Chapter 52
In the original game— <The Sacred Sword Hero Chronicles>, a suspicious merchant visits the academy in the second year. With a shady smile, he sells all sorts of goods.
His wares are incredibly expensive.
On a first playthrough, they're practically out of reach.
Even so, you'll have to make use of him eventually. He sells each heroine's ‘ultimate equipment,’ after all.
『Dark Merchant: Heh heh heh, if you have the money, I can get you anything. From a sacred vestment left behind by a legendary saint to a cursed staff…. Or even things that can make women ‘happy.’』
A merchant with lines straight out of an eroge.
Click on him several times, and he occasionally reveals where his goods came from.
『Dark Merchant: Where they're from? You mean the source…. Heh heh, you'd be better off not knowing. Just know that I acquired these items at the ‘secret auction house’ in Saintroix last August. It was amusing that nobody knew what these things were truly worth. Heh heh heh….』
-Obtained with great difficulty at the secret auction house last August.
That one line.
That one line was the clue that brought her here.
*
Lydia's room.
Morgan sat at the table, deep in thought.
“The Triangle of Desire, huh….”
Lydia sat across from her.
“That is all I know.”
“….”
Morgan closed her eyes,
and began tapping the table for a while.
“….”
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap—!
“…!”
When the rhythm made by her little finger came to an end,
Morgan spoke in a calm voice.
“The Triangle of Desire….”
“….”
She scribbled a triangle on a sheet of paper.
“…The word ‘triangle’ is often used as a term for structural stability. It's a concept widely recognized in magical engineering, the mystic schools, and even the One God religion.”
“Why a triangle?”
“Because it's the simplest structure that can stand on its own. It's simple, yet formidable and stable. That's why it's often used as a representative term for ‘structure.’”
“I see.”
Lydia unconsciously recalled a swordsmanship stance.
And Morgan immediately pointed that out.
“They say swordsmen compare the most stable basic stance to a triangle, right? Think of it that way. ‘Triangle’ is a word that symbolizes stability and structure.”
“You make a very difficult concept easy to understand.”
“I'm a genius.”
After saying it as if it were nothing,
Morgan tapped the drawing of the triangle.
“Anyway…. Here, look.”
“….”
“This triangle is the ‘secret auction house’ you're looking for. It's an extremely abstract representation, but just accept it for now. That's the only way you'll understand.”
“Understood.”
As Morgan instructed,
Lydia thought of the triangle as the ‘Triangle of Desire.’
‘Now that I define it this way, the triangle looks vaguely like a tent, a circus, an event hall…. Something along those lines. Is it a kind of icon?’
Morgan continued her explanation.
“The phrase ‘Triangle of Desire’ basically refers to an emotional structure that affirms desire. Well…. It's a place that sells women, slaves, and whatever else.”
“That's right.”
In Lydia's mind,
the triangle drawing itself became synonymous with ‘desire.’
Morgan explained, guiding her toward that thought.
“On top of that, the word ‘triangle’ itself probably refers to the auction house's hidden structure.”
“A hidden structure?”
“Yeah. They've hidden a blueprint of how the auction house is organized inside that word. That lets the people helping it operate without knowing the whole picture.”
“….”
Lydia pointed out something strange.
“Wouldn't hinting at the structure of a secret auction house in its name be terribly inefficient?”
“No, it's actually efficient.”
“?”
Morgan tapped the triangle drawing again.
“Like I said earlier. While they're distracted by the surface meaning, ‘roof of desire,’ they unconsciously imprint the structure of the auction on the minds of the lowlifes helping run it.”
“Hmm….”
Lydia let out a thoughtful hum. In the end, she shook her head and admitted honestly,
“…I don't quite understand.”
“Look at these three vertices.”
“All right.”
Morgan wrote a word at each of the triangle's three vertices.
『Supply』
『Brokerage』
『Venue』
Lydia read the words.
“Supply, brokerage, venue….”
“Supply means the lowlifes who bring in the goods, brokerage means the lowlifes who run the auction, and venue means the lowlifes who choose the auction site.”
Morgan added an explanation beside each word.
『Supply』- lowlifes who bring in the goods
『Brokerage』- lowlifes who sell the goods
『Venue』- lowlifes who guard the goods
Lydia gave a hollow laugh.
“…So they're all lowlifes.”
“Yeah, stupid lowlifes. The kind who've given up on deciding for themselves what's right and wrong.”
“….”
“Anyway, um….”
As if she'd lost her train of thought for a moment,
Morgan tapped her head before speaking.
“…Oh, right! Anyway, if these three vertices of the triangle are the auction house's ‘lowlifes,’ the three groups cooperate, but probably don't know the whole picture. Each one likely knows only one of the other two as a partner.”
As she spoke,
she scribbled in some arrows.
『Supply』- lowlifes who bring in the goods
→Knows only one of Brokerage and Venue
『Brokerage』- lowlifes who sell the goods
→Knows only one of Supply and Venue
『Venue』- lowlifes who guard the goods
→Knows only one of Supply and Brokerage
Lydia looked at the increasingly complicated triangle.
“So they don't know exactly what they're preparing for? The general process is hidden in the concept of a ‘triangle’?”
“Exactly.”
“But if the auction keeps happening, they couldn't possibly remain unaware. Even if the owner blindfolds them, they'd have to piece together the truth as it gradually comes to light.”
“You solve that by replacing the ‘lowlifes’ after every auction.”
“!”
Lydia said,
“You kill them?”
“No, that would draw too much attention. It's better to replace just a few people after each auction. Specifically, one side connecting two vertices.”
Morgan wrote some numbers beside the complicated triangle.
