Chapter 106 - Academy (4)
Now that I had money, it was time to buy materials.
"Whoa... this place is huge."
The Rift Auction Seoul branch. It was a collection point for all kinds of rift materials gathered from around the Seoul area. The building was a giant dome, like an expanded football stadium. It had been built to serve as a shelter or defensive facility in an emergency, but in peacetime it functioned as a massive marketplace. Today, a material imbued with the power of space was going up for auction here.
People had set up stalls everywhere, selling their wares. Humans weren't the only ones here. In the distance, a dwarf was laying out swords for sale. It was the most exotic sight I'd ever seen.
"How interesting. Can we look around?"
"Sure. We still have time before the auction."
Helena was as accommodating as ever. Her boundless goodwill was incredibly sweet.
And yet she absolutely refuses anything sexual.
I tried to sidle up to her, but Helena just smiled gently and put a little distance between us. Close enough to reach if I stretched out my hand, but not close enough for any accidental physical contact. The most intimate skinship we'd shared so far was me grabbing her wrist by accident yesterday.
I racked my brain, but it wasn't easy. If she weren't interested, I might understand, but her eyes were full of fondness. And yet she acted like this. Unless we regressed together, I didn't see this attitude changing.
Regression together...
Honestly, I didn't want to rely on something so uncertain. Whether we'd regress together was unclear, and there was another big problem.
Then what about Amelia and Kang Hyun-ah?
They couldn't lose their memories of him. That would be no different from death, in a way.
Ah...
Now I finally understood what she must be feeling.
Helena's main attribute was 'Memory Hope: Loneliness.' She'd probably been forgotten by countless people all this time. It was only natural she'd built a wall around her heart. In fact, it was surprising she showed this much goodwill.
Helena smiled brightly and tilted her head. "Si-woo-nim? What's wrong?"
"...Nothing. Shall we go?"
This was the stall area, one of the many sections in the Rift Auction. Most of the merchants were human, but there were also many other races. The various species that had appeared during the giant rift event. There was even a mermaid with a silver fin on the back of her neck. The scale at the center of her collarbone looked like a necklace. A mysterious race whose lower body transformed into a fish in the water. It reminded me of the Little Mermaid fairy tale I'd read as a child.
Disappointing.
It wasn't like she was wearing seashells on her chest. She had on a plain t-shirt and a loose skirt. Sensing my gaze, the mermaid smiled and beckoned with her finger.
"Hey there, handsome. Come take a look at my wares."
Her face looked like she was in her twenties, but her tone carried the weight of experience. Since she was a different race, it was hard to judge her age by appearance. What the mermaid was selling were clams. They had pretty shapes, so they could be used as decorations, but still, they were clams.
"Uh... well..." I was about to just leave, but the owner's pretty face made me stop. Helena seemed interested too; she was examining the clams. I took a quick look around. From the outside, they just looked like a bunch of clams.
"What's with that face? Don't like my stuff?"
"...Aren't they just clams?"
"Hoho...! I can't believe a young man like you exists these days. These are magical tools!"
"Magical tools...?"
Helena picked up one of the clams and held it out. "This one has a luminescence spell engraved on it. As long as you charge it with mana, you can use it semi-permanently. It's quite well made."
"Exactly! This young lady knows her stuff."
I touched it and felt the mana characteristic of artifacts. With the mermaid's permission, I pushed a little bit of my Mixed Energy into it.
"The color it glows shows the attribute that suits you best— Oh my?"
The clam emitted a spectrum of light, as if it were a prism. In other words, rainbow-colored. It was radiating every color imaginable.
"Oh... young man, you've got quite a talent. Even our Great Warrior doesn't have this many attributes... Ah! But the red and blue are the brightest! That's fire and ice."
"Is that so."
Having certain colors shine brighter wasn't necessarily a good thing. According to Mok Yi-do, one must transcend yin and yang to truly understand the Mixed Origin. Still, Helena's impressed expression was nice to see.
Should I buy one?
Even just the glowing function was useful. I didn't like how dark the side room Mok Yi-do had left was, so this would be perfect.
"How much is it?"
"I'll give you a discount. Just a hundred million."
"...What?"
I thought my ears were broken. I heard something weird.
"It also has air purification and sterilization functions. Oh! And it can even purify water. It's an absolute steal, I'm telling you. I'm practically selling at a loss!"
