Paul knew that the mana carrots were precious and rare but this was getting ridiculous.
The price was already at two and a half million and these people didn't look like they were going to finish bidding anytime soon.
It took almost half an hour and the price rose to over three million gold coins before the majority of the buyers backed out.
There were only four factions still bidding the merchant guild, the alchemy guild, some people who looked like they were from a sect, and a group of cloaked figures and they were going toe-to-toe but it was evident that all these people were also reaching their limit.
No one ever expected that they would have a chance to see an auction worth millions tonight and even watching it from the sidelines was enough to make their blood boil.
-Darliong are all auctions like that?
Maya asked as she loved the excitement.
-Unfortunately, they are not and this is a nice change from all the power abuse I saw in the capital city.
-What do you mean by power abuse?
Mia got interested.
-A powerful person intimidating others to quit bidding, a young man from a powerful clan using his background to do the same, and even the imperial family members using their status to get what they want.
These were all common things in the capital city when I was living there in the past.
-Then why even organize an auction if things like that happen all the time?
-Because auctions earn a lot of money either way, also it was not certain that you got to keep the items you bought as many times people wanted to steal them afterward.
Both ladies were shocked hearing this.
They always thought that as the center of the empire, the capital city would be safe but they could not be more wrong.
-Then we need to become much stronger before we can go there or we would not last long.
Maya stated the obvious.
-And that is why I decided to stay here until we are strong enough to go there.
Paul smiled, he didn't mention that if they went to the capital right now there was a good chance that both ladies would be abducted and sold as slaves and he might end up dead.
There was no reason to scare them like that especially since the White Falls town was far away from the capital and as far as he could tell it was mostly safe here.
-How strong would we have to be to go to the capital without worry?
Mia asked out of curiosity.
-There is no way for us to not be on our guard in the capital but I think that the third stage would be enough to scare most troublemakers away and even those who were not scared would think twice before doing anything.
Paul remembered the people who bullied his father's family in the beginning coming back later and begging for forgiveness to avoid their revenge.
While they were talking about this the bid neared its conclusion as there were only two factions still bidding while the price went up steadily reaching 3,900000 gold coins.
This was way more than Paul had expected to earn but if you thought about it then the same carrot could be sold in the capital for five or six times more so whoever bought it could earn a fortune by selling it there.
Paul however was more than happy to get this much as with that money they could live and train with all kinds of resources for months without doing anything else to earn money.
-4,000,000 gold coins.
A woman's voice interrupted the bid shocking everyone by raising the price by a whole 100,000.
This put both parties still fighting over the carrot in a state of shock and disbelief.
Everyone looked at the person who placed the bid and it was a cloaked figure that was just sitting there unnoticed until now.
Even the host was speechless for a moment until he remembered his work and started to count down to 4,000,000.
-Going once.
The host said looking around.
-Going twice, do we have any more bidders?
When no one answered, the hammer fell marking the end of the auction.
-Sold to the lady in the cloak.
Please go to the private room to retrieve your Item.
The host said, his voice was already hoarse from speaking so much.
-That was the last item for tonight's auction, I hope that everyone had a great time and with that, I wish all of you distinguished guests a good night.
Bai Wei said and left the stage to personally deliver the carrot to the buyer and get the money as he was sure that the middleman would arrive shortly.
Paul led the girls to the carriage and sent them home while he had some more errands to run that night.
He found a dark alley and changed his clothes back to his battle gear before going back into the auction house.
-Welcome, I'm sorry but the auction has already ended.
The young man who was at the front desk said apologetically.
-I know, I came to get the money for the item I sold so go and ask the owner to meet me.
Paul said with an emotionless voice.
-Right away sir, please wait a moment.
The young man retreated to find the owner.
A moment later he came back and invited Paul into a private room where Bai Wei was waiting for him.
On their way there, they saw the cloaked woman who won the bid for the carrot on her way out of the auction house.
-Welcome Distinguished guest, everything is ready and I took the liberty of deducing our fee already and the rest of the money is in this spatial necklace.
The old man said with a smile on his face.
Paul took the device and established a connection with it to see the amount inside.
All the money was inside 3960 crystal coins altogether as 40 were taken by the auction house.
-This is more than my client expected and he should be very pleased with your work.
Paul praised the old man's work, keeping the facade of being a mercenary hired for this job.
-This is my job and we also made a lot of money thanks to this so please thank your client for choosing my auction house and if there is ever anything that he would like to sell again, our doors are always open and we would be happy to offer our services to him again.
The old man was excited, as a happy customer would most likely come back sooner or later.
-I will relay your words to my client.
Paul said and was about to transfer the money into his device.
-There is no need to transfer the money, this device is our gift to your client as a token of appreciation.
Bai Wei said, stopping him from needlessly transferring the money.
-Then on behalf of my client I will thank you for this gift.
Paul said and stored the necklace.
-Since my work here is done, I will take my leave.
Paul said and was about to leave but he was stopped by the old man.
-Wait a moment, I think many people are waiting for you outside to try and get you to reveal your client's identity so why don't you use a secret passage we have prepared for such situations?
-Thank you for your concern but I won't be leaving through the main door.
Paul said taking out a piece of paper with a magic circle drawn on it and sending some of his mana into it to activate the spell.
This was a ready-made spell already filled with mana and it only needed a little bit to activate it.
A moment later the paper turned into ash leaving the magic circle hanging in the air before it also disappeared and Paul started to sink into his own shadow disappearing in a blink of an eye.
Bai Wei was shocked once he saw that spell.
-Shadow jump.
He gasped in disbelief once the mercenary was gone.
This was a shadow element spell and there were not many people with shadow element affinity.
Paul emerged in the dark alley he used to change into his combat gear before.
He had prepared a few of the shadow jump spells in advance but his level limited the range to around 200 meters at most so it was a short-range jump but it was enough to leave unnoticed and could be used as a life-saving item if he ever needed it.
He also gave a few of those to Mia and Maya after instructing them on how to use it, just in case they had to run from someone or something.
The distance was small but it would give them a chance to save themselves which was better than nothing.
Paul had the idea once he avoided dying when he tried to help the Qi family as even the fourth-stage expert could not trace the exit point of the shadow jump making it the best way of escaping from danger.
-Who knew that it would be useful to exit the auction house?
He smiled to himself and got on his way back home after changing his clothes back to the outfit he had during the auction.
There were still many people around the town but most of them didn't pay much attention to him since he looked like a young master of a wealthy clan who went on a stroll in the town at night or he might have a meeting with some friends or even a lover but that was not unusual after the auction brought so many people to the town.
Having some time on his hands and being alone which was not too often lately since Mia and Maya were always accompanying him.
Paul decided to have a beer in the tavern on his way home.
He didn't have any beer for a long time now and he suddenly had a craving for it.
There were a lot of people in the place but many young masters were drinking there now so one more wealthy young man wanting a drink was not unusual.
Paul sat at a free table and ordered a beer along with some cheese as a snack.
The waitress got his order and returned within a few minutes.
She was shocked when Paul gave her a few more coopers as a tip when he paid for his order as not many people gave her tips and that gesture made her happy.
This was a small pleasurable distraction for him and he enjoyed every second of it but like all good things, this one also had to end soon since he didn't want the ladies to be worried about him.
Once he reached the mansion Paul immediately knew something was not right as there was no guard at the gate and he felt the smell of blood inside so he got his sword ready and entered carefully ready to defend himself.
What he saw at the entrance to the main building terrified him to the core.