Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1494: Chapter 221: Mysterious Bracelet

For the auction house boss, it’s no longer important who inscribed the magic technique on the bottle of potion—the important thing is that it got smashed under his watch, and right in front of everyone. Even if he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t.

Besides, his foothold in the black market relies on a good reputation… But compensating fifty million Mithril at once feels like bleeding him dry.

Businesspeople understand that assets are not the same as liquid funds. Despite the auction house’s vast resources, much is tied up in inventory that’s hard to move—the compensation issue is what troubles the big boss the most at the moment.

“…Did she really say that?”

After hearing the steward’s report, the auction house boss couldn’t help but shift in his seat… Eventually, he chose to stand up from the chair, feeling quite unnatural otherwise.

“Yes, boss.”

The auction house boss shook his head, “The item was sold, but it hasn’t been officially delivered yet. We haven’t received the buyer’s money… It’s impossible for us to provide a full compensation of fifty million now.”

The old steward frowned… thinking that this notoriously stingy boss might just be planning to reimburse the base price of the auction item. If that’s the case, the Witch would surely blow up… The steward’s expression became peculiar.

“That’s not what I meant!” The auction house boss coughed awkwardly, “What I’m suggesting is bartering… using treasures of equivalent value as compensation—head to the warehouse, pick out a few items, estimate their prices, and if they match, send them to the Witch.”

The steward opened his mouth… how does breaking an egg to get a vegetable work? How did such a stingy idea even come to mind?

Valuation?

Anything put up for auction doesn’t have an accurate valuation… Even a piece of junk, if hyped enough, could be sold for a high price…

“Boss, this Witch is also in business; she won’t be easy to fool?” The steward felt it necessary to remind him.

The auction house boss replied, “You think I don’t know? I’m not stupid… Do you really think I’d ask you to pick junk? Pick out some magic jewelry, make sure it’s of good quality, and also include that other item we received last month… That thing, anyway, is trouble hot in hand—I was fretting over how to handle it!”

“Well… all right then.” The old steward thought for a moment, finally nodding, “I think it’s a good idea, because at this point, no matter how the Witch makes a fuss, it’s futile… I’ll go negotiate with her again now.”

The auction house boss was about to settle in, but just then someone hurriedly entered from outside and delivered a note, saying it was instructed by Maria to send.

The auction house boss quickly took it, glancing at it, and his face turned a bit strange.

The old steward and highly paid consultant in the room couldn’t help but curiously peer over, “What does it say?”

As the auction house boss initially furrowed his brows, he gradually relaxed and smiled, “It seems the Witch isn’t as rumored, throwing hands at any disagreement… Take a look.”

The auction house boss spread the note in front of the two; they leaned in to glance, and the old steward couldn’t help but be stunned after reading it, “Oh, can it be like this…”

It turned out the note contained Maria’s solution: This time the Legendary Witch’s work was confirmed to be a counterfeit in the end. As for how it fooled the auction’s appraisal, it was entirely because the product had an extremely advanced illusion technique which even surpassed the appraiser’s capability, thus deceiving everyone. If not for the auctioneer’s gavel, it could’ve caused significant losses to both the auction and the buyer… This was essentially Maria forfeiting the fifty million Mithril compensation.

But there were two additional conditions, first, compensation of eight million Mithril, and second, the auction house must deduct six percent from the total profits of each upcoming auction until the fifty million is fully deducted.

“This… isn’t she afraid we’ll default?” The steward couldn’t help but curiously ask.

“We’ll definitely have to sign a contract…” The auction house boss smiled bitterly, “Even if we don’t sign a contract, you might be able to escape by fleeing into the real world and hiding; she might never find you. But I can’t. If I flee, what happens to my business? My family? The career I’ve painstakingly built over the years? You tell me? Fine, just do it as she says… who said this Witch only knows to bludgeon? She’s more like a beautiful snake!”

The old steward nodded, then asked, “Should we go to the warehouse to pick items?”

