DKIE CH10: The Auction

“Our Guild Master Cullen should have seen the news by now,” Luka declared, tilting his head back confidently.

He almost wanted to change his name from Luka (路迦) to Lu-Ka (路咖), a pen name that comes with its own celebrity status, how auspicious!

In reality, after being shocked by the newspaper, Cullen didn’t even finish his breakfast. He almost tore open a spatial scroll to rush and confront the culprit.

In the end, he held back.

However, as soon as he stepped onto the street, he greatly regretted not saving the spatial scroll.

Throughout the city, rumors were spreading wildly, and he was, unexpectedly, a significant part of them.

Something about him being shocked by the mysterious young man’s beauty.

Shocked my foot!

He was indeed shocked, but by the other party’s novel!

Cullen tugged at the griffin’s perked-up ears and said in a deep voice, “Don’t think I don’t know you’re slowing down to listen to the gossip.”

The griffin innocently ruffled its long feathers and sped up again.

When Cullen arrived at the guild hall, Luka had just finished his impassioned speech.

Their eyes met, and Luka smiled reservedly. “Good morning, do you need something from me?”

Cullen got straight to the point, pulling out the newspaper from his storage ring. “A certain gentleman who prefers to remain anonymous, do I look like someone who lusts after beauty?”

Luka looked puzzled. “What?”

“I was captivated by your beauty, so I specifically hosted you at the Qizhen Pavilion.”

He hadn’t expected to underestimate the public’s imagination. Luka lightly coughed, avoiding eye contact.

Cullen’s narrowed eyes seemed to widen slightly now. A merchant’s gaze was always sharp. Combining this with Luka’s earlier remarks about marketing, it wasn’t hard to guess the other party’s intentions.

In short, it was another way to expand his reputation.

“Others try to maintain a good reputation; you’re actively ruining yours.”

Luka chuckled. “How so?”

His shy modesty vanished. “There will never be just one voice in the world.”

He said he was more beautiful than the Elf King. Even if it wasn’t true, some people would agree.

If he directed traffic later, this group wouldn’t be small.

In the Holy Demon Continent, there might not be a saying that merchants were looked down upon. On the contrary, great merchants were often nobles; they monopolized most of the sales channels for rare treasures.

Cullen had been accustomed to being high and mighty since birth. Being inexplicably dragged into rumors felt like an affront to him.

Fortunately, merchants prioritized profit.

Cullen gleaned some insights from the tactic of binding works to authors.

He actively turned the page. “The distributors will arrive tomorrow. You’ve successfully entered their field of vision.”

Luka: “What a coincidence?”

Cullen’s expression grew solemn. “After the Demon King’s pilgrimage, all races are very tense.”

Luka’s eyes flickered upon hearing this.

Humans and demons had always maintained a fragile peace.

In the best years, the Demon King and the Saintess were together, which also had some implications of a political marriage. But after a long period of recuperation, it was clear that the increasingly powerful two races were thinking of rekindling war.

Cullen said, “The elves are accustomed to neutrality, the dwarves are suspicious and paranoid, and the beast race’s chieftain was killed by the Elf King a few years ago, so let’s not mention them… Among the various races, humans most want to win over the Dragon race.”

The rest was answered by a shadow guard:

“As a human, the City Lord has an inescapable duty to contribute. He specifically ordered the Guild Master to summon distributors from all over to find and re-edit and sell historical accounts of genuine cooperation between humans and dragons.”

The shadow guard finished in one breath: “When the two races meet, these historical materials will also be mixed in with gifts and presented together, to praise the friendship between humans and dragons and express our human race’s goodwill.”

Luka fell silent.

Cullen’s intent to demand an explanation was diverted by official business. He said, “If you can truly forge a friendship with the Dragon race, even a little, it will benefit you for life.”

He emphasized the most important thing: “However, no one can predict the Dragon race’s thoughts. At the auction, never rely on a preview booklet to get close to a dragon.”

The last sentence carried almost a hint of warning.

The young man in front of him seemed very fond of taking risky paths. This auction was entirely handled by the Rhine Merchant Guild, and he didn’t want any mistakes.

