530 Auction, and the Artificial Magic Stone.

The Felzen Central Museum, which served as the venue for the auction, had a large hall dedicated to the event.

Surprisingly (though it might sound rude to say so), the turnout was quite large, and the attendees were already seated in their assigned places. Are all these people participants? They all look rich…

“Umm, our seats are…”

I felt a tug on my sleeve from Frey, who was standing next to me. Hm? That way?

“Otousama, over there! That’s His Majesty the King of Felzen!”

“Eh?”

When I looked in the direction Frey was pointing, a man—presumably the King of Felzen—was waving toward us.

I say "presumably" because he was wearing a domino mask. Perhaps he was keeping his identity hidden, coming in secret.

I wanted to go greet him, but he was a fair distance away, and revealing his identity while he was trying to stay incognito might not be the best idea, so I just gave a slight bow in return.

I’ll go greet him properly after the auction. For now, we need to find our seats. If we dawdle too long, the auction will start.

Looking around more closely, I noticed several other people wearing masks, probably nobles like the king. I guess they’re the type who’d rather not have others find out what they’re bidding on. Like husbands whose wives control their wallets, perhaps.

Our seats were near the front, close to the stage—pretty good ones. From here, we could get a clear view of the auction items. On each seat was a numbered paddle matching the seat number. So, this is how we show we want to bid. Not much different from auctions back on Earth.

I sat down next to Frey and reopened the auction catalog we had been given.

Apparently, this auction would include not only magical tools and artifacts, but also artwork and antiques.

At first glance, there wasn’t really anything I personally wanted.

The catalog listed detailed illustrations and background information for each item, but not the starting bids. It seemed each seller had a minimum price in mind, and if bidding didn’t meet that, the item wouldn’t be sold.

“I mean, are we really going to bid on this…?”

I looked again at the "Armor of Hero Darmell" listed in the catalog. That armor was in really bad taste… It looked cursed. Actually, it is cursed.

“Well, we can use a curse-breaking spell on it…”

“No, that’s no good! If you break the curse, it loses value! The whole point is that it’s preserved exactly as it was back then!”

“Eeeeh…”

I don’t understand what my daughter is talking about. Normally, curses are scary, right? I can’t comprehend why anyone would want something like that. But what do I do when it’s my own daughter who wants it?

As I was flipping through the catalog, Frey suddenly exclaimed:

“Ah!? They’re auctioning Matrak’s dagger too! Uhehehe… I want that one too, but… the money…! The money…! What is this!?”

Why does she keep glancing at me like that? Well, I can guess what she’s trying to say.

“…Nothing too expensive, okay?”

“Otousama, I love you!”

Ahhh, Hilda’s going to be mad at me… Even after she warned me so firmly. She’s going to say I’m too soft on our daughter…

While I was gloomily imagining the scolding waiting for me at home, the auctioneer—representing the auction house—appeared, and the event began.

The first item brought out was a mysterious-looking vase. Apparently a piece of artwork from about 3,000 years ago. According to the auctioneer, it once belonged to a now-extinct kingdom’s king. A war broke out over this vase, leading to the downfall of the entire kingdom. So, yeah—an item with a "history."

Who in their right mind would want such a cursed object? I wondered as bidding paddles shot up left and right. Before I knew it, the vase was sold for a high price. …I just don’t get it.

After that, many rare items were brought up, and the competition heated up.

In this auction, bids could only be raised in increments of gold coins. If you think in Earth terms, that’s a minimum increase of 100,000 yen. Well, I guess it’d be annoying if people started bidding in tiny silver-coin amounts. Because of that, prices kept climbing in the blink of an eye.

Some items fetched absurdly high prices, making me seriously question the financial sense of the people in this room. They say hobbies are expensive, but this is what happens when you go too deep.

“Otousama! Next! Matrak’s dagger is next! You have to win the bid!”

…Is my daughter going to be alright?

As I felt a growing sense of unease, the next item was brought into the room.

It was a dagger. There was a slit down the middle, separating the left and right blades. It resembled a two-pronged fruit fork. So, this is Matrak’s dagger, huh?

On stage, the auctioneer held a magic tool that worked like a loudspeaker and began to speak.

“From the once-glorious mercenary kingdom of Kataan comes this piece. This dagger is said to have been gifted by the brave General Matrak—so famed he was called the right hand of the king—to his young son. The blade is forged from mithril, and the decorations are made of orichalcum. Even after more than a thousand years, its luster has not faded in the slightest. How much is it worth? Let the bidding begin!”

“One hundred coins!”

Bfh!? One hundred gold coins!? You’re telling me that dagger is worth ten million yen!?

