Chapter 222   – Kelat Auction House (5

“Trismegistus’s tablet has been sold to Mr. Croy!”

Trismegistus. He was known as the pioneer of alchemy in the history of the Tower.

Atran attached his name to the tablet, and people participated in the auction like it was really something that Trismegistus left behind.

Countless alchemists, magicians, witches, and others were competitively raising the prices of the tablet.

However, the owner of the tablet ended up being the person known to have the most gold in the Tower, the magnate Croy.

Croy liked the eyes that were on him as he stood up and walked to the podium.

This was the joy of spending money.

Receiving the envious gazes of all those people. He always felt exhilarated when he received those looks.

Right now, everyone was beneath his feet. Even those that he couldn’t defeat with power were powerless in the face of his wealth.

The mercenaries that Croy hired from the labor market stopped people from approaching, and he returned to his estate after taking the tablet.

Then, he casually tossed it to a research center under the clan he was in.

His joy came from buying goods; he wasn’t interested in what came after. So it was better to leave it to them instead of letting it rot in his safe.

If it was truly worth something, he could just resell it at a higher price.

If the rumors about it were fake, he was just planning to keep it locked up in his safe as a spoil of war.

And thankfully, the research center proved that the spoil of war was actually a precious treasure.

They put out a new mana potion that shined purple.

It was confirmed that this mana potion was more effective than anything else on the market, and when its form was changed, it was possible to use it as a single-use magic tool.

As the research center continued to pour out other items, those who had been desperately after the tablet and those who were doubtful of the tablet were able to come to a realization.

The worth that they had decided upon wasn’t even a hair of its true worth.

And this news was confirmed beyond the auction house to the entire Tower.

“Uehehehe. This feels pretty nice.”

Atran spun on his chair, alone in his office, laughing. This was his own personal office he received after being promoted from head boss to director.

He had everything—from the sparkling marble floor, and the expensive pottery, drawings, and decorations.

This auction was the biggest event in 10 years, and after leading it successfully, he had become the face of the West Wind Union.

Also, as rumors of the Trismegistus’s tablet were growing all throughout the Tower, so was Atran’s honor.

There were even people asking if they could get a manuscript version of the tablet, or other samples if he had any.

And of course, Atran had made several manuscripts beforehand.

Once the news spread more far and wide, he was going to release them one by one then. He would definitely be able to earn more money if he did that.

However, he didn’t make many. A treasure shined the more rare it was. He wouldn’t do anything foolish to drop its worth.

‘But it’s a shame. I could’ve received 10 times, even 20 times more what it was sold for if I knew what it was worth.’

He didn’t know that Trismegistus’s tablet would put the Tower in pandemonium to this extent.

And he also had a thought.

‘There was definitely more after it from what I saw on the tablet. Is there any way to get that?’

If he could find additional information, he was confident he could shake the Tower up.

‘Should I hire more people to look for that Crow?’

Atran’s frowned thinking of the Crow that vanished without a trace after that day.

If only he could find out where that Crow got the tablet from, he would’ve been able to trace where the full one was.

He was a mysterious merchant, able to move to and from different dimensions, unlike the Guardians or Players. Even if the tablet was from hell, he could go there.

Just when he was licking his lips with regret,

Knock, knock, knock—

With the sudden sound of knocking, his secretary entered.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone is frantically looking for you, sir. We tried to chase them out but they were so stubborn…..”

“It’s probably just someone asking for the manuscript. Have a mercenary chase them out. Didn’t I give orders not to bother me because I have something to think about?”

“But…..they said they were the original owner of the piece of the tablet…..”

“What?”

Atran shot up.

“Where is he?”

Atran followed his secretary to the 1st floor where the commotion was.

And there he was. The bumpkin Crow was shouting at the top of his voice.

“Tell that Merchant A or whatever he’s called to come out! I heard he’s now in charge! Tell him to come out! That tablet was mine! Do you think I’ll stay still after he scammed me like that? Huh?”

Atran slightly frowned. Now that he thought about it, he had convinced the guy to sell the piece at the price the Tower suggested.

At the time, the tablet wasn’t acknowledged by the system of the Tower. Atran had used the loophole that since it wasn’t an artifact, the system didn’t easily approve it.

Atran signaled his secretary to calm the Crow down and bring him to his room, leaving to wait for him upstairs.

