Recollection - Antiques Poppyshow

It's so noisy in here... This place is like a melting pot of human desires just waiting to spill over.

I was told this Singularity was home to all manner of new entertainments...

...but even I failed to imagine the sheer extent of this spectacle.

Human desires are limitless.

New forms of decadence and madness that people in the past could never conceive of crop up whenever the world changes.

I've seen plenty of people turn feral from fear and hunger during times of war.

Now, even amidst these glaring lights and overflowing buffets, these people are exposing their shamelessness for all to see.

I'm sorry, Yu. I brought you here in the hope of showing you something new...

...but all I did was end up showing you more of the same noise that has always troubled you.

Not at all, Lord Xiang Yu. As long as I am with you, I can find happiness wherever we go.

Hey! How does a roulette wheel just happen to land on black five times in a row!? You sure this game isn't rigged!?

？！

Oh, hello, Master. Are you exploring this city of madness as well?

？！

My beloved there was just "blowing off some steam," as they say these days. It has been a delight to see her enjoying herself. She's as happy and bubbly as a little girl!

I lost AGAIN!? Rrgh, dammit! All right, I'm putting it all on the next round! This'll turn it all around!

？！

It's all right. My beloved tends to restrain herself far more than is necessary.

I expect that is the natural result of her being forced to live among mortals for so very long.

Her true nature is one who embraces freedom, flitting throughout this world as the wind sweeps through the plains.

All right, I'm going big on the third dozen! That's got to cover all my bases! Actually, the hell with it! I'm throwing the rest of my chips in, too!

You better not screw me on this if you know what's good for you, dealer! Got it!?

？！

No, my ability to calculate the future would be cheating. ...Incidentally, the next number will be red seven.

Gaaaaaah!!!

？！

That's awful... If she'd only talked to you beforehand, then

It's all right. What my beloved seeks here is pleasure, not profit.

She knows that if she were to seek my counsel, that would all collapse like a house of these playing cards.

Dammit! All right, here! Now hand over more chips!

？！

Ahh, she's beautiful even when she is flushed with passion.

At last, my beloved is forgetting all about the fatigue she accumulated over her endless eons. She reminds me of an innocent young girl setting foot in the wider world for the first time.

Um, that's great, and I really am happy for both of you, but...where did she get all that money?

Fujimaru, do you have a minute? I could really use a hand over here.

King David is leading an impromptu auction in the ballroom as we speak...

...and I think it may need to be stopped.

Why? What's David up to now?

It would be faster if you took a look for yourselves. I'll explain further after that.

Our next item is this priceless celadon porcelain from China's Jiangxi region.

As you can see, this artifact from the Tang dynasty has been preserved in perfect condition. Cash bids only, please.

Porcelain from Jiangxi, huh. Could be something out of Jingdezhen, though its design seems a bit crude for that.

Don't be ridiculous. Jingdezhen originated in the Song dynasty. There's no way this dates back to Tang.

Then again, given everything else that's been sold at this auction, it could be another rare find...

Maybe it was even glazed in a kiln that predates Jingdezhen entirely...

Oh come on, that would change Chinese history as we know it. There's no way something that earth-shattering would be sold in a shady underground auction like...

Actually, now that I think about it, this is probably the only kind of auction where it would be sold, isn't it? I mean, I couldn't imagine something like that being sold openly...

Hmm. If it really is genuine, the fact that it's purchasable at all would be a small miracle.

Hmm... Do we make a bid on the off chance it's real, or not? Man, this is a bigger gamble than anything in the casinos.

Y-yes, this is far beyond what I would have expected an auction like this to be selling.

Right. Academically speaking, this is utterly outrageous. It would be a tragedy if these historical artifacts were to be lost without any record of their existence!

I've been asking King David to shut it down, but...

Why should I do that? Everything I'm selling here was just wasting away in my client's basement.

What's wrong with giving the public an opportunity to see them?

In fact, I'd go so far as to say I deserve a Planetary Peace Prize for this contribution to society!

How is holding an impromptu auction at a hotel giving the public an opportunity to see them!?

If these items really are that valuable, then they need to be sold at a proper auction to verified buyers!

