Gaius felt that it was probably fortunate that the concept of disposable plates hadn’t been popularised in Orb, as he watched little Nakama stuff her cheeks with really good food. The chicken meat was marinated well, which showed when one bit into them to liberate the fragrant meaty juices locked within. The rice was not just any old white rice — it had been infused with what Gaius vaguely remembered as the characteristic flavouring of the rice used in Earth’s Hainanese chicken rice.

And there were so, so much of it.

Until Nakama and Gaius came along, that is. The little lecturer in particular had somehow cultivated to the point that his appetite and eating speed was just half of Nakama’s. Personally, he’d felt that there was something odd about this order, but the fact remained that Nakama could polish off two plates when Gaius licked his own plate clean.

They’d made repeated trips to the table full of buffet chaffers, so much so that people had noticed them, only to turn away when they noticed Gaius’ white cloak. Gaius was beginning to feel really grateful towards Senator Alexandre’s words — who knew that his status had that much of a deterrence effect?

The little boy swallowed down some food when he saw Nalus approaching, the latter with a conflicted expression on his face. His footsteps were somewhat flustered, and Gaius could tell that someone, or a lot of someone-s, had pointed out the Ravaging of the Buffet by a little sibling duo, one of which was apparently a lecturer.

Given the fact that there were still one-third of the food remaining, Gaius could only feel somewhat maligned, though. He steepled his tiny hands as Nalus approached.

The Auctioneer cut straight to the point, his face showing some fear and despair. “I’ve received complaints that…”

His voice trailed off as Nakama returned with yet another helping of food.

“Yes?”

Formality fled from Nalus’ words as he said, “People are saying that you’ve ate too much, essentially.”

Gaius raised an eyebrow as Nalus wilted on the spot. “Well, I’ve eaten only three plates, so there must be an exaggeration somewhere. Who are those complainers? I’ll talk some sense into them.”

The little boy lied as naturally as he breathed, halving the amount of food he actually ate and promising a peaceful settlement to this problem. The little girl beside him, who was actually the main target of the complaints, had slipped out of Nalus’ mind at Gaius’ words, though.

“No need to talk some sense into them!” Nalus panicked. “You know, it’s alright! There’s still so much food uneaten, after all! I’m an idiot, just an idiot!”

After that outburst, Nalus zipped off to some place out of sight, and the little duo resumed their harvest. Gaius wanted to spend more time watching Nakama eat, but the buffet was cut short by the persistent ringing of bells.

Nalus appeared on stage again, and whatever fluster he might have had was gone from his face. With a grin on his face, he broke into yet another spiel of niceties for a minute or two.

“…will be filled with more valuable and rare items. So, keep your hands ready, and let the second half begin! First off…”

Nalus clapped his hands, unveiling a featureless white mask. “The first item of today is the Auspices of Concealment. It’s a mask of ancient origins that changes your face to whatever you want, along with your voice.”

Gaius looked around. No one seemed particularly interested in it, and the reason soon hit him. The beastfolk, for all the pragmatic policies he’d seen the undertake, was still affected by cultural values of pride and honour. Only the Intelligence Department might want the mask…and they didn’t seem to have enough moolah for it.

“Three thousand,” Gaius raised his hand and gave what he saw was an acceptable price. No one contested him for it, oddly enough, and his Exchange points took a small hit. Even Senator Alexandre didn’t seem to be too bothered by what essentially was a steal.

Nalus clapped his hands again. “Now, an item you’ve all been waiting for. A rare object, to be sure, an Engine Augment!”

Engine Augment? Gaius leaned forward as the Auctioneer revealed a little ring.

Holding the ring up, Nalus said, “Wearing this ring, which is incidentally nameless, appends the Shell ability to any Engine. Although a Shell is still weaker than the rare ability Barrier, this ring is a prototype — its Shell has been tested to be three times as strong as the standard Dynamo’s Shell!”

A wave of confusion swept the Harvesters as they muttered the word ‘Dynamo’, but it wasn’t the same for the important men and women of Ark City.

“I see you’ve heard of a Dynamo,” Senator Alexandre spoke up.

Gaius nodded. “Heard about it a week or two ago.”

Senator Alexandre glanced at the other senators, and indicated at a medium-sized man with a horn on his forehead. “Senator Guo Ming was the first to push for Dynamo production at the expense of creating Engines. He’d seen their potential when the North sent the blueprints to us, and the East-West Alliance.”

He motioned to a tall woman with a set of wings tucked behind her back. “Senator Harlinder, on the other hand, felt that Engine production should not cease entirely. Her faction felt that an individual that was strong enough could change the tides of battle personally, while Senator Guo Ming’s faction advocated the use of elite squads.”

Gaius wasn’t too sure about what Senator Alexandre wanted to achieve by introducing parts of the Congress to him, but it was rare that he even had a chance to learn about the secretive authorities of Ark City.

“How about you, sir?”

“Me? I don’t care for this — my main focus is on civil governance. I did use to support the notion of trying out our own summoning of heroes from Earth or other worlds, though, during the Second Extermination.”

Gaius reined in his excitement. In a bland voice, he asked, “What changed your mind?”

“The revelation that normal Summoned are enemies of this world, of fate itself. Only those called by the great gods avoid this immense demerit, having been blessed by them.” The senator shook his head. “We hypothesised that their body was too infested by strands of what Champion Octantis called karma.”

“Body? How about the soul?”

“Soul?” Senator Alexandre chortled. “You should read more history. The great gods tried to summon souls alone, but none of them made it through. The body is the shell; without the skin to hold in our organs, we will never survive.”

Gaius revealed a thoughtful look on his face, but all he could feel was a chill within him as Nalus concluded the ring’s sale.

How…did I enter Orb?

He stared up at the sky as Nalus took out yet another treasure, before abandoning his thoughts. There was time to ponder on his own circumstances later.