Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Rudy, Rias, and Alice sat on the chair and gazed outside the window.

"Are we supposed to watch the stars?" Rias asked.

Soon, an orb-like object appeared in the sky and twinkled.

Alice squinted her eyes to see clearly, but couldn't make out the object.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's a… drone…" he responded with a sigh.

Within a minute, hundreds of thousands of drones covered the sky and emitted bright light from them.

"Umm… are they supposed to emit such light?" Rias wondered.

"They are… drones equipped with projectors."

"Oh! It's a drone show but advanced?!" Alice cheerfully exclaimed. "I always wanted to go to a drone show."

"This is the auction."

The drones had formed an enormous screen in the sky using the projectors, and the screen was so vast that it was clearly visible from space. Moreover, the quality was so high definition that it could put the highest-quality resolution to shame.

A timer began counting from 10 to 1, and fireworks began to go off.

"I am curious to find out just how much money she burned in arranging all this. And will she get anything in return from the auction? The passes were free, but I am sure she has her share from all the bids," Rias muttered to herself.

"I don't think she even spent a penny on all this. She has many businesses in the world apart from being the ruler of the Underworld. She owns the top drone company in the world, and the drones used in this auction are prototypes and won't be released publically for the next twenty-five years— until the world has caught up to the technology," Rudy explained in a calm voice.

"Calling her a genius or a prodigy would actually be an understatement. She reverse-engineered the advanced and futuristic technology from the equipment and gadgets she purchased from the merchant and made more gadgets based on them. They are far too advanced to be released in today's era," he added soon after.

"You surprisingly know a lot about her," Rias commented with a judging look on her face. "Maria was right."

"I simply researched a bit on her."

"So you research on everyone you meet?"

"I research on the people I consider my friends."

"Oh? So she is your friend now? I thought she was your enemy," Rias remarked.

"As the saying goes, today's enemy is tomorrow's friend," Rudy shrugged.

"I am sure the saying goes both ways, so today's friend could also be tomorrow's enemy."

"I know, and that's why I don't make many friends. And even if I call them my friends, I don't fully trust them like I trust you girls. And there are only three friends I fully trust."

"One is Eric, I guess," Alice quipped.

"Yes. Second is Anothony and the third is Joe."

"What is your reason to trust them?"

"I have known Eric since I was a kid, so I don't see any reason to not trust him. He is one of my best friends and a childhood friend. And… apparently my… Well, that part doesn't rule in anything.

I will say the same for Anthony. He was like a father figure to me from the start. And Joe is a harmless and chill guy. He does what he likes and is always focused on his dreams and goals."

"Do you trust Lu Bela fully?"

"I don't know. Why are we even talking about this? Since when have you become so possessive?"

"I am not. I am just curious. You have a harem, so if you add one more girl, it won't make that much of a difference. Yet, you still keep avoiding every question related to Lu Bela. So it naturally makes your harem members curious and suspicious at the same time."

"I don't avoid questions, and if I do, that means the topic is boring and ridiculous."

"They may sound boring and ridiculous to you, but not to others."

While Rudy and Rias were busy chatting, the auction had already started a few minutes ago, and some items had already been bid.

"Will you two stop fighting?" Alice asked in an annoyed tone.

"We are not fighting," Rudy responded. He turned to Rias and asked, "Right?"

"Yeah. We are just talking." Rias nodded.

"No matter how you look at it, you two were clearly arguing. It wouldn't have taken long for you to start fighting."

"I mean… small or heated arguments like this are no big deal. Don't elders always say that if a couple fights, that means they have a strong relationship… or something like that?"

"We are here for the auction, so let's focus on that only. You two can fight all you want once we go home. Just don't fight in front of me."

Rias nudged Rudy and asked in a whisper, "Why is she acting like this?"

"Couple fight is a sensitive topic for her. I didn't know it, and I found out pretty late in my past life that her parents didn't have a great relationship and used to fight all the time. Mind you, they seemed a loving couple to me until I uncovered the truth."

"Her mother died when she was a kid, right?"

"Yeah, all that happened when we were in their house."

"I can hear you two whispering."

Rudy hugged Alice and said, "From today onwards, I promise I will never argue with a harem member in front of you."

"I would much appreciate it if you never argue with them, but I know that's not possible since, most of the time, it's the girls starting the arguments," Alice commented while shooting a glance at Rias.

"..."