Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 49

49. Trade City, Anti (3)

The youthful voice caught everyone off guard.

“F-Fifty gold coins, did you say?”

“What’s so special about those shoes?”

“Didn’t that voice sound really young?”

The venue buzzed with murmurs, surprised by the unexpectedly large sum.

“Y-Yes… Fifty gold coins. Anyone else?”

Paul stuttered, his eyes darting nervously across the crowd, a stark contrast to his usually smooth auctioneering. Investing in shoes that slightly lightened the body was indeed a costly affair.

‘He probably doesn’t realize their true value either.’

But for me, it was far from an exorbitant price.

[It’s practically a steal!]

Kata’s shoes were no ordinary footwear.

‘The Metron family was said to have vanished, right?’

[Yeah. I guess they didn’t surrender to the Oseong Group.]

A thousand years ago, these were the shoes worn by the Metron family’s knights, renowned martial artists.

‘I wonder how they ended up here, but…’

Back then, you couldn’t obtain them even for 50, no, not even 100 gold coins.

“Hey, auctioneer!”

Suddenly, a man rose from his seat. It was the middle-aged man who had been actively participating in the auction.

“How are you running this auction house!”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Are you just going to let a child come in and play around? How could someone that young possibly have 50 gold coins!”

He’d shouted out 50 gold coins at once, and judging by my youthful appearance, he assumed it was a prank.

“Sir, I apologize, but I don’t believe it’s a prank.”

However, Paul remained composed and looked in my direction.

“W-What?”

“He appears to be someone who can afford to pay 50 gold coins. That young boy is also a valued guest of mine.”

He recognized my red eyes. The middle-aged man then turned to look at me.

There was no need for me to verbally confirm that I had the money.

“Ahem, ahem!”

The man, after making eye contact with me, awkwardly sat back down.

‘Acting tough, huh?’

The briefly noisy venue quickly quieted down. Even if I was young, I was still Delema.

“Then, assuming there are no more bidders, I will hand them over to Delema’s guest.”

A pair of shoes was placed in my hands by the attendants.

‘It’s definitely them.’

Kata’s shoes.

“How much lighter do they make your body that you spent so much money on them?”

Admoon’s questioning gaze was understandable. They just looked like shoes made of old leather.

“They’re supposed to make your body lighter.”

“At best, they’ll only help when walking… But you’re already energetic, aren’t you, Young Master?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not going to use them.”

Admoon looked utterly bewildered. I handed the shoes to him.

“These are for you.”

“…Me?”

The guy, momentarily stunned, waved his hands dismissively.

“N-No, I don’t need something like this. I can still walk perfectly fine on my own. Spending fifty gold coins just to help with walking is too much…”

“Just take them. I’ll tell you how to use them later.”

Admoon accepted the shoes at my repeated urging, though he couldn’t quite mask his discomfort.

‘You’ll thank me later.’

They weren’t just shoes that made your body lighter.

They were shoes that could momentarily lift the wearer’s body into the air. They were the source of the rumors that the Metron family’s knights flew through the sky.

‘These days, people don’t know about Aura [a type of life energy], so they wouldn’t know the true value of these shoes.’

However, the catch was that you had to concentrate Aura at your toes to unlock the shoe’s function. If Admoon, who was diligently practicing Aura manipulation, could soon discover the shoe’s potential.

[But are you sure you don’t want to use them and give them to him? They would be a big help to you too.]

‘I can just use Air Walker like last time.’

The magic of the Arens family that I used to get over the fence around Ias’s hideout. I could just practice Air Walker more, so I gave them to Admoon.

‘I can tell Drew later too.’

[Well, Admoon can’t use magic anyway.]

I couldn’t help but smirk at the unexpected windfall.

* * *

The auction continued after that.

“Wow, this is so heavy.”

Before I knew it, Drew also had something in his hand. A bead made of steel. It was a magic tool that increased in weight as you injected mana into it.

‘It’ll be quite helpful when training strength.’

Of course, Drew wouldn’t have bought it on his own; it was an item I recommended.

“Let’s train with that now.”

“Hup! Okay. That’ll be more fun!”

It was a timely purchase since he had been complaining that bodyweight training was too easy lately.

‘It’s fun participating in an auction after a long time.’

Being in a place with a lot of people was a good experience. I was also able to get a sense of the current market prices.

‘If I sell my stuff, I’ll make quite a bit of money, right?’

[It can’t be compared to what’s here.]

If I sold the odds and ends I had stored in my hideout, I would rake in gold that would make any royal family envious.

‘I should tell the Won Sim Hoi [a fictional organization] guys to sell some later.’

The corner of my mouth curled up. Soon, items that would shake up the market would be pouring out.

“Now! This is the last item for today!”

Soon after, Paul Hallat captured everyone’s attention.

“I don’t know the function of this item either. However, it’s definitely very old. Our Hallat appraisal team couldn’t even figure out when it was made.”

As he removed the cloth, an artifact in the form of a bracelet vaguely appeared.

“However, if a magic tower or a magic family researches it, they will be able to find out its true value! An artifact with unknown functions! How much are you willing to pay!”

