Chapter 30………………………………….
“The esteemed guests participating in today’s auction—may each of you win the items you desire! We’ll begin the bidding with our first item!”
With the lively tone of the host, the auction began.
Rin tightly gripped the memo she had brought with her, listening carefully to the items being called.
Good. The very first one is…
The moment the place name she had written appeared, Rin raised her bidder paddle without hesitation.
“Yes! Bidder number 17! Anyone else? …3, 2, 1—sold!”
Yes!
Rin clenched her tiny fist, cheering inwardly at her first successful bid.
Since the opening items were minor and unremarkable, there wasn’t much competition among the participants.
“All the items today are trivial.”
“Did someone just dump a bunch of random land parcels here? It’s been nothing but useless scraps so far.”
Hearing the grumbling around her, Rin quietly stifled a laugh.
Hehe. Not scraps. Golden eggs!
Every parcel of land Rin bought was chosen by comparing a map she’d found in the study with her knowledge of the original work.
Her memo listed all the future hotspots and the surrounding areas that would rise in value along with them, and Rin scooped up every golden opportunity raining down before her.
Phew. A whole basket of prime land!
Even without snacks, she felt full and satisfied.
Later…
When all the auctions she’d aimed for were done, Rin stepped outside into the warm afternoon sunlight, lips pouting.
“What a waste…”
Even as she held tightly to the stack of ownership certificates she’d purchased with all her investment money, her eyes were still filled with lingering regret as she glanced back at the auction house.
Tsk tsk.
Julie clicked her tongue and straightened Rin’s wind-ruffled clothes.
“It is a waste, miss. Your poor allowance, gone on strange things…”
“It’s not gone! These are going to skyrocket later!”
“Speculators who throw money into hopeless places all say that, miss.”
Ignoring Julie’s heavens-what-do-I-do-with-this-child stare, Rin sighed inwardly.
I got the forest I most wanted, but…
There were still so many valuable places no one knew about yet.
She had wanted to buy the forest containing future-price-booming plants—and if money remained, even the wide-open plains that would one day be prime land.
She knew the future real estate booms! How could she hold back?
Rin couldn’t.
But there was an unexpected competitor.
She rested her chin on her hand, recalling the person she had spotted inside the auction hall.
Land that held absolutely no value yet.
She didn’t expect anyone else to be as serious as she was about bidding on what was—currently—mere pieces of paper.
A mysterious bidder whose choices often overlapped with hers.
That person even bought strange miscellaneous items Rin had no interest in.
But what had really caught her eye was the person’s physique—clearly a child, unlike the adults filling the venue.
Rin remembered the robed figure that had sparkled oddly, drawing her attention from the moment she entered the auction.
“They looked about my age, right?”
“Oh, that kid? From before?”
Julie chimed in at Rin’s murmured thought.
“To think there was another child besides you at an auction… I hear kids these days are different, but really—what is the world coming to.”
Rin ignored Julie’s grumbling.
Because at that very moment—she spotted him.
Yes, just like that—huh?
“Julie, hold on.”
“What? Where are you going, miss?”
Rin hurried after the robed figure that had caught her eye.
Something told her she had to check who was under that robe.
Well, I don’t have to see the face if they want to hide it… but still, I want to at least say something!
She sprinted as fast as her short legs allowed, seeing the robe turn into a narrow alleyway.
Rin ran faster.
When she turned into the alley—
“So.”
“!”
“Why were you following me?”
The robed figure stood waiting for her.
The shadows of the hood hid much of his face, but couldn’t conceal his innate vivid presence.
Hair black enough to devour light. Red eyes that gave off the pressure of a predator.
A breathtakingly intense impression—but perfectly balanced on a boyish face.
Even Rin—who had been “beauty-trained” early thanks to Théodore—lost her breath staring at him.
I feel like I’ve seen…?
But she was certain she had never met someone with such a shocking appearance before.
And yet, strangely, his black hair and red eyes felt familiar.
“Sooju-gun, are you alright?”
“…”
“Sooju-gun?”
“Hah!”
Rin snapped back to herself when Kei gently tapped her shoulder.
Ever since she’d sought his advice once, Kei had stuck to calling her “Sooju-gun.” He had insisted on accompanying her as her escort to the auction today as well.
“You can’t run off alone like that, Sooju-gun. Even if I’m your escort and would follow immediately, one never knows what could happen.”
Stepping protectively in front of her, Kei glared at the mysterious boy.
“What did this suspicious guy do to my Sooju-gun?”
Ready to fight at the faintest hint of danger, Kei radiated sharp hostility—met immediately by the boy’s own predator-like aura.
“I–It’s not that! Kei!”
Feeling the air turn cold between them, Rin tugged urgently on Kei’s sleeve.
“That’s not why I followed him!”
Rin stepped forward and met the boy’s gaze.
The boy spoke first, still wary.
“You need something from me?”
“Yeah! Um… how old are you?”
“…”
Seeing his suspicious stare, she quickly corrected herself.
“No, no—I mean, you look my age! I didn’t see any other kids in the auction except you.”
“…If we’re talking about kids, wouldn’t you count too?”
“Well, technically yes.”
But I’m different from you!
Rin swallowed the words—knowing they’d sound strange.
I’m technically six, but I’m a six-year-old who knows the plot! Not a normal kid!
Her body was elementary school age, but her mind was that of a genius high-schooler.
Like the catchphrase of that famous detective—it applied literally to her.
Outwardly similar ages, but a massive mental difference.
“It’s not good to attend auctions when you’re young. I only came because I had solid information, okay?”
“…”
“Anyway, you still seem really young—don’t get mixed up in things like this too early.”
Rin felt Kei and Julie’s gazes stabbing her in the back—They’d been telling her the same thing all day—but she pushed on sternly.
I know the future from the original story. But this kid is just a normal child who knows nothing.
Earlier, his bids overlapping with hers had probably been beginner’s luck.
That luck wouldn’t last forever.
I’ll keep coming to these auctions. What if he sees me succeed over and over and gets the wrong idea—that he’ll succeed too?
She couldn’t just let an innocent kid wander down a dark road.
