The Auction House (1)
The Auction House (1)
Viscount Daniel.
He was the Second Prince's right-hand man and the strategist responsible for handling all the dirty work.
According to the document the Auction House Owner had given me, he wielded influence far beyond what a mere viscount should, thanks to his alliance with the Second Prince.
"Consider this a warning. If you keep running amok under the pretext of guarding the Princess, next time you'll receive something other than a warning."
What a fascinating man.
I had wondered who was behind those extreme stunts at the ruins, and here was that overly loyal fanatic, right in front of me.
Then again, since he didn't seem to be acting out of genuine loyalty, calling him a treacherous sycophant might be more fitting.
Having said his piece, he tried to pull his hand away.
It would have been a shame to let him simply walk away, so I gave his hand a tight squeeze.
The Viscount's hand turned deathly pale. His face contorted with pain, but I feigned ignorance and simply bowed my head to him.
He shot me a sharp glare before striding off.
I couldn't squeeze any harder for fear of blowing my cover. Even to me, it felt like an extraordinarily petty revenge.
Regardless, bowing my head to the Second Prince's right-hand man was undoubtedly the right move.
Besides, I had even managed a tiny bit of undetected revenge, so things had gone fairly smoothly.
But it seemed I still had some pent-up anger.
Without realizing it, I found myself eavesdropping as the Viscount conversed with other nobles.
Focusing mana in my ears, I listened closely to their conversation.
"You seem exceptionally busy these days."
"Hahaha, it is all thanks to my humble loyalty. I'm paving a flower-strewn path to secure His Highness's future."
"I heard you've been having a tough time with various nuisance figures getting in your way."
"Well, when has it ever been otherwise? Most of them are just old fools obsessed with stuffy etiquette, so frankly, I'm not the least bit worried."
"Ahem, ahem, there's no need to speak so bluntly..."
"Why, surely there's no one here who would dare repeat my words."
"That may be true, but..."
It was as predictable a conversation as they came.
The Viscount and the other nobles were subtly boasting about their positions while badmouthing their enemies—most likely members of the First Prince's faction.
It seemed they had already completely erased the Princess and me from their minds.
Then again, with the two brothers fighting tooth and nail to become the next king, they hardly had time to spare a thought for the Princess.
And so, they continued to spout endless, meaningless drivel.
It wasn't even interesting to listen to, so just as I was about to tune out, a different topic caught my attention.
"You're going to an auction house?"
"Yes. I hear a grand auction is being held for the first time in quite a while."
Going to an auction house?
"You must have received an invitation."
"I've been there a few times while searching for relics to present to His Highness."
"I see. But are you sure it's safe? It's hardly an official auction house, after all. I heard the organizers are little more than mercenary ruffians."
"There have been no issues so far. Besides, I'll be bringing my escorts."
"So, are you going to search for another relic for His Highness this time, too?"
"It seems a relic specifically requested by His Highness himself will be up for auction. I intend to bid aggressively for it this time."
A relic requested by the Prince himself, huh?
The Viscount's words piqued my interest.
"Is that so? What kind of item is it? I'll inform the others as well, so we don't drive up the price unnecessarily by competing against each other."
I wondered why he had brought up the auction house, and it turned out the nobles were planning to collude before the bidding even started.
I leaned in even closer to listen.
I had to find out which relic they were rigging the bidding for.
For the sake of economic justice, I fully intended to shatter their collusion.
Fortunately, I managed to hear what relic it was.
I had already been planning to go to the auction house, but now I had an absolute reason to be there.
While my excitement for the auction house built, the Princess was conversing with a white-haired nobleman.
He was the nobleman mentioned in the intelligence dossier.
He was an elderly nobleman who had been close to the Grand Prince. When the Grand Prince declared independence, this old nobleman remained in the capital and continued to manage the King's residence.
It seemed he was an acquaintance of the Princess as well.
A faint smile rested on the Princess's lips as she spoke with the elderly nobleman.
