章 54: Being followed?
Chapter 54
'What the fuck!? Was that a big amount to these people? They're going to bid more, right?'
Oliver heard the auctioneer suddenly announce.
"200 million Neden, is no one willing to bid higher?"
His heart sank when he heard that; he couldn't afford that at all nor did he intend to buy that ugly demon.
"220 million."
Fortunately for him, the bidding resumed as he heaved a sigh of relief and almost slumped back into the plump cushion of his chair.
In fact, 200 million was indeed not too big of an amount for the people above; they all belonged to wealthy backgrounds.
The reason that there was silence in the hall was due to the fact that someone like him who appeared to be nothing more than an attention-grabbing stupid brat dared to bid such an amount casually.
Not to mention, him directly provoking the people on the floor above was also very brave of him.
Some people could not help but secretly admire the thick skin of brainless young masters!
Sure enough, the rich young masters didn't care about the future; they lived in the present and offended people left and right without giving face to their status.
"Cough.."
Oliver coughed awkwardly as he remained silent and didn't dare to joke around more.
"240 million…"
The bid had reached a great scale and now even the people on the second floor were hesitant to spend more, pondering if they should bid more or stop.
It was at that moment when a cold feminine voice cut through every thought across the hall.
"300 million Neden."
A huge amount which directly extinguished any hesitance others had.
Jenna Sullivan had placed her bid!
The air was oppressive and no one dared to bid against her. They all were aware of how terrifying this woman was.
Despite being in the territory of Mystic Purge Clan, she operated without fear and was ruthless; she belonged to the Black Codex Federation.
One of the executives of that giant superpower!
It was not their place to even dream to compete with her.
They knew that unless you were someone from an equal background to her or greater, you practically had no chance to win against her in terms of money.
And many people were aware that she was a narrow-minded woman and would attack them in other ways if they offended her in the future.
It was better to not mess with her and get on bad terms with the Black Codex Federation for this demon.
In a way, she was very similar to Oliver.
The auctioneer saw this and directly announced.
"The item now belongs to number 37! Congratulations!"
"With this, the auction also ends. Buyers can collect their purchased items from behind the hallway. The servants will be attending to your needs and all transactions will take place there. Thank you for attending the auction!"
With that, the auctioneer left and the men also took the caged demon away.
"Congratulations, sir, for your purchase. Please come this way… we will proceed with the transactions here. Your item is in this package."
A polite man said to Oliver as he handed him a small glass box with the stone in it.
"Alright, lead the way."
He told the man as he looked around to see many of the guests inspecting their items and making payments to the staff.
He had already checked using [Cosmic Void Gaze] and verified it was the real thing that the man had given him.
Of course, he was still in his mask and cap.
"Oh! Miss Sullivan, I am honored to be graced by your presence today!"
A fat woman in a sparkling red dress said aloud, not caring about surroundings.
Behind her were three exorcists serving as guards as well.
It was evident that she was probably the manager of today's event and has personally come to deliver items Jenna had purchased to her.
Jenna was a superior person unlike the ordinary him so it was normal for her to be received by high-profiled people as well.
"Don't waste my time. Hurry up and bring the items."
Jenna replied in a tone colder than ice, making the surrounding people gasp.
The fat woman in the red dress could not help but pop a vein on her forehead in anger, but she still maintained a professional strained smile.
"As you wish, they will be here shortly, well, if you'll excuse me."
The woman in red quickly left before suffering any further insult. She could not argue with Jenna; she was not in a position to in the first place.
Jenna's status and power were way above hers, so she could only bear it.
Oliver who was far and heard it could not help but exclaim secretly at her unfriendliness and lack of IQ.
With this sort of attitude, he could only imagine the number of people she must have offended in the past.
No wonder, she was so cold!
She must have no friends!
Jenna, who was impatient, felt his gaze and turned her head to look at him. She felt he was again looking at her pitifully, which she didn't like at all for some reason.
She frowned and ignored him; she had made it clear that she did not want to be related to him in the public or it'll bring annoyances her way considering his special status.
It was clear she wanted her relationship with him to be strictly professional.
Oliver saw this and did not look at her again.
He took out the black card and handed it to the polite staff to make the transaction.
The man looked at the golden 'C' engraved on the card and could not help but feel surprised.
Someone else from the Black Codex Federation?
Nonetheless, he quickly did the payment and escorted him out.
_________________
After coming out of the auction, he heaved a breath of relief.
Fortunately, he did not encounter troublesome things at the auction, and everything went smoothly.
"I should get going now…"
He walked towards the exit of the market but in the middle of his way, he suddenly turned around.
He moved in random directions and stopped.
'I am being followed? Who is it?'
He wondered; he could sense the other party tailing behind him trying to be discrete, but he was able to catch their movements.
It indicated one thing!
They were novices and didn't know that he had already sensed them.
Shaking his head, he decided to confront the person directly; he didn't want someone to follow him back to his courtyard and bother him at night.
He quietly led his follower towards a desolate and silent area, somewhat far away from the bustling marketplace.
Suddenly he turned backward and rushed to the person in cloak!
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章 55: Lucia Vasa!
