I had countless Titles during my long life. Many which I deserve, many I do not. Before I went into seclusion, everyone called me the Matriarch. Before that, they called me the First, and before that, they simply titled me Monster. Still, a long, long time ago, there was another one—my original Title, the Mechanical Empress.

Barely somebody ever called me by my name, so over time, I've forgotten it. People were never interested in it or in me as a being. All they saw was what they assumed I stood for. 

I honestly tried to make the world a better place, but step by step, I got tired. Tired of bullshit, tired of them loading all their responsibilities on me. When nobody really cares, why should I? So I left everything behind.

All of this doesn't really matter anymore. They've forgotten me and moved on. It still hurts, you know? That's why you dull emotions. 

Wait, you say I contradict myself? Saying stuff about making a better world and at the same time wanting to watch it burn? Nah, you imagine things. Some weeds simply need to be destroyed with fire.

Anyways, let's stop thinking about useless stuff and focus on the auction. Tulsi is already looking at me again with these curious sparkling eyes. 

-------

"Soo, Master. What are we doing with all this money? Honestly, I'm kinda scared that you will toss your gold out of the window..."

"Pah, no faith in me. I know I'm not the epitome of common sense, but even I can handle something like this, probably. You're with me anyway, so don't fret. And if you want anything for yourself, you can bid for it."

"T-That's not what I meant, but never mind. You're lucky that my family had something like economics books in our library. I will do my best to support you!"

"Urg, economics, the dread of my existence."

Tulis snickered at that. What a silly girl. I really can't understand why her parents treated her like a disposable product; she's kinda extraordinary and really adorable.

My attention returns to the auctioneer. The first item had already been sold. Some kind of trinket that supposedly prolongs your life for hundreds of years. It was sold for roughly three thousand gold coins. I honestly didn't know if this was much or not.

"Um, Tulsi...what are the normal prices for basic necessities?"

She gave me this kind of smug facial expression that told me she knew exactly that I was going to ask about it. Gah, I really can't blame her. 

Actually, I wonder how she survived in this town till now. I mean, she's totally naive—she didn't even recheck if I really did cast an illusion over my soul or not. Or is it due to the demon culture and their tendency to respect the strongest? I honestly can't tell at all what's going on in the little mind of this newborn. Ahhh...I've forgotten she's a vetala. Never underestimate one, even if they're this young.

"Did you know that sometimes your gaze wanders off into the distance when you start to think about stuff not related to the question you just asked?" remarked Tulsi.

"Eh, I think you need to answer MY question, you know, because you still have a bargain to fulfill."

Tulsi rolled her eyes. "Tsk, fine, I'll let off the hook...for now."

Did she just...? Seriously, what's up with the changes in her behavior? Did she only act shy and naive this whole time to make her look less dangerous to me? Goddess, I'm rusty, am I?

"Again..." she mumbled. "Anyways, back to your question. I'll try to keep it simple for you. Before I left, I borrowed a few coins from our treasury. After a long journey and bribing some merchants and guards, I got into the city. At that time, I still had ten gold coins. As you know, I've been in this town for quite a while—roughly two months—and have round about five gold coins left. 

"For starters, let's talk about the coin exchange rate. One gold coin is fifty silver coins. One silver coin is one hundred copper coins. For each of these coins also exist a 'compressed' version; they are called large coins. A large one of the particular type is always worth ten pieces of each. But that's just the value of the coins in the human empire. For example, dwarven gold coins are much purer than human ones. Their market value is fourteen human gold coins. But it's not always necessary to pay with coins, but that depends on the location. Also, you could just use jewelry to pay for stuff.

"Either way, most citizens earn around three silver and fifty copper a day. A loaf of white bread coats seventy copper, a roll just fifteen. Food is rather affordable for most. Ah, I don't count meat, fish, or stuff like that. They're a bit more expensive, but you could technically still eat it every day if you're lucky with the food stall or store. But stuff like cloth, kitchenware, soap, and shoes is costly. An average soap price starts at five silver, but honestly, their quality is fairly bad. Because of that, most people use bathhouses every now and then. One visit, one silver coin. If you're going with your children, you don't need to pay for them, till they old enough to earn money. 

