If Arthur flicked a pin to land on the wooden floor of the auction house, he would hear its sound. That's how silent it was in the auction house after Arthur made his bid.
"Four... thousands?"
The Knight of Courage muttered from beside him. Four thousand was no small sum, as it could arm a platoon of knights from head to toe.
"Our highest bid so far, four thousand!" Ma snapped out of his daze and gestured toward Arthur. "Goes once, twice, are there no other bidders?!"
"Halt!"
The shout made Ma flinch, and he ceased talking. The Knight of Nobility rose in the air from the booth and looked at Arthur with disdain.
"You can only bid what you have."
"Alrighty," Arthur nodded and threw a ring toward the stage. It landed right in front of Ma's feet. The servant was confused until Arthur nodded at him. "Check it out."
"V-very well." Ma grabbed the ring and checked what it stored before his eyes went wide and nodded toward Arthur. "It is indeed four thousand golds."
"Heard that, dumbass?" Arthur turned to the Knight of Nobility, who was glaring at him. "Not everyone is as broke as you are."
Arthur wasn't the type of person to judge a person by his wealth, but his character. Since these people were rotten and judged others using wealth, he would gladly make them drink their own medicine.
"You must have stolen it." The Knight of Nobility glared at him, trying to save his face. "This needs to be investigated first, I..."
"You are going to shut up." Arthur tapped the table. "And sit down so that we can continue with the auction. Unless you don't have the money."
Whispers rang among the crowd as the guests tried to figure out the identity of the man challenging the Knight. However, all they could make out of his side-profile was the missing arm he had.
"Can it be... that this man is the rumored guest of the King, the Seika?"
"I heard he was called Lorius. I never thought I would see him in the flesh." Another whispered. The crowd grew noisy as the Knight of Nobility glared at him with venom-spewing eyes.
A servant ran up the stage and whispered something into Ma's ear. Ma nodded and cleared his throat, making the crowd's attention shift toward him.
"The Ghost Runemaster instructed that if the Knight wishes to disturb the auction further, then he will be asked to leave."
The words made the crowd gasp as the Knight's body shook. He grabbed his sword in a fit of rage, but the duke beside him grabbed his arm.
"Such a meager amount of gold doesn't mean anything." The duke said with a confident face. "I will handle it for you, Noble One."
"You shouldn't bother with this man, your grace." The Knight of Nobility found a way to save face through the duke's words, and he jumped on it immediately. "But for the sake of the kingdom and its people, I'll let you teach him a lesson."
"Thank you." The duke said with a smile, and they sat back down. As soon as they did, the duke placed another bid. "Five thousand golds."
Ma sent the ring Arthur threw back toward him through a servant, and the bidding continued. He looked at Arthur to see if there were more bids, and the latter gave a thin smile.
"Six."
Arthur said a single word, and it sank into the air like a pebble into a lake. The atmosphere grew suffocating as the duke frowned and placed his bid.
"Seven thousand!"
His voice held a threatening tone to it as if commanding Arthur to back off. However, before he finished the word 'thousand,' Arthur's bid arrived.
"Eight."
"Nine thousand go..."
"Ten."
"Heavens..." The Knight of Courage slumped back in her chair with a defeated expression. "Are you mad? You can never outbid the duke."
"Watch me." Arthur smiled.
"Eleven!" Arthur made his bid, and Dia snorted. He turned to her with confusion, and Gala laughed out loud.
"Customer, there's no need to raise it further." Ma wiped the sweat off his forehead with a wary smile. "Your last bid is still the highest."
"Oh," Arthur turned toward the Duke of Contracts. "What, are you done?"
The duke's face was a sight to behold. It turned from red to purple until Arthur could see a dark cloud above his head.
"Bastard, you dare disrespect his grace?" One of the nobles jumped forward to defend the duke's honor. When Arthur looked his way, the noble seemed to remember what happened before, and he shrank before his legs failed him, sitting back.
"I'm sorry, everyone." Arthur turned toward the farmers and the other guests. "I got too absorbed into bidding that I forgot my manners. I'll treat everyone to some refreshments."
He gestured toward a staff member and gave him several golds. Under the surprised eyes of the crowd, the staff brought out different delicacies and beverages for them.
"You have a way with people." Gala smiled as she saw the crowd's impression of Arthur improve.
"The key is respect." Arthur smiled, but the three of them looked at him with a speechless expression. "To those who deserve it, of course." Arthur coughed.
"Twelve thousand!" The duke roared in a rageful manner and increased the price by two thousand instead of repeating Arthur's bid.
"We're adding two thousand at a time now? Great. Fourteen!" Arthur said with a grin that made the duke's face crumble further.
"Sixteen!" The duke shouted through gritted teeth.
"Why are you holding back?" Arthur smiled. "Twenty thousand golds!"
"This is insane!" A merchant stood up excitedly.
"Twenty thousand? How can he have so much money?" A noble from another country said with shock. "Is he... another Duke of Contracts?"
"Outrageous!" The duke stood up with rage. "Twenty-five thousand!" He slammed his hand on the table, and a box of gold appeared.
'Oh, is this his limit?' Arthur raised his brow. 'I guess it's time to make him suffer a loss.' He smiled but didn't outbid him.
"Twenty-five going once!"
Ma shouted, and the people waited for Arthur to make another bid, but he didn't do such a thing. Arthur sat back leisurely, and the duke sensed something was amiss.
"Twenty-five going twice!"
They thought they would hear it now, but they didn't hear anything. Arthur was still silent, even enjoying some of the fruit on his table.
"Twenty-five going thrice! Sold to the duke of contracts!"
The hall was silent, and everyone was shocked. After a while, clapping arrived in a dispersed manner. The duke smirked at Arthur and waved his sleeve.
"Is this all you have?" The duke said in mockery. "A meager sum compared to the wellbeing of my people." He nobly flicked his sleeve.
"Ah, I'm defeated," Arthur said sadly. "Twenty-five thousand, that's a lot, even for the duke of contracts. As I remember, you lent the kingdom twenty-five thousand too."
"I did, all for the sake of the people." The duke smiled, and the people cheered for him with admiration.
"That's good, that's good. Use the artifact well." Arthur said with a relaxed manner, which made the duke's brows twitch.
A servant came to give the duke his artifact while taking the box of gold. This box was also a storage artifact, as there was no way to fit twenty-five thousand coins.
Under the envious eyes of the crowd, the servant took the box and placed it on the table. Soon, someone came to the stage and stood beside it. It was Manager Gruen.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen." Gruen bowed slightly. "Thank you for participating in our auction. The runemaster, Ghost, is grateful that the people appreciate his work. That's why he decided to repay the kingdom and its people."
The words made the people confused. Gruen waved his arm, and Ma brought a veiled cart into the stage. He turned to the crowd and continued.
"Since the kingdom is struggling to procure the resources to feed the people, the runemaster would like to gift ten Blessed Spirits to the kingdom."
The words of Gruen made the crowd gasp. Arthur smiled as he looked at the Duke of Contract's face grow pale. However, there was still more.
"The runemaster was looking for someone to monitor the use of these artifacts. The chosen person needs to be a friend of the people and an outsider of the kingdom's politics. Thus, he opted to choose someone with these qualities."
Gruen waved his hand and revealed the ten Blessed Spirits, all lined next to each other, sparkling in the light.
"As the spokesmen of the runemaster, I present these artifacts to the Seika of Living Beings for safekeeping. I carry the runemaster's wishes for the prosperity of the kingdom under the Seika's aid."
As Gruen finished his words, silence descended on the hall. The farmers and guests, including merchants and the ordinary people, were shocked at first before the cheering tore through the silence.