Mercenary Wars

Chapter 182 Gavin Auction House

Professor Teymor's display of teleportation magic made Gaugano somewhat envious.

After all, in terms of both practicality and prestige, teleportation is arguably the pinnacle of magic in Farallon. In a stereotype that, while not entirely accurate, is actually very close to the truth, the so-called "archmage" is simply "a mage who has mastered teleportation magic."

Mastering teleportation magic, even just "short-distance fixed-point self-teleportation," can bring immense convenience to travel and allow a person to become a renowned mage.

As for long-distance group teleportation, it is a standard feature of so-called "legendary mages".

Of course, the world of Farallo has not seen a legendary mage for tens of thousands of years—they, like dragons, exist only in myths and dubious historical records.

Lost in his reverie about magic, Gaucano recalled his promise to Amaro.

Now that I'm quite strong and have the privilege of using the portal at a low price, it's about time I made a trip to Ax City.

Perhaps I could take the entrance exam for the Ax Academy of Magic while I'm at it?
With the date of the next entrance exam for the Ax Magic Academy in mind, Gao Jiano turned west and left the place.

Upon returning to Nanhai Town, he first went to the auction house.

It's not a black market auction house.

Instead, it's a legitimate auction house run by the Gavin Chamber of Commerce, located in the most bustling area of ​​the South Sea Town trade district. Its patrons are a small group of the wealthiest or most influential people in South Sea Town.

In the past, Gaucano was not very willing to come here.

Now, as a "Champion of Nordanron" certified by the church, he only needs to show his badge, and the auction house waiters will respectfully invite him in.

"Do you want to sell something?" the waiter asked as he led the way.

“I have quite a few things to sell,” Gao Jiano nodded, “including two pieces of Eternal Forgetfulness Moss, a level six giant antler deer head with complete antlers, a level six earth-type magical beast core, and some other things.”

After listening to his account, the waiter couldn't help but show some admiration. In his view, these were clearly the fruits of a great adventure.

"Please follow me, Master Fogel will be at your service."

Gaucano paused slightly: "Is it the Vogel from the 'Vogel family'?"

Waiter: "Yes, it's the famous Vogel family that's renowned throughout all the Mosa countries. Master Vogel is an appraisal master that Chairman Lescova recently hired at great expense. He's an expert in almost all appraisal knowledge."

He suddenly lowered his voice: "It's even said to include the occult, of course, it's just said..."

Gaucano nodded without saying anything.

Before long, he met Vogel, led by a waiter.

A disheveled middle-aged man with a bulbous nose and a receding hairline sat at a table, fiddling with bottles of various shapes and the wines inside, filling the room with a peculiar mix of alcoholic aromas.

"Young man, what kind of guest have you brought this time?" He glanced at the waiter. "Not another antique conman like last time, is it?"

“Of course not, Master Vogel,” the waiter quickly replied. “This time I have brought the ‘Champion of Nordanron,’ the esteemed Lord Gaugano.”

"The Champion of Nordanron?" Master Vogel paused, then seemed to remember something. "The title for winning three consecutive duels?"

"Yes, Master."

Upon hearing this, Master Fogel finally became more serious, put down the bottle in his hand, and politely stood up to greet him: "Hello, I am John Fogel, the chief appraiser of the Gavin Chamber of Commerce."

After all, in terms of status and position, the "warriors of Nordanron" are slightly more noble than knights, and are even described as "non-hereditary barons," and should therefore receive extra courtesy and respect.

As a member of the Vogel family and a person with a surname, this expert appraiser was naturally well-versed in the formalities and customs among the nobility.

After exchanging a few polite words, Gao Jiano took out the items he was going to sell from his storage ring.

A huge pile of things instantly filled an open space in the room, with the head and antlers of the giant deer being the most eye-catching.

Undoubtedly, this indirectly revealed the size of his storage ring. But unlike a few years ago, Gaugano was no longer a poor boy. For a warrior of Nordanron, having a high-level storage ring was obviously not a rare thing.

The waiter once again showed some surprise and admiration, while Master Fogel, who had obviously seen a lot, merely raised an eyebrow and then began his appraisal.

