“Ladies and gentlemen! It’s time for the Masquerade Reverie to begin! I hope you’re ready!”

The penguin wearing a monocle appeared on the stage, lights falling down on him as he used a magical artifact to make his voice clarion and loud.

“I am Vekhneh, your humble host!”

The crowd didn’t cheer, they just clapped their hands as Vekhneh elegantly bowed and used his small flippers to signal the people behind the curtain.

There was no unnecessary monologue or statement, the event started almost immediately.

A massive silver cart was pushed into the center of the stage. It was over 30 meters in length and 10 meters in width, and on top of it were several items, each and everyone covered by a jet-black cloth.

“We will begin with the first item,” With his flipper on the cloth’s edge, Vekhneh continued, “Hailing from the Itas Continent, plucked from the World Tree itself… I present to you the Ageless Elven Fruit!”

He removed the cloth and showed the item beneath it: It was a spherical pink-ish fruit with a tiny orange sprout on its top. It looked unique and riled up the already excited crowd.

“As you may already know, the Ageless Elven Fruit is believed to grant Immortality to those who eat it! It is also capable of healing fatal wounds and granting eternal youth to its consumers! The starting bid is 30 Blakin Platinum!”

Anyone wishing to bid would raise a rectangular sign then name their price. As expected, the Ageless Elven Fruit was popular, especially amongst the noble ladies.

Within just a minute, the price had risen to 80 Blakin Platinum, which was equivalent to 80,000 Gold.

While the wealthy people were engaging in a bidding war, Sonia kept her attention on the parasite. She looked wholly uninterested in the fruit.

“Don’t you think it was too much to attack the Vault and cause so much chaos?”

Upon hearing her cold remark, Arthur scoffed, “Don’t you think it was too much to use me as you see fit just because I’m a Parasite? I get that you humans have a strong prejudice against my kind, but it’s not like I did anything wrong.”

“What about possessing Old Arnold?”

“Purely coincidental. I didn’t kill him, nor did I plan to.”

“Regardless of that, you would have used a similar method to infiltrate my academy. After all, you were after the Circle of Damnation Records.”

The parasite chuckled and nodded his head in agreement, “Yes, but I’d have killed someone… morally evil, for want of a better word. The shapeshifter, Julian, would have been a good candidate, I confess. Furthermore, it’s not like you’d have given me the book if I asked kindly.”

“I would have thought about it. Instead, you made me think you want the bodies in the Alchemy Laboratory. Your kind is wont to lie, and that’s what you did.”

“Oh, Miss Sonia, please stop with the collective blame and discriminatory words, it’s making you look worse than you already are. I lied. You lied. Everybody lied. You’re like a child throwing a tantrum just because you were lied to. Did I also mention you’re a hypocrite?”

“120 Blakin Platinum going once… going twice, sold!”

Vekhneh spun around excitedly as he declared the ‘winner’. Shortly after, he walked toward the next covered item and proceeded to excite the crowd with an over-exaggerated description.

“Your actions are exactly why I didn’t trust you. You’re elusive, shrewd, and two-faced. I have a reputation to uphold and colluding with a parasite will tarnish the prestige of my academy. Who would be willing to send their son or daughter to a place in which a parasite lurks? I would be targeted by all three nations and I don’t have the means to resist. You’re right to mention a prejudice, and I admit that I never felt that my students are safe with you around, but that would’ve been the natural reaction for anyone in my position.”

“So? Did you sit next to me just to insult me? Or was it to explicitly say that I’m a bad person and that I’m a nasty, wretched parasite that shouldn’t be welcomed. It’s the same hocus pocus over and over again.”

