gold?]

-[Yes] (me)

-[Okay, I’ll send it right away, please trade with me]

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<Notice!>

<An anonymous user is requesting a trade with you!>

<2,000 gold ⇒ You>

<Axion, Reti ⇒ Anonymous User>

<Y/N>

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‘Wow.’

Despite asking for twice what I wanted, they immediately sent a trade request.

I first deleted my auction listing, then promptly pressed Y to accept their trade request.

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-[That was a good trade, hope to see you again] (me)

-[You too]

-[The other party has left the chat!]

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Just as coolly as they had arrived and traded, they departed.

I nodded and immediately prepared to ship off the two I had imprisoned(?).

==========

Meanwhile, all the superhumans except Griyanar, who couldn’t come because she was working on the so-called “Frozen Dessert with Red Bean Project” with Smeraghi…

And including Berial, who was training to adapt to the small fleet given by the monster…

The two S-rank superhumans, dragged along by Ignis and Partia, were intimidated by the looks that promised they would be mercilessly cut down if they tried anything funny.

Yet despite this pressure, being superhumans who could traverse kilometer-class starships in minutes, they still shouted loudly at me.

“You bastard! Someday when we return, we’ll rescue Smeraghi too!”

“Poor Smeraghi, we will definitely get her back!”

Of course, regardless of what they said, they were now completely out of our hands.

I waved casually as I sent them to the “buyer’s” base through the teleport facility, saying:

“Sure, sure, go live happily ever after with your new master~”

“Grrrrrr!”

And with their disappearance, I now had 2,100 gold in my possession.

I felt a strange joy at the thought of using this to multiply my gold in the auction house.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time Icarus was doing strange things while exclaiming “I’m also a dignified four-digit gold owner!”…

Axion and Reti, feeling dejected that they were being sold to another Commander while only Smeraghi remained…

“Axion, we must never forget our Commander.”

“You’re right. No matter who we’re going to next… we must not submit to them.”

During their time with Icarus, their friendship level had remained at -200 without changing at all.

Paradoxically, this meant their loyalty to their Commander “Marshmallow” also remained intact.

So even as they were being delivered via teleport, they pledged loyalty to their Commander,

While simultaneously planning to curse at whoever this unknown new Commander might be…

-Flash!

“Kuh.”

“Ngh.”

When the teleportation process ended, a white flash and ringing in their ears temporarily blocked all their senses.

“…still, we need to maintain our existing member approach, somehow, right?”

“Th-this voice?!”

“Huh?!”

“Hm? Eh? Eh?”

As their senses returned, they discovered their beloved Commander “Marshmallow” right before them.

“C-Commander!”

“We’re back! Commandeeeeer!”

Marshmallow was surprised to see the two superhumans recognizing him.

They showed pure, bright smiles without any negative emotions, genuinely happy to have arrived at their sweet home.

Of course, “Marshmallow” also smiled once he understood the situation…

“Wait a minute, does this mean I paid extra to get my own superhumans back…?”

“That seems to be the case, Commander.”

“…”

Upon realizing the truth, Marshmallow wasn’t sure whether to keep smiling or start crying.

But that feeling didn’t last long.

While there was no chance of ever getting back “Smeraghi” who was SSS-rank, having these two who had been responsible for his early game return was something.

He decided to find inner satisfaction in the fact that his founding contributors had returned.