On the way back to the intersection, Red saw the open market grow even more active. He couldn’t avoid bumping into people now, and quite a few pickpockets tried to target him after seeing his merchant’s clothing. None of them succeeded, and Red just slipped by them without causing a scene.
Along the way, he also heard quite a few people speaking of the auction. Anyone could enter it as long as they had an invitation or paid a fee of ten spirit stones, which was a steep price even for Lesser Ring Realm cultivators, much less for the common citizen. But this didn’t stop them from gossiping about it.
“I hear there will be Parting Sea pills in the auction. A lot of nobles will bid for it.”
“Why would they be selling Parting Sea pills in a black market? It’s not illegal.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s a problem with the item, but more where it came from. We know Golden Hand has dealt with the Empire in the past, so…”
Similar conversations continued to happen around the streets, and Red got a rough idea about the kind of items that would be sold in this auction. Most of them were meant for Lesser Ring Realm cultivators, but none of them were particularly rare, so he concluded the more valuable items weren’t announced to the public beforehand.
When Red arrived at the intersection, he quickly identified Lady Ilse’s fluctuation, browsing the items in a stall, and approached her.
The woman nodded once she saw him and continued studying a bundle of green plants in her hand. “Did you find anything useful?”
“Something like that.”
“Good for you. I was tempted by some of these offers, but I can’t afford to blow my cover,” she set down the item and looked at Red. “Pierre said he will be waiting for us at the entrance of the auction. There’s still half an hour before it starts, so if you need to make any more preparations, now is the time.”
“There are no more preparations I can make without seeing our targets first.”
“Then we are in agreement. Follow me.”
She led him down a busy road of the slums, and it didn’t take long for them to arrive at their destination. It was a rather simple house, which didn’t stand out in the chaos of the market, yet it seemed most people gave it a wide berth. The reason was obvious - that being the Lesser Ring Realm cultivator standing guard in front of the door. He had his arms crossed, staring at onlookers with an impassive face, and wearing a piece of plated armor with a purple chalice symbol on it.
That symbol was an indication that they were in the right place.
As the duo approached, they saw Pierre waiting on the other side of the street. He walked up to them and nodded.
“I’ve been watching the entrance. There’s nothing suspicious as far as I can tell, but it’s safe to assume there must be a hidden passage inside leading to the actual auction.”
“Then let’s be on our way,” Lady Ilse walked up to the bodyguard.
He stared at them without reaction, though his expression opened up once Lady Ilse pulled out the three invitation slips from her pouch. The man picked up and studied each of them carefully before handing them back and nodding.
“Welcome, madam and sirs,” he stepped aside and opened the door. “A servant is waiting for you inside.”
They entered the building and found a woman dressed in a servant’s dress with the same chalice symbol greeting them.
“Please, follow me,” she said with a bow.
The house was very ordinary, though, like Pierre guessed, there was a hidden passageway there - a set of stairs leading down a narrow underground corridor that extended for quite a long way, lit up by bright white lanterns. Unlike the Fairclough Manor’s passageway, this one was paved with stone slabs and seemed to be used quite a bit.
“If there are any accommodations that you need, dear guests, please make sure to tell me right now,” the servant said as she led them through the corridor. “Once the auction begins, we won’t allow for any interruptions.”
“We are fine,” Lady Ilse said.
The servant didn’t insist.
The passage wasn’t as long as the Fairclough one, and soon enough they came upon a locked iron door. The woman knocked on the door a few times.
“I have three guests with me.”
There was a shuffling of feet from behind the door before someone unlocked it. Another Lesser Ring Realm bodyguard dressed similarly to the one at the entrance opened the door and nodded at them. Unlike the one outside, this man was wearing an iron mask, but he didn’t bother hiding his dark hair color or his signature scimitar.
Red then knew immediately that this was one of their targets - a member of the adventurer’s guild. He felt Lady Ilse’s fluctuation flicker, but no one in the group showed abnormal reactions.
The bodyguard stepped out of the way, allowing the servant to lead them inside. They were then greeted by a surprising sight.
