Something started to get noisy at the end of the hall.
After a bit of close observation, it appeared that Jimmy Radiak was yelling at and slapping his valet.
I heard him say something about an elf-slave who had run away. The hall was noisy for a while as such stories were heard.
“I don’t care…”
I don’t care what happens to Jimmy.
If he tries anything more about that mansion, which is officially mine after the formalities, I will use securities, Sir Warren, or whatever to hunt him down.
→→→→→
“Here are some special guests for you!”
Auctioneer continued to host the event and raised his voice to break up the hustle and bustle around Jimmy.
I had just rejoined Gandra and was tucking into some aristocratic fare that I wouldn’t normally eat.
Frankly, I’m not interested in guests.
I’m more interested in the drinks and food over here.
If I can make something similar at a reasonable price for the general population of Kilket and other towns, it could be a good business.
However, I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that there was alos a herb-roasted version of kodris.
Arcana blend is much better made.
“From far away in the central continent, royalty has arrived!”
When the auctioneer shouted this, the entire hall buzzed with excitement.
The Kilket nobles, although they are nobles, are frontier nobles.
And most of them are of former merchant families who have gained the title of nobility with gold mana over the past few decades.
Although they do have gold mana.
Unlike the nobles in the royal city, they are low ranking nobles that are not easily seen by royalty and others.
That is the Kilket nobility.
Royalty. To tell the truth, a simple merchant like me would be in awe of even looking at them, let alone exchanging words with them.
I was only listening attentively, thinking that I should at least remember their names in case they might be useful in some way in my business.
“May I introduce to you! Her Highness Liora Ui Nostalucia!”
Gohoo!
I almost spewed out the sake I was about to drink.
I looked at the podium and saw a familiar face.
Ark, dressed in his finest, was leading Liora, in her fine dress, to the front.
“To Kilket nobles and merchants. I am happy to see you all. I hope each of you got what you desired this evening. The history of the central auction house of Kirket, the center of the western continent, is long, dating back 200 years.”
Liora then began to speak.
She was not intimidated at all in front of all these nobles.
Well, it’s no wonder.
This is what royalty, Liora, is supposed to be.
Running around the ruins as a support magician is nothing but a temporary form.
Liora told us that she was visiting the ruins on her own, and that she was in pursuit of her sister, Fina, who had been missing for a year.
After all of this talk…
After a small bow, Liora stepped down from the podium.
Notwithstanding the content.
When I see Liora wearing a dress like that and giving a speech.
I still think she is a person above the clouds.
I am the kind of person who would be afraid to even talk to.
While the nobles and merchants around me were praising Liora’s courage.
Some were whispering derisively, saying things like, “She’s a princess, how could she do such a reckless thing?”
They were the ones who were ridiculing Liora’s resolve.
I bet they never dreamed that Liora and Ark risked their lives to dive to the deepest level of the earth ruins for that purpose.
And the next moment, as Liora stepped down from the podium to applause…
“Mr. Albus!”
And she ran up to me, calling my name as usual.
“I saw you from the platform! At first I thought I was looking in the wrong person…”
The eyes of the nobles and merchants around me turned to me at once.
“Oh, ah…”
I was so bewildered that a strange voice came out.
“I never thought I would meet you in a place like this. I really don’t know what to say.”
I called out to Liora after she had calmed down a bit as she came running up to me, out of breath.
“Liora-sama, you also seem to have not changed at all.”
When I said that, Liora looked a little angry.
“I told you before, please don’t call me ‘sama’. Please call me ‘Liora,’ just like you did that time.”
Then, she twisted her face.
“Oh, really, I can’t believe I’m seeing you again.”
She even held my hand as she said this.
How in the world am I being looked at by the people around me, being held by an unmarried princess of the royal family who said to me, “Call me as you did back then…”?
I mean, there would be strange rumors and the king would execute me or something later, right?
They won’t send assassins or something, will they?
“What the hell is that guy?”
“He ust a merchant… right?”
“But this is a man who competed with Sir Warren for goods and won the bidding for nearly 14 million mana.”
“So… he’s a very wealthy merchant?”
“It seems he’s acquainted with the princess!”
“What kind of relationship does he have !?”
“I had no idea he had connections to the royal family. You are a man not to be underestimated after all…Mr. Albus.”
Gilbert’s voice, which should have been quite a distance away, somehow sounded clearly like that.
And Gandra…
“I knew it! Master Albus is a great man! I was right!”
For some reason, he was wiping my tears next to me.
He’s more surprised than others….
→→→→→
As it was, Liora and Ark took me to the end of the hall, and I heard from them about the past three months.
After they left us, they had gone to South Milia, a city in the south of the western continent.
And what a surprise there…
“I met a man who said he had sold his ship to the hero’s party. For some reason, the hero’s party had boarded a ship from a fishing town in the south and headed for the central continent, where the royal capital is located.”
Normally, the quickest way to get to the central continent from this western continent, which is located to the west of the central continent, is to take a ship from the eastern port town of Saint Barthelemy.
Or rather, ships heading to the central continent usually only leave from there.
I have no idea why Ryan and his party did that…
“If that information is true. It has become possible that the hero’s party have already crossed over to the central continent.”
The bond stones of Ryan and Ruschfeld that I have, as well as the bond stone of Fina that Liora has. That light has not gone out yet.
It showed that they were still alive.
If they had drowned at sea without reaching the continent, the light would have gone out long ago.
So, it seems that Liora and his group decided to find someone here who could reveal their royal status and arrange for a ship to return to the central continent.
In addition to the proof with the royal coat of arms, some of the Kilket nobles knew Liora’s face, as some of them had introduced their products to the princesses in the royal capital.
Gilbert Warren was one of them.
However, as for transportation by ship.
If they were transported too extensively, there is a possibility that they would be captured at the port by soldiers who are under the king or queen’s command and brought back to the royal capital. He also said that he would like to ask someone who understands this.
“If Albus had a ship…”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I don’t have a ship.”
Liora here…
What kind of merchant do you think I am?
“I see…”
Did you seriously think I might have a boat? Liora sank a little.
But then Sir Warren approached.
“I am sorry, Liora-sama. I was in the neighborhood and heard what you had to say. I will arrange a ship for you. I will take you to the central continent in secret, in a merchant ship of my own.”
“Really?”
The two began to go straight into the meeting.
I was listening, wondering what conditions Gilbert would impose on Liora.
It seemed that he only intended to ingratiate himself.
They say there’s nothing more expensive than free free stuff. A personal connection with royalty is probably worth that much.
I quietly left them and walked around the hall.
I was approached by several merchants and nobles and exchanged a few words with them.
Apparently, the one-on-one battle with Sir Warren at the auction was quite the topic of conversation.
In fact, I was just played by Sir Warren.
The emphasis was only on the “single combat” and “winning the race”.
Sir Warren had made his own offer for the goods he had exhibited. He shouldn’t have beaten me in a normal way.
So, in the normal course of events, it was right for Sir Warren to lose the bidding like that after he had raised the price as high as he could.
So, by all accounts, I was the one who was spectacularly beaten.
But I was so focused on the heated price-fixing that I seemed to have forgotten about that part of the deal.
And here, too, the “despicable acts” committed by Sir Warren were all but forgotten. It is quite infuriating.
But it looks like my Aluminas case is being offset and written off instead, so I guess that’s good…
And such is the case.
I suddenly noticed a woman staring at me near the entrance to the venue.
The woman was Amaranthia.
“Amaranthia…”
I must thank her nicely.
With that in mind, I slowly approached Amaranthia.