Chapter 191: The Battle of Wealth [Part-2]

"6 million platinum coins!"

The announcer’s voice cracked after watching the drastically increased bid, as if he couldn’t quite believe he was allowed to say something so ridiculous out loud. The entire hall turned toward the second VIP booth in unison, moving like a flock of birds spotting a hawk.

The rich guy’s eyes narrowed behind his glass window. For the very first time that night, his expression wasn’t one of bored superiority. It was the sharp look of a man who had just realized someone else was sitting at his table.

"7 million."

"7 million platinum coins from our first esteemed guest! The tension in the air could cut glass, ladies and gentlemen!"

Alen leaned back calmly on his couch.

"8 million platinum coins."

The crowd gasped loudly. Somewhere in the lower seats, a noblewoman actually dropped her fan.

"1... 10 million."

The rich man’s voice came out flat, sounding almost daring. Alen could practically feel the heavy glare through the distance separating their VIP booths, like two predators sizing each other up over a simple strip of red ribbon.

Alen tapped his fingers against the armrest, pretending to think it over, though he had already decided to bid the exact moment he saw the man’s jaw tighten in annoyance.

"12 million platinum coins."

"T-twelve million?! At this rate, we might just witness history tonight! Does the other esteemed guest care to respond?"

"..."

Silence.

Alen counted the seconds in his head. One. Two. Three—

"15 million platinum coins," the rich man snapped. His composure finally slipped enough for his voice to carry a sharp edge of irritation.

Alen whistled softly under his breath. ’Fifteen million... that is way out of the amount I had imagined. Alright, alright, I will be nice. Let’s not forget that it is not my money I am investing here.’

He stayed deliberately quiet.

"15 million platinum coins, going once! Going twice—sold to our first esteemed guest!"

The wooden hammer slammed down on the table, and half the hall let out a collective breath they didn’t know they’d been holding. Somewhere below, someone actually started clapping, acting more out of relief than actual admiration.

Alen chuckled to himself, keeping his arms crossed. ’Enjoy your overpriced ribbon, rich man. Honestly, watching your blood pressure rise was worth far more than the item itself.’

Through the glass, the rich man exhaled sharply, straightening his collar as if trying to shake off the sting of the massive bid. He shot one last fierce glance toward Alen’s booth before turning away, muttering something the microphones didn’t catch.

The announcer, sensing the mood in the room needed a breather, clapped his hands together with forced, bright cheer.

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful! Now then, let us move on to our next treasure!"

A staff member wheeled out a small pedestal, and on top of it sat a plain wooden box. When it opened, the entire hall leaned forward in eager anticipation, and then instantly leaned right back in confusion.

Inside sat a mask. It was not a menacing one, not a glowing one, not even a mildly interesting one. It was just... a mask. A simple, white mask, with no imprint of any rune on it. It was only a full-face, simple white mask.

The announcer stared at it for a solid three seconds, acting as if he was trying to find any hidden superpower inside it.

"...Ahem." He cleared his throat, adjusting his collar like the mask had personally wronged him. "O-our next item is... a mask."

"...That’s it? Just ’a mask’?" someone in the crowd muttered loudly.

The announcer’s professional smile twitched. He picked up his cue card, glanced at it, then set it back down on the table, clearly regretting his life choices.

"This mask was recovered from an old ruin and is said to have belonged to a wandering hermit. Its... its exact properties are currently unknown. But! Every item on this stage carries its own unique value, so let us begin the bidding at 10,000 gold coins."

"..."

"10,000 gold coins, once... Twice..."

Dead silence.

Alen tilted his head, studying the sad little mask sitting all alone under the bright spotlight, looking like it had been personally betrayed by fate.

’Hah. Poor thing. It probably got lumped in with the good stuff by mistake.’

"10,000 gold coins."

The announcer’s head snapped up so fast it was a miracle he didn’t get whiplash.

"S-sold! Sold to our esteemed guest for 10,000 gold coins!"

The hammer came down almost instantly, looking like even the auctioneer was afraid of him changing his mind and taking the bid back.

’Well, another mysterious item added to my arsenal. But I am sure of it, that mask is no ordinary one...’

His eyes sparkled as he used his skill ’True One’s Gaze’. He didn’t know what the mask was exactly; it might be a genuinely worthless item, or it might be a world-class artifact. He just bet on the positive side.

The pedestal pulled back as the mood in the room shifted back to excitement. A new pedestal rolled out, this one draped elegantly in dark velvet.

"Now, for our next item, one truly fit for royalty—"

"The artifact, Gambit Crown! It is a legendary-grade item which increases a person’s natural healing capability during battle by ten times! Let’s start the bidding with the starting amount at 1.5 million platinum coins!"

"2 million platinum coins!"

"Great price! Let’s see if it raises more. 2 million platinum coins, once!"

"5 Million Platinum Coins."

"...."

Another heavy silence fell over the auction hall as no one dared to raise the bid anymore. As they all knew, raising it wasn’t worth the effort, as the rich man in the VIP section wouldn’t let them win. Just as it seemed that the item was securely bought by him, the earlier voice of the mysterious person in the different VIP section was raised.

"10 million Platinum coins."