"The cost range for a new dress is twenty to thirty silver coins. A new pot for cooking—seventy silver. And I'm talking about the low-quality products. But the real problem lies in the lodging. A simple small room at the low-class inn costs two silver coins a day—sixty coins per month. Food not included. And that's a low-class inn. I'm staying at normal one and pay three gold per month—food inclusive. My room only has a bed, closet, toilet, candle, and a tiny wooden tub to clean myself. I absolutely refuse to lower my standard of living any further. That's why I go out and lure idiots into the back alley and kill them to steal their belongings so I can stay afloat. Well, and to make this area into my turf. My long-term goal was to gain enough levels and power to cloak my demonic presence so that I can go into the adventurer guild and work for them until I'm strong enough to confront my sister and family. In the end, I want to take over the family as its head."   

I nodded carefully after Tulsi has finished her explanations. I totally underestimated her. Back then, newborns weren't this witty and strong. The System really is amazing if such a young vetala can already achieve that. As soon as I have time, the first thing I need to do is take a more in-depth study of how the System works and what it requires to be part of it.

...

"Um...Tulsi?"

"Yes?"

"Am I rich? Like really, really rich?" 

She stared at me for a moment and said with a deadpan expression, "You are probably at the same level as an archduke right now in terms of gold coins. So yes, you are obviously super-rich. Goddess, please help me to hammer some common sense into this one. How did you even manage not to be this wealthy all along? I mean, these items you crafted and have with you are worth nations. You're really a Titled Witch, huh? That means your tragic story was utter bullshit, wasn't it?"

"Uhm...busted?"

"Mh-hmmm, I knew it! So, you wanna tell me or not?"

This cheeky little...where the hell did her respectful tone vanish to?! I got completely fooled by her.  

"Maybe later, not now," I said, slightly gritting my teeth.

Tulsi just looked at me with a shit-eating grin. Ohh, I will get you for that, little girl. 

-------

The auction itself was rather boring up to now. The exotic products were really nothing remarkable, at least to me. 

Tulsi, on the other hand, was on fire. She bought herself several items—a ring, a dress, daggers, some kind of fancy-looking jewelry, a magical shapeshifting armor, gauntlets, a cloak, and a few other things. I somehow felt pity for the other bidders because Tulsi always announced a ridiculous number. She was on a shopping spree and ignored the costs. We already were down to nine hundred thousand coins. I mean, I said she can bid if she wanted something, but girl, it's still my money! I kinda feel like a mother who went to a candy store with her child. Or like a woman who took her wife to a boutique. 

The items arrived every time shortly after the auctioneer announced 'sold!' Our private box was now a bit cramped, but the expressions of the guys who brought the items were worth it. 

"Now, my dear guests, I want to show you an item that we got not even an hour ago. Our master appraiser told me that everything you will see in a few seconds is true. The item we are talking about is a magic sword called 'Dawnbringer'. And don't be shocked; our opening bid is one million coins."

I heard many people whisper about how absurd the opening bid was and that it must all be a silly joke. But as soon as the information was shown on the giant magic orb above the stage, everybody went quiet. Nobody said anything for quite a while. Geez, it's just the failed sword that I put in my cave as bait and gave an edgy name. My 'True Calamity' is something you can call a real magic sword. It's the only weapon that can somewhat hurt me, but sadly it's stuck in a tree. But Dawnbringer...IT'S MOTHERFUCKING F.A.I.L.U.R.E.! 

Calm down, calm down. Take a deep breath—ahh, way better. Still, I hope those idiots will bid on it. I want more gold! Oh! Maybe I could ask the butler later if they also sell estates in the Royal District. A headquarter for my soon-to-be secret evil organization would be lit. He-he-he, I'm kinda feeling young again.

A bid pulled me out of my thoughts, "One million five hundred thousand gold coins!"

What surprised me was that the bidder was the person sitting directly in the loge positioned opposite us. He was fat, his mask was ugly, and his gross hair greasy. His clothes screamed 'extravagant', yet, simultaneously, they begged him not to move so that they would not explode because they were way too tight for him. He had a woman on each arm, both in a slutty outfits that exposed way too much bust. They wore some kind of collar—they were obviously slaves. 

Nobody else bid. I don't know why, but the other guests seemed a bit scared as if they didn't want to antagonize this person. But I wanted to. 

