"Ugh...."

Something felt off.

Envidia tapped her own flaming foot around the bed of magma which she lay in, half asleep.

"I'm..... kinda tired..... ugh.... did being in the same room as Apathia effect me?"

The time: Earlier this morning, before Envidia had set out for Iciclaris.

"Blegh.... morning taste...."

Spitting out a wad of flaming spit into the flowing magma which made up the floor, Envidia dragged herself out of bed.

As she stumbled out of the room, a smile came across the face of the woman clothed in flame as she recalled the events of the previous day.

"Ah... today's an important day, isn't it?"

The woman looked like the human incarnation of fire. Her body was made from red hot rocks and the flames which spewed from them refused to go out.

Her hair, which was also made from flames, resembled a zigzagged pony tail which chaotically flared back and forth.

"Haha.... so Huberos thinks he can beat me at my own game? He really is getting a little inflated in the head. Fitting for his name. He thinks he can beat anyone, so I'll show him. I'll show him just why he's never been able to one up me.... for envy isn't something which you can beat. It is only something which you can equal. There's a reason I'm ranked number 1."

With a smug grin, the flame elemental exited the room of flowing magma, exiting into a hallway made of rock which had patches of volcanic matter inside it, shining out through the thin openings.

"I wonder if Avarco did his part? No, he has. He would kill himself before giving up an opportunity like this."

Walking down the hallway the woman came upon an open hall where chandeliers made from luminescent red gemstones hung above the ceiling. A table was in the center of the room, and all around the room were pillars of flame that shot up from the ground.

"Ah ah..... it's been so long, hasn't it? Just how long has it been? I can barely even remember.... a hundred years? Somewhere around there."

As the woman walked through the room, sitting at the table, a man instantly opened the door and rushed up to serve her.

This man was an elemental of earth, his body composed of what looked to be hardened soil mixed with metal.

The elementals took human forms, but their bodies were pure existences of magic and as such clothing was an either optional decoration or armor for the purpose of combat.

The man rushed forward, quickly kneeling before Envidia who tapped her cheek with her index finger.

"What should I eat today? Something roasted? Grilled? Oh, I know. Why don't you bring me one of those things..... ah what are they called?"

"Jeraldos?"

The man questioned Envidia as she thought out loud.

"Yeah! Jeraldos. Those weird beasts that keep popping up all over the place. How strange, isn't it? You'd think that nothing would be able to survive in this heat, but there they are."

"Your meal will be prepared at once, Lady Envidia."

The man bowed his head before walking off, leaving Envidia twiddling her thumbs alone at the table.

"It's been too long. I haven't obtained anything in years. I thought that I had hit my limit.... but I suppose I was wrong. Heh. Watch and learn sister. I'll become a star shining so bright that you won't even be able to look at me without blinding yourself."

Humming a cheerful tune as she spoke out loud, Envidia couldn't help but twitch with excitement.

"Mmmmmm... mmmmmm... mmmmmm....."

Tapping her foot to the ground with impatience, the woman stood up quickly.

"It's taking too long. Guess I'll go see for myself."

Envidia stood up, however just as she did so the doors opened.

Four men rushed through the doors carrying an enormous platter, and on this platter was a horrible being that looked like a mix of a centipede and a cockroach but with white skin and steaming from having been cooked.

The men placed the massive platter on the table, bowing to Envidia before the one wearing the hat of a chef spoke up.

"Lady Envidia, I hope that the food is to your liking. These specimens are truly troublesome to work with, but even so I have given it my all."

"Alright. Good enough for me. Go prepare for today. You already know what's going on, right?"

"We've been informed by the men who Sir Avarco has been gathering. We will make our preparations immediately and prepare to set out. Is there anything you need of us before that?"

"Nah, I'm good. Go on and do what you want. Just make sure to come clean this thing up when I'm done eating it."

"If there is anything to clean up, that is."

"Hahaha.... no snarky comments like that, chef. You're supposed to serve me, right?"

"Of course, my Mistress. My loyalty lies directly with you."

Envidia shrugged it off, clearly on friendly terms with those who served her, and stuck her flaming hand into the steaming hot creature, tearing out a meaty piece of flesh.

She placed the meat in her mouth and began to cook it further with her own tongue, evaporating the fluids which covered the meat.

"It starts out not great, but gets better as I chew. I really like these things.... it's kinda addicting, you know?"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Haven't you had one of these before? It starts out all juicy and slimy but then becomes crisp and crunchy. Ah.... I guess it isn't like that for you?"

The chef who happened to be a rock elemental merely chuckled to himself as Envidia realized her own mishap.

"Alright alright. Get outta here. I don't really feel like having a bunch of burly man servants watching me slurp this up."

Despite their reverent bowing, the men laughed causally at Envidia's statement. There was a clear master and servant relationship, yet there was a certain level of familiarity which would suggest that they were friendly among one another.