Hmm, even if I agreed with that, my client insists that all transactions be made in cash, so there's not much I can do.

Besides, what kind of king of Israel would I be if I gave up my twenty-five percent commission?

？！

Listen to me. Not only is selling priceless artifacts like this an affront to the entire field of archaeology...

...they could cause untold disaster if they were to end up in the wrong hands!

Just imagine if some unscrupulous actor made counterfeits out of an undiscovered artifact! No one would be able to determine which was the genuine article any longer!

It would be infinitely preferable for them to remain buried than for it to come to that!

Yes, well, I'd certainly be a bit more wary of that sort of thing if these relics came from the Middle East...

...but see how all of these are from China...

...I'd prefer if an expert in Chinese affairs handled that sort of thing.

Why am I not surprised King David would say something like that...

As you can see, Fujimaru, he refuses to listen to me. Would you please say something to him too?

Oh, are you going to join the discussion too, Fujimaru? Do you have an argument that can overturn the validity of my position?

Of course, if you're here to talk business, I would gladly opt for that over pointless arguing.

Honestly, I've given some thought to the dangers El-Melloi mentioned myself, and I'd prefer to avoid them if I can.

If you could take all these relics off my hands here and now, I would be more than happy to oblige.

Let's see. In that case, I could lower my margins to only three percent, so...

Yes, I'd be willing to let all of them go for just one billion QP!

？！

I'm not paying you to stand around yammering, King of Israel. How's my fundraising coming along?

...

Heh. Everything's going swimmingly, of course. Here you go: the proceeds from the last round of bidding.

？！

Yu Mei-ren... So you're David's client.

What's all the fuss about? Is it such a big deal for me to sell an old teapot just to make some spare cash?

Does this mean these are all your possessions up for auction, Yu Mei-ren?

That's right. They're furnishings I left at the hideouts I'd move around between a long time ago. Junk, basically.

I still remember where those hideouts were, so I stop by now and then to collect the things that haven't fallen apart, since merchants always offer ridiculous amounts of money for them.

I swear, I'll never understand what you humans see in this junk.

How can you not see that this "junk" has incredible historical value!?

I could understand a secret treasure from the sage world, but I can't for the life of me understand why you'd get so worked up over a piece of trash just because it happens to be a thousand years old.

Those thousand years may have been nothing to you, but they carry a great deal of weight for humanity.

Even if you can't understand that, I'd hope you could at least treat them with a modicum of the respect they deserve.

Don't you lecture me! Besides, unless you're offering to pay off my debts for me, how else am I going to get money for my casino war chest?

THAT'S why you were willing to sell the oldest known celadon porcelain artifacts in recorded history on the black market!? You're a goddamn idiot!

I foresaw that my beloved would end up in a dire predicament. I don't know why it came to this, but now that it has, we will do whatever we must to win.

Senpai... I don't think we'll be able to talk them into seeing reason.

？！

What's the big deal!? Isn't money SUPPOSED to be easy come, easy go in casinos!?

Why's it okay for humans to gamble, but not me!? This is Yu Mei-cist!

Beloved... I think you should take this chance to cut your losses.

According to my future calculations, you will not win a single game of chance tonight.

...I don't suppose you mean I'll lose more than I'll win, do you?

I do not. You will lose every last one.

What if I go big on a long shot? Do I have any chance of winning that?

None. You have many talents, beloved, but gambling is not one of them.

But, then... That would mean I came all this way to this city of vice and decadence for nothing...

？！

Yu, my beloved, you said it yourself. As long as we are together, we can find happiness wherever we go.

The night is young, and the moon is bright. Why don't we go for a long ride outside of the city?

There is nothing but desert there as far as the eye can see. It is a vast, untouched swath of land reminiscent of the Central Plains from ages past.

Ahh, that sounds wonderful... Are you sure?

Since I have materialized in this strange body, we may as well enjoy it.

Come, climb on my back. Let us run through the desert under the moonlight and enjoy the night breeze together.

Gladly!

...And just like that, they're gone. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about being left behind so unceremoniously...

Hmm. If I'm not mistaken, since these relics were entrusted to my care, I believe they now belong to me.

Not for long. I'm going to ensure that you donate every last one to a reputable museum. On that, you have my word.