Before the auctioneer could announce anything, I tapped in my crystal and said a number. Shortly after, my bid popped up on the orb. 

The whole hall went quiet; sheer horror etched on their faces. Pffft, even Tulsi was stunned. But this fucking noble pig had the best expression—a face distorted by fury. 

Come one, I only bid three million coins. Well, I don't have that much, but nobody knew that!

With bared teeth, the noble shouted, "Four million coins! And whoever bids more is dead!"

Great words for such a pathetic man. Someone must have had to compensate for something. I laughed...way too hard. Everybody glared at me, shocked. Especially said man was absolutely not amused. At the sight of this, I just snorted with laughter and banged with one hand on the balustrade of the loge, again and again, to somehow get a grip on myself.

A few moments later, my anxiety kicked in. I closed our curtain and sat back on the couch, ignoring the voices. Well, this wasn't subtle of me at all. Still worth it. The auctioneer declared the result and whoop-de-doo that pig lost a large sum of gold, while I became only enriched. It took a while for calm to return.  

Item after another got sold, but each announcement bored me out more and more. No new details about my food, no ingredient called. I kept my hopes low but didn't think the information would be so scarce. 

The auction went on. Now people got sold too—beast-kin, lamia, elves, and so on.  

-------

"We will now come to our final object today. It's a really rare breed, even on this continent. They're hated and hunted down due to their possible potential in hemomany. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honor to present you a Vixiere, a child between a vampire and a vixen."

Surprised shouts and cheers rang throughout the hall. Like gawkers in a zoo...

But then, I smelled something. Something...familiar. It couldn't be! Here?! Oh, fate must be on my side. I could smell her—that pleasurable scent that only one of them carried. Ah, such nostalgia. 

Those idiots had no idea what was lurking down there on the stage. She wasn't just some hybrid of vampire and vixen; she was royalty, a breed of her own, on par with the most powerful beings. A being created that way from the beginning, without blood being mixed beforehand. Yes, my first creation, the Teaden—vixens with the power over blood. Stronger than normal vampires, more beautiful and cunning than common foxes. They could easily be mistaken for foxkin, as they were good at hiding their vampiric side, but they were anything but ordinary.

I had to have her; she was worthy of being taken in by me, of being my knight. Then, I will let her take revenge on those who put her in this situation—she will thrive in all that blood!

Before I could tap on the crystal, the pig cried out, "Seven million gold coins! No one but me will have her!"

...

...

The auctioneer didn't wait long, "And we have a—"

I tapped twice on the black crystal. I heard a puzzled crowd beneath me. 

"What is the meaning of this!" the worthless aristocrat demanded an answer.

I stood up and opened the curtain. "Mine!" I declared, whilst throwing the crystal on the stage, in front of the auctioneer's eyes and the absolutely—even with that emaciated body—stunning Teade. 

The nobleman gave me a death glare, turned around, and stormed out of his loge. I don't think he's just going to let it slide. Good.

"Tulsi, here."

"Huh? What's this?" She studied the ring I just gave her.

"Spatial ring. Carry your stuff alone." I replied flatly.

"Ehh...You...I...What?"

"Come on, I don't want my new servant to run into this bastard!"

She fiddled with the ring and poured some mana into it. She's a natural, huh? Then Tulsi put her stuff away.

"Ready!"

We left the loge—the guards acted kinda weirdly at that, but I didn't care. 

"Mistress is coming, little fox," I muttered and could feel the grin that spread across my face.

 

---

 

I honestly don't know what happened. A moment ago, I was in a cage. Then a man came and declared that I was his and left. Don't know how much time passed after that, but at one point, another man came. I felt a spell being cast on me—I could no longer move. A mage...

Soon after, the blanket got removed. The mage opened the cage; he had a collar in one of his hands. I tried to move, tried to do anything at all, but to no avail.

I had to watch him attach this bizarre collar on me. I was no stranger to the feeling of powerlessness, but never before had I felt so at someone's mercy.    

A shock ran through me, and I almost fainted from the pain. My reaction seemed to amuse the mage, for he grinned maliciously. Then I felt the spell slowly fade away. I was about to pull myself together and lunge at him with my remaining strength.

"Stop!" he said coldly. 

