☀️ Arselia and Akonia

Sanexa and Sidonia clap their hands.
- Someday, you two should try performing as a duet; it should be very good!
- That's a great idea," the second singer agreed cheerfully, "but... it seems like I now have one less star.

—A duet? Why not?" the performer said, bowing dramatically. —And don't worry about the stars; we'll go somewhere else. And I think you can vote for the instrumentalists later. By the way, can you tell me how this process actually works? —Sidonia asked. —I mean, people come and perform their songs at different times, but how do you listen to them and evaluate them afterwards? I can hardly imagine any magical intervention within the walls of Ikigai...

In some parallel time, or while Arivelle is thinking, since Klin is also in Ikigai, she smiles at him and Sanexa:

—Oh, Blade ) Can I ask you a small question in private?

Whisper-whisper-whisper:

—Tell me, are prizes with a negative number of rem legal in the empire? And if a person doesn't have such funds or property as compensation, will they really have to give all their salary to the robbers for some time? Are there no bankruptcy mechanisms?

—You can even have two," he smirked. —Prizes with what? Is it like sending something by mail, and they become your eternal debtor?" the grandmaster looked at him with a heavy gaze, and finally sighed: —At least, that explains your painting... Well, first of all, financial law in the empire is about the same level as individual legal law. If you're friends with some important figure or the governor, they can't blackmail you. But otherwise..." he rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. —Otherwise, you need to know the whole story with these "prizes" of yours. If it's like those "robbers" from the back alleys who caught you off guard, that's one thing. But if it's an official organization where you left your passport, signature, and other documents before participating in a raffle, that's something else. If there's no confirmation or witnesses, you can put a debt on anyone. But even if there is, you can always pretend to be insane, or that you were forced to "win" the debt... But keep in mind that in both cases, depending on the boldness of the "organizers," they might come after you, and the legality won't matter," he shrugged. —After all, we're not living in a fairy tale.