The auction house boss thought for a moment and replied, “Yes, pick out a couple more, send them to the master who bought the potion… Anyone who can easily pull out fifty million Mithril is surely a big client of ours in the future, so we must seize the opportunity! As for that other item… mm, send it to Maria as a token of gratitude. Whether that thing is a treasure or trash in her hands depends on her luck… Damn, this Maria is impressive, so shrewd. If I didn’t already have a wife, I’d certainly marry her! Tsk, tsk, she’s got quite a body!”

“Hehe…”

…

“What’s this? This thing worth eight million Mithril?” Maria couldn’t help but frown, looking at the old steward’s dogged appearance as he delivered something: a green bracelet that seemed to be made of jade.

“Of course not.” The old steward still wore a dog-like grin, “Miss Maria, here is the eight million Mithril you requested… This is an unregistered Mithril card, please check the points.”

As they say, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush… Maria first pocketed the Mithril card—even though the psychological gap was big, it wasn’t entirely unacceptable—because the old steward had already mentioned the bottle being inscribed with the Fragile Attribute.

Maria didn’t even need to say anything, as she recalled her experience with Master Qise Jin… this could totally be done! For sure, Master Qise Jin would!

“So what about this thing?” Maria looked at the bracelet in front of her again.

The old steward immediately became eloquent, “This treasure was recently acquired by our boss, and it has quite the history! It was found in the ruins within the Unhuman Domain… You’re aware of the Unhuman Domain’s origins! This bracelet might be an artifact used by the gods from the Greek God System era… If the secret on this bracelet can be unlocked, its value might even surpass that of the Legendary Witch’s work! Our boss genuinely wants to befriend you, Miss Maria!”

“Oh, I believe you, ghost!” Maria snorted coldly, “Who doesn’t know your boss is famously stingy… Artifacts from the Greek mythology era gods? This is more likely something fished out of a sewer!”

The old steward still smiled, warm as spring wind.

Maria shook her head, feeling it rather dull, and waved her hand, “Alright, go back and tell your boss, I’ll come to collect my money next month as scheduled… Don’t default, or face the consequences at your own peril!”

“Certainly, certainly!”

Watching the old steward breathe a sigh of relief as he headed out… After closing the door, Ms. Boss Zhong’s third daughter brightly emerged from behind the screen, walked over to Maria, and extended her hand.

“Here, one million Mithril is yours.” Miss Witch waved her hand grandly, quite generously.

However, the third daughter suddenly furrowed her brows, “Ten percent?”

Maria shrugged, “I’ll give you another million next month when I collect… Split it over five payments.”

The third daughter could only shake her head, unwilling to lower herself over such matters… giving the bracelet on the table a glance, she picked it up casually.

Maria hurriedly said with a sharp voice: “This thing is worth at least four… three million! Three million! You heard it, this is an item from the era of the Greek God System!”

The third lady let out a cold laugh and directly tossed the bracelet back… Miss Witch could only laugh awkwardly: “Take it, take it… well, give it to that vampire lady as a token of thanks from last time!”

Only then did Zhong Luoyue leisurely take the bracelet.

She wasn’t particularly interested in this thing but suddenly remembered that Elizabeth seemed very interested in the era of Greek mythology, so she planned to take it to her… She just came out empty-handed tonight, wearing a dress, with no place to hide anything on her body, so she decided to wear the bracelet on her wrist.

“This is my messenger number in the [Non-Human Domain].” Maria then handed over a badge and then wrote a note: “This is my phone number in the current world… Wanna be friends?”

The third lady received it all with a smile… Before leaving, she suddenly turned back to look at Maria, smiled mysteriously, and said: “Being friends with me won’t leave you at a loss… Elizabeth is now the Inner Chamber Disciple of the Luminous Tower Master.”

The door was still closed, yet Maria couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled, pondering over the last words of Zhong Luoyue… Luminous Tower Master, Luminous Tower Master… Hmm?

Who is Luminous?

“F*CK!”

“The First Tower Master of the Magician’s Association, the foremost of the [Non-Human Domain]—Luminous!!”

The suddenly leaping up Miss Witch wanted to immediately lift her skirt and chase out, directly shove five million mithril at Zhong Luoyue, even at a loss!

