Trade Fair

Viola closed the door and left. Rayne listened to her footsteps as she entered the elevator and went downstairs.

He stood up, clenched his fist, and struck a triumphant pose. "Yes!" he cheered, unable to suppress his excitement any longer as he paced around the room, completely losing the will to practice the piano.

If he hadn't been afraid someone might hear him, he would have shouted to vent his happiness.

Was there anything in the world more exciting than being favored by a beauty? And not just any beauty, but an unparalleled one—the very woman he had already been interested in!

Although Viola had not made her feelings clear, her expressions and emotions, as well as the fact that she had taken the initiative to teach him the piano, were enough to show that she had a favorable impression of him.

The entire afternoon, their interactions had remained hazy and indistinct, carrying a hint of ambiguity.

That feeling reminded Rayne of his first love in his previous life. He was filled with anticipation, yet afraid it was nothing more than a beautiful dream.

He returned to the keyboard and sat down, letting his fingers play randomly. There was no melody; he simply pressed a few keys at a time, producing one monotonous note after another.

As the notes jumped, Rayne gradually calmed down, and his thoughts became clearer.

Perhaps his conditions really were excellent. He was unquestionably a promising investment, qualified to make women fall for him—even a beauty like Viola was no exception. However, Viola seemed far too proactive. She had completely ignored the differences between them in strength, status, family background, age, and other areas. That was rather abnormal.

Viola's emotions should be genuine. He could tell from the state of her soul.

However, even if she had feelings for him, she shouldn't have been so eager.

At the very least, she should have spent some time getting to know him before taking action, rather than allowing herself to be swept away by love like an inexperienced young girl.

As someone who could run the Violet House and was also a sixth-level Wizard, Viola would never act so rashly.

Unless she had another reason.

Rayne suddenly realized that he knew very little about Viola. He didn't know her origins or background, her full name, her family, or even whether she was already married. There was no way he could guess her true purpose in such a short time.

"I have to be more careful. I can't let lust overwhelm me and end up being used."

Rayne warned himself, and his excitement immediately faded somewhat. He opened the sheet music, casually chose a piece, and began practicing seriously.

Not long afterward, Viola returned.

She seemed to have realized that she had gone a little too far, so she deliberately sat farther away. Her manner remained as casual and natural as ever, but now carried a hint of distance. She said, "Rayne, the trade fair is about to begin. Come in with me later."

"All right. Is there anything I should pay attention to?" Rayne asked with a nod.

"You're only here to broaden your horizons and make some friends. If you aren't buying anything, just treat it as a show."

Viola gave Rayne a general introduction to the rules of the trade fair.

It was actually a gathering of Transcendents organized by the Violet House. The participants were usually customers of the Violet House, as well as friends of Viola's or friends of friends who had been invited.

The Violet House provided the venue and services. The guests could move around freely and chat with one another, making the format much like a banquet.

The difference was that people also conducted trades during this banquet.

The Violet House would first display some of its own products, usually items of considerable value. The highest bidder would win, just as at an auction, allowing the Violet House to sell some things that were normally difficult to get rid of.

For example, the Soul Merging Seed Rayne had bought had actually been displayed by Viola at several trade fairs. It had initially been priced at three thousand Gold Shields, but the price had gradually fallen to fifteen hundred, and still no one had bought it.

A little thought made the reason obvious. Most of the guests attending the trade fair were already Transcendents, so they had no need for a Soul Merging Seed.

Moreover, very few people were willing to become Combat Wizards, so it was perfectly normal for it to remain unsold.

The main attraction of the trade fair was the items brought by the guests.

Most guests would bring at least a few precious items, hoping to sell them to buyers who needed them for a greater profit, or searching for something they had long desired.

There were no restrictions on the type or price of the items traded. Weapons and armor, Demon Souls, Alchemical Items, Spell Seals, Soul Crystals, potions, mounts, Myriad Spirits Cards, rare materials, gemstones, luxuries, knowledge, property deeds, company shares—anything valuable could be traded here.

Of course, as the organizer, the Violet House was also responsible for authenticating items and setting their prices.

For every completed transaction, the Violet House charged a service fee equal to 5% of the sale price, split equally between the two parties.

Some guests would also complete trades privately with the other party to save on the service fee.

This was not very common. Without the organizer's guarantee, it was easy to be cheated, resulting in a loss rather than a gain. To be safe, most guests were willing to pay the service fee.

Sometimes, a single trade fair could earn the organizer more than a thousand Gold Shields in service fees.

However, there were advantages and disadvantages. Trade fairs like this also carried considerable risks. If an appraisal was wrong and the organizer failed to see through an item, they would have to compensate the losses.

With bad luck, a single loss could cause a massive deficit and even ruin their reputation.

Trade fairs of this kind were common throughout the Empire. What they tested was the organizer's connections and judgment.

Without connections, they couldn't invite enough guests to attend. Without good judgment, they would constantly lose money and eventually be unable to continue.

The Violet House had been holding its trade fair for nearly three years, with one every month. Relying on the appraisal team Viola had hired at great expense, it had made almost no mistakes. As a result, it had built a good reputation among the Transcendents of Longshande and brought Viola considerable profits.

