"Ding~"
A crisp bell rang, and the entire auction venue gradually dimmed, and the originally noisy scene gradually began to quiet down.
The magic stone lamp on the auction stage in the center of the venue lit up, and everyone turned their attention to the center, only to see Vivian standing on the stage holding a microphone engraved with the magic of amplification.
As soon as she came to the stage, the mercenaries in the audience cheered one by one. They shouted Vivian's name excitedly, and some mercenaries even whistled directly at her, screaming excitedly.
"Why does it feel a bit like the scene of a small fan meeting..." The performance of these mercenaries was seen by Aurora in the box on the second floor. She vaguely remembered that she had seen similar scenes on TV before.
The only difference was that there were no light sticks and banners here.
"Welcome everyone to participate in the auction held by our Nightingale Chamber of Commerce. I am the person in charge of this auction, Vivian. Thank you for your continuous support!"
The audience responded with another round of warm applause as soon as the words were spoken.
"Miss Vivian's popularity is really high." Claudia stared closely at Vivian, who was smiling softly on the stage and waving to the mercenaries in the audience.
"Claudia, you're not bad as well. I just saw the eyes of the people outside the door almost falling out when they saw you." Aurora teased.
In the blink of an eye, Claudia's face turned beet red. She punched Aurora's chest with a small fist, and her voice became a little fainter because she was too shy.
"Leader! You're bullying me again!"
"Hahaha." Aurora was in a good mood. She didn't know why she found it really interesting to tease Claudia. After all, looking at her face, which couldn't hide any emotions at all, always made her slightly tense nerves relax a little.
"Master, bad." Sitting on the sofa and biting off a piece of dessert, Flamme muttered silently.
After the simple opening ceremony, Vivian rang a small golden bell beside her.
With the ringing of the bell, a member of the chamber of commerce came up holding a tray covered with a red cloth.
"This is the first item in this auction!" Vivian tore off the red cloth above to reveal a beautifully shaped cup inlaid with gorgeous gemstones.
"Van Thiel's Crystal Cup!"
The mercenaries in the audience were whispering below, while the nobles on the second floor looked at the crystal cups on the tray with interest.
"I believe everyone has heard of the holy crystal. This crystal cup is made of holy crystal. It is said that whether it is water or fine wine poured into this crystal cup, it'll be imbued with a little light element. Continuous drinking is also good for the body." Vivian continued to introduce the information of this cup, "Then the starting price is 20 gold coins!"
"25 golds!"
"I'll offer 40!"
The mercenaries in the audience didn't respond, but the nobles on the second floor were bidding fiercely.
"Even if there is a little light element, if you drink it into your body, won't it be excreted normally?" The corner of Aurora's mouth twitched. "Miss Vivian can actually deceive people."
"Leader! Don't say those two vulgar words easily!" Claudia almost collapsed.
Would a normal girl easily say something like that in front of other???
"Then... pull it out?"
...
"Honestly..." at this moment Claudia clearly discovered a truth, that is, Aurora's mouth was really toxic!
At this time, the bid for the crystal cup had already reached 105 gold coins. As the price became higher and higher, many nobles gradually stopped asking for prices.
In the end, the crystal cup was successfully auctioned off by a nobleman at a price of 120 gold coins.
"Then it's our second auction item..." Vivian pulled back the red cloth, and a magic wand that seemed to be entwined with thorns appeared in front of people, "Elite wand—Nether Embrace!"
"What?! Elite class!!" The mercenaries in the audience were in a commotion.
"It's a pity, it's actually a magic wand..."
"It's a good thing, let's wait and see."
"As you can see, this is a magic wand with a dark attribute. It provides a significant boost to magicians who use dark elements. It can greatly increase the flow speed of the user's magic power and the lethality of magic." Regarding the commotion off the stage, Vivian didn't blush at the slightest. "Then the starting price... 250 gold coins!"
...
"Pfft! Cough cough cough..." Aurora just took a sip of tea and sprayed it out.
250 gold coins?!
This thing was not as valuable as the ghost ring. Although it was ideal equipment for dark elemental mage players in the early stage, it cost not more than 50 gold coins when it was the most popular, and it cost even less than 10 gold coins in the later stage...
She figured that more than 10 gold coins would be pretty good after the weapon was brought out, but she didn't expect that a woman like Vivian would really dare to open her mouth like a lion and dared to shout 250 gold coins at the beginning.
But Aurora misunderstood Vivian, and she didn't realize that the prices in this world are completely different from those in the game. Every piece of weaponry, including those at elite level or above, was unique, so the price would be much higher than in the game.
Vivian's demand for 250 gold coins as the starting prize was reasonable. If she were to auction it in Brigitt City, she would ask for 300 gold coins at the start.
After a brief silence, a middle-aged man in crimson leather armor began to bid.
"260 gold coins!"
Was there really a fool who was baited with such a price?!
Aurora looked in the direction of the voice, and when she saw the appearance of the middle-aged man, she suddenly realized.
This middle-aged man was Groz, the head of the number one mercenary group—Scarlet Fangs. Aurora remembered that he had a mage who used dark elemental magic under his command.
Of course... she was not just a mere subordinate. If she remembered correctly, this mage had already become his wife when he fought against the Republic of Harmonia later.
"265 golds!!"
"280 golds!!"
After Groz started bidding, the rest of the second- and third-ranked mercenary groups and even some nobles who used dark elements also joined the bidding team.
The price went up all of a sudden.
"350 gold coins!"
With the price getting higher and higher, many people have withdrawn from the bidding, and only a small number of nobles were still participating in the bidding.
