SMASH or PASS

The fourth cage had a... centaur.

She came out with her head bowed, because she was taller than the ceiling.

The lower half was that of a pale golden horse. The upper half was that of a human woman. Her mane was braided.

"Captured on the plains beyond the eastern mountain range. Separated from her herd. And her temperament has been stabilized. ...Everyone, this is a very rare mount. She can be used to pull your carriages, her manure can create miracles in your garden, and she can create endless topics of discussion with your peers."

Translation: Excellent as a high-quality toy.

I sighed.

Fenra’s nostrils flared. Her ears tensed. Her tail flopped once on the floor and she looked at it, embarrassed.

It seems her instinct to hunt large prey clashed with her training.

[Rare / 2nd Rank]

[SP: 105]

[Strength +5]

Cheaper than the elf. So the price is based on magical talent, not sheer strength?

Well, she is still five Helenas anyway.

"Noel~ Is this centaur girl to your liking? if that was the case I can—"

"No. Give up already."

Karen let out a sigh. "Worth the shot."

This bidding was the loudest of the night. It sold for Fifty-five gold coins, for Viscountess Harrow. She looked like she had bought her solely to beat Marchioness Selvane.

◇◇◇

The temperature in the hall dropped before the last cage was reached.

The number of female staff members doubled.

The cage that had been rolled over had carvings in its frame, and the whole thing glowed faintly. The same light as the elf’s bracelet. And that was for just one cage.

A woman was sitting inside.

Gray scales cover her forearms and jaw. Horns curve backward. Her pupils are vertically slit and a melted amber color. A restraint collar made of stacked plates hangs around her neck.

And of all the items on display tonight, she was the only one who looked bored.

"A dragonkin, everyone."

Linnet’s voice filled the theater all the way to the ceiling.

"She was captured by an authorized expeditionary force at the edge of a remote area. Her documents have been notarized. And the collar is guaranteed for five years. She has been cursed with dragonbane in her tongue. She cannot lie to her master."

"I heard that Dragonkin hold grudges for hundreds of years, don’t they?"

"The last noble house that kept a dragonkin burned down. The fire started inside a locked room—"

"She can’t lie, physically. Isn’t that marvelous in a wife? my son would like her very much..." Marchioness Selvane said with a smile.

Only a select few nobles can afford the price of this being, I was sure of that from the looks of everyone on the first and second floor.

Even Karen didn’t say anything this time.

She was watching me as I looked at the cage.

"Not going to offer buying her for me?"

"No, this time it’s quite above my budget. Dragonkin usually cost hundreds of gold coins."

"W-woah... Hundreds? Why?"

"Magical reserves. Mostly. dragonkin are essentially breathing mana batteries."

Fenra pressed her entire weight against my leg. All her fur was standing on end. This wasn’t a challenge this time. Her instincts had surrendered to the difference in rank. It was the first time this had happened.

[SMASH / PASS]

[Target: Unknown (Dragonkin)]

[Tier: Epic]

[Race: Wild Species / Dragonkin]

[Rank: 4th Rank]

[SP Cost: 460]

[Passive: Vitality +20 / Strength +10]

...Epic?

I’ve never seen it before. I’ve also never seen the fourth rank before.

460! That’s twenty-three Helenas!

"Starting at one hundred gold coins."

The atmosphere in the venue became emptier. Several tables fell silent, as if realizing the true status of their own wallets.

"110!"

"120!"

"150!"

The bidding went on for a couple of minutes.

The last ones remaining were the red-faced Marchioness Selvane and—

The agent for that curtained balcony.

"...I have three hundred. Any other bids?"

silence.

A wooden mallet.

"Sold, for three hundred."

The crowd applauded the unseen buyer.

The dragonkin being led away glanced around the hall just once. The melted amber froze on the second floor for a quarter of a second.

On our seats.

On me.

As I felt a strange chill. The cage disappeared into the stage wings.

***

"Three hundred, three hundred."

