120. Office Workers Have No Summer Vacation (4)
120. Office Workers Have No Summer Vacation (4)
"How do I look? Cute, right?"
Millia looked up at me and smiled, wearing a pure-white rabbit mask made from some material I couldn't identify. Maybe it was her red eyes, but the mask suited her well.
"M-me too..."
"Is that a cat?"
A mask with striking black cat ears caught my eye. Elisa had chosen it after a long period of deliberation.
"I-isn't it c-cute...?"
As she looked up at me expectantly, Elisa's ears flushed red.
"Yeah. It suits you."
"Hehe..."
[Wow... a flower garden! A flower garden.]
"Shut up."
"Huh?"
"Not you, the Grimoire. It keeps chattering away."
"Yohan! We have to go in soon!"
"I know. Mimicry."
[It won't last that long, so be careful.]
As Rue had said, my saucer's worth of mana wouldn't sustain it for long, but it still seemed better than a stuffy mask. I grimaced at the damp, sticky sensation clinging to my face and touched my cheek.
"...On second thought, wearing a mask would be better."
"Whoa, you look like a monster. I don't know about anything else, but no one's going to mess with you."
At Sif's words, I looked at Millia. She also stared up at my face with a strange expression and added her own comment.
"Why do you have a kraken draped over your face?"
...So that was what it looked like.
"W-well, I-I think it's c-cool..."
"You don't need to force yourself to compliment it."
I dispelled the magic. Rather than waste mana on this, I would wear an uncomfortable mask and be done with it. Once my face returned to normal, I examined the masks on display. Every one was small and adorable, making them unsuitable for me.
After browsing for a while, I discovered a mascot head in the corner. It was fairly large and had a somewhat familiar appearance. Maybe I should choose this one.
"Hey, how much is this?"
"That'll be five silver coins."
"That's cheap."
"No one's worn it in a long time because it didn't fit anyone. And it doesn't feel right to charge a lot for something so old..."
The kids' masks had cost one or two gold coins each, so this was certainly cheap. Without hesitation, I picked up the mascot head and asked the merchant selling the masks a question.
"May I try it on?"
"By all means."
With the shopkeeper's permission, I brushed off the dust and pulled the mascot head over my head.
It was uncomfortable and made breathing slightly difficult. The whole thing felt stuffy. Still, it was the only item large enough to fit my head, so I took five silver coins from my purse and placed them on the counter.
"I'll make good use of it."
"Yohan, Yohan, are the horns real?"
"Of course they're fake."
"Can I touch them?"
At Millia's words, I knelt and lowered my head. A faint rustling tickled my ears, and my scalp stung slightly. My hair seemed to be catching against the leather of the mascot head.
"What, it's squishy. Not fun."
"It's kind of like a doll..."
"It feels like a fairly high-quality material."
"Take your hands off now. People are staring."
The presence of three beautiful girls drew attention, whether welcome or not. As soon as all three removed their hands from the mascot head, I stood.
My view through the eyeholes was narrow. That was unavoidable for something made as a mascot head, but it remained uncomfortable. Its intimidating appearance might at least keep some of the moths away. I adjusted it and addressed Sif.
"Sif. From here on out, let's call each other by nicknames instead of names."
"Call me Black Tail. That's what they call me here anyway."
"Then am I Dullahan?"
Wasn't that a little too obvious? Still, no one was likely to suspect the truth.
I glanced at the band around Millia's neck. I couldn't help looking after she mentioned being a Dullahan. Seen this way, its crude design bothered me.
Perhaps I should make her one from a higher-quality material. I could hardly claim to possess good aesthetic sense, but I could at least make something suitable for a girl. I added 'make a new neck attachment band' to my mental list.
"I-I'll... go by Rose..."
Rose... huh.
Elisa's face was slightly red as she said that. Was she embarrassed? I rolled the word around in my mouth like a piece of candy for a moment before bringing it out.
"Rose. That's a good nickname."
"Hehe..."
"What do we call you, Yohan?"
"...Call me Mino-ta."
Nothing else came to mind, so I decided to shorten the name of the Minotaur mascot head. I'd only use the alias a few times before discarding it, so there was no reason to put much thought into it.
"Mino-ta?"
"Yeah."
"That sounds totally thrown together..."
"Y-yeah..."
"So you have no talent for naming things, Yohan?"
The reactions were way too lukewarm. I sighed, looking at the three whispering brats.
--------------------
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Robron Auction House! I am Kaliba Robron, manager of this auction house! My family has run it for three generations!"
A sycophantic-looking middle-aged man stood onstage and spread his arms in an exaggerated gesture to announce the start of the auction. I stood like a bodyguard behind the three girls absorbed in the spectacle and looked around at the people dressed in obviously luxurious clothing.
The auction items were expensive, so many guests had brought escorts. Thinking that an influential figure I knew might be among them, I could not help studying the masks hiding their faces.
Crow, peacock, wolf, bear, cat, pig, tiger... Were there tigers here too? There was even something resembling a plague-doctor mask. Almost none of the designs overlapped, so they apparently served as a means of expressing individuality. As I looked around with interest, I met the gaze of a blonde figure in a blue butterfly mask seated in a corner.
The figure in the butterfly mask hurriedly turned away the moment our eyes met.
