The chandelier lights went out, and only the stage remained bright.
Some people looked straight ahead as if they were used to this, while others glanced around like complete novices.
‘I wonder if I look like that too?’
For now, I decided to look straight ahead.
After all, there was only one item I had to win.
Unless the legendary weapon came out first, there shouldn’t be a problem.
I could get a feel for the auction’s flow after watching once or twice.
Soft music began to flow from somewhere.
‘No, they even hired an orchestra?’
If this wasn’t extravagance, nothing was.
An ensemble of almost supernatural skill for a venue with maybe fifty people.
Either way, the mood was set.
Step, step.
The black mask who walked to the center of the stage spread his arms.
“We have many rare and curious items this time as well, so I ask that you remain until the very end and grace the auction with your presence.”
He seemed to be the host.
He was unusually tall and dressed to the nines in a formal navy three-piece suit.
The host gestured with a hand clad in a white glove.
“The first item we will present is the Sleeping Butterfly.”
Rattle, rattle.
Another staff member came out from behind the stage.
The tall tray he pushed was covered with a white cloth.
FLAP!
The cloth was immediately pulled away, revealing the item.
Inside a glass case was a gem the size of a palm.
Under the stage lights, the butterfly’s wings shone in five colors.
Even preserved within the gem, its colors were vivid.
“This item was submitted by the Butterfly Collector.”
At the host’s words, a man sitting at a nearby table sprang to his feet.
Judging by the butterfly mask he wore, he seemed quite faithful to his concept.
“I have preserved butterflies for over twenty years. The Sleeping Butterfly is my life’s masterpiece.”
“Could that butterfly be......?”
“That is correct! They say it is a Dream Butterfly.”
A few people stood and approached the stage.
The participants examined the item closely.
Some even took out magnifying glasses.
“Oh, it does appear to be genuine......”
“It is an item made even more beautiful by being preserved inside an Aqua Stone!”
The Butterfly Collector thrust out his round belly.
“Heh.”
A small laugh came from beside me.
Creed was covering her mouth with one hand.
“Preserved inside an Aqua Stone?”
The surroundings began to stir as well.
Clap, clap.
The host clapped a few times to settle the disordered atmosphere.
All eyes gathered on the stage again.
“Thank you for the explanation. Are there any questions?”
Several people raised their hands at once.
The host pointed to one of them first.
“Did you collect the butterfly’s scales separately?”
“Why would I do such a thing?”
“Ah, yes...... I understand.”
There was a story tied to the Dream Butterfly.
It was a legend that if you drank its scales, you could dream any dream you wished.
It was not something one could know without researching old accounts.
‘A preserved butterfly can’t grant any dreams.’
Another person asked a question.
“What was the appraised value of the Aqua Stone you used?”
“......Around 200 vanus.”
The person who heard the answer sat down without another question, or even a greeting.
To begin with, a gem mixed with impurities lost value.
And the seller had not even presented an appraisal certificate first?
Naturally, any expectation would die.
The host quickly raised his palm.
“Then we will begin at the minimum price!”
The music played by the orchestra quickened.
There was even an instrument that rang heavily like a heartbeat.
However, no one seemed moved by the preserved butterfly.
After a long silence, one person raised a hand.
“......20 vanus.”
Someone who had been watching the mood followed and raised a hand as well.
“25 vanus.”
“26 vanus.”
“30 vanus!”
“32 vanus.”
The bids crawled upward.
They did not rise very high either.
“Ah, forget it.”
However, the participant who had called the first price did not continue chasing.
“32 vanus! Are there any more?”
“N-No way!”
SHATTER!
When the Butterfly Collector struck the table, a glass dropped from the force and shattered to pieces.
“32 vanus? I can’t hand it over for such a pittance!”
Even counting only the gem, it was worth 200 vanus.
Of course, that was from the seller’s perspective.
The Butterfly Collector climbed onto the stage and pointed a finger at the host.
