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Chapter 80
🕑 Added 2025-09-29 15:16:40 +0000 UTCMy meetings with these people thus far had been either them threatening ungodly violence for simply breathing or spouting some insane ideology where I was less than a dog then being reasonable. To say I was surprised when a Church Executor was nice enough to offer me a hand after I bumped into him would be a massive understatement.
For a good second, I waited for him to reveal himself as a Grand Wizard of the Klan like Sancraid. No words came. The older gentleman stood calmly, a sort of pity in his eyes. When Gray caught up, he gave a slight bow.
“Karabo Frampton. I’ve come to this auction for a purpose similar to yours. I understand your pain deeply, child.”
I craned my neck awkwardly, “My what now?”
“These eyes put us leagues above our peers with their miracles but the burden too is severe. Not many understand this.” He spoke subdued words, and offered a slow nod once he was finished. “You’ve recognized this at a younger age than I.”
Ah. Mystic Eyes. He was talking about Mystic Eyes. Well, fair enough. I found no fault in his words. I couldn’t take my glasses off for more than a couple of minutes without turning my brain to mush from the overload. There was certainly someone out there who’d think this was a curse instead of a boon. But, I was not that someone.
“I haven’t thought of them as a burden even once.”
My eyes were incredible.
“And, if you think yours are, maybe you need to take a good long look in the mirror.” I patted his shoulder and walked past.
Mystic Eyes were a spontaneously-occurring phenomenon. According to Yvette, they were a clear expression of one’s entire being. They were unique to every individual even if classed the same. To think they were an annoyance was, in a way, denying one’s self.
My eyes were the answer to my burning curiosity for the supernatural and how it ticked.
There was no world in which I would ever think they were bad.
“They intrude upon every aspect of our life. You can’t live like a normal pers-“
I threw up my hands, “Who the hell even wants to live like a ‘normal’ person?”
“Even now, you can’t sit there without those glasses, not without pain.” He stared at my back, hands behind his back.
I glanced back, grinning, “Well then, it’s a good thing I have my glasses, isn’t it? Are you jealous of how cool they are?”
The old Executor sighed and stroked his beard.
The Rail Zeppelin was a sizable train, with a total of twelve cars running tandem. Almost half of these were reserved for guests, with two for storage, then the lobby and the dining car beyond it. Since we were already in the dining area, we had to pass just one more car before we entered the one reserved for staff. Of course, I completely ignored the large panel over the door with ‘STAFF ONLY’ written in bright red.
It was built much like the rest, lit by lanterns built after every window pane, with only a narrow corridor separating them from the doors to individual rooms.
I tapped my foot against the shiny hardwood floor, whistling, “Man, these guys are rich. I guess selling magic eyes does that.”
“The Professor told me they only keep a negligible amount.” Gray shook her little head, “That it’s about them doing it as their master used to than anything else.”
I raised a brow, studying the car, “Sales here regularly cross over into the hundreds of millions. I don’t think a ‘negligible part’ of that would be a negligible sum. Or are you secretly rich enough to think millions of dollars are nothing?”
“M…Millions.”
Gray’s eyes spun at those figures. She was, in the end, a village girl who’d only come into contact with the modern world a couple months ago. For her, such sums were decidedly mind-boggling. It didn’t help that the El-Melloi were impoverished, otherwise being a disciple to one of the Twelve Lords would have been a rather luxurious experience.
I stifled a laugh.
“I don’t think I might see such money in my life.” She ducked her head.
“Well, you know how they say. To become a millionaire, you just need to have a millionaire friend and borrow some.”
Life was all about finding convenient methods to make it easier.
“A… A millionaire friend… I don’t think I know such a person.”
I gasped exaggeratedly, a hand over my heart.
“You are rich?” She tilted her head. “I would’ve never thought with how you dress.”
…
“Clothes are just a societal construct! I don’t need Armani to be rich-… Gray, I’m going to cry.”
“That would be inconvenient.”
I chuckled, wondering which of these doors I could kick down to find that blindfolded woman from the morning. Sadly, there were no convenient name plaques like Adra Castle to identify anyone.
“So, how about it? Wanna make your first million? Of course, I’ll be the one giving it.”
“You will?” My fellow student grew puzzled, her eyes wandering haphazardly, “I wouldn’t-… I wouldn’t know what to do. Uh. Umm. Are you really sure? Svin might be mad at you for wasting money on me. I don’t think he likes me much.”
Woah. What?
That was interesting.
Svin was head-over-heels simping for her and she thought he hated her. The guy’s breath grew heavy every time she was in the vicinity… Okay, I saw it now. Well, there was one misunderstanding I wasn’t about to clear up. Wolf-boy needed to learn this particular lesson himself.
“If Svin gets pressed, all the more reason to do it.”
“He’s your friend…” Her shoulders drooped.
“That’s exactly why I should give you a million bucks.”
