The Secret Auction (2)
Lillia, the daughter of the Eldorado Merchant Guild, had been taken in by Highrun when she was just a child. To be precise, he had secretly killed her parents after recognizing her talent, then claimed her as his own. At first, she believed he had simply adopted her for her abilities. But as she grew older, she uncovered a truth she had never expected. He was the one who had murdered her parents.
She secretly sharpened her fangs for revenge. In the process, she gathered information on people who might one day prove useful to her. Among them, the most promising were the new students who had just enrolled in the academy. Since they had no connection to Highrun yet and possessed outstanding talent, she needed to make them owe her favors.
'That way, they'll have no choice but to help me when I ask later.'
She had spent a long time carefully laying out her plans. But then—
'Just who is that man?'
An unexpected variable had appeared. A blind archer who had suddenly shown up at the academy. On the surface, it shouldn't matter much. After all, how skilled could a blind person possibly be with a bow? The problem, however, was that this blind archer had displayed abilities superior to Luden of the Roden family. On top of that, he had even managed to land a clean hit on Dale—something no one else had accomplished.
From her perspective, it was impossible not to be wary.
'His name was Baran, wasn't it?'
It was a name she had never heard before. She had spent money to thoroughly investigate every promising new student who might be of use to her. As a result, she knew the backgrounds of all the notable students. Yet this blind man named Baran was someone she knew absolutely nothing about.
Where on earth had a man like that suddenly come from?
'Could he be a spy sent by Highrun?'
The thought crossed her mind for a moment, but she quickly shook her head and dismissed it.
'No, that's not it.'
The merchant guild was in its busiest season right now. Highrun, as its master, would naturally be the busiest of all. Would someone as swamped as him really take the time to send a spy to the academy just to keep an eye on her? She was certain that wasn't the case. Besides, he probably didn't even suspect that she was plotting anything in the first place.
'Still... he does pique my interest a little.'
As Lillia walked while thinking of Baran, something caught her eye.
'Hm?'
A man with a strangely familiar aura had entered her field of vision.
'Why does he seem so familiar?'
Thanks to the perception-distorting magic she was using, she couldn't tell exactly who he was. But somehow, she had the distinct feeling that she had encountered him recently. Her instincts had never been wrong before.
Without realizing it, Lillia found herself calling out to the man in the distance.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
At her voice, he turned his head in her direction. Lillia slowly looked him up and down.
'Now that I'm seeing him up close... he looks even more familiar. Who is he?'
For some reason, his face was even harder to make out than her usual customers. She narrowed her eyes slightly and asked,
“Have we perhaps met somewhere recently?”
In response, Baran altered his voice and answered politely.
“Ah, perhaps you saw me in passing at the secret auction?”
“......”
It was true that she had been overseeing the secret auction, so running into someone there wouldn't be strange. But her instincts were screaming otherwise. They told her this man had definitely not crossed paths with her at the auction.
'His aura feels incredibly similar to that man named Baran.'
With that thought, she stepped right up to him. Tilting her head up to look at his face, she asked again.
“Hmm. No matter how I look at it, I feel like we met very recently. Am I wrong?”
“Pardon?”
Lillia studied his face for a moment. Just how thickly had he layered the perception distortion? His features looked as if they were shrouded in thick fog.
The atmosphere was similar to Baran's, but...
'No. It couldn't be.'
The man standing before her was clearly a noble, unlike Baran. Moreover, she knew every single VIP guest by name. If Baran had been one of them, there was no way she would have forgotten him.
'And yet... his aura really does feel similar to that man.'
Her gut was telling her that the man in front of her was Baran. But logically, that made no sense. As a merchant, there were many times when she had to trust reason over instinct. Therefore, the man before her could not possibly be Baran.
Having organized her thoughts, Lillia took a step back and gave a polite bow.
“My apologies. I must have been mistaken. Please enjoy the rest of your evening, sir.”
With those words, Lillia walked away, a lingering unease in her chest. She had no idea that behind her, Baran was letting out a huge sigh of relief.
