The Amber Sword

Chapter 44 – Bruglas’s underground auction (2)

The inside of the auction site in Maria’s market did not have a large space. It was the size of a mini theater with dim light in it, and surrounding the central ‘stage’ was a series of chairs that piled upwards. These chairs were for the commoners. There was a separate boxed area on the four sides of the stage, decorated with silk and satin. These areas had three levels in them, with a bronze telescope in each seat, placed onto a Redwood stand, in order to let the powerful nobles who participated in this auction look closely at the merchandise on the central stage.

Roen had enough connections to actually reserve this boxed area, but Brendel refused. He did not wish to draw attention to himself, and participating in this auction was only to see if he managed to obtain any unexpected items.

They got their number and proceeded to their seats. Even though Brendel looked calm on the surface, he had a repeating crossbow tied under his wrist and it was hidden under his knight uniform. The crossbow was armed with Tamar’s cursed bolts in order to prepare for any unexpected situations.

This particular crossbow was an intricate object that resembled a jewel box when it was opened. Amateurs would find it hard to use something like this, but Brendel’s profession compensated for this and with his passive abilities. Due to this ability, the knowledge in his mind allowed him to act like a veteran user of such weapons, and it was enough to the point where he could install simple mechanisms on his fingers and used them with proper aim.

After he sat down for a short while and the auction had not started, Roen came to him in a disguise along with a long robe covering him and sat beside him. He carefully looked to the left and right before he spoke.

“My lord, the poisoned daggers and the potions have been sold. The daggers had caught the eyes of a familiar guild, don’t worry, my lord, they were very generous with their gold. A single dagger for 2500 Tor Coins, and they did not ask who the seller was.”

Not every transaction was done at the auction itself in this site. In fact, the majority of the transactions that took place was done privately. The buyers and sellers went through a third party like Roen, and sometimes there were even more intermediaries, to ensure safety and secrecy. Each person only required a small amount of money to seal their lips.

Brendel interrupted her: “No. What I want to say is this. I’m leaving it to little Romaine to help me invest the money, but Miss Amandina, I want you to help me use this money.”

“Use this money?” Amandina looked blankly at him.

The bells in the auction site started ringing, and Brendel turned his head back to the front.

“You will understand it shortly, Miss Amandina. Of course, you can help out by discussing things with our grand merchant missy, she has a huge plan ahead of her!”

Brendel was thinking about a new land of his own. If Romaine was able to set up a merchant guild, it would not be suitable to have ties with his land. If that was the case, he needed a butler of sorts.

Since Amandina wanted to help out, he would certainly be glad to leave things to her. (TL: …….)

“A big plan?” She was taken aback. She really did not think that this ‘grand merchant lady’ would have any probable plan to speak off, and she even wanted to advise him to not leave the important task of earning money with Romaine, but it was not easy for her to speak of this topic.

[Wait… Romaine’s actions in these past few days… She kept asking about the events and festivals in Bruglas. If I rearrange her questions in order, then… I’m seeing a big picture here.]

She suddenly stopped herself with the idea of persuading Brendel and her eyes brightened a little. She realized something and thought deeply for a while, then whispered to Ciel next to her. “Mister Ciel, before you entered the city, where was the Madara’s army at?”

“They were at the Dragos’s area for approximately half a month.” Ciel replied casually, before he paused and followed up with a question: “Did you realize it? Miss Amandina?”

He was a little surprised at Amandina. She was able to understand what Romaine’s plan was from Brendel’s words, and remarked inwardly to himself that Brendel’s advisor was someone with considerable skills.

“If Romaine’s plan works out, the profit is nearly eighty percent!” Amandina looked at Romaine as she chatted happily with Brendel. She felt like she was knowing her other side for the first time.

“Miss Romaine calculated that the profits was a fold.” Ciel replied.

“But that’s probably because she did not cover the problem of connections—” Amandina gritted her teeth as she felt a blow to her confidence. She thought about it a little longer before she said each word solemnly: “But if we work at it carefully, it’s not impossible to have a hundred percent profit, because of Mister Roen…..”

Brendel did not notice his subordinates talking amongst themselves. That was because the auction had started and unexpectedly, the first item had already caught his attention.

There was a parchment that sat under the candle light. There was an old contract written in the Elemental language used by the Four Clans.  The corners of the parchment were curled up because the elemental magic of wind, earth, fire and water were spiralling towards the center of the parchment.

This parchment was used to open a road to become an elementalist, and was meant for those who were not talented in this field. Many nobles use this to create a pathway for their related family members.

Without a question, it was expensive.

But to Brendel, this was something that was worth more than money.

Because in his eyes, this was the name of the scroll:

‘Scroll of Elemental Pool (unlock)’