"Just a few more moments before the auction geings everyone!" An assistant calls, she checks a watch on her wrist growing more frustrated with each passing moment. "Karin get out here!"
Toni had engaged in conversation with a group of wealthy nobles, he was playing himself up for whatever reason.
The nobleman wasn't entirely sold however. "Just how do you intend to bid on anything," he gave Toni a unimpressed smirk. "Nothing about you is telling of wealth?"
Toni leaned back against the table. "Well, i'm a high flyer myself too, I just don't like to brag friend."
Dante clasp a hand on Toni's shoulder, "what are you doing," Dante said before lowering his voice. "We're flat broke Toni, we can't bid on anything."
Toni smirked before pointing at another table. "See that group of ladies over there, they've been staring so I need to give off my rich man charm."
"Rich man? Toni we shared a ration bar three days ago?!"
"That's not important right now friend."
Nanami sat beside them, she couldn't even muster the power to speak. Her hands were drenched in sweat, her glasses had even fogged up.
An attendant noticed her, coming over to check. "Are you alright ma'am?"
Nanami robotically turned in the womans direction. "Hello." Before slowly turning back forwards.
The attendant chose not to interact anymore and chose to leave it at that.
Meanwhile Jin's growing annoyance wasn't getting any easier. Haruko vanished, Jessie is sleeping at the table, and Kaito still wasn't anywhere to be seen.
The lights dimmed just enough to pull everyone's attention forward.
The chatter died down in waves, replaced by that quiet, heavy kind of anticipation that only showed up when serious money was about to move. At the center of it all, Karin stepped forward like she owned the entire building. Which… she did. "Ladies and gentlemen," she said smoothly, "let's begin."
Right on cue, the mascot bounded onto the stage beside her, overly energetic, slightly ridiculous… and immediately stealing half the room's attention. It waved, spun, and struck a dramatic pose like it had been waiting its whole life for this moment. From somewhere in the crowd.
"…Is that Kaito?" Dante muttered. Nanami didn't even look. "No." "Yeah… yeah, you're right," he said quickly. "No way that's him."
Up on stage, the mascot gave a thumbs up. Karin gestured, and the first set of items were brought out. Weapons. But not the kind you'd casually hang on a wall. "These," Karin began, lifting one with ease, "are designed with a very specific purpose… slaying abyssal beasts." The reaction was immediate, low murmurs, a few impressed whistles.
The mascot jumped in, miming an exaggerated fight against some invisible monster. Wild swings. Dramatic dodges. It even pretended to get hit, stumbling back before "heroically" finishing the fight. A few nobles actually clapped.
Karin didn't miss a beat as more artifacts followed. A teleportation device, demonstrated when the mascot vanished in a flash of light, and reappeared a second later halfway across the stage, striking another pose like it planned that.
A ripple of impressed laughter spread through the crowd. Next came something stranger. "An artifact capable of creating clones." The mascot froze. Then split. One became two. Two became five. Five became… chaos. They scattered across the stage, each one moving slightly out of sync, waving at different parts of the crowd, one tripping over another while a third tried to "help" and made it worse.
Even Karin had to pause for half a second. "…Yes," she continued, regaining control, "as you can see, highly effective." The clones merged back together in a flash. The crowd was hooked now. And Karin knew it.
She raised a hand slightly. "And now…" That alone was enough to quiet the room again. "We move on to something far more rare." A beat. "Sacred artes." That did it. The energy in the room spiked. People leaned forward. Conversations cut off mid-sentence. Even the ones pretending not to care were suddenly paying very close attention.
The first arte appeared as a faint glow hovering above a pedestal. "A grappling arte," Karin explained. "One that refines technique to perfection." The mascot stepped forward and, somehow, flipped a full-sized armored dummy like it weighed nothing, locking it into a clean hold before releasing it with a flourish. That got real applause.
Karin smiled slightly. "The next…" Another glow. Sharper this time. "A counter arte. It deflects incoming attacks… and returns them at double the force." A mechanical arm snapped forward toward the mascot. The attack rebounded instantly, smashing the mechanism apart.
Out in the crowd, Nanami leaned forward without realizing it. "…That's insane," she muttered. She wanted it. Badly. But right next to that thought. We can't afford that. She exhaled quietly.
Beside her, Toni noticed both the arte… …and who else was looking at it. Across the room, his rival raised a hand. The bidding started climbing.
Toni didn't hesitate. His hand went up. Nanami turned. "Toni..!"
"Relax." The numbers jumped fast. One million. Two. Three.
"…We should stop," Dante whispered, already looking like he might pass out. "We should definitely stop!"
"Four." Silence. The number just… hung there. Dante's soul left his body. "We don't have that," he said, voice cracking. "We really don't have that. Toni, we don't even have a fraction of that, she's going to own us, we're going to be working here forever!"
Toni sneezed. Then casually tapped Nanami's shoulder. "I got you." He didn't break eye contact with his rival. Didn't even blink. Inside? Absolute chaos. "FOUR MILLION?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! You can't pay that! You can't even pay a tab! Do you run now? Is it too late to run? Can you fake your death?" He swallowed. Held the stare. The gavel slammed down. Sold.
Dante physically sagged.
Karin, meanwhile, moved on like nothing just happened. "The next sacred arte," she continued, "is… less flashy." A faint, almost underwhelming glow appeared. "A charge technique. It allows the user to instantly close the distance between themselves and an opponent." The reaction was… mild. A few nods. Some interest. But nothing like before.
Toward the back, Kaito, still very much inside the mascot suit, tilted his head slightly. Oh. That's actually good. Practical. Fast. No wasted motion. His hand twitched. A smaller bid this time. Manageable. And then, Karin stepped forward again. "And now…" The way she said it. Everything stopped.
The final case was brought out. Even before it opened, people were already leaning in. Karin rested a hand lightly on the glass. "This," she said softly, "is what you've all been waiting for." The case opened. Inside. A small, contained bulb. Doesn't look like much. Until... "An untamed crystia." That got a reaction. A real one.
Karin gestured. "All lights." The room dropped into darkness. For a split second. Nothing. Then the bulb ignited. Light spilled out in soft waves, stretching across the ceiling, the walls… bending into constellations that shimmered like a captured night sky.
The entire room went still. Nanami's eyes lit up instantly. Her brain didn't even hesitate. Energy output like this… stabilization… conversion, no, if I rework the entire system. "…oh my god," she whispered. She was already building things in her head.
Around them, others weren't thinking the same way. Some leaned back. Uneasy. Because there was one very obvious problem. No one like Karin should have this. This wasn't just rare. It was protected. Imperial-level protected.
Someone near the front actually spoke up. "Where did you get that?"
Karin smiled. "My sources," she said lightly, "will remain private." Of course they would. She looked back at the crystia. "But I will say this…" A small pause. "Whoever acquires this… could do anything."
Silence. "The bidding begins at one billion blastie." And just like that.. Madness.
"Five!"
"Ten!"
"Fifteen!"
The numbers didn't climb. They jumped. Voices overlapping. Hands shooting up. People who hadn't bid all night suddenly throwing themselves into it like they'd lose everything if they didn't. Twenty-five. Thirty. Thirty-five. Forty. The final number hit like a shockwave.
"…Forty billion." Silence crashed down right after it. The gavel dropped. Sold. A man stood from the crowd, adjusting his coat like he'd just made a casual purchase. "Forty billion?" he scoffed, loud enough for everyone to hear. "With this, my family's fortune will grow so much… this will feel like nothing." Above them, the artificial constellations still shimmered.
Then the lights cut.