"Thirty-three gold coins!" Rossa shouted hoarsely. This was her entire fortune.
The rapid bidding easily pushed the pearl's price to thirty-three gold coins. Rossa's eyes were already bloodshot from the excitement. She had once been a nobleman's daughter, but her family had fallen on hard times. Her mother, when she was alive, had loved pearls more than anything.
"She's crazy," Ferguson said with a wry smile. He didn't quite understand why Rossa wanted to spend thirty-three gold coins on a pearl.
"I have twelve gold coins here. I can lend them to you," Hound said calmly, fiddling with a cup on the table.
"Thanks." Rossa was startled for a moment, then broke into a smile. If it weren't for the birthmark on her face, she might have been quite beautiful.
"Thirty-four gold coins!"
"I'll add another three gold coins. Thirty-seven!"
"..."
The price of the pink pearl continued to climb. When the bid reached fifty gold coins, Rossa sat down, her face dark. She pouted and cursed, "This bunch of bastards. So what if they have a lot of gold? Does that make them great?"
"Fifty-two gold coins," Raymond raised his hand and said. This price already exceeded the pearl's actual value.
An ordinary fourteen-millimeter pearl was worth around thirty gold coins. Because this one was pink, it had added value, but an increase of ten gold coins was likely the limit, putting its true worth around forty gold coins.
"Fifty-three gold coins!" Shouted a fat man wearing a gold bracelet, raising his hand.
Someone recognized him. His name was Pichu, a truly great merchant with a net worth of at least ten thousand gold coins. He was the one competing with Raymond.
"Fifty-five gold coins!" Raymond directly raised the bid by two gold coins, projecting an air of absolute determination.
"Forget it. I will yield to His Excellency Raymond," Pichu sighed. The price was far too inflated. He was a merchant; he wouldn't make a losing deal.
"Fifty-five gold coins, going once... going twice... sold! Congratulations to this gentleman for winning the pink pearl." Dahlia brought the gavel down decisively.
An attendant immediately came forward, taking the pink pearl to Raymond in the audience for an on-site transaction and settlement.
"And now, for our second auction item." Dahlia immediately had the next item brought up: perfume, contained in glass bottles.
The servant girl immediately presented the perfume. A total of seven glass bottles of perfume were arranged on the auction stage. Under the flickering candlelight, they gave off a fantastical, mesmerizing aura.
"As you can see, these seven bottles are a limited edition of the Realm perfume. This means only seven bottles of this specific perfume are produced per year. The bottles themselves are crafted from glazed crystal."
Dahlia held up one bottle, moving it for the crowd to see, and announced, "These seven limited-edition Realm perfume bottles will not be auctioned separately."
"What? Not sold separately?" Someone immediately grew anxious. They had assumed the bottles would be auctioned individually. To not sell them separately... didn't that mean only one person could get them?
"That is correct. Owning these seven limited-edition bottles is enough to last an entire year without needing to buy new perfume. The starting bid for all seven bottles is: one hundred gold coins! Each increment must be no less than ten silver coins," Dahlia announced.
She was slightly apprehensive, feeling that a starting bid of one hundred gold coins for seven bottles was too high and would scare off many of the nobles. Just as Dahlia was worrying, in the very next second...
"Two hundred gold coins!" Pichu raised his hand and shouted.
"..." Silence. Everyone was stunned, staring blankly at the extravagant-looking Pichu. A direct jump of one hundred gold coins! It made many nobles and merchants sigh inwardly: As expected of a great merchant, truly wealthy and overbearing.
"Master, isn't he afraid of losing too much?" Annie leaned in, whispering in Lucas's ear. "The price of two hundred gold coins is already far too inflated."
"No, he won't make a loss." Lucas's eyes glittered as he smiled faintly. "From these seven limited-edition bottles, he will profit at least one hundred gold coins."
"Ah? How can that be? Even if the bottles are crafted from glazed crystal, they aren't that big. How can they be worth so much?" Annie's brown eyes widened in disbelief.
"What does 'limited edition' represent?" The corner of Lucas's mouth quirked up. Before the fox-eared girl could reply, he explained, "It represents that there are only seven of these per year. To certain nobles and merchants, this represents status. Face. What's more, we are auctioning all seven together. He's bought all seven bottles... What if he only sells one bottle per year? Do you think he'll have any trouble selling a single bottle for more than thirty gold coins?"
There was another point he didn't mention: the market. If Pichu were to auction these seven bottles in the capital, they would fetch at least three hundred gold coins. But here in Sedona City, one hundred and fifty gold coins would have been the ceiling. The merchant had intentionally overbid fifty gold coins just to secure the items quickly.
"So that's how it is." Annie suddenly understood. So that was the definition of 'limited edition'—it included the markup for status and face.
"Lord Lucas, will we truly only produce seven bottles of this perfume per year?" Elisa asked quietly. She had a feeling it wasn't that simple.
"Yes. This style will only be produced seven times a year," Lucas said meaningfully, giving the elf an extra glance with his eyes.
"Oh!" Elisa understood. This style... If they just changed the style, couldn't they just create another 'limited edition'? Lord Lucas was truly cunning.
"Two hundred gold coins, going once... going twice... sold! The seven limited-edition bottles of Realm perfume belong to this gentleman!" Dahlia waited a moment, but with no other bids, she finalized the sale at two hundred gold coins. This price was already beyond her imagination.
"Mister Pichu truly has nerve, raising the bid by one hundred gold in one go!"
"Those seven limited-edition bottles... Mister Pichu, would you be interested in selling just one?"
"..."
"After the auction has concluded, we can all discuss it then." Pichu smiled politely. He had been able to amass such a large fortune precisely because his foresight was beyond that of ordinary people.
"Next, we have our third auction item!" Dahlia waited for the perfume to be taken down for the transaction, then immediately had the third item brought up.
A total of ten glass bottles of thirty-percent-alcohol were arranged in a row on the auction stage. Under the candlelight's reflection, the crowd could see a distorted image of Dahlia through them, proving the bottles were transparent.
"I believe many of you want to ask about these glazed crystal bottles. We will introduce them properly as a later auction item."
"These ten limited-edition bottles of Nether River are also top-grade wine packaged in glazed crystal bottles. Only ten bottles are produced per year. The process involves one hundred and thirty-three steps and takes three months to complete." Dahlia held up a bottle and smiled faintly. "I trust many of you have tasted the Nether River and know what kind of liquor it is. But this limited edition is even more potent than the ordinary version, its aroma more mellow and fragrant..."
After Dahlia finished her lengthy introduction, she announced the price.
"All ten bottles will be auctioned together. The starting bid is three hundred gold coins!"
"Five hundred gold coins."
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