After leaving the palace, Green took off his mask and walked through the royal city with Mio. The Caesar Empire is not only the most powerful in terms of military strength, but also excels in other aspects, with its gem jewelry being particularly famous. Therefore, before leaving, Green planned to stop by the jewelry store in this world as a gift for Aloof and the others.
Soon, Green followed the public map that was widely available and randomly chose a jewelry store located on the outskirts of the city. Upon entering the store, there were many sparkling jewelry displayed, but there was no shopkeeper present. Observing this, Green shouted inside, and soon a sly-looking little boy came out from the back.
"Guest, what do you need? Are you looking for jewelry made of pure gold or gemstones with magic enhancements? The latter option is much more expensive than what you can find in other stores, after all, we only sell high-end goods here, not garbage."
The little boy wore a smile on his face, thinking that finally a customer had arrived, and it seemed that the customer had little experience, so how could he not take advantage of him? However, he didn't realize that because he was too excited, his malicious intentions were written all over his face. Nevertheless, Green didn't mind. For Green, this was just a trivial matter that didn't require wasting too much energy on.
"Since you claim everything here is high-end, then show me your highest-end goods."
"Alright then!"
The little boy was happy inside and quickly returned to the back, returning with several pieces of jewelry in the blink of an eye. He then started explaining enthusiastically to Green.
"These earrings are made by the top blacksmith in the palace using the teeth of a peak-level magical beast. They are not only extremely durable, but also have various elemental magic enhancements. For elemental mages, it is definitely a coveted artifact!"
"Teeth... so disgusting, no thanks."
"Um...then take a look at this. This hairpin is made from the fur of a peak-level magical beast during its prime..."
"... It's too ugly, no thanks."
"How about this one..."
"...no thanks."
The little boy introduced several items to Green in a row, but they were all rejected by Green with a disdainful look. This made the little boy increasingly annoyed, and he began to suspect that Green was just here to cause trouble. Did he not realize how precious these items were? If he didn't intend to buy, then he should just leave. If he was broke, he shouldn't come and act all high and mighty and make him happy for no reason. Poor sod!
The little boy's attitude suddenly changed, and while he did sell gemstone jewelry to Green at exorbitant prices, the effects of these items were undeniably exceptional. They were absolute top-notch products among high-end goods. So when Green repeatedly rejected these treasures, the little boy was not pleased.
Green was also misunderstood. Although the items presented were indeed extraordinary, Green simply didn't have any interest. Even if he bought them, they would probably just gather dust in his personal storage space. So Green became annoyed.
"Sorry to bother you, but I do have money!"
-Slap!-
Green pulled out a big bag of heavy gold coins from his personal space and slammed it on the counter, leaving the little boy dumbfounded.
"C-Customer, if only you mentioned earlier that you had so much money! Hahaha..."
The little boy's attitude immediately changed, trying to cover up his embarrassment with two awkward laughs, but he felt uneasy.
From the sound and the aura of money in the air, there were undoubtedly a lot of gold coins inside the bag. Moreover, the key point was that Green produced them out of thin air, which meant that Green had a storage ring. Combined with Green's youthful appearance, the little boy had every reason to believe that Green was a rich and extravagant second generation.
If that was the case, it would be different. A young person who could freely carry a storage ring and roam around was definitely a talented individual highly valued by their family. If they really offended such a person, how could a mere jewelry store owner withstand their revenge?
"By the way, if you really want something good, how about going to the auction house?"
"Please explain."
"Hehehe, it's like this. There's a large-scale auction happening in the city recently, and today is the last session. Judging from the time, it's probably about to end soon. Would you like to go take a look? Maybe you'll find some good stuff?"
"......"
Green pondered for two seconds, then nodded and said, "Alright, tell me how to get there?"
Upon hearing Green's words, the shopkeeper became happy and quickly took out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling something on it before handing the note to Green, saying, "Have you seen the XX Auction House on the map? Go there and hand this note to the person in charge."
"Okay, I'll go check it out."
With that, Green turned around to leave, but at that moment, the shopkeeper called out to Green again.
"Um, could it be that...?"
The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then gestured with a hand motion representing money. Green understood his meaning instantly and casually said, "How much?"
"Ten thousand gold coins."
"Oh, fine... Damn you!"