The corridor opened up into an enormous auditorium. Rows of embroidered and cushioned red seats lined the room with a gallery towards the back, set up in a half circle, which sloped down towards a raised center stage. Paintings and other decorations were hung on the marble-like walls of the auditorium, where golden lamps shone a soft light into the rest of the room in which quite a few people were already sat down. The auditorium also extended up into multiple floors, with private rooms with an open view into the stage below were set up, akin to opera boxes.
“I will lead you to your seating.”
Unfortunately for the trio, these private rooms weren’t meant for them, and the servant led them to a set of open seats towards the back of the room. Thankfully, the auditorium was large enough so that they weren’t sitting too closely to another group, which afforded them some measure of privacy.
“To think there was a place like this right below the slums,” Lady Ilse said, her surprise evident.
Red was, likewise, taken aback. He expected the auction to take place in an improvised auditorium, not something so delicately constructed and decorated. It certainly didn’t feel like the kind of place that would just be used once and discarded.
He fell silent and started to examine the room, and his companions followed suit. They didn’t have Red’s crimson sense to help them, though.
The first thing he noticed was the large amount of Lesser Ring Realm cultivators here. He counted thirty of them, and the place wasn’t even full yet, so he assumed there would be at least fifty of them by the time the auction started. The second thing he took note, much to his relief, was a lack of a Greater Ring Realm fluctuation. That had always been a concern of his in this operation, but no expert at that level seemed to be present here.
Then, Red focused on fluctuations he recognized. There were a few of them, nobles and other mercenaries he came across before while wandering the city, but none he knew personally. That is, except for a handful of them.
“I don’t see him,” Lady Ilse said, her face masked but her voice evident.
“He’s back stage,” Red said with certainty.”
She looked over at him. “You’re sure?”
“I am.”
Indeed, Red could feel Nikon’s fluctuation backstage, their main target for tonight. Other than him, he could also sense Heryd, the Arcane Scripture master from the Golden Hand, and also Gustav. He wasn’t surprised by Gustav’s presence here, though Master Heryd worried him.
‘Has he set up any formations in the room?’
This could prove to be a problem in their plan, though Red noticed nothing after examining the place.
“I have identified them,” Pierre said.
By them, he was likely referring to their targets from the adventurer’s guild.
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“Point them to us,” Lady Ilse said.
Pierre did as much, though he used his words to point them out. There were around ten bodyguards in the auditorium, five of them on each side of the room, and of them, Pierre pointed out five that were for sure their targets.
“There are more bodyguards here than I expected,” Pierre said in a low voice. “Though they are also from the adventurer’s guild, just not as involved with Nikon.”
“Avoid targeting them if they give us no issue,” Lady Ilse said. “What about the rest of them?”
“I can only assume they might be backstage,” he looked over at Red.
This time, Red couldn’t provide confirmation, since he only knew Nikon’s fluctuation.
“Who do we target?” He asked.
The best-case scenario was for all of their targets to die, but that would be difficult to do in a brief window of opportunity before the tables were turned on them. Their main target was Nikon, and anyone else they could kill along the way was a bonus.
Lady Ilse pondered to herself for a while. “In ten seconds, and with the element of surprise, how many can you kill from this position?”
Red frowned beneath his mask. “The element of surprise will last for ten seconds?”
“You heard what I said.”
He looked around the room at the position of his targets. “I can do three… Two, if I target the middle-stage one.”
There were nine targets in total, and three of them were in the middle-stage of the Lesser Ring Realm. Only one of them was in view of them, but to their luck, he was quite close to them in the auditorium.
“What about you?” Lady Ilse asked Pierre.
“Two,” Pierre said without much thought.
“Then you kill your two,” she looked back at Red. “Focus on killing the middle-stage one and then do whatever else you can. I will deal with Nikon, assuming he appears. Remember to take the antidote when I give you my signal.”
She still seemed confident on that end, and none of them questioned her. They spoke further, ironing out their plan as the auditorium filled in. An escape plan was also made, which was, after ten seconds was up from Lady Ilse’s signal, they needed to retreat no matter the results of their assassination attempt.
After all, there were far more bodyguards than they could handle in straight up combat, and there was no guarantee members from the audience wouldn’t help the auctioneers.
