A rusty iron ring that doesn’t seem to be picked up even if it rolls around on the side of the road. However, this is not the true appearance of this ring.
If certain conditions and materials are met, it will turn into a special ring that cannot be obtained even if you spend a lot of gold coins.
-Hmm, I feel some unknown force. Is it at least sealed? You guys have quite a sharp eye.
Ras must have felt the energy inside the ring and gave Raon a look of admiration.
“Eh? Would you buy it? There was a lot of rust. “Even if I sell this to a junk shop, I don’t think I will get a single silver coin or even a copper coin.”
Dorian, on the other hand, frowned when he saw the ring. Even if they come from a merchant family, they don’t seem to have the insight to recognize this.
“Probably not.”
Raon waved his finger and took the ring to the store owner.
“How much does this cost?”
“You chose a good one. It’s a magic device that has the effect of increasing strength and purifying the mind… . “Just give me five.”
5 means 5 gold coins. It was a magic equipment, but considering its poor abilities and appearance, it was a rip-off of all rip-offs.
“Dorian. let’s go.”
Raon put the ring on the counter and turned his back.
“Good thinking! You can get cheap stuff like that… .”
“wait for a sec! “You have to listen to the story until the end!”
The store owner jumped out of the counter and blocked the way.
“I’ve only thrown a net once, but if I go like that, I’ll use it!”
The store owner smiled and began to calculate the price by folding and unfolding his fingers.
“Four! 4 gold coins is just the right price… .”
“I wasted my time.”
“Oh, wait!”
I clicked my tongue and was about to leave when the store owner stretched out his arms and blocked my way.
“Three and a half! No, three!”
He called for three and a half gold coins, but after seeing Raon’s expression, he lowered the price back to three gold coins. However, Raon did not react and looked down at the merchant.
“Ugh! “Two, two and a half.”
“… … .”
“This is real. “I need to make a living too!”
“… .… ”
“Oh, I understand! I understand! two!”
“Well, that’s about it… .”
“no way! “No!”
Just as Raon was about to nod, Dorian came in like the wind.
“mister! Where are you trying to scam me? Just looking at this, you can see it was taken with silver coins!”
“Eh?”
“Now, let’s see. What is effective in this ring is strength and mental power, and if mental power were really effective, it wouldn’t be in a place like this. However, the strength will not be as strong as that of Ogre Gauntlets or Ogre Rings.”
“Uh… .”
“Then do you have a pout? That’s not it either. Even if you leave it out there, don’t you think no one will pick it up? So let’s look at our agreement again. Eh, so… .”
Dorian grabbed the shoulder of the half-conscious merchant and muttered something he didn’t know.
“That’s it! “One gold coin!”
“Ugh… .”
The store owner’s head was swinging like a pendulum, as if he was tired of Dorian’s harsh words.
“Give me a gold coin.”
When I turned my head, Dorian raised his thumb as if asking how he was.
“Good work.”
Raon chuckled and placed a gold coin on the counter.
‘It might actually be cheaper than that.’
This ring was probably worth between 10 and 20 silver coins. Even though I knew that, the reason I gave the gold coin was because the value of this ring was not something that could be obtained with 100 gold coins.
“Wow, have you guys been here? “You look young, but it’s no joke.”
The store owner wiped the sweat from his forehead and blew.
“I come from a merchant family! “This stuff is snappy.”
“Somehow I was quick to think. Goodbye!”
The store owner waved his hand and sat down in front of the counter.
“It doesn’t look good to me, but if the master likes it, it’s probably good.”
“I guess you come from a merchant family, but you don’t have a good sense of perspective.”
As Raon went out with the ring in his hand, a woman wearing a fox mask and her guards were standing in front of the store. Her clothes were different, but she was the same woman I saw at the gambling table yesterday.
“wait a minute.”
Her eyes turned to the ring on her right hand.
“Did you buy that ring here?”
Unlike yesterday, the tone of speech became more polite. Of course, the arrogance contained within it remained the same.
“But.”
Since I was speaking with respect, I spoke with the same level of respect.
“Sell that to me. “No matter how much you paid, I will give you 10 times more.”
“Eek!”
It was the scream of a merchant who was smiling behind him.
“Yes, master. Let’s sell it. “They say they’ll buy you 10 times the cheap price!”
