Chapter 50 : Chapter 50
Chapter 50. The Real Purpose
If Lady Margaret’s rejuvenation had been a spark, then Logaris publicly humiliating the Holy Light Envoy on the street was a barrel of ninety-nine-percent-pure magitech fuel dumped straight onto the flames.
The news spread faster than a plague.
In less than half a day, it had slipped into the ears of every noble informant in the city.
In the end, not a single person was frightened away.
“Have you heard? That newly promoted Holy Light Envoy from the Holy Church was nearly driven to draw her sword on the spot by just a few words from Professor Logaris!”
“Nearly drew it? My people heard it with their own ears. Knight Helena’s face went pale with rage. If her subordinates had not stopped her, blood would have been spilled right there!”
“Damn... Professor Logaris really is ruthless.”
“Ruthless? That is not ruthlessness. That is confidence! Think about it. Why is the Holy Church so furious? Because the potion is real! And because it has truly cut into their business of selling ‘divine grace’ and life extension!”
For a time, the last traces of doubt in every potential buyer’s heart vanished completely.
What replaced them was even more naked greed.
If it was something capable of making even the Holy Church lose its composure, then it had to be the real thing.
Boxes upon boxes of Golden Lion Coins were secretly transported into the city.
The psychological price ceiling of every major force was raised again and again.
Even the air above Winter City seemed to carry a strange smell, mixed from the sweet scent of money and the scorched reek of desire.
Meanwhile.
Inside the alchemy workshop on the outskirts of the city, Logaris sat leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.
His fingers lightly tapped against the tabletop without thought, while his spiritual power passed through that tiny Listening Rune, crossed more than half the city, and silently infiltrated the temporary residence of the Holy Church investigation group.
He heard Helena’s breathing, heavy with suppressed anger.
He also heard her conversation with her subordinates.
“Captain, are we really going to allow that blasphemous auction to proceed?”
“...”
Helena did not answer.
Her mind was in complete turmoil.
During the day, she had personally gone into the city to investigate Logaris more thoroughly.
Then she had seen the Northern Territory Enlightenment School.
She had seen those commoner children in worn-out clothes, their eyes shining with an intense hunger for knowledge.
She had seen the children’s smiles, sincere and pure, without the slightest trace of falsehood.
She had also learned from the conversations of passersby that Princess Sylvia had implemented a new tax law in the Northern Territory, reducing taxes on commoners to an almost unbelievable level.
Every single one of these things failed to match the image in her mind of a blasphemer and murderer.
That man is a devil.
He killed my father, and he humiliated me in that way.
But...
But why would a devil build a school for the children of commoners?
Why would a devil make the lives of the people better?
Helena had come to the Northern Territory intending to gather evidence of Logaris' crimes, but things had not gone as she expected.
From the standpoint of justice, she lacked any reason to strike against Logaris.
And yet, the overwhelming hatred born from Logaris' outrageous declaration that she had “lost her father but still had him” was still burning in her chest.
She did not want to judge Logaris based on a personal grudge.
But neither could she accept simply letting that murderer go.
On the other side, Logaris listened to Helena’s inner struggle and the corner of his mouth lifted into an almost imperceptible arc.
Awkward.
Far too awkward.
This feeling was even more interesting than refining a perfect potion.
He cut the connection, opened his eyes, and adjusted his glasses.
It was time to go watch the show.
...
The auction hall was dazzling with gold and splendor.
Brilliant magitech lights illuminated the entire hall as brightly as day.
Every seat was covered in expensive velvet.
The audience below was packed with representatives from across the continent.
They were dressed in luxurious clothes and wore arrogant expressions, but deep in their eyes, without exception, lurked the greed of hunters.
As soon as the appointed time arrived.
Sylvia slowly stepped onto the high platform in a silver-white gown that symbolized power.
Her long hair was pinned up, revealing her slender neck.
Her silver-gray eyes were calm as still water, yet sharp enough to pierce the heart.
She merely stood there quietly, and an invisible pressure settled over the entire hall.
There was no unnecessary nonsense.
“The rules are simple.”
“The highest bidder wins.”
Her voice was cool, yet every person heard it clearly.
A maid stepped forward carrying a crystal tray.
On the tray lay a single bottle of emerald-green potion, as though the vitality of an entire spring had been imprisoned within it.
Everyone’s breathing stopped at that moment.