As the massive bid increased on the screen, everybody felt stunned by the astonishingly increased amount. The rich man’s eyes flicked toward the cloaked figure as visible annoyance appeared on his face. Someone was actively trying to compete with him again.

The rich man’s fingers curled tightly against the armrest of his booth.

"15 million Platinum coins."

"Astonishing amount, truly worthy of the real value of the item! Let’s check if our other guest is willing to bid higher."

"15 million Platinum coins, once."

"30 million platinum coins!"

The crowd fell into utter silence at the astronomical price increase on the auction floor. With that much money, they could casually feed the whole Human Empire for at least a year.

The rich man in the VIP section frowned as he leaned forward, aggressively tapping his tablet to raise the bid while speaking through the microphone.

"50 Million Platinum coins."

"Awesome! Here we go, 50 Million, once... twice—"

"Sixty million."

The man’s face twisted in controlled annoyance.

"Eighty."

"One hundred."

As the amount continued to increase in no time at all, it truly turned into a fight of pure whims and massive egos.

"Here we go, 200 million, once... Twice... and... thrice! Sold!"

This time, Alen didn’t raise the bid anymore. He slumped back into his seat wearing a strange, satisfied expression, not even the slightest bit unhappy about losing the artifact. Truthfully, he had deliberately raised the bid just checking if the rich man would take his bait, and it actually worked. He had successfully wasted a rich man’s money. And of course, he was going to do it more.

The crowd had stopped even pretending to breathe. Somewhere in the audience, a noble fainted quietly, without fanfare, and was dragged out by two attendants who didn’t even look away from the stage.

’Hehe... It is fun playing the games of wealthy men. Sigh... I should have also been a wealthy man, but let’s not get ahead of myself...’

But the night wasn’t over yet.

A new item rolled onto the stage, and just as before, the crowd leaned in, waiting to see who would dare enter the ring first. And predictably, it was Alen who raised his hand again, his voice smooth and unbothered as he raised the bid higher and higher. The rich man also began to compete with him, not wanting to lose face, as if an unofficial rivalry was already forged between them. As the bids turned astronomically high, Alen deliberately let him win. The remaining auction passed exactly the same way, as he continued to lose every item with a happy face.

Time passed as the auction finally ended. Alen immediately stood up from his seat. At that exact instant, the manager entered the room carrying a wooden chest.

"It is an honor to meet you again, esteemed guest! I truly appreciate you purchasing this... Well, and also I apologize that you weren’t able to win the other items, as the other person was also an honored guest from the Veyra family..."

"The Veyra family?"

Alen couldn’t help but feel surprised. He knew it was the exact same family that Lyris had come from. He didn’t know much about her or her past, but he had to make sure not to reveal her identity or his own connection to her, or he might unknowingly bring massive trouble to her door.

"Yes, he is the third son of the Veyra family... The exact Veyra family which is famous all around the world for being the strongest..."

He whispered the words slowly while looking around nervously, as if he felt like if he spoke too loud, the voice would reach the person who shouldn’t hear it. Then, realizing he was speaking to another being with the same level of VIP power, his tense shoulders finally slumped.

"Oh, I apologize. I-I was saying it for nothing. You must have already recognized him! Forget it, here is your purchase."

The manager handed him the wooden box. Alen accepted it calmly, pulling out the white mask and turning his face away from the manager as he wore it. He checked to see if it fit him, and surprisingly, it felt like it was made exactly for him. As he felt comfortable, he could clearly see the surroundings through the gaps of the eyes. He turned back to the manager while pulling out a heavy bag of money from his storage ring.

"Oh—n-no need to pay for it, sir! Consider it a gift from us..."

Alen frowned, as he didn’t like him giving out free gifts. Though he liked getting free things, he knew if they were offering him that, then it must have been because of the black card.

"No, I don’t take free gifts..."

"Oh, no—consider it as a payment for helping us! I mean, for helping to increase the items’ worth to more than their capability! I would truly feel happy if you accepted it. In contrast, we also offer you a dividend of the profit we got! It is not much, just 1% of the total profit..."

He placed a banking card in Alen’s hand before he could refuse, as he bowed slightly. "So if you will excuse me, I hope you will join next year’s auction too."

He turned around and walked out of the door. Now standing alone in the VIP room, Alen finally decided to place the card back in his storage ring, and he decided to return to his hotel room, leaving the auction behind.

He decided to use his new artifact, the ’Ring of Transference’, to teleport directly to the hotel room. As he imbued his mana over it, suddenly the space began to warp around him. He felt his stance loosen, and in the blink of an eye, he already appeared back in his quiet hotel room.

"Well, it actually worked! Awesome, I don’t have to worry about disappearing out of trouble now. So Alen, you successfully bought a free mask, earned an unknown amount of money, and on top of that, enjoyed the day!"

"Yes, my wasting time today was entirely worth it!"

He slumped back onto the soft bed without even unlacing his shoes. He closed his eyes, and surprisingly, he fell asleep in an instant. All of his days of training, along with the travel and the enjoyment he got, had finally resulted in a deeply satisfied sleep.

As the silence fell over the dark room, his mask slipped from his face onto the mattress.

Suddenly, a thin runic imprint glowed on the white surface of the mask. A blue light sparkled from the gap of the eye holes, looking exactly as if some ancient being was gazing around the quiet room with cold eyes.