I was stunned by the sudden price announcement. I couldn’t believe it… I could probably make something like that myself…

“One hundred and ten!”

“I’ll bid one hundred twenty!”

“One hundred twenty-five!”

Eeeeh…!? The price is going up so fast… Do people really want this thing that badly?

"Otousama, Otousama! Hurry up and raise your paddle with the number tag!"

"No, you said not to go for expensive ones..."

"A Matrak dagger starting at 100 gold coins is a reasonable price! If you don’t raise it now, someone else will take it!"

...Is that so? I don't really get it, but if Frey says so, maybe she’s right.

In fact, the amount Frey got from defeating the demon dragon was more than that. So maybe this is considered cheap.

"Uhh, then... 130 go—""135 coins!"

Before I could even finish saying the amount, another bidder cut in. A chubby noble who had raised his paddle looked at us and grinned smugly. Hmph... So you want to play, huh?

"140 coins!""150 coins!""160 coins!""1… 165 coins!""170 coins!""172 coins!"

The chubby noble’s momentum was starting to fade. He was probably reaching his limit. Before I realized it, only the two of us were still bidding. Time to go all in and finish this.

"200 coins."

"Kuh...!"

The chubby noble didn't raise his paddle and slumped back into his chair, irritated. Hah, I won. No—I bought it. Actually, both.

『Then, the person with paddle number 65 wins with 200 coins!』

Kaaan! The sound of the auctioneer's hammer rang throughout the venue.

"We did it! We won the bid!"

...Crap. I got carried away in the heat of the moment. Never thought I’d end up buying it for double the price.

Frey looks thrilled, but there's no doubt Hilda is going to get mad at me... I could already picture my wife’s smiling face as she scolds me, and I involuntarily shivered.

Come to think of it, King Felzen, the fellow weapon maniac, didn’t join the bidding war. Why not?

"King Felzen-sama isn't really interested unless it's equipment used by heroes or champions. The Matrak dagger wasn’t used by Matrak himself..."

Ah, that’s right. There was that explanation earlier. It was something he gave to his young son. That explains it. The item itself is probably good quality, though.

Still, 20 million yen for a single dagger... Wait, that's not just "a bit expensive." I can't argue if someone says I'm spoiling my daughter...

But this kid could easily earn more than that if she wanted to... We don't even give her an allowance.

Our sense of money is definitely getting messed up. I can’t criticize the people here.

After that, other mind-blowingly expensive bids continued, and a greedy little thought popped into my head: "Do auctions make a ton of money...?"

In my [Storage] and Babylon’s Vault, a bunch of unused magical tools and materials are just lying around. They might fetch a pretty decent price if I put them up for auction.

Just because I’m not interested doesn’t mean no one else is. If I go the auction route, I might get unexpectedly high bids.

Maybe I should try running a little business targeting the kings during the next World Conference?

『Now, the next item. A man-made magic stone said to have been used in the ancient Magic Kingdom. Nothing of this size has ever been discovered before. Unfortunately, the magical power has already been depleted, but it still holds significant value as a gemstone.』

As the auctioneer said that, they brought in a massive red crystal about the size of a balance ball.

A man-made magic stone? That’s the artificial type of magic stone made during the Magic Kingdom era, right?

Magic stones can store, amplify, and release magical power. They're used to boost magic spells and power magical tools. But even during the Magic Kingdom era, natural magic stones were hard to find and very valuable.

That’s why they created artificial ones instead. But there was a catch—man-made magic stones couldn’t store any magic beyond what was initially embedded during their creation. In short, they were disposable.

If a man-made stone doesn’t have any remaining magic power when found, it’s basically useless.

...Well, actually, our professor has already created man-made magic stones that can store power. Those are used in the Towers as power sources for Babylon.

They say further improved versions of Professor’s stones are similar to the G-Cubes used in golems. They can absorb magic from the air and light, amplify it, and convert it into energy. The crystal material used by the Fraze has a similar effect, too.

That absurdly huge man-made stone was probably used in a factory or some other special facility. With no magic power left, it's nothing more than a beautiful rock, but it’s still got some value, I guess.

『Let the auction begin!』"1,700!"

Pffft!? Starting at 170 million yen!? It’s already drained of magic, and it’s not even a natural gem! It’s basically just a big pretty rock, isn’t it!? Sure, it has some historical value, but...

To my surprise, the bids kept rising rapidly.

They did say it had significant value as a gemstone, and yeah, maybe even man-made magic stones of this size are extremely rare...

To me, it's just a fancy glass ball... But seeing the excitement in the room, it’s clear the seller understands the value better than I do. I guess the worth of an item really comes down to rarity and demand.