Chapter 55
He turned around abruptly and, making use of his high speed, went directly towards a distant figure who was most likely following him—catching the latter off guard.
Seeing him in high speed, the person in the cloak was shocked and quickly tried to flee, only to be tackled to the ground by him.
Oliver got straight to the point; grabbing the throat of the cloaked person, he asked with cold eyes.
"Who are you?" His voice was sharp and low.
"Why were you following me?"
He tightened his grip as the figure tried to shake off his hand and escape.
He threatened, "If you move too much, I'll directly crush your neck and kill you. Answer my questions and I'll let you live. Who ordered you to follow me?"
The flailing figure stopped moving around when his words were heard.
Seeing this, Oliver lessened his grip. Naturally, he had no intention to kill; he had never killed an animal, let alone a human before.
It would be weird if he suddenly became a cold-blooded killer.
He just threatened the person to make them stop; in this world, such killings were common, so a smart person would know when to surrender.
He said, "Let's take off your hood; I would like to see your face."
He used his other hand and directly removed the hood covering the person's head.
Wavy and shiny crystal blue hair emerged from underneath the hood…
His eyes slowly widened behind his mask as he saw the face of the woman.
[Ding! Lucia Vasa. Does the host wish to bind with the individual?]
'Lucia Vasa! What is she doing here!?"
He was quite surprised seeing one of the major characters of the novel right in front of him.
He swiftly declined the system and looked back at her.
She had ink-blue colored eyes which were strained at the moment and glaring at him; she had a small button nose and glossy pink lips, her skin was fair and devoid of blemishes.
She said in a low voice, "Let me down. I'll talk."
Hearing this, he came back to his senses and calmly released his grip on her throat. He knew she must have something to say to him if she followed him for so long.
Also, he did not feel good holding someone by their throat…
"Speak," he said.
He did not waver much and maintained a stoic persona while internally he was wondering if he should reveal himself or not.
In the end, he decided not to do so…
He was curious about her reason; why was she here and what was she doing here?
He could understand that she was probably here for the auction to sell the things.
"I-uhm, I am Lucia Vasa… Actually, the stone that you purchased, well, I am the one who put that on auction…"
She said, her tone faltering slightly, displaying her lack of confidence and hesitance.
"So what?"
Oliver questioned; so what if she was the seller? He had purchased the artifact now and was the official owner of it.
And not to mention, the auction house strictly forbade its sellers to directly approach its clients and demand things back.
This action of hers could give her a permanent ban from the auction circle for a lifetime—with her merchant status getting revoked as well.
She continued, "I am sorry, this may sound ridiculous and unrelated to you, but please listen to me for a moment. I know I am being a bother right now, but this is very important to me that I let you know of this."
Oliver calmly asked,
"What is it?"
Seeing that he was not leaving or attacking her again, Lucia was relieved; she told him,
"Actually, the stone you are currently taking with you is the family heirloom of the Vasa Family, an exorcist family in seclusion. I am not sure if you have ever heard of our name, but my family was very prominent some decades ago."
She paused before continuing, "But at the moment, although I feel ashamed to admit it, we have fallen and are now suffering to maintain our long-existing family. It has become a tenth of what it once used to be… the stone in your hands, I don't know why, but it's the heirloom that has been passed in my family from generation to generation…"
Her eyes turned somewhat desperate and moist; clenching her fist, she lowered her head.
"I beg of you… could you please return this to me."
Her body trembled slightly, displaying how difficult it must have been for a heiress to bow down to someone and beg for something.
"Unfortunately, that cannot happen—"
"Please! I beg of you, please! I am willing to put anything on line in exchange for it." She cut him and pleaded.
"Then why did you even put it up on the auction in the first place if you had never intended to sell it?"
He paused and asked something first.
"That… It's a complex story."
She narrated the story of how she came from the mountains and how the thing and auction happened to now.
So basically, to summarize, her father had realized that she had stolen artifacts from the household and was enraged and regretful.
He could not just come to the Mystic Purge Clan suddenly now, and it would take him a considerable amount of time to even reach them.
So, he used his connections and delivered her a message through which she came to know that the stone she had thought was useless and ordinary was actually her family heirloom.
Initially, she was shocked, but she trusted her father and asked the auction staff to give the stone back; however, by then it was already too late.
She felt that no one would buy that stone considering its lacking look and uses; she had just picked it up at random from the treasure vault while leaving her house.
Even she felt that the stone would not sell, but when she heard from her father that it was actually their family inheritance, she was shocked.
The stone was definitely not ordinary and was directly tied to the secret of the past when her ancestors were great exorcists.
She regretted ever auctioning the stone; at the same time, she was quite in awe that Oliver was keen enough to see through the special stone.
"Why were you following me secretly like this then? Why didn't you directly approach me?" He could not help but be curious.
"That... it's because of your suspicious get-up. You are dressed like a kidnapper... so..."
She spoke in a somewhat straight tone, leaving Oliver speechless.
Come to think of it, he was indeed dressed suspicious.
A black summer cap, a mask covering full face...
He shook his head of such thoughts and looked at her oblivious face.
'Sigh, why is she so naive…? Had she told this to a villain character, then it would have remained a dream to even get the artifact back.'
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