Villain Hiring: Help! Author Wants Me Dead

"Try not to kill the mood again," I whispered to him as we passed each other.

He chuckled but didn't reply.

Typical, I groaned.

But now?

Now, it was my stage.

Outwardly, I gave a perfect smile.

Elegant and polished. The kind you practice in front of a mirror until it becomes your face.

I smoothed my hair back, long strands of black combed neatly and held with a thin band at the back of my head.

My suit, midnight blue with silver embroidery, fitted me perfectly. Gloves tight. Collar straight.

Every inch of me screamed control, confidence and a sense of presence no one could ignore.

I wasn't tall, but I stood like I owned the ground beneath my boots.

Well...technically I did.

The crowd had gone quiet as I gleed internally with happiness, after all, the silence was finally mine now.

I placed one hand over my chest and gave the room a deep and respectful bow.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," I said, my voice amplified by the enchanted seals around the mic. Smooth, warm, and deliberate. "First and foremost...I ask you all to breathe."

A few did, but most didn't.

I raised both my hands slowly.

"Yes, the words spoken just moments ago are heavy. They strike fear, stir a damn lot of questions, and shake our very souls.

But let me remind you all—fear is only the shadow of unreadiness."

I scanned the crowd from floor to floor. From the trembling nobles on the second floor, the stiff-backed warriors on the third, to the sharp-eyed merchants and lords seated on the fifth.

"All security functions have now been fully restored," I continued, motioning to the Lapui guards with a single nod.

Instantly, the glowing seals on the exits shimmered and relaxed, though the guards stayed ready, weapons still strapped but no longer drawn.

"No one is trapped," I reassured the lot. "No one is forced to stay. You are free to leave. You are free to stay. You are free to send messages or summon aides.

Your safety and freedom are of the highest priority to the House of Lapui."

I gave it a pause.

Let the weight settle before shifting the mood.

"But let me say this—what Venus D. Romero said was not a warning of doom."

"It was a reminder. That change…has already started."

I smiled brighter now. No longer the calm host. But the face of an opportunity.

Looking at every face in the hall slowly, I let out a glaring laugh.

"And what better place to prepare…than here?"

A murmur rolled through the floors.

I knew what they were thinking.

Of course they wanted to run. But even more than that…they wanted to survive.

"And so," I continued, pacing slowly across the black platform, "House Lapui has decided—given the significance of today's announcement, we will be adding to this auction…"

I raised my hand dramatically.

"…some of our most prized possessions."

Gasps erupted. Some loud and some controlled.

Eyes lit up. Bodies leaned forward. Scrolls were unrolled. Communication runes blinked to life.

"Items we had no plans of ever releasing," I said, savoring each word. "Weapons forged before the Age of Spirits. Armor worn by the First Defenders. Even a few relics once thought lost to time."

Chaos returned—but this time, it wasn't panic.

It was excitement.

The kind that makes a man sell his last estate to buy a blade.

The kind that drives noble sons to duel their fathers for access to family vaults.

The kind that changes history.

The tension in the room shifted, warped, and twisted from fear into something else entirely.

Greed.

Yes. There it is.

"And so," I said, raising my hand high, voice growing stronger, "House Lapui has decided to bring out the items we had sworn never to sell. Treasures lost to time. Power that even kings feared."

A wide ripple spread through the crowd.

Someone shouted, "What kind of treasure?!"

And I gave them the answer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…one of the final bidding rounds tonight will include...The Rebirth Flames."

Dead silence.

"What?!"

"That's not possible—!"

"You lie!"

"Didn't even the last cinders of them vanish years ago?!"

I raised both hands to calm the crowd down.

"No," I said firmly. "This is no lie. The weapon has been sealed beneath Lapui Vault 0.

Not only this, but we have another spectacular thing that I feel will blow up everyone's mind.

I gestured with a flourish, and on cue, the center of the obsidian platform shifted.

A massive runic disk lit up, with golden lines weaving across the floor like veins of power. Slowly, a large crystal coffin rose from the depths below, encased in a hundred binding chains, each carved with mana symbols lost to most modern scholars.

Inside the crystal, floating silently, was a blade.

Long, black...and starless.

The air around it distorted faintly—as if space itself didn't want to touch it.

Its hilt was silver, but the blade looked like pure emptiness carved into form — almost transparent, almost invisible, but solid and terrible.

It was thin, elegant, and completely, utterly wrong.

A Hollow weapon.

"I present to you…" I said softly, "—the last confirmed Hollow-forged blade: Nekros Fang."

Whispers turned to shouts.

And shouts turned into screams.

My eyes smiled only wider and wider as I realised the absolute madness the blade had caught everyone in.

"This…this can't be—!" Someone shrieked.

"That's a god-tier artifact!"

"A Hollow blade…here?!"

"Shut up and bid already!"

A group of guards and mercenaries near the second balcony immediately vanished into portals, no doubt ordered to return with funds.

From across the floors, nobles activated their communication circles, yelling at aides to bring more coin, more artifacts, and definitely more liquid wealth for me.

I watched them all lose their minds as my lips curled into a smile.

"Of course," I continued, casually as if not just announcing the presence of a weapon that could eat souls, "you are all free to participate in the bidding…or not. This is still a private auction. But be aware, opportunities like this won't come again."

I paused.

"Ever."

Then came the final strike.

"To give everyone time to prepare, and, I assume, teleport their vaults over...the auction will resume in thirty minutes."

"...Starting, now!"

***