Suddenly, I could no longer move. No, this feeling was different. My head was telling me that I had to obey. I tried to resist that thought, but I just couldn't.

"Don't even try. You are far too weak to resist the slave collar. And the more time goes by, the more it's drilled into that puny brain of yours that you have to do whatever your master tells you, and in no time, you'll come to love every command. It's a nice little custom-made item sponsored by the arch-duke himself. I don't know what he wants with a creature like you, but I don't care. He has some very questionable interests anyway—disgusting inbred pack. Anyhow, your fake auction awaits. What a farce, but whatever."

He gave me an order, and I obediently followed. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. My plan...it fell apart before I could even leave the cage. So it was my fate, after all, to end up like one of those maids whose soul was already dead. I wanted to cry, but that too was denied me.

I blocked out everything around me; it didn't matter anyway because my body was moving on its own. At some point, I heard the command that I should stop, then one that I should go now onto a stage. I did as commanded. 

"We will now come to our final object today. It's a really rare breed, even on this continent. They're hated and hunted down due to their possible potential in hemomany. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the honor to present you a Vixiere, a child between a vampire and a vixen." said a strangely dressed man. 

I laughed on the inside. Those idiots never realized it, thanks to my hereditary skill [Status Forgery]. Unfortunately, I could only fake one status line since I had no chance to level up at all after the attack, but I could at least adjust my race the way my mother taught me. She explained to me that no one should ever know what my actual race was. She made me swear that I would—I did and always will.

A voice cried out. It was the one I had heard first after I was brought downstairs.

"Seven million gold coins! No one but me will have her," said a man, so pig-like that I thought he was an orc and not human.

Please don't...

Then I noticed how the giant orb above me turned entirely black. The hall became silent. Suddenly, a fragrance enveloped me—a scent I used to know only from my mother. It was sweetish and had something pleasantly warm that I couldn't really describe. Fortunately, I could still move my head a little. I looked around a bit, trying to determine the origin of the scent. The human orc voice grunted again, but it was unimportant. 

Then a curtain opened, and the scent just gushed towards me. I tried to look up, but something prevented me from doing so. 

A seductive voice called out, "Mine!" At the same moment, I heard something fall on the stage right in front of me—it was a black crystal.

Then everything happened quite quickly, I was taken off the stage, and the mage who had put the collar on me was already waiting. He seemed visibly irritated and unmistakably didn't know how to handle the situation. He was about to say something when an older gentleman, dressed in black, approached him.

"Change of plans. The Vixiere is coming with me. My customer has a higher priority than the archduke." 

"Huh?! How can that be? No one but the imperial family should be ranked above the archduke. Even foreign nobles wouldn't be so foolish. Who al-"

"Titled Witch. The master appraiser personally granted her that right, and not without reason. I've never seen him like that before. Dear Goddess, she was the person who sold us Dawnbringer like it was some cheap souvenir. I don't want to know what will happen when we deny her something that belongs to her."

The mage nodded slowly. He was trembling, which I found somehow understandable. The only other Titled Witch whose name I knew was the Eternal Witch from my mother's stories. Someone who seemed to be at a similar level was better off not being angered. 

"Then we'd better get going. She didn't seem to like the duke very much and vice versa..."

The mage ordered me to follow him. I don't know why, but some kind of anticipation spread within me, a feeling I thought I'd never feel again. We walked down a narrow hallway, then up a flight of stairs, and turned left. We were now in front of a massive door and walked through. We arrived in a waiting room of sorts. 

When we got to the center, I heard some men rushing in.

"Stop! This slave is the property of our highness the archduke. Step aside and hand her over to us," ordered a soldier in heavy armor.

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that. The rules are reg-"

"Silence, you filthy servant! She's mine, and no one else's," the disgusting voice from a pig rang out.

"I could have your whole little establishment torn down right now if I wanted to. It's only here because I tolerate it! Knights, get those two aside;" then he stepped forward from behind his soldiers and looked at me. "And you, my little toy, are going to have a wonderful night later."

He came closer and closer, reaching out a hand with his disgusting slimy sausage fingers towards me. I tried to squirm, but the collar prevented it. Just before he could touch me, another voice sounded behind us.

"Get your fingers off her, you disgusting fat piece of shit!"