I made it safely back to the waiting room, having successfully avoided Lillia. The moment I sat down on the sofa, I clutched my chest.
'Whoa. That was way too close for comfort.'
Even though we had only met once before, she had immediately grown suspicious of me. My heart had been pounding the entire time, terrified she might figure it out.
'Just how sharp are her instincts?'
I had been using two perception-distorting items, yet I had still nearly been caught. If I hadn't been wearing the perception-distorting necklace, it wouldn't have been strange at all for her to realize I was Baran.
'Haa. At least I wasn't actually found out... right?'
I stroked my chin, lost in serious thought, when suddenly—
Hiroin Lillia has taken an interest in the player!
🎁 Reward: 1,000 Points
A reward message had popped up out of nowhere. I hadn't expected to gain points like this. Though I was a bit dazed, seeing the message gave me one clear certainty.
'She didn't realize I'm Baran.'
If Lillia had figured out my identity, there definitely wouldn't have been just a reward message. A notification saying the difficulty had increased would have appeared instead. But instead of a difficulty spike, I had only received points. That meant she hadn't discovered who I was.
'Still, I should be extra careful just in case.'
The moment I resolved to stay vigilant, a low vibration sounded from the table.
-Vrrrr.
The video crystal on the table began to hum, and a mana screen appeared above it.
-Hello. This is Lillia.
On the screen, Lillia—wearing a mask—waved with a seductive smile. Even with her face half-covered, she was breathtakingly beautiful. I stared at her in a slight daze for a moment.
-I will now explain the rules for this auction. The rules are quite simple. We will describe each item up for sale. If any of you wish to purchase it, please write your bid on the paper provided beside you. The person who writes the highest amount will win the item.
Lillia calmly explained the auction rules. They were exactly the same as in the original story.
'Perfect. Time to farm some ingredients for free, then.'
With that thought, the secret auction finally began in earnest.
About an hour had passed since the auction started. We were roughly in the middle of the event. However, the item I had been waiting for still hadn't appeared.
'It should be coming up any moment now...'
Just as I was thinking that—
-Now, the next item up for auction is this!
The item I had been waiting for finally appeared.
◈ An arrow crafted from the branches of the World Tree.
◈ Essential material for archer-class professions.
Just to be sure, I observed it with Mind's Eye. As expected, it was exactly what I had been looking for. To the naked eye, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary arrow made from a tree branch. But if anyone realized it was made from the World Tree, they would undoubtedly fight tooth and nail to get their hands on it.
-Those who wish to participate in the bidding for this item, please write your offer on the paper provided!
Since it had appeared in the middle of the auction, it was clearly meant to cool down the heated atmosphere. Most people probably wouldn't bother bidding. And I had been counting on exactly that.
I wrote down 100,000 gold on the paper.
'This should be more than enough to win it.'
In modern terms, it was roughly equivalent to 100,000 won. To a third party, it might seem like an extravagant waste. I held the paper up to the video crystal.
-This item has been won by guest number 103.
The announcement came immediately. It seemed no one else had participated in the bidding.
'Well, if I didn't know what it really was, I wouldn't have bid either.'
I was feeling quite satisfied with the auction result when—
-Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door. When I opened it, a masked staff member handed me the arrow.
“Here you are, sir.”
“Thank you.”
I handed over 100,000 gold and received the arrow. The staff member bowed politely.
“Have a wonderful rest of your day.”
With that, he quietly closed the door. I closed my eyes and examined the arrow.
The next moment—
'It really is an arrow made from the World Tree.'
A sacred mana flowed from it. It was pure natural energy, completely free of any impurities. There was no doubt it would be far more powerful than ordinary arrows.
'It's honestly too valuable to use as a one-time consumable, though.'
Regardless, I had accomplished my goal. There was no reason to stay here any longer. I stored the arrow away and stood up from the sofa.
Just as I was about to leave—
-Now! Let me introduce the next item!
Lillia pulled away a cloth, revealing the next item. Curious about what it could be, I slowly turned my head toward the screen.
The moment I saw what was displayed, my eyes widened in shock.
'What the—? Why is that thing here?!'