In the end, I decided to enter the engine car, in the hopes that someone would come rushing down. I was right. The moment I reached for the door, a pale man in a neat train conductor’s uniform slid it aside, one hand behind his back. His conductor hat cast a long shadow, masking his eyes.
Rodin. That was his name.
“Guests are not permitted entry. Please, leave.”
I raised two fingers.
“I will. As soon as you tell me how you found out about my eyes.”
“Please refrain from threatening staff.”
…
Blue formed atop my fingertips. An erratic hum permeated the entire car as it abruptly began sucking in the air.
I had no qualms about destroying this entire train here and now if I didn’t get an answer, consequences be damned. In fact, these were their consequences for making a move on my little Ellie and Mama Smith.
“Henry-“
“…Who told you?”
He remained expressionless, one gloved hand against the doorframe, the other behind his back. His eyes bore into mine. Then, he closed them, as if he had made his decision. A decision I wasn’t expecting even with my experience with the supernatural.
“We were not given a name.” The conductor breathed out. “Merely information about possibly Jewel-Ranked eyes. In accordance with the wishes of the master of this train, we had no choice but to assure your attendance, through any means possible-”
“And!”
I turned around at the sudden voice.
The auctioneer, Leandra, was leaning against the far door, arms crossed. “If you’re here even when we failed, you’re obviously inclined to part with them. All’s well that ends well. You know all we know about the informant now, so please stop threatening the train and wait for the auction.”
She stepped forth, then did a theatrical bow, gesturing towards the exit.
I waved my hand, dismissing Blue like it was smoke.
Once we were out, Gray spoke up, “Henry, will you leave them be?”
“What do you think? They gave me nothing. For all I know, there was no informant to begin with.”
“Then…”
“I’m going to play their game. At least, until I get bored. You should check up on the Professor… Odds are he’s got beef with a demigod by now, somehow.”
Gray smiled warmly. “That is possible.”
Eventually, with nothing to really do, I wandered into the dining car once again. Weirdly enough, the serpentine member of the policies department was there too. She sat by a window, drinking green tea from a ceramic bowl. Well, Olga was there too, but the brat huffed and turned away the second she noticed me.
She smiled at me. I shivered. It was incredibly off-putting with how ‘nice’ it was once you figured out it was perfectly tailored to be that way.
“Mr. Henry. Are we here for some purpose or just to have fun?” She asked as I plopped down across from her. “One can never quite tell with you.”
“Funny. I can always tell with you.”
Her eyes shimmered faintly, her smile widened and she gave a slight nod.
“You’re here to screw someone over, maybe steal a soul or two while you’re at it.”
“Ah, you know me so well.” She laughed gracefully and poured some tea from her kettle in another cup, holding her long sleeve up with thin fingers. “In any other case, you would be right. But, I am here because of a certain rumour this time.”
I eyed the smoke rising from the cup.
“Tsk. So the Department of Policies caught wind of it too.”
Olga suddenly stood up with a sour expression. She crossed her arms, standing over our table.
“I meant to ask that auctioneer before you started behaving like a chil-…” She was wise enough to cut herself off this time. Instead, she glared at me. “I guess you’ll have to owe me one for this.”
“Nope, not interested. I’ll find out myself.”
Apparently, she wasn’t prepared for the immediate refusal. She looked around, confusedly, probably searching for her attendant. The attendant was standing in the doorway, spurring her young lady on with fist pumps.
Trisha Fellows.
When she noticed my gaze, she immediately hid herself.
“But Trisha said-… I…” The Animusphere heiress clenched her skirts, “I was just trying to get along but you don’t deserve it! Hmph! You’re just a bully!”
“Fufufufu…” Hishiri giggled into her sleeve.
I deadpanned.
“Okay then, tell me. But, no favors.”
“…Not even a small one?” Olga Marie stared at me through glassy eyes, fidgeting with her hands.
For a moment, I was reminded of Ellie’s face when she wanted something Mama Smith had forbidden. Naturally, as an awesome older brother that was definitely not a sis-con, I folded immediately, always, without exception.
Unfortunately, the same happened here before my mind realized it did.
“A small one then.”
“H-Hm! Okay then…” Olga glanced at Trisha, who gave her a thumbs up, before turning back to me. “There’s going to be a Rainbow or at least, Jewel-ranked set of Mystic Eyes on sale this year.”
…
…
…
Well now, now I just had to wait for the auction.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Please, do comment so I know how I did.
Comments
Bleap
I mean, considering how pragmatic magi are, it's a totally reasonable conclusion to reach. Unfortunately, he's a Sorcerer. A Jujuts-
Bleap
He also has dismantle now 🙏
Alan
It's really funny how confident they are that just because Henry is here, that it means he's going to just comply and sell his eyes.
BigBot
Henry might hollow purple this train if they piss his off 😂
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