Green retracted his outstretched hand and looked at the shopkeeper with disdain.
According to Green's observation, in this world, ten thousand gold coins were equivalent to one million world coins in Green's world for an ordinary family. A few pieces of simple information were not worth that much money. It was obvious that the shopkeeper was trying to take advantage of the situation.
In fact, the shopkeeper was also panicking inside. He guessed that Green was from a wealthy family and believed that Green wouldn't care about the money. If he succeeded in blocking Green, it would be as if he obtained ten thousand gold coins for nothing.
But if he angered the other party...
With these thoughts in mind, the shopkeeper suddenly regretted his audacity and quickly changed his words, saying, "How about a hundred gold coins instead?"
That was still in the range of ten thousand world coins...
Green's mouth twitched for a moment, but he still gave him a hundred gold coins. However, as he was leaving, he left behind a sentence that made the still unsuspecting shopkeeper's heart sink.
"If I don't find a satisfactory item at the auction, then... hehe!"
Until Green left, that malicious glint in his eyes lingered in the shopkeeper's mind, making him panic and regret why he had pushed his luck.
After leaving the inn, Green followed the public map to the location of the auction house. The auction house looked no different from a tavern on the surface, and it was the same inside, except for the lack of people.
After entering, a receptionist quickly approached Green.
"What can I help you with?"
"......"
Instead of answering directly, Green handed over the note. The receptionist immediately understood and without saying a word, led Green to the underground auction hall on the next floor.
The auction was still ongoing, but it was almost over, and many treasures had already been auctioned off before Green arrived.
Green took the number card given to him by the receptionist and walked into the dim area reserved for bidders.
This area was covered by a concealment-type magic, so even if you could see someone in front of you, you couldn't recognize who they were. In this area, even voices were distorted.
No matter who saw you when you arrived, at least during the auction, nobody knew who took away what.
At this moment, an item was being auctioned on the stage, and the host was enthusiastically explaining.
"This is a magic bracelet made from the millennium ice of the Ice Continent. As long as you wear it, it can increase the user's ice magic usage efficiency by nearly 50%. For ice elemental mages, it is definitely a rare treasure. Even for mages not skilled in ice magic, it can still greatly enhance their learning effect."
"The starting bid is ten thousand gold coins!"
On the platform was a bracelet of ice blue color. Even from a distance, people could feel the cold air and strong magic aura emanating from it. There was no doubt that it was a divine artifact. Unfortunately, Green didn't like bracelets very much.
"Oh, Mio, do you like it?"
Mio looked at the bracelet on the platform and shook her head lightly.
"I'm not good at elemental magic, so there wouldn't be much use for me. I think you should choose something you like, Green."
"......Alright then. If there's something I like, I'll let you know."
"Okay."At this moment, the host on the stage was still enthusiastically shouting the price. The starting bid for the Frost Bracelet was already raised to one hundred thousand gold coins, and the price was still rising.
In fact, it was not surprising for this phenomenon to occur. The large-scale auction here takes place once every three years, lasting for seven days each time.
Today is the last day of this auction, and those old magicians who have been stagnant for many years will not know when they will have another chance if they miss this opportunity. Especially with ice elemental magic being a popular element, the competition is even more intense.
Furthermore, even if one does not practice ice magic, having this artifact is great for family and friends. It is even a superb tool for some noble gentlemen to flirt with women.
"Two hundred thousand gold coins! Twice for two hundred thousand gold coins! Three times for two hundred thousand gold coins! - Sold! Let us congratulate bidder number 233 for winning this Frost Bracelet!"
As the host said that, he took out a strange little hammer from somewhere and smashed it fiercely onto the Frost Bracelet. There was a crisp sound, and the Frost Bracelet shattered into ice fragments.
"..."
Green and Ling were directly dumbfounded. They were just thinking that the host might be an intruder, but they found that the surrounding audience had no reaction at all, as if nothing had happened. The shattered Frost Bracelet on the stage was quickly removed backstage, and then a new auction item was brought up.
This made Green feel curious because he could confirm that the Frost Bracelet had indeed been broken just now.
Could it be that this is a unique performance of this auction?
Or is this auction just a large-scale prank??
The more he couldn't understand, the more interesting it became, especially the calm audience around him. Green's originally indifferent heart began to take a strong interest in this auction.
