Chapter 444: Chapter 444
Miss Stuart listened as her friends chatted casually about great and powerful figures, all the while continuing her internal assessment of the two.
In her eyes, Mr. Pollo had become even more mysterious. He had no past, his present was untraceable, and his future was impossible to predict. He was a great enigma in himself. Even the servants placed in this grand residence couldn't figure out how he arrived each time.
This strange man claimed to be twenty-one, but he looked remarkably young. He was just as well-spoken, an intelligent and quick-witted person on par with Miss Miller. He also possessed a peculiar aura—he seemed to belong, yet at the same time, felt completely out of place with everything...
Chocolate glanced at Her Highness the Princess, but quickly lost interest.
"But Mr. Pollo seems to know a little about everything," she mused. "The last time I was instructing him on etiquette, his insights on the monetary system were more profound than my father's own advisors."
Thinking of this, she stole a glance at 'Mr. Pollo,' who was still deep in conversation with Miss Miller about arcane mysteries.
"A worthy friend of Mr. Williams, indeed. If it were possible, I believe Mr. Williams would make the best Chancellor of the Exchequer. His mathematics... oh, and I heard Mr. Williams also won the Ritter Prize in the Fidektri Kingdom. I'll be able to see his picture in the newspapers soon. If he's even half as handsome as Mr. Pollo, he would be a nearly perfect gentleman."
At that thought, she felt her cheeks flush and quickly picked up her spoon to take a careful sip.
She understood perfectly well that Miss Miller and Mr. Pollo's levels were far above her own. With their vast knowledge, exceptional abilities, and striking appearances, they were the very picture of "mysterious Enchanters" in Miss Stuart's mind.
Miss Miller's soul was like a dense array of numbers, seemingly complex but fundamentally pure. Mr. Pollo's soul, on the other hand, was a placid lake, its surface the purest of colors, signifying a man of simple yet determined purpose.
"Perhaps I should be the first to reveal my identity."
She thought to herself, and when she looked up again, she found that the adorable cat belonging to Mr. Pollo was watching her with a strangely meaningful gaze.
After lunch, the four of them left the city together, only to walk back in from a different direction. Miss Stuart provided each of them with a mask to conceal their identities.
The illegal auction was held in a large factory on the west side of Ruen. The plant, one of several steamworks that supplied the city with heating, covered a vast area, giving illicit actors an opportunity to slip in.
Following the information they had, the four of them cautiously slipped over a railing. By the time they entered the designated workshop, several dozen people were already scattered about.
The workshop served as a warehouse, piled high with spare parts for repairing steam boilers. A man in a black cloak and boots stood in the corner on the body of a decommissioned boiler, a small briefcase in his hand.
He was today's auctioneer, and the briefcase held the item up for sale.
The four had entered one by one and stood far apart. Their heavy overcoats made it easy for Chocolate to hide inside Jenkins's. After choosing his spot, Jenkins quietly observed everyone present, only to make a surprising discovery: most of the people there were ordinary humans, and the briefcase supposedly containing the auctioned item emitted no spiritual glow.
"Have my eyes gone bad? Can that briefcase actually block my sight?"
He wondered in astonishment.
But the situation was even more absurd than he had imagined. When the auction officially began and the copper ring was taken out of the briefcase and displayed, Jenkins still saw no spiritual glow.
A second after wondering if there was something wrong with his eyes, he realized it wasn't a supernatural item at all.
According to the man, who called himself Mr. Oswiki, the copper ring he held was made of a special, flexible metal. When an Enchanter infused it with spirit, they could freely control the ring's size.
In front of everyone, he slipped the copper ring over a handle on the side of the steam boiler. As the ring steadily contracted, the iron furnace handle was sheared clean off with a sound that set everyone's teeth on edge.
Mr. Oswiki also "randomly" selected a few Enchanters from the participants to test it, all with the expected results.
Throughout the entire process, however, Jenkins only saw the light from Mr. Oswiki's own ability glowing.
"One con man, three shills, and the rest are all ordinary people..."
It was the first time he had encountered such a thing. As it stood, aside from the three people who had come with Miss Stuart, every other participant was part of the scam. Content orıginally comes from novel⟡fire.net
It was certainly a novel way to run a scam. To lure Miss Stuart into this trap, Oswiki must have put in a great deal of effort.
Thinking this, he looked over at Miss Miller, who was standing on a steel beam not far away. She gave Jenkins a slight nod, indicating she had also realized something was wrong.
"Excuse me, I have a few questions!"
Jenkins suddenly called out.
Oswiki carefully placed the copper ring back into the briefcase before allowing Jenkins to ask his question.
"If you don't mind me asking, is the origin of this item legitimate? None of us want to get into trouble, so I hope it isn't stolen goods."
"Rest assured, sir. A friend of mine obtained this during a venture into a Mysterious Realm last spring. He recently decided to move to the warmer Fidektri Kingdom and entrusted me to auction it off to raise funds for his relocation."
"So, you're saying the Churches have no record of this item?"
He continued to press.
"That's correct, sir. Of that, there is no doubt."
Jenkins nodded. Seeing that Miss Miller had already begun casting a spell, he knew he needed to stall for more time.
"Please forgive my earlier curiosity, but this is a significant transaction, after all. Mr. Oswiki, how do you intend to conduct the sale? Barter, or a direct cash exchange? Would you accept foreign currency? I only arrived here from the Fidektri Kingdom in the latter half of the year, so I still have some Gold Pounds on me. If your friend intends to live there, I imagine he'll certainly have a need for them."
"Of course. I accept the currencies of all three major kingdoms."
A faint smile touched his lips, likely because he thought the deal was about to succeed. Miss Stuart, however, was now thoroughly confused. She couldn't understand why Mr. Pollo was asking these questions, since they had already discussed the transaction process on their way here.