“There isn’t much we can do about it,” Malissa said. Her words were calm, but the anger behind them was clear. “They haven’t broken any rules. But what’s the point of spending so much money like this? It’s not like anything that’s sold so far has been particularly important.”

A large battleaxe inscribed with jagged red runes sold for just under twenty gold. Arek rubbed his chin as the weapon vanished from the pedestal and a hammer took its place.

“Honestly, it just seems stupid,” Arek said. “Wasn’t there supposed to be some fancy item sold? Surely they’ll need most of their money to afford that, so why spend so much on useless trash?”

“Well, if everything sells at this price, all we can do is hope that they’re stupid enough to spend a bunch of gold on the things we put up for auction,” Belmont said. “But you’re right. This is quite strange. There’s no point of demonstrating their wealth like this – it doesn’t prove anything. All it does is bring trouble.”

The item on the pedestal changed once more. The newest object for sale was a wooden box about the size of Arek’s palm.

“Listen close, folks!” Alfons called. “This item is special. It doesn’t offer any magical powers or make you stronger in combat. In fact, to most people, it’s completely useless.”

Alfons paused, clearly enjoying the tension building within the shadowy crowd.

“This is a recipe from the Red House! Uri herself wrote it. She said that, when made correctly, it tastes just as good if not better than anything else she’s made. Fortunately for us, Uri decided that the dish wasn’t appropriate to the theme of her resturant, so she has elected to pass it on to another hopeful chef today. Bidding will start at ten gold.”

Arek’s hand pressed the button in the armrest before he could stop to think.

“Thirty-five gold.”

Two dings followed afterwards.

“The current highest price is thirty-five gold!” Alfons called out.

Another ding rang out.

“Ah, it seems like someone really wants this recipe,” Alfons said. He almost looked nervous. “But… is it really worth it? The highest price is now forty gold!”

“Fifty gold,” Arek said as he pressed the button again.

“Things are really heating up. It looks like two chefs have both set their eyes on the recipe! Unfortunately, only one of them is going to get it,” Alfons said, actually doing a good job of looking disappointed. A thin sheen of sweat had started to trickle down his forehead.

There was a long pause. Alfons started to count down. Before he could reach zero, one more ding echoed through the room. The announcer’s eyes widened slightly. He cleared his throat and readjusted the top hat on his head.

“Would you look at that. The price has just been raised to seventy-five gold.”

“Couldn’t you just ask Uri to teach it to you?” Ming whispered.

“If she wanted to teach me, she would have told me,” Arek replied. “She’s a busy woman, and you don’t just give out recipes for free.”

“You do,” Ming pointed out.

“Well, that’s different,” Arek said. “Raud was serving garbage. It was my duty to set him back on the right track.

The orc pressed the button again. His eyes were steely and determined, and his lips were pulled back in a challenge.

“One hundred.”

Alfons nearly choked. He masked it by coughing into his sleeve and dropping into a ridiculously out of place bow. A trickle of sweat ran down his face, but the man wiped it away before anyone could notice.

“Now even I’m curious. The first chef has raised his or her bid to one hundred gold! I knew Uri was a brilliant cook, but I had no idea people would value her recipe this much.”

Alfons started to count down once again. He paused for several extra terse seconds at one, but finally reached zero when nobody attempted to contest Arek again.

“Sold!” The announcer called. His voice was considerably less enthusiastic than before, and he had a slight grimace. The box vanished from the table, replaced by a large metal breastplate.

Arek crossed his arms and sat back with a satisfied smirk.

“Did you just pay one hundred gold for a recipe?” Malissa asked him.

“Yep.”

“Isn’t that… a little excessive? I didn’t realize you even had that much money.”

“It’s from the money I earned cooking,” Arek said. “And you’ll be the ones eating the recipe, so I don’t think you can complain too much.”

“Fair point,” Malissa conceded, sitting back with a laugh.

“Did anybody else notice that Alfons seemed unhappy that Arek won?” Belmont asked. “That seems concerning. Shouldn’t he be happy that he made a lot of money?”

“I thought he was just holding in a fart,” Ming said. “He kind of had that expression. Or maybe he failed to hold it in, but it was actually–"

She trailed off. Ming couldn’t see Malissa beyond the flickering green outline around the woman, but the small mage could practically feel her companion's disapproving gaze.

“Nevermind,” Ming said meekly.

Belmont didn’t take notice of the exchange. His hand rested on the comforting hilt of his sword as he chewed his lower lip. Something was askew, but he didn’t know what it was.

“Could it be some sort of power play?” Belmont suggested. “Maybe a guild is trying to demonstrate their strength by buying every single thing at the auction today.”

Another sword sold for a ludicrous price. Arek nodded. Belmont’s theory made sense, even if it wasn’t the smartest move a guild could do. There were plenty of better ways to demonstrate strength, but the orc had to admit that buying every item at an auction would certainly make anyone the talk of the town.

“Only one way to find out,” Arek said, a wicked grin crossing his face. “Is it just me, or do you guys also suddenly want that sword back?”

It only took a moment for understanding to cross Malissa’s face. She laughed, the sound muted by the strange spell surrounding them, and rubbed her chin with a thoughtful frown that only she knew existed.

“I do, actually. The axe as well. Unfortunately, we can’t just take them back out of the portal.”

“In that case, I’m afraid that we have no choice. Those weapons simply just have too much sentimental value,” Belmont said with a predatory smile. “We’re going to have to bid for them.”