Soon, the door opened and the Crow entered.

He glared at Atran menacingly. His eyes were filled with annoyance, frustration, and indignation. However, Atran didn’t miss the greed and fear in his gaze.

This was a large union where a colossal amount of money was exchanged. The guy was scared that he might blink off the face of this world if he continued to make a fuss. However, greed was blinding his fear.

‘What are you going to do? Hm?’

He shouted like he was threatening him, but he only looked pitiful to Atran.

‘I’m always reminded of that guy during times like this. Was it Cain? He was pretty amazing. He even dared to beat me up with words.’

Atran reminisced about the Hoarder in his memory. Now, he was the greatest rookie who was causing uproar in the lower floors. Atran had met countless customers, but the only person to match him was that guy.

Pushing away the memory of the Hoarder, he looked at the Crow with a slight grimace. As he did, the guy stepped back.

“Pushover, I mean, sir. There wasn’t anything wrong with our exchange. You exchanged the piece at the suggested price, and the system of the Tower acknowledged that. The system was functioning just fine, so what is this mess that you’re making?”

“Y, You…..!”

The Crow clenched his teeth and trembled.

He really was a newbie. Atran scoffed inwardly and threw a new bait.

“However—”

He turned his frown into a fancy smile, turning his lips upside down. The atmosphere changed instantly.

“It’s true that we profited ridiculously off of this, so we’ll return 40% of it to you.”

The Crow’s eyes widened. His eyes shook. Atran felt like he could hear the guy’s brain moving all the way to where he was.

The price at which it was sold was already spread all over the Tower. The guy was calculating how much 40% of it was.

And the moment he was done, he gasped. Like he was going to pass out any second.

Atran harpooned the flapping fish that just escaped water.

“But instead—you have the other pieces of the tablet, right? Won’t you leave that to us?”

The guy flinched like Atran was spot-on. Atran could already see the sweat beading on the guy’s forehead.

“W, What are you…..”

“If a smart customer like you came back, wouldn’t you have brought a weapon with you?”

The guy just hesitated, not able to answer. But the guy was baited by what Atran said, and his nostrils were flaring.

“This time, we’ll return 50% to you. Actually, we want to give you more, but some will be taken off so we won’t end up with much. How’s that?”

% percent.

The Crow’s dumb head couldn’t seem to calculate the astronomical amount, and his face was flushed.

His eyes were shaking from the sudden wealth he would get.

“Here they are!”

And he put out 2 different pieces of the tablet.

The corner’s of Atran’s mouth unwittingly rose up.

‘Stupid bastard.’

He was overtly happy just with 50%. It was clear he still didn’t know the exact value of the tablet. Even if he wanted 90%, they would have to accept the conditions.

Considering the value of the tablet, and the additional cash flow that was generated from the event, they would have to just take what they could get.

Since the contract was finished, they could trick with things like the service fee. All else aside, when this auction was over, Atran couldn’t even start to imagine how renowned he would become.

His twisted smile grew even deeper as he thought about his future.

Because of that, Atran wasn’t able to see the satisfied face the Crow was making at him.

***

Another letter was delivered from Atran at the union.

But this time, only a few select VVIPs were sent the letter, and it was emphasized that this was a secret auction.

Of course, the Tower was flipped upside down again.

It was surprising that there were new pieces of the tablet, but since only a few people were secretly participating, of course the players would be furious.

But the West Wind Union didn’t break their rule, and the people who weren’t invited were urgently looking for invitations.

The rankers and Large Guilds that hadn’t participated in the first auction announced that they would be doing so this time.

Thanks to that, even though the second auction hadn’t begun yet, prices of the invitations reached to the sky, and the name and honor of Atran engraved in the heads of the VVIP players.

In the second auction, it wasn’t sold to the magnate Croy, but to the Magic Tower, who ran at it like they were going to bankrupt everyone in the Tower.

***

-If you can’t escape from that soul, you won’t know. Forever. You’ll probably fight from the loneliness until the end, and close your eyes.

The fire burned.

Even if the path of the hot ashy fire, ‘that guy’ was looking at her with a faint smile.

Yes.

She hated that smile so much.

Really, to an extreme extent.

-Poor and pitiful Ismenios. The last dragon…..

And the burning fire swallowed him up along with his smile.

“…..!”

