Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

[Umm… My name is Elizabeth Zenith, the last survivor of the Orcelona Dynasty and the last descendant of the royal lineage of the Zenith Empire. I am 24 years old. My introduction may sound cool to you, but I am not. And it's just a name. It doesn't mean anything in today's era. I was—]

[Get to the point, seller. You have one minute,] Lu Bela ordered.

Rudy turned to Alice and Rias and said, "See? She is pissed."

[I… I-I didn't mean to hide this from anyone. I didn't even know that the castle, or rather the entire island belonged to me. My father told me on his deathbed and asked me to read a certain book in his library that contained the history of the island.

Ever since I became the owner of the island, I have had visions. I feel scared every time, and thus I have decided to sell it. My father died three months ago, and I personally have never been to the island before.

I know where it exists, but I had no idea it was drowning. I just assumed the rest of the island was washed away with time, and the castle remained as it stood on top of a mountain. I didn't mean to fool anyone, and I sincerely apologize. I will withdraw from the auction. Please forgive me.]

"Hmm~ I don't think she is lying," Rudy mumbled.

"I agree. It didn't seem as though she was trying to fool anyone. She seems innocent," Rias seconded with a nod.

SIGH!

"So no more castle~" Rudy groaned in frustration.

"Sadly."

'Wait, if the island is drowning… I can simply…undrown it. I am more curious as to why she wanted to sell something so precious if she didn't know it was drowning?'

Rudy grabbed the remote and spoke into the mic:

[Why do you want to sell the castle?]

[As I already said, I have been having nightmares about this place, and I know the castle very well even though I have never been there. It's bad luck. It's haunting me, and I want to get rid of it.

I went to a spiritual master saint for help regarding this, and he told me I have some connection to that place. And if I want to break that connection, I have to give the castle to someone else, which brings me here.]

"This just got even more interesting," Rudy muttered.

[So, in order to get rid of the dream, you came here to sell the castle so someone would buy it and get haunted in your place? That doesn't sound good. You never said I will be getting a complimentary 'get haunted ticket' with the house.]

[I never thought of that. Deep down, I believed I was becoming mentally unstable. After all, ghosts and monsters don't exist. And let's say my nightmares truly had a connection with the castle somehow, but that's only because I am the last remaining survivor of the Zenith bloodline. You shouldn't have any… wait, no, I am not selling the castle anymore, so it doesn't matter.]

[I am still interested in buying the castle, though.]

[But it's—]

[Yeah, I know. And I want to buy it despite that. I am ready to pay whatever amount you ask for.]

[Why would you do that? It's a bad investment.]

[Name your price.]

After a brief silence of a few seconds, Elizabeth said, [I will sell you the castle and the entire Orcelona Dynasty— the island for fifty thousand dollars.]

"She decreased the price from seven hundred billion dollars to fifty thousand dollars…" Alice muttered with a surprised look on her face.

"She seems like a good girl. She could have asked millions or billions if she wanted, but she didn't. I truly don't think she meant any harm," Rias said calmly.

"So… final?" Rudy asked them.

"It's up to you. If you have a solution to stop the castle from drowning, I think it's a pretty good deal for fifty thousand dollars," Rias nodded.

Alice shrugged her shoulders and said, "You can't even buy an apartment at that price."

Since the starting bidding amount was decreased to fifty thousand dollars, almost everyone present in the auction had made their bids. They all had become interested, and the final bidding amount reached fifty billion dollars.

"Bastards!" Rias hissed at them. "None of them wanted to buy it when the bid was at eight hundred billion dollars, and now they want it like worms going after insects."

She turned to Rudy and pointed her finger at the television.

"And you wonder why I hate humans so much. It's in their nature to be greedy and selfish."

"Relax, I can counter the fifty-billion-dollar bid."

[The first person to bid was number sixty-nine, so they have priority in this bid. If they wish, they can buy the castle for fifty thousand dollars, as asked by the seller. The remaining amount will be paid by the auction master.]

[There is no need for that,] Rudy said on the microphone of the remote. [I will pay sixty-nine billion dollars for the island. If someone counters my bid, I will counter it again. I will keep doing it until there is no one standing in my way.]

[Sixty-nine billion dollars bid by the number sixty-nine! Is there anyone to raise their bid?! One! Two! Three! Sold! Congratulations to number sixty-nine for their purchase!]

SIGH!

Rudy let out a short sigh and leaned on Rias.

"You don't look excited now. What's wrong?" Rias asked with a confused look on her face. "I thought you were interested in the castle."

"I was. But now that it's mine, I lost all the excitement."

"..."

"Consider it a curse of being able to do anything I want, call it 'The Curse of Lord'," he sighed again.

"Let's hope the castle looks as good as it seemed in the hologram," Alice muttered. "Fingers crossed."

"We will have to make many changes, including renovating it to give it a modern, or at least a Victorian, touch to it," Rudy started with a composed look on his face.

Thus, the auction ended with a successful purchase by Rudy. And the after-party begins!