68
“I’m sorry.”
Sin Hyeji, who had finally received a solid knuckle flick to the crown of her head from Sin Hyeri, said so with an expression that was not the least bit sorry. One could interpret it as her simply being poor at expressing herself, making her face only seem that way, or something to that effect, but to Baek Ujin, that was not the case at all.
Sin Hyeji was the type who did not think her own actions—having stopped in the middle of a busy street just moments ago to focus on writing—were wrong in the slightest. In other words, she was a woman with an extremely strong sense of self-love. At least, that was how she had appeared during the past couple of days he had observed her.
If that was the case, then why had Sin Hyeji apologized a moment ago?
“What in the world am I going to do with her?”
“Hahaha….”
It was likely because she had noticed Sin Hyeri, walking right ahead of them, letting out deep sighs every third step. In other words, it had been an evasive apology for her own survival. In fact, the first thing Sin Hyeji had said after returning from her own little world was, “Go on ahead.”
It was truly an answer open to many interpretations.
**
“Sit comfortably.”
Following Sin Hyeri’s words, Baek Ujin placed himself in a seat exactly one space away from the Sin Hyeri couple. And naturally, Sin Hyeji sat down right beside him.
“How is it? Is it a bit different from what you expected?”
“It is not merely a bit different; it is substantially different.”
Since it was a VIP auction, he had expected that private rooms or separate spaces concealing each person’s identity would be assigned for the proceedings. However, the actual venue was an auditorium. To offer a simpler analogy, the VIP seating was wide-open audience seating arranged like a movie theater. In other words, who was bidding on what was completely transparent.
“You must have thought it would be incredibly secretive~?”
“Yes. But seeing it in person, I believe I understand why it is conducted this way.”
“May I ask?”
At Sin Hyeri’s question, Baek Ujin lightly swept his gaze over the people around them who were moving one by one to find their empty seats.
“I found myself thinking that since everyone already knows who is participating in the auction, there is hardly a need to keep it secret. Furthermore, every item up for bidding has such strong distinctive features that even if the auction were conducted privately, it would be figured out soon enough anyway.”
“Ahaha~!”
Had his answer been that odd?
Baek Ujin calmly waited until Sin Hyeri’s laughter subsided. Only after some time had passed did Sin Hyeri wipe the slight moisture that had pooled at the corners of her eyes and flick her hand.
“Aah, sorry.”
“Was it strange?”
“No. Rather, it is the opposite.”
As if about to divulge a tremendous secret, Sin Hyeri leaned her upper body slightly toward Baek Ujin and tugged on his earlobe.
“This auction is conducted publicly not for any grand reason. It is simply to incite price competition among rivals.”
“…….”
Straightening her posture, Sin Hyeri lightly shrugged her shoulders at Baek Ujin’s gaze, blinking as he looked at her.
“Chairmen of corporations, masters of large guilds, High Rankers active as freelancers. They all seem like remarkable people, do they not? But do not forget that in the end, they are all the same—human.”
Sin Hyeri rested her left arm on the armrest, propped her chin on the back of her hand, and narrowed her eyes.
“Human beings are animals who will gladly plunge into a bottomless quagmire if it means making a fellow they hate and despise eat dirt.”
“I will take that to heart.”
Rather than replying to Baek Ujin’s answer, Sin Hyeri simply bobbed her head once, still resting her chin on her hand.
The atmosphere had grown heavy, but only for a moment.
“More importantly, honey~”
“Y-yeah?”
“You’re going to put in some effort today, right?”
“I-I’ll try as hard as I possibly can.”
“As expected, our honey is the best~!”
“Hyeri, ugh!”
Sin Hyeri immediately embraced her fiancé, Jo Suhwan, showering him with affectionate acts such as kissing his cheek, and thanks to that, the atmosphere that had seemed impossible to recover refreshed as if by a lie.
Before long, the lights dimmed, and the murmuring sounds quieted accordingly. In an instant, the surroundings fell silent.
“Thank you, distinguished guests, for taking your precious time to grace us with your presence.”
A middle-aged man in a neatly tailored suit climbed onto the stage and opened with formal pleasantries.
“Then, let us begin the first half of the eleventh session auction.”
True to the formal greeting, the auctioneer immediately had the first item of the auction brought up onto the stage.
“Number 11, 7, 34.”
And without a single explanation or introduction of the item, numbers whose meanings were fairly obvious poured incessantly from the middle-aged man’s mouth.
“In many ways, this is different from the auctions I knew.”
“I was dumbfounded too when I first came with my grandmother~! I mean, what kind of place sells things by only telling you the name! That’s what I said.”
Perhaps recalling memories of that time, Sin Hyeri’s eyes seemed to look not at the stage but slightly further away.
“What do you think it’s used for?”
When Sin Hyeri, returned to reality, asked, Baek Ujin looked at the bracelet-shaped relic placed on the stage.
*It does not even have any patterns….*
After examining the bracelet for roughly a minute.
