“Going once!”
“Going twice!”
*BANG*
“SOLD! Slave Number Sixty Five, Ranko Tendo, going to...”
Ranma didn’t hear the rest of the auctioneer’s pronouncement as she was led away backstage to be prepared for delivery to her new owner. She didn’t need to....She knew how this was all going to go down...She was property, she was owned...and not all the Adjusting that churned her brain to convince her she was ecstatic at being owned and ready to fulfill her full usage at her new master’s whim could keep down her gloom. Let’s just get this over with....
Mifune was jubilant, trying not to dance in place at the podium as he contemplated what had just happened. In all his years of business he’d never been witness to such spirited bidding, such drama, such sheer excitement! His earlier nervousness forgotten, Mifune marveled at the battle of economic titans that he’d had front row seats to! He’d have to check the records, but he was fairly certain that today’s auction had just set a record for a final price bid on a single slave...Most certainly his auction house had never seen such a price paid out!
The Kuno factor sat in his reserved seat silently. Around him others were getting up and leaving, emptying the auction bay, some of them grumbling in disappointment, others commenting on what had just happened. The Kuno representative kept in his place, however, his jaw slack and his eyes glazed.
.....What the hell just happened?.....
Lord Kuno had charged him with acquiring the red-haired Ranko Tendo, approving an obscene amount of credit to get the job done. The message was clear and simple...nobody was to outbid the Kuno claim on the slave, no one was to be able to realistically challenge Kuno money. The fix was in.
...how had it all gotten out of control?....
Even seeing all the other interested parties at the auction, the Kuno representative hadn’t been concerned. He figured most of them were here to make a courtesy challenge to the Kuno claim. They’d seek to draw out the auction, driving up the price in hopes of making it costly for the Kunos, but in the end they’d fall away when it became clear the Kuno juggernaut would not be stopped.
...This was OUR auction!...
...Only they kept hanging in! Just when he thought they’d reached their limits and would concede the field and the prize, somebody else would meet the Kuno offer...and exceed it! He could have sworn that he’d seen hurried alliances in the audience being made as rivals made peace and pooled their resources just to keep the bidding going, others reaching deep into their own resources to insane depths to make one more bid! It was insane! It suddenly reminded him of the historical accounts of tulip-mania in the West! It would have been hilarious if it had not been for his own instructions to win!
...this wasn’t supposed to happen!...
So, unable to contact his Lord for further instructions, for permission to move even more assets to the auction, and ultimately unwilling to disastrously overextend the Kuno expenses, the factor had had, finally, to decline any further bidding and fold...
...unthinkable!...
The factor could only sit there and stare at the empty slave block in disbelief....True, the Kuno family had just made back the money they’d been owed by the acquisition of the debt, but the money wasn’t the point!
...How was he going to tell Lord Kuno he’d failed? That he’d lost to---
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:09)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.