The auction had concluded, and Sherlock had successfully acquired the item he desired.
Declining Jean Bart's invitation to have afternoon tea together, Sherlock headed straight to the backstage of the auction house. After paying the required amount of Berries in full, a certain pair of glasses glanced at the beautiful female slave who had now become his property and asked the staff members for some information regarding her.
Operating under the principle that whoever has the money is the boss, the staff members naturally granted every request from this wealthy man in glasses. Exhibiting fawning countenances, they disclosed everything they knew, completely tossing the auction house's rule against revealing seller information to the back of their minds.
This blue-haired girl's name was "Maya." She hailed from an unknown, mysterious small island and had been brought to the auction house three days ago by the pirates of the Gasparde Pirates.
The sources of slaves were mainly divided into two types: one consisted of criminals with bounties, and the other consisted of citizens from nations that were not affiliated with the World Government. This blue-haired girl named Maya clearly belonged to the latter.
As for how she had been captured by that gang of pirates and reduced to a slave, the process was rather dramatic.
According to those in the know, this blue-haired girl had left her hometown all by herself to venture out to sea on an adventure. Regrettably, she met with a shipwreck, and her vessel was destroyed by the waves.
Being a landlubber, she thought fast in a moment of desperation, crawling into a wooden barrel to escape the disaster. After drifting for a period of time, she was fortunately rescued by another ship. Unfortunately, the ones who rescued her were a crew of thoroughly wicked pirates.
Seeing that Maya was exceptionally beautiful and moving, as well as a rare Devil Fruit user, that gang of pirates immediately handed the poor beautiful girl over to the Carlo Auction House as a slave.
And then, she was bought back by a certain pair of glasses...
(What a genuinely convoluted experience, but since she was ultimately bought back by me, it can also be considered her good luck.)
Sherlock gently adjusted his glasses, silently feeling a sense of emotion in his heart.
(Once I figure out exactly what that feeling is all about, I will release her.)
A certain pair of glasses harbored not the slightest bit of interest in acting as a slave master, even if this slave was a delicate, drop-dead gorgeous beauty as well as a Devil Fruit user. The only reason Sherlock had spent a massive sum of money to purchase her was out of curiosity regarding that bizarre attraction.
(But first, I need to find a quiet place to see exactly what item inside her "pocket dimension" is attracting me.)
Thinking of this, Sherlock flipped his wrist, producing a stack of large-denomination Berries as if performing a magic trick, and handed them to a waiter.
"Do you know of any hotels nearby that have relatively spacious and quiet rooms?"
(A hotel?)
The waiter was stunned for a moment. He looked at the Sorcerer, then looked at Maya, who wore a collar around her neck, and instantly arrived at a sudden realization.
(Tsk tsk, I really couldn't tell. This young man in glasses looks quite gentle and refined, yet who would have thought he is actually so impatient...)
An ambiguous smile of "I understand" hung upon the waiter's face. Following that, he snatched that substantial tip from Sherlock's hand in one swift motion and patted his chest, guaranteeing:
"I understand, I understand, hehe! I will definitely arrange a room for you that you will be absolutely satisfied with!"
"Mm, thank you for your trouble." Sherlock's brow furrowed slightly. He hesitated for a brief moment, then gave a gentle nod to the smiling waiter.
For some unknown reason, the Sorcerer couldn't help but feel that this fellow seemed to have encountered a bit of a misunderstanding. But after thinking it through carefully, there wasn't any ambiguity in the words he had just spoken, so he set his mind at ease once more.
Meanwhile, behind a certain pair of glasses, the blue-haired girl who had heard their conversation perfectly clearly was rooted to the spot in sheer astonishment.
(Could he... Could he be planning to...)
Gazing at Sherlock's back, Maya's fair and delicate face rapidly flushed, becoming as scalding red as a cooked prawn.
Half an hour later.
Inside the most luxurious suite of a top-tier hotel along the commercial street of Hannabal's Eastern Island.
(Well, that bastard did indeed misinterpret my words...)
Sherlock surveyed the decorations inside the room from left to right, letting out a helpless, soft sigh.
The room was indeed very spacious. The living room before him alone exceeded an area of fifty square meters. All the furniture inside the hall was uniform in a beautiful silver, carved with exquisite patterns, and the bright red carpet was entirely covered in embossed red rose motifs.
It was also indeed very quiet here; closing the door felt as though entering another world. Elegant vases were placed all over the room, every one of them holding fiery red roses. A rich fragrance of roses permeated every single corner inside the room, and that charming scent was utterly intoxicating.
The sunlight filtered in through the thin sheer curtains outside the French windows. That dim, rose-colored light carried a strong layer of ambiguity and suggestion, causing one's heartbeat to accelerate.