“Don’t worry,” Luka said with a smile, “On that day, I won’t see anyone.”

A few days passed in a flash.

During these days, Luka was almost entirely engrossed in writing.

The plot remained primarily soft and cute. The quill pen thought it had adapted, yet each time Luka managed to push its boundaries.

In the first chapter, Luka wrote: Black magic caused a ‘pouch’ to grow on the monster’s belly.

Now, this pouch came into use.

When he wrote about the originally strong and bloodthirsty monster putting the newly hatched little monster into its pouch and taking it out of the cave, the quill pen once again bled ink.

Luka was prepared; he was wearing an apron today while writing.

It was good to have money. Thanks to the peeping Tom, Dick, and Harry, he now had at least two new outfits.

The clothes here were very elaborate to wear. Even a simple corset vest had seven or eight metal buckles, and the chest was inlaid with beads connected by gold thread.

The one Luka was wearing now had wide, cinched sleeves that gave it a hint of laziness. Although he was somewhat slender, he still showed perfect body proportions accentuated by the new clothes.

Before the auction began, Luka didn’t see Cullen again. Only Shadow Seven came once in the interim, showing him a sample of the preview booklet.

“This booklet…”

Luka carefully admired it. “It looks even more expensive than my clothes.”

The preview chapter was only one chapter, with large text and a few illustrations in the middle. The sample booklet was palm-sized, but even the edges were inlaid with gold.

Shadow Seven: “Much more expensive.”

A faint resentment emanated from him, which Luka couldn’t ignore.

“You don’t seem very happy.”

Shadow Seven: “I was happy for half a day after breaking through, until I was shocked by the next day’s newspaper.” He sneered, “Now they’re all laughing at me.”

Luka told him to calm down: “The ones laughing at you should be the other six shadow guards. The newspaper didn’t name names, so who can be sure who it is?”

“Good point.” Shadow Seven stroked his chin. “I’ll make the first move and throw dirt on them.”

Then, his eyes suddenly sharpened. “How do you know there are six other shadow agents?”

Once an eighth-rank magician became serious, the air alone was so oppressive it made it hard to breathe.

Luka paused, then said, “Is it possible, because your name is Shadow Seven?”

Cullen didn’t seem to hide it, and Maya had also mentioned his name when Shadow Seven advanced.

Since there was a Shadow Seven, there should be others from one to six.

Shadow Seven froze, then finally said, “You are quite smart.”

No wonder the Guild Master regarded him differently.

Luka: “…”

That truly made him too smart.

The auction was held as scheduled.

The Rhine Merchant Guild sent out invitations in advance, along with information on the items to be auctioned. Anyone interested, customers from all directions, flocked to Boulder City these past two days.

For a time, the already prosperous Boulder City became even livelier.

The ancient monsters sleeping in the sky slightly opened their eyes, detecting information about abnormal individuals coming and going.

The auction was held at Flintwood Pavilion.

Long ago, two blood-colored giant stones flew from outer space, with incredibly high surface temperatures. Later, three legendary arch-mages combined their powers to converge magic patterns and suppress their surface temperature. They then built Boulder City on these blood-colored giant stones as foundations.

One of the arch-mages who acted at that time was from the Rhine family. He collected the scraps, re-drew magic patterns on a small portion, and built the Qizhen Pavilion.

Most of it was used for the construction of Flintwood Pavilion.

Compared to the Qizhen Pavilion, this place was more legendary and also embodied the majesty of Boulder City.

Luka listened to the quill pen’s popular science explanation and asked, puzzled, “What for?”

Expending great effort to suppress a stone and then manually build a city on it.

Quill pen: “Why is he a legendary arch-mage?”

Luka immediately understood. In short, it was about creating an incredible resume, expanding fame, and doing things ordinary people wouldn’t do.

He actually had a lot of experience in expanding fame himself.

“Are you, the Mr. Lu who was peeped at in the bathhouse?”

Suddenly, a sweet, naive voice came from behind.

