Booth six had the best view in the house.
It sat directly across from the auction stage, close enough that Leo could read the auctioneer’s expression without squinting. The attendant — Nora — pushed open the door and stepped aside, and Leo walked in to find a room that had no business being this comfortable inside an auction house.
A hundred square meters, minimum. Brown carpet so thick it gave slightly underfoot. Green plants in the corners, arranged like someone had thought about it. A white semi-circular sofa that could have seated twelve without crowding. Crystal-clear windows on the right side looking straight down at the stage.
On the low table in front of the sofa, someone had arranged a spread of fruit and small sweets.
"Sit, sit, everyone sit." Evander dropped onto the sofa and waved at the others. "Nora, two bottles of the Sweet Nectar Red Devil. The southern label."
"Right away." Nora gave a small, practiced smile and pulled the door shut behind her.
Evander turned to Leo. "Brother Leo, do you have any other magical beasts to sell? Dead or alive, doesn’t matter. Things like that dark green one are very hard to come by. I genuinely needed it."
Leo shook his head. "That was the only mutated demon-clan beast I had." He paused. "What do you need it for? The medicine you mentioned."
Evander’s eyes brightened. A red flash appeared in his hand, and a crystal vial materialized between his fingers. Through the glass, three red pills sat perfectly still, each one glowing faintly at its center.
"These," Evander said, holding up the vial. "I made them. The dark green carapace is one of the key ingredients — ground into powder first, of course. The result is something rather exceptional."
Leo looked at the pills more carefully. "What do they do? Can they increase outer spiritual energy?"
Evander tapped the side of his nose. "You’ll find out in a few minutes. The auction is starting. Pay attention."
He was right. Nora returned quietly with two bottles and filled cups for each of them before withdrawing again. The wine was called Sweet Nectar Red Devil, and the moment Leo took a sip, he understood why it had a name that dramatic.
The bitterness arrived first, then a wave of fruit so thick and warm it seemed to press against the inside of his chest. A heat moved through him, spreading outward from his stomach faster than it had any reason to.
He set the cup down. He looked at it. He picked it up and took another sip.
Mira and Liora had already gone quiet. They both knew exactly what this wine was — Liora’s father kept a bottle in his private collection and had never opened it, not once. Twenty bottles produced per year, sourced from a variety of rose that bloomed only in the deep south, processed through ninety-nine separate stages. The bottle in Liora’s father’s collection had been a gift. He’d received it once in fifteen years.
Evander had opened two.
Leo looked at the cup in his hand and did a quick mental calculation he immediately decided not to finish.
Below them, the auction hall had filled noticeably since they’d entered. At least fifty percent more people occupied the seats, and the noise level had climbed accordingly.
Then a woman walked onto the stage.
She wore a long, pure-red formal dress, fitted and precise, her black hair falling behind her in loose waves. She moved to the center of the stage with complete ease, raised both arms slightly, and gave a small bow.
"To all guests arriving from every corner of Silverrest City, welcome to the Halcyon Union Auction House." Her voice was smooth and warm and carried without effort. "My name is Seraphine, and it is my honor to serve each of you here tonight."
The response from the hall was immediate — applause, cheering, at least two whistles from somewhere near the back. This auctioneer was clearly known.
Evander sat up straighter. "Sister Seraphine is still as beautiful as ever," he said, sounding genuinely impressed. "A classic. If I weren’t only eighteen, I would absolutely try to—"
"Please don’t finish that sentence," Mira said.
"I was only going to say pursue, not anything inappropriate." Evander looked mildly offended. He glanced at Leo. "Brother Leo, what do you think? Objectively beautiful, yes?"
"M-hm," Leo said, without looking up.
Seraphine didn’t prolong her introduction. She raised one hand toward the covered cart that had been wheeled to the edge of the stage by an attendant dressed like Nora.
"I think most of you have already guessed what we’ll be starting with tonight. This is, as always, the work of our mysterious Master Lin." A knowing smile crossed her face. "Many of you have been asking how to acquire Master Lin’s pills. Tonight, I’ll answer that question directly. Master Lin works exclusively through this auction house, which means you will not find these anywhere else."
Leo turned immediately to look at Evander.
Evander’s chin was lifted slightly. His expression had taken on the specific quality of someone who was trying not to look too pleased with themselves and failing.
"That’s you," Leo said.
"That is me," Evander confirmed. "Being young has its advantages. If I announced it publicly, no one would believe me. Which is fine — anonymity is less trouble."
"You’re not worried I’ll tell people?"
Evander gave him a sideways look with those pale green eyes, and smiled the way someone smiles when they’ve already decided they trust you and are still pretending they haven’t. "Not particularly."
On the stage, the red cloth came away.
A crystal vial sat in the center of the gilt display cart, lit from below by the stage lighting. Inside it, a single red pill.
Seraphine’s voice carried perfectly. "The Jade Body Protection Pill, peak third-tier grade. Upon use, for a quarter of an hour, the body’s defensive outer spiritual energy increases by five hundred units. The user’s skin becomes comparable to forged steel against both physical and magical attacks. This is not the first time the Jade Body Protection Pill has appeared in this hall, so I’ll keep the introduction brief. On any battlefield, carrying one of these is very close to having a second life. Starting bid is one thousand gold. Each raise must be at least fifty gold."
Five hundred units of additional defensive outer spiritual energy.
Leo sat with that number for a moment.
He thought about the Dark Green Dual-Bladed Demon. He thought about the moment its second foreleg had connected with his sword and launched him ten meters across the frozen ground. He thought about spitting blood into the dirt while Veyra’s healing light worked to put his insides back in order.
If he’d had a pill like that going into that fight, he would have walked out of it without a scratch.
Mira and Liora had gone very still. Even Liora, who had seen her father’s collection, was staring at the stage with an expression that had left its usual composure somewhere behind her.
The bids came fast.
A thousand. Eleven hundred. Thirteen hundred. Fourteen hundred fifty.
Within minutes the pill was sitting at fifteen hundred gold, and the pace hadn’t slowed.
Evander watched the numbers with his chin in his hand, his expression somewhere between satisfaction and professional dissatisfaction.
"Only fifteen hundred," he muttered. "The last one went for two thousand. I’m distributing too many. Supply drives down price." He clicked his tongue. "I should be selling fewer. Let scarcity do the work."
The bidding stopped at eighteen hundred gold.
Evander sighed like someone who had been handed the wrong flavor of something they’d specifically requested.
Leo looked at him. "You just made eighteen hundred gold coins from a single pill."
"I made eighteen hundred coins. The auction house made eighteen hundred coins worth of reputation." Evander waved a hand. "It’s different." He straightened, turned on the sofa to face Leo more directly, and produced the crystal vial from earlier — the one with three pills in it. He held it out slowly.
"Brother Leo. I have a proposition."
Leo looked at the vial. "What kind of proposition?"
"You answer one question." Evander set the vial on the table between them, within easy reach. "One question, and those three pills are yours."
Leo looked at the pills. Then at Evander. Then at Mira, who had the alert expression of someone waiting to see which direction a situation was about to tip.
"What’s the question?" Leo asked.