"Too much yapping. You're interrupting me helping your boss move inventory. Mouth, meet palm."
Rakuya flicked his hand. Mondi's head snapped to the side, the auctioneer's eyes rolled back, and he slumped into darkness yet again.
Mondi's fate drew no pity. He had brought this on himself. Of all the people to needle, he had chosen Rakuya.
With the storeroom picked clean, Rakuya's gaze slid to the manager, whose face had gone the color of ash.
"Hey, old man, any more treasure that needs moving?" Rakuya asked with a spring-breeze smile that made the manager's spine go cold.
"N-no more. That was everything," the man stammered.
"Oh? Funny. I heard you folks keep a warehouse in back, full of the really choice pieces."
Rakuya watched him.
A twitch at the corner of the manager's mouth. A fleeting, glassy look. Guilt, plain as day.
"Heh. Thought so."
In truth, Rakuya had no idea whether there was a warehouse. He was fishing. And the man bit.
The manager forced his panic down and tried again. "Sir, that really is all. We only auction what we have. There is no secret warehouse like you say."
"Do you want to die?" Rakuya's eyes went flat and cold.
"Sir, I swear, there is..."
"No more, huh? Then where are they taking those crates?"
Rakuya jerked his chin at the porters sprinting away with armfuls of valuables.
The manager followed his gaze, saw his own staff hustling treasure toward the back, and his face turned black.
"T-they are thieves. Pirates, the lot of them. Took jobs here to steal from us. With the hall in chaos, they grabbed the goods and ran."
The more he explained, the thinner his voice. Even he did not believe himself.
"Ran off with treasure, did they? You expect me to swallow that? Do I look three years old to you? Sounds like you need a little persuasion."
Rakuya lifted his right hand. The manager rose, weightless, and shot skyward.
Whoosh.
"Help! Spare me, sir, spare me. I will talk, I will..."
His voice dwindled as he shrank to a speck.
Rakuya did not just pull. He could strip a man of the earth's embrace entirely. With gravity gone and a kiss of repulsion added, the manager sailed up as if the ground itself had rejected him.
He was still well within Rakuya's reach.
"Increase gravity."
At Rakuya's murmur, the speck plummeted. Friction set cloth alight. By the time the man screamed past the roofline, his clothing was a wreath of flame.
"Aaaah!"
Rakuya arrested the fall in midair and snuffed the fire with a thought. The manager hung there, charred and shaking, soot-streaked like a beggar plucked from a chimney.
Whether he learned his lesson was his business. Rakuya was ready to send him on another ride if he kept lying.
"Still want to keep lying?"
"N-no, sir. The warehouse is over there. I can take you. Please, do not kill me."
"See? If you had cooperated earlier, we could've skipped the roller coaster."
"Y-yes, sir. My fault. This way."
His heart had nearly leapt out of his throat. He never wanted to feel it again. Meek as a lamb, the manager led the way, while Rakuya kept the Celestial Dragon floating along behind them and followed inside.
The warehouse sat at the rear of the complex, a cage of iron fences with two guards in front and a massive door beyond them. It stretched ten-odd meters across, seven or eight high, thick and heavy as a fortress gate.
"Manager."
"Manager."
The guards straightened at once.
The manager nodded, mustering a hint of authority. "Open it."
"Yes, sir."
They produced a half-meter key and heaved in unison. Metal clanged. Chains rattled. The heavy door rolled inward without a hand to push it.
"After you, sir."
The manager did not dare try anything clever. Plotting here would only get him killed, and ugly.
Rakuya nodded and stepped through. Trap the hallway and he would carve one of his own. Repulsion made excellent doorways.
The guards gaped as the Celestial Dragon drifted after him through the air.
"A Celestial Dragon…"
"He has been beaten. Who is mad enough to do that?"
Terror flickered in their eyes. The manager saw it and snapped, "Stand your post. If you want to live, keep your mouths shut."
"Yes, sir."
They shook, but fell silent.
Inside was yet another door.
"Apologies. Two layers for security," the manager babbled, hurrying to unlock it.
The door swung inward.
Rakuya's eyes filled with gold.
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