"Didn't expect something like that to be up for auction. This really is the world of magi, huh?"
Looking at the latest item being auctioned, Daniel was visibly surprised. When Lainie had told him this was a magus auction, he had assumed everything being sold would be magic-related. But once he actually arrived, he discovered that while most items were indeed magical, some had nothing to do with magic at all.
Like the current auction item—a nuclear power plant. Located within French territory, it belonged to a magus family. Though the plant itself wasn't particularly large, it was still a nuclear facility.
Aside from that, there were oil fields, plots of land, companies, and other properties—all once owned by magus families. It seemed many of them were facing financial difficulties and had no choice but to liquidate their assets for cash.
"A bloodstained Bodhi leaf… didn't expect so many people to go after this. Shame I don't have enough money. Looks like selling off Fafnir's blood and scales wasn't quite enough… I'll need to figure out another way to make money."
Watching the bloodstained Bodhi leaf displayed inside a magical box on the auction platform, Daniel originally intended to buy it. It was, after all, a genuine holy relic capable of summoning Siegfried. But its price soon exceeded 100 million USD, far surpassing both its actual value and the amount of funds Daniel currently had.
"How amusing. Someone's actually trying to snatch something out of the nouveau riche's hands."
Lainie smiled with amusement as she looked at the three parties bidding for the Bodhi leaf. It was the kind of smile one wore when anticipating a good show.
"That guy's the one who paid big money to buy his way into the Holy Grail War."
"Exactly. Let's hope he doesn't end up like my dear brother—with a tragic ending."
The Fifth Holy Grail War was about to begin, and the Clock Tower had secured two participation slots. One of those had been purchased by the man now sitting in the auction hall—a blond youth named Atram Galliasta, a nouveau riche who had muscled into the world of magecraft with sheer wealth, far more brash than the methods once used by the Edelfelt family.
But his family had money. A lot of it. Coming from the Middle East, his clan owned numerous oil fields. In fact, he had just purchased one of the oil fields that came up for auction earlier. When it came to sheer wealth, even the Edelfelts had to take a back seat.
In the Moonlit World, the people at the top were almost always tied to the world of magecraft. More precisely, it was mage families who occupied the seats of wealth and power across nations.
The reason was simple: without a mage lineage backing you, even massive wealth wouldn't be enough to protect you. A basic curse or hypnotic suggestion was enough to destroy an ordinary person. If a mage really wanted to take down a normal person, it would be child's play.
Using his money, Atram had made a name for himself in the Clock Tower. But because his family's magical lineage was less than a century old, the veterans of the Clock Tower looked down on him. To change that and earn recognition, he spent a fortune buying his way into the Holy Grail War, hoping to make a name for himself through victory.
In that sense, his goal was no different from Lord El-Melloi's predecessor, Kayneth. And as for the result? That required no explanation. Even though the Fifth War wasn't as brutal or cunning as the Fourth, you couldn't walk in expecting to win just because you had money.
Especially when your compatibility with your Servant was poor. That alone spelled doom. History had already proven this with Kayneth and Tohsaka Tokiomi. Atram was no exception.
After thinking for a moment, Daniel deduced that the Servant Atram had summoned must be Caster-class Medea.
"So if that's the case, then he must not have gotten the Bodhi leaf. But if he had used it, who would it have summoned? Siegfried?"
Daniel's mind ran through the possibilities. The Bodhi leaf could indeed summon Saber-class Siegfried, but there could never be two Sabers in one Grail War. Saber was already locked in by Artoria. That meant the leaf would summon Siegfried in the Caster class—Zig.
"Are you deliberately going against me, Luvia Edelfelt?"
As the bidding war dragged on, Atram couldn't contain himself any longer. Everyone knew he was buying a holy relic to participate in the Grail War. He hadn't tried to hide it—he'd even deliberately spread the word. But what he hadn't expected was for someone else to challenge him—someone who also wasn't short on cash.
True, Atram's family wealth exceeded the Edelfelts, but that was family wealth, not his personal fortune. In terms of what he could spend freely, he might not even surpass Luvia.
"What are you saying? This is an auction. The highest bidder wins. Don't tell me you're out of money?"
Though Luvia said this with a smile, after raising the bid one more time, she gave up. She had only jumped in to mess with Atram and had no intention of paying such an exorbitant price. Now that Atram had spoken up, she knew the price had already reached his pain threshold. If she kept bidding and he backed down, she'd be stuck with the leaf—something she didn't actually want.
But although Luvia bowed out, Atram didn't end up getting the Bodhi leaf either. A third party continued bidding until the end, leaving everyone shocked. Most had assumed that third bidder was just there to make trouble for Atram too.
Atram was furious, but there was nothing he could do at the auction. Here, money spoke louder than anything—even if a Lord showed up, the rules were the same. The organizers guaranteed complete anonymity for buyers and sellers. Even though the Clock Tower backed the auction, it wouldn't leak information, not even to its own.
That wasn't because participants particularly trusted the organizers, but because of the self-binding magical contracts in place. These made it impossible for the Department of Legal Affairs to act against sellers. The only way around such a contract would be through trickery—like how Kiritsugu betrayed Kayneth—but that came with heavy consequences. Unless the Clock Tower stood to gain massively, it wouldn't risk destroying the auction's credibility.
As a result, people speculated the third bidder was another prospective Grail War Master, acquiring a holy relic for summoning.