Dorian walked over to me and whispered in my ear.
‘This woman… .’
In the fox mask, the woman’s yellow eyes shine. A different feeling from yesterday’s competitive spirit. It’s greed. It was clear that he knew the value of this ring.
“I don’t like it.”
Raon shook his head resolutely.
“Then do the math… what?”
The woman’s voice rose a bit, as if she thought she was going to sell it.
“I’m not selling it.”
As she waved her hand and tried to leave the store, the guard standing next to the woman blocked her path.
“Then I’ll give you 20 times, no, 30 times.”
“No work.”
Even if I refused, the guard did not get out of the way.
“50 gold coins.”
“Ah, I said I don’t like it.”
It got more and more annoying so I waved my hand.
“Hey, hey. Chee, buddy.”
The store owner approached me with trembling hands.
“what are you doing! Hey, sell it quickly! 10 silver coins became 50 gold coins. 500 times that! Sell it quickly and give me some pochi too… .”
The original price of the ring was 10 silver coins.
The store owner must have forgotten that he sold the ring for one gold coin, so he muttered that it was 10 silver coins.
“Because I’m the type of person who doesn’t sell my stuff carelessly.”
Raon laughed and drew a half moon with his hand.
“Ugh?”
The guard blocking the front was pushed aside without his knowledge. His face turned red, as if he didn’t know that he would be thrown away with a single gesture.
“profit!”
“what.”
When the guard tried to block the road again, Raon stepped forward. The ground shook with a thud.
“Have you forgotten where you are? “Wouldn’t it be hard if you caused trouble in the black market?”
“Stay still.”
“S-sorry.”
The guard lowered his head without trying to move at the woman’s words.
“It’s the last time. “I’ll give you 100 gold coins.”
“I refuse.”
Raon immediately shook his head and headed to the auction house.
‘The minimum is 100 gold coins.’
The fact that she called for 100 gold coins means that this ring is worth more than that. Besides, he needs it more than that, so why would he sell it?
“Go!”
“Ugh!”
As soon as the word rejection was said, the store owner who sold the ring and Dorian screamed at the same time.
“It looks like the beggar is gambling a bit, but you don’t see anything.”
The fox masked woman put her hands on her waist and laughed.
“There’s no reason to listen to people say things like that just because they don’t sell my stuff.”
“You don’t know how scary the world is. It would be good to think carefully about why people bow down. “If you don’t want to be a guest.”
Is that possible? I know better than anyone else that the world is scary. What she knew nothing about was that she was not herself, but this woman who acted according to her nature.
“If I’ve said everything I want to say, I’ll leave now.”
I felt the cold gaze of the fox mask woman, but I ignored it and headed to the auction house.
* * *
[Date’s necklace was sold for 70 gold coins!]
[congratulations!]
The auction has begun.
There is an auction house not only here, but also downstairs. The starting price is usually 20 to 50 gold coins, and the value of the auction items is several times higher, so it is a place that only real people go.
The black butterfly that Raon wanted today was not a very expensive item, so an auction was held on the first floor here.
As it was an auction on the first floor, there were no unique items to be seen, and most of them were magical and rare items.
Raon turned on the light and searched for good things, but couldn’t find anything worth buying.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Today I just came to buy black butterfly. Just getting the ring was a big deal, so there was no need to be more greedy.
[Now, the next object is a noble black butterfly that eats mana stones. This is Black Butterfly!]
With the host’s excited voice, a cage was raised onto the podium. Inside the cage, a butterfly shining in soft black was clinging to the mana stone.
You can get out through the cage, but the butterfly hovers around the mana stone and does not escape.
[It is a popular ornamental object due to its beautiful soft light. Of course, it doesn’t live long, and it costs a lot of mana stones, but there’s nothing like it for beauty.]
Unlike when talking about the advantages, the disadvantages were rarely heard.
[Then the auction will begin. Last time, the Black Butterfly was sold for 12 gold coins, so we will start with 1 gold coin.]
[yes. 2 gold coins number 15.]
[3 gold coins No. 21.]
… .
As the auction progressed, hands began to be raised here and there. When the price rose to a certain level, Raon also raised his finger.
[No. 77, 13 gold coins. 13 gold coins! Do you have any more?]
