Chapter 84 - - 84: Maybe in the Future?

Chapter 84: Chapter - 84: Maybe in the Future?

"This is perfect. We need to get it for you." Elena said with bright eyes.

"I agree that it is suitable but...."

"But?"

"I am afraid the competition for this one is going to be considerably fiercer than the previous lot."

I did not have to wait long for my prediction to be proven correct.

The auctioneer finally announced the opening price "The opening price for this Rain Feather Pegasus is Ten Thousand Gold!"

He extended one hand toward the audience "The bidding may begin."

A person from the ordinary seating area immediately raised their paddle "Eleven thousand."

The auctioneer had barely repeated the bid when another voice came from above.

"Fifteen thousand."

The display changed immediately.

**Balcony Number Two — 15,000 Gold.**

Several people in the ordinary seats turned toward Balcony Two.

The jump from eleven thousand to fifteen thousand had been large enough to surprise them.

But before the reaction had even settled, another bid came "Sixteen thousand."

**Balcony Number Six — 16,000 Gold.**

I raised my paddle "Eighteen thousand."

The display changed.

**Balcony Number Five — 18,000 Gold.**

The auctioneer immediately announced it.

"Eighteen thousand from Balcony Number Five."

I had barely lowered my hand when another bid appeared.

"Eighteen thousand five hundred." Balcony Number Four.

*That was fast*

I glanced toward it. The bidder hadn’t even waited for the auctioneer to finish announcing my bid.

Before anyone else could respond, Balcony Number Two raised the price again.

"Twenty thousand."

The room became noticeably quieter as everyone considered their next move. Twenty thousand gold is already a considerable amount.

I could feel Elena looking at me "Raise it." She spoke without hesitation "I already have the bracelet. You should get this."

I nodded and raised the paddle "Twenty one thousand."

The display changed.

**Balcony Number Five — 21,000 Gold.**

Balcony Number Four responded almost immediately.

"Twenty-one thousand five hundred."

I narrowed my eyes slightly. For a moment, I wondered whether they were simply trying to get back at us because of the Night Condensing Bracelet.

But I dismissed the thought almost immediately because this has already reached nearly twice the price of the bracelet.

If they were genuinely trying to get revenge over a twelve-thousand-gold purchase, they were going to spend considerably more money than necessary doing so.

They probably wanted the Pegasus for their own reasons.

Balcony Number Two raised the price again.

"Twenty-two thousand."

The display changed.

**Balcony Number Two — 22,000 Gold.**

I paused for a moment.

*They seems rather determined to win this lot*

I was considering whether to raise the bid when Elena suddenly spoke "Twenty-eight thousand."

I turned toward her in surprise.

The display changed.

**Balcony Number Five — 28,000 Gold.**

For a moment everyone suddenly turned their heads towards our balcony in surprise.

Their reactions were understandable.

She has just increased the price by six thousand gold in a single bid.

Even some of the other VIP balconies turned in our direction.

Elena, however, appeared completely calm.

I could already guess what she was thinking.

*Use everything.*

She had probably calculated that if we won for twenty-eight thousand, we would still technically have the entire forty-thousand-credit reward spent between the two items.

Even if that leaves us with nothing for the upcoming lots, it is still worth the shot.

But before we could consider the possibility of winning, Balcony Number Two responded.

"Thirty thousand."

The display changed.

**Balcony Number Two — 30,000 Gold.**

I grimaced slightly.

*They really want it.*

**sigh**

*It is useless to compete now*

I leaned back in my seat and looked at Elena "Sit down."

She frowned "We can still continue."

"We can’t."

"If we combined both of our savings-"

Before she could explain further, another bid appeared.

"Thirty-one thousand." Balcony Number Four.

I shook my head with a wry smile "Forget it."

Elena looked at me "But—"

"This time, they are determined to take it."

I looked toward Balcony Number Two and then Balcony Number Four "Especially Number Two."

The situation was different from our previous bidding. The bracelet had been something I needed, but the person in Balcony Four had stopped at twelve thousand.

Here, two bidders were already willing to spend more than thirty thousand.

That tells me enough.

Elena and I were teenagers who had received forty thousand gold credits as a royal reward.

Even if we combined those credits with our personal savings, we could not realistically compete with someone who might be the head of some high noble family, or hold a ministry, or simply possess a level of wealth that was completely outside our current reach.

There was another problem.

Even if we somehow managed to win the Pegasus, I am not sure I can properly raise it right now. I am currently an academy student. My schedule is already full of classes, training, assignments, and various other matters.