After the relic was sold, the auction moved on to magic tools and materials from phantasmal beasts, many from the Spirit Tomb of Albion, according to Lainie.
The grand finale was the auction of Fafnir's blood and scales. In this era, materials from such a high-level phantasmal species were naturally considered the star attractions.
Especially for alchemy-based magus families.
After those were sold, the auction ended and attendees quickly dispersed. Under the Clock Tower's watchful gaze, even those with ulterior motives knew better than to try anything here.
"I didn't make nearly enough. Looks like it's time to talk business with someone."
Seeing the funds from the auction hit his account, Daniel thought for a moment, then summoned a shadow clone and sent it off to the great eastern nation of the Moonlit World to do some negotiating.
For a magus, there were endless expenses. For example, magic patents from the Clock Tower weren't free. After Tohsaka Tokiomi's death, Rin had managed to keep practicing gem magecraft thanks to the Tohsaka family's holdings in Fuyuki and her father's patents.
But ten years had passed. Those patents were becoming outdated and hardly brought in income anymore. While exclusive magic was rarely sold, for Daniel, even non-exclusive magic was enough.
And besides, money wasn't just needed for magic. The upcoming Mystic Eye train auction would require deep pockets too. Daniel intended to purchase multiple Mystic Eyes there.
"Let's go, Tohsaka."
"Hmph. As if I'd be scared of you."
Facing Luvia's provocation, Rin bent her knees and activated her crest. With a loud boom, she charged at Luvia like a storm. The ground beneath her cracked like a spiderweb—this wasn't normal flooring, but magically reinforced.
Though Luvia had been cautious, she hadn't expected Rin's opening strike to be so fierce. She barely blocked it with her arms, but Rin found an opening and unleashed a flurry of Bajiquan strikes, culminating in an uppercut that launched Luvia into the ceiling.
"Now you see how strong I am!"
Watching Luvia fall to the ground, Rin smirked. Rarely did she get a chance to beat up someone she disliked—she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
"No experience at all… Looks like they clashed too early." Daniel shook his head. Sure, Rin had the upper hand initially, but Luvia wasn't out of the fight yet.
"Got you."
Sure enough, just as Rin let her guard down, Luvia appeared behind her and performed a German suplex. And not just once—but three times in a row. The ground now had three human-shaped dents.
"Nice one!"
"Go get her!"
The watching students cheered excitedly, especially the boys. Watching two beautiful girls wrestle? That was a rare treat.
"You're not bad."
Rin, having escaped Luvia's grip, looked surprised. She had underestimated Luvia, assuming a gem-wielding heiress would never be good at wrestling.
Luvia was equally shocked—Rin was a lady too. Since when did ladies learn Bajiquan?
"You're not bad yourself."
With that, the two went at it again. This time, neither underestimated the other. Bajiquan versus wrestling—within minutes, the environment around them was in shambles. Floor tiles, pillars—everything got wrecked.
"Sigh."
Watching them fight, El-Melloi II sighed. It was a sigh of both awe at their talent and despair at having taken on two more problematic students.
Rin and Luvia weren't troublemakers—until they met. After the auction, Luvia immediately transferred to El-Melloi II's Modern Magecraft department. The two clashed constantly, leading to this duel in practical class.
Naturally, as magi, practical lessons were more frequent than theory.
"Ow ow ow… That brute woman—where does she get that kind of strength?"
"Argh… That musclehead—how can she hit so hard?"
After the duel, the two returned home. In public, they looked calm and composed. But in private, both groaned in pain. Even with body reinforcement magic, the bruises were real.
"All right, enough whining. Let me heal you."
Daniel used Runes to heal Rin. Though healing magecraft existed, Rune-based healing—especially using the original runes—was more effective.
"Oh? You're here too? What a coincidence."
At a café near the Modern Magecraft department, Daniel and Rin ran into Lainie, Luvia, El-Melloi II, and Gray, who looked like they had just returned.
After the Separation Castle incident, El-Melloi II had resumed his detective work. Lainie often gave him jobs—like this one. This time it was the murder of Mari's father from the Astrology Department.
Normally, that would be handled by the department's Lord, Marisbury Animusphere, but he was apparently away from the Clock Tower. Mari didn't want to alert her family, so she asked El-Melloi II to investigate. The whole thing only took a day.
"Yeah. Things really haven't been calm around the Clock Tower lately. Ernest Fargo just died, and now Cardolonne's been assassinated too," Lainie said, feigning sympathy while wearing a very amused smile.
"You mean Cardolonne from Zoology?"
El-Melloi II asked between bites of his sandwich. That man had still been alive when he left.
"Yup. Probably a power struggle within the department. So, dear brother, you've got another case on your hands."
"I just got back…"
El-Melloi II sounded exasperated. Though he was saddened by a colleague's death, such things were far too common within the Clock Tower.
"Lord Rockbell from the Department of Law will probably be contacting you soon. Oh, I nearly forgot—apparently the final participant in the Holy Grail War has been confirmed. It's an Executor from the Sealing Designation Agency. If you want to take part, dear brother, you'd better hurry."
The moment Lainie said this, El-Melloi II lost his appetite. His desire to see the King of Conquerors again had been his driving force for the past ten years. This Grail War was his chance. But even as a Lord, he couldn't just claim a slot—unless he paid up.
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