...I felt as though I had seen that person somewhere before. They seemed to have changed their hair color too.
I couldn't walk over and ask directly, so I decided to ignore it.
There was no need to go out of my way to pretend I knew her.
"The first item is... a Griffon's Eye!"
A Griffon's Eye. What had it been used for in the game? If I remembered correctly, it had been a material for crafting a wind-element staff... While I searched my memory, the guests began evaluating the revealed item.
"Ooh, it appears to be in excellent condition. I heard an intact Griffon's Eye was difficult to obtain..."
"It seems a skilled hunter caught it."
"How fortunate, I was just in need of materials to craft a staff."
Most of the comments were empty appraisals. Judging by how few people spoke, it seemed to be a dull opening item. Wearing an indifferent expression, I looked down at Millia as she tugged my sleeve. Perhaps because she knew nothing about it, she gazed up at me curiously and asked a question.
"Is a Griffon's Eye a big deal?"
"It's quite useful to Wizards who primarily use wind magic."
"I see~"
"Y-you're quite knowledgeable..."
"It's only natural to have a lot of knowledge if you want to make tools."
I gave Elisa a vague answer and watched the rather dull auction. The bidding on the first item was nearly over. So few people had raised their hands that only three or four remained in competition.
"300."
"300 gold coins! 300! Are there no more bids?"
Was that it? I had no idea whether a Griffon's Eye was worth 300 gold coins. Perhaps my brain had been pickled by games. In a game, most materials could be obtained through grinding.
"300 gold coins! The Griffon's Eye has been sold for 300 gold coins! Not a bad price at all!"
I wondered what the second item would be.
I was hoping it'd be something more interesting than the Griffon's Eye at least.
"The next product is... a Drake's Heart!"
Another dull one this time. If it kept going like this, there'd be no point in coming to see the auction house. They needed to bring out something a bit more unique for it to be worth watching.
As items were sold off one by one, it wasn't until the fifth that some rather interesting products began to appear.
"It seems many of you have been disappointed by the items so far! But this time is different! The fifth item will meet your expectations! It is none other than—
"The magic sword crafted by the Dwarf artisan Eitri: Salamander!"
...Oh.
I had not expected to see that magic sword here. It was difficult to buy in the early game, but by the time it became affordable, it was too awkward to use and ended up treated as a white elephant. Since this was reality, it might have been more useful.
"Wow, Yohan—"
"Call me Mino-ta."
"Mino-ta! That sword is insanely shiny!"
"I-it seems to be imbued with tremendous magic..."
"Looks like it'll go for over a thousand gold?"
"A thousand gold. That's expensive..."
With the right materials, I thought I could make something with similar performance. The magic engraved on the weapon would be difficult to imitate, but I had an idea for reproducing it in my own way—or rather, I was still developing the idea. In any case, I needed materials before I could attempt anything.
In other words, there was a material I needed to acquire from the black market in as large a quantity as possible.
"1300!"
"1400!"
"If it goes well, it might surpass 2000, you know?"
"If it's Eitri's work, it's worth that much. Wasn't Frost Breath, the greatest magic sword Eitri ever made, once sold for 5000 gold coins? That means it's an item that sword collectors find very enticing."
"There is a cruel irony in weapons meant for the battlefield being reduced to mere collectibles."
Letting the guests' serious conversation pass in one ear and out the other, I watched the fifth item—the magic sword—go to the man in the pig mask amid disappointed sighs.
It had been a bit boring so far.
That was when I yawned, unable to contain my boredom.
"I do not know whether the fifth item satisfied you! Perhaps some of you, disappointed by today's offerings, have already lifted your butts from your chairs! But it is still too early to leave your seats! The final item in today's auction is none other than a 'Grimoire'!"
"A Grimoire, he says..."
"I heard no Grimoires have been discovered recently..."
Robron's announcement transformed the mood. The previously silent auction house filled with whispers. Grinning as though he had been waiting for this moment, Robron clapped his hands.
"But the main course always follows the appetizer! The appetizer is not over yet, so please wait just a little, just a little longer!"
So in short, he was telling us to keep watching until the very end.
[No wonder I smelled dirt. There was a Grimoire here.]
"Dirt, you say..."
[Even so, it's a cheap Grimoire compared to me.]
Compared to an unidentified Grimoire like you, perhaps it was. Still, a Grimoire was a more significant item than I'd expected. I called a waiter, ordered a drink, and leaned back in my chair.
"Now it is time to introduce the sixth item! Gem collectors may be pleased by this one! Our next item is a 'Lava Crystal'!"
"What is that?"
"I've never heard of it. Do you happen to know?"
"I've never heard of it..."
"It isn't very pretty for a gemstone, and the purity looks low. It won't have much value to collectors."
"But still, since it's a gemstone they've never seen before, won't collectors be all over it?"
"Well... somehow it seems like a bait item. Isn't it glaringly obvious they intend to bring out something big after this?"
...Why was that gemstone here?
An item that should not have been obtainable until the middle or latter half of the game?
Unable to hide my bewilderment at the appearance of an item I had always meant to obtain someday, I stared blankly at the Lava Crystal.
I had to buy this!
The god of impulse purchases manifested in my wallet.