"Very well, Lady Envidia."

The men waltzed out in line, leaving Envidia alone once more- this time to gobble up the horrible creature.

"Nom nom nom..... gulp..... mmm..... delicious..... I like it when the guts boil inside my mouth.... the feeling of the bubbles popping on the roof of my mouth kinda tickles...."

The only sounds which could be heard from this room were the constant flaring of the pillars of fire, and the constant crunching of flesh as the girl consumed the beast before her.

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"Cough cough!!! Ugh!!! Drink!!! Drink!!!"

Grabbing her chest, the girl seemed to be choking on something as she stumbled over to one of the pillars.

Sticking her head into the pillar, she opened her mouth as the flames completely covered her from the neck up.

Pulling her head out of the pillar and shaking her head, her flaming ponytail fluttered about as if she had just taken a shower and had wet her hair.

"Ugh.... I ate too fast. I had to drink this stuff. Why didn't I ask the chef for a drink while he was here?"

Shaking her head, Envidia walked back over to the table, her smug grin having returned.

"Haha.... well, whatever. I'm in a good mood today. Nothing can piss me off today. After all..... it's been so long..... since the last time I was truly jealous of someone."

----

A middle aged man made from molten rock stood in front of hundreds of flame and earth elementals.

The ones who had gathered all had smiles of anticipation on their faces, and they were lined up in dozens of rows.

The middle aged man wore an outfit of quartz which looked to form a robe and a tophat, and wielded a pearl tipped cane in his left hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen..... will you all please calm yourselves? I have a statement to make, after all."

When the man spoke these words he tipped his hat, wooing a number of the females in the front row. While he was a middle aged man in terms of his demeanor, his face was young and good looking, from the standards of the elementals.

The people before him who had gathered quieted down at his request, to which he pointed his cane at them.

"Thank you graciously, my good folks! I do dare say that it is a pleasure to live among such lively people, indeed it is. Ahem ahem. Here here, shall we inspect the reason in which we have all gathered? Ah, but I am sure many of you have already been informed.... for I am not the type to hide information from others if it will spur them into action..... by increasing their demand."

The man spoke with a high pitched British accent and swung his cane around with swagger, impressing the people before him.

"Yes yes, how wonderful a time it is for.... business!!! It is the right time to spur the economy, my friends. We are on the rising end of the cycle, I do say. We are approaching a peak, and I tell you that in the near future we will achieve this peak. And how will we do this? Just how will we obtain this maximum level of efficiency? Well well well, if I am allowed to speak forth then I must. We will do this through warfare, my good people! It is through the waging of war that any economy is spurred into action."

With a gleam in his eye, the man pointed out a person in the crowd.

"You there. Yes you, Sir. You with the strange haircut. How do you do, my good Sir? Let me ask a quick question, if you will. Just what do you do for a living?"

The man who had been pointed out stepped forward shyly, his hand behind his back.

"Ah, I am a simple construction worker."

With this quick answer he fell back into line.

"A construction worker you say? And just how has the work been as of recently? Any major projects? Any exciting developments? Do tell, my good man."

"Er.... well, to be honest my work has been relatively simple recently. I've only been hired for small landscaping projects and the like. There hasn't been a whole lot of expansion."

"Did you hear that, ladies and gentlemen!? There hasn't been a great deal of expansion!! What a tragedy! How truly catastrophic for this man. However I am sure it is not just this man who has found a lack of stimulation in their own careers. For I too have found difficulty in recent times. The laws of supply and demand are oh so cruel, are they not? But they are also beautiful, for there is an order to them and yet a chaos as well."

The man tipped his hat with a gleaming smile, winking at one of the females in the front row.

"How is it exactly that something can be so predictable, and yet we fail to predict it with consistency? How is it that the fluctuations of the economy are something which we see over and over, and yet we can never tell when a depression will occur? It is troubling to a merchant as myself, yet it also fills me with excitement..... I am excited to manipulate the very laws of supply and demand, in order to see just where this turbulent rollercoaster of an economy will be taken."

The man held forth his hand as if holding it out for the people before him to take it.

"Then won't you join me? Do you all not see the profit in front of your eyes? The Head of Envy has asked me to gather you for this exact purpose..... I am gathering you all today because there is profit to be made. Do you all not wish to take part in this?"

Many people were awed at the performance, and held their breath as they waited for the man before them to go on.

"Just what does it mean to be alive? Just what does it mean to have blood flowing through your crystalline veins? Just what does it mean to be conscious? It means to have a purpose. A reason. A goal. Do we not all have goals? Of course we do. What would we be without goals? Hahaha.... what a trivial question, is it not?"

The man tapped his cane to the ground twice, gathering the attention of the people quickly.

