The winning bid was a shocking one hundred and forty three gold coins! The auction house would receive 20%, leaving them with one hundred and twelve gold and forty silver. Additionally, there was a reward of fifty gold for it being the highest bid item.
"You can keep the rest."
"But, Uncle Bartos!"
"Keep it. Kate's birthday is coming up so you can use it to buy a present for her."
Even with that excuse, Shui still wanted to give some to Bartos but he knew that he couldn't overcome that stubborn wall of his. Shui gave sixty gold to Yur as commission and handed the rest to Bartos for safekeeping. Bartos didn't want to take any but he wouldn't refuse keeping it for Shui.
After the auction, they went back to Barbarian's Rest Stop for dinner. The room Bartos got for the three of them had two beds. Bartos and Yur took one bed while Shui took the other. It would obviously be cramped for two grown men to sleep on one bed, but both of them stayed still when they were asleep so they could manage do it. Besides, it wasn't the first time either since Bartos was quite the miser.
The next day, Shui and Yur woke up early to go around the city while Bartos stayed in the inn. Under normal circumstances, he would have to rely on Yur to go where he needed to, but he had someone else to help with that. Yur followed him to the auction house and told the new male receptionist that they were looking for Alice.
Meanwhile, Alice was sitting on the lap of and talking with a suave middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed black beard in a luxurious room. The man wore a black, spider-silk coat with the symbol of a cloud releasing coins, the emblem of Coin Storm, around the right chest area. While smiling sweetly on his lap, Alice was in a simple black pants and a purple and black chequered blouse.
"That stupid brother of mine! Can't even manage his own sect properly."
"Don't say that Uncle Lefirius. Dad's been trying real hard to fix the problems in the sect. It's been hard on him since Uncle Levus died and Mom got sick."
"Hmph, how can that be an excuse?! If you weren't lucky, you might have been captured or worse. Thank the stars you encountered an interesting child."
"Yes, I know. But how did you figure out that who helped me?"
Though it would be easy for her uncle to find out who was with her when she made it to the auction house, she couldn't understand how he was so sure Shui was the one who helped her.
"I looked into the records and the items normally sold by that group are mainly well-made offensive artifacts. However, the one they sold this time looked plain but had a superb supporting effect and seemed recently made. This is the first time that child has come with them so I thought she might have something to do with it, but that was just a guess."
Alice had also heard about the item that Shui sold, and was even planning on asking to buy one when she met up with him. Thinking that Shui might have been the one to create it instantly raised her impression of him.
"What really impresses me is the aura on the jacket."
The moment 'jacket' entered the conversation, Alice meekly turned away but Lefirius didn't notice that.
"She seems to be practicing some sort of concealing art, but I could still tell from the faint aura on the coat that the child has reached the third level in the Mortal Realm."
"Really? I figured Shui was a cultivator but I couldn't guess what level."
"That's because she's very good at using the art. Alice, didn't you find it odd that you could make it to the door of the auction house without any of those traitors sensing you."
"Hmm, now that you mention it..."
Alice put her hand to her chin and recalled that time. Shui gave her his coat to cover her face and she somehow thought that would be enough, but there must have been several Soul Realm practitioners there, so how could none of them have noticed her with their spiritual sense?
"She used the coat as a medium to use her concealing art on you, effectively masking your aura."
"Wow! Doesn't that take a lot of concentration and control over nature energy."
"It does. I believe only a few at the peak of the Mortal Realm would be able to accomplish the same. Though maybe you could do it as well if you actually practiced."
"Ehehe~, well..."
At the age of nine, Alice was at the sixth level in the Mortal Realm and while this was rather good, compared to her status it was far from enough. Alice knew this as well but she was never one to sit down and do nothing but cultivate. That was too boring to her.
As Alice wondered how she could get away from her uncle's strict glare, a knocking sound came from the door.
"Pardon me but the Lady has guests waiting on the ground floor. Their names are Shui and Yur of the Heaven Clan."
Once she heard the message coming from the door, Alice jumped off Lefirius' lap and then pecked him on the cheek.
"Later Uncle!"
She then dashed out of the room and went down to the lobby.
In the current situation, it might have been dangerous for her to go outside, but it was merely within the town and Lefirius already had guards secretly assigned to her so he didn't worry.
'Besides, it's only a pair of kids walking around.'
...Is what he thought but that was because he had made a big mistake. Since he wasn't there when Shui came, he only knew his appearance from the description he heard, and the aura left on his coat was barely enough to grasp his cultivation and age, much less anything else. This led to him inadvertently assuming the gender of the child. It would be a bit later before he realized that he had sent his baby girl to look for a boy and instantly regretted it.
Shui was the first to notice Alice rushing down to meet them. Her clothes might have been different and her hair was now in a double ponytail, but that only changed how her beauty was presented, it was still easily enough to mesmerize him.
"Shui!"
"Alice."
"Did you wait long?"
"Uh, no, not really."
"Okay, do you have anywhere you want to go or do you just want to walk around?"
"Oh, I want to buy some herbs."
"Oh you mean that, follow me then."
As if the dangerous events of the previous day didn't happen, she was cheerfully skipping in front of them. However Shui knew, though he couldn't accurately pinpoint them, he could sense people watching over her.
On the side was Yur, who was stuck to the third wheel role, only serving as a wallet for Shui.
As Alice walked slightly ahead of Shui, she looked at his naked arms and remembered the gift she had prepared for him. She reached into the storage ring on her right middle finger and took out a fur coat. This storage ring was something gifted to her by her uncle when she told him that she had forgotten to take hers along on the 'exploring' trip that was planned by the sect.
"Oh, Shui. Have this."
"Uhh, what's this for?"
"You gave me your jacket remember. Since I wore it, it might have my aura on it so you might get detected by the ones who were chasing me. So I'm giving you this instead."
"Oh, thanks."
Though he seemed to be paying attention to the conversation, Shui was actually more preoccupied with the storage ring she had. The ring was brown with a deep blue gem at the centre. He knew what it was but this was his first time seeing it as in the Alterna Kingdom as only major-level forces would be able to afford such an artifact. A storage ring was at lowest, a blessed-class tesora-rank artifact and had the ability to link a manufactured space to the ring which could be accessed by the user. As he stared at the ring, Shui once again confirmed Alice's high status.
When he put on the coat he received from Alice, he was stunned by how warm he felt. Not just around his upper body, but all over.
"I might be mistaken but, is this an artifact?"
"Mhmm, it can only regulate body temperature but it's rather convenient."
"Uh, are you sure I can accept something like this?"
Though Shui knew she was probably rich enough to give such items away, that didn't mean he could accept it so easily.
"It's fine, it's fine."
"But..."
"Ha..., fine. If you want to make it up to me you can get me one of those artifacts you sold last night."
"Um, well that's fine but, that one was really a fluke so, you might need to wait."
Shui wasn't sure if he should tell Alice that he was the one who made it since she probably wouldn't believe him, but she already thought it was him so that worry was unnecessary.
"Okay, I'll be here until a month after flowers begin to bloom. Do you think it'll be ready by then?"
"Ye, yes!"
It was early winter so that meant he had around four months to perfect his craft. It would actually be a lie to say he couldn't make it again sooner, but then it wouldn't be his best. And he had no intention of giving her anything less.