Yuna returned from training later that evening, finding Reinhard staring at his phone with a notebook filled with notes beside him.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Gnosis."
She paused. "For Emily?"
"Yeah. I found some information about other cases, but Elias Vane has been almost impossible to research."
Yuna’s expression changed slightly.
Reinhard noticed immediately. "You know him?"
"Not personally. But I’ve heard that name before. My mentor mentioned his research once."
Reinhard immediately looked up.
"Can you ask your mentor about him?"
"I can try."
"Please. I’ll owe you one." He thought about it. "Two, even. I’m feeling generous."
Yuna gave him a strange look, as if a man who said please was still something she was getting used to, and went to her room.
Later that night, she returned with a thoughtful expression.
Reinhard looked up from his notes. "Well?"
"My mentor remembers Dr. Vane."
Reinhard’s attention sharpened. "Where is he?"
"He’s dead."
"That’s unfortunate."
Yuna continued before he could say anything else. "But his research isn’t."
Reinhard sat up slightly. "Where is it?"
"My mentor said Vane’s research was transferred years ago."
"Transferred where?"
She met his eyes.
"The old Royal Auction House."
Reinhard’s eyes lit up.
"Then that’s where I’m going. Thank you, Yuna."
Yuna nodded. "Just... be careful."
She walked away, and Reinhard’s smile remained. Then a blue window appeared in front of him.
[Investment Opportunity Available.]
[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]
[Current Value: C+]
[Objective: Obtain Dr. Elias Vane’s research on Gnosis recovery.]
[Difficulty Grade: D.]
[Success Probability: 50%.]
Reinhard read it twice. "A D-grade, and you’re only giving me a coin flip?" He leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head. "You gave me eighty-five percent to hold my wife’s hand, and now I’m fifty-fifty at a shopping trip. I’m starting to think you don’t believe in me."
The window didn’t respond, which he decided to take as an apology.
Reinhard leaned back in his chair. "Don’t worry," he said to the empty room. "I’ll still bring it home."
...
The next morning Reinhard moved through the apartment gathering his coat, and Emily noticed the change in his routine immediately. She rolled out of the kitchen and stopped beside the couch. "You’re going somewhere?"
"The Royal Auction House."
She was quiet for a second. "For my Gnosis?"
"Yes."
Her fingers tightened on her wheels. "You don’t have to."
"I know." Reinhard crossed the room and knelt beside her chair, adjusting the blanket over her legs out of habit. "I want to."
Emily watched his hands fix the corner of the blanket, which didn’t need fixing. "Be careful."
He smiled up at her. "I will. Try not to miss me too much."
"I won’t."
"That was fast."
"It was an easy question." The corner of her mouth twitched. "Idiot."
"She’ll miss you," Lily called from the couch without looking up from her phone.
Emily turned her head slowly. "Lily."
"What? I’m just reporting what I see."
Reinhard stood and adjusted his coat, looking extremely pleased with himself. "I’ll be back soon, and I’ll accept a welcome party."
"There won’t be one," Emily said.
"A small one, then."
She rolled back toward the kitchen, but he caught the smile on her face before she disappeared.
...
The Royal Auction House was much larger than Reinhard expected, all polished stone and enormous glass windows, with glittering displays and enough security to make it feel more like a luxury shopping district than an auction house. He stepped through the entrance wearing a dark suit, a long coat draped casually over his shoulders, and sunglasses with absolutely no practical purpose indoors.
He caught his reflection in the glass doors and stopped to adjust his collar. "Quality control." He studied himself a little longer. "Still perfect."
A security guard stepped in front of him. "Sir, I’ll need you to remove the sunglasses inside."
"They’re prescription."
The guard looked at him. "Are they?"
"They were prescribed by me." Reinhard patted the guard’s shoulder as he walked past. "Doctor’s orders."
The guard opened his mouth, looked at his partner, and decided it wasn’t worth it.
A woman walking by glanced at Reinhard, walked three more steps, and looked back. A few more people turned. Someone whispered to a friend, and someone else quietly raised their phone.
"Isn’t that Emily Ashcroft’s husband?"
"The drunk one?"
Reinhard turned toward the voices with a friendly smile. "Former drunk, current husband, future legend. Please get the order right."
The two women froze and hurried off, and Reinhard continued deeper into the building, pleased to learn that his wife was still famous enough for people to recognize him by association. One young woman walked straight into a display case while staring at him, and he winced on her behalf. "This place isn’t bad," he murmured.
Eventually, he reached the reception counter.
"Excuse me. I’m looking for something registered under the name Elias Vane."
The employee typed the name into the system. "We do have something under that name."
Reinhard’s interest immediately returned. "Can I see it?"
The employee checked the screen again. "It’s part of an upcoming auction. The research collection is scheduled to be sold later today."
"Later today?" Reinhard glanced toward the auction hall, then checked the balance on his phone. The number did not inspire confidence. "Perfect. That gives me time to make some money."
The employee blinked. "Make money? Here?"
"I’m aiming for fifty thousand."
"...Before the auction?"
"You’re right." He pushed off the counter. "That’s too modest. I’ll aim higher."
He turned away from the counter and activated the Merchant King’s Lens.
The world changed.
Values appeared over the various objects displayed throughout the auction house.
Most were close to their normal market prices.
Then Reinhard spotted something interesting.
A worn ceramic figure sat inside a glass display.
[Market Value: $300.]
[True Value: $4,000.]
Reinhard stopped. "I’ll take this."
The employee stared at him. "You’re buying it?"
"Yes."
"You don’t even want to inspect it?"
Reinhard looked at the figure again. "I already did, and it looks beautiful to me."
