328 Can you afford my woman?

“Sell this monster to me.” The bloated man who lost five goblin slaves approached. He walked with swagger while not minding the people stopping to check out what the commotion was all about.

The three thugs respectfully nodded when they saw the arrogant slave trader approach. Then they resumed glaring at Vincent to intimidate him with their malicious intent.

However, Vincent looked at them, unfazed by their threat. He remained calm and held Iris’s hand to reassure her. No matter how strong Iris is, she can’t fight as her identity of being a druid would target her.

Not only is Iris a gray demigoblin, but she is also a druid. Vincent and his soon-to-be Lionheart family will be placed in a dangerous situation if her identity becomes discovered by greedy or shady people.

Vincent didn’t want the new home he acquired to be become known as the mansion of death. He wanted to keep a low profile, but he wasn’t good at it.

First the eye-catching Lilith and now the eye-catching Iris. Vincent forgot he was surrounded by women who attracted the gaze of others.

[What are you going to do? Are we going to fight in the central area of the south district?]

[The soldiers and adventurers will come over immediately if we start a commotion. Furthermore, a bitch slap might kill them with the difference in strength.]

-I will start a commotion then. Maybe someone will interfere and save me from going to an interrogation room for the second time.-

.....

[I agree to keep away from the interrogation room.]

“A forced sale, is it?” Vincent asked with a smirk. He placed Iris in front of him and held her by the hips.

“This is a fine woman is for sale. How much are you willing to offer?” Vincent’s words surprised Kazumi and made Iris shiver after her heart skipped a beat from the sudden scary words.

The thugs smirked as if they won. They took a step back and gave some space for their employer to talk about the price.

‘W-w-what is happening?’ Iris was so shocked she couldn’t move. Her mouth couldn’t utter a word as her thoughts became chaotic.

Iris trusted Vincent, yet these words.... words she was afraid to hear all her life, were said by the person she trusted the most. All she could do was gulp until Vincent agreed to sell her or show it was a horrible joke.

[Are you joking?]

-No. I want to see how much gray hobgoblins sell for.-

“I bet you know how much rare gray goblins are. One which looks attractive but with a birth defect will probably go for one gold.” The bloated slave trader rubbed his hands as he gave his offer.

“One gold? that’s all?” Vincent frowned. He raised his hand and extended five fingers.

“Five gold?” The salve trader frowned. He looked angry, yet his face quickly revealed a sly smile. “How about two gold? Yes?”

“Huh? When did my five fingers say five gold?” Vincent said in an angered tone causing the thugs to glare at him once again.

historical

[Oh. So it is a game. ~Phew~]

[Thank goodness, or it would break my heart. Oh, I mean soul since I don’t have a heart.]

“Fifty gold? Are you insane? Don’t force my hand! Two gold coins, or we will need to find another place to discuss our business.” The slave trader threatened Vincent and the thugs started cracking their knuckles to further intimidate Vincent into selling out of fear.

*Gulp* Iris shivered when she noticed the gazes of the four men. However, she felt Vincent’s hand move from her hip to her belly and push her on him.

“Are you crazy! You scamming slave trader!” Vincent raised his voice to attract more attention. There were already many people looking at them and commenting about what was happening. Some decided to watch while others reported what was happening to the soldiers and nearby Adventurers Guild.

“Five massive cities for one second of her time. This is the price for my woman.” Vincent lowered his hand and placed it under Iris’s chin. He raised her head and kissed her in front of the thugs, bloated slave trader, and all the audience watching them.

“Priceless means many things Iris. I hope this amount of how much you mean to me can show you how priceless you are.” Vincent whispered in her ear.

Iris blushed, and her heart skipped a beat. ‘It was all a show... Vincent wanted to show me how much he values me.’ Iris became happy now that the misunderstanding was gone. She felt reassured that Vincent would never betray her trust.

[I must say you got me at first, casanova Vincent.]

-Placing a price tag on a person is disgusting. Not even the gods can afford Iris if she really has a price, as I gave this trash of a human being ninety-nine percent discount.-

“You!” The bloated slave trader became furious. “You don’t know who you are messing with!”

