Chechilron was selective about his clientele.
Human trafficking and slave trading were plainly illegal.
In the Empire especially, they were capital offenses — crimes punishable by death.
Porca had its own laws against such things, but the city-state's characteristically lax enforcement meant that in the shadows, transactions carried on quietly regardless.
Chechilron had wedged himself into that gap.
He built a secret auction house on the outskirts of Porca and sent invitations only to those who showed promise.
Nobles with unsavory reputations. Merchants who, drunk on money and power, had cultivated depraved hobbies.
Not everyone who received an invitation accepted.
But more people than one might expect were perfectly willing to.
"What's this."
One of those invitations had arrived for Ofilienne as well.
She was sprawled lazily across her bed on her stomach.
Matyos was working her shoulders, giving her a massage.
Ofilienne tore open the envelope and skimmed the invitation.
Then she let out a short, contemptuous laugh.
"How trivial."
She flicked the invitation onto the dresser. As though tossing out trash.
After the massage was done.
Matyos, under the pretense of tidying up, quietly pocketed the invitation.
"Ahem. I'll be heading out."
His sister, sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed, spoke.
"Tomorrow too."
He hoped this semester would end quickly.
Either way, he'd gotten the invitation he needed.
A few days later, Matyos met Taibeon outside the school.
Chechilron's secret auction house was nearby.
"Ready?"
Matyos was holding an ornate gold mask that covered most of his face.
He'd also used a hair-color transformation potion bought from an alchemy shop.
His ashen hair had turned completely jet black.
"Do you really think… Emily is in there?"
Taibeon stared at the building, dressed in black with a sword at his side.
It looked like an ordinary warehouse from the outside, but inside, something vile was taking place.
"She's here."
"Haah…"
Taibeon exhaled slowly.
"Will she be alright?"
"She'll be fine for now."
Matyos said it plainly.
Chechilron's fixation on Emily was simple enough to explain.
She resembled his first love.
That first love had thrown him away.
A man with no talent, no looks worth mentioning.
He had despised himself.
So he decided to change.
He clawed his way through life.
Eventually, he became a figure who held the underworld of Porca in the palm of his hand.
In the process, his mind had twisted beyond recognition.
"You remember the plan."
"Yeah… while you stall for time, I slip in and get Emily out?"
"That's right."
The Noim Mercenary Band wasn't suited for this particular job.
With the Holy See, the enemy had been caught off guard, and there had been a perfect justification.
But this was different.
True to form for someone with the most powerful figures in the city at his back, the area around the auction house was packed with armed soldiers.
If they charged in openly with the mercenary band like last time, Emily wouldn't make it out.
So the plan he'd come up with was this: I draw attention, Taibeon infiltrates.
In the original story, Taibeon infiltrates alone and rescues Emily after a series of close calls.
In the process, he gets hurt — but love blooms between the two of them.
All I need to do is play a supporting role.
"Once the auction starts, the perimeter will loosen. That's when you take the back route I told you about. Got it?"
"Thank you. I keep relying on you…."
"Take it easy."
I clapped Taibeon on the shoulder and approached the entrance to the auction house.
"Halt."
Two hulking men in suits stood squarely blocking the entrance.
"You cannot enter without an invitation."
I said nothing and produced the invitation.
The invitation Chechilron had distributed came with a gold-foil ticket attached. That was the pass.
I handed it to the men.
One of them examined it carefully, then stepped aside and opened the door.
"Welcome."
Matyos gave a slight nod and stepped inside.
A refined hall came into view.
A manager in a red suit extended a numbered paddle toward him.
"Is this your first visit?"
"Yes. First time."
"Then allow me to explain. Here is your paddle."
He handed over a paddle with a handle attached.
The number read '32.'
"We sell our attractive dolls in auction format. When a doll you fancy takes the stage, simply raise your paddle to indicate your intent to purchase."
"Understood."
"Food and drink may be ordered during the auction by ringing the bell, and auction items may be collected after the auction concludes upon payment in cash. Do you have any further questions?"
"No. None."
"The auction hall is this way. Enjoy your evening."
Matyos followed the manager's guidance and moved on.
"Some things never change, no matter the age."
Shu's voice resonated in his ear.
There was contempt woven into her tone.
