"What is it? Hurry up and show us!"
"Something worth ten thousand gold coins... it couldn't be a gemstone the size of a fist, could it? Maybe the Angel's Heart?"
"The Angel's Heart? Hasn't that been missing for ages?"
"You're clueless. If it were truly the Angel's Heart, it would be worth far more than ten thousand gold coins."
"..."
Elisa listened to the discussions, and the heart that had been in her throat slowly settled. She knew the plan was already halfway to success.
"And now, let us present the thirty-first auction item." Elisa looked to the servant girls who were already prepared at the side.
Tap, tap, tap...
Servant girls, one by one, walked onto the auction stage holding trays. There were twelve girls in total. The trays were covered with red linen, filling the air with mystery.
Swoosh! Elisa walked to the first tray, reached out, and ripped off the linen cloth, revealing an exquisite glass vase inside.
"Wow! How beautiful!" The people below stared wide-eyed, stunned by the crystal vase.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... Elisa ripped off the remaining eleven cloths in succession, revealing the exquisite glass products on the trays. There were all sorts of shapes and styles of glasswork; it nearly blinded the people below.
Many merchants and nobles found their breathing growing heavy, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets. When have they ever seen such exquisite crystal products? It was almost frightening.
"Here are twelve crystal items. Each one is of the highest quality, and they are all part of that treasure," Elisa said coolly.
She subconsciously glanced toward Lucas. After receiving an encouraging nod from him, she blushed slightly and announced, "Because Lord Lucas has saved many refugees, and in order to provide relief for them, he is auctioning off these treasures."
The more Elisa spoke, the redder her face became. It was from shame. She hadn't helped with anything at all. Lord Lucas had provided the effort, the money, and planned everything for her... and now, he was even giving her a good reputation.
"What's the price!" Pichu shouted, his heart pounding. He wanted to buy this crystal; he could probably make a huge profit by reselling it.
"The starting bid for each crystal item is five hundred gold coins! Each increment must be no less than ten gold coins!" Elisa immediately shouted in response.
"Five hundred and fifty gold coins!" Pichu immediately added fifty.
"Six hundred gold coins!" Another merchant, not to be outdone, raised the bid.
"..."
"So this is the reason for the White-Haired Enchantress's thousand-gold bounty?" Rossa's mouth hung open, a sense of helplessness coming over her.
"It seems so. Now that the secret is out, the bounty on the White-Haired Enchantress is probably useless. The person behind it must be furious." Ferguson sighed. All their busy days had come to nothing in the end.
"We'll leave tomorrow," Hound said indifferently.
"Sigh~"
Many of the bounty hunters sighed in frustration. Watching the bidders, they realized they had gained nothing. They all assumed that since Elisa had exposed the secret, the person behind the bounty would no longer be willing to pay a sky-high price to capture the White-Haired Enchantress.
...
"The twelfth crystal item... six hundred and twenty gold coins, going once... going twice... sold!" Elisa announced, her expression impassive.
It took a full half-hour to sell all twelve glass items. The lowest price for a single piece was six hundred and twenty-one gold coins, and the highest went for eight hundred.
This was precisely why Elisa was unhappy. Based on her knowledge and judgment, even the cheapest of these crystal items should have been worth at least a thousand gold coins. But very few people in the audience had that much gold on them. They even had to resort to barter. Lord Lucas would accept anything, allowing people to use goods like wheat or draft horses as collateral.
"Phew..." Elisa wiped the nervous sweat from her forehead. The auction was finally over. Having personally handled transactions worth seven or eight thousand gold coins, her legs felt a little weak. It was, after all, her first time.
Tap, tap...
Lucas walked onto the auction stage, bringing the cat-eared girl with him, instantly capturing everyone's attention. He was going to conduct the final auction of the night.
"Good work. Go down and rest," Lucas said gently, looking at the elf.
"It was nothing," Elisa replied, shaking her head, her voice softening involuntarily.
Lucas nodded with a smile. He turned to the crowd, his entire being exuding an air of nobility and refinement, and said faintly, "There is one final auction item left tonight. This item is rather special... It simply depends on whether you choose to believe it or not."
"Oh? Lord Lucas, please speak! Whatever you say, I'll believe it!" It was that same middle-aged man shouting again.
"..." Lucas's eyes twitched. Who hired this shill? He's pretty good at bootlicking.
"Ahem... I wonder, what are everyone's thoughts on a treasure map to the Valtoria Kingdom?" Lucas coughed lightly and pulled a sheepskin scroll.
"Ah? A treasure map?"
"No way! Could the rumors be true? Is there really a treasure map to the Valtoria Kingdom?"
"Dammit! Could Lucas have assembled the complete map?" Karl gritted his teeth. He had also snuck in tonight, sitting in the very back.
"My lord, what do we do?" The jackal beastkin asked, shrinking his neck.
"We must find a way to get that map," Karl said, his face dark and menacing.
"I have ten treasure maps right here. They are all identical, you see. I had the most elite experts create these copies." Lucas wore a faint smile, waving the maps in his hand. He said calmly, "We will auction them one by one. The starting bid is one hundred gold coins. Each increment is one gold coin."
The treasure for this map was, of course, fabricated by Lucas. Even the items in the treasure hoard were fakes he created. The reason, naturally, was to attract the attention of certain interested parties... and for a few other special reasons.
"This man is too cunning," Scott frowned.
"We should buy one," Kevin sighed. "The poor have no rights."
"What? Ten maps? This..." Karl was dumbfounded. He had never expected such a shameless move.
"My lord, in that case, we might actually be able to win one," The jackal said. He knew most of the people here had spent their gold on those crystal items.
"One hundred and fifty gold coins!" Karl was the first to bid.
The fact that a beastkin was the first to bid also convinced some people that the map was real.
"One hundred and sixty gold coins." Pichu placed a bid. He was the one who was truly wealthy and overbearing. He had bought the most items of anyone tonight.
"..."
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