Read Novel Full Chapter 541: A Deal...?
Chapter 541: A Deal...?
The auction continued to go on. Countless items of interesting shapes, sizes, history, and enchantments went by—all of which sold for a high price.
"A bidder from Priv-Box number 3 has placed a bid of 20,000 Semis for the [Mystical Golden Bough]! Can anyone go any higher?!"
Lillian watched as the Gardener pressed down a button and whispered into the mic attached to it. The mysterious bidder from Box 3 was actually the Gardener.
Every now and then, the man would place a bid for an item of medicinal value, even going as far as winning the bidding wars. But any other item outside of medicinal purposes wasn’t given more than a glance.
"Congratulations on your [Mystical Golden Bough], sir." Lillian smiled genuinely at the Gardener, who seemed to appreciate her kind gesture.
"Thank you for your congratulations, young lady Arius." The Gardener replied politely, before asking, "You have yet to bid anything. Are you merely here to enjoy the view?"
Lillian chuckled sheepishly, scratching the side of her head, "Nothing here had interested me yet to bid..."
Although she was close to placing a bid for a few previous items, they weren’t special enough for her temptations to win over her.
"I see... Well, I do hope the item of interest to you would come and you would succeed in winning it." The Gardener replied respectfully, returning to watch the next items go by and insulting their purpose.
Lillian nodded and did the same, albeit without the insults.
Eventually, it was time for her auctioned Shard to arrive, the one that created a special organ that produced a toxic secretion. And it was safe to say...
"Box #4 has placed a whopping bid of 50,000 on the [Gloomgillian Gland]!"
It did rather well.
’Box #4? Isn’t that the one Kuro and the rest are in?’ Lillian pondered.
While it may have repulsed the non-mages inside the theatre, it definitely attracted the attention of some of the mages. After all, it was a Feature Shard, which was one of the rarer varieties right below monster shards.
Although what the Feature Shard provided was a bit... Off-putting, it still managed to bring in enough for Lillian to say she definitely earned.
’I guess they just wanted it for something random...’
After that... It was an Item she was waiting for.
At the very centre of the stage, the floor opened to reveal a dark square hole beneath. But then, the floor closed once an item of considerable size rose up from the bottom.
"Let’s step up tonight’s items up a notch!"
The Auctioneer danced on stage, flamboyantly pointing to the newly appeared item, "The [Arcane Bombardier]!"To call the [Arcane Bombardier] just an item would be considered an insult.
Linked together and melded on either side of a thick leather saddle were four moderately large cylinders, each 4 metres long. They were covered with stripes and circles of runes, suggesting it was enchanted.
"The [Arcane Bombardier]! An impressive creation of a young engineer, hoping to use the money gained from this auction to fund his other projects. Just by imbuing your mana into this bad-boy, it would manifest a near-endless supply of ammunition that - once fired - would give even a tank a run for its money. *cough* Albeit, an older model.
"This Grade B item is perfect for any medium-sized mount that is lacking in firepower! What, it can’t reach a monster flying over it? Just shoot it down! Even dragons can fall to this beast!
"Even The starting bid will be 100,000 Semis! With an increment of 10,000! Let the bidding begin!"
As the bidding began, a wave of hands shot up; compared to the last items, they were now a lot more willing to put down a bid. And Lillian was no different.
Speeding over to the button and mic, Lillian began to place her bids under the Gardener’s curious scrutiny.
One by one, bids were placed down.
"Is that our first bid over there? Oh! 150 over here?! Oh, my—a 200!? You all sure are rowdy now!"
Most of those who bid on the mount accessory didn’t even have the thought of equipping a mount with it; they were more interested in the actual artillery aspect of the accessory.
The bidding war began.
"Box #3 placed a bid of a whopping 400! Ooo...!" The Auctioneer placed a finger on the earbud inside his right ear, "Only to be outdone by Box #4 and their 450, better luck next time #3!"
Lillian scowled, having been outbid again.