"A thousand years later and humans are still buying and selling each other like objects. I wonder if they'll still be doing this a few hundred years from now."
"Probably."
"Now I finally understand why I never left the Thorn Forest. Because I didn't want to see something like this."
She kneaded his earlobe between her fingers.
"I'm not talking about you. Not every person is as filthy as those creatures."
At the end of a dim corridor, a vast auction hall opened up before him.
He took his seat at the number assigned to him.
The auction was about to begin, it seemed.
Most of the seats were already filled.
I scanned the room.
To my right sat a tall man.
An ugly hooked nose. A black cloak draped around him like a display.
'That's Magistrate Nikollas.'
The man in Porca's power structure who covered for Chechilron.
Was he here to bid as well?
"Hm?"
I'd stared too long. Nikollas turned to look at me.
I quickly faced forward.
"Ha ha, is it quite alright for a young lord such as yourself to be in a place like this?"
"I— pardon?"
"You appear rather young…"
Nikollas fixed me with a suspicious look.
I made my voice deliberately sharp.
"Is being young a problem?"
"Not at all, no. A needless intrusion on my part."
Nikollas shrugged and withdrew his gaze.
After that odd exchange, the auction began shortly after.
Chechilron appeared on stage.
With smooth, practiced patter, he warmed up the room and presented the 'dolls' one by one.
"Two thousand."
Matyos bought every doll the moment it was brought to the stage.
He called out staggering sums that left the other bidders no room to compete.
A beautiful girl appeared.
"Three thousand!"
Nikollas shouted and raised his paddle.
"Six thousand."
"S— six thousand five hundred!"
"Seven thousand!"
Nikollas's face went rigid.
"Ngh…. Seven thousand five hundred!"
"Ten thousand."
Matyos said it without a flicker of expression.
"You son of a—!"
Bang!
Nikollas slammed his armrest and glared at Matyos.
Matyos smiled at him with his eyes.
"Do you know who I am, you little brat?!"
I ignored him and let the auction continue.
What I needed to do was draw attention so Taibeon could extract Emily without interference.
Making a spectacle of throwing money around like this would certainly attract eyes.
Sure enough, men in black uniforms were clustering together and murmuring.
Whether they were gathering to make sure I actually paid, or simply to watch, I couldn't say.
Either way, the objective was being met.
All that remained was Taibeon's rescue and my own exit.
How much time had passed in the auction?
A notification chimed from my watch.
Taibeon: Got her. You can come out now!
That's it.
I quietly rose from my seat.
Swish—!
A man immediately fell into step behind me.
"Is there something you need?"
"I'm stepping out to use the restroom."
"I'll escort you."
With those words, four broad-shouldered men approached.
Were they watching to make sure I didn't skip out on payment?
"Yes, please do."
I'd grown strong enough by now.
A few guards — I could handle them easily enough and slip away.
"One moment."
Nikollas spoke, his voice heavy.
"I've been turning something over in my mind, and it only just came to me."
"…."
"Haven't we met somewhere before. Matyos of Moretti."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Do I look like an idiot who can't recognize you just because a few months have passed?"
"Well… yes, you're right. So? If you have something to say, say it later."
I want to leave.
"I wonder how your doting sister would react if she learned about this."
"Is that a threat?"
"I'm merely posing a hypothetical."
That is a threat, you bastard.
"Say whatever you like. Do you think she'd believe you, or me?"
"So you're saying I'm free to tell your sister, then."
"Do as you please."
That was when it happened.
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder.
It was an entirely natural motion.
Like a hand that had always belonged there — it settled without the slightest hesitation.
"?"
Matyos turned his head.
Standing directly behind him was a woman with golden hair.
A mask covered her face entirely, but her hair was impossible to conceal.
Beneath the candlelight, the gold reflected softly, glowing with a quiet luminescence.
She was tall.
A full hand's span taller than Matyos, it seemed.
Her spine and the line of her shoulders were impeccably straight, and the skin of her neck and wrists, visible above the black dress, was strikingly pale.
Smooth and cool as marble.
There was something distinctly different about this woman.
She was quiet.
Composed,
and carried herself with an unmistakable air of refinement.
But before any of that registered, what struck him first was familiarity.
Squeeze….
The hand resting on his shoulder shifted slowly and pressed firmly into his trapezius.
That was when he was certain.
'…Sister?'