I was speechless for a moment. A lamp and an air purifier combined, for a hundred million. It made me wonder if a new currency unit I didn't know about had been created.
"I'll pass."
"W-wait, young, young man...!"
I shook my head and left the spot. Helena smiled softly and followed me.
"It was a bit expensive."
"No. It was disgustingly expensive."
"The level of magic involved is quite high, though. They've extremely minimized mana consumption. Once charged, it would last for years, I think."
"...Really?"
Thinking about it again, it might be useful for research. But there were plenty of other strange shops. Either selling useless things, or things that seemed useful but were disgustingly expensive. Especially from other races.
"Other races... aren't quite used to capitalism yet."
"Ah... it's been about a hundred years, hasn't it?"
A hundred years had passed since they and humans began living together. Several generations had already come and gone. But that was by human standards. There were races that lived over a thousand years. For them, a hundred years was but a blink of an eye. Still, not all other races had failed to adapt. One race had admirably assimilated into the capitalist world. Halflings.
"Hey there, couple! Come over here!"
"Us?"
Si-woo pointed at himself with his finger, and a short old man nodded. He was a dwarf race called a halfling.
"That's right. You two. You make a very nice couple."
The single strand of hair sticking straight up from the top of his head was striking. He was as small as a child, but his pure white beard reached down to his waist.
"Let's go."
"Huh...?"
He was a merchant who knew his business. I didn't bother with the pathetic "We're not a couple" line. Because I believed we soon would be. Helena followed with a slightly flushed face.
"Hmm... For just a hundred thousand won, I'll tell you today's fortune."
A hundred thousand won. After seeing all those other races shouting "a hundred million" earlier, this old man looked like a saint.
"Here you go. No wait— today's fortune? Not even this year's, just for one day?"
"Hehe... Quiet, you. I've already received it, so it's begun."
The halfling old man closed his eyes and mumbled something unintelligible, then opened them. They looked like transparent glass windows. At a glance, they seemed ordinary, but I felt something unexplainable in them.
He's got the atmosphere down. For a street fortune teller, he gave off a pretty convincing vibe. The old man closed his eyes again and muttered quietly.
"...I've taken a loss here."
After pondering for a moment, he flicked a gemstone towards me.
"Tch... Take it."
I caught it reflexively and looked down at my hand. A small gem with a grayish tint lay on my palm. It had no discernible mana. It wasn't an artifact. It looked like a cheap imitation gem, a child's toy.
"What is this?"
"...I don't know either. I only heard it was a second chance."
"Why are you suddenly giving me this? What about today's fortune?"
The old man didn't answer anymore. He just emanated a sense of mystery and closed his eyes.
Hah... a second chance? It sounded plausible, but it was something anyone could say. A common trick used by fortune tellers. I looked at Helena. Her face, which had been simpering a moment ago, had hardened. If regression wasn't something she wanted, then a new chance was practically a curse to her.
Crunch.
"...Huh?!"
The gem turned to powder. The old man's eyes flew open. He was so shocked his mouth hung open.
"You broke that...?"
"A second chance? I don't need it. I'll finish things this time."
"Hoooh..."
Helena seemed more shocked than the old man at my words. She looked dazed, as if struck by something. I grabbed her wrist. She seemed spaced out. I casually slid my hand down to interlace our fingers.
Ahh... finally. Her warm body temperature felt nice. Who gave a damn about some quack fortune teller? This was way more important. Taking advantage of Helena's daze, I finally held her hand. When she came to her senses a moment later, she flinched, but I didn't let go. Thanks to the fortune teller, I'd figured out how to seduce her.
"Let's go. The auction's starting soon."
"W-wait a moment! M-my hand...!"
Si-woo and Helena left, leaving only the halfling old man behind.
"Hehe... Yeah... That's good too."
After all, even he didn't know what the item was. He'd just received it from someone a long time ago. The halfling old man waved his hand to wave off an approaching couple. He hadn't even seen them properly, but his mana was already depleted.
"Business is over."
"What?! Already?"
"Ah... What a shame. This place is famous for being accurate."
"Grandpa! Can't you do just for us?"
The old man didn't answer. To him, words were currency. He didn't want to waste them.
"It's snowing."
The couple instinctively looked up at the sky, but they only saw the massive dome ceiling. Besides, it was the middle of summer.