Night of Dancing Guineas

It was past seven in the evening.

By the time I noticed, less than half of the unturned portion of the auction catalog remained.

"So expensive..."

Even though I had attended quite a few auctions already, I still couldn't help complaining inwardly.

I had tried bidding on several of the fillies I had my eye on, but without exception, buyers from Europe and even Australasia had countered with remarkably firm offers.

Thanks to the [Detector], I had at least a fairly clear idea of my targets from the start, so even with the atmosphere at the auction urging me on, I couldn't keep raising my bids on a spur-of-the-moment impulse like most ordinary buyers.

So I could only make hit-and-run bids, much like the atmosphere-maker Goffs had brought in.

Along with the thud of the auctioneer's gavel, I seemed to hear Mr. Taniguchi's heartbeat as he mourned Fukuzawa Yukichi—or rather, pounds—flying away.

"As expected, it's still too expensive."

As he said that, Mr. Taniguchi made an exaggerated grimace and clutched his chest.

Looking up, I saw that the final price on the screen had indeed exceeded the original budget of fifty thousand guineas.

Even an auction specialist like Mr. Taniguchi could get caught out. I offered fellow owners and breeders congratulations—or perhaps condolences; I wasn't sure which—then turned to the next page of the catalog.

"The next one... should be the Suyu Kingdom foal the president was quite taken with yesterday, right?"

Shaking his head as though trying to shake off his drowsiness, Wada pulled himself together and asked from the other side of the seats.

That was right—just as I was about to answer, the auctioneer onstage suddenly began speaking as though chanting some high-level spell, rapidly flipping through the auction catalog in his hands.

"Lot thirty-nine has been