The Auction

The servants moved quickly.

They cleared away the leftovers and pushed the long dining table to one side, arranging the seats in the style of an auction hall.

Bartok even carried over a high-backed chair himself to serve as an auctioneer's stand. Somehow, he had also produced a decorative wooden gavel.

Ye Wei'an smiled as he handed the mayor a stack of property deeds and certificates. Then he sat to one side, watching the performance with a smile.

"Gentlemen, the first 'compensation item' we're selling is the permanent lease on the Old Oak Leather Shop's warehouse in the western district, along with... well, along with Gray Crow's thirty percent 'non-contractual share' in the Thorn Timber Guild."

Bartok cleared his throat and quickly scanned the room. "Everyone knows that both the warehouse and the shares were 'gifted' to Gray Crow by their previous owners because of his 'suggestions.'"

At this, Thorn, president of the Timber Guild, twitched.

These so-called dividends were, in essence, the price he paid Gray Crow.

With Gray Crow's protection, he had monopolized the town's timber trade. By inflating prices, he had forced the townspeople to pay twice as much as they should have, while making a fortune himself.

Thorn stood up and called out with his head bowed, "For that thirty percent share... I'll pay two thousand gold coins to buy it back! And I admit that, for the sake of 'convenience in business,' I once helped Gray Crow handle some timber of questionable origin..."

"That's called 'going astray,' President Thorn," Ye Wei'an corrected him over his wine, wearing a knowing smile.

"Yes, yes! I went astray!" Thorn hurriedly agreed.

"Does anyone else want to bid?" Bartok asked the others, more as a formality than anything else.

Of course no one would bid. These shares were the Timber Guild's lifeblood, and no one would make trouble for Thorn at a time like this.

"Then, shall we call it a deal?" Bartok asked, taking another cautious look at Ye Wei'an.

"If no one else is bidding, then it's a deal." Ye Wei'an nodded unhurriedly.

Only after Ye Wei'an spoke did Thorn finally let out a sigh of relief.

In Faerûn, the value of shares in a going concern was usually three to five times its annual net profit.

After taxes paid to the Summerstar Family and wages, the Timber Guild's normal annual profit was around two thousand Gold Lion Coins. The annual return on this thirty percent stake came to six hundred Gold Lion Coins.

When Thorn made his offer, he had winced at the cost. His bid was right at the low end of the normal market price.

He had already prepared himself for Ye Wei'an to make things difficult for him, but now it seemed that the young master truly was a generous man.

With the first auction item setting the tone, the other bigwigs had a pretty good idea of where Ye Wei'an drew the line.

Next up was Old Klin, a grain merchant.

What he wanted to "buy back" were several empty warehouses that Gray Crow had registered under the name of his grain business.

Many people at the table knew that Gray Crow had used them to store old rice, then sell it off after joining forces with bandits to rob his competitors.

Back when Old Klin was trying to drive his competitors out of business, he had often asked Gray Crow for help. He had even lent out his own guards to help the bandits transport grain.

"For those warehouses, I'll pay one thousand... no, twelve hundred gold coins!" Old Klin ground out through clenched teeth.

No one else bid, and the lot soon sold.

After that, the auction moved along at a brisk pace, with an unspoken understanding between the auctioneer and the buyers.

Some "shares" had no written contracts at all. Gray Crow had merely announced after a few drinks that he owned a stake, and Ye Wei'an counted it all the same.

Even for arrangements like these, the local powers had no choice but to meekly pay gold to "buy them back."

In front of everyone, they had to acknowledge those under-the-table verbal agreements and admit how they had used Gray Crow's intimidation to throw their weight around town.

The most ironic moment came at the very end of the auction, when the two-story building that housed the Old Oak Leather Shop went under the hammer.

In truth, the land had been one of Mayor Bartok's own schemes.

To cover the shortfall from embezzling the bridge-repair funds, he had gone to Gray Crow to arrange things. In return, he had privately awarded the land to Gray Crow.

Now Bartok had to step up himself and grit his teeth as he bought it at a price far above market value, finally filling the hole he had dug back then.

After Gray Crow's downfall, the local powers could easily have used the opportunity to renege on all these so-called assets and shares.