Even without checking the rest of the rooms yet, Sherlock was already perfectly clear about what the primary function of this suite was meant for.
(But fortunately, at least it is indeed very spacious and very quiet here...)
Sherlock let out a somewhat awkward cough. Just as he was about to speak to ask Maya a few questions, a sudden chill struck his neck. He shifted his gaze downward and discovered that a sharply gleaming double-edged longsword was currently resting right against his throat!
"Do not make any reckless moves if you still want to live!" Maya said in a cold voice.
But perhaps due to nervousness, her voice trembled slightly. Despite this, the blue-haired girl's right hand holding the sword did not exhibit the slightest tremor. Evidently, she had trained in swordsmanship for a period of time.
"Believe it or not, this is the very first time I've ever been held hostage by someone else."
Even with a sharp blade resting against his neck, Sherlock still maintained that calm and composed demeanor. He kept his hands behind his back, turning his head with a slight smile to look at the blue-haired girl.
Cold, elegant, strong, and resolute, with a hint of nervousness and unease—the way she held the sword right now made her look like a completely different person compared to her pitiful appearance on the auction stage earlier.
What was even more noteworthy was that the exploding collar around Maya's neck had completely vanished into thin air by this time!
"Are you wondering why this thing has disappeared?"
Maya spread open her other hand. With a flash of white light, that slave collar suddenly materialized out of thin air, falling onto the plush carpet.
"So the item worn around your neck can also be stored away by you using your ability," Sherlock said in a realization. "Truly a convenient ability."
"How... How can you still manage to smile?!"
The blue-haired girl felt a faint sense of unease in her heart. The opponent's overly calm reaction was truly somewhat outside her expectations. In order to calm herself down, Maya continued to speak slowly:
"Ever since I was captured by that gang of pirates, I have been planning my escape. That's why I've been disguising myself over these past few days, acting as though I were very weak, obedient, and easy to bully."
"That gang of pirates was very strong, so I couldn't escape. The auction house was heavily guarded, so I couldn't escape either. Fortunately, I was ultimately bought back by you."
"Looking at your eyes, I originally thought you were different from those repulsive fellows."
Maya took in the Sorcerer, whose appearance was still exceptionally handsome as far as presentation went, then looked at this room decorated in a highly ambiguous fashion, her pretty face flushing slightly.
"Now it seems that I was overthinking things."
"Um... Miss Maya, I think you have misunderstood something," Sherlock explained with a face full of dark lines. "The only reason I bought you back was because you gave me a bizarre sensation, and I feel exceptionally curious about it."
(But then again, why is it that now that I am this close to her, I actually can't feel that sensation anymore?)
"Shame... Shameless!" Hearing those words from a certain pair of glasses that carried quite a double meaning, Maya's pretty face turned slightly red. In her shame and annoyance, she pressed the sharp blade even closer to the Sorcerer's neck, threatening with a feigned viciousness:
"Are you still not clear about the current situation?!"
Sherlock shook his head. "Miss Maya, I think the one who isn't clear about the current situation right now should be you instead."
The moment those words left his mouth, the Sorcerer's form slowly dissipated right before Maya's astonished gaze.
(He's a Devil Fruit user too!)
Maya was greatly alarmed. She immediately made a decisive decision to flee rapidly toward the doorway, but it was already too late.
"Mirror Manifestation: Magic Rope!"
Several tough ropes appeared out of thin air, winding toward Maya like slithering snakes emerging from their burrow. In the blink of an eye, they bound the blue-haired girl's body completely tight, and the double-edged sword in her hand clattered to the floor.
The latter still wanted to struggle violently, but the somewhat bizarre method of knotting the ropes left her utterly powerless to resist, forcing her to fall onto the ground obediently.
What a joke. Being restricted by a certain pair of glasses' tortoise shell binding, how could there possibly be any chance of escape left? After all, the reason he was so fond of this highly artistic method of binding was precisely because it bound things tighter!
"Miss Maya, your acting skills back then were indeed fantastic, but there was still one detail that exposed you."
Sherlock's true self slowly revealed his form. He looked down at the immobile Maya on the ground, gently adjusted his glasses, and said, "After all, why would a delicate, weak-willed beauty have calluses on her hands left behind by long-term sword training?"
"So you were on guard against me from the very beginning?"
Maya lay on the carpet as if resigning herself to her fate, looking up at a certain pair of glasses. The highly beautiful rope art across her body caused the blue-haired girl to feel extremely ashamed, her fair cheeks flushed with an unnatural crimson.
"No, your strength isn't to the point of making me stay on guard."
Sherlock, however, showed not the slightest reaction to the girl's enticing and delectable appearance, continuing in a flat tone, "Enough idle chatter. Next, let us talk about actual business."
"I will ask you a few questions. You can choose whether to answer them or not."
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