Chapter 109 - Auction - 2

As the auction began, the booming voice of the host on the theater stage rang through the hall.

["Ladies and gentlemen!!! Good evening!!!"]

Renée looked startled by the voice reverberating even inside their room and murmured,

"He has a very loud voice. I don't think he's using any sort of device, either."

Albrecht, who had recovered his senses by now, answered.

"That is Baron Pelden. He hosts the public auction every year."

"Huh? He's a nobleman?"

"He volunteers for it. He's such a passionate man that he cannot pass up an occasion like this."

Albrecht's eyes sparkled with admiration as he spoke.

"I intend to take over that position when the baron retires."

Hearing the intense longing in his voice, Renée gave an awkward laugh.

"Wh-what about your knightly order...?"

"It's an annual event, isn't it? It won't interfere with my regular duties."

His pale cheeks flushing red, Albrecht continued.

"I love this sort of passion. I love the thunderous cheers, and I love standing before people and leading them."

In short, he liked attention. That was what he was saying.

Bera, who had been listening quietly, belatedly understood and shot Albrecht a look of utter distaste.

He had plenty he wanted to say... but he said nothing. He doubted the man would listen even if he did.

While that peculiar, difficult-to-describe atmosphere hung over the room, a shout whipped up the excitement in the hall.

["Our first auction item is! Iiiiiis!!!"]

Everyone turned toward the stage.

"Bera, what are they bringing out?"

"A large iron cage. Ah, a magical beast from an unexplored region."

Bera recognized the sort of item the moment he saw the cage. As though confirming his answer, Baron Pelden continued his explanation.

["A baby drake brought back from Dragon Canyon! This drake is our first auction item!!!"]

"Woooo!!!"

Startled at the mention of a drake, Renée voiced her concern.

"I-is that all right? Putting something like that up for auction?"

Didn't drakes grow into enormous magical beasts at least seven meters long? It was only natural to worry about bringing such a creature to an auction.

She seemed a little restless. Once again, Albrecht was the one to reassure her.

"It's perfectly fine. Only tamers or the dragon knights buy such creatures, and their skills are more than sufficient to control a baby drake."

Even as he explained, his eyes remained fixed on Baron Pelden, while his pen diligently filled the notebook he had taken out.

"Pause for a beat when presenting an item... Draw out the endings as long and loudly as possible when introducing it..."

Listening to the scratching beside her and Albrecht's continued muttering, Renée felt as though cold sweat were streaming down her back.

'Is this really all right?'

Was it all right for an imperial prince to be this serious about something like this?

"D-does the crown prince know, too?"

Does your brother know you're doing this? Hasn't he said anything?

At the question that had slipped out before she knew it, Albrecht tilted his head and answered.

"Hm? Of course he knows. Brother always encourages me. He's a pillar of support, and I'm grateful to him."

"Well..."

Renée's face filled with bewilderment.

"Um... You two are very close."

In the end, all she could manage was that platitude.

Although she wasn't even a citizen of the Empire, she found herself strangely worried about its future. As her face began to twist in a peculiar grimace, Albrecht misinterpreted her reaction and added with a soft chuckle,

"Of course we are. We share the same blood."

His pen stopped, his gaze resting on the drake asleep inside its cage.

"Some people believe it is only natural for us to fight over the imperial throne, but I think they are wrong."

The passion burning in his eyes had given way to a gentle warmth.

"Shouldn't true brothers support one another from their respective positions? I am skilled with a sword, but not at politics. Brother, on the other hand, may have little martial prowess, but his eye for the balance of power is keener than anyone else's. So I believe it is right for him to rule, and for me to protect him from those who would target him."

"Oh..."

"Hmm, that was rather embarrassing to admit."

"Not at all. I think that's wonderful."

Renée answered with an emphatic thumbs-up, though a different thought occupied her mind.

'Those are wonderful words, but...'

That wasn't what she had meant. He seemed to have misunderstood.

She wondered whether she should clear up the misunderstanding, then gave up and held her tongue. She would feel bad if another jab made Albrecht freeze again.

'Honestly...'

He was kind and had good character, so why did every conversation with him make her want to sigh?

Suddenly, the obvious truth struck her: this was why a person's everyday behavior mattered.

* * *

The auction continued amid cheers.

A rare elixir found only at the northernmost edge of the continent, a death knight's rib said to have been brought straight from the Cradle of the Dead, fresh vampire blood delivered from the Citadel of the Black Night.

Item after item appeared, leaving them wondering how anyone had managed to obtain such things.

"How on earth did those people get hold of them?"

Renée looked overwhelmed. Bera nodded in agreement.

"I am certainly curious, but I doubt learning the answer would do us any good."

He wasn't merely saying that.

In his previous life, Bera had managed the gutter's underground auctions, a far cry from this public auction. He knew better than anyone what had become of those who brought in mysterious objects.

'They're probably dead or suffering from a curse.'

The price of meddling with forbidden mysteries was never light.

Bera was certain of one thing, if nothing else: whoever had brought back the death knight's rib and the fresh vampire blood would not have escaped unscathed.

