Benefactor of Life?
Did you hear that they prevented a terrorist attack?
He must be Alben's eldest son, so it's understandable to hear about it.
None other than Bart Alben himself personally took charge of the incident.
For now, I pretended not to know, unsure of the situation.
"Saved your life. I'm not sure what you mean."
"Dianne said so. She said you might come to greet me, but it seemed urgent even after two days. So I took it upon myself to find you."
So that's what it was.
Considering his broad-minded nature, it was natural for him to come find me himself.
"I found out late that you were in the infirmary."
"I came looking for you."
"Yes. I didn't know what happened or why you were injured, and it was frustrating. Only two days ago did I hear directly from my father. About the great achievements you've made."
I nodded nervously.
Since the matter was credited to an unknown person, I felt relieved that my own accomplishments were not involved.
"I didn't do anything at that time. I just..."
"It's alright. Even if you didn't do anything."
His eyes sparkled with a mischievous smile.
His appearance resembled the gaze Benjamin used to have when he admired me.
It's really overwhelming.
He's definitely a good person, but his enthusiasm and pressure weigh heavily on me.
"Just accept it comfortably. You can think of it as a gift that I am giving you because of our past relationship."
For now, I decided to just accept it for free.
Accepting it won't cause any trouble.
"Then I won't refuse."
"Haha. You made a good decision. I was worried that I missed the early items in the auction, but it turned out to be a blessing to be late. It led to meeting you here."
After that, we watched the auction while engaging in various everyday conversations and reminiscing about the past.
It was natural, I suppose. There were no items that I would be interested in.
'If it were something I would be interested in, I would have already known the information.'
Nevertheless, I focused on the auction just in case, since Carlos had agreed to buy something for me.
It would have been nice to be closer to the platform and be able to check the item description, but that's a bit disappointing.
It happened when we were passing through the auction items one by one.
"This item is an artifact retrieved from the depths of the sea. Although it is called an artifact, its artistic value and aesthetic sense are outstanding, which ultimately brought it to this place. Allow me to introduce the crown discovered in the sea, the 'Ruler of the Sea!'"
The item on the platform was an object in the shape of a black crown with an unknown material.
At first glance, I didn't think much of it when I saw its appearance and heard the description, but soon a message appeared before my eyes, startling me.
['The pure original sin' feels the power of 'charitable greed.']
'Greed!'
The fragment of greed obtained from Lanox was safely kept in my bag.
But when I saw that crown, I could tell where those crimson gems were embedded.
'That crown must be a set.'
Looking at the appearance of the crown, there were areas where it seemed like gems were missing, and it appeared to require a total of five gems.
"The starting bid for the auction is 100 million Will! Bidding starts at 10 million Will."
Insane.
I couldn't even dream of participating with such a terrifying starting bid.
No matter how much Carlos said he would buy it, I couldn't casually ask him to purchase it for me.
But astonishingly, Carlos spoke first while looking at me.
"You want that, right?"
"Ah, no. Brother."
How did he notice? Did it show on my face?
He smiled and pressed the bid application on the tablet.
"Your Highness, have you forgotten who I am? I am a Alben. Even if we only consider wealth, Alben is comparable to the top five in the Empire."
He immediately looked at the platform with sparkling eyes.
"Let me show you what Alben's wealth means today."
No, there's no need to go that far...
'But I do have more than enough.'
It was an act involving nothing less than a Sin, but I would be grateful if it could be resolved with money.
Of course, completing the page of greed wouldn't be possible with just this crown, but I can gradually collect the remaining fragments.
'While I'm at it, I should also investigate the whereabouts of the scattered fragments.'
Since the fragments take the form of gems, it seemed easier than expected to gather information.
As the power of greed was infused into them, they wouldn't be ordinary gems.
"250 million! 250 million Will has been bid! Is there more?"
While I was lost in thought, the price skyrocketed at an exponential rate.
As the crown was infused with the power of greed, it seemed to incite people's desires.
At that moment, Carlos calmly entered the bid on the tablet.
"Wow!"
Suddenly, a surprised gasp escaped from the host's mouth, and they swallowed their saliva before speaking.
"500 million Will! 500 million Will has been bid!"
Carlos, who doubled the bid in an instant, gradually became more intimidating.
Even after calling out 500 million, Carlos calmly, or rather, coldly, observed the surrounding situation with a composed expression.
"510 million has been bid!"
"Tsk."
Carlos clicked his tongue as if displeased, then entered something on the tablet with a different, stern expression than usual.
"600 million Will! 600 million! It's 600 million!"
He said he would show off his wealth, and he was really showing off his wealth.
Even though it wasn't my money, I felt a rush of excitement.
At that moment, someone crazier than Carlos appeared.
"1 billion!"
Unconsciously, I looked around the invisible floor to find the person who entered 1 billion, and Carlos was smiling eerily.
"How amusing. To dare..."
It seemed like the first time I had seen Carlos in such a state.
I had always seen him as modest, helping others, but it seemed he had his own pride as an Alben.
Normally, I would have stopped the bidding, but I simply couldn't.
Is 1 billion relevant when I can secure an item related to the world's destruction first?
Even if it were 100 billion, if I had the money, I would hand it over.
'By the way, I'm curious about the person who bid 1 billion. Are they a high-ranking official? Or someone from the Emperor's side? Or maybe I don't even know who the greed went to in the first place.'
Perhaps it was just a wealthy fool who fell under the spell of greed.
Although I was curious about who made the bid, all the VIP seats on the second floor were private rooms, so I couldn't find out.
"1.5 billion Will!"
When the opponent raised 400 million, I could witness Carlos' adorable gesture of raising it by 500 million.
The amount was by no means cute, though.