“I’m taking the item back! I can’t entrust it to a bastard who doesn’t even know its value.”
“It will be troublesome if you cause a disturbance.”
“W-Who are these people?”
Before anyone knew it, black masks had gathered around him.
Among them were several large figures.
“We will escort you to the back so you may calm down. Please come with us.”
“L-Let go! How dare you lay hands on me!”
In the end, the Butterfly Collector was dragged out.
The exit of a novice with no eye for valuables was an ugly sight.
The host bowed his head to the participants.
“I apologize for the disturbance.”
“Who invited someone like that?”
“There have been quite a few low-class incidents lately.”
The participants voiced their complaints.
Some people subtly looked back at the golden mask.
The host bowed even more deeply.
“We will be more careful.”
As if to cover over the unpleasant incident, the music grew louder.
After that, the auction proceeded smoothly.
Unlike the preserved butterfly that had first come onto the stage, gems and rare items that would make anyone’s eyes turn appeared one after another.
Of course, even with those auction items, there were still people who occasionally found fault.
“What is this scratch?”
“So that means the chain was made separately.”
“Can you guarantee it?”
Some people threw tantrums or tried to manipulate the mood around the bids.
At the same time, there were also those who let their sharp eyes shine even amid the murmuring crowd.
All of it interlocked to determine the winning bids.
“2,800 vanus! Sold.”
With 50 copper, one could easily eat a meal.
Assuming prices were not insane like they were in the city, that was.
With 2,800 vanus, couldn’t one build a mansion?
“Almost 3,000 vanus for a single ring......”
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
Creed giggled.
I shook my head.
SWISH!
The host pulled away the cloth covering the tray.
“The item we will present this time was submitted by an anonymous participant.”
The ampoule vial caught the light and glittered.
That was......
“It is none other than sunscreen!”
The participants began to stir.
No matter how much they lowered their voices, I could hear everything when they whispered right behind me.
“What is that?”
“It reeks of something suspicious.”
The host recited the item’s information in a calm voice.
“It is a medicine that keeps the skin from burning. It also keeps the skin moist and cool.”
Hearing that explanation from someone else’s mouth made my face feel hot.
It was especially embarrassing because it had come out right after a precious jewel.
By comparison, it looked terribly shabby.
‘I hope this passes by without much fuss.”
Someone raised a hand.
“May we test it?”
“Permission has been granted.”
The host took out a Sun Flower.
When he snapped the flower’s neck, the stored light poured out.
A fierce light that did not set even underground, the desert sun, rose in the darkness.
“Let me try it once......”
The person who volunteered as the tester spread the Radiance-Blocking Ampoule over the back of his hand, then stretched out his arm.
The fingertips he brought toward the sunlight were trembling slightly.
The City of Traders was located in a desert region, and men and women alike suffered from the scorching sunlight.
There was no one who had not been burned.
Gulp.
The tester swallowed.
“I-It isn’t hot at all......”
“That can’t be! Isn’t he a shill?”
“I want to try putting it on too!”
A few more people stepped forward.
“Ohh, it really is moist.”
“One could bask in the sun for hours.”
The people nearby began to chide them.
“Enough with testing or whatever!”
“That’s right. There doesn’t look to be much of it either.”
The host quickly closed the ampoule’s lid.
He was quick to read the mood.
“Sunscreen! We will begin at the minimum bid.”
“50 vanus!”
A participant raised a hand as if pouncing immediately.
The next bid came right after.
“55 vanus!”
“70 vanus.”
“I’ll put down 90 vanus!”
The amount climbed steadily.
In reality, sunscreen could be bought cheaply for a few thousand won, yet it was drawing quite an excessive price here.
‘Well, I suppose that means they’re that desperate.’
To be honest, I wondered whether it was truly worth that much, but if the buyers said they would pay, I had no reason to stop them.
Still, there had to be a limit.
“400 vanus!”
“420 vanus.”
The price rose far higher than I had expected.
A hand went up beside me as well.
