We set about deciding which items to bid on at the upcoming auction. I couldn't handle the task alone, so I asked the village residents for their help. Since the auction wasn't scheduled to start for a while yet, I had them visit the venue whenever they had a moment to spare.
Lu and Tia went first, adding a few pieces to our list of candidates. Malbit and several other Angels followed, contributing a few more. The representatives of the Minotaurs from Village Two and the Centaurs from Village Three also made the trip, but they came back saying the prices were so astronomical they couldn't even fathom wanting anything.
Given the situation with the Jupiter, I also sent Bell from Village Four. I had several of the Civil Official Girls accompany her just to be safe. When they returned, Bell was in a state of utter panic.
I wondered if something had gone wrong with the Jupiter items.
"No! It's much bigger than that!" she cried.
"Bigger?" I asked.
"The Sun Castle's armaments!"
Sun Castle was the original name of Village Four. If I recalled correctly, the previous owners had sold off the castle's weaponry ages ago.
"Exactly! And several of those very armaments have been put up for sale!"
Well, that was a stroke of luck. I figured we should just go ahead and bid on them.
"Um, what should we do? We don't really have a... use for them, do we?" Bell asked tentatively.
Now that she mentioned it, she had a point. Even if we re-armed Village Four, we didn't exactly have plans to go to war. Then again, they might be useful for security.
"They're a bit too dangerous to be called mere 'security' measures," Bell countered. "And honestly, with so many dragons around, we don't have any concerns about safety."
I see. Well, they were mementos for Bell and her people, so I decided we would bid on them anyway. Just because we won the items didn't mean we were obligated to use them.
"That sounds like a good plan," Bell agreed. "But please, whatever you do, do not tell Yor."
Yor was one of Bell's subordinates. She was currently managing the teleportation gate at the hot springs and happened to be a massive weapon enthusiast. If she caught wind of this, she'd surely demand they be installed at Village Four immediately.
"It's not just that," Bell added. "Since fuel is no longer an issue for the castle, I'm afraid she'll start a riot demanding to fire them."
Yeah, that sounded exactly like something she’d do.
"So, keep it a secret from her."
We held this conversation in my workroom at the mansion in the Village of the Great Tree, but apparently, the walls had ears. Somehow, the news leaked. Yor arrived shortly after, clutching her Reward Medals and demanding a direct audience.
...Alright, I get it.
I promised her that if we won the bid, we would equip the armaments at Village Four. We would even hold a test-firing session come autumn. And naturally, I would leave the command of the entire operation to her.
Yor gave me the most flawless, crisp salute I had ever seen.
Afterward, I decided to investigate how she had found out. We discussed a lot of sensitive matters in my workspace; it would be a serious problem if someone were eavesdropping.
As it turned out, the leak was one of the Civil Official Girls who had gone with Bell. She hadn't told Yor directly, though. The girl had been scouring the auction venue for Versa's Hobby Books, and while reporting her findings to Yor, she happened to mention that there were several items on display whose purpose she couldn't identify.
Normally, that would have been the end of it, but Yor’s curiosity had been piqued. She just couldn't let it go. She ended up asking Arako the Arachne to cover her post at the hot springs gate while she snuck off to the capital to see for herself.
It was quite the sequence of events.
Interestingly, when Yor finally reunited with the Sun Castle's armaments, she reportedly walked past them with a completely bored expression, focusing on other items instead. She knew that if she cried or made a scene in front of the weapons, it would signal to other buyers that the items were valuable.
I could feel the sheer weight of her determination to secure those bids. I suppose I really had no choice but to go through with that test-firing.
So, Yor was also interested in Versa's Hobby Books... I see.
Compared to previous years, this auction seemed to have a staggering variety of items—and plenty of high-ticket ones at that. I had been wondering why, and I eventually found the answer.
It was the Demon Kingdom.
Specifically, it was the recent declaration of victory and the public announcement that the era of war was coming to an end. Most of the nobles throughout the kingdom were drowning in debt to various merchants. They had needed massive amounts of gold to procure soldiers, weapons, and rations.
While some might have managed on their own, war was a bottomless pit of consumption. It lacked even a shred of productivity. Only a tiny fraction of the nobility—those with true business acumen—had managed to stay afloat. The territories managed by the Four Heavenly Kings, like Beezel, Gratz, Hou, and Randan, were doing fine, which was to be expected.
Everyone else, however, was in dire straits, buried under mountains of debt. Their only hope of repayment had been winning the war. They had planned to use the reparations taken from the defeated to settle their accounts.
The lenders had known this was a gamble, but if they refused to lend and the kingdom lost the war, they would lose everything anyway. So, they lent the gold, praying for a victory that would make them whole.