A Rain Feather Pegasus is not a magical tool that could be stored inside a bracelet and forgotten about until needed.

It needed attention and training. Most importantly, it needs time to develop trust with its rider.

I knew this from personal experience.

My father’s Pegasus had not become familiar with me simply because I belonged to the Shen family.

It had taken a long time.

If I bought this one today and then kept it somewhere in the academy grounds while spending most of my time attending classes, I might end up making the process of establishing a bond even more difficult.

The auction continued while Elena and I spoke.

"Thirty two thousand" Balcony Number Two.

"Thirty three thousand" Balcony Number Four.

"Thirty four thousand." Balcony Number Two.

"Thirty four thousand five hundred." Balcony Number Four.

The numbers kept climbing but I watched without any particular frustration. There is no reason to be upset about something I can’t reasonably acquire.

Elena remained quiet now, although I could tell she was still disappointed.

The next bid came almost immediately from balcony number two "Thirty five thousand five hundred." Again raising the price by thousand gold instead of five hundred gold from balcony four.

The bidder from Balcony Two then stood up and walked toward the front edge of the balcony.

He did not say anything. He simply stood there with a confident posture, looking down toward the auction floor. Even without seeing his face properly, his attitude was easy to understand.

*Keep bidding if you want. I am taking this.*

That is what he might trying to tell by his actions.

Balcony Number Four did not immediately respond this time.

Instead, I noticed several people inside that balcony moving closer together, apparently discussing something among themselves.

The auctioneer looked toward them.

"Do I hear thirty-six thousand?"

There was no answer.

He waited a little but there was still nothing.

His gaze moved around the other balconies "Anyone for thirty-six thousand?"

The hall remained quiet.

Even Elena seemed to have accepted that continuing would be pointless. There was also the matter of making an enemy unnecessarily.

We do not know who was sitting in Balcony Number Two. They could be a powerful noble, a high-ranking official, or someone connected to one of the royal family.

There was no reason for us to create hostility over a Pegasus that we do not urgently need.

The auctioneer waited a little longer but when nobody responded, he raised his hammer.

"Thirty-five thousand five hundred once."

"Thirty-five thousand five hundred twice."

There was still no response, so he brought the hammer down.

"Sold to Balcony Number Two."

The hall filled with conversation again as the staff members prepared to move the Rain Feather Pegasus away.

Elena sat back in her seat with a visibly disappointed expression.

I looked at her "There is no need to feel down."

She did not answer immediately.

I continued, "We could not keep it at the academy anyway."

She finally looked at me "It is a Pegasus."

"Exactly." I gestured toward the creature being led away from the stage.

"Even if we somehow managed to buy it, keeping something that distinctive inside the academy would be difficult. Everyone would know that we had it within a day."

Elena sighed "I suppose you are right."

"And we can always look for something similar in the future, after we graduate." I added.

She nodded slowly "I understand what you mean."

Then she glanced toward me "But this way, we probably will not be able to get anything good enough for you."

I smiled faintly "That is fine. We can stick with your original idea of buying something valuable that we can exchange later."

"If nothing suitable for me appears today, we can simply buy something rare enough to retain its value and exchange it later for something I actually need."

Elena thought about it for a moment, then she nodded "That is still better than buying something useless."

Dalas and Maya silently look at us with weird smiles.

*What are you two enjoying so much about?*

I ignored them and glanced back toward the stage.

The Rain Feather Pegasus was already being taken away. The first surprise lot had turned out to be considerably more valuable than I imagined.

The next three lots were exactly as they had been listed in the catalogue, so there was no surprise when each of them was brought onto the stage.

That did not make them worth any less, all three were still considerably more valuable than the items that appeared before the savage beast magic core, and the bidding reflected that.

I simply had no particular reason to spend money on any of them. None offered anything that I urgently needed.

Balcony Number 4, on the other hand, seemed to have a different approach.

Perhaps they were still annoyed about losing the bracelet to us, or perhaps they had simply decided to spend aggressively, but they participated in all three auctions with considerably more enthusiasm than before and eventually managed to win two of the three lots, paying prices that I personally would not have considered worthwhile.

I watched them quietly from our balcony, wondering how much money they had actually brought with them.

After the third lot was finally sold, the auction staff quickly cleared the stage and brought out another covered trolley.

The auctioneer stepped forward, his expression noticeably different from before.

He waited until the murmuring in the hall had settled before speaking.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the second surprise lot of today’s Grand Auction."