But now that Ye Wei'an had staged this auction, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and pay up these "penance fees."

Everyone did the math in their heads:

The money had gone out, but at least the businesses Gray Crow had held in his grip had finally returned to them, fair and square.

More importantly, the auction had let them publicly clean up their reputations. They had transformed overnight from Gray Crow's "accomplices" into "good citizens" who supported the lord and compensated the townspeople.

At the end of the banquet, Mayor Bartok carried a thick stack of Waukeen banknotes, while his attendants hauled two chests of clinking gold coins behind him. He respectfully handed the money over to Ye Wei'an.

"My lord, all the 'compensation money' has been counted. Please check it."

Looking at the spoils, Ye Wei'an felt the last of his apprehension about Lady Selina of Firefall Fortress fade away.

These local powers had no idea that Gray Crow's true backer was the baron's wife.

Now they had spent real gold and silver buying back the estates and shares that had originally "belonged" to her.

For these stingy, greedy merchants, paying up to atone meant handing over the cash they had scraped together at the cost of everything they owned. It was like having a piece of themselves cut away.

They might endure that once, but there was no way they would let it happen a second time.

If Lady Selina ever tried to take those businesses back, she would have to seize them by force from the local powers.

By then, she would no longer be facing a bunch of meek merchants, but a group of desperate outlaws willing to do anything to protect their fortunes.

Amid the big merchants' enthusiastic farewells, Ye Wei'an left the brightly lit mansion.

The cool night breeze cleared his head.

His carriage was already waiting at the gate.

As soon as he climbed aboard, a charming figure hurried over.

It was Ailian. As she spread a blanket over Ye Wei'an, she pouted. "Young master, if you didn't come down soon, I was going to start wondering if you'd fallen for the mayor's chubby daughter. That banquet went on far too long."

"I would've liked to leave sooner, but the local powers' enthusiasm was worth far too much." Ye Wei'an ruffled her hair and casually placed the stack of Waukeen banknotes in her arms. "Here, tonight's take."

Muttering to herself, Ailian began counting by the dim light of the carriage lamp. At first, she flipped through the notes absentmindedly, but after counting a few, she froze. Her eyes grew wider and wider until she finally held her breath.

"One, two, three... eighty-six, eighty-seven... Good heavens, that's over eight thousand gold coins in banknotes?" she exclaimed, then looked at the two heavy chests beside her. "And there are five thousand gold coins in here... Young master, did you rob all of Firefall Town?"

"This is all thanks to that 'Gray Crow.'" Ye Wei'an leaned back against the soft cushion, watching the little maid's greedy, adoring expression with an easygoing look. "I told them Gray Crow had hurt too many people, so I had to liquidate the businesses he left behind to compensate the victims. To clear themselves of blame, those local powers had no choice but to scramble to pay up."

"Young master, you're amazing!" Ailian had already started counting on her fingers as she fantasized. "With this much money, we could buy so many gorgeous dresses, hire the finest chefs, and have the best maid uniforms made... We could even buy a grand manor with a fountain in Suzar!"

She still remembered that her black-and-white maid uniform was designed by her master himself and made to order by a tailor.

Unfortunately, her master hadn't had much money back then, so he couldn't afford to choose the finest materials.

Later, though, the design of that maid uniform had become popular in Suzar.

She had been the first maid to wear one, yet her uniform was inferior to those worn by all the maids who came after her. It had infuriated her.

"Don't just think about dresses." Ye Wei'an pointed to the two heavy chests of cash. "I'm going to give those five thousand gold coins to the townspeople harmed by Gray Crow and the bandits first thing tomorrow morning. Not a single coin can be touched."

Ailian froze for a moment, then the admiration in her eyes grew even stronger. "Young master, you're truly kind. I was being shortsighted."

Ye Wei'an didn't respond. He watched the streets slip past outside the window, a strange thought rising in his heart.

He was secretly glad that he had chosen to be a sorcerer instead of a wizard when he picked his class.

Without his Charisma of 18, he could never have had that natural air of leadership or power of persuasion.

It was this intangible personal charm that had let him break through the local powers' defenses in a single night and earn their trust even as they feared him.