“I cannot even begin to guess.”
He threw both hands up in defeat.
It was a bracelet with an utterly ordinary appearance—neither an unusual color nor any engraved patterns. The only information given was that it was a relic with an ordinary appearance; no matter how long he watched, there was no way to infer anything from it.
“Seems like you are a bit lacking in the spirit of challenge~?”
“I will admit to about half of that.”
His ultimate goal was to gain the strength to protect his family from any threat, but he had no intention of taking unnecessary risks just to reach that goal a little faster.
“Hmm.”
“…….”
At Sin Hyeri’s intense gaze that felt like a slap on the cheek, Baek Ujin turned his head again and met her eyes.
“So what is that relic used for?”
“Ah, that? It is a relic that allows you to use a 2x2 storage space.”
At her answer, Baek Ujin touched with his thumb the ring on his left index finger.
2x2 likely meant not an area measurement, but two cells wide and two cells tall.
“Number 7, 7, 7.”
When the auctioneer clapped three times, the bracelet-shaped relic went down.
“If it is number 7, is it China?”
“Yes. It is the Cheonmu Guild.”
The Cheonmu Guild.
It was a guild whose master was a High Ranker known as Gwonma, one of the Two Demons among the One Emperor, Two Demons, and Three Lords.
“They must have spent quite a bit.”
“Hold on… ah, Chad lost after bidding 14 billion.”
“So you are saying at least 15 billion?”
“That is right.”
At the amounts of 14 billion and 15 billion coming out of her mouth so casually, Baek Ujin decided not to think too deeply about it.
*A 2x2 for 15 billion.*
Then what would be the value of this ring that allowed the use of ten cells?
Baek Ujin realized anew that the value of the ring he had received as an achievement reward was not something that could simply be converted into money.
“Then next…….”
The auction proceeded smoothly as expected.
And just as the heated atmosphere was beginning to cool.
“It is out.”
The item he had been waiting for finally appeared on stage.
A shaft with a black body and a head portion ringed in gold. And the blade attached to the shaft carried an even darker, ink-black hue than the shaft itself.
The name written in the catalog was *The Devourer*.
“Number 51.”
It was the number assigned to Sin Hyeri.
“Number 9.”
As soon as a different number popped from the auctioneer’s mouth.
Crunch!!
The sound of teeth grinding came from right beside him, where Sin Hyeji was sitting.
“Ah, I think this is ruined?”
Not only that, but the expressions of Sin Hyeri and her fiancé, Jo Suhwan, had also darkened.
“Honey, just bid as much as we can spare for now.”
“Yeah.”
Jo Suhwan tapped the pad, and the number 51 popped from the auctioneer’s mouth again. But.
“Number 9.”
The auctioneer spoke the number 9 once more.
“Hold on. I will try asking friends for help.”
“No. Don’t do that.”
Sin Hyeri stopped Jo Suhwan and turned to Baek Ujin.
“Sorry. I wanted to give it to you as a gift if possible, but it seems difficult this time.”
“It is fine.”
He did not know what amount had been entered as the bid, but what was certain was that it was the combined total of all the funds Hong Yeonha could use.
“I will commission a weapon from a decent craftsman instead.”
“Yeah. Good thinking. You are still C-Rank, right? If you suddenly use too good a weapon, it is actually bad for your growth.”
Baek Ujin nodded because he could somewhat relate to that point.
“Number 9. Number 9. Number 9.”
In the end, the owner of the halberd was decided as bidder number 9.
“A collector?”
“Sounds like Hyeji said something.”
Sin Hyeri smiled bitterly and whispered quietly.
“He is a collector, but not an individual—should I say a national representative? You know France, right?”
“Yes.”
“He is affiliated with the French government. Those crazy bastards still have not kicked their old habit of displaying other countries’ items in their museums.”
“National budgets must be quite substantial.”
“It is a kind of investment, investment. They put the relics or weapons they acquire on display and promote them well. They say, ‘If you join the government and build up achievements, we will give you one of the things here!’”
“I see.”
Sin Hyeri, chin propped, looked slightly down to the left and lightly clicked her tongue.
Following her gaze, he saw a young man with a warm appearance wearing a monocle, sitting there with a relaxed face.
“But is it possible to participate even while being affiliated with the government?”
“As long as they abide by the rules, Golden Bank has no reason to refuse them.”
“Understood.”
It seemed the government maintained an attitude of having no interest in what transpired here, caring only about properly receiving the items they won. If that was indeed the case, Golden Bank had no reason to refuse those people.
“Since that ship has sailed for me, I hope Miss Hyeji wins the sword she had her eye on at least.”
It had been said without much meaning, but starting from that remark, a small change occurred in the gazes of the two sisters as they looked at Baek Ujin.
*Though I have never faced her with a sword before.*
Of course, Baek Ujin himself, preoccupied with thinking about the exchange event to follow shortly, did not notice it at all.