The host looked around, but did not see anyone raising their hand.
’13 is enough.’
In fact, 13 was a lot. Because they were only using butterflies for ornamental purposes.
[If you don’t have any, I will bid for 13 gold coins.]
It was when Raon was getting ready to stand up and the host was about to hit the hammer. Someone in the center raised a hand.
[15! Number 80, 15 gold coins were summoned!]
“hmm?”
I saw someone burn 15 gold coins on an ornamental butterfly that only lived for a few days.
‘That woman… .’
It was a woman wearing a fox mask that I encountered at the gambling house yesterday and at the store today.
‘Are you interfering?’
I look at this and smile. It was different from the ring time. It was clear that it was not because they needed it, but because they wanted to get in the way.
“That woman is openly arguing with me?”
Dorian must have noticed, too, and muttered that it was going to be a bother.
“I have to accept it.”
Raon raised his hand again.
[Oh oh! Number 77: 17 gold coins! 17 came out… 20?]
As soon as I raised the price to 17, the woman called for 20.
[22, 24, 26, 30! We got up to 30 gold coins! This is the highest record among black butterflies sold at our auction house!]
Tsk.
Raon clicked his tongue. The most expensive thing sold was 20 gold coins, but it went up to 30. It was all because of that woman.
“after… .”
I raised my finger again.
[33! 33 gold coins number 77 came out. uh! Number 80, 37! Going up again!]
But no sooner had she finished speaking than the woman raised her hand again.
[Ugh! 40! Number 77 is 40 gold coins! This isn’t a dream, right?]
Raon ignorantly raised the price. I don’t have that much gold on hand right now, but I could do it by selling some of the items I brought.
[40! Do you have any more? uh? Right away? Number 80 is 50 gold coins! Yaaaaa!]
[50! 50! 50 gold coins! Do you have any more? Probably not! It can’t be possible. The Black Butterfly broke the record and was sold for 50 gold coins!]
The host struck the hammer three times and loudly shouted that the black butterfly had been won.
“and… .”
“W-what is this?”
“Burning 50 gold coins on an ornamental butterfly?”
“The owner of Black Butterfly hit the jackpot.”
People participating in the auction gaped when they saw the black butterfly going down.
[The next item is a rare grade silver mana stone with water attribute energy. Oh, that’s 20! No, 30!]
As soon as the host introduced the next item, Raon called out 20 gold coins. The woman in the fox mask raised her hand as if she had been waiting.
[Successful bid for 41 gold coins number 80!]
The woman who had even won the bid for the water attribute mana stone grinned at herself. It’s an expression that says no matter what you do, it’s useless.
After that, I participated in several more auctions, but that woman intervened and won all the items. He was blatantly interfering with our work.
‘The difference in amount is too big.’
This is a woman who gambled with her money, not her skills, even at the casino. She couldn’t win with the money she had now.
-I tried to hold it in because it felt good, but I couldn’t. Take off that bitch’s mask and pluck out her eyes. Kill it! You’re challenging the main king to a fight!
When Ras saw the woman with the leisurely mask smiling triumphantly, he became the embodiment of anger and jumped out. Her body grew so large that it covered her entire auction house.
‘I need to take care of that.’
-Yes! Pluck out that eye that is quarreling with the king, and open his mouth… uh? Yeah, what did you just say?
Lars opened his mouth in surprise at the unexpected answer.
‘This is not Sieghardt. He means he has no one to stop me.’
Raon smiled and snapped his fingers.
“Dorian.”
“Yes, master. Just calm down first. You can get a butterfly like that right away… .”
Dorian’s hands trembled, probably because he thought he was angry. But he was very calm now.
“do not worry. “Go out now and get some night clothes.”
“Nocturnal happiness?”
“okay. “The top and bottom shoes and even the mask are black.”
“There is no need to buy it. “There is.”
Dorian showed a set of night clothes from his stomach pouch. Now I’m wondering what’s missing in that pocket.
“But why is this?”
“What are you asking? “I have to steal the butterfly that woman bought.”
“Eh? “I told you not to worry!”
“huh. “No need to worry.”
“I’m planning on causing a very serious accident! “It’s a black market here!”
Dorian’s eyes widened.
“are you okay.”
A bright flame appeared in Raon’s eyes.
“Just don’t get caught.”
