The auctioneer had already observed Matthew, looking at the quality of his attire and concluding that he was probably wealthy enough to afford what he was looking for, and even if he wasn't, it wouldn't be a surprise to have a backer who could afford what he had.
It was a normal thing in his line of work to be able to judge a person's financial status from the way they walked, talked, and dressed, sometimes he gets it right, and then other times, he gets catfished.
The auctioneer gladly escorted Matthew to a waiting room. The waiting room was fairly furnished, with nice cushions and a soft, white rug on the floor.
"Here have a sit, you can call me DP, I am the chief auctioneer of this lovely enterprise." The man smiled as he introduced himself, "So, what type of 'Mystical' artifact are you looking for? It would be nice to know if you are also a collector of artifacts, we have a special discount for people who are collectors and are registered as members of our enterprise."
"Actually-" Matthew started.
"Oh forgive me, where are my manners? What would you like to drink?" DP interrupted.
Matthew frowned and realized that the auctioneer seemed to have a misconception of why he was there. He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. "I don't drink," He started once again but was interrupted again.
"Quite the gentleman I see, I'll get you some tea. Give me a minute." DP said before he went out of the waiting room.
"I guess a cup of tea wouldn't hurt," Matthew muttered.
It took a few minutes before DP returned to the room with a tray in his hands. On the tray was a silver kettle and two cups.
"So, what would you like to buy?" DP asked as he dropped the tray on a table that was beside Matthew.
"I… actually, I am not here to buy anything." He said.
DP frowned, and his attitude and demeanor towards Matthew took a turn. "What are you then doing here?" He asked, his tone sounding a bit aggressive.
"I have some things to sell instead," Matthew answered, noticing the change in the way DP spoke to him.
DP's expression softened a bit when he heard that Matthew had something to sell to him. Things like blueprints were one of the most sought-after commodities in his line of work. His interest was piqued.
"Well, I have 3 blueprints with me, and I can assure you, as a steel… an engineer, they are worth a lot." Matthew lied, he didn't want to sell all of it at once. He had thought about keeping one of the blueprints to himself. He was interested in studying a few of them, but he was already so close to getting all the money he could ever wish for that he waved the thought away, for now. Matthew was quite confident in the blueprints and their worth.
"Do you have the blueprints on you or do you have some type of sample that you can show to me?"
"I have some of them here, I can show them to you if you want," Matthew informed excitedly.
Without wasting much time, he brought one of the blueprints out, the one he saw back in the steel factory when he first heard about them from Massey's lips. Although he had only gone through it briefly, he could tell that it contained profound information.
DP first observed the material that the blueprint was drawn on, a black cloth-like material, tough and resilient, at the same, it still felt like paper. DP could already tell that the paper itself was something of value.
He had never come across something like this before. He was starting to get excited once again. 'Where did this kid get such a thing from? Did he steal it from his family's vaults?' DP wondered as he slowly unfolded the blueprint.
Although he wasn't much of a certified appraiser, he was experienced enough to tell the difference between something genuine and something unauthentic. His eyes bulged at what he was looking at.
'This doesn't look like something that anyone is making at the moment… Besides, if this can be mass-produced, it will bring quite the fortune to the person that invests in them.' DP thought.
What DP was seeing on the blueprint wasn't the same thing that Matthew saw on it. DP could only see as much as his eyes and mind could comprehend, while Matthew saw everything on it.
'This is going to be very expensive… if this guy knows it's worth, that is. This might take everything I have in my pockets to purchase. And he claims to have more blueprints.' DP's mind began churning as the thought of almost emptying his pockets filled his mind. Although the blueprint was worth it to him, he still wasn't willing to throw everything at it.
"This blueprints of yours, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get it from?" DP asked, trying to stir the conversation his way. He slowly began folding the blueprint, shaking his head as if he was a bit disappointed, although it was all an act to try and reduce the price of the blueprint.
Seeing DP's expression, Matthew started to think that there was something wrong with the blueprint. He thought perhaps it had been reported stolen by Kennedy or Massey.
"It's something that has been in my family for a long time… why do you ask?"
His action didn't go unnoticed by DP and it brought about another smile on his face.
'This kid probably stole this from his family vault. There shouldn't be anything wrong if I seize it from his hands and throw him out of the auction house. Even if he is dumb enough to report a stolen item to the police, I would have already copied the contents of the blueprint and just easily returned the original with an excuse that I suspected that it was stolen and refused to engage in business with him.'