Seeing the Princess's expression, I lost interest in listening to their conversation any further.
But their conversation was far more important than I thought, and it wouldn't be long before I was dragged into it as well.
The ball concluded without any major incidents.
The Second Prince, who had seemed displeased earlier, enjoyed the ball as if nothing had happened before returning to the royal palace, and the Viscount, his right-hand man, appeared to have completely forgotten about me by the time he left.
After parting ways with the Prince, the Princess enjoyed the party as well, and both nobles and students alike seemed to have spent a meaningful evening.
After my very first ball, a few days later, I left the Academy on a holiday and headed toward the western residential district.
That was where the auction was taking place.
This time, I wore ordinary clothes and rode in a plain carriage.
I also put on an ordinary-looking mask.
The invitation stated that all auction participants had to wear masks.
An auction house like this was bound to attract many people who needed to conceal their identities.
And I was one of them.
The carriage ventured deeper into the western residential district.
Although it was quite an upscale neighborhood, the streets looked oddly quiet.
"It probably feels that way because there are so many vacant houses."
Seeing my curiosity, the coachman driving out front explained.
"There was a time when it was all the rage for nobles with landed domains to buy a house in the capital."
The Gracia ducal family also had a mansion in the capital. Theirs wasn't empty, of course.
"But, well, they don't have that many reasons to visit the capital, and their children don't always end up attending the Royal Academy, so a lot of empty mansions popped up in the luxury residential district. Some try to sell them to others, but selling off a house formerly used by nobility isn't an easy task."
The coachman's commentary felt just like the chatter of a taxi driver I used to hear whenever I grabbed a cab in my past life.
To think I could get such a strikingly similar vibe despite the era, location, and dimension being completely different. It felt thoroughly surreal.
The destination of this carriage was one of those vacant mansions, too.
A stretch of the otherwise quiet street was packed with carriages and horses.
I saw carriages hired for the day from rental shops like mine, noble carriages bearing family crests, and even horses ridden by mercenaries tied up off to one side.
I parked my carriage among the others and looked up at the empty house.
It seemed they had rented the house for a day to hold the auction, and from where I stood, it looked quite massive.
"I wonder if hosting auctions brings in this much money, or if they just pulled the right strings with the nobility."
Their ability to secure such a large house was impressive, but I shook my head and walked toward the building.
Whatever house they got, as long as the auction went well, that was all that mattered.
Burly men stood at the entrance, checking invitations.
Among the hulking guards was the very brute I'd brawled with earlier, but thanks to my mask, he didn't seem to recognize me.
Fortunately, he seemed to have healed up nicely, so I pretended not to know him either.
The auction's layout was different from what I had expected.
I had envisioned something like an opera hall, with a stage and people sitting around it, but the auction venue wasn't set up like that at all.
Then again, since this wasn't an officially state-sanctioned auction, there was no way it would be held in a proper hall.
Instead, they used the mansion's first-floor lobby as the auction venue.
Near the entrance on the first floor, a podium had been set up to resemble an auction stage, and chairs were arranged deep inside the lobby to create an authentic auction atmosphere.
Behind the railings of the second-floor walkway leading up from the central lobby staircase, individual chairs had been placed to serve as VIP seating.
Shaking my head at the unexpectedly creative setup, I made my way to the second-floor VIP section under the guards' guidance.
As I sat down in the VIP section on the left side of the second floor, I saw another person seated by the railing on the opposite walkway.
That person seemed to be a VIP as well.
It was a young man wearing a mask, just like me.
'Is there even any point in wearing a mask if he's going to act like that?'
Even with his mask on, I could tell who he was instantly.
I didn't even need to sharpen my senses to detect his mana.
He was wearing attire similar to what he had worn at the ball, and his mask covered only the area around his eyes, making him easy to identify.
The way he raised his finger in the air was identical, and he had the same habit of smugly crooking his lip as he had at the ball.