The Summer Queen shot her eyes open with a gasp. She looked around and frowned when she realized when she was in her lair.

Her hair was damp. Sweat dripped down her forehead.

“A guy like that again…..in my dream.”

The Summer Queen ground her teeth.

When did this start? It was probably after that guy died that she wasn’t able to sleep properly.

Draconic species maintained their magic power and power through a balance of sleeping and being active.

It was because they had to rest in order to take care of the enormous amount of energy they had.

However, as her sleeping patterns were messed up, everything was messed up.

Her Dragon Heart, which had already been in a critical condition, ended up being destroyed because her magic power wasn’t recharged, and power continued to flow out of her like water.

Her fiery red hair turned blue. Now, there were even slivers of silver.

She wasn’t even able to dream about Polymorph, turning into her original form, and it was all because of that guy.

A nightmare.

It was nothing more than a curse.

No, it was even worse and more cruel than a curse. If it was a curse, she could restore herself, but she couldn’t even do that.

It was always stuck on her like a parasite, and it ate at her mind.

As soon as she closed her eyes, she could see him. And he was always smiling, so it was even scarier.

She would’ve been fine if he had tried whatever he could to get out.

But he didn’t even do that, so she couldn’t get rid of him.

He was always in a corner of her head, smiling, and continued to make her suffer.

The sense of loss.

The despair of being born as a dragon and having to bring someone down with the help of someone else became the chains that bound her.

These chains were pushing her into the corner of death. And because her power and magic was disappearing by the second, she became even more anxious.

‘Heaven Wing, Heaven Wing…..!’

Cursing the guy that she couldn’t even meet anymore, she tried to enter her state of Hochma with red, bloodshot eyes, thinking of ways to restore her Dragon Heart.

She didn’t see how, but she needed to do something. After the Bow God started being chased by the One-horned tribe, she gave up on him.

The Summer Queen suddenly received a telepathic message, so she had to stop her connection.

“What’s wrong?”

Was it because it had been a long time since she spoke? Her normally seductive voice was dull. It was mixed with her Howling, so Troy, who was on the other side of the telepathy, prostrated himself on the floor.

He realized that the one he served wasn’t in a good mood.

Outside the Red Dragon, he was known as ‘Hawkeye,’ and renowned for being in the 81 Eyes, but within their group, he was nothing more than a servant to the Summer Queen.

[Apologies to the Summer Queen. Please excuse me, it was because I have something urgent to report.]

“What is it?”

[First of all, please look at this.]

Through Troy’s consciousness, the Summer Queen was able to see his vision.

In Troy’s hand, there was a small stone about the size of a fingernail. It was shining a brilliant purple. The Summer Queen read its magic power with Troy’s signature skill, <Night Eyes of Birds of Prey>.

The Summer Queen’s eyes suddenly widened.

“That’s…..!”

[I found the Philosopher’s Stone.]

“…..!”

The Summer Queen clenched her fist. The Philosopher’s Stone.

The thing she wanted for so long but couldn’t get. The thing that she thought had disappeared forever was right in front of her!

[It’s so incomplete that it doesn’t even deserve to be called the Philosopher’s Stone. But the way it’s activated and what it’s made up of are exactly what we saw from Cheonghwado. No, actually, this is even further along.]

The Summer Queen asked in a suppressed voice.

“Where did you find it?”

[The Magic Tower sent it.]

“The Magic Tower?”

Troy explained what happened.

Recently, things had been loud as a strange piece of a tablet came out in the Kelat Auction House. And the Magic Tower had sent this to the Red Dragon.

[The Elders of the Magic Tower seem to have sent this remembering what you secretly requested in the past.]

The Summer Queen was silent for a moment.

[And last night, there was an announcement that the third piece would be secretly auctioned.]

The third piece. The Summer Queen broke her silence at that.

“Get it by any means necessary. Do whatever you have to do.”

[Yes, ma’am. Under…..!]

“No.”

Troy swallowed. Through his connection with her, he could feel the Summer Queen’s dark fury. He trembled in fear.

By any means necessary. Its meaning was simple.

If it couldn’t be taken care of with money, she was saying that they should take it by force. The auction house that the Guardians themselves managed.

The meaning behind it was heavy. That was how desperately she wanted it.

The Summer Queen growled with her lips shut.

“Bring the rest of the pieces as well. Everything. In front of me. Right now!”