Chapter 50
Just because I need them doesn't mean I have to like or trust them. I hate these kind of people the most. People who monetize and degrade women.
Although not right now, soon, I will burn this place to the ground and there is nothing they will be able to do about it.
"Well, it certainly is a treasure, Your Highness." The boss spoke after a while of examining the vial and then asked, "What do you want in return for these?"
Obviously, he wouldn't offer money because that is one thing I don't lack. Not to mention the monster carcasses in my inventory which would sell for quite a penny, the wealth given by the emperor alone is enough to buy a medium sized city.
There was also no need to confirm the authenticity of the product since he knew my identity.
"I want the entrance ticket to the auction happening tonight." Considering Adrian, the precious one, I doubt he would have enough intellect to establish a network of his own people who could get things done for him in the shadows.
And even if he had one, I have no idea of them right now so all I can do is resort to this. I had considered asking for the weapon directly, but I doubt it would be in his possession since the auction is tonight, so no doubt he would have already put it up for a price.
"Expensive thing you are asking for these." Greedy it seems. If I sell these to a noble or even a merchant, the price of these would be immeasurable. I mean not really, but close to it since these things don't exist in this world.
However, I can also guess what he really wants.
"But, if you are willing to give me the recipe for these, then I wouldn't mind giving up my VIP ticket to you." Of course, he was going to ask for it.
"Haha. You must think I am an idiot or you are being one right now. I wonder which one?" I asked, with a beautiful smile but my words couldn't hide the scorn in my intent.
Sure enough, his expression changed to a menacing one and the rest of the people in the room also started to stare at me with serious expressions.
"You might want to watch your words, your highness. These people can be very dangerous." The boss subtly threatened me but even he knew it was nothing but empty.
"You are an idiot if you think that your backing, the Roswells can defend you against the empire if something happened to me." I wasn't the one to back out. If he could have empty threats, I could threaten him with real ones.
Sure enough, it worked when I mentioned the name of his backing, as after a while he asked, "How many of these can you supply me with?"
"Ten." I simply replied. Even though just one was more than fair for what he was giving me, my other motive was still there.
"Hundred." He replied.
[Idiot]
Indeed. "Very well." I simply agreed. My earlier price was just a show of my stubbornness. My real aim was to give him as much as he wanted.
He was a little taken aback at my swift consent but he brushed it off in the face of the tremendous haul he would make regardless of the reason.
He nodded in response and signaled one of his men who left and returned after some time with a medallion.
He took the medallion from the goon and extended it towards me while saying, "Your Highness, this is the medallion that would get you inside the auction."
Once he had handed me the medallion, he asked just to be sure, "I presume you know where it is."
I nodded in response and pulled ninety more potions from my inventory and placed them on the table. The eyes of the onlookers twinkled when they saw the massive amount of treasure before them just for the price of an auction ticket which was of practically no use to them.
"Then I will take my leave," I said and stood up to leave. The boss, even though he was very happy, put up a composed show and replied, "Then I won't see you off."
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[Calm down]
'I'm fine.'
[You're angry]
'At myself.'
[You can come back some other day and put a stop to this]
'And how many lives would they have destroyed until then?'
[You, of all people, should know how the world works]
[So calm down]
I exhaled deeply. She was right. I was currently powerless to do anything but it won't be the case soon.
[If it makes you feel any better]
[One of them just took it]
'Which one?'
[Test round]
This means not anyone important but I'm sure once they have confirmed the effects, they wouldn't use them on anyone less important.
[What if they sell them forward?]
'They won't.'
What I sold them is unique. There might not be more in the future so they won't risk selling them but instead, use them as trump cards against the other gangs.
And that was another reason why I sold them to them. To make them brave.
[So you intend to incite a fight between gangs?]
'There's no guarantee that they would and that's why, I will make it certain.'
[How?]
Well, it's not my fault if there is a spy in the Wild Turtles gang who would spread rumors around that might invoke the greed of the other gangs.
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I stood in front of a giant building in the better parts of the red-light district. A neutral zone where no gang is prominent. The auction house, The Flame Dragon, is run by a number of kingdom royals, nobles of the various kingdoms, and the nobles of the empire. Even the academy had a stake in it.
I entered the auction house unconcerned about someone seeing me there. I headed straight to a woman who seemed to be the manager there and showed her my ticket.
She smiled once she saw my ticket and said, "Welcome to The Flame Dragon auction house, Your Lordship. Let me guide you to your room."
I nodded in response and started following her. Soon, we were in front of an exquisite door that opened to a room with some furniture and a glass wall.
