I stretched in the familiar guest room of the guild building.
Before I knew it, dawn had come.
‘On a day with such nice sunlight, I have to crawl underground.’
It had been planned since a week ago, so there was no helping it.
Wer, who had been entering the bag, suddenly lifted his head.
“Ritak, did you not say you were putting something up for auction?”
“Right. We’ve been preparing for it all this time.”
It was an odd question coming from a guy who had been with me the whole time.
I narrowed my eyes.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see it?”
“Ahem, hmm......”
Come to think of it, Wer had been rather loose these days.
Sleeping well, eating well, playing well.
It seemed he had dozed off whether I was making medicine or not.
“......Just watch.”
I left the guild building.
Yoanes, who had come out first again today, waved her hand.
“The plaza isn’t far...... Let’s walk.”
“Sure. The weather’s nice too.”
Was it because I had spent the last few days running around busily?
The city streets had become rather familiar.
Most of the buildings and shop signs were now familiar to my eyes.
Even the shop owner who cleaned in front of his store at the same time every morning no longer felt unfamiliar.
For someone living in a fantasy world, he had a plain face, yet he remained rather memorable.
Perhaps our eyes had met before.
“Oh! I can already see the theater.”
I abruptly raised my head.
Before I knew it, we were at the plaza.
Just as Wer had said, the theater was visible in the distance.
I placed the mask with slanted eyes over my face.
‘From here on, it’s an unknown development, so I need to focus.’
It was an underground social club that existed only as a setting in a few lines of script.
A point whose strategy I could not know, even though it was a world I had made.
The theater above it looked like a hollowed-out hole.
There were tiers of steps curving around the front of the stage.
I could see groups sitting on each level, chatting and eating snacks.
There were quite a lot of them.
Even at a glance, there were over a hundred people.
And everyone in the outdoor theater was wearing a mask.
“A-are all these people auction participants?”
Yoanes’s shoulders jumped in surprise.
Even though she wore a mask, her thoughts were visible.
The mask I had bought her might have been a waste.
“Probably not. Look closely.”
People were enjoying street food while tilting back cheap fruit wine.
Among them, I could see many children as well.
Groups that looked like families made up a considerably large proportion.
“It doesn’t look like the atmosphere of people about to participate in a secret auction or social gathering, does it?”
“I-isn’t it suspicious that everyone is wearing the same mask?”
“We’re participants, and we just bought ours from any store.”
I recalled the kind explanation I had heard at the gambling den.
Would that information broker have conveniently left out the story about a mask that absolutely had to be worn?
I could not think of any reason for her to do that.
“Hey.”
I happened to stop a child running nearby.
Like the others, the child wore a pointed bird-beak mask.
Soft violet feathers were attached on both sides near the ears.
“That mask, do you know where they sell it?”
“What? Big brother, you don’t know the Purple Rose Knight?”
Was that something I was supposed to know?
The child puffed out his chest proudly.
“Why don’t you look for a good seat even now?”
“A seat for what?”
“The Purple Rose Knight happens to be going on stage tonight.”
“It must be a famous performance, judging by how many people have gathered.”
“Of course! My family came at dawn and barely managed to get front seats!”
It seemed the kid wanted to brag about having good seats.
A short breath leaked through my lips.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“Hmph. It was nothing.”
The child, satisfied with his show of superiority, ran back to his family.
Most of the people gathered at the plaza were wearing the Purple Rose Knight’s mask.
Apparently, they had all come to enjoy the theater’s original purpose.
Yoanes nodded several times out of habit.
“S-since everyone is wearing masks, we won’t look suspicious either.”
“On the other hand, it means it’ll be hard for us to find the gathering participants too......”
I turned my head this way and that.
Just then, a mask caught my eye.
Amid countless white masks, it alone was pitch-black.
The black mask approached while looking around cautiously.
“Hehe...... You two, spare a coin?”
The basket he abruptly thrust before his chest.
Among the mottled coins, a token gleamed.
It alone looked refined.
“W-wait. Where did my coins go......”
I stopped Yoanes, who was hurriedly rummaging through her pouch.
This person would not be interested in small change.
Clink.
I placed the grapevine token I had received from Creed into the basket.
The black mask nodded.
“Please follow me.”
He led the way.
Without a guide, we probably would not even be able to find the entrance.
The black mask circled behind the theater and opened a door on the floor.
“Please watch your step as you descend.”
The black stairs grew more slippery the farther down we went.
I braced myself against the wall and slowly moved my feet.
Right before the last stair, a large iron grate blocked the way.
The black mask opened a lid hidden in the wall and pulled a rusted chain.
Creak, creak......
The heavy iron grate slowly rose upward.
Inside was a waterway.
My sense of direction soon vanished.
Because the path, tangled like a maze, turned several times.
I was starting to grow dizzy.
“We have arrived.”
Had I walked any farther, I might have wanted to give up on the auction and everything else.
But the moment I entered the broad space, those thoughts vanished completely.
‘It’s to the point that Creed’s room feels plain.’
How had they even hung it there?
A chandelier on the high ceiling boasted a gentle light.
Jewelry made from every color of gemstone, delicate sculptures, mysterious paintings.
All of them seemed to be mere decorations adorning this space.
If they were precious property, they would not have been placed carelessly on a damp underground floor.
