Chapter 651: The Auction
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Perhaps that was the witch's ability.
Yorko realized that the eldest son of Luoxi family had only heard that a witch would be auctioned, but he had neglected her ability. A dangerous and eccentric ability would obviously reduce a witch's value, as no one wanted to be killed. Whether witches were affiliated with demons or not, they were not commoners and it was very hazardous to buy them off.
But the ability of this witch sounded not formidable. Self-cure was not able to hurt people, instead, it met some curious people's needs, so the price would be unexpectedly high.
"Sir, don't you want to bid a price?" No.76 firstly took the initiative to ask.
"Uhm... wait a moment." Yorko wiped the sweat from his hands, thinking, "Otto said that the Black Letter was money, but how much is it worth? 1,000 or 2,000 gold royals? If the witch's price turns out to be much higher than his Black Letter's worth, will the Black Money admit the deal? What if they ask me to pay the extra money?" A series of questions occurred to him and made him feel extremely anxious. He did not have even 100 gold royals, let alone 1,000 ones.
At this time, the bidding competition started to slow down. Each rise would be kept about 10 gold royals and intervals became longer and longer.
"1,260 gold royals!"
"Is there a higher bidding?"
Yorko knew that he would lose the witch if he kept silent.
He gritted his teeth, thinking, "If the Black Letter was maxed out, I'll show the Black Money my identity as the Ambassador of Graycastle. They won't dare to hurt a country's messenger. After that, I'll let Otto pay the extra money tomorrow morning."
"Bid, 1,500 gold royals," he said with a deep voice.
"Yes," No.76 raised her right hand instantly and said, "1,500!"
Hearing that, all the guests began to stir.
The significant rise of nearly 300 showed the buyer's resolution to get the witch. Besides, it also gave implications to other bidders that they need not bid anymore. Since only the wealthiest and most powerful people could get the invitations of the Black Money, it was much more important for the bidders to keep a good relationship than to bid a replaceable entertainment commodity. Under such circumstances, the other bidders usually would stop bidding.
He hoped that he could utilize this bidding technique he had learned from Denise to make other bidders stop competing with him.
However, he did not get what he wanted.
"1,800!"
A new bidding voice came out of the crowds instantly.
His heart abruptly sank.
The same jump bidding trick meant that the bidder was also as determined as him to buy the witch.
"Sir?" No.76 asked.
"2,000." Yorko tightly clenched his teeth.
After his guide said the price, the other bidder continued to raise his bidding price, saying, "2,300!"
Damn it! This price was crazy even for a witch with self-cure ability. In the slave market, a top female slave with good looks and excellent skills was less than 100 gold royals. With that much money, one can get a dozen of them, with worrying about violating the laws of the Kingdom of Dawn. Isn't that better than buying a witch?
With these thoughts in mind, he turned to look, and to his surprise, he noticed that the guide who had spoken for the other bidder was a male.
"A guide is decided by the bidder's gender, right? So the other bidder is a lady? Why does she want to buy a witch, just for watching?" Yorko indignantly asked No.76.
"What you've said about the choice of a guide is true, unless the guest has special needs," No.76 nodded and then asked, "Do you want to raise your bidding price again?"
"You raise 200 gold royals each time until she gives up."
Yorko decided to buy the witch at all costs. He did not believe that the other bidder was richer than the three families of the Kingdom of Dawn. After all, this was what Otto had asked him to do. If there were any trouble, Otto would take care of it.
As they were competing, the other guest whispered to each other, showing great interests in this scene.
When the bidding price amounted to 4,000 gold royals, the other bidder finally stopped bidding.
But the price was five times higher than that expected by Otto.
"4,000, the first time!"
"The second time!"
The host said steadily and slowly, which made Yorko even more anxious. He felt a desperate urge to replace the host to strike the small hammer that was used to decide the price.
Luckily, the nightmare-like bidding voice never sounded again.
"The third time and it's a deal."
Yorko took a deep breath and leaned on the bench, feeling his back soaked with sweat.
"4,000 gold royals...This witch costs a fortune that I can't make in my whole life. This is how the great nobles spend their money?" At this thought, he suddenly felt that his licentious life back in the king's city of Graycastle was nothing but a joke.
His guide smilingly said, "Sir, congratulations! No.10 commodity is yours now!"
People sitting around him all looked at him with respect, as he had just spent 4,000 gold royals on a short-term consumable commodity.
In the Kingdom of Dawn, wealth stood for identity.
Regardless of the anxieties and concerns during the auction, Yorko was very pleased to undergo this wonderful experience, because, for the first time, people fixed their eyes on him out of respect instead of contempt.
Yorko enjoyed this feeling for a long while and asked, "Are the following commodities all slaves?"
"Yes, except the last one. It's said to be a very rare thing that costs the Black Money lots of efforts to get," No.76 replied.
"You don't know what it is, either."
"Yes, my boss wanted to emphasize its mystic quality by doing so. He only told us that it's an ancient relic embedded with magic stones," she replied.
"So it can shine? You've told me that there aren't any magic stone to be auctioned," Yorko twitched his lip and said.
No.76 explained. "There's not only one kind of magic stones. Some stones can't shine, but they're the best-quality jewelry, such as the Blue Star sold out at the price of 3,400 gold royals six months ago. It was a magic stone that can't shine, but in the dark, you can see numerous shining stars inside it. It was much more precious than common gemstones."
"And it's far more expensive than common ones. What a beautiful magic stone could it be, as it's sold out at such a high price?" Yorko thought and could not help feeling curious. Now that he had finished what Otto had asked him to do, he planned to leave the rest of the time here to the eye-opening commodities which he could brag about to Denise.
However, seeing the last item on the auction, he felt quite disappointed.
It was a sword.
Four colorful gemstones were inlaid in the handle. He wondered whether the host was going to introduce it as a piece of jewelry or a weapon.
The host started to brag about it. He claimed that it had been found in an ancient monument located in the Impassable Mountain Range. Based on the wall paintings around the place where it had been found, the sword had belonged to an excellent warrior. She had been able to use it to change astronomical phenomena, and her enemies had been demons from the hell. Yorko laughed at these ridiculous words. "It would be more practical to sell those four gemstones alone. The host should not advertise the sword other than gemstones."
The sword was auctioned with a starting price of 50,000 gold royals, which made all the guest burst into an uproar. As a result, no one wanted to bid and this round of auction ended in a haste.
"Where's the witch I've bought?" Yorko shifted his attention from the auction into the witch. He touched the thigh of No.76 and asked, "Has she been put in my room?"
"Of course, Sir." No.76 chuckled. "The Black Money has arranged everything for you, so this way please."