"Please make yourself comfortable, I will send some attendees to serve you." She politely said before turning to leave.
"Wait," I called and she stopped.
"Yes, Your Lordship?" She asked to which I in turn asked, "If I want to put something for an auction, can it be done right now?"
She contemplated my question for a bit before she replied, "Normally you can't this close to the start of the auction but just for Your Lordship, special exceptions can be made."
She then added with a smile before leaving, "An appraisal master will soon be here to appraise your product."
Shortly after she left, some girls entered the room with refreshments and placed them on the table in front of me.
They were giving each other looks but I wasn't interested in the least. "You can leave now," I spoke while taking a bite of a pastry.
They exchanged looks, troubled at what to do. This was part of their job description after all.
"Don't worry about anything. Just leave." I said again which helped them decide better and they soon began to leave.
After a few minutes, there was another knock on the door which I allowed. The same woman from before entered along with an old man.
"You Lordship, this is sir Asnor, the master appraiser." She introduced the old man before asking, "I also noticed that you asked the girls to leave. Were they not to your liking?"
"I'm not in the mood for that." I simply replied. It was better than explaining myself. After all, if I wanted to be pure and all, I wouldn't be here.
"Very well. I will then let Sir Asnor take over." She bowed and left, signaling the old man Asnor as well.
The old man took a seat next to me and asked, "Well, Your Lordship, what is it that you wish to put up in the auction."
I pulled a potion of deep red color from my inventory. I had decided to go with this and not a mana recovery potion since doing so would lose the uniqueness I had created for the gang. If others are able to get it also, it wouldn't be so unique anymore.
So I used another one. A strength potion. It is better for physical combatants since it increases physical traits.
"Do you have an appraisal blessing?" There was a chance he might not be able to identify it but if he had a blessing related to appraisal, then things would be easier.
"Yes, I do." He replied before taking the potion in his hands. It wasn't long before his eyes went wide as saucers.
His hand trembled, the one that was holding the vial. I let him get over his shock and once he had calmed down a little, I asked, "So? Can it be put up in the remaining time?"
He was still somewhat nervous so he took some time to reply, "Your Lordship, I'm afraid I can't decide on something of this great value. Would you let me confer with the housemasters first?"
Obviously, what I was giving them was quite precious so of course he couldn't make a decision on his own.
"Sure." I simply replied and he hurriedly stood up to leave.
"You're going to get them here?" I asked as I had presumed that the masters would be quite busy.
"I worry I might drop it on the way." He replied to my question. I chuckled at his answer. It wasn't so precious to me but the rule of the world was simple, the less of something is, the more unique and important it is.
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Four minutes, that's all I had to wait before a group of people entered the auction room. It wasn't just a housemaster but three more people, I didn't know which one of them was the housemaster though.
An old man with white hair and a wrinkled-filled face, an old woman who despite her age, was able to somehow keep her appearance middle-aged.
A middle-aged man with a straight back, black hair, sharp eyes, and a sword strapped on his side.
And finally a young woman with a coquettish appearance. She was looking at me suggestively but I didn't give her a second glance.
The appraiser from before introduced these people to me. "Your Lordship, these are the honored housemasters of the Flame Dragon auction house."
"I am Edgar Vallen. I represent the Flame Dragon auction house. These are my associates, Lady Rosenberg, Sir Ashton, and Lady Talisa."
He introduced everyone one by one in the same order I noticed them. I simply nodded but remained silent which was all they needed to know of my intent.
"Asnor tells me that you have a unique treasure that you wish to put up for auction." Seeing that I had no intention of introducing myself, he got straight to the point.
I nodded and picked up the vial from the table and extended it towards him. He examined it and then asked, "Asnor has familiarized me with the effect but unfortunately, his blessing doesn't offer a detailed description so I will have to trouble you to give some details for the buyers."
I nodded and started speaking, "This is a strength potion and for the moment, I haven't come up with a name for it. It increases an individual's strength by twice and the entire bottle must be consumed for the effects. The effect lasts for one hour and there are no side effects."
I gave him the main details in one breath but he was left astonished at my description. The rest were in the same boat but the older woman from before spoke, "If His Lordship doesn't mind, the effects honestly sound too good to be true. How can we be guaranteed of the effects?"
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Here it is folks. Finally, fifty chapters as promised. I will now be applying for premium chapters and hope that you can stay with me on this even then.
Feel free to ask me questions if you have any in the comments and I will answer the ones that I could.
That's it. Enjoy!