Ten minutes later, the sad duck had been resold at the appraisal desk for $4,000.
Twenty minutes after that, Reinhard was back in front of appraiser who names he finally learned was Pieter.
Reinhard held the dented silver bracelet. "I’ll take this too."
Pieter looked at the bracelet, then at Reinhard, and the color drained from his face a little. "Sir, that’s been on that shelf for three years."
"Then it’s been waiting for me."
It sold for $6,200.
By the fourth trip, Pieter saw him coming from across the room and quietly put down the box he was carrying. "What is it this time?"
Reinhard held up a chipped teacup. "I’ll take it."
"It’s broken."
"It’s vintage."
"It’s broken, and it’s vintage," Pieter muttered, ringing it up with the face of a man watching his entire career flash before his eyes.
By the time the hour was over, Reinhard’s balance had climbed to $52,340, and Pieter had started hiding behind a pillar whenever he walked past.
Reinhard looked at the number and smiled. "Now that’s more like it." He slipped the phone into his pocket. "All right. Let’s go spend it."
...
The auction hall was packed when the Vane collection finally came up.
"We’ll open the bidding at ten thousand dollars," the auctioneer announced.
"Twelve thousand," someone called from the middle rows.
"Fifteen."
"Eighteen thousand," came a confident voice from the front, where an old man in a velvet vest sat with his paddle raised high, looking like he had been waiting all year for this exact moment.
Reinhard sat comfortably in the back row with one leg crossed over the other. He raised his paddle without looking up from his phone. "Forty-five."
The auctioneer squinted toward the back. "Forty-five... hundred?"
"Thousand." Reinhard finally lowered his sunglasses. "I don’t lift a paddle for hundreds, because it’s bad for my wrist."
The entire room went silent. Heads turned one row at a time, and the old man in the velvet vest twisted around in his seat and glared at Reinhard as though he’d just insulted his mother.
Reinhard gave him an understanding nod. "Sir, I respect the effort, I really do, but you bid like someone who reads the price of eggs out loud."
Someone in the back row choked on a laugh and tried to turn it into a cough.
The auctioneer cleared his throat. "Forty-five thousand. Do I hear forty-six?"
The old man looked down at his own paddle, then at his phone, then at his paddle again, and slowly lowered it into his lap.
Reinhard rested his chin on his hand. "Take your time, everyone. I’m enjoying this."
"Going once."
Nobody moved.
"Going twice."
The old man opened his mouth, and the entire room leaned forward, but he only sighed.
The gavel came down. "Sold, to the gentleman in the sunglasses."
Reinhard stood and lowered his paddle. Several people were still staring, and someone near the aisle had their phone raised, caught halfway between recording and pretending not to. Reinhard looked right at them. "You can take the picture."
The person froze.
"Get my good side." He paused. "That was a trick instruction. They’re all good sides."
The room broke into laughter, and even the auctioneer’s mouth twitched. Reinhard walked out with a little wave, leaving behind a crowd of people who would definitely be talking about him at dinner.
He collected the research case at the front desk and checked the payment confirmation.
[$52,340 → $7,340.]
He looked at the remaining balance for a moment and sighed. "I was rich for exactly one hour, and it was the best hour of my entire life." He tucked the phone away. "Still worth it."
The moment his hand closed around the handle of the research case, the System appeared.
[Investment Objective Completed.]
[D-Grade Investment Successful.]
[Calculating Returns...]
"Coin flip, huh?" Reinhard said under his breath. "Let’s see what you’ve got for me."
[Reward Calculation Complete.]
[Legendary Reward Granted: 10 Years of Close-Combat Experience.]
Reinhard’s expression changed slightly as the knowledge settled into his body. Ten more years of experience with close combat suddenly felt as natural as breathing. Footwork, balance, striking angles, grappling, timing, and countless small movements he had never consciously learned were now familiar to him.
Reinhard flexed his fingers. "Oh." He smiled. "That’s useful."
Another notification appeared.
[Additional Reward Granted: Enhanced Hearing]
[Effects: Senses have reached the point one can hear heartbeats and breathing from far away.]
Reinhard blinked before he heard it, the heartbeats of people walking past the room he was in. And then the breathing of those in the other room.
"How far is it trying to push me without mana?" He muttered.
Another notification appeared.
[Additional Reward Granted: Mana Sensing – Hostile Intent]
[Effect: Can feel hostility from another person in a ten meter radius.]
Not bad, at least I won’t get hit by sneak attacks.
Another notification appeared.
[Legendary Additional Reward Granted: 10 Years of Magic Sensing Experience.]
[Effect: Grants ten years of practical experience utilizing Magic Sensing.]
[Additional Effect: The user’s Magic Sensing becomes highly instinctive, allowing rapid detection and interpretation of magical energy with minimal conscious thought.]
Reinhard went quiet for a moment.
The knowledge settled into his mind with a strange familiarity. Ten years of experience sensing mana, recognizing its patterns, noticing changes and reacting to them had become instinctive.
He closed his eyes.
The world around him seemed to sharpen. The mana within the people nearby was no longer something he had to consciously search for. His senses simply picked it up.
Reinhard opened his eyes again.
"I doubt most Awakeners would even notice me sensing them."
Reinhard picked up the research case and headed toward the exit. He could still hear people talking about the strange man who had spent forty-five thousand dollars on a dead researcher’s old documents. Reinhard didn’t mind.
"Not a bad day."
Reinhard had found Vane’s research, made a ridiculous amount of money, spent nearly all of it, and walked out far more dangerous than he’d walked in.
He smiled down at the case in his hand. "Emily’s going to like this."
He started walking home, completely unaware that someone had already begun watching him.