Novel Full Chapter 924 924 Bidding Wars
The bidding rapidly grew from a gold penny to a large gold coin before the Auctioneer made his next pitch.
“This is currently the only potion of its kind in the entire nation, and there is no telling when the creator will return again. But for those with doubts, we have the Oracle with us, to tell us what she can of Duke Roth’s recent experience using the fertility treatment created by the Noxus Family.”
The crowd fell silent as a blind old woman took the stage with the assistance of two girls who appeared to be her handlers or nurses.
They led her to the podium, and she began to speak. “Out of respect for the Duke’s privacy, I cannot give you details of the fortunes of his children, but as will be public knowledge very soon anyhow, I can confirm that all of his concubines got pregnant on the same day, within twelve hours of the treatment, though they were not all on the same fertility cycle before that day.”
Murmurs spread through the crowd, and the blind woman looked up at Wolfe. “This meeting with the Noxus Patriarch will be as fortuitous for our city as the first meeting between the people of our world and this Patriarch was disastrous. I have foreseen it.”
Then she walked from the stage, not needing the assistance of her people, though she was quite obviously blind.
“Well, that was exciting.” The Auctioneer declared, with a short glance up at Wolfe’s balcony, curious about what had happened the first time he had met people of this world, and where that meant that he was from.
Everyone had understood that he was foreign, but that normally didn’t mean from an entirely different world.
The Fallen Army covered more than one planet, so he might be from one of the other worlds, but the way that the Oracle had put it made it seem as if he had been part of a world that was invaded, and none of them had managed or even tried to put up a resistance that could be called a disaster for the troops of this world in living memory.
There were a few who understood, but none of them were willing to upset Petros by discussing it in public. The nonmagical townsfolk might launch an attack on the Saint which would violate the treaty, and if Wolfe took violent offence, the resulting battle between the two Saints would destroy the city, and possibly most of the surrounding Counties.
Though there were other Rank Five magic users in the crowd, most of them had been at the battle in the Demon Realms, and they were under no illusions that anyone would make it out alive if a war broke out in their hometown.
The Auctioneer cleared his throat as a staff member came up with a note.
“The Lady Ella Noxus has agreed to provide four more potions after hearing how high the demand is. Now, we had a bid of one large gold coin for the first potion, is anyone willing to continue that bet?”
Immediately, dozens of hands went up, calling out to add anywhere between one and five pennies to the bid.
Then the bid continued to grow, adding six more large gold coins before the final price was decided.
“Now, the others will sell by reverse bid.” Countess Dewinter whispered to Wolfe as the other vials were brought out.
“At this rate, I will make back the cost of my trip and more with only an hour’s work by Ella.” Wolfe replied, making sure the men in the room couldn’t hear.
Revealing that the potions were actually easy to make would devalue them in the eyes of the Nobles.
The second and third both sold for the same price as the first, and then the price dropped a little, but the remaining two both sold for over six and a half large gold coins.
“Excellent sale, Saint Noxus. Was there something that caught your eye at the auction here?” Duke Roth asked.
“Not mine in particular, but I believe that Ella might have something in mind.”
Sure enough, as the auction for a few finely crafted pieces of armour that would normally have begun the auction progressed, Ella, along with Stephanie and Molly, entered the balcony.
“My apologies for our late entrance, we had some other things to attend to this morning.” She greeted the Nobles.
“No problem at all, Lady Noxus.” Count Ara agreed, kissing her hand, then releasing her for Countess Dewinter to give her a friendly hug.
[There is a magical device in the auction that Molly wants. It creates a supposed psychic blast, which should be Unholy Magic, and she sensed it as it was brought from the vaults last night.
It’s only a Rank Two magical item, but she feels an affinity to it, so I agreed to help her with the cost.] Ella explained silently to Wolfe and Cassie.
The locals might think he was a bit eccentric, as the listing had called it a nonlethal weapon, designed to knock the target out without physical damage. But in the right hands, mental attacks could be just as effective as lethal spells, and were often much harder to defend against.
For a low-level mage, sneaky was best. Trying to take others head-on was a losing proposition, but taking them by surprise with a mental attack might actually work.
Ella smiled at the others in the balcony box. “I really did have something in mind, but not for myself, a trinket that would look good on our Molly. It’s a lovely golden bracelet with a Lynx on it that closely matches her own ears.”
The young catgirl was blushing in embarrassment at the attention she was receiving.
“It’s not like that, it is useful, you see. A psychic attack item.” She insisted, while the two older Nobles gave her matching indulgent smiles, and Baron Peter drummed his fingers excitedly on the chair.
“I made that. I do hope that it sells well, I planned to use the funds to renovate my shop.” He explained.
“Ah, right. I had forgotten that your warehouse had taken damage in that last big storm. I hope you didn’t lose many supplies.” Baron Southland replied.
“Not many. I was in attendance at the time, working late, so I held the barrier over the warehouse until the storm was over. Only the first few minutes after the roof tiles came loose did any damage.”
That sounded rather suspicious as well. The whole town used clay tiles for roofing. The tiles were heavy, and they would be nailed into boards, and for them to come up in a storm was more than a little unusual. The roof boards might have rotted, but he was an Artificer, he should have enough money for essential maintenance.
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