The fat man led Annan into a VIP box overlooking the auction hall.
"If anything catches your eye, just tell the maid." Still humble, the fat man withdrew from the box.
Annan looked around and settled into a goose-down sofa. The maid brought pastries and red wine, bending just enough to reveal a glimpse of Snow-White skin before standing to one side with her hands folded. Annan paid no attention to her or the food. Olmedo had told him not to eat anything offered by strangers. His attention fell on the fat man before the auction stage: "Let us welcome today's distinguished guests! Morrow, an Epic Mage and bodyguard to Prince Minos! Hilde Dickin, branch chief of the Shadow Brotherhood! And Annan Reeves, the Twelfth King from the Northern Frontier!"
Annan had guessed this would happen. He waited with interest to see what came next.
"Master Level Demon Iron! Starting bid: fifty Gold Narls!"
Annan had seen more Demon Iron than everyone else at the Auction House combined. Master Level Demon Iron came from Master Level demons. It sold for five Gold Narls at Snow Mountain Fortress, ten when resold to merchants in Breeze City, and ten times that in the Royal Capital. The final price was a hundred Gold Narls.
"A Ratfolk Priest's Staff, seized on the Southern Battlefield!"
The Staff, useful only as a trophy, sold for forty Gold Narls.
Next came something Annan knew well: Knights' Order armor. It sold for three hundred Gold Narls.
Whenever something familiar appeared, the markup was at least twenty percent. Annan realized why he had been seated in the VIP box: these Nobles were showing him how rich they were.
Annan smiled in the VIP box. Backstage, the fat man smiled too.
Olmedo had once explained the "simple logic" of Nobles