The iron door wasn’t magically reinforced, so they could easily break it, and the path from there was very forward. There were also other doors which they assumed led to other exits throughout the slums, but they decided to stick to the passage they came from.
Red kept focusing on his crimson sense, observing every newcomer. Like he assumed, the number of Lesser Ring Realm cultivators increased until it was over fifty, and among them he noticed at least three in the late-stage.
One of them in particular caught his attention - a woman that sat down in the gallery above them. She was dressed finely, no doubt being of noble origin, and didn’t seem too bothered to hide her identity other than wearing a butterfly mask. Next to her was another late-stage Lesser Ring Realm cultivator, quite clearly her bodyguard.
Lady Ilse’s attention also seemed drawn by those two figures, though she soon returned her attention to the stage. The rest of their targets eventually appeared, with the two middle-stage adventurers standing right next to the stage as their special protectors. Then, out from behind the curtain, came Nikon.
Unlike everyone else working in the auction, he wasn’t wearing the chalice uniform, and instead sported his usual military clothing. Although he was still using a mask, no one would be fooled by his disguise.
He stood out to the side of the stage, and from behind him, an overweight man walked out. His clothing was almost entirely purple, resembling a jester’s outfit, except for his mask, which depicted a golden glowing smile.
Red evidently recognized this man as Gustav, and he frowned.
The entire auditorium fell silent as he appeared - an indication that the auction was about to start.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to our Chalice’s auction!” The merchant opened his arms and laughed.
As Red had come to learn, Chalice was a fake organization. It was essentially just the name under which the Golden Hand organized their operations in the black market.
Gustav continued. “I’m sure all of you have been informed of the rules, but I feel compelled to remind you before this auction begins,” he raised a finger. “First of all, the only thing that matters here are spirit stones! Strength, identity, all of it is irrelevant when it comes to buying one of our items, and the one who offers more spirit stones for it will always be the one to take it home!”
The crowd was silent in response. Here, none of these nobles or their representatives would be able to bully their way into acquiring one of these items. In this way, the Golden Hand had always been very fair.
“Second, the price for the item must be paid upfront and with raw spirit stones! We do not accept bank slips or other promises, as you all should be aware,” Gustav regarded the crowd. “In exchange, we also guarantee the quality of each of our items from our many specialists, and will deliver them to you as soon as the bid is closed.”
There were, once again, no protests.
“The third and final rule - absolutely no fighting in our auditorium. We can’t guarantee your safety out there, but while you’re inside here, you’re under our protection, and we will not tolerate hostile actions against our guests!” This time, Gustav’s voice took a more serious tone.
Once he saw no one in the crowd raised their voice at this, he laughed.
“It’s good that you all understand it,” he clapped his hands. “I will be personally answering questions about any items before their bidding begins, so do not hesitate to raise your hand if you have a question! Other than that, I’m sure you understand how an auction works, right? Just shout out your offer. If you cannot pay it though… We will be very disappointed.”
Red was surprised by Gustav’s speech. After re-encountering him in the capital, the merchant had proven to be very subservient and cowardly, showing none of the cunning and power that had made him such a threat to the Water Dragon Sect back then. Yet now, it seemed the man found some of his confidence again behind a mask.
‘Or perhaps he was just fooling me all along.’
Gustav waved his hand, and from behind the curtain, a servant brought out a small ornate box, which he set upon the podium in front of him. The merchant looked around the crowd, basking in the anticipation.
“Our organization discussed at length how we should start this auction, but I think we settled on a pleasant option,” he opened the box in front of him, revealing five pale blue pills. “For you, our guests - Parting Sea Pills!”
There was an immediate commotion in the crowd. Although there were rumours already about this medicine, none of them knew there would be five of them offered at once.
“Now, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you how rare these pills are,” Gustav said. “The sects have a chokehold on their production, and we see no more than ten of them offered yearly on the capital’s market. But here, we have five of them at once! So go ahead, I’m sure many of you have questions.”
Immediately, some hands shot up amidst the crowd, and the merchant pointed at one of them.
“You, go ahead!”
