Chapter 28: This Really Is a Wonderful Accident
At this moment, Shirou still had no idea what kind of stir the Demonic Spear he put up for sale had caused. Right now, he was doing something extremely serious. Namely, selecting Umamusume who possessed the quality to compete.
"Kami-sama, Kami-sama! Please look at me!" "I'm the fastest runner in our village!" "I'm the biggest eater in our village!" "Although I can't run fast, I'm very cute!"
Facing a group of Umamusume who were vying with one another to recommend themselves, Shirou felt deeply conflicted. Choosing from such a high-quality batch of Umamusume was truly a difficult task.
"In that case... let's hold a large-scale competition with advancement!" Shirou announced.
"The location will be at the Arena, and all Umamusume can participate. The top ten will advance to the next round, and the name of the competition shall be the 'Orario Umamusume Special'!"
Not only the Umamusume, but even the crowd of onlookers began to cheer. Although they didn't know what such a competition would actually look like, hearing the name alone felt very novel. For Orario, novel entertainment received the most attention.
People discussed it animatedly. Shirou didn't even need to spend money to advertise; the news was eagerly passed along by everyone, and before long, it spread throughout all the streets and alleys of the city.
"Have you heard! Have you heard! Tomorrow there's going to be an Umamusume race held over at the Arena!"
"It's said that over fifty Umamusume will participate across two rounds in total, with the second round being the main event! The ten Umamusume who advance from the first round will engage in the fiercest competition in the second round—it sounds super interesting!"
"We definitely have to go watch!"
After handing over the arrangements for organizing the competition to the Arena personnel, Shirou began walking toward the auction in the trading area.
"Let's go see how much money was made..."
Although he already had a clear idea of the quality of armaments in Orario—and bringing out a B-rank Gáe Bolg should be enough to crush all armaments made by mortals in the Lower World—he still couldn't be sure about the exact amount of money it would bring in.
That still depended on whether the people attending the auction were generous. After all, when it came to an auction, one couldn't exactly offer installment payments, right?
"I wonder which sucker bought this Noble Phantasm; I'm really a bit curious." Shirou murmured with a touch of gloating.
To Shirou, this Demonic Spear was no different from junk. Even the current Lili had no use for this kind of weapon at all; Shirou had directly equipped her with a full set of EX-rank Noble Phantasms, fearing she might suffer grievances outside.
Just as Shirou was thinking about this, his footsteps suddenly halted.
A short distance ahead on the street, Finn and his group from the Loki Familia were walking toward him. Upon seeing Shirou, Finn immediately smiled and waved at him.
"Good afternoon, Orihara-sama!"
Shirou nodded and was about to greet them when he suddenly noticed the crimson Demonic Spear held in Finn's hand.
"..."
Shirou went silent, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. Why did he feel a sudden pang of conscience?
"Um... that spear is..." Shirou intended to inquire about the background story just in case.
Finn, on the other hand, appeared delighted. After all, to him, he had truly found a "treasure" this time. This Demonic Spear was a massive boost to his combat capabilities. He was even looking forward to the next expedition where he could fully experience the power of this Gáe Bolg.
"Speaking of which, I have you to thank. If not for Orihara-sama, I wouldn't have encountered such a fine weapon. To think it possesses the quality of a Magic Sword while remaining so durable. Although the final auction price of one billion Eris drained all my savings and left me in debt, it is absolutely worth it!"
The usually calm and composed Finn sounded somewhat excited as he spoke, causing the corners of Shirou's mouth to twitch even more violently.
"Ah... i-is that so... then congratulations to you." Looking at how thrilled the other party was, Shirou temporarily didn't know what to say.
However, thinking carefully about it, although it was a B-rank Noble Phantasm that was completely useless to him, to the adventurers of this world, it was already an exceedingly precious weapon. Owning a suitable and powerful weapon not only greatly increased one's combat efficiency in the Dungeon, but it could also elevate their overall strength by a massive margin.
This was also the reason why Finn didn't feel too much regret, even after spending one billion.
Shirou offered no judgment on this, merely offering a quick congratulation before parting ways with the group.
He first went to the auction house to collect the one billion Eris, and then Shirou returned to have the housekeeper publish the news regarding the recruitment for his Familia.
Naturally, Shirou also set several requirements on the recruitment notice. The first requirement was that the level must be Lv.2 or above.
This single rule directly deterred the vast majority of people, but Shirou didn't mind. There was no need to meticulously select from among these people; knowing whether their character was good was sufficient.
To make himself the focal center of all of Orario, Shirou was bound to expand his Familia bigger and bigger, making it necessary to surpass both the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia.
Then, approaching it from various angles, he would first turn Orario—which served as the center of the world where most of the gods gathered—into his own domain before radiating outward to the entire world.
"The recruitment notice has been posted according to your instructions, Kami-sama. I expect many adventurers will come to apply tomorrow." The female housekeeper reported respectfully to Shirou.
"Mm, I understand." Shirou nodded and waved his hand, letting the housekeeper attend to her own business.
Dusk was approaching. Shirou glanced at the sky and stood up to leave the residence. He intended to take a trip to the Pleasure Quarter.
Not only to increase his progress in taking over the world, but also because he knew enough about that Renard girl, which prompted Shirou to go see her.
En route to the Pleasure Quarter, Shirou stopped his steps in front of a small corner shop.
—It really was a very, very small shop.
Hanging above it was an emblem depicting an "Intact Human Body," exhaling the fresh fragrance of herbs. Anyone could tell that this was a shop selling medicinal herbs.
At the entrance of that small shop, a blue-haired male deity exuding a gentle aura was conversing with an old woman who appeared to be a customer.
"You can rest assured, this potion is guaranteed to be completely non-toxic."
"But it always smells a bit like rotting fish meat; it makes one feel very uneasy."
The owner of this shop was the God of Herbs named Miach.
"Although it might not taste very pleasant, I can guarantee its effectiveness to you," Miach said earnestly to the old woman.
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