The Book Eating Magician

Chapter 129

Kargas’ Underground Auction #2

Once again, Theodore was a model student. When other students had been going out after school, drinking and meeting friends, he had stayed in the library and stuck faithfully to his duties as a magician.

He had never stepped foot into a tavern or entertainment house out of curiosity. In that sense, this place was an unknown experience for Theodore.

In the center of the auction house, a gentle-looking middle-aged man raised his hand.

[No. 176, 50 gold has come out! Is there anyone else? After 10 seconds, the item will be awarded to customer No. 176!] It wasn’t loud, but the voice of the host resonated through the wide auction house.

This was because the necklace around his neck was enchanted with ‘Voice Amplification’ magic. The artifact transformed a small whisper into a loud shout, allowing the auctioneer to speak for hours without worrying about a hoarse neck.

However, there was no choice about his busily moving eyes.

Despite the crowd around him swarming like ants toward a cake, the host cried out in a cheerful voice, [Yes, No. 238! A bid of 60 gold! Any more? There are still three more bidding opportunities!]

The bidding method of the underground auction wasn’t too different from other auctions. Participants had a sign with their number and would raise it showing they wanted to bid, then they would raise their fingers to indicate the bid amount to the host.

However, this place was outside the boundaries of the law, so the rules of the underground auctions weren’t exactly the same. Gibra whispered to Theodore in a tense tone, “The underground auctions have additional rules that don’t exist in ordinary auction houses.”

“Additional rules?” Theodore asked with a strange expression.

He knew about the ordinary rules, but he didn’t know there were additional rules.

Rules and morality were no use in a lawless place like this, and those gathered at the auction house knew this better than anyone else. Would they concede to new rules being added? Theo couldn’t understand it.

Gibra smiled bitterly at his question and replied, “As Employer said, when the underground auctions first began, all sorts of struggles occurred. Making a bid in order to raise the price or colluding with others to increase the burden on the competitors… There were even cases of using poison or assassins to reduce the number of participants.”

“How common.”

“Well, yes. It was 30 years before this auction when a major incident occurred.”

Theodore’s ears pricked up at the mention of a large incident. This wasn’t an ordinary person but the branch direction of the Information Guild on the central continent, the ‘King of Mice.’ In order words, it would definitely be a major incident and not exaggerated.

Unsurprisingly, Theodore found it hard to maintain his expressionless face at Gibra’s next words.

“To sum it up, a member of the royal family was killed.”

“-Huh?!”

“Come now. It is an open secret, but don’t make a loud sound. There are those who hate hearing about what happened.” Gibra took a drink from a passing servant and drank from it before explaining.

At that time, the underground auctions had been a lawless place, so it had been rare for people to reveal their identities. Kargas’ 4th Prince, Musica, had found out about the auction house and entered disguised. He’d been able to conceal his identity as planned, but it would’ve been better to reveal it.