At the end of October, a chill autumn wind blew through Anvilmar City. Before darkness had fully fallen, a hint of cold already lingered in the air.
Yet the streets of Anvilmar City were still crowded and bustling.
Today was the day of the monthly grand auction. Located in the very center of Champs-Élysées Street, the city's busiest street, the Nessiri Auction House was even livelier than usual that evening. As soon as dusk fell, crowds poured in, packing its vast interior to capacity.
As always, the city's prominent nobles and merchants were easy to spot among the crowd.
For them, this was both a place to display their wealth and an important social venue. Anyone with the standing and means to attend would never miss it.
Almost every monthly grand auction became a major topic of conversation in Anvilmar City for some time afterward.
The biggest talking points were which noble or merchant had splashed out, how much of a jaw-dropping sum they had spent, and what precious item they had bought.
At last month's grand auction, for example, a famous painting said to have survived from the Elf Dynasty three thousand years ago had fetched an astronomical 370,000 gold coins, causing a sensation throughout Bunta City.
However, the buyer had refused to reveal their identity. Even now, a month later, countless people were still privately discussing who could have been extravagant enough to spend 370,000 gold coins on a single painting.
Naturally, attention at this month's grand auction focused on what rare and valuable items would appear and how much they would fetch.
For instance, could anything surpass the painting's price of 370,000 gold coins last month, the highest auction price of the year?
Xu Yi squeezed into the auction house, found the seat he had reserved through