It was Viscount Daniel, whom I had been looking forward to seeing again since the ball.
I had worried about how to find him, but those concerns had been completely unnecessary.
Now that I had found my man, I waited for the auction to begin with a relaxed mind.
A short while later, as the empty seats filled up, a familiar face stepped onto the makeshift stage right in front of the mansion entrance.
It was the woman who had guided me when I traded the relics.
Just as the relic appraiser hadn't been an ordinary employee, the receptionist wasn't a simple usher either.
Wearing a rather extravagant butterfly mask, she stood atop the platform and presided over the auction.
"I express my sincere gratitude to everyone gathered here today. As you all know, the tragic incident in the Seal Grounds severely stagnated the relic trade."
"Because of that, our auction house was unable to host auctions for a long time."
"But even amidst such a crisis, our auction house did its utmost to acquire superior relics and repay your unwavering support."
"It is an immense honor to showcase the fruits of those efforts to you today."
With her opening remarks concluded, she kicked off the auction immediately.
"This relic was excavated from a ruin not long ago. It is a belt that glows brightly when infused with a small amount of mana. It's useful for traveling at night or exploring ruins, but especially effective at drawing everyone's eyes when worn to a masquerade party."
That relic was definitely one I had sold.
It seemed thoroughly useless, yet the auctioneer was currently presenting that useless item in a splendid light.
"Those who wish to become the star of the masquerade ball, please jump right in. We begin at 50 gold coins!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than hands shot up.
"50 gold!"
"50 gold, thank you!"
"100 gold!"
"Straight to 100 gold!"
"150 gold!"
...
Watching the bids skyrocket at such a rapid pace, I couldn't help but chuckle hollowly.
Although I had fully expected it, the auction price surged far beyond what I had sold it for.
In the end, it sold for more than double the price I had received.
As the auction progressed, the relics I had sold were auctioned off one after another.
Some relics remained unsold despite her magnificent hype, and a few went for less than what I had originally sold them for, but most fetched far higher prices.
Still, with a hefty pouch brimming with gold coins sitting against my chest, I didn't feel particularly bitter.
Once the items I had sold were gone, unfamiliar items began appearing on the auction block.
I watched the auction unfold with a relaxed mind.
The relic Viscount Daniel—or rather, the Second Prince—was looking for was bound to be the most crucial item presented today.
Since the most important item would naturally come out at the very end, there was no need to be on edge just yet.
As I absently watched the items, a strange object was brought up for auction.
"This item is not a relic itself, but it is something those of you who possess relics will find exceedingly useful."
Just as the auctioneer had said, the item in her hand was not a relic.
It was an extremely small item meant to be worn around the neck, giving the impression of a tiny jewelry box.
"Ordinarily, most relics are not bound to a specific individual and can be used by anyone."
"But I am sure many of you wish to keep such relics entirely to yourselves."
Holding the object, the host continued her seemingly out-of-nowhere pitch.
"This item was crafted precisely for those individuals. Brought all the way from the Empire, it ensures that only a designated, registered individual can connect with the relic."
Hearing the main point of her explanation, I tilted my head curiously.
From the Empire? On top of that, her explanation tickled a memory in the back of my mind.
"This item encases the relic to block the transfer of mana from others, allowing only the mana of the registered individual to flow through."
Despite her passionate explanation, the crowd remained entirely lukewarm.
Sensing the lackluster mood, the auctioneer started the bidding in a somewhat deflated voice.
"We begin at 10 gold coins!"
As expected, no one raised a hand.
A moment later, one person raised a hand.
"10 gold."
Right after that, I raised my hand.
"100 gold."
Everyone turned to look at me, bewildered.
Even so, I had to get my hands on that object no matter what.
Its size was a perfect match, and the function she described aligned flawlessly with the item in my possession.
The jewel box necklace she was holding was the very component used for my necklace—the mana-overload necklace that Piar possessed!