The Full Moon Auction
On the way back after giving Raul a thorough dressing-down.
"Haa..."
His skull hummed, and his temples ached with a dull throb. Leon drew a slow breath, settling his mind and body.
The shop bell chimed as he stepped into the first café he spotted, looking to cool his head. A cold coffee sounded about right.
The place was fairly full, but nowhere near rowdy. This was the Second District. Everyone kept their dignity, speaking in quiet, measured tones.
Eyes turned toward him. Leon catalogued them with compulsive care as he placed his order with a passing server.
Order finished, he was heading for an empty seat when a woman addressed him in a haughty tone.
"You there. Clear this away, would you?"
"..."
Catlike eyes filled with violet irises curved into a crescent as she looked up at him.
For a split second, Leon nearly refused her outright—his mood was foul enough—but then...
She's the sort who buries things deep rather than brushing them off.
Aqua's voice rang from a corner of his mind, and he changed course.
Fair enough. He couldn't easily picture her making a scene over a hurt. The thought that she might have carried wounds carefully hidden all this time snagged at him for no good reason.
Even if something truly rankled or wounded her, she would never let it show on the surface—wasn't that the point?
Celia, whom he'd always taken for cool and unflappable, had her delicate corners too. This was just playing along with a little joke. He didn't want to snub her coldly over his own sour mood and end up hurting her.
Leon smiled and said,
"Yes, miss. Is there anything else you need?"
"Bring me more napkins."
"No. My throat's dry—I'm just going to have a cup of tea."
He sat down beside Celia as if it were the most natural thing in the world, fetched the teapot, and poured. Then he downed the scalding tea in a single shot.
Besides Celia, three or four young women of similar age sat around the table—noble daughters she knew, by the look of them.
"Ugh. How can you drink something hot in the middle of summer? Don't you have iced tea? Iced tea."
"...???"
The young ladies floated a swarm of question marks over their heads as some bodyguard casually joined their table without so much as a by-your-leave.
Leon's clothes looked nothing like a noble's; anyone would have taken him for a guard or a servant.
The only reason no one scolded him for what he was doing was Celia's attitude.
Watching the reactions around her with a sly little smile, Celia said to Leon,
"Let me introduce you. This is Leah of the Winris family, Violet of the Chin family, Ellis of the Tarantaria family, and Olivia of the Mensers family. Friends of mine from the West. They came up to the capital for the banquet."
"My, my—what distinguished company. A pleasure to meet you all."
Leon's presence was utterly unapologetic. A silence thick with bewilderment and absurdity settled over the table.
The young ladies traded glances, eyes rolling this way and that. Who the hell is this guy? they were clearly thinking, hard.
"Celia, that man is...?"
"Oh, a newly hired guard. Handsome, isn't he?"
Celia beamed and patted Leon's shoulder.
She actually finds this funny?
He'd gone along with it so far, but Leon looked at Celia with thoroughly unimpressed eyes.
Just as he was about to wind the joke down—
"Ah...?!"
The girl called Ellis let out a sudden gasp. She had been studying Leon's appearance carefully from the start.
"You're Young Master Leon Crusif, aren't you?"
"What?"
The young ladies whirled toward him in shock.
Leon gave a small nod of appreciation.
"I am. Sharp eyes."
"...!"
The uproar that followed left Leon's ears ringing.
Their reaction was as explosive as if they'd run into a celebrity. Every one of them clearly knew the name Leon Crusif.
Rumors in high society traveled fast, and Leon's name was beginning to spread far and wide.
Leah, chattering about how honored she was to meet him, suddenly blurted out something she'd overheard somewhere.
"Th-the Gallant Hero...!"
"..."
Leon's face crumpled into a spectacular grimace.
The next day, as dusk began to settle.
Leon headed for the Fifth District with Aria.
"These skewers are pretty good."
Aria took a bite of chicken skewer and nodded.
"They're delicious."
"Right?"
Chewing their skewers, the two of them arrived at the Rumel Canal, where water flowed in a steady, endless current.
"Jade Brow Bridge. There it is."
"Okay."
Near the refined bridge that gleamed with a jade sheen, Leon pressed a fare into a merchant's hand and rented a boat—a small skiff for pleasure boating.
"You've got about an hour of use, and it gets quite dark after sunset before the lights come on, so please be careful~."
"Got it."
Leon climbed aboard. Aria followed, settling in with a faintly excited air.
"I've always wanted to try this."
She meant the boat ride.
"Have you?"
