Otaku Witch

The flash of teleportation passed in a blink, and between the closing and opening of her eyes, Dorothy found herself in a massive room resembling a conference hall, still seated in the same position as before at one of the seats at the gigantic circular conference table.

Then came the familiar post-teleportation symptoms, but fortunately, this was only a short-range teleport, and with her strengthened Magic Power, the side effects were mitigated, so this time she merely felt a slight dizziness that quickly faded back to normal.

This put the homebody witch at ease considerably, given that there were so many people in the meeting room, and suddenly vomiting rainbows would have been too eye-catching; her chronic social anxiety definitely couldn't handle being the center of everyone's attention.

After calming down, Dorothy looked around and then gasped in slight shock, realizing that this auction was probably going to be troublesome, given how many people were in attendance.

This circular conference table was on the larger end of the scale, rivaling the legendary one used by the Knights of the Round Table, with hundreds of seats set up around it. With an unending flash of teleporting lights, one witch after another took their seats, and soon the round table was nearly full.

"Ah, so many people know their stuff?"

Facing so many competitors, Dorothy pondered with some confusion, but then it dawned on her.

Not all of them probably knew what they were dealing with; many were likely impressed by the Moonlit Lionheart Rabbit instantly slaying its opponent, thinking it formidable, and hence just placed their vote impulsively.

Even if those there for the spectacle were filtered out, there would still be no shortage of competitors later on.

Dorothy worried inwardly, feeling that her chances were slim, and decided to rely on Senior Mia's financial power later on.

However, on reflection, she realized to her surprise that this was an anonymous auction.

Looking up with the intention of locating Senior Mia along with Alice and Audrey, Dorothy found instead that each seat around the circular table was shrouded by a Barrier, rendering everyone into obscure silhouettes, making it impossible to distinguish who was who.

Furthermore, these Barriers also functioned to block Magic Power, not releasing any magical aura, making it impossible to recognize anyone by sensing their Magic Power.

On second thought, the homebody witch found this to be a good thing. After all, bidding at auctions could easily offend people; novels always advised using disguises at auctions to avoid retaliation afterward. With the auction providing automatic anonymity, it was a user-friendly feature that relieved worries about bidding.

But this made things less friendly for the Exotics; now they truly had no reference information to go on, and later when choosing whom to follow, they'd have to rely solely on the bids offered.

This was as shady as opening blind boxes; after all, having more money didn't equate to being a good person.

While Dorothy was lost in her wild thoughts, a figure suddenly hopped onto the small stage at the center of the circular table, which was none other than the protagonist of this "auction," the Moonlit Lionheart Rabbit.

........

At this moment, Sidwell was in a foul mood, having had enough of the damned witches' Pride. If not for the Prophecy she had to consider, she would've long wanted to storm off in disdain. Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire

But there was no help for it; her kind needed a new home, and the direction pointed to by the Prophecy of salvation lay within this accursed Slave market.

"Stay calm, stay calm," she chided herself inwardly. "I am no longer the impulsive Knight of the Moon as I once was. As a queen, I must have ample patience and endurance. You must endure."

Miss Moon Rabbit comforted herself in her heart.

However, despite her self-reassurance, the flame in her heart had not been extinguished, just temporarily suppressed.

Sidwell had never once considered becoming queen, the burden of standing at the pinnacle, guiding the entire race where every word and action could determine life and death, was too overwhelming. Her goal had always been singular: to be the Knight of the Moon, responsible for the protection and expansion of her race's territory.

But Fate played its cruel hand, just as she had flawlessly broken all records in the Knight trials, on the brink of becoming the new Knight of the Moon. That night, the queen suddenly Summoned her.

For that Summoning, Sidwell hadn't thought much of it; she assumed it was because she had done exceedingly well, attracting the queen's recognition, and that this was surely to reward her.

Yet, when she appeared before the queen's eyes at the Royal Palace, she was stunned silent as the queen's first words were, "You've arrived, my daughter."

Completely bewildered by the queen's words, Sidwell thought herself an orphan, weren't her parents dead on the battlefield? Why was the queen suddenly calling her daughter?

But before she could comprehend the situation, the queen's subsequent words left her with no time to think any further.

"My life is soon to end along with this world. My daughter, you will be the new Queen of the Moon after I have passed..."

That night, the queen spoke many words to her, or, more accurately, imparted many parting instructions.

According to the queen, the life of their Moon World was nearing its end, verging on destruction, and to face this apocalyptic crisis, they had long been preparing, with the Ark of salvation already built.