“Quite the opposite, actually.” She adjusted her body, momentarily glancing at the stage before continuing, “I came here for two reasons; To retrieve my scripture, which you shamelessly stole, and to converse with you. To try and understand you. Believe it or not, I do not hold a mortal grudge against you or your kind, and I am always willing to talk things over rather than resort to bloodshed. Yes, I have tricked and used you for my own benefit, but I never planned to kill you. I delivered the sword and body as per our agreement, and Melissa’s pestering notwithstanding, I didn’t let her attack you. Is that not enough to show my good will? Is that not enough to show that I’m willing to compromise? Parasite, is that not enough to show my sincerity?”

“It’s never enough. I had to prepare a countermeasure in case you attacked me. An Archmagus and a Player of the System… not even I can escape from that. Were you in my place, you wouldn’t have gone to that ‘meeting’. I had the right to be cautious and suspect you. I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t be after the shit you’ve pulled?”

Sonia, visibly angry, snorted in response as she crossed her arms and looked at the stage. “A countermeasure? People could’ve been killed. My people. Do you know what I truly think? I think that you’ve broken into the Vault and stolen the Alchemy Scripture just to prove you could do it. To prove you were superior. You wanted to be one step ahead and seem all-knowing and unstoppable. There was literally no reason for you to steal that scripture… we both know that.”

“Maybe I needed a bit of money? But I digress. If you had explained the full situation during our first meeting, I would have been more inclined to help rather than use subterfuge.”

“If so, would you have told me the truth? That you wanted the book?”

“...”

Arthur maintained a short silence as he looked at the people raising their hands and bidding on the rusty bronze collar on display. It was ‘Absolute Subordination’, and it was the same item Olivia Vir Divitiae was using on the Sage to control him.

Its price was significantly lower than the Ageless Elven Fruit, but only because it wasn’t easy to put it on the desired target.

“You like to play the victim card and try to make me believe that your actions were warranted. With all this deception and trickery, how can you live with yourself? It’s wrong.”

“I do not need a lecture, Miss Sonia. Now then, it’s time for your prize to be revealed. Good luck!”

“Ladies and gentleman, open your eyes and behold this ancient marvel! Rumored to be written by the King of Alchemy, Roger Djinn, this treasure contains all existing alchemical formulas, formations, summoning, and transmutation! It even holds the secret behind acquiring the Philosopher’s Stone! I present to you the Alchemy Scripture! The starting bid is 50 Blakin Platinum.”

Almost instantly, several people raised their hands and raised the bid. The competition was fierce and the price doubled in just half a minute.

The price started stagnation around 115 Blakin Platinum, and that when Sonia raised her hand and softly said,

“120.”

“130” Said another man sitting at the front of the stage as he half-turned his head and glanced at the Archmagus.

“140”

“150”

The man seemed adamant on obtaining the Alchemy Scripture, but even then, Sonia Ma didn’t look the least bit worried.

“200”

Vekhneh, albeit expecting a good price for the scripture, was still startled about this. He grinned and impatiently waited for someone else to outbid her.

“210” The same man hesitantly said, his body now fully turned and facing the back rows. He seemed to be threatening Sonia with a cold gaze, however, she completely ignored him and raised the sign,

“250”

A brief bout of silence flowed across the theatre before the man raised his hand a bit then lowered it. Either he wasn’t willing to pay more or he didn’t have a sum larger than 250,000 Gold.

“250 going once… going twice… sold to Participant Number 121.”

The crowd clapped like with every sealed ‘deal’ before the penguin host proceeded to the next item.

“Congratulations. You’re disgustingly rich, Miss Sonia.”

“Money isn’t a problem. The Alchemy Scripture cannot fall into the wrong hands. It is extremely dangerous, more than anyone could imagine.”

“Really? I find it quite boggling that such an item was stolen not once but twice from your academy’s Vault. If it was so important, why would you keep it there?”

“It’s none of your business.” She stood up and looked at him one final time,

“Let us not meet again, here or on the mainland.”

“I feel like we will, Miss Sonia.” He waved his hand at her and added, “Next time, hopefully, there will be no lies or trickery from both our parts. Farewell.”