It was as if he was introducing an amazing item, while simultaneously admitting that they had no idea what it was.

[He’s really good at packaging things.]

‘They’re telling us to figure it out ourselves, right?’

I understood why they didn’t directly request an appraisal.

[It might cost more to request an appraisal from the magic tower.]

The older the artifact, the more it costs to appraise it. If the result of spending a lot of money on an appraisal wasn’t good, it would be a loss for them.

“Well, then, let’s start with thirty gold coins!”

People didn’t react much. Not many people would buy an item with an unknown effect for such a high price.

“Thirty coins.”

However, a voice soon broke the silence. It was the boy who bought the magic resistance bracelet, which was the first item auctioned.

‘He keeps going for bracelets.’

After that, he only bid on bracelet-shaped artifacts. No matter the price, he always called out the highest bid with an expressionless face.

[Does he have a grudge against bracelets?]

‘Or maybe he got some information. That there’s something good among today’s bracelet items.’

[So he’s sweeping them all up? Does he have too much money?]

‘He looks rich.’

After winning each bracelet, the boy would look at it for a moment before handing it to his attendant without interest.

‘Should I participate once? It doesn’t seem like he’s doing it for no reason.’

[Eh. How much value could that have?]

‘You never know. It definitely looks old.’

In the meantime, no one other than the unidentified boy participated in the bidding. Paul became increasingly anxious.

“Ahem, ahem!”

He lifted the bracelet, the auction item, and showed it to the people.

“Now, everyone, take a closer look. If you take it and appraise it, it might turn out to be an amazing item.”

It seemed that it would be difficult to break even with 30 gold coins. Paul continued to entice people.

“Ah! If you look here, there are also antique patterns. Isn’t the pattern of two connected circles very unique? It’s definitely an unusual bracelet!”

His urgent voice made my eyes widen. I couldn’t see the pattern well because it was far away.

‘Two circles?’

Then I noticed the color of the bracelet. A dark, musty bracelet.

[Eh, no way.]

Oberon seemed to have thought of the item I was thinking of and went directly to the stage. He examined the bracelet in Paul’s hand.

‘Is it? What’s it like?’

I looked at Oberon with a heart full of anticipation.

[Dude. This is crazy.]

‘Why?’

[Is that right? Illimita [a fictional artifact].]

Oberon’s mouth dropped open. I didn’t have time to answer him.

“If there are no more participants, I will count to three and finalize the bid.”

Paul began to count down.

“Three! Two! One…!”

I quickly raised my hand.

“Forty coins!”

* * *

One of the desires of humans that has been passed down since ancient times: the desire to possess. It was a terrifying desire to own things.

In the hunting era, it was to store hunted food.

Since the development of civilization, it has been to accumulate wealth.

Even during times of war, it was to collect various spoils of war.

Although the forms of objects changed with the times, the human desire to possess did not disappear.

‘Because that soon means power.’

Food was power, wealth was power, and the items obtained as spoils of war symbolized power.

[So you made a barrier too.]

The hideout I made under Ias’s place. Collecting martial arts books and equipment there was also part of the desire to possess.

‘But to think that would be here…’

An item that contained the culmination of such human desires. That was the bracelet. Illimita.

[I know. An extra-dimensional artifact. This is really precious.]

Even Oberon couldn’t help but admire it. An artifact that could summon the space of the Third World and store items. Illimita was one of the best among them.

“Fifty-five.”

As if he knew its value, the boy who only bought bracelets did not give in.

“Sixty.”

“Sixty-five.”

“Seventy.”

“Seventy-five.”

The price soared in an instant due to the boy and me. Paul’s expression changed rapidly. His face, which was filled with joy, was momentarily filled with embarrassment.

“One hundred.”

It was because of the price I spat out.

One hundred gold coins. If you saved a little, it was enough money for one person to live comfortably without working for the rest of their life.

Of course, it wasn’t an amount that I could pay right away either.

[How are you going to get the money?]

‘First, I’ll write a check in Delema’s name, and then I’ll have to sell the items in the hideout.’

A plan that was possible because of the name Delema. With that name, they would accept my check.

‘It’s over now.’

An artifact that I could never give up. It was quite a large sum, but it was worth it.

“…One hundred and ten.”

But the voice that followed. The still expressionless boy was calling out that huge sum.

‘Ha. Is he not going to give up?’

[It seems like he came because of that?]

‘Should I call out about two hundred to break his spirit?’

The others were also agitated by the amount that had not appeared until now.

“Huh!”

“He’s crazy.”

“What is that?”

“One hundred gold coins isn’t just some dog’s name [a common saying for a small amount of money].”

Naturally, the eyes of the audience were focused on the bracelet on the stage.

People were trying to examine the bracelet again. But at that moment, what greeted them was…

Kwaaaang!

Along with the explosion that was heard out of nowhere.

‘……!’

It was the back wall of the stage that was bursting out.

The venue instantly turned into chaos with the dust covering the stage.

“Wh, what!”

“Kyaaak!”

“T-Terror!”

Dozens of people headed for the emergency exit, and pandemonium broke out.

‘Why now of all times!’

A giant man was running out from the dust.