Chapter 163 - Negotiations

After reporting the whole affair back to the office where we got our key in the first place, I took Eve and followed back to the auction house. No matter how much I would like to just hide back in our room if I wanted Eve to have any chances in the prolonged tournament, there was something she needs to have.

Going through the main entrance this time, I could see the entire entry hall in its full glory. With barely any people going around while tending to their own businesses, all the precious artefacts, paintings and pure architectural beauty of the building was free for me to admire.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for an important woman. Around twenty-five of age, a bit taller than me, I know someone called Ham serves under her. Do you have any clue who am I speaking about? Forgive me, but I forgot to ask for her name when I did my business previously."

Recalling Ham's sentence where he pointed at various factions existing withing this auction house, I would love to talk with her instead of just random clerk.

"I think you are speaking about Venna. While I'm almost sure about it, I need some kind of proof that you are worthy of taking her time in the first place!"

The servant dressed in the uniform of the auction house was both helpful and not. While I got to know the name of this beautiful female that I traded my heavenly stones with, it seems that getting in touch with her might not be easy. Thankfully, I still had the golden card that she offered to me.

"I received this from her a few hours in the past. Does that serve as proof that I'm not lying?"

Flashing said card right in front of this servant's eyes, I got him to acknowledge my claims. This also got me wondering. Despite taking all the money that I earned from auctioning my wares, no one demanded me to give this card back! Was this some kind of miscommunication on their side or an intentional act of faith? It's hard to say really.

"Of course, Sir. I apologize for acting rude, but our elders are not so free to meet with everyone who claims to have any connection with them. I hope Sir won't hold it against me."

Instantly bowing down, the servant changed his attitude from just helping someone else out to a fully-fledged servitude. With this change, he didn't just tell us where should we go to find the woman I was looking for, be he directly guided us through the meandering corridors to the part of the building unavailable for normal customers. After locating the doors the servant was looking for, he knocked on it three times before announcing.

"Elder Venna, an important guest came looking for you!"

"Come in!"

With the voice from the inside inviting us, the servant pressed his hand at the wall near the doors. With a silent 'click' the entrance unlocked and lightly turned on its hinges.

"Hello."

As we entered, I could see the familiar female sitting behind a mahogany desk with a stack of papers in front of her. While it wasn't even close to being comparable to the pile that we saw back when retrieving our earnings, it still showed that paperwork was as essential in every level of administration in this world as it was back on earth.

"I hope you are happy with the results of the auction. Please, sit down."

Putting the papers that she was working on aside, Venna pointed at the chairs that were already prepared in the room. It seems like this place served not only as her office but as a meeting room as well!

"How can I help you now? If you are coming to discuss the matter of the sword that Ham already reported to me, I will have to disappoint you. Even with my power, it is impossible to investigate it properly in just a few hours!"

I don't know what she is talking about. Just the fact that she already knew about this situation proved that I was regarded as a valuable customer to her! Considering her influence as a backing would be still a great overstretch of the situation, but I believe that I was on the correct route to gain some favours with her!

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's not like this sword held any value to me. If I find some time, as long as you will provide required materials and remuneration, I can create a weapon far greater than this silly work of mine that got stolen!"

If I want to pull her to my side, I need to present her with enough merits of doing so to counterweight the risk of siding with an unknown and so far unaffiliated cultivator like me. Considering her high position and cultivation too great for even my system to assess it properly, she was important figure not only within the confines of this auction house but probably in the politics of the entire city! If I were to make her my backer, the situation of Eve's background would also need to be clarified, making this small idea of mine a task way harder to be solved in just a single meeting!

"But speaking of business, I heard that your house has a nice stock of the popular items. If I were to say that I'm interested in buying quite a lot of spirit stones from you, would I find a common ground for transaction here?"

Hearing both parts of my proposal didn't force any reaction on the woman's face. If "noob's smasher" was used as the most valued commodity on the entire session of auctioning, flaunting my ability to craft way better things could be taken both as an incentive or as a dishonest flaunt. Even if I know the truth, Venna, as a merchant, still needs to consider all the possibilities.

"If we are talking about stones, I can provide up to fifty of them. As for their price… Hmm… What about one hundred fifty each?"

So those stones were worth only three-quarters of the price that I bought them for? I think it's good that I didn't try to get my hands on a bigger amount then!

"You also spoke about your ability to craft great weapons. Mind telling me what would you expect in exchange for renting those skills for me?"