As she descended the stairs, Karen summarized in a voice tinged with wine.

"My father’s quarterly earnings can’t buy one stupid lizard. Isn’t that hilarious?"

"Too expensive to laugh at."

"Oh, that’s a good answer," she said, stepping in front of me. "This morning’s date was a success. So Noel-kun, you owe me one~ This time, it’s your turn to choose the place. Onee-sama may write you letters. But I went out of my way to take you were you really want. Remember, which sister is actually—"

She kept talking as her gloved fingers adjusted my collar without asking.

I felt a sudden, intense pain in my chest.

Then—

—The world disappeared.

◇◇◇

I stood there under a silvery sky.

It was not cloudy. It was silver. The sky was like the inside of a polished bowl.

Looking down, I realized that I had no shadow. My hand touched a passerby’s shoulder, and then slipped right through them.

Am I a ghost?

I looked up, then froze.

There was a tower.

A skyscraper made of steel and glass.

My past life earth brain produced the word before my otherworld brain did.

Why are there skyscrapers in ancient times?

Dragons were flying between the towers with riders on their backs. Lamps on the saddles. One of the riders was yawning. Was that a commute?

And on the street—

There was a man.

Just like any other man. Without any guards. Not belonging to anyone. There was a man buying fruit all by himself, and no one was looking at him.

There were just as many men as there were women.

I felt dizzy. I never thought I’d see the day when a man buying fruit would make me so confused.

◇◇◇

My vision changed on its own.

A terrace above the street. White marble. A silver candy stand.

Three women were drinking tea.

I knew it the moment I saw them. This beauty was beyond the bounds of this world. I’d never seen something as even remotely beautiful as them in my whole two lives.

The smallest one was sitting with her legs crossed in a chair. She had silver pigtails and a tiny crown perched diagonally on top. She had pink eyes, and a glass slipper dangled from her toes. She looked bored.

One girl was standing, with her back to me. Golden horns peeked out from her braided white veil. A small bouquet of flowers was in her hand behind her back. Her face was not visible.

The third was pouring tea. She had short silver hair with blue accents with blue eyes and small white roses on top of her head. She filled everyone’s cups first, then her own last.

"—And so, the ancient gods of the cosmic sea have raised the tariffs on the ninth dimension once again."

As she poured, the oldest-looking girl said:

"This is the third time this dawn cycle. The star whale caravans are taking a detour via the ’shallows’," she said.

"What?!" the girl with the crown shook her shoe. "Then the whale song will arrive out of season. The order in which the flowers bloom in my moon garden will be all messed up. Onee-sama, we should protest!"

"Tariffs, you see," the girl with horns said, still with her back turned, "are incurred when a debt gets old. They still haven’t repaid the debt from the third dawn."

"Is it greed, or is it boredom?"

"Boredom, probably."

"Boredom is worse."

The three of them nodded to each other as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

...I don’t understand a single thing. I can only pick up one out of five words. Cosmic sea? Star whale? Third dawn?

However, I can understand just one thing.

Onee-sama...

They’re sisters. Those three girls were sisters of sorts.

The one who seemed the eldest said, last of all:

"More importantly, the strawberries are ripening early this era."

That’s when it happened.

The girl with the crown’s head jumped up. Her shoes stopped.

"Wait, Nee-sama."

Those pink eyes were staring straight at me—

"Something is watching us!"

The one who had been facing away finally turned her face towards me—

◇◇◇

"—Are you actually coming to meet me?"

This is... Karen’s voice?

Karen held my collar and said something I didn’t quite hear.

I’m... Back?

As if it was just between one moment and the other. Time had not passed.

Ding!

[You have obtained the Blessing of the Silver Dream]

[Your resistance to Causality Manipulation has increased]

"....."

Causality... manipulation?

"Are you listening, Noel?"

"...Ah, sure thing. Yes."

System.

What the fuck just happened?

Fenra looked up at me and moved her nose.

Over and over again. Over and over again.

However, she couldn’t find any scent at all.