With three simple words from the woman, the auction officially started.

The woman waved to the side of the stage, and two attendants brought out the first item. It was a strange dress recovered from the dungeon by a lucky adventurer. As the host went into an explanation of the dress, Pos took a good look at it.

The flowing blue dress was of a design Pos had never seen before. It had long sleeves with a white top, and the top of the dress had flowers and vine-like patterns on the cuffs and collar. The light blue bottom had fish patterns so life-like that it gave people the illusion that the fishes were swimming.

Pos had heard of this find, and like most adventurers, had been bemused by the amount of gold noble ladies were willing to pay to get the dress. Seeing it now, Pos realized the adventurer who found the dress had not sold it yet. Considering the high prices the noble ladies were willing to pay, that was a little strange, but Pos guessed the adventurer did not want to risk offending any noble ladies. They could be a vicious bunch.

“Sold!”

It only took a few minutes for the dress to be sold for three hundred and sixty-one gold. Everyone turned to look at the balcony where the winning bid came from, some with looks uglier than others. The winner was a young human male who had the disgusting habit of increasing the leading bid by just one gold. He did it at least three times during the bidding and had offended more than a few people with his antics. Looking at him now, Pos could tell that the young man did not care about the bad looks he was getting. In fact, he looked almost pleased by them.

“He is from the Baggio family,” Jes whispered.

Pos instantly remembered the familiar surname. The Baggios was one of the biggest and most powerful families in the Bright Kingdom, and the town of Viaggia was technically one of their holdings. It looked to Pos like the family wished to make a statement to everyone about whose territory they were in.

“He’s probably buying it for one of the ladies in the family,” Umdar said.

“Who cares?” Nog said quickly, and some members of the party nodded, Pos among them. Smart adventurers tend to steer clear of politics, and he did not believe anyone in his party was stupid. Pos do not know what the Biaggio family intend to do with the dress, and do not want to know.

After a few more moments, the second item was presented on stage. It was a steel sword made from ores recovered from the dungeon. The Tomb of Ten Thousand Techniques did give out ores on occasion, and the Adventurer Guild had gathered enough of them to make a sword.

It was a well-made sword by a skilled blacksmith, but as it was not an item specifically recovered from the dungeon, the bidding wasn’t as fierce. It was quickly sold to a bidder sitting on the ground floor.

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Half an hour later, after a series of unexciting items, the auction came to life once more.

“Everyone, please look take a look at our next item,” the female host said as she waved at the side of the stage. An attendant walked onto the stage carrying a straight, double-edged sword. Pos had to suppress a groan when he saw the weapon.

A weapon granted by the dungeon; the sword was of a design no one had ever seen before. At first, a lot of adventurers thought it was a showpiece, a weapon to be hung up on the walls of the rich and powerful, but a [Swordmaster] had checked the sword and verified that it was an actual weapon.

A strange sword created by a dungeon, of a design no one had seen before, the bidding of this sword would be fierce. Pos was more than a little surprised that the auction house brought this book out so early. Usually, an item like this would come up later.

The bidding started out fast but quickly slowed when the young man from the Baggio family started to bid. After a few rounds, it became clear that the young man from the Baggio had an interest in the sword and wasn’t just trying to drive the bids up. The bids slowly dried up, but just as the Baggio was about to win the sword, someone new came into the picture.

A group began to bid against the young man.

All eyes turned to the group of three sitting on a second-floor balcony opposite the Baggios, and Pos could see the undisguised looks of disdain shared between the three and the young Baggio. There was some history there, and what appeared to be an easy win for the Baggios became a fierce bidding contest between the two parties.

“Who are they?” Nog asked softly.

“They are wearing heraldry from the Manfredi family,” Jes whispered back.

“I thought they were rivals of the Baggios. What are they doing here?” Umdar asked.

“Viaggia is now a dungeon town. Everyone has a right to be here. The Baggios can’t stop anyone from coming, or they would be making an enemy of the Adventurer Guild.” Pos softly replied. He may not know much about the politics of the Bright Kingdom, but he knew the politics of dungeons. The Baggios may be powerful in the Bright Kingdom, but their power paled in comparison to the Adventurer Guild.

After some time, the party from Manfredi family gave up and the young man from the Baggios won the sword for one thousand three hundred and twenty gold. From the looks on his face, it was clear to Pos that the young Baggio had paid more than he had hoped.

Two more items went up for auction after the sword, but the bidding war between the two families did not occur again. It looks like the Manfredis believed they had made their point.

Then, the main event of the day for Pos appeared.

“Everyone, we now only have two more items to go before the end of the auction, and we have saved the best for last. Everyone on this world knows that the Gods Walk among us. Their divine power grant us our Classes, and provide us with the power to fight against the monsters just beyond civilization. So, it is only right that our final two items are things granted to us by the Divine. Please take a look at the first of the items.”

It may have been a trick of the light, but Pos thought the host’s smile grew wider as an attendant walked onto the stage carrying a card. The attendant raised the card high above him as the female host explained the card and that it was a treasure from a new god. One who had recently appeared in their world.

Pos’ smile wavered as several members of the audience immediately begun asking questions about the card, and the new god. The host had to admit the auction house did not know much about the new god expect his Name, and his Titles.

Carda, the Lord of Cards, the Prince of Cats, and a God of Luck.

However, the host did not come to the auction without preparation. She directed everyone’s attention to the card, the picture on it, and informed all the guests that the Adventurer Guild had done some research on the item.