146 -) Auction Again
Year 1452, month 08, day 13
“This is your room, Madam, Sir.” The staff of the auction hall accompanied Sarya and me to our room and pointed inside the room after opening the door.
He was well-groomed and neatly suited. As expected of the capital’s, no, the entire Union’s biggest and most famous auction hall. He was perfectly courteous while escorting us.
“Thank you,” I said, putting a gold coin in the pocket of his jacket as he smiled in return.
“Welcome, Madam, Sir,” said a woman who was as neat as the male staff member earlier.
“Thank you, dear,” Sarya replied this time.
“I will be accompanying you throughout the auction process, dear guests. Should you feel uncomfortable with me, you can always request another attendant.” She said as if she were just a disposable object before bowing and adding, “Your satisfaction is our utmost importance, so please enjoy our hospitality.”
We nodded and took our seats. We could see the platform and several seats below. Contrary to the auction hall of Yargan, the platform to display items was much bigger, and the number of seats below was not even half. It was not because the hall was smaller; it was actually much bigger.
It seemed like they prioritised the platform to display items more widely and openly. Also, there seemed to be many more VIP rooms. So they expect quality over quantity from their customer, was what I thought.
The room we were currently in was quite high, as the VIP rooms’ borders start from where the seats in the middle of the hall end. The first row of VIP rooms is placed around those seats, in the shape of a crescent, with their windows facing toward the stage in the middle.
Over those VIP rooms, there are 2 other floors of rooms, as the upper floors are placed further away from the stage. As I inspected further, I noticed that the first floors were more numerous but smaller. The rooms above them, like the one we currently occupied, were larger but fewer in number. Of course, the rooms at the top looked much bigger, but they were just a few in number.
It was certain that VIP rooms would be good at hospitality, but it was also clear that the higher the floor you are placed on, the better treatment you would receive. It would be smarter to call them VIP, VVIP, and VVVIP rooms. I heard that the prince and princess would be attending, so they and the people closer to their level should be using those rooms. I am happy enough that I am on the second floor.
As they are placed higher and backward, it would also be hard for them to watch and participate in the event. So the attendant asked, “Sir, Madam, it is hard to see the stage from here. So we advise you to use those glasses to have a better view, as most of our previous guests also chose to do so.” She said and took out a tray with two copper colored objects that looked like a pair of field glasses. “They are generally called viewing glasses. They can help you to see further with more ease.” She explained their usage.
“Sarya, would you want one?” I turned toward Sarya, who was listening to the female staff, and asked.
“Sure.” She nodded and reached out her hand as if asking the attendant to hand over the item before continuing, “I was worried that it might be hard to enjoy the auction already.”
“Okay.” I nodded and turned toward the attendant as I said, “Please give her one, but I am okay without it.” I put my hand up to reject it since she was already passing the one to Sarya and was about to give one to me as well.
“Yes, Sir.” She nodded obediently but added to make sure, “However, are you sure? It may be hard to keep up with details.”
“It is fine,” I said and did not explain further.
After that, Sarya and I chatted about the auction for a few minutes until the staff started to look frantic around and on the stage. The venue was already filled with people who looked neat and dressed up fancy. They were chatting among themselves until they noticed the movement around.
“It is about to start, Sir.” The attendant said.
“It seems so.” I nodded and asked, “I heard that the crown prince and princess will be attending too. Won’t you wait for them, or did they come unnoticed?”
“The start of the auction is planned just before they enter, Sir.” She said and continued to explain, “It is arranged as so, just before the first item is displayed, his and Her Highnesses’ entrance would be announced.”
“I see, thank you.” I understood, thanks to her explanation.
“The announcement will be made just when everyone’s focus is most on the stage.” Sarya contributed from the side and said with a smile, “It is clever.”
“That is what they are best at.” I also agreed with her.
The movements of staff became more frantic as people’s curious murmurs filled the venue. However, at one point, it started to calm down, and the curtains at the back of the stage fluttered. The whole commotion died down, and a middle-aged man appeared.
He looked to be in his mid-fifties, and half of his hair was white. He stepped onto the platform, looked around, and started to move toward the middle of the stage. He walked with slow, confident, and elegant steps. Neither the crowd nor the status of the people around seemed to faze him, as if he had been used to this.
