"Shikigami · Iron Rat. Formerly a yokai known as an Iron Rat.Because this species feeds on metal, its body and claws are extraordinarily hard.
"It possesses extremely high mobility and can tear through steel with ease. According to our black market's strength assessment, this shikigami has combat power roughly equivalent to C-rank.
"For anyone seeking a reliable combat partner, this is absolutely worth considering."The starting price is fifty million yen."
The opening bid for the Iron Rat shikigami was set at a staggering fifty million yen—matching the final sale price of the Recovery Potions.
And yet, bids continued to pour in nonstop, making it abundantly clear that the shikigami was more than worth its price.
Unlike consumables such as Recovery Potions, shikigami were companions that could fight alongside their masters for a lifetime—and even be passed down to future generations after one's death.
Shikigami were already extremely rare to begin with, and this one was a C-rank shikigami, making it all the more priceless. As a result, it was immediately contested by nearly everyone.
Almost all of the bidders were exorcists.Serum warriors and financial conglomerates, on the other hand, showed little interest.
Controlling and summoning shikigami required spiritual power—something serum warriors and ordinary people simply didn't possess. To them, shikigami were practically useless.
"Hinano, if I remember correctly, you don't have a shikigami yet.Do you want to bid for this one?"
Watching the exorcists enthusiastically calling out prices, Kujo Iwamori turned to his daughter and asked.
Items like spiritual cultivation methods didn't appear at every auction. Since he couldn't help her break through her bottleneck directly, strengthening her overall combat power seemed like a solid alternative.
"Dad, if we buy this Iron Rat… won't that strain the company's cash flow?" Hinano asked quietly.
Looking at the Iron Rat shikigami on the stage, Hinano herself wasn't particularly interested at first.
But as she watched the frenzied bidding below—and saw the white mouse shikigami trembling in fear on the platform—she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.
Abandoned by its original master, now being sent to an auction block…
Whether it had once been a yokai or not, for any living being, this was humiliation.
And auctions always went to the highest bidder. The Iron Rat had no say in choosing its new master. What if it ended up with some absolute scumbag?
"At the price of a C-rank shikigami, it won't affect the company's stability," Kujo Iwamori replied after some thought."But we'll probably only be spectators for the later items."
"That's fine," Hinano said firmly."I want that shikigami. As for my bottleneck, once I exchange for a new cultivation method through the Countermeasures Division, I'll definitely break through."
Seeing his daughter's resolve, Kujo Iwamori nodded and gestured for her to bid as she pleased.
By then, the price of the Iron Rat had already climbed to eighty million yen.
"One hundred million yen!"
Kujo Hinano called out, raising the bid by a full twenty million yen in one go, clearly trying to intimidate the other competitors.
But one hundred million yen was nothing more than pocket change to most of the exorcists present. Her momentum failed to suppress them, and the bidding continued to climb relentlessly.
It wasn't until the price reached two hundred million yen that the calls finally died down.
A C-rank shikigami was indeed valuable—but two hundred million yen was clearly overpriced. Moreover, the Iron Rat itself wasn't an especially exceptional yokai.
In order not to miss out on the truly important items later, most bidders ultimately chose to withdraw.
"Brother Ren, weren't you bidding for that shikigami too?" Hinano asked softly."Was it because you didn't have enough money? If so, I still have forty million yen here you can use for now. My sister's C-rank yokai serum has already been secured anyway."
That's right—Ren Kuroda had also been bidding on the Iron Rat earlier.
But his motivation had been much the same as Hinano's.
As a half-yokai himself, seeing a yokai being auctioned off like this left a bitter taste in his mouth. Living in such a state… it felt unbearably stifling.
However, the moment he noticed Hinano joining the bidding, Ren stopped raising the price.
"No need," Ren said calmly."That Iron Rat has already found the most suitable master."
Ren knew this justice-driven girl very well.
For a shikigami that had already lost its freedom, following someone like Kujo Hinano was probably the best possible outcome.
After Hinano acquired the shikigami at a steep price, the subsequent auction items became increasingly… unremarkable.