"1,880!""1,885!""2,000!"

A huge jump in price made the crowd stir. I turned around and saw that a noble in a blue domino mask, sitting diagonally to the back right of us, had raised his paddle.

2,000 gold coins. That’s 200 million yen.Man, that guy's got deep pockets.

"2,100 coins!"

A man with flashy protruding teeth, who looked like a merchant and was standing diagonally behind on the opposite side, raised his voice as if squeezing it out. The hall stirred once again with an “Ooh~!”

The merchant, who looked every bit the wealthy type, revealed a satisfied expression at the rising excitement in the venue.

"3.000."

Without a moment’s delay, a masked noble called out a new amount, and the stir in the hall grew even louder. The bucktoothed merchant trembled with anger and, looking frustrated, plopped back into his seat and flung his paddle number tag aside.

"Then, with 3,000 gold coins, the bid goes to Number 98!"

Kaaan! The sound of the gavel echoed through the hall.

3,000 gold coins. That’s about 300 million yen. Isn’t that the highest bid of the day? If that magic stone had stored up some mana, it probably would’ve gone for an insane amount.

But well, even on Earth, there are plenty of jewels worth 300 million yen, so maybe it’s not that surprising. Money always finds its way into certain hands.

"I can't believe someone would pay 3,000 gold coins for that."

"Yeah, is there a mirror somewhere around here?"

I wanted to return Frey’s exasperated mutter right back at her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the blue-domino-masked noble leaving the hall with his attendant. Looks like he only had his eye on that artificial magic stone and didn’t care about anything else. Well, normally, if you spend 300 million yen, you're pretty much done for the day.

The bucktoothed merchant also left. Was he aiming only for that magic stone, too?

The auction continued, but there wasn’t much that really piqued my interest. A set of five necklaces caught my eye—thought they might make nice gifts for the wives—but in my case, I’d need at least nine, so that was out.

"And now, at the very end, we present the legendary armor once worn by the hero Darmell! Cursed armor is said to corrode its wearer! A magical suit that bestows great hardship—and tremendous power—on its bearer!"

A creepy blue-black armor was wheeled into the venue. So this is the armor of the hero Darmell. Seeing it up close, it really is creepy. Am I really going to bid on this thing...?

"Otousama! You can't lose to His Majesty King Felzen!"

"No, we're bidding with your funds, Frey. If it goes over your limit, we can’t do it."

Even the money Frey earned from slaying the magic dragon has its limits. If the bid exceeds that, there’s nothing we can do.

We could throw out the maximum amount from the start and hope nobody challenges us, but if we want to get it at a lower price, raising the amount in smaller increments is the smarter move.

"Now, let the bidding begin!""500!"

500 coins!? Starting at 50 million yen. That’s already a lot...

"510 coins!"

Right off the bat, a ten-coin increase. The person holding up the paddle was, as expected, His Majesty King Felzen.

So, he’s going with the small-increments tactic too? Not sure if a one-million-yen jump counts as “small” though.

"520 coins!""530!"

Oh? I thought only King Felzen and my weapon-maniac daughter wanted this horrible-looking armor, but it looks like there are a few others too. Birds of a feather, huh...

"Otousama! Hurry up and raise it! They're going to take it!""I know, I know... 540!"

I decided to go up by ten as well. Frey has eight royal gold coins—that’s the equivalent of about 800 regular gold coins, or 80 million yen.

I really hope it doesn’t go up that high...

"600!"

One of the paddle-holders suddenly raised the bid in a big leap. Damn it, if you do that, everyone else will start increasing their bids too!

"630!""670 coins."

See? There they go. I don’t know how much money they really have, but they’re clearly trying to act like "Oh, I’ve got plenty more where that came from."

"750 coins!"

As I was internally panicking, His Majesty King Felzen suddenly made a huge jump in the bid. Wait, is that okay!? Isn’t he going to get chewed out by the Chancellor or someone later?

That sudden leap caused several paddles to lower. They had dropped out. Crap—if I don’t raise mine again, they’ll think I dropped out too.

"760 coins!"

Another ten!? I could almost hear people groaning. I could go all in and shout "Eight hundred coins!", hoping that wins it, and if someone tops it, I’ll back down. But…

"770!"

Hm? King Felzen just added ten more. He must be nearing his limit, too. Should I go all in here!?

"800!"

"Nu, guh...!"

King Felzen looks at me with eyes that say, ‘Are you serious?’ Eventually, he seems to make up his mind and raises his paddle higher, shouting:

"850 coins!"