A young girl wearing a magnificent corseted dress walked in. Her skirt was very puffy, and her hair was surprisingly pink. Either she had demon beast bloodline, or she had used advanced potions to dye it.

“I’ll give you a thousand gold if you show me your true face beneath the mask.”

The voice drew glances from those around. Their attention was completely drawn to the splendid girl, and no one bothered to think how she knew the young man was the protagonist of the recent public uproar.

Luka, wearing his green-faced ghost mask, calmly waved his hand.

A Flintwood Pavilion employee came to smooth things over and invited Luka upstairs.

“Then I’ll offer another thousand gold, just for a smile from you, how about it?”

This almost terrifying generosity drew gasps of admiration.

Unfortunately, Luka remained unmoved. He was already on the stairs, turning his head slightly. The young man and the girl looked at each other across the space.

“Sorry.” Beneath his clear, pleasant voice was a firm refusal.

Just then, someone sighed, “A thousand gold can’t buy a smile.”

For a moment, all the guests who had been focused on the auction suddenly developed immense interest in Luka. Some even thought of exploiting loopholes in the city’s rules to shatter his mask with magic, just to get a glimpse of his true face.

The elder responsible for reception outside sensed the surging magical elements and, with a polite yet warning smile, said, “Magic is forbidden during the auction.”

By virtue of his connections, Luka was in a private box alone.

Countless gazes followed his retreating figure upwards.

The door remained open. Luka sat quietly, watching one distinguished guest after another enter.

Before long, the first and second floors of the Qizhen Pavilion were full, and Luka remained a hot topic of discussion.

The first identity to be exposed was the girl’s: she was the only daughter of a high-level alchemist.

“No wonder she’s so rich.” Some villains who had planned to loot wealth upon leaving the city extinguished their thoughts. No one dared to easily antagonize an alchemist.

In reality, the girl was an “actor” hired by Luka. Few knew that she was also the president of the Stone Magazine Agency.

Luka had promised to exclusively provide his stories to their magazine agency for free, and the newspaper’s submissions were entirely handled by her.

As the president, the girl’s nose for gossip was much sharper than Cullen’s.

It wasn’t that Cullen had a narrow perspective, but rather that the Stone Magazine Agency itself was famous for its large-scale articles, earning a fortune in niche areas.

Quill pen: “She has half succubus blood.”

Luka genuinely couldn’t see any succubus feel about the girl.

To be honest, in a purely literal comparison, her face wasn’t as alluring as his own.

Quill pen: “You’re so shameless.”

Thick-skinned too.

Although it was true.

“…She took potions to neutralize her bloodline. Her family must have powerful elders. You could certainly try to befriend them.”

Luka smiled without speaking.

It seemed that days of interaction had indeed been useful; the quill pen occasionally offered unconscious pointers.

Suddenly, excited voices rang out from outside: “Here, Lulu, look here!”

Several people without invitations couldn’t get in and were desperately waving to Luka.

“Ah, he’s looking at me! I’m telling you, I saw him the day he entered the city, he’s truly beautiful!”

“World-shattering beauty!”

In reality, during the long line to enter the city, no one paid attention to anyone else except those immediately in front and behind them.

These few people were also “internet trolls” hired by Luka.

They were just waiting to help him gain fame at the auction.

Quill pen: “…”

Sometimes, it really wanted to stab this world with its pen.

Luka: “Everyone else is drunk, and you alone are sober. That feeling must not be easy, right?”

It sounded like mockery, but it felt like a very high-class insult, as if the quill pen was the most clear-headed.

The quill pen snorted coldly, thinking to itself that this kid was truly glib-tongued.

With only a short time left until the auction was about to begin, the truly prominent figures, those who maintained their status, gradually arrived.

Suddenly, the entire venue fell silent.

The atmosphere shifted very quickly. Luka quickly glanced down; the splendid girl below also swiftly shed her casual expression, moving silently into the shadows to conceal her presence.

In the pin-drop silence, the man who led the way in immediately saw the girl who was frantically trying to blend in.

He shook his head.

