"Master? What do you think is the best weapon here?"
Diether asked for his master's opinion.
"Hmm… The Novice Sword seems light. However, I don't think it would be enough as a replacement. Your future battles might be harder than you thought so you might want a sharper sword…"
Reiji commented but as he took a closer look at the Novice Wooden Sword, he suddenly changed his mind …
"Eh, wait… It looks really sharp and sturdy now that I observed it…"
Just by hearing the "wooden sword" may put off most of the buyers.
If they hadn't seen the object, it would not garner much attention.
However, once they've seen it, they'll know that it was comparable to a steel sword.
"Well, the Holy Sword Replica was also something suitable for you but ask the lady first about the Eternal Tree, this wooden sword looks rather interesting…"
"Yes, Master…"
Diether then turned towards the attendant and asked.
"Miss Tracy, do you know what's the Eternal Tree?"
"Oh? Are you referring to the tree which was the Novice Sword was made of?"
"Yes…"
"Mhm… The Eternal Tree can only be found further in the southern land…"
"Eh? Isn't that the region where the Orc Tribe lives?"
"Yes… So even a small branch of the Tree is extremely rare… This Novice Wooden Sword was only made possible because General Maximilian defeated an Orc Chieftain years ago. The chieftain has an incredible wooden club made of a huge branch of Eternal Tree… After taking it as a trophy, the club was cut into many pieces to create wooden swords, special tokens, and other impressive woodcraft…"
'To think that an Orc was using such a valuable material… No, it must also be the talent of the Arcanist to bring the potential of a material.'
"There must be a lot of precious materials on the southern continent?"
"There are still many things we are unaware of. After all, the expedition towards the south was no longer being supported by the kingdom. Right now, we are just maintaining our current territory from the Orcs. Haa~ I just hope that it stays like this…"
Tracy answered as she gave her thoughts about the current situation kingdom.
"I see…"
Diether nodded as he knows a bit about the history of the kingdom.
The Chorodan Kingdom they were living in doesn't have a long history at all. It was only built for around a century through the efforts of the predecessors of the current royal family.
Their territory had increased by more than a half after setting their eyes at the land of the Orcs. The expedition to take lands from them was successful throughout the years but it stopped after reaching a certain goal. They made fortresses in some key points of the land to stand as a border between the two races.
In short, it was normal for the Orcs to continuously try to retake this land throughout the years.
"Then, I think that I'll be choosing this instead…"
Diether said as he pointed at the wooden sword. He thought that the Holy Sword Replica was too eye-catching. It looks like a decorative weapon for high-ranking nobles instead.
It was unlike the black wooden sword that looks very deceiving…
"Very well, the price for the beast core that you've brought was 3,700 gold coins. After deducting the 600 gold for the price of this sword, it would be 3,100… Are you fine with that?"
Tracy asked to confirm Diether's acceptance of the deal.
"Yes…"
After completing the transaction, Diether left the market hall happily.
Although there were a lot of interesting materials within the hall, he doesn't have any use for them yet. The potions and other support items were also too expensive within the hall.
That was when Tracy gave him an auction ticket so he could attend the auction that was about to take place.
"I guess, I'll take a look at it…"
Diether and Reiji had never attended an auction before so they were both curious and wanted to see the place.
After wrapping the sword and placing it on his back with the shinai, he asked for directions from the guards patrolling around the academy.
The Auction Hall that was being used was the Theater Hall of the academy. It was only temporarily being used now to hold the current auction…
"This Auction Hall was so big… It seems that there's a lot of competition inside…"
Diether commented after observing the building.
After showing his auction ticket to the guards at the entrance, Diether was allowed to go inside…
An attendant, probably another student doing his part-time job here, led him to his seat at the main hall. There was also a prepared number plate so he can place his bid during the auction.
He can hear the auctioneer's beautiful voice as she calls out the prices and number of plates that were placing the bids.
Diether look around and noticed that most of the people here don't seem to be Arcanists or Licensed Hunter.
They were more like merchants that were trying to earn profit by purchasing the student's creations or probably their leftover materials. If there are warriors here, they were just probably taking their chances to find good items.
He also noticed that the auction hall wasn't full as there are many empty seats. However, the number of people who attended still exceeded four hundred.
"Alright… The attendant said that there's a total of 50 items to be sold… I hope there's at least one useful item for me…"
Diether wasn't hurrying to get back to the village and he even plans to stay at the Rosen town for a couple of days before returning to train.
"Hmm…"
Apparently, the auction has already started when he arrived and they were currently at the 4th item which was sold for 285 gold coins.
Diether can only see that at the side of the beautiful auctioneer was a necklace adorned with many jewels. Another staff took it away after being sold to the highest bidder.
Soon, the fifth item was introduced.
"Flash Stones! This is a set containing 6 Flash Stones! This is a non-lethal explosive weapon that could temporarily disorient its victims… It is a new product of our third-year students… The effects were similar to Blinding Bombs that you are all familiar with… However, this is much cheaper and was even reinforced by the student who made it. The stones wouldn't easily lose their effects even if they were put in harsh conditions…"
After the lengthy introduction of the item and giving enough time for the people to understand its worth, the bidding started.
"The starting price is 30 gold coins!"