「So this is an auction?」
There isn’t really any difference with auctions back on Earth, despite all of my worries before. Internet auctions aside, I only known them from TV, and even then I only saw like a handful of them, but since their purpose is the same, then of course they would turn out to be similar.
「The next item today is the Coral Skill Crystal. Its authenticity has already been confirmed by the Merchants Guild. The starting bid is thousand Nars.」
The next seller shows up and puts the Skill Crystal on the table.
The price increases in hundreds from one thousand Nars again, and then it finishes. That same procedure has been repeated several times.
「All the people in the hall have probably participated now, so the bidding should start getting serious from here on out.」
Luke whispers to me.
Bids increase by ten percent for the starting range of thousand Nars. There wasn’t anyone that raised a bid by thousand Nars so far, but there were plenty of people that raised by one hundred Nars instead.
「The next item shown is The Holy Spear. It’s authenticity has not been confirmed by the Merchants Guild, so all potential bidders are advised to make caution when placing their bids.」
Oh, so The Holy Spear is finally here? About damn time, I say. The seller appears at the chairman’s introduction and as soon as he did I tried to use 「Identify」on him, but it showed that he didn’t have any family name, so it doesn’t seem like it was brought here personally by the members of the Baradam family. Apparently a substitute has been chosen to come and sell it, most probably a servant or perhaps a butler. The seller then puts The Holy Spear on the table.
Sacred Spear
Skills:「Empty」「Empty」「Empty」「Empty」「Empty」
「Oh!」
I called out by accident. But I just couldn’t stop myself from subconsciously uttering such a cry. After all, I did so because my 「Identify」revealed to me that The Holy Spear is a weapon that possesses a whooping amount of five Empty Skill Slots!
Amazing, amazing, amazing! This is so amazing that it almost made me want to cry on the spot! This Holy Spear holds five Empty Skill Slots! Five! I have never seen such a spectacular number of Empty Skill Slots, so of course I would get overwhelmed with emotion.
I was not prepared for something like this to be exhibited. As expected of an auction, there is a higher probability of seeing items with multiple Empty Skill Slots here than anywhere else....
「One hundred and fifty thousand Nars going once, one hundred and fifty thousand Nars going twice. Nobody else...? In that case, The Holy Spear goes to the bidder with the bid of one hundred and fifty thousand Nars.」
And just like that, the bid of one hundred and fifty thousand Nars has been declared to be the winning bid for The Holy Spear. The seller dropped his shoulders in disappointment, most likely because he wasn’t expecting the final selling price to be so low.
「Which one do you think is more expensive: The Holy Spear or a staff with 「MP Absorption] Skill embedded into it?」
After I made sure that the person collecting The Holy Spear already went to the backstage to finalize the procedures, I asked that of Luke in a low voice. Assuming that the fusion of a Skill Crystal succeeds once out of ten times, adding the price of ten Kobold Skill Crystals and Scissoresque Carnivorous Plant Skill Crystals and the price of the staff, shouldn’t a staff with 「MP Absorption」 Skill in it cost around one hundred and fifty thousand Nars?
「In any other case, The Holy Spear would fetch a bigger prize, obviously.」
「What about this Holy Spear, then?」
「Considering its price, which has been set at one hundred and fifty thousand Nars, a staff with 「MP Absorption」 Skill in it would definitely cost more.」
「Is that so? I need to ask a favor from you, then.」
One hundred and fifty thousand Nars is a fairly low price, after all. And if that is the case, then after having made up my mind, I approached Luke.
「And what that favor might be?」
「I’d like to propose an exchange to the successful bidder of The Holy Spear. The Holy Spear in exchange for a staff with「MP Absorption」Skill in it.」
「It cannot be! Do you actually have such an item on you?」
「I don’t, but I can arrange one.」
I already have a Scissoresque Carnivorous Plant Skill Crystal, a Kobold Skill Crystal, and a staff with an Empty Skill Slot in it, so it is definitely possible for me to make a staff with 「MP Absorption」Skill.
The Holy Spear is now being replaced by the next item of the auction as it marches onward. Right now, my main concern is that it might possibly get replaced with a different Holy Spear before I’ll be able to have Luke deliver the details of my offer to the bidder that won the Holy Spear for himself.
Ah, I should have made a bid for it myself after all! But alas, it is too late for that now, and I can only remember The Holy Spear fondly, just like the memory of a sweet embrace of my mother’s arms.