60. The Auction

60. The Auction

The sun was setting.

The time when insects loudly sang, burning their short lives away.

A black wolf beastman sat quietly on a bench along the Academy road. Her tail hung limply, resting on the ground beneath the bench.

“….”

I had searched every shop my sister might have visited. Worried she might have gotten lost and wandered into a strange place, I had scoured every alley. But-

I couldn’t even find a single strand of my sister’s fur on the ground.

Like most beastmen, wolf beastmen tend to shed their tail fur frequently. Considering this, it was easy to deduce that my search for my sister had been misguided from the start.

Freya crushed an insect crawling on the ground with a crunch and stood up unsteadily.

“Unni… I won’t give up. I will find you no matter what.”

If the sky tries to keep me from my sister, I will break the sky. If the earth tries to prevent me from reaching my sister, I will overturn the earth. I had the power to do so.

“… First, I should sleep and then think.”

Freya stumbled towards the dormitory, leaning on her staff. It wasn’t until after walking for a long time and arriving at the dormitory that Freya realized she had forgotten to apply for housing again.

Freya sat on the ground, contemplating.

“Am I an idiot? I was shivering from the cold sleeping outside all night, and I forgot to apply for housing again…?”

The thick, fluffy tail of a wolf beastman, warm and with many hiding places, was one of the areas where insects easily gathered. Freya, who had lived in the North where all insects froze to death, found the insects in the Imperial capital unbearably itchy.

But there was a way. A method she had put off due to concerns about her noble dignity being tarnished.

“Hey, you there! Come here for a moment!”

It was to stay in another student’s dormitory.

Freya grabbed a female student who was trying to enter the dormitory late at night. Up close, she was a student with long, flowing blue hair and a somewhat dark gaze. Since she didn’t recall seeing her at any social gatherings, she was clearly a low-ranking noble.

The girl muttered.

“… Black?”

“I don’t have a place to sleep right now, so could you let me share your room? It’s okay, right? I might look like this, but I’m the daughter of the Grand Duke of the North. My status is incomparable to yours. Got it? We can share the room, right? Yes! Thank you, hey.”

Freya headed towards the dormitory, patting the blue-haired girl on the back. Arriving at the dormitory room without any interference, Freya asked the girl.

“Hey, what’s your name, by the way?”

“… Ella von Silverrain.”

“I see. Hey, I’ll take this bed. Move her to your bed, and you two sleep together.”

The dormitory rule was two people per room, and Ella’s dormitory was no different. Freya tried to move the sleeping girl in the other bed to Ella’s bed-

“Tail… ear… this scent…?”

“Huh? What, why are you staring at me….”

She was immediately grabbed by Ella. As a student of swordsmanship, Ella’s powerful grip was no match for Freya, who was helplessly dragged into the bed. She even dropped her staff, leaving her completely defenseless.

“Ugh! You crazy…! Ugh!”

“Hehe…. Skadi… this time, it’s me….”

Her face flushed red, her eyes half-closed. Freya felt a more intense fear than ever before at Ella’s eyes, which seemed to have lost all reason.

——

“How is my sister?”

“Yes. I’m curious, since she resembles Skadi….”

Just before evening. Priscilla was tying my hair up in the room.

She had visited her sister a few days ago and returned around noon today. Priscilla, who had been boasting about washing with her sister, suddenly asked me about my sister, and I closed my eyes, thinking of Freya, and replied.

“Black hair and tail… Her eyes, nose, and mouth resemble mine a lot. Of course, she’s smaller and much cuter than me.”

“Does she smell similar too?”

“Smell? Hmm. Maybe because we’re sisters, but our smells are the same.”

Of course, our smells weren’t the same from the beginning. Freya’s original scent was more like a pleasant baby powder, but at some point, it started to smell similar to mine. It seemed to be around the time we started tangling our tails.

“Heh… Skadi’s scent… Your tail is twice as big. I’d like to meet her someday.”

“I’ll introduce you when you visit the North later.”

Priscilla, having finished tying my hair, immediately rubbed her face against my tail. I smiled lightly and got up from my seat.

My reflection in the dormitory mirror wasn’t my usual self in a uniform, but rather dressed neatly in a suit, with my scarf removed.

There was no particular reason for me to dress up like this in the evening. It was because I had heard that the auction I saw yesterday with Iris was happening again tonight.

Of course, the auction happening now was not a typical auction, given the time. It involved items from all sorts of black markets….

Hmm, Claire must have told me what it was called….

… I can’t quite recall the word, but it was that kind of auction. A black market, doesn’t that sound exciting? They even said we could participate while wearing masks!

As someone who was once male, I couldn’t miss out on such an interesting experience, so I pestered Claire into agreeing to participate in the auction for fun. Although I wasn’t actually planning to buy anything, just to observe.

“Are you that excited? Honestly, it’s just called a black market, but it’s nothing special….”

