Oscar stood before the door, the hinges and edges gilded with gold, flanked by two pairs of guards, one bearing the mark of the Golden Rose Auction House and the other possessing the mark of the Fabricator Guild. True to their duty, their wary and sharp gazes locked onto Oscar, waiting for him to move out of place. As the branch head and a Marshal Exalt, Hector didn't require the protection of four Greater Knight Exalts, a fact Oscar found comical.

An attendant opened the door from inside and addressed Oscar, "Sir, he is waiting for you." The guards stepped over to the side, opening a path straight into the door. Oscar entered the room, admiring the artisan works everywhere, from the paintings to the sculptures to the tables and chairs.

"Nice disguise. Did your wife make it for you? Where is she?" Sounds of chewing and slurping followed after. Hector munched on bread and drank hearty stew, stuffing his scruffy beard with spilled stew and crumbs from his voracious, unmannered eating. For an unknown reason, Hector always opened a conversation by asking about how Avril was doing.

"Greetings, Branch Head. She's in the room. I have my beast companion with her, so there should be no issues." Oscar sat down and went immediately to business, taking out the elemental ores on the table. "Take your cut as per our agreement."

Hector paused, his mouth hanging down and his hand holding a torn piece of bread. He tossed the piece of bread and swallowed it with the help of more stew. Grunting, the old fabricator held the Diabond ore and placed it on the table closer to Oscar. "You can keep it."

"Keep it?" Hector's sudden dismissal was unexpected. Crossing his arms in confusion, Oscar refused to take the ores back despite how attractive the idea of keeping them whole was. He pushed the Diabond ore toward Hector with forceful intent, not budging in his stance. "I've been able to live peacefully here with my wife, thanks to you and Lady Alkemar. You could have easily outbid me or robbed me later. I'm already deep in debt toward you."

"Loyalty. That's nice." Hector pulled a plate of ribs toward him and ate with his hands. He pointed with a finger full of sauce and laughed. "By that logic, I can easily force you to take these. What's to stop me from shoving these ores back into your space pocket?" He sighed and shook his head, wiping his beard and hands with a tissue before pushing the ores back to Oscar. "Take them. I have bigger things to worry about."

"Why are you doing this?" Oscar asked, concerned about Hector's reasons. Sevon and Adam trained him to be their warrior for vengeance, and they grew close together after several years. Elder Saul was just an eccentric old man, and his master picked him up on a whim.

"You can tell a lot about a person by their craft. Your work in the foundry, wind-elemental armament, and overall behavior. Take it as an old man looking in a younger mirror of himself." Hector spoke in a tired voice, his old face growing more wrinkled as he seemed weary. "In any case, those ores might do better in your hands. With how this city is heading, I expect a big implosion soon enough, so leave quickly."

"The city?" Oscar leaned closer. "What's wrong with the place? Everything seemed normal. You said yourself that it was peaceful earlier." Having lived in Convecia City for the past week, he noticed the people were lively, and the streets were clean.

"That's how it looks, thanks to Aldric's good efforts, but a problem is growing. People have been disappearing year after year. It's been gradually increasing. Mainly visitors, and during the Grand Gamble, it gets far worse. There are so many people that it's hard to keep track." Hector said sternly. "We kept it hidden to avoid panic. Aldric has been working himself to death to try to find out, but whoever is behind this is elusive. If you stayed in this city as a resident, you'd have a better chance of living peacefully. But you are visitors, who will look if you're gone? So take these ores and hold your wife close."

Hector had no more to say and led Oscar to the door with a final warning gaze. Oscar walked out but turned back as the doors were closing behind the stoic guards, seeing Hector slump in his chair like a lifeless puppet for a quick second before the doors slammed shut. An enemy that eluded the efforts of Marshal Exalts and made Hector lose all hope of the situation was not to be trifled with.

Slow, heavy steps moved him through the curved halls of red carpets and marbled walls. Oscar checked with Erden in case something happened and was relieved to learn Erden and Avril were alright in their room. He returned to the room and found Avril dozing her head off, her ripe red cheeks looking appetizing for him to bite. At the table was a half-filled chalice. Oscar sniffed and sighed, the sweet smell of red wine filling his lungs. Suddenly, Avril leaped and hugged him, her breath having the same sweet red wine scent.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Hubby~What took you so long? She grew worried and just drank. Little did she know it was wine. Ahahaha." Avril's drunken expression was unbelievably seductive.

But he couldn't let himself be affected. He turned to Erden. "You didn't stop her?"