He stopped when he was in the middle of the platform. No one was talking anymore as they waited for the man to speak. He straightened his posture as soon as he stopped, then scanned his surroundings again.
“Welcome to the most famous auction hall of Balgar, dear guests. Most of you may know me, but it would be inappropriate for me not to introduce myself. I, Afrasiab Bulan, the owner of the great auction hall, welcome you all, ” he said before bowing gracefully. He stayed like that for a few seconds.
“Clap, clap, clap.” The audience clapped while still sitting.
Afrasiab Bulan, he spoke briefly and humbly for someone of his caliber. Neither the clapping sound nor the presentation was like when I participated in the auction in Yargan. At that time, the event was quite huge, but even a greater one like this is clearly not much for the people of the capital.
***
Afrasiab Bulan
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Mythril Amulet ◙+◙+
Mythril Ring ◙+◙+
Job: Great Merchant Level 35
***
I wondered what kind of person he is, so I took a peek. This is the highest-level merchant I have seen so far. Yet, he did not look haughty at all. He waited patiently until the applause died down. Then he cleared his throat as if he had an announcement.
“I am sure you heard, but we have important guests today.” He said, then looked toward the room at the top and middle as the lights of the room were turned on to be seen from outside. “I am honored to exhibit an auction in the presence of His Highness, the Crown Prince Varian Hazarhan, and Her Highness, Valene Hazarhan.” He said and continued before bowing with much more vigor than before, “Everyone, please show your respect.”
Everyone sitting before rose and gave a respectful bow toward where the prince and princess would be. The entire venue was filled with silence. Then the sound of walking was heard faintly, most probably from the room where everyone was bowing toward.
I moved toward the edge of the room to see the room in the middle more clearly. Since our room is on the side of the hall, it was possible. A dark-brown-haired, tall man walked to the edge of the room and looked down at everyone.
“You can relax.” He said with an authoritative but considerate tone. “...” He continued to just look without saying anything, while people stopped bowing. “My sister and I joined today to enjoy the auction. So you don’t have to show courtesy. Please have fun.” He finished his speech short, then turned and walked back inside.
When he entered, and the additional light around his room started to fade, the people started to sit back on their seats. The auction announcer and owner, Afrasiab Bulan, waited for everyone to gather their focus on him again before continuing the event.
“Everyone! Thank you for coming today.” He said as if the introduction before was just for name’s sake. “Since we have royal-level guests today, we prepared the best items we could find. Please, don’t hesitate to bid if you fancy any item.” He said and gestured toward the curtain behind him.
The curtain opened, and a man showed up with a cart he was pushing. The cart was not wide and had an item covered with a veil on it. The man pushed the cart until the cart is placed beside Afrasiab.
Afrasiab placed his hand on the veil and said, “We will start with a simple item as the first item of the auction.” He then unveiled the item before continuing, “The item is a magical tool called distant scribbles.” Two rectangular tablets appeared, and he pointed toward them.
“These magical tools allow the user to transmit text written on one of the tablets to the other side of the other tablet and vice versa. You can send a message to another city as long as you have mana and the city is not too far away.” He said and put his hand on the cart as if trying to attract the attention there before starting the bidding, “The starting bid is 1000 gold coins. You can increase it by at least 10 gold coins.”
“...” He turned his head and looked toward a man who was raising his paddle and said, “The number 13 is increasing the bid to 1100 Hazaroth gold coins,” “The number 69 bidding 1150,” “The number 7 is…”
The bidding amount continued to increase quickly. The price started from a whopping 1000 gold coins for the first item, and it is still going up. This makes people wonder how much more the first item of an auction can be sold for.
However, no matter how high the amount, I could not care. Everything was most valuable when put to effective use. As someone who wanted to establish a wide-reaching organization, I absolutely needed something like that. The only problem was that there would only be one pair of such a useful tool. I at least get this, then try to find a way to buy more… However much the cost it could be.
“Can you inform them that I want to bid 2000 gold coins?” I turned toward the attendant beside me and asked.
“Are you sure about that?” Before the attendant could say anything, Sarya asked with a doubtful voice. “It sure is a useful magical tool, but I don’t think that it would be worth that much.”
“It might be for someone…” I stopped for a moment before turning toward the stage and continued as I looked at the magical tool, “But worth much more to me.”