Vur sat in a plush chair, his legs propped up by an equally plush footrest. A maid stood by his side with a plate of fruits in one hand and a plate of sliced meat in the other. The room he was in only had three walls: two to his sides and one behind him. In front of him, there was a railing. The room overlooked a sea of seats, which were slowly beginning to fill with the guests from the reception hall. In the center of the auction hall, there was a stage. It was perfectly centered with Vur’s room, the best VIP booth clearly having been assigned to him.

Stella flew out of Vur’s chest and landed on the plate of fruits. She picked up a grape and peeled its skin off as if it were an orange. When it was fully peeled, she flew onto Vur’s shoulder and bit into the grape. Juices coated the corner of her mouth, and her eyes lit up. “This is pretty good,” she said and nodded. “You’re not going to try some?”

Vur shook his head and chewed on the piece of meat in his mouth. Footsteps and chattering filled the auction hall as more and more people entered. Eventually, the seats below were completely occupied. During that time, the maid by Vur’s side had refilled the plate of meat twice.

Loud clacking sounds echoed through the hall as a woman walked onto the stage, the sounds she made amplified by wind magic. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” the woman said with a bright smile. “My name is Vanessa Wirt, and I’ll be your host for this year’s Edward family auction. I can see many of you are quite excited, and by all means, you should be. We have a dazzling assortment of items for display this time around, and I’m sure each and every one of you will find something you like.”

“I won’t waste any more of your time,” Vanessa said and smiled as she swept her gaze over the audience. “Although some of you are staring quite hard, you didn’t come here to see me; you came here for this.” She stepped to the side and gestured with her hand. Two butlers came out of the shadows in the back of the stage, walking with a cart between them. On the cart, there was an unknown item hidden underneath a red cloth. Vanessa walked over and grabbed the cloth. With a flourish, she tossed the red fabric out of view to the side of the stage, revealing a golden container.

Vanessa smiled. “How valuable is a few more years of life to you?” she asked and spun the container around, revealing a glass side. Within the container, there was a clear liquid. “Although it looks no different from ordinary water, this water comes from the Fountain of Youth. One sip can extend your life by a year; one cup can extend it by a century. If you drink all the water in this container, you’ll live for over a millennium. The starting price will be a hundred gold pieces.”

“Two hundred.”

“Two-fifty!”

“Three hundred!”

Vur picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. After he finished chewing and swallowed, he asked the maid, “Where’s Ed?”

“He’s right outside,” the maid said. “Would you like me to get him, Your Majesty?”

Vur nodded. The maid stepped away, and after a bit, Ed walked into the room. He placed his hand on his chest and lowered his head. “Did you need me, Your Majesty?”

Vur pointed at the stage. “Who’s selling the water?”

“It was supplied by Lindyss, the guardian of the Fountain of Youth,” Ed said. “We have an ongoing deal with her. Are you interested in it, Your Majesty?”

Vur shook his head. “You’re not scamming her, right?”

“Of course not,” Ed said. “The Edward family is only able to host these auctions because of our reliability. We take five percent of all proceeds, not a single gold more. In fact, thanks to your relationship with the guardian of the fountain, we only take enough to cover the transportation fees for the water and gold.”

“Ten thousand gold! Are there any higher offers?” Vanessa asked and looked around. “At this price, it’s only ten gold for an additional year of life. Currently, if you’re very healthy, you can live up to a hundred years. Which one of you thinks your life is only worth one thousand gold?”

“Fifteen thousand!”

“Twenty thousand!”

Vanessa grinned. “That’s more like it,” she said after it didn’t seem like anyone was going to bid. “Twenty thousand, going once! Twenty thousand, going twice! And sold, to the gentleman in the white coat! Congratulations on your purchase, sir. If you’d like to check it for poison, I wouldn’t mind testing it for you personally by drinking a cup on stage right now.” Vanessa laughed upon seeing the old man shake his head. “No? Are you sure? Not even a sip? Alright.”

The two butlers wheeled the cart off stage, and a second set of butlers wheeled in another cart. “This next item is one for the folks who love exotic animals,” Vanessa said and pulled the cloth off of the object. There was a rectangular cage with a strange creature inside of it. “I’m sure many of you have heard of an armadillo. For those of you that haven’t, this adorable fellow can—eh? Sir, you’re not allowed to be on the stage.”

Flames winked out of existence as Vur’s body fully appeared on the stage. He walked up to the cage and lifted it up, bringing the creature inside up to his eye level. He turned his head towards Vanessa. “This is an armadillo?”

“Y-yes,” Vanessa said. “If you’re interested, you can—sir! Please, don’t open the cage!”

Vur took the armadillo out of the cage, and it rolled up into a ball. He tossed it up and down a few times before letting it rest against his palms. He ignored Vanessa and glanced at Stella. “You want me to eat this?”

Stella bobbed her head up and down. “Yep! Hang on a second,” she said and flew towards Vur’s chest. “Let me get into position.” Once she was inside of his body, her voice rang out. “Ready! Remember, swallow it whole.”

“Sir?” Vanessa asked and took a step back while glancing around. Where were the guards? What happened to the security? This job was advertised to be completely safe; weirdos weren’t supposed to be allowed to approach her! “What are you—”

Blue scales appeared on Vur’s face as his head expanded. It didn’t take long for his head to become that of a dragon’s. He tossed the armadillo up and spread his jaws wide. Screams came from the audience as the armadillo vanished into Vur’s waiting mouth. His head returned back to normal after swallowing, and his body burst into flames. A second later, he was once again sitting in his plush seat. He picked up a strip of meat and bit into it, acting as if nothing special had happened.