“I will bid 1,000 vanus.”
Had Creed lost her mind?
My mouth fell open at the bid that had leapt in an instant.
From far away, the lady in the golden mask shot her hand up.
“This side bids 2,000 vanus.”
“3,000 vanus.”
The golden mask rose fully from her seat.
It seemed a competition had begun.
“3,500 vanus!”
Creed also stood up.
The others were busy watching the situation.
“Hmph...... You keep raising it so teasingly.”
Creed’s hand went up.
“5,000 vanus.”
“Good grief, she raised it that much?”
The surrounding murmur grew louder.
The lady in the golden mask whispered to the lord sitting beside her.
The lord nodded.
“I will pay twice that.”
“Oh my, then I think I will stop here.”
Creed promptly sat back down.
The movement was so quick it was almost hateful.
In the end, the sunscreen went to the lord’s table.
‘It sold for 10,000 vanus?’
What kind of windfall was this?
Creed whispered beside me.
“I have quite a share in that too, don’t I?”
“......Well, it’s not like you don’t. But why is that lady going so far?”
“Her pride must have been hurt!”
While I whispered with Creed, several more items passed.
The auction was nearly reaching its end.
And finally, the legendary weapon I had been waiting for came onto the stage.
With an absurd name attached to it.
“This item is the Water-Drinking Dagger!”
In the game, it was a weapon whose existence was shown only briefly.
It was the weapon of a passing extra, after all.
If you asked where he had gotten the dagger, you could hear him brag that he bought it for a pittance at the city’s underground auction house.
The person who had submitted the legendary-grade weapon, the Kukri of Absorption, came onto the stage.
A man wearing thick glasses over his mask was sweating profusely as he stammered.
“Uh, this is a Water-Drinking Dagger. If you put it in the jar you wash brushes in, it sucks up all the paint, and ah! It can also open letters well......”
His disorderly attitude and stammering speech.
The explanation for a legendary-grade weapon was terribly shabby.
‘This isn’t an item that deserves to be dismissed with some pathetic explanation about drinking water or whatever.’
With him explaining it like that, there was no way anyone would buy it at a high price.
It seemed even that pathetic explanation had not been heard properly.
“Why is he mumbling like that? Hey! Speak up!”
“Is it an antique? It doesn’t seem to have a certificate either.”
In the end, the group of participants quickly lost interest.
For me, that was a good thing.
‘It looks like the person who submitted the kukri was just using it as a letter knife in an art studio......’
At this rate, couldn’t I get the legendary weapon for next to nothing?
I quietly raised my hand.
“......10 vanus.”
“10 vanus has been bid! Anyone else?”
A few people behind me raised their hands, but none followed to the end.
The people who went close to the stage and peered at it soon gave up as well.
In the end, the Kukri of Absorption fell into my hands.
For only 47 vanus.
‘Huh. If I’d known this, I would’ve just run a reasonable number of dungeons.’
I had run myself ragged because I wanted to win the legendary weapon.
And yet my budget remained untouched, and thanks to the item I had casually put up for auction, I was about to leave with more money instead.
With the money from selling the sunscreen this time, I might be able to feed Wer for the rest of his life.
However, I soon shook my head.
‘No. It’s not like having a lot of money will hurt.’
Besides, I had planned to prepare around 10,000 vanus while staying in the city anyway.
Even that amount would melt away like snow the moment I faced a calamity.
“This is the final item.”
It was about time to go home—no.
Back to the guild building.
‘I wonder if Yoanes got there safely.’
Now that I had obtained the legendary-grade weapon, I had no interest in the auction.
However......
FLAP!
A flowerpot bearing rich clusters of small purple blossoms.
A plant shaped like a school of goldfish leisurely swimming together revealed itself.
“This is the Primordial Snapdragon.”
This was not the time to think about anything else.
A hollow laugh escaped me on its own.
‘This is insane......’
Why was the second calamity showing up now?
As an auction item, no less.