As the waiter said, Fogel, as the chief appraiser hired by the Gavin Chamber of Commerce at great expense, was undoubtedly highly skilled. He quickly appraised all the items that Gaucano was going to auction and quoted prices for them.

"Two pieces of Eternal Forgetfulness Moss, level six of the fire element, recently traded for about sixty-five gold coins, and level six of the water element..." Master Fogel said after only glancing at the Eternal Forgetfulness Moss, speaking quite quickly.

"Wait a minute," Gao Jiano suddenly interrupted.

"what happened?"

Gao Jiano pointed and said, "This water system of Forget-Me-Not is level seven."

Vogel frowned slightly, but seeing that Gaucano's expression was quite confident, he didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up the Aquatic Forget-Me-Not again and observed it carefully for a while.

A hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

He then took out a magic wand and pressed it against the Forget-Me-Not moss, while chanting a spell.

"Ahem, it is indeed level seven, I'm sorry..." Master Fogel's tone was a little awkward, and he quickly changed the subject, "Are you an alchemist?"

"I've studied some alchemy," Gaucano said only.

Master Vogel continued to change the subject, speaking eloquently for a few moments: "Learning alchemy in Southsea Town is not easy. If you want to become an alchemist, I suggest you go to Lidman City or Ax City. You know, there are many excellent mages and alchemists there..."

After a while, with Master Fogel's appraisal results in hand, Gao Jiano completed the formalities and entrusted several items to the auction house.

When the auction started, he also went to participate, to see how much his things could sell for, and to buy some things as well.

Compared to the unorthodox approach of black market auction houses that employ goblins as auctioneers, the auctioneers at Gavin Auction House are much more professional, even a bit rigid, and the way they strike the gavel sometimes reminds one of a judge.

"A beautiful troll female slave, starting bid is ten gold coins, with each bid increment no less than one gold coin!" The first item up for auction is a troll female slave.

In theory, the Mosaic states were all anti-slavery.

However, the Mosa nation has a strict definition of "human." Only Mosa followers are considered true human beings, while heretics and trolls are not.

Therefore, auctioning troll slaves is perfectly legal, no different from auctioning a horse or a cow.

This troll female slave was treated much like cattle and horses, almost naked, showcasing her figure and skin to the fullest extent.

Her figure is indeed incredibly hot, far surpassing that of the vast majority of human women.

As for appearance... well, to each their own.

To humans, most trolls are rugged and ugly, and even female trolls are not much better. The one on the auction stage is more delicate than the average female troll, and her fangs are so small that they are almost invisible, but she is still far from the aesthetic standards of normal people.

At least Gaucanor couldn't accept the trolls' appearance.

But sometimes, it's really hard to judge the taste of wealthy people.

No sooner had the auctioneer finished speaking than an excited voice jumped out: "Twenty gold coins!" Some people, including Gao Jiano, couldn't help but cast surprised glances.

"I bought it for my friend!" the other person added.

I'll offer thirty gold coins!

Thirty-five gold coins!

After a bidding war, the troll slave girl was finally bought for fifty gold coins.

"A land deed for the western county of Dibutour, covering an area of ​​10,000 mu!" The auctioneer produced another land deed. "These 10,000 mu are all arable land, high-quality arable land, with a small number of Jemen's serfs attached. The starting bid is only thirty gold coins!"

The value of 10,000 mu of arable land is certainly far more than thirty gold coins.

However, these farmlands are located within Dibto.

Although Dibto had been conquered, the Mossads' control over its territory was still not secure, especially since it was part of the western county and could be attacked and contested by the Yamentu at any time, thus greatly reducing its value.

"A copy of the Book of Revelation by the Ancient Saints, containing revelations from hundreds of saints and a Mosaic revelation. Although these are revelations from the past, I believe the path of faith lies within them... Starting bid: thirty-six gold coins!"

The content of the Book of Revelation originates from the scrolls of revelation.

However, the scrolls of revelation mostly contain valuable information, such as the opening time of the Tidal Lands.

The Book of Revelation typically records revelations that are no longer relevant and is often regarded as a collectible.

