The Stepsister Who Looks Out for Her Big Brother / Heartless Knows His Place
The room fell silent; at this point, the Magus seemed unwilling to make a move.
P. S.: Ahhh, I want to make a mat too!!!
Chapter 17, Section 238: The Adopted Sister Who Thinks of Her Elder Brother
"Seventy million."
Melvin started it.
Without changing his expression, he calmly presented a figure more than twice the starting price and nodded.
"Eighty million."
Next, Olga Marie held up the sign.
This was her first time participating in an auction.
"Eighty-five million."
"Ninety million."
The competition unfolded between the two.
"Ninety-five million."
"One hundred million."
After the amount was raised to a new level, a third person joined the competition.
Yvette also resolutely joined the war.
The voices offering prices continued to ring out.
"One hundred and ten million."
"One hundred and twenty million."
Yuxian muttered to himself, "Jewel-grade Mystic Eyes are really that valuable?"
He reached out and rubbed his beardless chin, lost in thought.
However, this is far from the end.
Hinozori Riri from the Department of Law and Politics held up a sign.
"One hundred and thirty million."
A fourth person joined the fight.
"One hundred and forty million."
"One hundred and fifty million."
"One hundred and sixty million."
With the addition of a fourth party, the price rose even faster.
Two hundred million.
After Yvette announced the number, Olga Marie pouted and reluctantly gave up.
Not only her, but Melvin also put down his sign. His smiling face seemed to carry a hint of embarrassment; his financial resources had reached their limit.
Now only Hinozori Riri and Yvette remain.
"Two hundred and ten million."
"Two hundred and twenty million."
"Two hundred and thirty million."
Finally, when Yvette quoted a price of 230 million, Hinozori Riri did not respond.
"Two hundred and thirty million, is anyone still here?"
The auctioneer surveyed everyone present to confirm their identities.
The scene remained quiet.
"Is nobody here?"
She raised the mallet as she checked again.
The gavel is about to fall, and this auction is about to end.
Bang!
The sound of the door opening was particularly clear in the quiet environment.
Everyone turned their heads, and Leondra stopped the mallet he was about to swing.
A blonde girl appeared at the entrance to the Myriad Eye Vault.
Through the gaps in her golden hair, her eyes burned fiercely, making no attempt to conceal the color of her Mystic Eyes.
"My brother, your sworn sister, who cares about you, traveled thousands of miles and used Flight Magic to fly here. Shouldn't such a feat be considered a beautiful story?"
The newcomer was none other than Waver's adopted sister, Lainis - El-Melloi Archizolti, the rightful heir to El-Melloi Kayneth.
"Trimmaou!"
The children's gazes passed over Lainis and landed on the maid behind her, who was formed from the Magic Crest Moon Marrow Spirit Fluid.
"Huh? You know Trimmaou?"
Lainis looked at the children curiously, blinked, and realized they weren't acquaintances.
"Of course I know them!"
The children weren't particularly fond of Lainis, but they adored the maid Trimmaou.
But they were still disappointed. Lainis was not Lainis of Chaldea (Sima Yi), nor was this Trimmaou of Chaldea. She did not recognize the children and remained quietly standing behind Lainis.
Gretel walked up and asked curiously, "Miss Lainis, what brings you here?"
"I am a female Magus after all. As long as I prepare a broom and Witch's ointment, of course I can fly over."
However, the dark circles under her eyes were too obvious, and her exhaustion was impossible to hide. Her frequent gestures of raising her hand to wipe her cheeks indicated that she was just putting on a brave face.
Seeing those disbelieving eyes, Lainis murmured, "It's the Touko's Journey."
Her memories of that type of travel were not pleasant.
Although such Magecraft are very convenient, the terrible experience made her hesitant and she had no intention of trying them again.
Only that Grand Magus, Aozaki Touko, could come up with such a bizarre and outlandish idea.
Lainis' arrival brought the intense auction to a temporary halt, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath.
The auction soon resumed.
"Two hundred and forty million."
As soon as the auction resumed, Waver was the first to raise his paddle, surpassing Yvette's bid.
Clearly, Lainis' arrival also brought him additional funds.
"Two hundred and eighty million."
Yvette raised the price by another forty million, smiling at Waver with a smug look on her face.
The price, which was about to be finalized, rose again after Lainis arrived.
"Four hundred million."
Melvin looked up and called out a price.
Clearly, he had received instructions from Waver. This time, his usual smile was gone. Such funds were enough to empty his pockets and even leave him with debts.
"Four hundred and ten million."
Yvette continued to follow up without hesitation, as if it were just a number and didn't require her to put out any real money.
Did the Lehman Brothers really have that much money...?
Waver glanced at Yvette, who had a relaxed expression, and knew that someone was backing her up.
Who is that person?
Waver took out a cigar, cut it open, and silently lit it...
He exhaled a large smoke ring and said calmly, "It's you, Caules."
"Teacher, what did you say?" Caules asked, bewildered.
"The brief pause allowed Yvette to make such a brazen offer, clearly indicating that someone was backing her up."
Waver put down his cigar and turned to face Caules. "Think about it carefully, there are indeed too many suspicious points in your behavior."
"You're too concerned about the Holy Grail War."
"The fact that he could steal the artifact and secretly put it into the invitation indicates that the person is right next to me."
"No, you are not Caules." Waver paused. "Now think back to Ms. Teresa's refusal to reveal the information she observed with her future eye, and Mr. Yuxian's conversation with you."
"I think Mr. Yuxian must have seen through your identity long ago, but I don't know why he didn't expose you directly."
Yuxian shrugged in response to Waver's gaze.
"It's only meaningful if you find the Fragment of Iskandar's Cloak yourself."
Waver nodded and said to Caules, "Then, can we return the relic to its rightful owner? You've already used it to summon Hephaestion, so it's no longer of any value to you."
Hartless revealed his true form and clapped lightly, "As expected of Lord El-Melloi II."
"Although I don't know why this gentleman would keep it from me, I have to say that it made my trip quite enjoyable."
He greeted Yuxian.
"Teacher!" Gretel immediately stepped in front of Waver to guard against Hartless's attack.
Waver waved her hand to reassure her, "You don't need to worry about my safety. Mr. Yuxian still needs my help, doesn't he?"
He now understands the truth of the matter, and naturally he also understands the tacit understanding between Yuxian and Hartless.
He will not be attacked here.
Hartless's goal was never Waver.
He took out a tattered piece of red cloth from his person and casually tossed it over.
Waver quickly reached out and caught it, carefully folded it, and gently placed it in the inner pocket of his chest.
That was Fragment of the King of Conquerors' Cloak.
Chapter 18, Section 239: Hartless is very sensible.
Waver carefully put away the relic, let out a long breath, and immediately felt much lighter.
His purpose in coming to the Eyeball Collection Train was to retrieve the stolen relics, and now he has achieved his goal.
"I thought my disguise was perfect, but it seems there were still many loopholes, and I was discovered so easily."
Hartless began to recount the story slowly, without any sign of impatience that his conspiracy had been discovered.
He turned to look at Yuxian, his eyes filled with curiosity, "Speaking of which, when did Mr. Yuxian find out that I wasn't the real Caules?"
Yuxian said calmly, "From the very beginning."
"At the beginning?" Hartless repeated softly. "It seems you have other sources of intelligence."
He clearly didn't think Yuxian could detect his disguise immediately.