'Look at them…' Elish thought to himself as he glanced around him.
'Their greedy eyes. Their ceased brows. Their flapping lips…'
He couldn't help but grin slightly.
'I can see it all clearly… the worth of my coins.' Elish was still deep in thought when someone nudged him.
It was none other than the receptionist from the day before.
"Sir, I need you to retract these chests immediately and follow me. This place is too public for the transaction we are going to be having." She whispered with a serious expression clouding her face.
He could sense her discomfort due to the way she looked around her.
"Alright," Elish responded calmly.
With a single command, Pandora swallowed the fifty chests, returning them to their rightful place among his catalog.
The lady signaled the other shy receptionist to keep her mouth shut and remain by the counter, indicating that she would deal with the situation.
'I was right. She is a veteran.' Elish's thoughts trailed as he left the hall with the receptionist.
Based on what the woman had just told him, Elish concluded that they were most likely headed for a private room where they would conclude their business.
'It's all going smoothly…'
********
The room Elish was invited to was very clearly a VIP section of the entire Scylla Auction House Building.
There were sofas opposite each other and then a table in between them. Freshly brewed tea was on the table, as well as cookies and fruits of various kinds.
The walls had paintings, and a small chandelier hung on the ceiling. The ambiance was cool, and sweet scents radiated across the room.
'I can work with this.' Elish smiled, maintaining silence as he stepped into the room.
"I apologize for my discourtesy; the situation was so urgent that I had to take action immediately." The receptionist politely spoke, even bowing her head.
Still, Elish said nothing.
"The matter at hand is a very sensitive one. The money you possess is a treasure as rare as Relics themselves, and you just brought out a whole fifty million." She continued, her tone as grave as it was patronizing.
Elish could already see where she was going with this.
He knew about Ancient currency and the high demand for it thanks to the memories he took. He just didn't know if it was the currency he had in his possession that was being referred to.
'And now I do…' His thoughts trailed.
"As it stands now you are at the center of a lot of speculation and suspicion. A stranger with so many Ancient Coins… it is unheard of."
"Is that so?" Elish finally spoke, crashing on a sofa while she remained standing.
He had the high ground at the moment; that much was evident to the both of them in the room.
"Are you sure that you're the one who should be speaking to me about these matters? I thought it was a very delicate and serious one… "
"That…" The lady finally appeared flustered for the very first time since they met.
'I understand how hierarchy works. I don't intend on devaluing myself and my goods by discussing business with someone like her.'
She must have understood that by now.
"That's enough, Lily. I'll take it from here." A voice suddenly echoed, and a person emerged from the entrance of the room.
A man in his late thirties entered the room, smiling at Elish. He wore a very luxurious grey suit, and a silver watch watched attached to his wrist.
His cleanly shaved beads gave him an appearance of elegance, and his handsome face promoted his prestige. As his brown hair swayed and his green eyes locked themselves with Elish's crimson ones.
"Are you the one in charge?" Elish finally broke the silence by asking in a rather confident tone.
He proceeded to cross his legs and relax more comfortably on the sofa as he maintained eye contact with the man.
"S-Sir, I…" Lily, the usually confident secretary stuttered, literally melting before this top figure.
It seemed he was right on the mark.
For a moment, there was silence. No one said anything, and it seemed like this would last for an eternity.
Until…
"Hahaha… haha…!" The man suddenly let out a hearty laugh, as if he was amused by Elish's question and Lily's reaction.
"Ah, forgive me for the unsightly laughter. Indeed you must not be from around here. I am the head of this branch of the Scylla Auction Center, Julius Biden at your service." He introduced himself.
"I see. Then you must be the most influential person in this building," Elish emphasized.
"That is correct." Mr. Biden—or rather, Julius—answered him swiftly.
Elish nodded in approval, his smile increasing as he finally looked away.
"You may leave," Julius told the secretary, who appeared flustered anytime she heard his voice.
'I suppose even Lily can melt if it's the right person pulling the strings. Humans prove time and time again that they're all the same…'
Elish sighed internally as he had these thoughts. 'No. Perhaps it's not just humans. Every living thing in this world is bound, in a sense. I only wanted to free them…'
A sad smile played on his face as he recollected how it all started, and ended.
'... To free us.'
Elish ceased his thoughts as he noticed Lily bowing her head and exiting the room quickly, like a loyal pet, as she left him and the Branch Head alone.
"Now, let's get down to business," Julius said to him, sitting down opposite him.
"Indeed. I'll be straightforward with you… what can you offer me for the Ancient Coins?"
Julius fell silent after the question, most likely considering the path to take in responding to the query presented to him.
However, in the end, he had to give his answer.
"As you know, the Ancient Currency is the most powerful means of exchange in this continent—no, even the entire world. After the Great Calamity over three thousand years ago, civilization fell along with the valuable money they used. Normally, money used by ancient civilizations would be deemed useless since they were obviously less advanced than we are, but that wasn't how it turned out…." He began, his voice trailing.
Elish knew the rest of the story, but he let the man continue.
"A few hundred years ago, a huge sum of the money spent back then was discovered, and it turned out that these currencies contained supernatural energy, as though they were Relics. That was the game changer."
Elish was certain that the ancient people didn't have access to Essences or Authorities, unlike the modern world. So, it only followed that the currency spent by them 3,000 years ago did not have such properties.
'Which means one thing…' Elish narrowed his gaze as he considered the only plausible answer.
'I must have caused this.'
Due to the war he had with his siblings and the other gods, there was a lot of dimensional imbalance and collapse.
It wouldn't be a surprise if the local currency became influenced by the leak of energy from the heavenly realm back then, allowing them to absorb those Essences.
At the moment, Ancient Coins had special natures that made them serve as batteries for Relics, or to signify superior wealth.
'It's interesting how much the world has changed…'
The one thing that bothered Elish, however, was whether the Ancient Coins were the only things that had special properties or not.
Applying his own logic, it was likely that there were other things that were affected.
'I'll have to find out.'
"Other than the special properties they have, the coins themselves have even greater value, as the minerals used to create them have even more purity and a higher concentration of gold than the ones we are using now." Julius interrupted Elish's thoughts.
Afterward, there was a hush.
"In order words, my fifty million Ancient Coins are worth a lot more than fifty million coins in local currency." Elish broke the silence.
"That is correct."
He was done confirming what he needed to know. With this knowledge alone, and with the Ancient Coins at his disposal, he had a major advantage in this world.
Far more than he had initially expected when he sought out Pandora.
"If I may say something," Julius beckoned to him.
"What is it?"
"Would you like to trade those fifty million gold coins in your possession with us? I promise to give you the bargain of a lifetime."
Elish could only chuckle in response to Julius' words. In the end, this was what it all boiled down to.
It was business, after all.
'I should have brought Astra with me. She could learn a thing or two.'
Relaxing even more on the sofa, Elish shrugged and wore a smug grin on his face.
"Try me."
*
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[A/N]
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
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