At least, that was how they looked in Ren's eyes—items he couldn't be bothered with at all.
Whether it was spiritual tools or spell techniques, Ren lacked neither. His Divine Protection and Endless Wine Gourd were both high-grade artifacts.
And the Oni Arts Compendium contained techniques that were in no way inferior to the spells used by exorcists.
One item after another was auctioned off, yet none caught Ren's interest—until only the final three headline items remained.
When Black One announced that there were only three items left, Ren's disappointment deepened.
Because the items he had consigned to the auction totaled exactly three kinds.
Aside from the Recovery Potions at the start, the remaining two hadn't appeared yet.
Which meant—
Two of the three final headline items… were actually his.
Thinking about it, though, Ren didn't find it all that strange.
For most people, this auction was already extremely high-tier.
But for him?
The overall "prestige" was still a bit lacking.
At present, even the publicly acknowledged strongest human faction—the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses—only had heads with strength around S– to S-rank at most.
Among exorcists, A-rank spiritual power was already considered outstanding—enough to land someone on the exorcist rankings.
Strictly speaking, the underground black market auction was indeed impressive.
It was just that Ren stood far, far above everyone else.
"The first of the final three items is… this."
As Black One pulled away the black cloth, two vials of yellow-glowing liquid came into view.
"I believe I don't need to explain much—everyone here should already recognize these.
"That's right. These are A-rank yokai serums. And not the lowest A– tier, either—these are genuine, full-fledged A-rank serums."
Black One's words—and the radiant vials on display—instantly ignited the entire auction hall.
"They actually managed to get A-rank yokai serum again?!What the hell is the black market doing? If they had something this big, they should've notified us earlier! Where are we supposed to scrape together this much money on such short notice?!"
In previous auctions, even A–rank yokai serum had caused bloodshed among bidders.
A-rank great yokai were extremely rare—and terrifyingly powerful—so the scarcity of A-rank serum went without saying.
Within the Tokyo sector, nearly all existing A-rank yokai serum had been extracted from A-rank great yokai that died during the Tokyo War.
Those serums never even had a chance to enter the market—they were immediately divided up by the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses and the three major exorcist organizations.
The appearance of A–rank serum in past auctions had already shocked everyone.
But this time—
There were two vials of even higher-grade A-rank serum.
The crowd was thrilled—and at the same time, couldn't help but marvel at the sheer power of the black market for being able to bring out something like this.
"The value of A-rank yokai serum speaks for itself—I'm sure I don't need to elaborate," Black One continued."Because these two vials were added as last-minute items, we understand that many of you may be unprepared.
"As such, the auction will pause for thirty minutes to allow everyone adequate time to make arrangements.
"And I can promise you this—aside from these two A-rank yokai serums, the remaining two items will also make this trip well worth your while."
The moment the pause was announced, most attendees pulled out their phones, scrambling to gather every last yen they could.
Black One's reasoning was simple—
A 10% commission was taken on all auction sales. The higher the final price, the more the black market earned.
Two vials of A-rank yokai serum instantly sent the underground auction into a frenzy.
Within thirty minutes, nearly everyone had mobilized every resource they had.
The news even attracted members of the Thirteen Demon-Slaying Houses.
Although those houses had obtained quite a few high-grade serums during the Tokyo War, there were only so many A-rank great yokai that had died.
Each participating house might have received a few vials at most—having enough for everyone was utterly impossible.
Yokai serum could be used by ordinary people and exorcists alike. Low-grade serum wasn't worth the attention of elite exorcist families.
But A-rank serum?
There was no reason to pass it up.
Seeing that the atmosphere had reached exactly the level she wanted, Black One announced the auction's resumption.
The starting price for one vial of A-rank yokai serum—
Three hundred million yen.
At first glance, the price sounded absurd.
And yet… it made perfect sense.
Unlike spiritual tools or shikigami, which merely enhanced one's abilities, yokai serum directly increased personal strength.
And only strength that belonged to oneself was truly reliable—everything else was external.
With A-rank yokai serum being so vanishingly rare—something even exorcist family heads only used sparingly—
A starting price like this was, in truth, completely justified.