Once all of the guards were knocked out, I arrived at the children who suddenly started crying.
"Don't worry don't worry, I am here to save you."
Slowly talking to them I then tried to calm the children down but that proved to be futile as they kept on weeping.
But then as I was having a problem with their constant crying a child amongst them stood up and raised her voice as she talked to everyone with confidence on her face.
"Everyone calm down we are going to leave this place so please stop crying and believe in him for now."
And this child was Litia and with the words from her, they were able to calm down. It might have been because they were in the same spot the kids trusted her words more.
So, after calming down they all stopped crying and I turned to look at Litia and said my gratitude.
"Thank you"
"No problem big bro."
With a cheerful voice, she answered back only to confuse Jake who was with her.
"Eh, Big sis?"
"Ah, umm- I mean, He is trying to help us right also his voice is a male older than us, right? So, I thought you know."
"I guess that's true."
Heaving a sigh of relief from not exposing Litia gave me a hidden thumbs up. To which I responded with a nod. Then looking at the children I asked them to get out of the magic circle.
"For now, step out of the circle right now. I will go check up outside and we will leave after okay."
"""Mhm.""" Understanding my intention, they, all nodded their head at the same time. They then step out of the magic circle and huddle far to the side far from its range.
After confirming they were out, I then took a look outside to see if the coast was clear and I saw that there was a group of people.
Seeing these groups, I then took out an item from my storage, and with a makeshift smokescreen, I hindered their sight which was increased even more as I charged at them while breaking the lights.
Following that I struck them all till they were all incapacitated. Good that's-
"""Aahh!"""
Out of nowhere I heard the yell of the children from the basement and was surprised by it since I didn't see any of these guys pass by me.
"What the-? They got in how? No, I need to go back."
Without much thought on how they got in I went back inside and there, I saw a man with a laid-back air around him as he was holding onto Litia.
"Get your hands off of her!" Using lightning acceleration, I jumped to the man and extended my fist to hit him.
"I have no time for this." But the man seeing my movement disregarded me and then vanished.
"He vanished, no there is a whisper of mana he is there."
At first, I thought he was out of my sight but sensing the usage of mana I charged in the direction it was leading through.
Ting.
"You found me that's unfortunate it might have been because I wasn't able to mask my mana. I would have gotten further if she wasn't stopping me."
'Mask his mana? What does he mean? Also, he wasn't able to go further because of Litia's ability. Either way, I have to stop him.'
Going near them, I reached out to him with a strong blow using star impact's gravity impact.
But the man just dodged it and kicked me in the stomach which slammed me to the wall I lost consciousness for a moment. Gripping hard as I tried to stand up I noticed that I accidentally ripped off a piece of Litia's clothing.
Then I heard him talking about something about people arriving and about the barrier not working.
"Tch they're here, and what's with the barrier why aren't they working? Either way, I need to leave now."
"Wait no-."
With that, he just vanished again. And I couldn't sense his mana anymore. This prompted me to conclude that this was what he meant about masking his mana.
~~~~~~~~~~
A Jayven was rescuing the kids something happened outside the auction house. a group of armed soldiers was formed and surrounded the place.
As they got in formation of them which was leading the group used mana to amplify his voice as he talked to the people inside the auction house.
[All personnel in the auction house please surrender for we have you all surrounded.]
He announced that a man who seemed to be a worker who held a high position in the auction house showed up and asked them the reason for their action.
"What seems to be the problem, sir? Why are you currently here in our establishment?"
"There has been spotting of illegal activities here which includes the smuggling of goods, unwarranted use of authority, and many more. So, it would of your best interest to please cooperate with us as we check inside your establishment."
"Sir, I think you have been mistaken we have worked with the government officials for a long time and we assure you we have your best interest in mind with our work. So, please leave and we will act as though this didn't happen."
"No, we can't, at least this warranty doesn't let us."
Seeing those papers shocked the man. The content in there was something that the officer had said.
Still, he composed himself and tried to change the minds of these people.
"This can't be. There might be some kind of mistake here officer."
"It is so kindly guide us inside or else."
With a threatening voice, the official glared at the person in front of him. But not wanting to back down the man made another excuse.
"Please let me talk to our manager. And we will resolve this matter peacefully"
"Okay."
Hearing him agreeing to his words he tried to walk back thinking he could stall some more time. That is until he heard the next word from the official.
"You have 1 minute. So, make it fast."
"Sir!" Surprised he yelled at him not giving them enough time.
"That's too much please give us more time."
"Start the countdown." As he said that his partner started the countdown.
And knowing he can't change their mind the man also took a strong stance.
"If you're being like this then we too won't back out. Start the barrier!"
Then he commanded the people inside to activate their defenses. But moments later there was no response as the barrier still didn't work.
"What?"
"From the looks of it, you are ready to welcome us. Men let's go."
Seeing his dumbfounded expression, the officer commanded his troops to go raid the auction.
"No, you can't! Activate the main barrier!" Not wanting them to go any further he asked for the main defense to activate.
With his command, the main barrier activated but clearly, it was weaker than it should be.
"Don't let the shield wane you down, attack."
With their leader's command, the group of officers attacked the barrier and moments later it shattered.
Making an opening for them to enter then the troops went and started their investigation as they got in.
"No wait. Stop this! The man who tried to represent the auction house yelled at them."
But even as he yelled, they didn't listen as he was stopped and apprehended by the officers leaving him no choice but to stare as the troops all went in.
~~~~~~~~~
[With that we conclude today's auction. Thank you so much for attending. Please for those who have won their bid retrieve your win at the designated area.]
As the host said the winners were shown where to get their items which also included the twins
"Damn, this is too much I hope we bought enough time."
"Let's just prepare ourselves."
"Okay, sis."
Hoping for the best the two followed suit to the group who were trying to retrieve their items.
They waited for a few minutes and all the items were distributed to all those who won their bid.
But moments later they heard the announcement outside which made them scared.
[All personnel in the auction house please surrender for we have you all surrounded.]
"What's going on?"
"It can't be something good right."
"What was that?"
"Hey explain yourselves."
"Don't worry everyone we will do something about it. So please stay calm as our representative clears the misunderstanding."
Having calmed them down the host told them that their representative would go out and talk to them.
Moments later no results were seeing the anxiety of her customers she tried to go out and take a look.
But before she could even go the groups of government officials arrived and huddled around them separated by teams confiscating certain objects and capturing their targets.
"Hey get your hands off of me!"
"You can't do this to me!"
"Hey don't take that that's mine."
"What's going on here?"
"What is all this?!"
"Sorry Ma'am but we have this warranty that gives us the right to check the place."