“The first bottle of Fleeting Youth.”
“The starting bid is five hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins!”
The moment the words fell, the crowd below instantly exploded.
“Five hundred fifty thousand!”
A fat merchant representing an elderly duke from the southern territories was the first to raise his sign, and even the flesh on his face trembled.
“Six hundred thousand!”
The representative of a wealthy tycoon from the Eastern Territory let out a cold laugh and refused to yield.
“Seven hundred thousand!”
“Seven hundred fifty thousand!”
The price soared upward like a rabid dog that had slipped its leash.
Signs rose and fell.
Every increase drew out a wave of suppressed gasps.
This was no longer a matter of buying medicine.
They were using money to buy more life for the masters behind them.
In the end, after more than a dozen frenzied rounds of competition, the price of the first bottle of Fleeting Youth was fixed at a terrifying number.
“Eight hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins!”
With the auctioneer’s hammer striking down, an envoy representing an old marshal of the Valeria Empire expressionlessly secured the first bottle.
The bidding that followed only poured oil onto the fire.
The second bottle went for seven hundred eighty thousand.
The third bottle went for eight hundred twenty thousand.
...
When the hammer finally fell on the fifth bottle at seven hundred fifty thousand Golden Lion Coins, the atmosphere in the hall reached its peak.
Backstage.
Grayson, the chief financial officer, stared fixedly at the astronomical number in the ledger.
He trembled so hard with excitement that he almost failed to catch his breath.
Four million eight hundred fifty thousand!
Nearly five million Golden Lion Coins!
That amount of money was enough to make even the richest province in the kingdom turn purple with envy!
The Northern Territory... the Northern Territory was saved!
Inside the hall, everyone thought the dust had settled and that this carnival of money was about to end.
However.
At that very moment, Sylvia stepped onto the high platform once more.
A composed smile hung on her face as she dropped a real bomb on the audience below.
“Everyone, thank you for your enthusiasm.”
“But the auction just now was merely tonight’s appetizer.”
One sentence.
The whole hall fell into dead silence.
Everyone was stunned and stared at Sylvia on the stage in confusion.
An appetizer?
You spent millions of Golden Lion Coins, and you call that an appetizer?
Under the crowd’s uncertain and suspicious gazes, Sylvia gently clapped her hands.
Attendants carried up another, even larger chest.
The chest was opened.
It was filled to the brim.
There were at least twenty bottles of Fleeting Youth!
That emerald glow nearly blinded everyone present.
The audience below instantly fell into chaos.
“Wh-what does this mean?”
“Did you not say there were only five bottles?!”
“A scam! This is a scam!”
Sylvia raised her hand and gently pressed it downward.
The uproar stopped at once.
Her voice rang out again, clear and powerful.
“The true feast begins now.”
“I call it the Northern Territory Development Friendship Program.”
She paused and let her gaze sweep across every stunned face below.
“Any family or force willing to sign a long-term investment agreement with the Northern Territory and participate in the construction of Northern Territory railways, mines, and industrial parks...”
“Will receive one bottle of Fleeting Youth free of charge.”
“And they will also enjoy priority purchasing rights for all future alchemical products.”
BOOM!
Everyone’s minds exploded.
Free?
Given away?
Before they could even recover from the shock, Sylvia’s attendants had already begun distributing a large stack of pre-prepared contracts into the hands of every guest.
The clauses in those contracts were terrifyingly clear.
They covered every aspect, from ore transportation and infrastructure construction to equity participation in the medical system and the recruitment of technical talent.
The representatives of every major power were completely dumbfounded.
They devoured the contents of the contracts and used various magitech communication devices at the fastest possible speed to seek instructions from their masters back home.
In the royal capital, inside a certain duke’s manor.
After hearing the report, the elderly duke suddenly sat upright on his sickbed.
“What? If we invest eight hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins to build a railway, we get a bottle for free? That potion just sold for eight hundred thousand! Does that not mean we get the bottle without spending extra money, and even receive future dividend rights from the railway on top of that? Sign it! Sign it immediately!”
Similar scenes were playing out all across the continent at the same time.
These old nobles, who had all long since become shrewd beyond measure, needed less than a minute to grasp the key point.
This deal was simply too profitable to refuse.
And so, the auction hall that had just been a battlefield of desperate competition instantly transformed into a signing venue burning with feverish activity.