carl@fire

"Do I hear twenty million coins?" the auctioneer bellowed.

"Twenty five!" shouted the brown-haired man from the Arderne family on the balcony across the room.

Carl stared as the bidding erupted, instantly passing thirty million and showing no signs of slowing, though the number of people calling out numbers had noticeably decreased after the first few bids. That's pretty crazy. I've never been to an auction—

"Thirty five!" shouted a man to the right.

"Thirty six!" called the Arderne man in the balcony across, his voice seeming annoyed.

Carl looked down again at the stage. The catgirl was looking back and forth across the room in time with the bidding, her expression one of curiosity.

"Fifty million!" a woman shouted.

There was a moment's pause in which the crowd continued to murmur. The guards on stage looked around warily, as though expecting something to happen at any moment.

"Fifty five!" called the man in the balcony across the room.

They seem almost crazed at the idea of this. Really starting to see why this is such a great idea for revenge. Thing must be some kinda legendary item from somewhere. Makes some sense, I guess, even though I probably would've gone with something a lot more direct if I were in her situation. But… Carl leaned over towards the seat next to him, where Mina's gaze was still fixated on the stage. "You should make the bid," he whispered into the place where the skeleton's ear should've been.

Mina jumped in her seat a little, then looked over and shook her skull after a moment.

Carl nodded back at her. "It's your revenge, right? If you really wanna stick it to 'em, they need to see and hear you taking their toy away."

Mina shook her skull again, more emphatically this time.

"Why not?" Carl asked, frowning.

"Sixty!"

"Sixty million from the gentleman…"

Mina looked away, then stared down at her lap. "I…" she rasped quietly, looking at her trembling hand bones. "I'm afraid."

Carl reached over and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly a couple times. "You don't need to be afraid here anymore, Mina. It's just a game, right? I'm here with you, and we're leaving right after."

"Sixty five!"

Mina's shoulder bones rose as she took in a deep breath. Her head came up, and she nodded. "Yes. Yes, you're correct, Carl. It is a game." She reached up and grasped the based of her skull and started to tug upwards. The skeletonization effect disappeared immediately once the mask was no longer fully covering her, and she continued until she'd pulled it entirely over her head and held it in her hands. Her hair was disheveled and matted from being pressed against her head for the extended period of time, and her eyes glowed with a combination of anger, determination, and the purplish-black effect of the still-active nightvision potion. "And I intend to flip the board at least once before I leave," she said in her normal voice while a sneer spread over her face, giving her a decidedly evil look when combined with the dark light being emitted from her eyes.

"Ninety million!" shouted the man in the balcony across the room, his face red as he glared at a spot some distance to the right of Carl.

Mina rose from her seat, tossed the mask back to Carl, and then approached the railing.

Carl stowed the piece of cosmetic gear back into his inventory.

"Ninety million coins!" called the auctioneer in a slightly surprised tone, his speaking pace slowing. "The gentleman in the first box on the left has certainly shown his passion for this piece." He paused for a moment. "Are there any further bids?" he asked rhetorically.

There was silence, the room seeming to collectively hold its breath, save for a girl who leaned over the railing of her family's auction box.

"This is the last chance to bid," announced the auctioneer, turning from side to side. He looked up towards Carl, then froze.

"One hundred and fifteen million coins," Mina said, her voice projecting clearly through the silent auditorium.

The room went completely silent once the echoes of her words had faded.

The auctioneer stared up at her, his mouth open and eyes wide. "P-p-p—"

"Isemeine Charus bids one hundred and fifteen million coins," Mina repeated in an imperious tone, calling out her full name for effect.

The audience erupted into a frenzy once more.

She must be pretty well-known for them to have this kinda reaction. Carl remained in his comfortable seat, enjoying the scene.

"You can't!" screeched the man from the Arderne family, his face purpling and his hands going white as they gripped the railing of his balcony. "You—"

"Can't I?" Mina called back in a taunting voice. "How do you feel, Reynard? Being humiliated by the same girl your son was toying with?"

The clamor grew in intensity and volume.

"One… One hundred twenty million!" shouted Reynard Arderne, his shoulders visibly rising and falling as his breathing grew heavy.

Carl blinked at the increasingly eye-watering numbers. How much space would that many coins even fill? A hundred thousand was—

"O-one hundred and twenty million coins," announced the flustered auctioneer, "from the—"

"That's quite a lot of coin to be throwing around, Reynard," Mina said, her mocking voice once again carrying over the raucous crowd and even the auctioneer. "From the amount I heard your family could produce, I'd say you've bid just over eighty percent! But how much do you desire this thing? Would you truly cast away your entire fortune just for some object to stick your cock into?"

Nearly as one, the audience gasped.

Ooh, she's really needling him.

"One hundred thirty million," she proclaimed.

The auctioneer stared up at her for a moment before catching himself. "One hundred thi—"

"One thirty one!" shouted Reynard.

"One thirty two," Mina retorted immediately.

"One thirty three!"

"Come now, such pitifully small bid increases are beneath the great Arderne family, are they not? Surely a great man such as you wouldn't throw away the dignity that he always shows publicly? One hundred and thirty five million," Mina called out, sounding bored.