“Of course. It’s my first time. Naturally, I’m excited.”

I had also prepared a mask in advance. A kind of balaclava that covered everything except my eyes and mouth. In my past life, wasn’t it called a balaclava? I had even made holes for my ears, so I was perfectly prepared.

“Skadi, are you perhaps thinking of something strange?”

“Of course not. Absolutely not.”

I shook my head.

Iris had gone to meet her father, who had returned. Of course, it was only for a short while, and I would have to take care of her again tomorrow. It was fortunate that I couldn’t bring Iris to a place like this.

“Shall we go then? Everyone must be waiting.”

When I left the dormitory, Claire was already waiting downstairs. Unusually, Claire was wearing the same dress as yesterday. Seeing me with my hair tied up, she let out a gasp.

“Y-your, your hair is tied up?”

“Yeah. How is it?”

“P-pretty….”

Claire replied in a barely audible voice, her face blushing. I smiled gently and headed towards the auction venue with my friends.

The auction hall was enormous. It was so crowded that if I wasn’t paying attention, I felt like I might lose my friends at any moment.

Priscilla pointed to one side and said.

“We just need to get a mask from over there and then we can enter.”

“… Get a mask?”

This was something I hadn’t heard before. Get a mask and enter? Then what was the balaclava in my pocket for?

“Of course, you have to get it here. What were you thinking?”

Priscilla looked up at me with an exasperated voice.

“Hieek!”

Slightly annoyed, I flicked Priscilla’s chest with my finger and then headed to get a mask.

“How interesting.”

It was a half-mask, like those used in theatrical performances, covering only the eye area. With all three of us wearing masks, it looked quite striking. However, one question arose.

“Claire, why are we wearing these masks?”

“Hmm… As you can see, it’s not really to hide our identities, but rather a means to remind everyone that we are all anonymous here… That’s what Edel taught me.”

“Aha.”

So, there was a reason for wearing them.

I headed towards the auction hall with Claire and Priscilla… and was stopped.

“Customers, you must disarm before entering.”

“………….”

The guard pointed to the sword at my waist.

As I was planning to knock out the guard and enter, Priscilla shook her head, telling me not to, so I quietly handed over my sword and went inside.

——

“The world’s best aphrodisiac that makes anyone disappear! Starting bid is 4 gold!”

“5 gold!”

“5 gold bid! Is there anyone else?!”

As Priscilla had said, the auction was less interesting than I expected. The contents were surprisingly ordinary.

When I asked why, I was told that while there were rare items sold in the black market, most of them were brought in to avoid tracking or taxes.

After watching for a while as a short noblewoman brought a tall noblewoman to buy an aphrodisiac, the announcer shouted.

“This item is a panacea that cures all diseases!! It’s an elixir made from the leaves of the World Tree! The starting price is a whopping!!! 1000 gold!!!! Bids are in increments of 100 gold!”

The announcement instantly caught my attention, as I was contemplating whether to sleep or not. A panacea that cures all diseases.

“1500 gold.”

“Skadi?”

Claire looked back at me, but I didn’t have time to answer. Because-

“1700 gold!”

Someone sitting far away was trying to bid on the elixir. To not lose, I narrowed my eyes and continued.

“1900 gold.”

“2000 gold!”

“2500 gold.”

Priscilla’s eyes widened, and she asked why I was doing this. Taking advantage of a brief lull in the bidding, I explained the situation to Priscilla.

“My mother is sick. She needs medicine.”

“I-is that so?”

Ever since I was old enough to understand, my mother had been confined to her bed. Father tried his best to treat her, but nothing worked.

But the elixir would surely be effective. Since we are the Grand Duke’s family, we have plenty of money, so I had to obtain that elixir somehow.

“2600 gold!”

“2700 gold.”

The numbers continued to rise. The atmosphere grew heated.

In the quiet auction hall, where no one spoke except for that unknown person and me, Priscilla whispered softly.

“Do you have that much money?! You have to pay for the winning bid on the spot!”

“What….”

I stopped myself from shouting.

The Grand Duke’s family certainly had money. But that was the family’s fortune, and I didn’t have that much money in my wallet right now.

I thought it would be payable in installments!

“2800 golddd!!”

“2800 gold bid! Competitor! Is there anyone else! 10!! 9!!”

The announcer looked towards me. I looked at Priscilla and asked.

“Then how do those people pay?”

“They bring carts full of gold coins, of course!”

“Ugh….”

The announcer shouted.

“Elixir!! Sold for 2800 gold!!!”

Will I have to miss this opportunity to cure my mother’s illness right before my eyes?

Suddenly, I remembered my father holding my mother’s hand and shedding tears. It was the first time I had seen my father, whom I always thought of as strong, look so weak… Anyway.

I quietly murmured.

“This won’t do.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s rob them.”

I glared at the masked, unidentified person who had bid on the elixir and clenched my fist.

If having money is power, then let’s see who has true power.