Gathering Husbands with a System in a Game Like World [BL]
Chapter 41: Curators collection

Chapter 41: Curators collection

"You can call me the Curator."

Instantly, applause rose at once from every part of the auction room. The three of them joined in immediately, hands meeting in the same polite rhythm as the rest of the crowd. Kai exchanged a quick glance with Elias, then with Dexter. Confusion and uncertainty passed between them in that single look, hidden behind mild, interested expressions. They clapped like everyone else and turned their faces forward again..

"Tonight’s rules remain unchanged. Violence is prohibited. Theft is prohibited. Identities remain the private concern of each guest. Every transaction is final. Those who forget these rules will not be present for the next gathering, because you would be dead"

No laughter followed. The scilence that settled after the words was heavier than any shouted warning. Kai felt it press against the back of his neck. Whatever the Curator was, the room believed him.

The first lots began to move.

Attendants in blank masks carried items to the lighted platform with practiced care. A grimoire bound in dark scales, A sword whose blade held a core of frozen storm light, Monster cores of unusual clarity, Elixirs, Minerals that seemed to swallow the glow of the floating lamps, Scrolls sealed with old wax. Fragments of relics no one in the upper gallery could fully identify.

The Bidding happened in small gestures, kai looked around, everyone was insanely rich one way or the other.

Kai let the Eye work.

For a while most of what he saw was clean. Then the first wrong note appeared. A mineral cluster carried a hairline thread of violet through its lattice, An elixir held a secondary signature so faint it almost vanished under ordinary scrutiny. A relic fragment felt greasy to the Eye even at distance. The contamination was weak, nearly cosmetic, but it was not accidental. Someone was placing these pieces into the market on purpose.

He kept his expression politely engaged and slightly bored. The last thing he wanted was people suspecting him.

Elias, however, had not shifted in his seat, yet Kai could tell he was already working. The assassin’s gaze never stopped on any one person long enough to be noticed.

Dexter’s attention sat lower and wider. He watched the building. The way the floating lamps hung. The thickness of the walls. The guards who stood near the merchandise and the other guards who stood at points that protected nothing visible on the floor plan. He noted the draft that spoke of a passage beneath the stage, the section of flooring that answered differently under an attendant’s step, the service door whose hinges had been oiled recently. Some of the security was for the auction. The rest was for whatever the Curator kept deeper than this room.

Kai opened the Eye a fraction wider for one controlled sweep and immediately wished he had not.

The corrupted objects were not scattered at random. Their positions formed a loose but deliberate pattern across the platform and the nearer tables, a network of faint violet points that linked through the air like an unfinished diagram. The hall itself was being used as a frame.

The System answered at once.

[Unknown structure detected.]

[Analysis incomplete.]

[Warning: Abnormal energy accumulation identified.]

[Pattern consistency with prior seeded artifacts: High.]

[Recommendation: Leave as soon you are done with your investigation]

Damn, is it that bad?

[Speculation Data incomplete, system is speaking out of genuine concern for host]

[The framing is potentially dangerous to host and his friends]

Nahh! Don’t worry, we would be fine

[Noted]

Kai forced his hands to remain open on his knees. Because he knew that that this was no longer ordinary smuggling. The auction was part of something larger, and every person in the room was standing inside the design whether they knew it or not.

Bidding continued. A set of spell chains sold to a quiet buyer in the third row. A preserved chimera heart drew sharper interest and a higher price. The atmosphere stayed civilized, almost bored in places. Servants moved between the seats with trays of dark wine. Somewhere in an alcove someone laughed softly at a private joke. The wrongness underneath it all kept spreading in Kai’s vision like ink through water.

Then the Curator’s voice returned, and the quality of the quiet changed.

"The next lot requires discretion."

Attendants carried a long shape to the platform beneath a heavy black cloth. The moment the covered form entered the light Kai felt the corruption push against the Eye like heat. Stronger than any previous piece. Concentrated and Contained

Elias’s posture shifted by a single degree. Dexter’s easy manner thinned into something focused and still. Around the hall conversations died mid-sentence. Guests who had been pretending disinterest sat forward. Even the attendants seemed to hold themselves more carefully.

The cloth was drawn away.

A person lay on the display pallet.

Young. Bound at wrists and ankles with pale restraints that glowed with a soft, steady light. Fine violet lines traced beneath the skin, pulsing slowly, as if something under the flesh was breathing in time with his own heartbeat. The chest rose and fell in a shallow rhythm. The eyes were open but unfocused, fixed on nothing. Enough residual humanity remained in the face to make the sight complete.

Kai’s breath stopped.

The Curator’s masked head tilted a fraction, the gesture carrying a clear sense of satisfaction.

"Lot Forty-One," the voice said, calm and pleased. "A living vessel. Fully stabilised. Bidding will open at a price worthy of its rarity."

No one spoke.

The person on the platform continued to breathe, violet light moving in thin paths beneath the skin, while the most dangerous people in Voltra sat in silence and measured the value of a life already half-claimed by the corruption.

Kai felt the Eye flood with information he did not want. The System began logging details in the corner of his vision, clinical and relentless. Around him the hall remained frozen in the moment after the cloth had fallen away.

.