…

“Yue, what are you wearing on your hand?”

On the carriage returning to the Association headquarters, the noble Fantas quickly noticed the peculiar bracelet on the third lady’s wrist and became curious.

Zhong Luoyue glanced sideways and half-truthfully said: “This bracelet seems to be earmarked as a valuable item for the next auction… I ran into an acquaintance when I went out to the washroom, and she gave it to me.”

Auction items, acquaintances… This made the noble Fantas easily associate with something—his expression subtly changed and then he smiled: “This bracelet looks ancient and grand, it must be very precious, the giver indeed had good intentions.”

The third lady nodded with a smile, “Consider it a testament to friendship.”

Fantas’s pupils slightly contracted, and then his smile became even brighter, “Is that so… But I think Yue you are more suited to wear a necklace—this magic necklace, besides being crafted with rubies, also has several defense techniques, most fitting for a beauty like you.”

Probably prepared early on… Fantas presented a box with both hands.

“So beautiful.”

Indeed it was beautiful, this unique design, even Zhong Luoyue, who was used to seeing jewelry and ornaments, couldn’t help but be a bit taken.

“May I personally put it on for you?” Fantas asked, eyes blazing.

“You certainly are a gentleman, Fantas.” The third lady’s expression remained unchanged and, in the end, slowly lifted her long hair, turned around but seemingly casually used a folding fan to shield her chest… just as a little tease, she thought.

Zhong Luoyue constantly asked herself, what capital did she have after becoming [Non-Human]?

She had… the only capital women had.

Fantas smiled smugly, not minding Zhong Luoyue’s defensive gestures… the key is to close the distance, as long as this distance keeps consuming, the prey naturally won’t escape—no rush, he understood the logic of boiling frogs in warm water.

But just as he picked up the necklace, ready to put it on Zhong Luoyue, the carriage suddenly shook violently, followed by a loud explosion, the carriage was blasted skywards!

…

Fantas was able to sense the magic power fluctuations, and at the moment the carriage exploded, he quickly activated the defenses of the necklace and wasn’t injured, but the impact of the explosion also affected him, throwing him a dozen meters away… Zhong Luoyue was not far from him.

“Yue! Are you okay?”

“No… just a little dizzy… who is this?!”

On the bluish-black cobblestone path appeared a figure floating in mid-air, wearing a black cloak… possibly relying on some magic technique or item ability, a male.

He used cold eyes hidden beneath a mask to look down and scrutinize Fantas and Zhong Luoyue… the next instant, without any sign, he rushed directly toward Zhong Luoyue.

Having had some military life experiences, Zhong Luoyue was much calmer than ordinary rich young ladies, and at this time, amidst the chaos, she instinctively called upon her immature vampire powers, immediately her strength surged, leaping up to narrowly avoid the black-robed man’s sneak attack.

“Vampire?” The black-robed man seemed a bit surprised, then whispered: “Where did this vampire fledgling come from… [Hades] is not something you Thirteen Clans can touch.”

“What?” The third lady indicated she completely didn’t understand what he was saying.

But at this time, the alerted bodyguards of Fantas had quickly arrived, and at the fastest speed, surrounded this black-robed man—not only the bodyguards but also the accompanying advanced secret medicine practitioner from the Association, Fantas’s teacher, was alarmed.

“I am Vich, advanced secret medicine practitioner of the Magician’s Association! Who are you, daring to openly attack members of the Association?” Fantas’s teacher angrily shouted.

The black-robed man glanced around, finally taking a deep look at Zhong Luoyue, then suddenly rushed into the sky, “Magician’s Association people, go back and tell your Luminous Tower Master… we will not let off this thief! Divine Domain… we will reclaim it!”

The black-robed man disappeared into the night sky, leaving a crowd of bewildered onlookers.

Zhong Luoyue looked towards the direction where the mysterious black-robed man disappeared, intuiting that he seemed to be aiming for herself… or the thing in her hand—she instinctively wanted to remove the bracelet but found that it inexplicably wouldn’t come off.

She couldn’t help but recall the words of this mysterious black-robed man… [Hades]? Could this bracelet really be a treasure?