Forty gold coins!

Sixty gold coins!

Eighty gold coins!

Although they were just collectibles with little practical value, the bidding was quite fierce, with the wealthy seemingly seeing it as a way to prove their wealth and beliefs.

"Next up is a level six giant antler deer head—complete with all the antlers. If any distinguished guest's spacious living room doesn't already display such a majestic giant antler deer head, don't miss out!" As he spoke, the auctioneer pointed to the giant antler deer head being carried onto the stage by two waiters; it was the item consigned for auction by Gaucano.

The enormous deer head and antlers attracted attention and discussion.

After the auctioneer gave his introduction, he announced, "Starting price: forty gold coins!"

"Fifty gold coins!"

"Fifty-five gold coins!"

Sixty-five gold coins!

In the end, the deer head was sold for sixty-five gold coins, which satisfied Gaucano.

And then came the eternal forgetting moss.

Regardless of size, every auction here features Forget-Me-Not Moss. For a small place like Southsea Town, this is practically the only place where one can reliably buy Forget-Me-Not plants.

The two pieces of Eternal Forget-Me-Not moss commissioned by Gaucano were sold as scheduled, at a price similar to Master Fogel's asking price.

Then I bought another piece of Forget-Me-Not moss.

Level 6 soil system, forever forgotten moss.

After all, he currently only knows how to make one type of potion, "Secondary Stabilizing Potion," and only the Earth-type Forget-Me-Not Moss is useful to him.

According to his wishes, he actually wanted to replace all the non-earth-type Eternal Forgetfulness Moss in his possession with earth-type moss so that he could use it to make secondary stabilizing potions, improve his alchemy proficiency, and incidentally enhance his attributes.

Unfortunately, South Sea Town is too small, and he has four non-earth-type Eternal Forgetfulness Moss pieces, so he can't find out about the four earth-type Eternal Forgetfulness Moss pieces in a short time.

Moreover, releasing four pieces of Eternal Forget-Me-Not at once is somewhat conspicuous.

Black market auction houses offer anonymity, but their commission rates are exorbitant, so only items with questionable origins and a high probability of being investigated are auctioned there.

So after much deliberation, Gao Jiano finally chose Gavin Auction House, selling two non-earth-type Eternal Forget-Me-Not moss pieces while buying one earth-type Eternal Forget-Me-Not moss piece—and there was only one available to buy.

The auction ended shortly after which the money and goods were settled.

Gao Jiano left Gavin Auction House with a heavy bag of gold coins and a piece of level 6 earth-type Eternal Forgetfulness Moss.

"Whoosh—" The auction house is very close to the port. As soon as you come out, you can hear the sound of the waves. Looking up, you can also see seagulls flying by from time to time.

Gaucano walked along the road and looked at the harbor for a while.

As a thriving town, Southsea Town's port is quite busy, with merchant ships and privateers coming and going, and all sorts of flags fluttering in the sea breeze.

The dockworkers were also busy.

They toil under the scorching sun, sweating profusely as they move and load various goods, earning meager wages.

Some believe that their existence is entirely due to the excessively high cost of spatial magic containers.

To some extent, this is correct.

After all, if spatial magic containers were cheap enough to allow any material to be stored and transported using storage rings, then dockworkers would lose a large number of jobs, and even the shipping industry would shrink significantly.

However, Gaucano heard that the prosperity of shipping and ports had other reasons besides the high cost of space magic containers.

He didn't know much about the specific reasons.

He's never been on a boat in his life.

After a while, he passed by the dock street.

Unlike the glamorous trading district, the nearby dock street is already a slum, where a large number of dockworkers and their families live together.

The air here is filled with a similar smell to that of Crow Street, only with an added hint of the salty, briny scent of the ocean.

Gaucano recalled that Edwin had been a dockworker before becoming a miner, and his address seemed to be on Dock Street as well.

I wonder how Edwin is doing now...

These thoughts made him slow down and occasionally look into the depths of the dock street.

Until a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Young Jarrell, you inherited your father’s wealth and honor, and of course, his debts. You must repay them now!”

(End of this chapter)