Ugh, damn. That’s... too much. I can see King Felzen's smug face at the edge of my vision. Damn you...

When I glance at Frey, she’s shaking her head with a disappointed look. Yeah, even she thinks this is going too far...

I could raise my bid again, but considering the earlier dagger incident, if I help Frey any more, Hilda will get seriously mad.

I sigh and lower my number paddle.

『Then, for 850 gold coins, bidder number 25 wins the item!』

Kaan! The sound of the gavel echoes through the hall. Even though he won the item, King Felzen's smug face twists into a forced grin. He really overdid it. He’s frantically talking to his attendants now—don’t tell me he doesn’t have enough?

Well, he is a king, even if just in name. It’s not like he can’t pay, but he’s definitely blown past his budget. You could say it’s my fault... but I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything.

"Uuu... if I’d known it’d come to this, I should’ve just held off on buying that Matrak dagger..."

Mmm... well, if you hadn’t bought that, you might’ve been able to up your bid now. That’s the difference between Frey, who got distracted by other items, and King Felzen, who set his sights solely on this one.

Although seeing the pale-faced king, I’m starting to doubt he was really prepared for this.

Well, at least we got the dagger. That’s something.

With the auction over, the guests begin to leave the venue. Those who won items will now head to the exchange area, pay the money, and receive their goods.

Alright then, let’s go pick up that Matrak dagger.

◇ ◇ ◇

Three men walked out of the auction hall, carrying their newly acquired items.

It was a large box, big enough to be held with both arms, securely wrapped in thick padding. One of the men—a giant nearly two meters tall—was holding it with utmost care.

"Was it really worth paying thirty royal gold coins for that thing? Would’ve been easier just to raid the place and snatch it."

The gray-haired boy complained to the slit-eyed young man walking in front. The youth, who had just removed the domino mask he’d been wearing earlier, turned around with an exasperated look.

"If we attacked the venue and this thing got damaged, then what? And don’t forget, this is Felzen, the magic kingdom. Who knows what kind of magical tools they’ve embedded in the venue or the items? Acquiring it through legal means was the safer option."

The brown-haired, slit-eyed youth sighed at his impulsive companion. This boy really was reckless. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come back to bite them.

"Besides, there was someone rather troublesome in that hall."

Duke Brunhilde, Mochizuki Touya. Mediator of the world, inheritor of ancient civilization relics. And their mortal enemy of the apostles of the evil god.

The slit-eyed young man, Indigo, inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that the mission had gone smoothly. If their identities had been exposed and a fight had broken out, they never would’ve gotten their hands on the artificial magic stone and would’ve been forced to retreat.

If that had happened, he wouldn’t have been able to face Scarlet, and their entire plan would have had to be reworked.

"He didn’t look all that strong to me. Right, Hazel?"

"O-Ode... kill... meat?"

"No, don’t kill anything. Just hold that securely. And don’t drop it."

"Got it."

The big man called Hazel adjusted his hold on the large wooden box.

Just as the trio prepared to teleport from a deserted alleyway, a group of men suddenly blocked their path. Indigo looked at them suspiciously—among them was the bucktoothed merchant who had also bid on the artificial magic stone earlier, along with several burly men holding weapons, likely his guards.

The bucktoothed merchant curled his lip into a sneer.

"Hand over that box quietly if you don’t want to get hurt."

Before they knew it, more armed men appeared behind them. The three were surrounded.

"Who the hell are these guys?"

"Probably planning to kill us and take the magic stone. The kind of shallow scheme a lowlife would come up with. Explaining that this isn’t the artificial magic stone probably won’t get us anywhere."

The slit-eyed youth replied calmly to the gray-haired boy. Hearing that, the boy happily pulled a short spear from his waist. In a flash, the weapon extended into a long, metallic purple spear.

"So basically, we can kill them, right? Self-defense and all that? Stealing is bad, isn’t it?"

"Ode... also... kill... meat?"

"You hold the box. Like I said—don’t drop it. Leave the trash cleanup to Orchid."

Even though they were surrounded by armed men, the three showed no signs of fear. The bucktoothed merchant lost his temper.

"Kill them and take the stone!"

The men surrounding them charged all at once. But in the next instant, swords flew through the air.

The boy with the spear had, in a lightning-fast move, knocked every weapon clean out of their hands.

Before one of the men even realized what was happening, a metallic purple spear pierced deep into his chest.

"Wh—!?"

"Guh...!"

"That’s one down~"

The boy grinned and whispered as he spun the spear again. Purple flashes shot through the alley like lightning.

After that, the screams of death echoed through the alleys of the royal capital Farma in the Kingdom of Felzen—but not a single soul noticed.