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A butler walked up to Vanessa and whispered in her ear. A moment later, a strange expression appeared on her face, but it disappeared a second later. She smiled at the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just been informed the armadillo had been purchased earlier by the king of Konigreich, His Majesty Vur Besteck. Luckily, there’s more than one armadillo up for sale.”
Vur glanced down at his chest. “Do you need another?”
“No.” Stella’s voice came out of Vur’s tattoo. “One is enough. Alright, you weird ball creature, pee on this. Are you shy? Chompy! I need you to scare something for me!”
Vur reached over and grabbed a piece of meat. He stuffed it into his mouth and stared ahead at the stage. A second armadillo was revealed by Vanessa, and after confirming no one was coming up onto the stage to eat it, Vanessa began the auction. “Only two armadillos were handed over to the Edward family,” she said. “One male and one female. Unfortunately, the male has already been eaten, so if you’d like to find a mate for this armadillo, it won’t happen here. Alas, if the male still existed, I’m sure someone would’ve paid a fortune to buy both of these cute creatures.” Vanessa shook her head before glancing around. “We’ll start the bid at one hundred gold, and I can only hope the seller will forgive me if the price doesn’t reach as high as they expected.”
There was a knocking sound on the door, and both Ed and Vur turned their heads. The maid standing by Vur’s side asked, “Would you like me to open it?”
Vur nodded, and the maid placed her trays down before opening the door. A butler appeared, and behind him, there was a winged woman. “Excuse me, Your Majesty,” the butler said. “This woman claims to be your friend. Security found her wandering around outside the premises. Do you know her?”
Vur blinked. “Oh, hey,” he said. “Where’ve you been?”
“Where have I been?” the Recordkeeper asked. “Where have you been? You went hunting for the Dragon Slayers a week ago, and then you vanished off the face of the planet. It’s like you completely forgot about me.”
Vur scratched his head. “I was sleeping.”
The Recordkeeper nodded. “Why didn’t you bring me with you to the auction?”
“I forgot.”
The Recordkeeper nodded again. “I knew it.” She dragged a seat over from the side of the room, leaving four streaks in the carpet, and sat down beside Vur. “An armadillo is up for sale. You aren’t going to bid on it?”
“I already ate one,” Vur said. He looked to the side, but the maid had been displaced by the Recordkeeper. However, upon seeing Vur’s expression, the maid picked up the trays and switched to Vur’s other side. He picked up a piece of meat and munched on it, watching the auction continue. In the end, the armadillo was sold for two-hundred eighty gold pieces.
The Recordkeeper turned towards Ed Edward, who was standing off to the side. Since he was dead, he didn’t feel any physical discomfort remaining in the same position for long periods of time. “Do you have a catalogue of all the items being sold?”
“We do,” Ed said and nodded. He pointed at a small book placed on the table in the corner of the room. “Would you like one, Your Majesty?”
Vur shook his head. “I want to be surprised. It’s boring when you know everything.”
“I don’t think knowing everything is boring,” the Recordkeeper said. “And that’s my job.”
“That’s probably because you’re boring too,” Stella said, poking her upper body out of Vur’s chest. She was wearing a long pair of gloves that had smudges resembling dirt stains on them. “Your face never changes, and your reactions are even worse than Deedee’s.”
“Remaining unmoved is a positive aspect of mountain elementals,” Diamant said, the brown runes on Vur’s arm lighting up.
“Unmoved your butt,” Stella said and rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen how fast you move when you hide from Zilphy and Mistle.”
The Recordkeeper ignored the fairy and leaned over. She stretched her torso over Vur’s body and grabbed a banana off the tray the maid was holding. Vur furrowed his brow and nudged the Recordkeeper’s arm, which was blocking his view, causing the winged woman to yelp and fall out of her seat. She climbed back onto her seat and stared at Vur. “Why did you do that?”
“I was trying to see, but you were in the way.”
“Couldn’t you have just waited?” the Recordkeeper asked and glanced at the stage. Vanessa was gesturing towards a sword that had just been revealed. “It’s not like the stage will run away if you don’t keep an eye on it.” She shook her head and peeled the banana. “I don’t understand why Tafel likes you so much when you treat a woman like me so poorly.”
“I treat Tafel better than I treat you,” Vur said and picked up a piece of meat. With that, the meat tray was empty, and the maid bowed before leaving to get it refilled.
The Recordkeeper snorted. “A good person treats everyone fairly.”
Vur shrugged. “A good dragon does what he wants,” he said before tossing the piece of meat into his mouth.
The Recordkeeper shook her head before getting up and grabbing the small booklet. She sat book down and browsed through it while eating her banana. A moment later, her eyes lit up. “Hey,” she said and leaned close to Vur, holding the book open. “Can you—”
Vur nudged the Recordkeeper, causing her to fall out of her seat again.
“I didn’t block your view this time,” the Recordkeeper said and stared at Vur as she climbed back onto the chair. “Why’d you push me off?”
“I don’t want to see the book,” Vur said.
The Recordkeeper closed the book and exhaled through her nose. “Alright. Can you help me obtain an item from the auction later?”
“Sure,” Vur said and nodded. “But you have to pay me back.”
“I thought you were supposed to be magnanimous.”
Vur shrugged. “The money’s not mine. It’s Ed’s. It wouldn’t be fair to him.”
The Recordkeeper glanced at the well-dressed skeleton. He nodded at her. “I can have a contract drawn up right away. Since you’re His Majesty’s friend, we can forego the interest, but the principal sum must be paid in full.”