“Who made these pills?” A man dressed as a mercenary asked.
“Ah, that is a delicate question, my dear guest. We can’t divulge the name of the alchemist, but I can only tell you this… It came from the west.”
This sent a wave of shock through the crowd. That was because there was only one faction to the west of their kingdom.
‘The Empire.’
Red frowned. Since when was the Empire creating Parting Sea Pills? He knew they had their own means of opening Spiritual Seas, but as far as he understood, Parting Sea Pills was a secret controlled by the sects.
After that revelation, some of the crowd’s excitement died down. Although the prospect of these pills was exciting, who amidst them would risk possibly angering the sects by holding onto this item?
“Ah, I assure you, my guests, that this matter is something the sects are already aware of,” Gustav said. “There is no risk in buying these pills, and if you are still afraid, you can also turn these pills to one of the Sects and get a return much greater than what you spent in buying them. For that matter, these pills are also far cheaper… The five together will be sold at the initial price of fifteen hundred spirit stones!”
This seemed to reignite some of the excitement in the crowd. A Parting Sea pill may be sold upwards of five hundred spirit stones in the open market, so this would be a steal for a lot of these people. Unfortunately for most of them, the pills would all be sold together, and fifteen hundred spirit stones were not something a lot of people could afford. Some more questions were asked, such as assurance of the pills quality, which Gustav guaranteed with live testing and documents. Eventually, the time for bidding started.
“Then I declare the bid open!”
“Two thousand spirit stones!”
Someone immediately raised the price by five hundred Spirit Stones, and the entire auditorium went quiet.
Red frowned and looked to his side. Lady Ilse was the one that had made the bid, and from her fluctuation, he could feel her emotions burning up.
“R-Right, two thousand spirit stones for the lady in the back!” Gustav nodded, quite surprised by the sudden increase. “Anyone else? Can I get twenty-one hundred?”
“Twenty-five hundred.”
Another bid came - this time from the butterfly masked lady in the gallery.
Lady Ilse looked over at where the voice came from, her irritation apparent in her actions, though when she noticed who had made the bid, her fluctuations suddenly calmed down. Red could sense her struggle.
“T-Twenty-five hundred for the lady up there!” Gustav looked over at Lady Ilse. “Can I get twenty-six hundred? Twenty-six hundred?”
Lady Ilse didn’t respond, and instead leaned back in her chair. There were no more bids after that, as the price seemed to have been hiked up too steeply for anyone else to participate. At this point, it wasn’t too far off from the market value.
“Then it is sold for the butterfly lady for twenty-five hundred!”
A servant closed the box and took it up the stairs to the woman. Red had been wondering how she would be carrying twenty-five hundred spirit stones to pay for these items, but the answer was soon revealed as she handed a small bag to the servant.
The servant looked back at Gustav and nodded. “Twenty-five condensed spirit stones.”
Another wave of surprise ran through the crowd. Condensed spirit stones were worth about a hundred spirit stones, and it was a preferable alternative to running around with hundreds of spirit stones in your bags. But the truth was, they were rare in the capital because only Greater Ring Realm cultivators and above could produce such condensed spirit stones, as they were rarely found in natural mines.
Twenty-five at once was already a huge amount, and people started to gossip about the woman’s possible identity. Amidst them, a few surprising names were thrown, which caused Red to frown and look at Lady Ilse.
Eventually, the transaction completed, and the auction seemed about to continue.
“The next item is also a rarity in the cultivation world, but we have managed to bring it here to you!”
Gustav waved at the curtain, and a few servants wheeled out a plain wooden mannequin.
“A Spirit Puppet! It has the strength of an early-stage Lesser Ring Realm cultivator, and it can be used by people who haven’t even opened their Spiritual Sea yet!”
‘A Spirit Puppet?’
This was the first time Red saw one. He read before that the art of making these puppets was lost a long time ago during the demonic invasions, before the Empire even existed. As such, it was a rarity to come across one of them, but its value was undeniable. Not only was it as strong as a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator, but it could be used by non-cultivators too.
‘A Spirit Puppet… It would be useful to have something like that to spar against.’
Suddenly, an idea came to Red’s mind.