1.Supply+Brokerage replaced → Venue remains
2.Brokerage+Venue replaced → Supply remains
3.Supply+Venue replaced → Brokerage remains
“Like this. Replace one of the three sides, and the people involved are replaced with new lowlifes who don't even know what they're running. Except for the tiny handful monitoring things from the center of the triangle, the ‘strange secret event that keeps happening somehow’ carries on.”
“So that no lowlife participates more than once?”
“Yeah. That way, they don't realize it's a recurring event. All they know is that they ‘helped with something strange once or twice.’”
Morgan wrote ‘customers’ beside the triangle.
“The Triangle of Desire being held this time will probably differ from the last one by one side, too. The customers will likely arrive by climbing a ladder from a selection agency that exists on the surface.”
“A selection agency and a ladder….”
Lydia was starting to get a headache.
‘She's keeping to a very simple analogy, but several concepts are happening at once, so it's hard to grasp the big picture.’
Morgan noticed her expression.
“Ahem… By ‘ladder,’ I mean the process of selecting what kind of ‘desires’ customers have at a legitimate auction house, then granting them the right to bid at the Triangle of Desire.”
“….”
In other words,
it referred to a kind of VIP screening process.
‘Sexual desire, lust for power, desire for fame, and so on…. They watch what kinds of goods tied to those desires customers buy at legitimate auctions, then invite them to a secret auction house that will indulge those desires to the fullest.’
Seeing that Lydia seemed to understand,
Morgan let out a sigh of relief.
“So, to sum it up. The Triangle of Desire itself is held regularly, but they make the customers feel like it's an ‘irregular event.’ It's a kind of trick.”
“Because each customer is only invited to the ‘Triangle of Desire’ related to the goods they often buy, is that it?”
“Yeah.”
Morgan tapped the paper.
“Probably…. The nobles won't come here in person. No one would be stupid enough not to send a proxy to a place organized this meticulously.”
“….”
“So all we have to do is figure out which of Supply, Brokerage, and Venue stayed the same from the last auction.”
“….”
“What do you think? Anything bothering you, or any ideas?”
“….”
After Morgan had finished explaining everything,
Lydia smiled faintly and said,
“I was just thinking how fortunate I am that you're my friend.”
“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”
“….”
Honestly,
her intelligence was frightening.
‘To hear just the name of the auction house and immediately infer its structure and process….’
Should this level of deductive ability
really be lumped in with the label ‘genius mage’?
Lydia was impressed.
“Honestly, I can't help but be impressed. You can see right through the auction house's structure from its name alone. That kind of insight is incredible.”
“!”
Morgan's ears turned a little red.
“Hmph, h-how…! Anyone with a brain could figure that much out.”
“I couldn't.”
“….”
“Th-that's why I helped you.”
“I see. I'm glad.”
“Anyway!”
Morgan slapped the table with her hand.
Bang!
With that sound,
the paper with the triangle drawn on it fluttered.
“If that pickpocket girl heard right, and this event is an auction related to ‘slaves’….”
“Then one of the unchanged sides among Supply, Brokerage, and Venue will have the ‘owner’ attached to it, so we can look for that one.”
“Given the nature of slaves, who can be noisy or escape, Venue is probably what they'll pay the most attention to this time.”
Morgan scribbled over the word ‘Venue’ in the triangle, crossing it out.
“And the suppliers who can naturally bring in people to become slaves must be limited, too.”
“Right.”
Soon after, she scribbled out ‘Supply’ as well.
『—』—
『Brokerage』- lowlifes who sell the goods
『—』—
Only ‘Brokerage’ remained on the paper.
“….”
“….”
Morgan pointed to ‘Brokerage’ and said,
“The axis that hasn't changed since last time… is ‘Brokerage.’ The faction leading the Triangle of Desire is probably attached to it.”
Then she drew a star beside it.
☆Changed elements
1.Venue changed to make it easier to bring ‘slaves’ in
2.Supply changed to make it easier to bring ‘slaves’ in
3.The lowlifes selling the goods remain the same
Morgan spoke triumphantly.
“If we find the place that recently changed its use or began construction, and the merchant who suddenly brought through a large shipment, then find the broker who dealt with both….”
“We should naturally come face-to-face with the faction running the Triangle of Desire.”
“Well…. That's the theory, anyway. It's probably where the goods from the last auction are being stored safely, too.”
And so….
Without even leaving her seat, Lydia had seen through every trick behind the ‘Triangle of Desire.’ All from a single line of dialogue in an eroge.
‘No, Morgan was the one who saw through it.’
Every deduction had come from Morgan's mind.
Lydia found herself thinking,
‘If this girl had been born in modern society in my previous life… she could've started at least one company.’
Honestly, that seemed far more useful and impressive than being a Sword Master who could make fire come out of her sword. If she'd been born in a peaceful, proper world, she would've become famous long ago.
‘But because she's a heroine in an eroge world, was she inevitably dragged into a pit of poverty and despair…?’
It was unfair.
And yet, she still shone.
“….”
Thinking that,
she fell silent for a moment.
“….”
“….”
At last, Lydia let out an exclamation of admiration.
“Huh.”
“W-what…?”
“Just…. I was thinking, so this is what a genius is….”
“Hmph!”
Morgan crossed her arms and answered primly.
“Of course! I'm a genius!”
“….”
Because she wasn't ordinary,
she had no choice but to be called a genius.
But Lydia didn't say that now.
Lydia's eyes gleamed.
“Then it's time to go find the ‘lowlifes who sell the goods.’ Once we identify the supplier and venue, we can approach them very quickly.”
“Hmph….”
“Come with me. Honestly, I haven't fully grasped this structure. I desperately need someone beside me to help.”
“….”
Morgan grinned.
“Yeah! Of course!”
I'm a genius, after all.