Capítulo 20: Auction
Chapter 20: Auction
"150 pounds." The man announced his offer calmly.
William engraved his features in his memory in case he needed that later. Then he raised his hand.
"155 pounds." He decided to test the man unhurriedly. Although he had a very high budget, he did not want to waste more than necessary. Also, raising the price little by little would make it take much longer for him to reach the highest offer he was willing to give, so he would appear to be infinitely rich.
"170 pounds." A random man was also interested in the item, but from the look on his face, William knew that he had put everything into that offer.
"180 pounds." The Beyonder continued.
"185." And so did William.
"190, 195, 200." The bid continued to rise until the unknown Beyonder no longer raised his hand, everyone else had long since stopped.
In the end, William got the ring for 400 pounds. The man sent him a deep look, but William lowered his hat to better hide his features.
"Now, the last item seemed to be blessed. As I told you before, rumors were circulating that whoever owned it would have a prodigious memory." The presenter spoke in a lower voice than before, as if he was trying to give an ominous atmosphere to the auction. "However! The next item is quite the opposite, as it seems to have been cursed by a demon itself. Many stories circulate about how this item has instigated its owners to commit crimes, start fights, and many have ended up going in a very bad way."
They brought a table with wheels and a blanket that covered it. With the announcer's words, many were now a bit worried about approaching such an object. Still, some people were attracted to objects with ghost stories behind them.
"I present to you all a true cursed object." He uncovered the blanket.
It was a yo-yo. No one would notice anything special about it if they weren't a Beyonder. Of course, William noticed.
"This is not a joke." His fists clenched tightly to the straps that held the guitar case to his back. "That item must be brought to the Church. Otherwise, it may harm civilians."
"500 pounds." The voice of the Beyonder he had identified earlier came back. William's eyes widened in surprise.
'That's already much more than I paid for the memory-enhancing ring.' With this, he understood that the man was not just an unofficial Beyonder.
To begin with, he had at least 500 pounds in his possession, something difficult for someone who wasn't very lucky or a Mid Sequence Beyonder. Not only that, but he was willing to spend it on a single item.
'My senses tell me that guy shouldn't be stronger than the suited clown.' After their battle, he realized that he had gained the ability to perceive the approximate strength of whoever he wanted. Although he hadn't yet been able to test it on someone more powerful than a Sequence 7, the man felt a little stronger than Klein, but not as strong as Leonard. 'Besides, if he wants to buy that item, he probably has bad intentions.'
The teams from the other churches, the Mandated Punishers, and the Machinery Hivemind, were assigned their mission areas. This was part of the area guarded by the Nighthawks, so there was no way he was an agent from another church.
'Anyway, I can't let him get this item.' He raised his hand and spoke loud and clear. "550 pounds."
Now, he was serious. Although the price could not exceed 3000 pounds, he hoped it would not come to that.
The man clucked his tongue and raised his hand again.
"600 pounds."
"650." William didn't let him breathe, and that seemed to infuriate him. The others looked at them excitedly, it was strange to see these amounts of money in a low-level auction like this.
"700 pounds." The man looked at him. "Hey buddy, if you withdraw now I can pay you 200 pounds as compensation."
William absently adjusted his hat.
"I'm sorry, but I really want that item. 750 pounds."
"Darling, that man is looking at you with a look I don't like." Debris spoke in his head, warning him.
"Okay, last chance. I'm telling you for your own good, buddy, don't continue." The man's tone changed to a slightly dark and sinister one. "760 pounds."
William closed his eyes, psyching himself up for what he would have to do.
"800 pounds." He didn't let his emotions show in his voice, he spoke calmly.
He shot a glance at the unknown Beyonder, and the latter had an emotionless expression on his face.
"Fine."
He did not raise his hand again.
"The object is for the gentleman, then. Those who have bought an object can accompany me to carry out the procedures." And just like that, the auction ended.
A butler led William into a room where there were other people who had bought an heirloom. There wasn't much to do, he paid what he had to pay and placed both objects in the same bag wrapped in a handkerchief, he didn't want to touch them too much.
He exchanged no more words than necessary with anyone and quickly left. However, he did not take the path back to Blackthorn Security Company but instead entered an alley where there were only two homeless people.
"You should get out of here." They both looked at William with confusion at his words. "Unless you want to get caught in the crossfire."
At that moment, he turned around and blocked a knife aimed at his throat with the guitar case.
Seeing this, the two homeless men seemed to understand the situation and ran away.
'He did not attack them because that would have revealed his position. They haven't seen his face, so he had nothing to gain by killing them.' William watched as they escaped without losing concentration. 'An assassin, huh?'
He quickly opened the guitar case and held the sword in his hands.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to capture you, Mr. Assassin."
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