"Yes. With you, Master."
Leon snorted a laugh and took up the oars.
"I'll do it."
"No need. That would look terrible. I've got it."
Splash—
The oars dug in hard. The little boat carrying Leon and Aria glided smoothly over the water.
"Hmm."
Finding it thoroughly dull, Leon poured mana into the oars. A faint oar-energy bloomed along their length, and their speed exploded.
Whoooosh—!
An enormous rush of speed. The skiff shot forward like a motorboat, slicing through the water at a blistering pace. The wooden planks creaked, and a long white wake trailed behind them.
Aria let out a small laugh.
After tearing across the water for a while, Leon steered them under Jade Brow Bridge. The sun had fully set, and true darkness had taken hold.
Soon, a dark-brown ferry boat drew up alongside them.
"Honestly, how are we supposed to manage if you come in drawing that much attention..."
Tool, the Guiris branch manager, said with a sour look.
Leon shrugged as if it were nothing.
"Concealment and sound-dampening magic are already up. Don't worry about it."
"Oh—is that so."
Impressed, Tool glanced at Aria. One look, and his eyes went wide; he looked again.
"...She's every bit as beautiful as I'd heard."
"She really is."
Leon nodded, then said,
"The tickets?"
"Yes, right here."
Tool handed Leon two tickets treated with various magical processes. Leon turned them over, front and back, and smiled.
"Good work. You're very capable, our Branch Manager Tool."
"I'm honored."
"I put in more than last time."
Leon passed him a thick pouch of gold coins. Feeling the weight, Tool's mouth split into a greedy grin.
"Did you find the bastard who made up my nickname?"
Tool's face went rigid.
"...That is, I'm sorry."
"..."
As Leon's expression darkened, Tool hastily added,
"I-I did everything I could, but it seems something the informants were just bantering about somehow stuck and hardened into place..."
"Well, that's how nicknames usually—ugh, fine. Drop it."
"...I'm sorry."
Leon nodded, unsatisfied.
Tool felt the sting of failure. He thought to himself,
I'll have to invent a different nickname and spread that instead.
He couldn't afford to disappoint a heavyweight client like Leon Crusif—especially not one who paid so handsomely.
Leon said,
"And keep watching and investigating Raul Crusif. If you've got anything on him now, hand it over."
"Ah, yes."
"You've got informants inside the Neutral Zone too, right?"
"Of course. Absolutely airtight."
From Tool's manner, he seemed to know even about yesterday morning's encounter with Raul. As expected, Guiris's information network was nothing to sneeze at.
A little later, documents in hand from Tool, Leon left the shadow of the bridge.
The span that had blocked the sky fell away behind them.
Whooosh—
The night sky opened wide over the waterway. All around, lights lit by citizens greeting the evening rose one by one.
Still working the oars, Leon suddenly pointed to a corner of the night sky.
"Aria."
"Yes?"
"The moon's up."
A round moon, full and heavy with light, scattered a brilliant yellow glow. A faint lunar halo stood around it.
It was a full moon.
The Full Moon Auction, held whenever the full moon rose.
Naturally, it was no ordinary auction house.
A place that dealt only in the rare, the distinctive, the priceless. A secret auction and playground known only to the uppermost of the upper crust—most nobles had never even heard of its existence.
Securing an invitation to the Full Moon Auction was no simple matter. Price was less the issue than the need for refined channels and connections. A verified identity was required as well.
Which made Tool, who had procured two such tickets, look thoroughly competent. The gold coins Leon had thrown him had been well spent.
The shop bell chimed as Leon and Aria entered a lodging house in the Fourth District, arm in arm like an ordinary couple of guests.
Without a word, Leon approached the counter and showed the clerk the two tickets.
"Please proceed to the second floor."
The clerk glanced carefully around, then murmured the instruction in a low voice.
On the second floor, a man in a clean formal suit approached without a sound.
"Welcome to our auction house. Allow me to escort you."
At the same hour.
A tavern in the Fourth District.
"Welcome to our auction house. Allow me to escort you."
"Hmm. Very well."
Hera began to follow the man in the formal suit.
Then, all at once, she burst into delighted laughter.
"Haha. My adorable little brother. You never imagined I'd follow you all the way here, did you?"
Hera slung an arm around Riel's shoulders.
"Riel, my heart's pounding. It's my first time at the Full Moon Auction."
"Mine as well."
"If anything catches your eye, bid hard. We pulled in a lot of money this time."
"Yes."