Then the Demon Kingdom declared victory.
What about the reparations? When I looked into it, the Demon King had essentially tossed that responsibility over to the Six Dragon God Kingdom. Given how long the war had dragged on, any claim for reparations would have been astronomical—and the enemy would never have accepted it. At the same time, the Demon King couldn't simply lower the demand without appearing weak. There was no room for negotiation. Pressing the issue would have only ignited a new conflict.
The Demon King had decided to cut his losses and walk away from the reparations entirely.
But the nobles and merchants who had staked everything on that money couldn't let it go so easily. They protested, demanding that the reparations be squeezed from the enemy. If nothing changed, noble houses would collapse, dragging the merchants down with them. If it came to that, they might as well rebel. "Overthrow the Demon King who refuses to collect our due!" That was the rising sentiment.
The Demon King couldn't ignore that, and as sovereign, he had to protect his subjects to a degree. However, the Demon Kingdom couldn't simply pay off the nobles' private debts or lend them more money. If they did, it would set a precedent that the state would bail out anyone, no matter how much they borrowed. If the debts had been strictly military expenses, the kingdom might have considered a bailout, but things were never that simple.
Lending money also required collateral. Land or titles could serve, but that brought up the issue of noble pride.
"That house is only surviving on government handouts." "Imagine putting your ancestral lands up for hock. They aren't even real nobles anymore."
Gossip like that was unbearable for them. Some didn't care, but the more prominent the house, the more they obsessed over their image. They couldn't be seen borrowing money openly, and if a secret loan were ever discovered, they were finished.
Just as they were starting to think that rebellion was their only option, an invitation to the auction arrived from the Demon King.
"Even if the items are junk, the Demon Kingdom intends to bid on them," the Demon King explained, stroking the younger sister cats lounging on his lap.
I see. The kingdom wasn't "lending" money; they were simply winning auctions. This allowed the nobles to maintain the face that they had raised funds through legitimate sales. This was why the number of items had doubled.
Still, I was impressed they had so much to sell. I would have thought anything valuable would have already been seized as collateral.
"The older the noble house, the more they tend to sit on ancestral, nonsensical relics that have no market value," he noted.
So that accounted for things like the Sun Castle armaments and the Jupiter-related items.
"Because of this, several items in this auction have been assigned very high minimum bids. I apologize for the inconvenience."
I told him not to worry about it.
"In light of that, if there are items the Village Head wants that are being sold by nobles, we will secure them on our end. There is no need for you to overpay."
"Is that okay?" I asked.
"It was money the Demon Kingdom was going to spend anyway."
For items listed by nobles, a proxy for the kingdom would place a bid at the minimum price. From there, other interested parties could compete. The kingdom's proxy wouldn't engage in a bidding war; if no one else wanted the item, the seller would simply get the minimum price they asked for.
I asked if the nobles had been allowed to set those minimums themselves.
"We couldn't give them that much freedom. We sent experts to appraise the items and set the prices ourselves. Though I'll admit, the appraisals were extremely generous."
I wondered if Michael of the Goroun Company or Ridley of the Dalfon Company had been briefed.
"Of course, we've handled the negotiations. Michael and Ridley both looked quite bitter about the situation, but we plan to compensate them in other ways."
"Understood. I'll get you a list of my preferred items soon."
"My thanks," he replied.
It was certainly better than a civil war. Besides, I could still participate in the auction for regular items as much as I wanted.
Noble: "It's war! We need money! Lend it to us!" Merchant: "If we lose, my business is ruined... Fine, here's the gold!" Noble: "The war is still going! More money!" Merchant: "If we lose now, I'll never get back what I already lent. Here's more!" Noble: "More! Give us more!" Merchant: "Double down!"
Demon Kingdom: "We won! The war is over for now!" Merchant: "Great. Now, about that money..." Noble: "Look, you managed fine without us paying you back this whole time, right? You can wait a bit longer." Merchant: "The only reason my creditors waited was because of the war! I can't wait anymore!" Noble: "Guh..."
Demon Kingdom: "Say, doesn't an auction sound lovely? Use this to fix your debts." Noble: "So lovely! Thank you!" Merchant: "Put this in too! Please sell this at the auction!" Demon Kingdom: "Leave it to me."
Goroun Company: "..." (Our auction...) Dalfon Company: "..." (Our auction...)
Demon Kingdom: "Sorry, sorry. I know this is a mess. We'll make it up to you with some special trade rights later."
Village Head: "There are a lot of expensive things this time." Demon Kingdom: "We are so sorry! Truly! If you need anything, we'll just buy it and give it to you, so please, bear with us!"