According to Viola herself, more than half of her shop's profits came from the trade fairs.

Rayne was somewhat surprised that she had even told him this business secret.

"Those are the rules of the trade fair. It's quite simple."

Viola smiled and said, "As for social etiquette, you don't need to worry either. This isn't the early age of nobility anymore. Most of the customers are Transcendents, so there aren't that many formalities. If you're hungry, we've prepared food and wine for the trade fair, and everything tastes good. But don't drink too much."

Rayne nodded to show that he understood.

At that moment, a female attendant came over to remind them that the time had come.

"Let's go down."

Rayne followed Viola downstairs. The trade fair was being held in the hall on the third floor. When the two of them stepped out of the elevator, they immediately attracted the attention of the entire room.

The spacious hall was illuminated by crystal lamps, making it as bright as day.

There were nearly a hundred guests in the hall, most of them men. Most of the men were dressed to the nines, while the women were dressed in finery. Of course, some people disliked formal attire and wore all kinds of Spellcaster robes and armor, or even casual clothes.

With one glance, Rayne could tell that almost everyone present was a Transcendent, even without using his Soul Eye.

Since there might be a Legendary Wizard present, he didn't activate his Soul Eye and look around recklessly.

It wasn't a possibility. There definitely was one.

Viola had told him that every time she held a trade fair, she invited a Legendary Wizard to oversee the entire event and prevent any trouble. She simply hadn't revealed the identity of that Legendary Wizard.

At that moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Viola.

Rayne noticed their gazes, especially those of the men. Admiration, praise, awe, and above all, infatuation. Even Transcendents found it difficult to resist Viola's charm.

She was like a beam of light. Wherever she went, she became the center of attention.

Rayne felt as if he were standing beneath her radiance. Even though he was only one step away from Viola and stood beside her, half a head taller than her, hardly anyone noticed him.

"Good evening, everyone."

Viola was already accustomed to being watched like this. She walked to the center of the crowd, greeted the guests, and then announced the start of the trade fair.

The female attendants of the Violet House entered in orderly fashion. They walked to a row of shelves covered with black cloth, lifted the cloth, and revealed a series of glass display cases containing the items to be sold that day.

The hall gradually grew noisy. The guests gathered around the glass cases and questioned the female attendants.

Every attendant had received training. Each was responsible for one item and patiently answered the guests' questions. If they didn't know something, they consulted the shop's appraisers.

Rayne saw the Violet House's appraisers. There were three of them, two men and one woman, all older Transcendents.

The leader was an elderly man with a head of white hair and a pair of glasses. He had an air of scholarly refinement and looked like a professor from an academy, but he was actually a seventh-level Wizard.

From the female attendant's introduction to the guests, Rayne learned that the old Wizard was named Levenshtein. He came from Silver Star Academy and was a renowned polymath in Longshande, as well as an appraisal expert.

The other two appraisers were somewhat younger and each had their own specialties, but neither was as famous as Levenshtein.

Viola took Rayne around to exchange greetings with the guests. After chatting casually with them for a few moments, she introduced Rayne.

Every one of these guests had an impressive background: nobles, teachers from Silver Star Academy, members of the Wizard Tower, officials from City Hall, wealthy magnates, merchants, powerful Transcendents, famous Wizards, and more.

In Viola's introduction, Rayne was her very good friend.

The guests could not hide their surprise. Viola had never introduced any friends to others before, much less a young and handsome man.

When they heard that Rayne was a Wizard, their gazes became even more astonished.

With Rayne's build and bearing—tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular—he looked like an Iron Guard no matter how one looked at him. He didn't look like a Wizard at all.

However, out of consideration for Viola, most of the guests still greeted Rayne warmly and secretly memorized his name.

A few people did not conceal their hostility toward Rayne in the slightest.

They had been watching Viola's movements all along. Before she could introduce him in person, they had noticed that Rayne seemed rather close to her, and they consequently shot him angry looks.

Rayne was rather helpless. He had inexplicably gained several rivals in love, and not one of them was easy to deal with.

Viola letting me enter her circle of friends was meant to be a good thing, but it had the opposite effect. I haven't made many friends yet, but I've already made quite a few enemies...

"What a disaster beautiful women are!"

Rayne continued accompanying Viola with a stiff smile. She was just about to introduce the middle-aged man in front of them when he realized that he knew the man—and even had his business card.

"Mr. Kainegi," Rayne greeted him before Viola could.

The middle-aged man was none other than Kainegi, whom he had met a few days earlier. He wore a sharply tailored suit, his hair neatly combed back. With his gentle bearing and exceptionally bright eyes, he looked like an impeccable, elegant gentleman.

Kainegi carefully sized Rayne up and exclaimed, "You sure have changed quite a bit in just a few days."

"Rayne, you know Vice-President Kainegi?" Viola asked, slightly surprised. Rayne had once been merely an ordinary student. How could he know the vice-president of the Mechanics Guild?

"We met a few days ago." Rayne replied to her, then turned to Kainegi and said seriously, "I'm already a Wizard."

Kainegi nodded slightly. "I knew you would succeed. Still, congratulations."