But the numbers didn't stop there and skyrocketed to unimaginable heights.
"5 billion Will. 5 billion Will!"
Now the numbers had become so large that any sense of reality disappeared.
They even felt nonchalant, as if 1 or 2 billion were nothing.
"Hmm."
No matter how much Carlos was, it seemed he didn't expect this level of amount, as he furrowed his brow.
It wasn't something he needed personally, and it was not just expensive for a gift—it had already exceeded the realm of expensive items.
Just when I thought I should try to stop him, Carlos smiled at me.
"Indeed, restraining myself goes against my nature. I apologize for making you uneasy until now."
"What?"
When I was about to question what he meant, Carlos entered the bidding amount again.
As I watched from the side, I felt cold sweat running down my back.
"10 billion..."
And simultaneously, the host shouted.
"10 billion! 10 billion Will—!"
The audience on the first floor erupted with excitement along with the host's exclamation.
Among the bidding amounts today, there were some that reached the highest, but jumping from 5 billion to 10 billion in one go seemed to have driven them into a frenzy of excitement.
Still, I don't get it.
Why suddenly double the amount when you were doing so well before?
Carlos, who noticed my gaze, looked down at the excited first-floor seats with a smiling face and said,
"Don't worry. Well, I might get a little scolding from my father, but if I tell him I've given Your Highness a gift, he'll probably let it slide."
"But it's 10 billion?"
"Yes? Ah, it's okay. We can recover around 10 billion in a few months."
Indeed, true nobles had a different economic sense.
No matter how advanced the magical world was compared to the ordinary medieval era, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer remained the same.
Especially noble families like Alben, known for their wealth, seemed unaffected by 10 billion.
"Well, the Alben Street project of the Academy alone was invested on a scale of several trillion just for the naming rights."
I didn't know.
For now, it was a gift related to the fragments of greed, which I couldn't refuse.
"Oh, right. You spent the money wisely. Is the evening appointment a dinner appointment?"
"No, it's later at night."
"That's good. Should we grab a meal then?"
It seemed so casual, as if the person who just spent 10 billion was someone else. It was hard to tell if they really were unaffected or if they were pretending to be.
'Looking at the size of your breath and pupils, it seems like you're really unaffected...'
Understanding nobles as beings was still difficult for me.
.
.
.
.
"Today was quite enjoyable after a long time."
"Next time, I will visit Alben directly, Brother."
"No, there's no need. I'm hardly ever at home anyway, so there's no need for you to come. Father is also in the mausoleum, and Dianne is at the Academy. Even if you come, no one will see you anyway."
After finishing the meal, Carlos shook my hand and bid farewell.
In the end, it felt strange seeing him not purchase anything in the auction.
The crown he bought for me was already placed in my expanded spatial bag right after receiving it at the auction venue.
'He's truly an enigma.'
It felt like I caught a glimpse of unexpected aspects.
Since Carlos wasn't a character living in the game, meeting him in person felt both fascinating and strange.
'In the end, thanks to saving Carlos, I obtained the fragment of greed.'
In Benjamin's case, I caused the butterfly effect that led to his misfortune, but it was fascinating to see that such positive influence could also arise.
I should try to save as many individuals as possible in the future.
You never know when and where they might be helpful.
'Now, should I start moving soon?'
I checked out of the inn for a moment.
There, I changed into different clothes, wrapped a cloak around me, and even wore a mask.
Since I decided to go to the hidden realm, I needed to conceal my identity thoroughly.
I headed to the tavern that connected to Muriel's world.
For now, I could only access the "Pleasure District" where the auction house of the hidden realm was through this tavern.
In the game, I had frequented this place often, so even if there were no letters from Morne, I had all the methods of contact in mind.
The Pleasure District was not a place known for its high quality, but in the game, out of the ten visits, around eight or nine times were entangled in some incidents.
'The probability of getting involved in unnecessary trouble is high, but I can't ignore Morne's words either.'
And the information was about Dragon Lair.
It was too precious to give up on.
The tavern was bustling with noise.
Numerous people were chatting and drinking, and in a secluded corner, I spotted a man sprawled out as if dead drunk.
I approached his table and subtly handed him a gold coin.
In response, the drunkard caught on as if he was never drunk, then quickly got up from his seat and started heading somewhere.
'Good, nothing has changed.'
I felt relieved that the progression was similar to the game.
Of course, even if things had changed, Morne would have informed me through the letter, but familiarity was still the best.
I followed him, entering through the back door connected to the tavern's kitchen.
As I entered, I sensed a sharp blade from above.
"Bloody Dan?"
I heard someone's voice.
Seems like they mistook me because of the mask.
'Of course, these folks from the hidden realm can recognize a mask right away.'
But it didn't matter.
After all, I wore the mask to conceal my identity.
I simply stood there without giving any response.
Then, someone descended from the ceiling and looked me over.
"Hehe. So, you're the one who killed Dan. I was always curious. He's dead, but the mask disappeared."
I remained completely unresponsive to whatever the person said and continued standing still.
Eventually, the person with a cold demeanor made a gesture towards me.
I immediately paid the entrance fee in response to their gesture.
"Be careful. There are quite a few individuals here who are after that mask."
As they stepped aside, I walked straight toward one side of the tavern's kitchen.
As soon as I collided with the wall, it passed through my body as if it were a lie.
Thud!
"Argh!"
Immediately after passing through the wall, I saw a scene of a messy gray street and a man falling to the ground after being hit by a sword.
And despite the numerous people passing by, no one paid any attention to the fallen man.
"This is Muriel's Pleasure District."
A dangerous area involved in all sorts of crimes and illegal activities that couldn't be found on the surface.
And it was the place where today's real objective was located.