Irritated by the Auctioneer’s mocking words, trying to incentivise her to bid higher.
’But it’s getting way too expensive now... I only have around 700,000 in my account - anymore and I’ll officially go broke!’ Lillian bit down on her nail, still scowling.
But then.
"Haa... Nevermind..." Lillian decided to give up, going broke over some Item would do her more harm than good, probably.
Sitting back down on the couch with a crestfallen look, she glanced to the side, meeting the Gardener’s gaze.
"Have you given up? You seemed rather determined to acquire it."
"Yeah... But, there’s not much point in draining every penny in my bank account to get it. I just have to accept I won’t get it..."
"Hm..."
Watching as the Gardener turned away, Lillian watched as the bidding war continued; the bids eventually reaching the cusp of 700,000.
’Auctions are truly just where the rich can flaunt their wealth...’ Lillian sighed deeply, listening as the Auctioneer called out the bids before stiffening.
"Ooo! Box #3 has joined back in the game with a grand seven-fifty! Does any wish to go any higher?!"
Lillian’s ears twitched.
Box #3? Wasn’t that her box?
Looking to the side, she watched as the Gardener leaned away from the button and mic; he... placed a bid.
The Gardener noticed Lillian’s gaze and muttered:
"Upon my niece’s return to the estate, I had noticed a big change in her behaviour whenever we uncommonly meet. A big enough change to where a group of humans she had been torturing were left alive afterwards, even able to leave with their lives... She had even felt... More social and more alive."
Turning to Lillian, he said:
"My niece had even commented how you appear different in her eyes, unlike those around her... Thus, my interest in you as a potential specimen has been furthered. As a Roselle, money is not an issue; however, this act of kindness won’t be free of cost."
A moment after he said that...
"Going once! Going twice...! SOLD TO BOX #3!"
Lillian watched as the Gardener pushed his hand out.
"You must provide me with an item of equal or higher value for this mount accessory in the near future. Do we have a deal?"
The Rabbit blinked.
"That’s it?"
"That’s it... Unless you wish to give me mo—"
Lillian grinned broadly, clutching his hand before he could add any more to the deal.
"You have yourself a deal!"
***
As a bustling auction was happening, deep below the theatre was an underground operation transporting items of various sizes.
There was even the corpse of a gigantic dismembered bird being carried around by a large metal claw moving around on the ceiling.
A man with a hard hat stared at his clipboard, scratching his scalp with the back of his pen before looking up at the event manager standing in front of him.
"Two Tier 4 monster corpses, both around 20-30 metres big. And you expect us to somehow fit both of them up that small hole to the auction that maybe 8 metres wide?" He asked in Ancient Keri.
"Just stuff them inside a spatial ring as usual, why are you complaining?"
"We lose a lot of money on those rings. Don’t you know how much storage they can hold!? AT LEAST 300 CUBIC METRES."
"Of course, I know that! But the academy is paying you for your work, so do it!"
As the event manager was about to walk away, he watched as one of his employees rushed over to him, heaving as he held up a spatial ring to him.
"S-sir! We have a last minute request to put this up for auction!"
"What? Last minute? But it had already begun!" The Manager shouted, taking the ring out of his employee’s hand and looking into it. "What’s so special about this that you would run and look like a soaking wet dog afterwa—"
The Manager froze as he looked inside, spotting the sight of a mysterious-looking stone eye that seemed to slowly turn in his direction.
Instantly pulling himself out from the spatial ring, he looked towards his employee, "A-a gate? What rank do you know...?"
"T-the client said 4, sir..."
"A grade 4..." The Manager repeated, these sorts of gates were incredibly rare and highly valued! That’s because if a Tier 4 Mage were to get his hands on it and complete it, they would be able to ascend to a Tier 5—ultimately becoming one of the strongest individuals on the planet!
"Quickly get this to the team managing what goes out, and tell that fool Derrick above to try and auction this out as soon as possible."