While he was lost in thought, the fresh vampire blood sold for the enormous sum of three thousand gold, and a book displayed in a glass case was brought onto the stage.

["Our next item! Ladies and gentlemen! Do you believe in ancient secrets?! Have you heard of the mysteries dwelling within objects?! If you haven't, you are about to have a truly extraordinary experience today!!!"]

He shouted as he slapped his palm against the glass case. When the audience responded, Baron Pelden continued even louder than before.

["This is it! A grimoire containing the whispers of the extinct dream demons!!! This is our next item!!! The starting price is a full two thousand gold! Now, who will bid?!"]

"Ah, that must be the item the professor mentioned."

"Yes, it appears so."

Bera gazed at the grimoire onstage, continuing his thoughts.

'The dream demons' whispers.'

They were a primordial mystic species said to have died out several generations ago. He was feeling curious about a book containing their knowledge.

"So the academy had something like that in its keeping."

"The professor certainly had a reason to go around negotiating with the VIP guests."

Collectors would scour the world for anything related to an extinct primordial species. His urgency was beginning to make sense.

"I wonder if his negotiations went well."

"Well, I'm sure he managed."

Even as they chatted, the bidding continued to soar.

From its starting price of two thousand, it rose to three thousand, then five thousand. As the bids steadily climbed—

["Aaaah! Number 183! Ten thousand!!! They've bid ten thousand gold!!!"]

The price doubled in a single leap.

"That must be the professor, right?"

Surely anyone that determined to secure it had to be him. Albrecht answered her question.

"Probably. With the academy providing the funds, the professor won't be short of money."

"But is he allowed to spend it so freely?"

"It's not my money, so it doesn't matter. I suspect that's what he's thinking."

An awkward, halting laugh escaped Albrecht.

Renée laughed along uneasily at his reaction, rubbing her fingertips together for no particular reason.

"He's eccentric."

"Indeed. A little... No, quite a lot."

["We have ten thousand!!! Any further bids?! Then I'll begin the countdown!!! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Sold! The Dream Demons' Whispers has sold for a full ten thousand gold!!!"]

Cheers followed, and thunderous applause erupted.

Caught up in the auction hall's excitement, Albrecht began twitching in his seat.

Alarmed by his reaction, Renée slowly edged toward Bera and murmured,

"H-how much longer will the auction go on?"

"... I believe there are about ten more items."

"Hmm..."

She was beginning to think she needed either to send Albrecht out or leave herself right now.

What should she do?

While she was wrestling with that question, the next item appeared onstage.

["Our next item!!! A dagger excavated from the ruins in a canyon at the western edge of the continent! Its purpose is unknown! Its condition is poor! But everyone here surely knows! True treasures lie hidden among old objects like these!!! Now, we invite a courageous participant willing to test their luck! The starting price is two hundred gold! Does anyone wish to biiiiid!!!"]

The long, booming explanation could be summed up as: They didn't know what it was, but it might be something good, so why not buy it?

Renée snorted with laughter at the loudly delivered pitch and asked Bera,

"Would you like to buy it?"

"..."

No answer came. Renée tilted her head.

"Bera?"

When she tapped his shoulder and asked again, he gave a start and finally answered.

"... Yes."

Even as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on the stage.

It wasn't because he recognized the item. How could he know an old dagger like that?

There was only one reason his eyes were riveted to the stage.

'This is...'

Bera brushed a hand over his chest.

The energy dwelling within him was reacting to the dagger.

Frowning, he recalled what that energy was.

Warm and refreshing, it had an immense presence despite being no larger than a single seed.

It was the very energy that had settled inside him after he consumed Aedrin's fruit several months ago.

And now it was reacting to that dagger.

Bera composed himself, staring at the dagger as though trying to see straight through it.

'Why...?'

Aedrin's energy had never responded to any stimulus before. Why was it reacting now, to an object he knew nothing about?

Questions filled his mind, and amid them, Bera made one decision.

He reached forward and pressed his palm down on the bell sitting on the table.

'I'll secure it first.'

He didn't know what the dagger was, but if it elicited a response from Aedrin's energy, it could be no ordinary object.

"Oh, are you bidding?"

"Yes. I'm rather confident in my luck."

After answering Renée, Bera used his fingertip to write a number in the blank space of the magic circle that appeared around the bell.

["Ahhh!!! Five hundred gold! Number 1 has bid five hundred gold!!! Any further bids?!"]

He had no more money than that, so he would have to let it go if anyone else bid. But Bera knew no one present would bid on this dagger.

'Number 1.'

That was the number of the VIP room they were sitting in.

And it was the imperial crown prince's seat number.

The only people who knew they were here instead of the crown prince were Professor Miller, Albrecht, the crown prince, and Maximilian.

No one would go out of their way to compete with the crown prince and spend money on a speculative amusement like this, rather than an item of established value.

Bera waited at ease.

["Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Sold! The dagger from the ruins has sold for five hundred gold!!!"]

"Oh, congratulations."

Bera gave Albrecht a perfunctory nod, leaned back against the sofa, and exhaled.

A faint chuckle slipped from his lips.

'Honestly...'

This was why power was so useful.