Even at a glance, the finger foods set on the wooden tables looked refined.
“The auction will begin within 30 minutes after the host of the gathering arrives.”
Nothing about this space looked easy.
After slowly exhaling, I straightened my back.
Nothing would work if I let myself be tense.
“I brought an item to put up for auction. Where should I register it?”
“If you go behind the stage, you can do so.”
The black mask bowed his head, then returned to the underground waterway.
He would likely continue guiding participants like this.
The raised stage was still dark.
“Th-that must be where the auction will be held.”
Yoanes’s voice had sunk lower than usual.
“......What if we don’t have enough money to buy Jacqueline?”
Her dejection was visible even over the mask.
No matter how I thought about it, the price of this girl’s mask had been a waste.
It might have been better to buy one more skewer.
“Do you think you can buy a person with money?”
“I-isn’t that why we came? We worked hard to earn money until now.”
Yoanes’s eyes moved busily.
This was why I could not help sighing.
“To begin with, your sister isn’t an object.”
I pointed at the stage with my chin.
“We need to get her out before she goes up there.”
“C-can we do that?”
“If we don’t get caught, who cares?”
An auction whose start time had not been announced in advance.
A rule that anyone participating could put something up for sale.
In the end, items registered for the auction had no choice but to be stored somewhere nearby.
Whether those items were objects or people.
“Let’s go.”
Yoanes hurriedly followed.
Had it really been fine to bring only this girl?
The black mask had counted two people.
Wer had not been included.
Perhaps it would have been better to bring one more person.
‘We’re already in, so there’s nothing to be done.’
I shook my head.
I had no room to think about other things after coming this far.
There were black-masked people even behind the stage.
Some were busily writing documents, and others were moving items.
The one standing firmly before the thick curtain was as huge as a mountain.
The one leisurely strolling with his hands clasped behind his back approached.
“Have you brought an item to put up for auction?”
I nodded.
The medicine I intended to put up for sale was a Radiance-Blocking Ampoule.
It was medicine that blocked radiance-attribute damage over time.
Its main ingredient was a shade tentacle from Abandoned Garden.
A translucent liquid filled the glass bottle, which was the size of a pinky finger.
“What is this bottle?”
“......Sunscreen. It’s medicine that keeps the skin from burning.”
The black mask who had been busily moving a pen lifted his head sharply.
“S-such a medicine exists?”
“It also has the effect of keeping the skin moist and cool.”
The city was located in a desert region.
Robes and hoods were practically essential goods.
If one was unlucky, one would get burns from the sunlight.
In other words, they were taking radiance-attribute damage over time.
“If there is anyone who doubts it, you’re welcome to test it.”
I took out a Sun Flower and waved it.
A plant that absorbed all the light entering the Abandoned Garden.
It could also emit the light it stored.
It was grass I had deliberately picked for testing.
“However, there is too little medicine inside......”
“It’s a precious item, you see. This is all of it.”
For some reason, I felt like I was peddling snake oil.
I adjusted my mask for no reason.
“......Understood. We will take custody of it.”
The black mask snapped his fingers.
From behind the curtain emerged one holding a small tray.
On the tray was a soft purple cushion.
Instead of placing the ampoule on top, I merely looked at it silently.
“Guest?”
“As you can see, the item is small...... I’m worried it might disappear or be damaged.”
“You need not worry about loss. The employee at the entrance will manage it strictly.”
“That big guy?”
“That is correct. There is only one entrance, and only employees are allowed to enter and exit.”
“That inspires confidence.”
I nodded as though convinced.
Even as I placed the item on the cushion, I could not erase the thought that this was sloppy.
If the employee holding the tray fell right now, the item would shatter, would it not?
Even if only employees could enter and exit, that did not mean they were free from theft.
‘Well, the more holes there are to enter through, the better for me.’
I left the space where the black masks swarmed behind the stage.
Yoanes lightly tugged at my sleeve.
“Ri-Ritak? If we just come out like this......”
“We can’t bring her out right in front of their eyes, can we?”
There were at least ten watching eyes.
Even if Yoanes was a fairly reliable combatant, she could not face every black mask.
Even if she somehow won right now, could we easily escape from underground?
We had to get her out without anyone knowing who did it or when she disappeared.
Only then would the chance of future trouble be low.
‘It would be troublesome to openly make an enemy of the host of a gathering this large.’
I could simply leave the city, but Yoanes was a citizen who had lived in this city all along.
There was only so much reckless action one could take.
‘Isn’t that why she endured even when the gambling-den thugs picked fights?’
The person who put her sister up for sale would hold a grudge, but that could not be helped.
That was a problem for her sister to solve.
Whether she fled the city or settled things, she would avoid being sold off right now, so it was not the worst outcome.
I took a blue incense candle from my coat.
-Phosphorfire Incense Candle Lv2. Inflicts the Float status ailment for 20 minutes when inhaled.
It was something I had made before the Medicine Crafting skill leveled up, so its level was 2.
But that was enough.
Twenty minutes was more than enough to bring one person out.
However, there was one small problem.
I looked quietly at Yoanes.
“......You said you dislike beings without bodies, right?”
“Hm? Y-yes, I did.”
“How do you feel about becoming one of those beings yourself?”
The Float status ailment.
When one obtained the Float effect, one could drift around without being seen by others.
In other words, one could become a ghost-like being.