“Blackheart family, correct? I heard you say that before I saw you running with your rat tail behind your legs.” Vincent mocked.

“Boys! Ruff him up! I want him alive. He will need to see this monster get sold before his eyes.” The bloated slave trader ordered. He raised a condescending smirk and spun his hand once, indicating to do it quickly. It appeared he didn’t like the amount of attention they were attracting as Vincent kept resisting without showing a sign of intimidation.

The five thugs drew their blades. A wave of bloodlust and malicious intent began expanding around them.

The audience, who were ordinary people, had beads of cold sweat appear on their forehead. In contrast, a very few others didn’t know if they should offer assistance or wait to see if any adventurers or soldiers appeared to stop the commotion. Vincent and Iris weren’t going to receive assistance anytime soon.

“Two can play your game.” Vincent glared with a death stare. His blood boiled in anger, and his eyes had a green gleam. “Overheat.” He said while simultaneously summoning a shield in front of Iris.

Iris caught the shield and looked at the youngest of the three thugs in front of her. Iris became courageous now that the situation had changed. It was a fight instead of being sold.

Iris looked at the youngest and weakest thug in the eyes and held the shield handle tightly. Unlike her small five-foot build, Iris had stats that rivaled his. Iris was prepared to face danger in the eye and protect Vincent.

The two oldest thugs standing at each of Vincent’s sides understood Vincent was preparing to fight. His hands completed the formation of the mutated gauntlets, his eyes shone brightly, and steam escaped from the sides of his mouth.

“You can’t beat us even if you wear gauntlets!” The thug on the left said, yet he looked slightly intimidated on Overheat Vincent.

“I estimated you are weak as a new recruit. Looking different will not help!” The thug on the right declared.

The two thugs swung their swords *Clang*, yet both were easily caught. They tried to pull their swords back, yet try as they might, their swords remained in Vincent’s mighty grasp.

“You shouldn’t forget about me!” The third thug shouted. He swung his sword at the shield being held by Iris to push her and Vincent back.

The thug knew killing or hurting Iris would make the bloated slave trader furious. This was his first time hearing the stingy man offer a high price instead of ordering stealing the slaves from another owner.

Iris blocked the hit. However, she hit her face with the shield pressing against her. “Ahh...” She blurted.

Vincent raw red the moment he heard Iris get hurt. He wasn’t going to play anymore. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and scream for a scream.

Vincent became enraged and unquenchable bloodlust tainted the mana around him with malice. The intimidation and murderous intent the three thugs were releasing to force Vincent to surrender was overwhelmed.

Iris felt afraid. More specifically, her soul felt fear and intimidation. Her body froze, and the thoughts of surrender flashed in her mind. However, she raised her gaze and saw Vincent getting anger for her sake.

‘This isn’t fear. This is my chosen one protecting me.’ Iris told herself in hopes for her body to stop giving signs of submission.

The aura of overwhelming dreadful intent rapidly expanded. First, it reached the three thugs, next the bloated slave trader, and lastly, the nearby people looking at what was happening.

The intent stopped expanding after reaching ten meters of distance. The malice extruding from Vincent was so potent it made the thugs feel a chill down their spines. The intent the three thugs were using felt significantly weak compared to the man who felt like a wild beast.

Vincent revealed his clenched teeth and glared at the thug, pushing a quivering sword against the shield. The soul-piercing gaze intensified, and the intent of dread intensified.

*Gasp!!!* The thug let go of his sword, fell on his knees, and gasped for air. Vincent’s intense glare felt suffocating. Similarly, the weak people looking at them and the bloated slave trader started to fall on their knees. A few even fainted.

.

[Notice]

[The host’s anger and intent to make hostile lifeforms surrender mutated a new skill.]

[Submit has been learned.]

[The user can now shake the soul of the hostile lifeforms. ]

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[Submit description.]

[The skill [Submit] will shake the soul of the hostile lifeforms through fear and intimidation.]

[Hostile lifeforms can suffer from loss of breath, nausea, diarrhea, fainting, cold sweat, hysteria, hallucinations, and numb limbs.]

[Proficency will allow the host to target specific hostile lifeforms only.]

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