The Auction House (5)
"We have a problem."
It seemed I wasn't the only one thinking it.
The hustler confirmed the other party's face, then kept his expression perfectly calm as he spoke.
"Countess Isabel Artea is one of the greatest merchants on the continent. Winning a bidding war against her will be extremely difficult."
His opinion matched mine exactly.
The moment that woman decided she wanted the stone tablet, my victory at this auction became impossible.
This was a place where money competed against money, with no tricks or workarounds available.
If I'd known Isabel would show up, I could have prepared another approach — but what could I possibly have had ready, when I didn't even know that Lucy was banned from entering in the first place?
"I'll keep bidding for now, but please don't get your hopes up."
With that, the hustler raised his paddle, but our opponent was relentless.
Watching the paddle shoot up the instant the price climbed even a little, you could feel Isabel's iron will.
That woman fully intended to have that stone tablet, whatever it cost.
"Three hundred! Three hundred gold!"
The price soared so steeply that it reached my entire funds in the blink of an eye.
Had no one expected it to climb this high?
A murmur rippled through the auction hall, and the auctioneer's face bloomed with delight — but a heavy silence hung over our private box.
I could see everyone sneaking glances at me.
Ugh. Damn it. Nothing's going my way today.
What do I do?
There was a way to scrape up money in a hurry, sure.
I could hand the valuable items sitting in my inventory over to the hustler and draw on this branch's funds. Between what the Georg family had given me last time and the pile of odds and ends I'd been hoarding, I could probably pull together a decent sum.
But would that actually change anything?
It would only force Isabel to spend more. In the end, that tablet was going straight into her hands anyway.
I remembered an event from the game — the sight of Isabel laying down a thousand gold in one lump sum to buy something she wanted.
I let out a sigh and silently shook my head. At that, the hustler lowered the paddle.
"Three hundred! Three hundred! Three hundred! Sold!"
Look on the bright side.
Isabel owning the stone tablet meant it would be sitting in her warehouse. It wouldn't drift off to some unknown place.
Knowing exactly where it was beat having it vanish into thin air.
Besides, Isabel was a genuinely devout believer, in her own way.
Her methods differed wildly from ordinary worshippers, but the fact that she believed in the Chief God was unmistakable.
So later, I could bring Phoebe along, or leave Grandfather with her as collateral, or in the absolute worst case, reveal my identity and...
No. Not that one. That way lies madness.
"So your luck finally ran out, hmm."
"Tell me about it."
I went and draped this wretched gothic lolita dress over my body for one lousy item, and then the thing I actually wanted slips right through my fingers in front of my eyes!
This is the kind of thing only the perverted lolicon Chief God and the face-obsessed fox would enjoy!
It's an outrage!
A genuine outrage, I say!
The one silver lining was that the tablet had come up relatively early in the auction.
If the things I wanted had appeared after that tablet, I'd have had to swallow my tears and give them all up — and then bemoan losing the tablet too, on top of everything. Imagining that scenario, today's outcome honestly wasn't the worst.
Either way, I'd still get to take home the items I'd originally set my heart on.
"The auction is heating up, ladies and gentlemen! Our next item is the Bracelet of Play!"
They do say that when stress builds up, you should just throw money at it.
Well then. Time for a little excessive spending.
"We'll start the bidding at one gold!"
Forget it. I'm spending every last coin in my hands today.
In my overheated state I'd been flinging money around with abandon, but in the end I failed to spend it all.
Most of the items I was after prioritized practicality over luxury, so the prices never climbed that high. Thanks to that, even though I'd bought nearly everything on my list, I'd only gone through half the money I was carrying.
Even after the auction ended, I didn't head straight outside.
Right now I was wearing someone else's face — not Lucy's — which meant I couldn't use Crowd Repulsion, one of Lucy's powers.
I'd have to shoulder my way through a crowd and absorb every stare with my own body, and rather than do that, it made far more sense to slip out slowly once most of the people had gone.
"I've collected your purchases, my lady."
Even after receiving everything I'd bought, I dawdled for quite a while longer, only leaving the private box once things outside had gone quiet.
Plenty of people still lingered in the auction hall, but not enough to block the way.
Good. Now hurry home, tear off this trash-tier gothic lolita getup, and get back into my real clothes—
"You there. A moment."
At the sight of the man approaching, I pulled my hat brim down to hide my face.
He was putting on a show of courtesy, but the emotion in his eyes was unmistakable.
Why would some nobleman he'd never even met come sidling up with greed written all over his face?
What else could it be?
Predictable as sunrise.
"A pleasure. I am the young lord of House Lumley."
The moment the man tried to step toward me, Forsell and Erin moved to bar his path — and at the same time, the hustler stepped forward to intercept him.
"And who might you be?"
"I attend Lady Sartus. Our lady is rather shy, so if you would convey your business to me, I shall pass it along in her stead."
The hustler wielded impeccable politeness like a weapon, but that approach only worked on the assumption that the other party was a reasonable man.
