By the time Thirteenth Young Master arrived, the Auction House was already more than halfway through. Naturally, it would not wait for him before beginning. Not to mention that they did not know he was returning—even if they had known, they still would not have waited. Every trade had its own rules.
However, most of the earlier items were merely ordinary goods. The truly good things were mostly saved for later, and the very best would certainly be kept until the end.
Only after many lots had passed did Thirteenth Young Master finally make a move, raising his paddle to bid. The moment he called out a price, everyone else immediately stopped bidding, allowing him to win the item without difficulty.
It was not because his bid was high, but because the item was not particularly important. No one wanted to offend him, at least not over something like this.
Sometimes, being a Prodigal Son had its advantages too—it let you pick up a few bargains.
The only problem was—
"Young Master, why did you buy this? You are not planning to give it to the Seventh Princess, are you?" Tiger Girl asked with a frown.
The auction item was a sword, an ornamental jeweled sword. Though it held some historical value, it was utterly useless to martial artists. In other words, it had not the slightest practical value.
Such ornamental swords were generally worn only by young masters. Noble ladies and madams did not carry them, though perhaps a few noblewomen who practiced martial arts might. The Seventh Princess, however, was a mage.
"No. I bought this to play with myself. How could I give my wife something so cheap as a gift? I will buy something better later," Thirteenth Young Master said, shaking his head. And by "better," he really meant more expensive.
After another N lots, Thirteenth Young Master made several more bids, though only for amusement. What he bought was either bizarre Magic Devices or Magic Scrolls that he used as fireworks.
Magic Scrolls needed no further explanation, nor was there much to add. The only thing worth noting was that on this continent, Magic Scrolls were difficult to make and their materials costly, making them expensive and extravagant items.
Yet Thirteenth Young Master casually used these costly luxuries as fireworks. That was extravagance indeed, and a truly prodigal way to squander money. Still, to be fair, magic was far more dazzling than fireworks.
"Now, we come to the final three items of today's Auction House, as well as the focus of everyone's attention. First up is this legendary Moon God's Laurel Crown, the crown Emperor Xis once gave to his most beloved empress. It is the crystallized effort of nearly a hundred master craftsmen, and it bears the largest sapphire discovered to date. The starting bid is fifty thousand gold coins. Those interested, please bid." After giving his practiced introduction, the auctioneer immediately began the bidding.
"Young Master, this is good. You can give it to the Seventh Princess as a gift." Though Tiger Girl felt it seemed a little too expensive, this was the best choice so far.
Yet she discovered that Thirteenth Young Master did not seem very interested in it. He had no intention of bidding at all.
"Oh, is it good? Then buy it. One hundred thousand..." Thirteenth Young Master said casually. His words made it obvious that if Tiger Girl had not reminded him, he would never have known this was one of the things girls liked most.
"Thirteenth Young Master Ye bids one hundred thousand! Does anyone have a higher bid? One hundred thousand, going once..."
"One hundred and ten thousand!" Since the Moon God's Laurel Crown was worth more than one hundred thousand, many people continued raising the price. Unless it far exceeded its actual value, no one would simply yield to another.
"One hundred and twenty thousand." Without even thinking, Thirteenth Young Master immediately bid again.
"One hundred and fifty thousand!" That person continued shouting his price, and as everyone expected, Thirteenth Young Master's voice rang out the instant he finished.
"One hundred and sixty thousand."
"...One hundred and seventy thousand..."
"One hundred and eighty thousand."
"..."
In the end, Thirteenth Young Master bought the Moon God's Laurel Crown for the somewhat inflated price of one hundred and eighty thousand. To him, though, it was better if it cost a little more.
The next auction item, the second main attraction of this Auction House, was also a sword. This time, however, it was not for decoration. It was a supreme-quality sword forged by a contemporary master weaponsmith, a weapon dreamed of by countless swordsmen.
Yet while the people present repeatedly called out soaring prices, Thirteenth Young Master remained completely still. It was not because he was waiting until only one opponent remained; he simply had no interest in it at all.
Fighting and killing are not suited to a Prodigal Son like me. I have no use for this kind of weapon.
"The final item... this will be an item blind auction. It is this box, with a starting price of one hundred thousand gold coins." The auctioneer was clearly lacking confidence as he introduced it.
Blind auctions were also a form of auction, and they came in many varieties. In some, the Auction House knew what the item was; in others, such as this one, even the Auction House did not know what it contained.
Yet even when they did not know what an item was in the past, there would usually be some hint. At the very least, they would know roughly how much the contents were worth.
This time, the person consigning the box had provided no information at all and directly demanded a starting bid of one hundred thousand. After paying the full handling fee, he stopped responding to them.
No matter how the Auction House tried to investigate, they could not learn what was inside. But since the client had paid the handling fee, they could only auction it as it was.
But how many people would have the courage to buy such an item? One hundred thousand gold coins—what if the contents were not worth that much?
Thus, the auctioneer lost his confidence. He felt this item would probably fail to sell.
"One hundred thousand gold coins? What is inside?" someone began asking. A box with no explanation whatsoever made it difficult to make up one's mind to buy.
"We do not know exactly what is inside either. All we can say is that those willing to take the risk may buy it. Perhaps it contains something worth more than one hundred thousand gold coins. But if it does not, this Auction House bears no responsibility," the auctioneer said. He was also reminding his customers not to take risks lightly. Of course, the most important part was that final sentence: if they bought the wrong thing, the Auction House would not be responsible.
Perhaps some people could not understand why such a format existed. In truth, it was merely one of the rules, though few people used it, since no one was willing to take the risk of buying under such terms.
At the same time, the more complete an item's information was, the more bidders it would attract. Item blind auctions were therefore rare, while price blind auctions appeared far more often.
Of course, there were also people who held item blind auctions to achieve certain special purposes. Yet they would reveal at least some information about the item, and that information absolutely could not be fabricated. When the Auction House completed the transaction afterward, it would verify this point.
But this item was far too unusual. Nothing had been said about it, and its starting price was directly set at one hundred thousand gold coins. Leaving aside the format itself, even a starting price of one hundred thousand gold coins was rarely seen. Items at that level were basically national treasures.
This situation made people curious, but it also made them watch and wait...
At that moment, when everyone present—including the auctioneer—believed the item would fail to sell, a voice rang out. It was unexpected, yet also entirely within reason.
Had it been anyone else, everyone would have been surprised. But coming from this person, everyone felt it was perfectly normal. Among all those present, only this person would buy such an inexplicable box.
Because this person was a Prodigal Son through and through, a Prodigal Son whose sole purpose was to squander money. This person was none other than our Thirteenth Young Master.
"One hundred thousand!"