"We would be the soil beneath us. We would be the energy of this planet and nothing more. We would be moving and breathing, but does dirt not also move when water flows about? Does rock not erode away and flow along with the magmatic channels of the underground? Does moving mean anything? Of course it does not! Does the exchange of oxygen mean anything? HAHAH!!! Of course not my friends!!! Even a dead tree would exchange oxygen with it's surroundings if it were to be heated up enough. So then my friends, what is the difference? What is the difference between someone who is alive- and a rock or a chunk of dirt? Does anyone know?"

Looking around the crowd, nobody volunteered. The man closed his eyes and grabbed the brim of his hat, shifting it to the side in quick motion.

"It is the intelligent exchange of goods, my good people! The fact that we can demand something based on our own needs and desires, regardless of the current state of things shows that we go against the very existence of nature. In nature, when something is oversaturated in one area it likes to spread to an area of low saturation, but that is not so for us, oh no! Not so! How terribly wrong that would be for us! That is due to the existence of demand!!!! Demand! Where there is a need or a want for something, those things will flow to such an area. This is not due to natural means, but rather due to individuals who take actions with such information. Is that not a wonderful thing?"

Tapping along as he walked about, the man had a skip in his step.

"Oh how wonderful.... how beautiful.... how truly gorgeous it is to see another make an informed decision. This is the rational, logical, and yet unpredictable factor which drives the economy. How simple it is, and yet how terrifyingly complex. My good people, will you not look at this opportunity? The head of the house of Envy seems to have set her eyes on the city of Ice- Iciclaris. How delightful. Just recently we arrived back from a meeting with those who also lead their respective houses, just as I do. And do you all know what conclusion we came to?"

With a money making smirk, the man spoke with a sly tone.

"We are no longer keeping our strength within our respective quarters. For there is currently a threat out there large enough to allow such measures. How profitable a time it is indeed. I would personally like to thank those who have created such a threat, for due to them the economy will be boosted to the likes of which we have never seen."

With wide motion the man reached into the pocket of the crystal robe which he wore, taking out a few gold coins and fiddling with them in his hands.

"Perhaps there is currently no resentment among the people of this city and those of Iciclaris like there was in the days of old. But does that make a difference? I tell you, do you wish to hold yourselves back from such an opportunity due to your own emotions? I tell you, you will regret such a decision!! Regretfully so!!! Do not hold yourselves back with hesitation, for he who hesitates loses an opportunity of a lifetime!!! We must move forth, my good people!!! Forth, into the unknown! How many among you hold great respect for the woman who leads this village? While I do not find myself agreeing with her completely, I cannot deny that she has done quite a decent job with the economy."

"Of course we respect Lady Envidia, just as we respect you, Sir Avarco!"

"That is right!"

"Here here!"

Many people cheered out in agreement. The respect held for their leaders was not one of blind loyalty, but rather of legitimate respect.

"Lady Envidia has overcome so many challenges to take up her position as the head of a household, just as you have, Sir Avarco! We understand that much, and will not doubt your decisions!"

"Is that so? How splendid indeed. Then, I take it that you all will join me and the Lady in an invasion of Iciclaris? After all, there is much profit to be made..... for there is a certain trade in which the Lady has developed an eye for.... a certain market, so to speak."

With the gleam of gold in his eye, Avarco threw the five coins up in the air as they flipped about before he caught each of them in a perfect stack.

"Do you all know of the antiheroes? I am sure that you have at least heard the stories from your childhood, no? Yes yes.... it seems that some people have appeared calling themselves the antiheroes, and it would indeed appear that they have been rushing around the world enslaving people after people.... how troublesome this is that they took the upper hand on me, but their actions have opened up the market!!! Do you all not wish to take part as well in the market which they have opened for all???"

"We will do so, Avarco!!!"

"We will fight for you and for Lady Envidia!!!"

"Let us profit together as you will, and ensure that the other cities of the world are not as wealthy as our own!!!!"

"How you all truly do understand not only my own intentions, but also the intentions of the Lady..... it makes me tremble with joy, it does. Then..... let us move out, my friends. Go to your homes and prepare yourselves for battle, for we will be stepping into the market ourselves..... the market of slaves."

The man grabbed his own hat off his head, bowing elegantly while holding his cane underneath his arm. With extravagant movements, he walked off the stage in front of the large gathering, leaving the people to their own means.

'My my my..... how wonderful an opportunity this is.... it is truly a splendid time to be a businessman. I do wonder just what other surprises are in store for me during this time?'

This man was Avarco, the head of the house of Greed.

Closing his eyes, the man held out his finger and a small screen appeared before him.

"Now now.... since the stage has been set, there is merely one final touch to seal the deal. After all, how tragic it would be to convince those people of all that, only for them to back out at the halfway point. Yes yes, it is time to influence the economy a bit more....."

[Demand for slaves has been increased within the city of Volaciophus.]

"Indeed indeed..... the laws of supply and demand are a wonderful thing. How I do love to manipulate the economy within my power as a merchant."

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