"Step aside. I wish to speak with her directly."
"I'm afraid—"
"Do you not understand? I am not making a request. As heir to House Lumley, I am giving an order."
When the other person fell below the bare minimum of common sense, courtesy was meaningless.
Ha. Right. Things were already going badly and my mood was dog shit, and now some dog-shit excuse of a man latches onto me and makes it worse.
My deliberation was brief.
He was practically begging me to take my frustration out on him. The least I could do was oblige.
When I stepped forward, Forsell and Erin tried to hold me back, but I waved them off.
Who cares. The auction's over anyway. Worst case, we get thrown out — and that's the ceiling of what could happen.
Reaching the hustler's side, I lifted my head and looked up at the man.
When I flashed him a light little smile, he burst out laughing.
"Haha! There, you see? The lady herself wishes to speak with me—"
His laughter didn't last long. Mid-sentence, I drove my foot straight up between his legs.
The joy flooding the man's face curdled to a deathly blue, and his body crumpled backward.
My condition was so poor I couldn't even hit him hard, yet he was laying the theatrics on thick.
"Brother?!"
The moment he hit the floor, a woman came rushing over from behind, attendants trailing in her wake.
Her face was one I knew well.
Avery.
Second-in-command of Joy's noble clique — a girl who despised me but had my leverage hanging over her head, leaving her unable to lay a finger against me.
In a certain sense, a far more textbook villainess sidekick than Joy herself.
Wait — HER family was Lumley?!
The moment I recognized her face, I felt the heat that had climbed into my head cool right back down.
Of all the people to get tangled up with, it had to be someone I knew from the academy.
The only reason I was keeping my composure right now was my belief that today's business would end today.
But if word spread elsewhere that I'd been prancing around in gothic lolita, and today didn't end today...
No.
That would be an actual, literal death by shame.
"You! How dare you strike our brother, the future head of House Lumley! Where do you find the nerve?!"
Did you forget that the perverted lolicon over there approached me first? You really do only think whatever suits you, don't you?
The words climbed all the way to my throat — and I forced them back down.
The instant I opened my mouth, my identity would be laid bare.
"This is precisely why one must never act in the grip of emotion. Take today as your lesson."
"Grandfather, is NOW the time for life lessons?!"
"What of it? Whatever happens, the worst that comes of it is being tossed out of the auction house, no?"
Then my identity gets exposed, that's what!
You truly don't have a delicate bone in your ancient body!
"What would you have me say? It has already happened. Your best move is to settle it before eyes gather."
You're riiiight, of course.
Okay. Look on the bright side.
Avery has no choice but to obey me anyway.
Even if this girl figures out who I am, I just have to seal her lips and there's no problem at all.
"Why are you standing there with your mouth shut like a mute?! Answer me!"
As Avery's voice rose, I tipped my hat brim up with one hand and showed her a glimpse of red hair.
Then I let out the voice I'd been hiding this whole time.
"Hey there, bottom-tier second-rate nobility♡"
I pitched it low, just loud enough for Avery alone — and her hand froze mid-gesture.
The eyes that had been so bold and certain a moment ago drifted through empty air, having nowhere left to land.
"...Lady Alrn?"
"Would you kindly take your filthy hands off me?♡ Your very existence breathing the same air disgusts me, and you touching me makes me want to vomit♡"
Avery neither denied it nor doubted it.
The instant she heard my voice, she was certain of who I was. She snatched her hand back with impressive speed and gathered both palms together in front of her.
"I'm sorry—!"
"You don't actually think that pig-oink voice of yours is cute, do you?♡ Shut it♡"
"...Yes, my lady."
I seized Avery by the collar as she pressed her lips into a rigid line, dragged her close, and whispered into her ear.
"Listen carefully. Nothing happened today. Got it? Even a scatterbrained goldfish of a noblewoman could manage to understand that much.♡"
You and I never met at the auction house today.
Your dear brother simply charged out full of confidence in his own authority and took a beating from some noble girl nobody knows.
Perhaps because I'd told her to shut it, Avery made no reply — she simply nodded her head in desperate, frantic agreement.
Good. That much, she understood.
When I released her collar and stepped back behind the hustler, Avery waved the crowd away.
Her attendants didn't understand the order, but neither did they dare defy it.
And so we made it out of the auction house, leaving behind a single man foaming at the mouth on the floor.
According to what I heard much later — regrettably, the Lumley heir's manly function turned out to be perfectly intact.
And here I'd been planning to smash at least one of them.
My condition must have been worse than I thought, if I couldn't even control my strength.
A few days after the auction — the event that had me kicking my blankets off in the dead of night again and again — a letter arrived at our estate from House Patran.
In fact, there were two of them.
One was an invitation from the head of House Patran himself.
And the other was a letter from Joy, addressed to me.
Lady Alrn, would you care to come a few days early and spend some time together? There is so much of the Patran Territory that I would simply love to show you.
— Joy Patran
My reply was already decided.
My favorite character wanted to hang out with me — as if I could possibly say no to that!