Seeing that the price of the wand had almost reached the limit he could afford, Groz roared and shouted out 350 gold coins.
"I hope you can give us Scarlet Fangs a face. This wand has greatly improved the strength of our mercenary group! I am very grateful!"
He stood up with his right hand on his chest and saluted in the direction of the nobles on the second floor.
"Since Captain Groz has said so, this wand is indeed not necessary, so let's give Captain Groz this face."
A nobleman's light voice came from the second floor. Along with his opening, some noblemen who originally participated in the auction also withdrew from the auction one after another.
"Thank you, Your Excellencies!" Groz looked grateful.
After the nobles withdrew from the auction, Groz finally won the Nether Embrace with 350 gold coins. When he got the wand, he left quickly with his mercenary group members. After all, he didn't have enough funding to participate in the rest of the auction.
A ray of light flashed, and a stuffed money bag popped out from the grid next to Aurora's hand. Inside was the reward for selling Nether Embrace. When she opened it, she saw a total of 350 gold coins. The Nightingale Chamber of Commerce really did what they said, and none of her gold was deducted for handling fees.
"Wow… Leader gets a lot of gold coins!" Claudia covered her mouth in surprise.
Such a large bag of gold coins still has a strong visual impact.
This wave of high-price auctions completely heated up the atmosphere of the auction, and the auction items that were presented afterwards also caused a lot of bidding boom.
"The next auction item..."
Vivian opened the red cloth, and under the light, the item actually glowed bright red. Everyone took a closer look and found that it was a pair of earrings made of rubies. The gem's general geometric section made it look exquisite no matter which direction it was viewed from.
Its appearance immediately attracted the attention of all the women in the venue. No woman could refuse its dazzling and deep light.
"Crimson starlight! It is made by the dwarves looking for the purest and brightest rubies in numerous ruby mines. I believe that the lady who wears them will become the brightest star in the audience!" Vivian held up the pair of earrings and showed them off to the audience. With the movement of the light angle, the light reflected by the pair of earrings flowed and changed in the venue, which seemed dreamy.
"Then its starting price is... 20 gold coins!"
"30 gold coins!"
"40 gold coins!"
"Honey, I want this! Buy it for me!"
At this moment, the noble ladies on the second floor all went frenzy. Some of them were holding the hands of their partners and acting like a spoiled child, while others have been participating in the auction with all their strength.
In a short period of time, this crimson starlight was bid for 130 gold coins. After reaching this price, many nobles stopped bidding. This price has far exceeded most of the jewelry's.
"150 gold coins!" Aurora pressed the button.
"Leader???!" Claudia looked at Aurora unexpectedly—why would she take pictures of this kind of thing? She didn't seem like the kind of woman who liked such a fancy thing.
As for why... Aurora didn't know; she just felt that the pair of earrings were very suitable for Flamme.
"160 gold coins!" The nobleman next door immediately pressed down; his wife was viciously pinching the flesh of his arm at the time. And Aurora pressed down at the same time after his bid.
"170 gold coins!"
"Go and see who dares to fight the bid against me!" The noble man who was pinched by his wife ordered the servant behind him, and the servant nodded and left quickly.
After the deacon left, the two continued to bid against each other. After a slight pause, the nobleman thought that the other party knew his name and was afraid, but Aurora just went to open a door.
Just when he thought that this pair of earrings was already in his pocket, the people next door followed suit, and the price rose directly to 200 gold coins.
Bam!!
The aristocratic man punched the sofa angrily. "Which bastard dares to steal things from me?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the door slam open, and the deacon man hurried in, came to his ear, and whispered a few words. After listening to the deacon's words, the originally angry nobleman seemed to be pouring cold water over his head. The one who bid with him was actually a new noble conferred by Earl Vidal himself!
He wasn't afraid of Aurora herself, who was only a baronetess, but it was a different story when the earl was involved. Almost everybody in the noble circle had already heard the story of how the young mercenary successfully cured the Earl Vidal's daughter and was thus rewarded with a noble title. It meant that Earl Vidal owed Aurora a huge favour! Getting on the wrong side of this dame for the sake of a single trinket was pointless.
"Honey?! Why don't you continue bidding?"
"No, no, no! This thing we can't bid this thing anymore!" The nobleman tremblingly took out a handkerchief to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead, "Listen to me! I can buy you any jewelry you want in the future! But we really can't bid on this one anymore!"
Seeing her husband flustered like this, the aristocratic woman also felt a little heartbroken. In the aristocratic circle of this town, she has never seen her husband make such a gaffe... Could it be that the one who was bidding with him now had an unusual background?
In the end, the noble lady relented in disappointment.
"Congratulations to your Excellency for capturing the Crimson Starlight!"
After the aristocratic man didn't continue to follow the price, the pair of earrings were successfully taken by Aurora. The grid suddenly lit up after paying 200 gold coins, and the Crimson Starlight lay quietly in it.
Aurora picked up the pair of earrings, turned around, and handed them to Flamme beside her. "This is for you."
"Master?" There was a look of surprise in Flamme's eyes, she didn't understand why Aurora would give this to her so suddenly.
"I feel that it must be very suitable for you." Aurora smiled lightly.
Flamme looked at the smile on her face and the pair of earrings that were still shining brightly on her hands, and her eyes softened slightly.
"Umm... thank you, Master, I will cherish it."
[Ding! Flamme's favorability has increased by 8, and her current favorability is 70 (respect)]
It actually increased so much?!
It seemed the saying that there was no woman who didn't like beautiful jewellery was true…
"It's really a little bit pricey, but…" Aurora looked at Flamme, who accepted the earrings, and could vaguely feel a part of joy in her eyes. "It's worth it."