"How was I supposed to know? She unknowingly poured out the wrong drink for herself while talking about you." Erden shrugged and jumped off the table, strutting his small stubby legs around. His beast friend went to the bathroom and said, "I won't bother you two any longer," before closing the door.

"What?" Oscar asked. He turned back to see Avril's face getting closer.

Avril kissed him, giggling uncontrollably in between. "There's a bed here, you know. I'm so tired."

"That's what I said earlier, and you rejected it." Oscar carried her over to the bed and rested her on a pillow.

"She shouts out in anger. That was in the past. Times change." Avril pulled Oscar into bed, her sideways glances enchanting him closer as she stroked his face. "She hates that she can't see her hubby's beautiful black eyes. Maybe her elixir should have just changed the hair."

"Fine. But remember, this is your idea." There were only fifty minutes left in the intermission. Plenty of time to appease her desires. Oscar had no more inhibitions and gave into his wife's seduction, entering the throes of passion, her sweet cries spurring him on.

Fifty minutes later, Oscar exited the bathroom with a sleeping Avril, who wore a satisfied expression. It was good that there was a bath in the sky-tier suite, or it would have been an awkward journey home later. Placing Avril gently on the unused side of the bed, he kissed her forehead and draped the blanket over her.

"You finished just in time." Erden yawned. "The auction's about to start again. Your Wildersap is next."

"It's certain to get a good amount. All crave a grade-four natural resource." Oscar sat on the couch, drying his hair with a towel. Esmere, on the stage, started the bidding, and the price was increasing tremendously. Not too interested, he started a mental council with Demon and Erden.

'What do you think about what Hector said?' Oscar asked.

'Hard to say. I think I should go with Avril from now on to make sure nothing bad happens. If something does, I'll contact you, and you can sense my location.' Erden replied.

'We still can't trust Hector and the others. Covering it up to stop a panic is one thing, but it also keeps the ignorant visitors coming. I wouldn't be surprised if the City Lord is behind it. If Hector wanted to avoid panic, then why tell you? He has a strange interest in you and Avril.' Demon cooly calculated the possibilities.

'A hidden enemy wandering around, kidnapping people.' Oscar drank a cup of water and exhaled. 'Enemies of the Pavilion are here too. Even if Hector, Helen, and the City Lord can be trusted, that doesn't mean the same for the others under them.'

'Kidnapping…could it be the New Dawn?' Demon asked.

Oscar widened his eyes, a flicker of shock, before returning to normal. The New Dawn was a strong candidate for the perpetrators behind this. He could already see them taking people away to use for their vile experiments of unspeakable horrors. 'What are the odds that we run into them here out of all the other places we could have gone?'

'It is a strong possibility. One that we cannot ignore.' Erden warned. 'This place is a crux of teleportation and movement between the far north and south. The importance of this place means higher powers are in effect here. The interests of the six King Exalts of Rusk Continent. The New Dawn certainly has the means to stump them.'

'We'll observe for now.' Oscar went over to Avril's side and grasped her hand. Her warmth made him feel better. 'It would be ideal if we left, but the city is on lockdown during the Grand Gamble. How troublesome.'

'Indeed.' Demon and Erden said in sync.

"Sir, here are your winnings from the auction." An attendant came in with a large chest full of gold coins. "Deducting the ten million gold loan that we gave you and our ten percent cut, you have earned 800,000 gold coins."

Oscar accepted the amount and watched the rest of the auction. Armaments, other rare elixirs of grade four, and spell holders for grades three and four caused a big stir in the crowd as they bid like wild animals in a pit. Hector won all of the bids for a few grade-four elemental ores, once again showing the reach and deep resources of the auction house. However, the largest shock came in the final item of the auction, a grade-five fruit known as the Sunfire Pear. The bidding reached the highest it had ever gone, reaching the extent of 50 million gold. The winner ended up being the City Lord himself.

With that, the auction came to a close. After Esmere gave her final words of appreciation and farewells, the auction hall began to empty. Oscar smiled and stared lovingly at Avril's sleeping figure, carefully cradling her in his arms. He exited with extreme caution, double-checking to ensure no one followed him. Relieved at seeing the Hilrest Tower, Oscar hastened his pace, running through the lobby and up the stairs into his room. Erden hopped off, returned to his original form, and rested on his bed while Oscar rested with Avril.

Feeling her warmth in his arms, Oscar closed his eyes and promised himself that nothing would happen to her. He would make sure of it.