Gideon, City of Duels, Fourth District
The Fourth District was always a lively place full of bazaars and shops, but because of The Tournaments and the people they’d attracted from all over, there was even more excitement here than usual.
One major reason for that was the auction being held on the final day.
Many merchants had brought in some of their most impressive, valuable items, and the best of them were being separated into auctions based on their categories. Even the tickets and catalogs for the auctions were quite costly—you had to be very wealthy to even participate.
For Masters who made it to the ranks, though, it wasn’t all that much—and this included the duelist, Great Genocide Max.
“Is this enough?” Waiting on the weapon auction, she worriedly counted the money she had. She could easily cover the participation cost, but she wasn’t sure if she had enough for the specific item she wanted to buy.
The weapon she was after was among the greatest in the entire selection—one of Tenchi’s Hundred Famed Blades.
Its name was “Sekiun”—the “Cumulus Cloud.” Barring MVP rewards that were adjusted to suit the specific player they were awarded to, it was probably the weapon that suited Max’s combat style more than any other.
If I’m ever gonna fight Jubei again, I gotta get somethin’ better, she thought. In a recent event, Max had indeed fought another battle against Jubei. She’d given her all and ended up getting close enough to Jubei to tear out her eye with her fingers.
Having used that opportunity to score a touch on her rival, Max now wanted something that would enable her to actually defeat her—a technique, a Superior Job, an MVP reward, or an Embryo evolution.
Sekiun was one of the things that had come to mind.
I could scrape up about fifty million lir...but that’s not that much, she thought. That was far below the market price for one of the Hundred Famed Blades. While Sekiun was quite difficult to use effectively, it was hard to imagine that absolutely no one would outbid her for such a masterwork. If some wealthy merchant wanted it for collection or speculation, Max would stand no chance, and looking around, she saw many such bidders here.
You could tell by her face that she thought her chances were low, and yet she still waited for Sekiun to come up for auction...and that was when she heard a conversation.
“What about this one? A knight sword that uses mana to increase your STR by 50% for 30 seconds.”
“Your STR is not that high, so I feel it would not have much of an effect. It’s far more suited to Brother Bear.”
“Apparently, weapons like this just break when he wields them...”
“I suppose that is a clear case of ‘too much of a good thing.’”
“Oh. This next greatsword looks—”
“No greatswords. No halberds, shields, pinwheels, or dual swords either. I will not tolerate cheating.”
“Your attitude is exactly why we can’t ever find anything useful, you know... Besides, I doubt we’ll even see a pinwheel here.”
It was an exchange between two of her acquaintances.
“What’re you two doing here?” Max asked.
“Oh. Max. Didn’t see you there.”
The people sitting behind her were none other than Ray and Nemesis. They’d been on quests together and had all participated in the recent event, so they definitely weren’t strangers at this point.
However, Ray had defeated Jubei, succeeding where Max still failed, so her feelings about him were a little conflicted.
“We were just wondering if they had any good weapons for ordinary situations. Everyday use and all that,” said Ray.
“The axe and the bracelet we got recently are far from ordinary,” Nemesis added. “Though, in a way, the latter is seeing plenty of ‘everyday use.’”
“KSHAAA!” A closer look revealed that there was a small demon girl—Gardranda—munching on Ray’s hair.
“That ain’t what I’m askin’,” Max said. “Last we sparred, you said you wouldn’t be on during the final day, ’cause of college.”
“Oh. That? I did go to class today, but the afternoon lectures were all canceled. Looks like there’s an out-of-season cold epidemic where I am.”
That had apparently allowed him to participate in the events of the final day. He was also planning to meet up with Marie and watch the Tournament later.
“And? What about you?” Ray asked. “Chelsea said you’re after something specific.”
“I am,” said Max as she showed him the catalog page for Sekiun.
Ray read it and instantly thought, Yeah. This is perfect for Max.
“I could allow a katana,” said Nemesis. “But this certainly does not suit you.”
“That’s true. Maybe if I used it with the axe...? No, you have to swing that to get any attack power out of it. I feel like the only ones who can make good use of this sword are Figaro, Max, and Jubei.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Max. As the three talked, Sekiun’s turn on the block came up.
“And here we have one of the Hundred Famed Blades from the far eastern lands—Sekiun! It has a rich history and is a beautiful work of art in its own right! We’re starting at ten million lir!” With those words from the auctioneer, the bidding war began, and the price quickly grew.
Many of the bidders weren’t swordsmen but mere merchants who only wanted it for its reputation as one of the Hundred Famed Blades.
“Ngh...!” The bidding wars leading up to this one had made the auction really competitive, and it didn’t take long for the price to go above the fifty million Max could afford.
“Max? Isn’t that the one you wanted? Aren’t you gonna bet?” Ray asked.
“...It’s already past my budget,” Max said, clearly disappointed.
“Should I lend you some money, then?” Ray asked.
“Ha... With the way it’s goin’, I don’t think ‘some’ would be enough...”
“You think five hundred mil wouldn’t do it?”
“Huh?!” Max’s eyes widened. That was ten times her own budget.
Ray ignored her reaction and handed her an Inventory full of high-value coins. It seemed to contain exactly as much as he’d said.
“You—! Wha—! Hey...!”
“Before coming here, I checked the results for yesterday’s Tournament. It turns out Grimms won, and he was the dark horse, so...”
“I cannot believe that you won such a careless and risky bet,” said Nemesis. “It is honestly quite ominous that you wagered on the winner every single day except the first one—and that was only because you missed your chance to bet. It makes me feel as though you will soon die once again.”
“Don’t say that. It’s creepy...”
Max felt that this gambler—this faux Paladin might’ve made more money from The Tournaments than anyone else. As a friend, she thought that she had to warn him that his financial senses were starting to get skewed, but instead, she silently looked at the Inventory with the five hundred million lir.
Borrowing that much would basically guarantee that she would win Sekiun. If she didn’t get it here, she would probably never see it again.
And Max had already saved up fifty million in a short time. Even if she went hundreds of millions into debt, she could pay Ray back in a reasonable amount of time.
“One hundred eighty million, going once! Any higher offers?” the auctioneer called as the bidding war reached a new peak of intensity.
“Nnnngh...!” Her conscience and lust for power spent a moment locked in battle—but in the end, she found herself shouting, “Two hundred million!”
After a heated war, the final, winning bid was 350 million...and Great Genocide Max was now three hundred million lir in debt.