Merchant Louis

In a district as commercially oriented as Alexander District, it would have been equivalent to a CBD, the unquestioned core of a city. But in the Empire of Fars, Val-d'Oise District was the cultural and administrative center.

The two got out of the carriage. Anne presented an invitation, and the old butler at the gate politely welcomed them inside.

Charlotte had no doubt that without Anne bringing him along, he would never have gotten through the door.

This old residence covered roughly five mu. Once inside, he saw guests of every sort coming and going. It was exceedingly lively.

Charlotte asked with some curiosity, "How can one sell one's own magic items at the Magic Item Auction?"

Before Anne could answer, a hearty voice said, "May I ask what magic item this gentleman wishes to sell?"

Charlotte raised his head slightly and saw a neatly dressed elderly gentleman smiling at him. He returned the smile politely and said, "A Multi-Headed Flail." He opened the bundle in his hands, revealing the flail's handle.

The elderly gentleman said, "May I take a closer look?"

Charlotte handed over the bundle.

The elderly gentleman took it steadily, examined it for a while, and smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I own a magic item shop called Louis's Shop. My name is Louis Smythe."

Charlotte smiled faintly. "Mr. Smythe, I hope I'll have the chance to visit your shop often."

Louis Smythe handed him a card with his name, the shop's name, and its address written on it.

Charlotte accepted the business card with great interest. By the time he had transmigrated, things like business cards had already been phased out. People only exchanged phone numbers and WeChat contacts.

Louis Smythe said, "I don't intend to purchase this Multi-Headed Flail, but I can recommend a good buyer for you."

Charlotte was delighted. "Thank you, Mr. Smythe."

Louis Smythe smiled. "You may call me Louis. I haven't yet asked your name?"

Charlotte replied, "Charlotte Mecklenburg. Just call me Charlotte. That's what my friends call me."

He cast Anne an inquiring look, and Anne calmly followed after them.

Charlotte had originally intended to settle his little deal first before accompanying Anne to deal with Yang Mills. But since Anne was willing to come along, he had no reason to refuse.

Louis discreetly complimented Anne's beauty, and Anne politely accepted it. Their mannerisms both revealed the practiced falseness of high society.

Charlotte knew that trick too, but he had no desire to participate in such hypocritical socializing. He silently followed Louis Smythe to a room.

Louis called out loudly, "Mr. Lucas, I've found a Multi-Headed Flail for you."

A burly man who had been speaking with friends turned to look.

The man wore a military uniform, and the insignia on his shoulder cords suggested a fairly high rank. Charlotte was not particularly good at reading those badges and could only make a rough judgment based on their complexity.

When Lucas saw Louis Smythe take out the Multi-Headed Flail, his eyes immediately lit up. He strode over, lightly grasped it, gave it a shake, and said, "The enchantment has completely collapsed. Can you repair it?"

Louis Smythe said with a smile, "Master Leo happens to be here. Repairing the enchantment will be no problem."

Lucas nodded. "I'll take it. How much?"

Louis said, "We're old friends. I'll only charge you one hundred and forty Écu."

Lucas nodded. "Repair the enchantment and send it to my residence."

Louis agreed with a smile. Lucas said nothing more and went back to chatting with his friends.

Louis brought Charlotte to an unoccupied corner and said in a low voice, "This Multi-Headed Flail needs to be re-enchanted. The repair cost will be around fifty Écu. I'm willing to pay seventy-five Écu for it. What do you think?"

Charlotte smiled faintly. "No problem."

The price was already higher than he had expected.

Louis took out his wallet, cheerfully counted out fifteen fifty-Flor banknotes, and handed them to Charlotte. "A pleasure doing business with you."

To be honest, Charlotte had never handled banknotes of such a large denomination before. Not to mention fifty Flor, he had never even handled twenty-Flor notes. The largest denomination he had ever touched was ten Flor.

Charlotte accepted the notes, checked their authenticity using the methods he had learned at school, slipped them into his wallet, and said with a smile, "Louis, it was fortunate that I ran into you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do."

"This is my first time doing business."

Louis laughed heartily. "Please favor my little shop with this sort of business in the future."

After chatting briefly, Louis Smythe said, "With Miss Anne accompanying you, it would be rather tactless for me to keep lingering nearby. I won't disturb you two any longer. Next time, I'll make a point of explaining some little secrets of business and auctions to you."

He handed the bundle to the servant who had been following him, then left with a smile.

Anne said quietly, "Louis is a very formidable merchant. You must be careful when dealing with him."

Charlotte nodded. He truly did not think he would have many chances to do business with this Mr. Louis Smythe.

Where would he get a supply of magic items?

The man dealt in high-end goods.

Charlotte casually tucked his wallet into an inner pocket and pressed it down. The thick stack of banknotes inside gave him a great sense of security.

Even in his previous life, he had never held such a large sum of money.

Seventy-five Écu was roughly equivalent to two to 2.2 million yuan.

Even in his previous life, that would have been enough to buy him a home. At the very least, it was enough for a down payment.

Charlotte and Anne walked around the old residence a few times, and he came to roughly understand what auctions were like in this era.

Before the auction officially began, guests were allowed to trade privately. Only those unable to complete a deal, or dissatisfied with the offered price, would formally submit their magic items to the auction.

The Empire of Fars did not yet have formal auction houses, and commerce was not particularly developed either, so auctions like this relied heavily on the host's prestige.

Charlotte and Anne had not been walking around for long when Anne said quietly, "I see him. Let's not speak to each other for now. Pretend we don't know one another."

Charlotte smiled faintly. At Anne's indication, he also spotted Mr. Yang Mills, with whom he had quite a few entanglements.

Yang Mills was a tall, sinister-looking man, around forty or fifty years old. He dressed impeccably, every detail of his clothing carefully considered, his combinations stylish as well. He held a cane in one hand, inlaid with gold thread and a gemstone, making it look extravagantly expensive and worlds apart from military-issue goods. His other hand was clenched into a fist, betraying a small portion of his turbulent emotions.

Charlotte strode past behind Yang Mills, staring at him.