BXBX NOVEL Chapter 126 The Village Auction
Chapter 126: The Village Auction
After leaving, Kayn soon found Jude waiting for him in a coffee shop nearby.
Kayn can't help remembering the time he was in a coffee shop with Gilbert a few days ago.
"Time sure does fly very fast," It felt like it was just yesterday that he was in the Green Horn Village, yet now he is someplace far away.
Kayn sighs before approaching Jude.
"Took you long enough," Jude put down the cup in his hand. "What did you get?"
Kayn tosses out the Storage Ring which contains all the consumables he had brought to Jude.
Jude caught the Storage Ring and swiftly made a quick scan of the content.
"This should be enough. If it's not, we can always just go and visit some other territories near the ocean to restock some more," Jude beckoned for Kayn to come to sit with him.
Kayn sat on the chair opposite Jude, and immediately a waiter came forward to hand him a cup of coffee.
"I simply ordered the same as mine,"
He didn't see any problem with it after smelling the smoke being emitted by the cup briefly. He sipped a bit of the coffee and instantly savored the bitter taste of the caffeine.
"Anyways," Jude interrupted Kayn straight away after he finished sipping the coffee. "As I was walking around, I heard a piece of interesting information about an event that's about to take place in the Sea Spring Village tonight,"
Kayn looks at Jude with curiosity evident in his eyes.
"An auction,"
"Are you planning on attending?" Kayn promptly understood where this conversation is going.
"I have some funds here, but I don't know if it's enough for us to get something. I heard that a lot of people normally attend this auction, so I expect the competition to be fierce,"
"Here," Kayn tosses Jude ten leather pouches that contain a total of 5,000 coins or more. He made sure to keep the other half so that he can use it for himself.
"What?!" Jude was shocked. "Did you steal this?"
"Something like that,"
Jude narrowed his eyes together in doubt.
"I stole it from some thieves,"
"Fair enough," Jude nodded. "Let's meet up with Charles first and dress ourselves to fit the occasion, then let's go back at dusk,"
"Alright," Kayn immediately gulped down the remaining coffee in his cup.
After that, both Kayn and Jude returned to the shore where they have left Charles with the Guardian Turtle.
…..
As soon as dusk hit, Kayn and Jude, and this time with Charles coming along with them as well, came to the venue of the supposed auction.
Unlike what Kayn was initially expecting, the venue of the auction was just an open field with a podium and some other temporary structures to accommodate the people. Regardless, the security was very tight.
A three kilometers diameter with the podium as the center was made as a perimeter to protect the venue.
There are also dozens of Marksman and Mage's towers to overlook the center.
Moreover, tens of Guardians and Knights surround the podium and the audience stands.
"Shabby, but tight enough," Jude can't help muttering.
With the additional 5,000 coins funds, Jude was able to secure a supposedly VIP private room for their group which cost them 500 coins.
A male receptionist patiently guided them to an underground tunnel that leads to their VIP private room, which is a small room that can probably accommodate ten people inside. There's a one-way mirror at the very front that gives a view to the podium and at the same time prevents anyone from finding out who are the people inside the room.
"I'll be outside your private room, so if ever you need anything, you can simply knock on the door and I will offer you my service," The male receptionist informs them.
"Are there any extra services?" Charles suddenly asked.
"We do offer some female escorts to liven up the mood, but I am afraid they are only meant to accompany you and nothing more than that,"
"It will be boring if it's only us guys,"
With a smile, the receptionist waves his hand and handed Charles a menu that is usually used in restaurants. "Here is the list of our female escorts and their prices,"
Charles accepted the supposed menu and started browsing.
Seeing that, both Kayn and Jude no longer paid any attention to Charles as they directed their attention to the podium in front.
The auction has already started when they finally arrived at the venue. But fortunately, the items that are being announced are still the first batch of materials.
Unlike Charles, Jude is browsing a menu of the list of materials that are going to be auctioned.
"Is there anything that has caught your eye?" Kayn asked.
"There are few," Jude responded. "I am done. Here,"
Kayn accepted the list and started browsing the contents.
There were no items on the front pages that are noteworthy and there was also nothing that caught his eyes on the middle pages. So, he quickly jumped to the last pages, which are the items for the final of this auction.
On the top of the first page of the last pages was a note that informed him that there are only five items for the final. The first and second items are pieces of equipment, the third item is a monster egg, the fourth item is a title for land in the Sea Spring Village, and the fifth item is a map that says in the description it's a Monster Lair.
What instantly caught Kayn's attention was the fifth item. He could immediately recognize the map as one of the locations he has to visit to gather another piece of material that's necessary in order to get what he came here in 'The Bridge'.
It's quite timely since it's the next location he plans to visit after the Canyonside Town and getting the Springwater Source Bonsai.
"Mountain Monkey's Lair," Kayn uttered.
"Are you interested in the map?" Jude can't help asking. But he quickly remembered Kayn mentioning the Monkey Mountain, which is the location of the Mountain Monkey's Lair. "Considering the distance of the Monkey Mountain, I don't think there would be a lot of competition,"
"That's not my problem. What I am worried about is if this is the only copy of the map," After all, if there are multiple copies that exist, he has to bid wisely, otherwise he'd be spending more than the value of the map.
As if hearing Kayn's worry, the male receptionist muttered, "That's the only copy,"
"Are you certain?"
"Our appraiser has already confirmed that it is impossible to make copies of the map. That is why it's the last item on the list,"
"Thank you,"
"The starting bid seems to be fair to me," Jude expresses.
"I know,"
The starting bid for the map of the Mountain Monkey's Lair is 300 coins. As long as everyone is reasonable enough, the final price should be around 1,500 to 2,000 coins.
In his mind, he has two methods to win the last item.
The first method is to play it safe — just bid every now and then, and be the last person that remains.
The second method is to go with a bang — immediately offer 1,000 coins to discourage people from buying the map and continue playing until he is the only person that remains.
Regardless of what choice he makes, he has to make sure that he isn't paying more than the map's worth.
"I suggest that you offer the lowest possible price first, which is 300 coins and then outbid the next bidder in the next second by just a little. Continue doing so for a few more, and if luck is by your side, you should be able to get that map for a very cheap price," Natas' proposed after understanding what Kayn is currently thinking.
Kayn nodded his head to express his agreement with Natas' plan.
The auction soon reached the middle pages of the list.
Jude has won a few useful items, like a rope made out of the tendons of Kangaroo Rats, which are known to be exceptionally strong and tough.
On the other hand, Charles didn't participate in bidding for anything as he simply enjoys himself in the company of two female escorts he had paid at the corner of the room.
Meanwhile, Kayn only occasionally bid on some items with no real intention of winning them. Of course, he has a reason for doing so.
"How experienced," Natas muttered after noticing that Kayn only competed with those individuals in the VIP rooms.
It's very apparent that Kayn's true intention is to simply bring down the funds of his potential competitors.
Some people would think that whoever has the most funds could win in the auction. The truth, however, is that participating in an auction is like playing a game of chess against multiple players on a single board, something like four-player chess, except the number of players would entirely depend on how many people one deems as their potential competitors.
Each bidder has an equal number of chess pieces in their possession. But every single time they buy something, those chess pieces would decrease equal to how much they spent. Hence, giving leverage for the other players on the board to take advantage.
However, in this game, everyone can make a move any time they wanted to. At the same time, they also can just choose not to make a move.
In the end, whoever has the most chess pieces left would win.
At the moment, Kayn chooses not to move, but at the same time, he is also making the rest of the players move, thus decreasing the number of chess pieces in their possession.