"It should be over soon..."
Mumuzawa sat beside Dio, her eyes vacant. She seemed distracted, yet every so often she glanced at him before quickly looking away.
She had successfully won the item she wanted, a set of Ancient Knitted Goods. Before coming here, she had been full of anticipation.
But now that she had won what she wanted, she didn't seem to feel satisfied...
Why was that?
Was it because there was something else she wanted...?
What was Bokushin, sitting on Dio's right, thinking?
She was practically sitting on pins and needles!
Her two useless teammates had declared that "the auction would be safer" and, without another word, chosen Bokushin to bid-even though she had spent the past few days so depressed that she hadn't said a thing.
But they hadn't told her that the bastard who had cheated a beautiful girl out of her life savings would be here too!!
And besides...
Had something happened between this guy and the prince?
Bokushin sat ramrod straight, looking directly ahead, pretending not to notice the tense atmosphere beside her.
When she had first sat down, a moment of carelessness had let a trace of resentment slip into her gaze as she looked at that bastard.
Somehow, the Twelfth Prince had noticed, and then...
She had given Bokushin a hollow look that left her drenched in cold sweat-as though asking, "Why are you looking at him like that?"
Wait.
What the hell had this guy been doing these past few days? Even the Twelfth Prince, famous for her gentleness, could give someone a look like that?
Bokushin began to regret ignoring everything these past few days and spending all her time muttering about those two million Jenny.
It had left her completely unaware of what had happened during that time.
As one of a higher-ranking prince's Private Soldiers, Bokushin did have a certain amount of political standing.
But that didn't mean she could provoke a prince!
Without orders from a higher-ranking prince or a royal consort, even a lower-ranking prince wasn't someone just anyone could disrespect.
All a prince had to do was say, "That Private Soldier disrespected the royal family." Even if it didn't get her killed on the spot, social ruin was probably the bare minimum.
For someone like her, whose goal was an inconspicuous little government post, that was utterly unacceptable.
And given the Fourth Prince's personality, if someone really disrespected the royal family, he wouldn't spare her out of consideration for their friendship as university classmates. He would probably be the first to skin her alive.
After successfully winning the item the Fourth Prince wanted, Bokushin returned to her seat and let out a long breath.
Then she glanced at a certain bored man beside her, and her large eyes instantly went flat.
Nothing good has happened since I met this guy...
"Hm?"
Bokushin suddenly noticed, with puzzlement, that the irritating guy's expression had turned serious and his body had gone taut.
What happened?
An attack?
Bokushin's first thought was that they were under attack, but when she instinctively scanned her surroundings, she found nothing.
She was confident in her powers of observation. If there really were any signs of an attack, there was no way she would fail to notice anything at all.
So... what had he discovered?
"Your Highness, Boku, we're under attack. Come with me, now."
Dio's deliberately lowered voice abruptly interrupted Bokushin's thoughts. She instinctively turned toward him, but he was already on his feet.
There really is an attack? And why is this overly familiar guy calling me that...?
Bokushin blinked, inwardly grumbling about his choice of address, but still got up decisively and followed him.
Her task was already complete, anyway. It made no difference whether she left now.
Upon hearing Dio, Mumuzawa rose almost instinctively, ready to evacuate. Only afterward did she register what he had said.
Around them, several well-dressed guests had also heard Dio's words.
A rustle of hushed conversation immediately broke out.
A middle-aged woman looked uneasy. Turning to the middle-aged man accompanying her, she asked:
"Did that person say we were under attack...?"
The middle-aged man responded with a mocking smile:
"I already stationed bodyguards and escorts outside the Auction House. If anything happens, they'll call me."
"They haven't noticed anything wrong outside, and you're saying that young brat spotted something from inside the hall?"
He had seen it perfectly clearly. Before speaking, that young bodyguard hadn't made a phone call or anything else.
"Unless he can see through walls!"
The middle-aged man scoffed. The woman beside him hesitated, still wanting to say something, but he impatiently took out his phone and said:
"I told you, if there's a problem, my guards outside will call..."
He suddenly froze. An incoming call had lit up the phone's screen-his guards really were calling him.
An ominous feeling settled over them both. The man hurriedly turned toward the direction in which the man and two women had left.
But in that brief span of time, all three had already disappeared!
Could what that man said be true...?
As the other guests received news one after another, startled cries kept breaking out. Panic quickly spread through the moderately sized auction hall.
Some of the more decisive guests ran for the door the moment they received word. Leading the rush was a tall man with slicked-back hair.
Sweat poured down his face as he ran, but he didn't dare stop. All the bodyguards he had hired at great expense had just become unreachable!
The last message his head bodyguard had sent was-"Run!"
But just as he was about to reach the door, he suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as though he had seen something beyond comprehension.
A fat man behind him, likewise drenched in sweat, nearly cursed aloud in desperation when he stopped moving. But when he saw what was at the entrance, he froze as well.
Before them, an enormous shadow had silently fallen across the open doorway.
Looking closer, they saw the head of an enormous black, long-whiskered Monster Fish, roughly three meters long, silently emerge!
The Monster Fish floated in midair at the entrance, swimming quietly forward as though it hadn't seen them.
Both men instantly went rigid, their minds blank. They didn't dare so much as breathe.
An incomprehensible terror filled their minds.
Time seemed to stand still.
Suddenly, an angry shout came from behind them, striking them like a bolt of lightning:
"Why are you blocking
the way? Get the hell out of the way!"
The Monster Fish's presence changed instantly. Ferocity flared in its huge, round eyes, and with a flick of its long whiskers, it turned toward the person who had spoken and charged!
Despite its enormous size, the Monster Fish was astonishingly fast, crossing dozens of meters in just a few breaths.
It opened its enormous maw at the person who had shouted. Inside were nearly a hundred tightly packed rows of teeth, top and bottom, running from its lips all the way into the depths of its throat!
The person who had spoken was so terrified that he couldn't move. He stood rooted to the spot as the Monster Fish swallowed him whole, its densely packed, razor-sharp teeth tearing him apart in an instant.
Nearly a hundred people witnessed the horrifying sight. Countless screams and cries of panic immediately erupted throughout the hall.
Once the man was in its belly, the Monster Fish suddenly swelled, as though it had grown to its limit. Then another hideous fish head sprouted from its abdomen!
The new head swung violently, and one fish instantly split into two, both charging toward the remaining people in the hall!
Those near the entrance tried to escape while the Monster Fish rushed toward the others.
But to their horror, they discovered that the door had somehow closed. As though welded shut, it wouldn't budge no matter how hard they pushed!
In despair, the guests could only watch the Monster Fish eat people, grow, and divide, over and over, until death came for them.
Bloody scenes of fish devouring people erupted throughout the sealed auction hall in an instant!
Before you continue