MTM 84

Boooooo!

“Now, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for waiting!”

A horn blew, signaling the start of the event. The red curtain fluttered and parted, revealing a mage wearing a flamboyant hat.

He raised his fingertip and held a large droplet of water into the air. A small fairy was curled up inside it, his wings glowing in many colors.

The fairy slowly opened his eyes. Like someone just waking from a dream, he shook his head, then looked out toward the audience and flinched in surprise. Embarrassed, he wrapped his arms around himself to cover his body. The mage saw this and blew gently toward the water droplet. It split into several smaller bubbles that floated away into the air.

“Ohhh…!”

The audience cheered in delight. Every one of them was wearing a mask. The floating droplets drifted above their heads, shimmering as they went. Pop. A few of them burst. Some of the masked nobles even reached up and popped them themselves.

Pop. Pop. One after another, the droplets disappeared until only one remained.

The last droplet slowly floated toward the entrance of the stands and then, with a clear sound, burst.

In its place knelt a boy who looked like a fairy. His wings were torn and tattered, and his body was limp.

“Wooooah…!”

The crowd rose in a wave of cheers and applause.

“Now! The fairy said to have gone completely extinct from the Forest of Life! You can see him here today, right at the Black Crown, as our first auction item!”

The host’s loud voice filled the hall. A man holding the fairy’s leash stepped forward. Dragged by the man’s hand, the fairy crawled pitifully across the floor. His face looked so pale and lifeless that he could barely be called sad anymore, and he seemed too weak even to stand, only being dragged along.

But no one pitied him. The masked nobles cared nothing for his misery. Instead, they marveled at the torn wings, reaching out to touch them, or gazed greedily at the fairy’s beautiful form.

“Then, we’ll begin at fifty thousand Lucians!”

And with that, the auction began in earnest.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

At the Black Crown, a secret auction house known for selling rare and forbidden goods only to nobles, the air burned with excitement.

The first item, the fairy, had sold for one million Lucians. The second item, a magic crystal found in the deep sea, went for two million and fifty thousand. The third, an egg believed to have been laid by a demon, was sold for a staggering ten million eight hundred sixty thousand Lucians.

Fortunes changed hands in an instant. The nobles in the audience, drunk on ecstasy, raised their champagne glasses in celebration. Some enjoyed a feast at their tables. Some kissed the hands of the auction winners in courtesy.

At the Black Crown, these auctions were a playground for the aristocracy, a secret festival of pleasure and power.

But behind the curtains, the scene was entirely different.

“Hey! I told you not to leave that there! It’s in the way!”

“Where’s the next stage costume? The mage?! Bring him right now!”

“Move that one over here! Hurry!”

Workers with rolled-up sleeves rushed to move cages holding the merchandise, while mages and stage directors screamed themselves hoarse. Behind the dazzling show, it was chaos.

“Where should I move this one?”

“Leave it there.”

Clang.

Just then, the cage holding Harto was moved to one side of the waiting line. The tarp covering it slipped halfway off.

“…Hey.”

Harto, chained and weary, slowly lifted his head at the voice calling to him. His eyes widened. It was Ser. Unlike Harto, Ser wasn’t inside a cage, but heavy shackles bound his wrists and ankles.

“How’d you end up in a cage?”

“……”

Harto looked at him without saying a word, then looked around, searching for Reina. But she was nowhere to be seen. Ser seemed to understand the meaning of that look. After checking that the busy workers weren’t paying attention, he whispered quietly.

“Ladies always take a bit longer, you know.”

“You…”

“Don’t bother asking why I’m so calm. I’ve been sold off in a place like this before.”

“……”

Harto fell silent. He remembered Ser had told him he’d once been in the same situation back at Honey that. He had thought it was a lie. He never imagined he’d find out it was true, and in a place like this.

‘Everyone must have their own circumstances…’

Just like Reina, Ser too, and probably everyone else gathered here under the same conditions.

“…Thanks.”

Harto looked up at him in surprise. He hadn’t expected those words to come from Ser.

“Well, in the end, all three of us got caught… but I guess it’s still better than getting caught without knowing anything. Yes, let’s go with that.”

“…I don’t think Reina’s aunt house was a good choice.”

When Harto answered in a weak voice, Ser gave a smile.

“I think so too.”

He glanced cautiously around, then leaned closer and whispered quietly.

“You, you did pretty well back there.”

“……?”

Harto blinked, unsure what Ser was talking about, until he realized it. He meant that moment right before he passed out, when he’d set off the flames to save Reina. He hadn’t thought Ser had seen it.

“I don’t know what you did, but… that wasn’t magic.”

Ser’s voice was firm. Maybe it was just the way he said it, but it sounded like he was completely sure, like if it had been magic, he would’ve known immediately.

“What’s with this one? Why’s he so weak?”

Just then, a commotion broke out nearby.

“Hey! Check the tenth item! Didn’t you drug it too much?”

“What? No way, I’ll check right now!”

Workers rushed over to the cage where a fox beastman lay limp inside. Their startled voices rose all at once, and soon they were running about in confusion.

Harto stared at the beastman, who looked too weak even to move, and suddenly felt his heart ache.

He’d never really thought seriously about auctions like this. Things like this only existed on TV or in books. To someone who had lived in the modern world of the twenty-first century, a place like this had always seemed like pure fiction.

But what he was seeing now was far crueler than anything he had imagined.

Not just the fox beastman, everywhere, people were being treated as merchandise. Fairies, beastmen, and monsters with hollow eyes stared into nothing, barely clothed, and the sight made it hard to breathe.

‘This isn’t right… it can’t be like this.’

The thought of surviving on his own completely vanished. Instead, his head filled with one thing only: he had to save everyone.

“I think… I can help.”

Harto spoke quietly, just loud enough for Ser to hear. Ser only gave a bitter smile. Given their situation, he could only take those words as naïve.

Clank.

Harto leaned forward as close to the bars as he could.

“Hey… you might not believe me, but…”

He hesitated, then spoke with a determined look.

“I’m… a monster.”

His voice trembled from tension, but his eyes were serious. Ser looked back at him, his expression still the same, and answered.

“I’m an alchemist.”

“Huh…?”

“You said you’re a monster. I’m telling you, I’m an alchemist.”

“Oh… right.”

The short exchange ended, and a brief silence fell between them. Harto hadn’t expected that kind of reply, and Ser found Harto’s innocent reaction almost ridiculous.

One thing was clear: neither of them really believed what the other said.

“I… I’m serious…”

When Harto muttered in frustration, Ser quietly chuckled.

“So am I.”

“Really…?”

Harto’s eyes widened. He didn’t know much about alchemists, but if Ser really was one, he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t already used that power to escape.

Ser grinned as if he knew what he was thinking about.

“Then let’s do this. I’ll get you out of there. But you have to promise me something.”

“Promise?”

“No matter what happens, you’ll save everyone here.”