Poor guy, thought Nolan as he pressured the man to approach the nearest of his acquaintances, a pretty young woman in a beautiful blue dress that was accented by thick bangles of star gold on either of her slender wrists, elliptical sapphires inlaid into each of them. She was the first person that Nolan had seen on Venara with a bob cut, short black hair curling inwards in a pristine manner as if it had only recently been styled. She was speaking with a handful of other people, all of them sharing a chuckle as they enjoyed the contents of their cups.

“Ahem, Katerina. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Welson?” She spoke in a cool voice, thin eyebrows rising in shock. “I should be saying those words. Even if Daren did invite you, I didn’t think you’d ever entertain the thought.”

“I suppose I was just a bit bored. Me and Nolan here were sharing some drinks when I mentioned this gathering, and he wanted to come check things out. Since it would have been rude to turn him down, I thought I would humour him.”

“Nolan, was it?” The woman held out a pale hand, palm downward. “I’m Katerina, manager of several gambling houses in the Easterly Kingdoms.”

Unsure of what to do with her hand, Nolan grasped it gently and planted a light kiss on its back. This drew immediate glares from some of the men around Katerina, all of whom were dressed in fine blue clothes beneath fur-trimmed cloaks. She seemed a bit taken aback by his boldness, but didn’t say anything against it.

“Nice to meet you, Katerina. Welson’s told me so much about you.”

She glanced at the consul with a questioning look. “Has he?”

“Haha, no. This is my first time hearing your name, actually.”

The businesswoman didn’t seem too pleased by his joke, but it was difficult to tell as she maintained an air of amiability.

“I see.”

“You’ll have to forgive him. Nolan likes to joke around, but it’s all in good fun.”

“Surely, surely. Are you a member of the association as well, Nolan?”

“I’m not. Just working with Welson for a bit while I’m in town.”

“Oh? And what sort of work do you do?”

Refilling his cup as a heavy buzz took hold of him, Nolan gave a nonchalant smile. “I guess you could say I’m a body guard? No, that’s not exactly it. I’ve been doing some business with Welson and the people of the merchant king’s faction, too, so I figure I’m also a business partner.”

“With the king’s faction, you say? And what sort of business are you in, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Nolan’s secured a large contract to supply us with certain goods and services. He’ll be working with us for the foreseeable future.”

Katerina waved a servant over and had her drink refilled, the nearby men entering into their own conversations with the people around them. “A large contract, you say? You certainly aren’t wasting any time after hearing about the challenge to Markham’s authority.”

Welson straightened his posture, gaining a bit of confidence. “How could I? It only makes sense to prepare a shelter in light of a coming storm.”

“This is true.” With studious eyes, Katerina gave Nolan a measuring look. “To think that someone as young as you is already two levels above me in cultivation. You’ve brought shame to this woman.”

“What are you talking about? From what I can tell, you’re not much older than I am.”

She let out a rich laugh. “I see what you’re after boy, but flattery won’t help you.”

“Oh no,” he said sarcastically, “my hopes and dreams…”

“You weren’t lying, Welson. Your associate really does enjoy his jokes.”

A chorus of excited voices drew Nolan’s attention to an area near the far side of the pool where several hundred people had gathered to witness an unseen spectacle. Although he couldn’t see the cause of the commotion, he could clearly sense that a large group of girls were standing in organized ranks at the centre of the growing crowd, something that drew his interest.

“Ms. Katerina, do you know what everyone’s gathering over there for?”

“Hmm? Ah, that would be the beauty auction.”

“Beauty auction?”

“You’ve never heard of them before?”

“Ah,” said Welson, who perked up at the thought. “Essentially, the auction is open to any woman who wants to join, so long as they’re fairly attractive. They auction themselves off for the duration of the event, keeping half the sale’s amount for themselves while the rest goes to the owner of the estate, in this case, the chamberlain Daren. It’s a quick way for the participating girls to make easy money without promising anything more than their company.”

“It’s also a good way for members of the association to flaunt the depths of their coffers.” Katerina traced a finger over the thick necklace of plated star gold that decorated her delicate neckline, a bit of interest in her dark gaze as she eyed the crowd in question. “Prettier girls fetch higher bids, so to be accompanied by such girls at an association event has become a show of superiority for those that take part in such auctions.”

“So do the girls wear special uniforms or something to show that they’re taking part in the auction? Else people would have no way of knowing if they were just attending the event, right?”

Katerina looked at Welson, whose eyes were lingering on the distant din of bidding voices. “Your associate seems quite interested in the beauty auction. Shall we go and take a look?”

As they were all in agreement, the three of them made their way over to the distant crowd. Stuck on the fringes of the scene, they couldn’t see past the mob of eager bidders.

“We should have come earlier,” sighed Katerina. “Though it’s no matter. None of us would have been able to compete for the top girls anyhow.”

“You were going to bid, too?”

“Why wouldn’t I? The point of the beauty auction is to show off one’s wealth, not to engage in illicit relations with the volunteers.”

“You don’t say, eh.”

They arrived on the fringes of the beauty auction a short while later. Far from the front as they were, Nolan caught Katerina’s interest as he withdrew a large piece of lumber from his spatial bag and began to draw out the diagram for a basic construction arrayment. After a last-moment thought, he altered the diagram and tossed a couple thousand ordinary golden cards on the ground, after which he activated the iridescent schematic. The resultant flash of light drew several momentary glances from those around them, the ambience fading to reveal an elevated platform atop which sat three seats of solid gold. The wooden limbs of the platform were covered with carvings of simple floral designs, its borders gilded with the same precious metal that composed the seats.

“There we go.” Hopping up into the middle seat, Nolan motioned for them to follow suit. “I know how you CMA people really like your gold, so here you go.”

Katerina had been slightly surprised by his actions, but the moment he’d activated his arrayment she had shown visible shock. “I’ve seen a lot of arrayment practitioners at work, but none of them had been able to work so quickly. Are you from a sect, by chance?” She took a seat at his right side, looking over the crowd at the large group of girls that stood patiently at its centre. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that you’re a core disciple of some power.”

“Something like that. Welson, get up here, man. Seems like this auction started a while ago.”

Of the girls that had volunteered for the auction, all of them were dressed in frilly white dresses, many of which were covered with blue sashes from shoulder to hip. These, it seemed, were girls that had already been bid on, all of which looked quite pleased with themselves.

“I bid 30,000!”

“35,000!”

“40,000!”

Hearing the numbers that people were throwing out, Nolan understood why the participants looked so happy. To an ordinary person, such sums were veritable fortunes, and to be able to make so much money from simply accompanying someone at a party and enjoying a good time, who could possibly find any fault with such an outcome?

The current bid ended at 45,000 spirit stones, the host handing a blue sash to the happily blushing girl that had just been the focus of the audience. After doing so, the host moved on to the next girl in line and began listing off various things about her, including her age, cultivation level, relationship status and family background, among other things.

“What do you think, Nolan?” said Welson. “Beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Meh,” said Nolan, his heart unmoved. “She’s definitely not ugly, that’s for sure.” The girl in question was likely in her late teens, well-endowed with an athletic body and a pretty face. When the final bidding for her reached 95,000 spirit stones, he couldn’t help but wonder how much money his female friends would have been able to raise if they had taken part in the event.