Although he turned a blind eye to his old friend’s daughter selling books about everything below the neck in the city, she clearly had a guilty conscience and was worried about being reported to her parents.

Upstairs, Luka was observing the few people walking in.

The leading man should be the City Lord. The appearance of humans on the continent was quite uniform; the City Lord also had flaxen hair and amber eyes, with sharp brows, exuding an aura of unspoken authority.

A guard followed closely behind him.

The City Lord walked in front, but as he stepped over the threshold, he deliberately delayed for half a beat, allowing another person’s foot to touch the ground first.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Luka sighed internally. Official circles were all about human relations.

The man who was given half a step… Luka’s throat moved. A pair of golden vertical pupils left a deep impression on him. It was precisely the dragon that had caused a hurricane in the city not long ago.

Today, the giant dragon appeared in its initial human form, without retracting its dragon horns, making people dare not look at it for long.

Compared to the City Lord, the giant dragon exuded not only pressure but also an extremely strong sense of detachment, even causing the guards to instinctively keep their distance from him.

Coming towards him was also an old acquaintance of Luka’s: Cullen stood behind the City Lord, dressed very formally today, with a shimmering ruby at his collar. When he saw the few people at the entrance holding signs that read “Luka, the most beautiful in the world; all roads lead to beauty,” his eyelids twitched violently.

He looked up, and his eyes met with the “beautiful Luka’s” eyes.

“Beautiful Luka” blinked.

With the mask on, those eyes became even more striking.

Cullen: “…”

As expected, not a single day was easy.

He made up his mind that in the future, he wouldn’t look for partners who had just reached adulthood.

The three most distinguished individuals took their seats in the exclusive VIP area, and a sporadic buzz of discussion filled the hall.

“It seems the giant dragon indeed had dealings with the City Lord before killing people in the city.”

“The rumors about us befriending the Dragon race recently aren’t groundless after all.”

These discussions, heard by the quill pen, could only be summarized in one sentence: “A bunch of idiots.”

Luka tapped his fingers on the table and said softly, “The Dragon race coming to the auction likely means there’s an item that attracts them.”

He quickly changed the subject: “However, whatever the item, it will be but a speck of light compared to my blood-written book.”

The quill pen instinctively asked, “Where did you get a blood-written book?”

“When I was writing, didn’t you spit a few times?” Luka said sorrowfully, “What you spat then was my heart’s blood!”

His work, into which he poured his dreams, actually made the readers throw up.

Compensation!

After turning everything upside down, Luka finally revealed his true intentions: “You were so powerful before, did you leave behind any treasure maps, or more practically, gold, silver, and jewels?”

“…”

The quill pen almost spat at him.

Anyway, with the mask on, Luka wasn’t afraid of being spat at.

The appearance of the auctioneer below completely interrupted all whispers.

The auctioneer looked under forty, with a small mustache, but was actually an eighth-rank magician.

To have an eighth-rank magician personally preside over the auction showed the grand scale of the Qizhen Pavilion. He first stood still and slightly looked up: “Welcome everyone to today’s auction.”

When his gaze reached the City Lord’s side, he bowed slightly from the waist, showing respect.

The next second, as he faced the audience again, his voice began to grow louder:

“No matter your race, no matter your status, I dare say that everyone here today will find an item they desire in this auction!”

As he spoke, even his own tone couldn’t help but reveal a hint of eagerness.

An eighth-rank magician had a broad perspective. For his emotions to show like this, it seemed there were truly good items.

Immediately, many people’s eyes gleamed, their anticipation reaching its peak.

The auction catalog had been sent to everyone’s table early, but the last item had no detailed description. Instead, its place was filled with an obscure colored block, making it incredibly mysterious, clearly meant to be the grand finale.

Luka watched in silence.

What were the auctioned items?

The gift was the real star.

The preview booklet given to the Dragon race was his only leverage for a future turnaround.

The quill pen felt Luka’s heartbeat quicken slightly more than usual. The latter was cautiously peeking in the direction of the Dragon race, his lips moving slightly.

The quill pen read his lip movements:

“Hatch, my fans!”