"The lady Isemeine Charus has bid one hundred and thirty five million coins," the auctioneer stated in a voice that made it seem like he couldn't believe the words coming out of his own mouth. "Are there—"

"One hundred forty million!" called the hunched-over man who was apparently one of the richest in the world.

Carl was on the edge of his seat as he watched the reactions of the bug-eyed man leaning forward onto his balcony's railing from across the room.

"There's that Arderne generosity we all know so well," Mina said, her tone now condescending. "Imagine, this man would spend a hundred and forty million coins for a toy to fornicate with. What marvels could be engineered with that amount of coin? How many of the kingdom's people fed, how many of our wounded soldiers could be healed? It staggers my mind as I consider the matter." She stopped speaking for a moment while she laughed.

"The current bid is set at one hundred and forty million coins," shouted the auctioneer. "Does My Lady wish to bid?"

The audience had quieted some, but their mutters were still very audible.

"Do you know what I think I'll do if I win?" Mina asked, her tone as though she were preparing to tell a secret. "I'll destroy it!" she shouted. "I'll personally incinerate it in front of the gates of your manor! A bid of one hundred and forty nine million coins will allow me that much!"

The crowd had gone silent now, and all eyes were on Reynard Arderne.

"One hundred and forty nine million coins is the standing bid," the auctioneer said, looking up at Tomas Arderne's father like everyone else. To his credit, the man's voice didn't waver as he spoke.

Reynard was leaning heavily on his balcony's golden railing now, his arms crossed and his head bowed.

"Give up," Mina called out when there was no bid immediately forthcoming. "I'm simply wealthier than you, Reynard." She paused again, but only very briefly. "I believe I'll make it a city-wide event. It can be announced a few days in advance so the less wealthy citizens can have time to prepare and make their way over. Sure, it may be a bit loud and embarrassing, but I imagine at the end of it you'll be thanking me for helping you to control your—"

"One fifty two!" Reynard's head jerked up and he stared across the room with wide eyes and a smile that bordered on madness. "One hundred and fifty two million!"

"One hundred and fifty three," Mina called immediately.

"One…" Reynard's mouth was open and he was breathing in short gasps. "One fifty four…"

"One fifty six," Mina called. "That's everything I have, just for the enjoyment of seeing this abomination destroyed while you watch, helpless to stop it."

Reynard let out an anguished cry and leaned his torso over the railing, remaining unmoving for some time.

"The current bid is one hundred and fifty six million coins," the auctioneer said quietly, his voice resounding through the completely silent room.

The catgirl lying on the table stopped breathing and reverted to her original form in the next moment.

C'mon…

"One fifty seven," Reynard wheezed as though the words were being squeezed out of him. He stood up straight a moment later and began to laugh in a manner which seemed decidedly not-sane.

Simultaneously, however, Carl shot up from his seat and shouted "YES!" as he pumped his fist in the air. "Inventory," he mumbled, pulling his spear back out and shifting the window over to his left side where it would be less noticeable. We're gonna probably need to make a really quick escape after this. That guy seems like the type to throw a tantrum. He glanced back at his seat. And while I think of it…

"Oh, no," Mina said in a disapproving tone after a moment. "It seems I was wrong. You would throw everything away for some new perversion, wouldn't you? Wouldn't all of you?" she demanded rhetorically, her voice tinged with sadness. She sighed. "You all disgust me. I bid one hundred and sixty million."

Reynard's insane laughter cut off with an abrupt gurgle, and he toppled over onto the floor of his balcony.

"One hundred and sixty million coins," shouted the auctioneer, throwing both hands into the air.

The crowd remained silent.

"I believe the auction is now closed," the auctioneer declared. "Sold for one hundred sixty million coins to the lady Isemeine Charus!"

The audience was no longer silent after that, and, if anything, they sounded angry.

Mina turned around with a bright, excited smile on her face and pressed her hands to her cheeks. "I've done it!"

"You did," Carl said, a grin on his face.

"I've truly done it!" she hopped in the air a couple times.

He absently reached down and tousled the girl's hair a little, then pulled his hand back quickly. "Uh, good job, Mina."

She laughed, her eyes closing and cutting off the glow for a moment. "Thank you, Carl," she said, grinning up at him in a way that somehow seemed more free. "Let's retrieve this thing and be off."

"Sounds good to me." Carl gave one last look at the commotion inside the large room, noting that the table had again been covered and was being wheeled back towards the curtain, before he led the way across the now-empty balcony to the door and pulled it open. He tilted his spear slightly forward before leaving in order to avoid cutting a hole in what was likely to be a poorly-coded doorframe.

The suited guards outside stood impassively as he exited. Their eyes widened when Mina stepped out after him.

She really must be pretty famous, huh. I should ask her about that. Her family's probably pretty rich, so maybe they just bought a ton of in-game currency and have a castle somewhere or something.

"Evening, gentlemen," Mina called in a cheeky tone.

"M-my Lady!" stammered one of them, too surprised to say anything else before the duo had passed through and onto the staircase.