The Rose Knights - five years ago, they were the personal knight order of the Rose Queen, whose name was known throughout the continent.

Each Rose Knight was one in ten thousand, a battle-hardened warrior. Among them emerged super-talents like Roland, who was acknowledged by Durandal.

They were the Queen's blade and the kingdom's shield. This knight order, built from scratch by the Rose Queen, brought new life to a dying kingdom.

Time has changed. The peerless Queen now rests in eternal sleep, and the knight order that once dominated the kingdom and even made the Ophis Emperor wary has been divided and dissolved by various factions.

However, the crimson rose emblazoned on their shields remained the pride of every Rose Knight, symbolizing that era of reform and hope.

"A shield of a Rose Knight, starting bid one copper Moen."

Though Siegfried never witnessed that hopeful era, he could glimpse how admirable that time was and how revered the Queen was through Roland's current behavior.

The Golden Knight's terrifying power was forcefully compressed within a radius of less than two meters. The enraged Roland was like a dangerous container of nitroglycerin - one slight touch could blow up the entire auction house.

"You damn bastards!"

Siegfried looked at Roland in surprise. This genius knight was using all his strength to control his erupting emotions, keeping his presence below others' notice.

To be honest, Siegfried hadn't wanted to bring Roland along. This hot-headed knight might ruin Siegfried's plans.

But Catalina was even less reliable, and Yang Jing had other matters to attend to. With the team currently short on talent, they had no choice but to multitask.

He had prepared two plans: if Roland didn't lose control, they would proceed with the original plan.

If Roland did lose it, they would activate Plan B - kill everyone present without hesitation, grab the money and run, treating it like a one-time story quest.

Roland was breathing heavily, cursing under his breath, but ultimately held himself back.

This actually impressed Siegfried somewhat.

Siegfried had planned to use Roland's behavior at this auction to determine whether he would be just a simple fighter in future plans or someone who could be trusted with details as a core member.

"Hahaha, I bid two copper Moen!"

"I bid three!"

"What are you doing? This is a relic of the great Queen! I bid five copper Moen."

"I bid ten, don't fight me for it!"

Mocking laughter and a series of malicious bids rang out around them.

Most of these people had been affected by the great reforms of that time, and now they were frantically taking revenge on the deceased Rose Queen in this way.

Siegfried found it quite amusing - whether on Earth or in another world, such things always followed the same pattern.

However, just as he was secretly sneering, a clear, sweet voice rang through the auction house.

"I bid 100,000 gold Moen!"

"..."

Dead silence.

Siegfried spat out the red wine he had just sipped.

(Hahaha, which idiot would waste so much money on something like this?)

He looked around to see what this sucker looked like, thinking maybe he could cozy up to them and scam some money.

Not far away, a young lady in a black evening gown with gray hair was standing on tiptoes with her hand raised high.

Siegfried's smile instantly froze, and he rushed over in three quick steps.

"What are you doing?!"

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"This belonged to my mother, how could we let it fall into their hands!"

"We don't have that much money to buy it!"

"But according to the plan, we don't need to pay anyway."

"Ah... well... that's true..."

After all,

They didn't need to pay.

The auctioneer was also stunned, taking a while to react.

"Uh, young lady, did you say... you're bidding 100,000 gold Moen??"

Gold Moen, as the name suggests, was the official currency of the Kingdom of Moen. One gold Moen equaled one hundred silver Moen, and one silver Moen equaled one hundred copper Moen.

A loaf of black bread on the market cost about two copper Moen, and one gold Moen was enough for a family of three to live comfortably in the capital for a year and a half.

100,000 gold Moen... forget the shield, it was enough to buy this entire mansion.

However, before the auctioneer could get a response, another somewhat flamboyant voice rang out.

"I bid 150,000 gold Moen!"

"Hiss~"

Everyone drew in a sharp breath.

What was going on? Did they have too much money to spend?

Siegfried raised his hand, adding another 50,000 in one go. He had always wanted to try the thrill of throwing money around, and since they didn't have to pay, why not enjoy it properly!

"This... sir... are you... are you sure?"

The auctioneer was sweating profusely, feeling he had encountered two lunatics today.

"I must warn you, malicious bidding will be severely punished. You can still withdraw your bid now."

Siegfried pulled out his invitation and waved it high above his head for all to see, shouting:

"I am the president of the Loxier Merchant Association! I'm taking over this auction today! Remember! My name is Loxier!"

"Tch, so it's that nouveau riche."

"Such tasteless things, this is why I say these country merchants..."

"Never mind, if he wants to waste money on this thing, let him..."

Whispers arose around them - apparently, this dead merchant was quite well-known in the area.

Seeing Siegfried's confidence, the auctioneer hesitated no more and struck his gavel.

"Since there are no more bids, congratulations to Mr. Loxier on winning this item."

The auction continued, with subsequent items being antiques, paintings, magical equipment, and other unremarkable items.

However...

"This battle mage's armguard, starting bid 10,000 gold Moen."

"I bid 800,000!"

"This porcelain from the ancient Turing Dynasty, starting bid twenty..."

"I bid 1.8 million!"

The four of them, stationed at different corners, bid astronomical amounts, turning the auction into their bragging competition.

Now not just the auctioneer, but all attendees were dumbfounded.

What were they doing? Coming to cause trouble?

Causing trouble in Count Conston's territory? Were they tired of living?

The auctioneer was nearly in tears, as these four had claimed almost all items for the entire evening.

Several times he wanted to stop the auction, but there was a special item in this auction, and the Count had specifically instructed that nothing should go wrong.

He had thought about calling the guards to throw out these troublemakers, but among the four, there was one particularly tall and imposing figure who looked quite formidable. If things got ugly, they might not come out on top.

The auctioneer had ten thousand curses in his heart but could only swallow them down and continue the auction with gritted teeth.

After all, if these people couldn't produce the money later, they wouldn't be leaving this mansion.

Worst case, they could hold another auction tomorrow.

Below the stage, Siegfried noticed the time seemed about right. He put his finger to his temple and called out in his mind:

"Hey, Yang Jing, can you hear me?"

Soon, a cool voice responded in his mind.

"I'm here."

They were both under Historian Shannon's jurisdiction, and after signing that contract, they could communicate directly in their minds like this.

The downside was that sometimes uncontrolled private thoughts would flow into each other's heads.

"Is everything settled?"

"Yes."

"Thanks..."

"Could you also check where that merchant's vault is?"

"Get lost."

"(╥╯^╰╥)"

Just as their conversation ended, a black-clad maid hurriedly ran to the auctioneer's side and whispered something in his ear.

The auctioneer's face showed clear surprise, but he quickly regained composure. He put on his enthusiastic smile again and announced in a high-pitched voice:

"We've just received news that before our final item of the night, we've decided to add a rather special item."

"Added last minute?"

"What could it be?"

"It's not on the list..."

Amidst the whispers, a provocatively dressed maid walked to the front with a tray carrying a peculiarly shaped glass vial.

On the transparent bottle body was clearly engraved a string of letters not belonging to this world.

"el"

"""