'Hmm, her attributes are pretty normal. But the question marks, though.'
Suddenly, Abium thought of something and asked Camilla.
"How did you get caught by slave traders? I heard that fairies can transform into humans, right?"
At that moment, Helena also looked at Camilla and asked.
"Why did you even run away from our house? It's not the first time you got scolded by our mom and dad, right?"
As Camilla heard those words, she looked anxious and spoke in stutters.
"I-I got angry. B-But it's all Martha's fault, sister. She is the one who told me to experience real freedom and even showed me many places. But during our adventure, she one day brought some humans to our rented room and asked me to transform into my true form. But when I transformed into my true form, I started to feel dizzy and went unconscious. Before I knew it, I found myself in a cage."
At that moment, Helena showed a surprised look and nodded her head in understanding.
"No wonder I felt something was off when we asked her about your whereabouts. She told us that she went to a northern empire for getting a merchant license and also lied to us about your whereabouts. So, she is the real culprit, huh. Don't worry, Camilla. I will deal with her later." A cold glint appeared in Helena's eyes.
Meanwhile, Baron Auguinare returned his gaze towards Abium and asked.
"What are you planning to do next, young man?"
"I haven't thought much of it yet, My Lord." He deliberated for a moment and added.
"But I do like to join the Kaummiths Academy if an opportunity arises."
As Baron was about to give him some advice, a knocking sound came from outside.
"Lady Tabitha asked me to bring you to the appraisal room, Mage Abium." A familiar voice came from outside.
It was none other than the Appraiser Tobin!
"Go ahead and finish the transaction process. We'll wait here." Baron said calmly.
"Thank you, My Lord." Abium bowed his head before standing up and walking towards the wooden door.
Soon, he opened the door from inside and walked out of the guest room.
He met with Tobin outside the guest room, and both moved towards the appraisal room.
Two minutes later, they arrived near the Appraisal room and went inside.
Meanwhile, Tobin moved ahead towards the front table and said while bowing his head.
"Mage Abium is here, Chief."
At that moment, Tabitha sat on the desk chair and seemed to be writing something.
Noticing their arrival, she paused her hand, put the quill next to the ink bottle, and turned her gaze towards Abium.
After that, she pointed her hand towards the wooden chair placed on the table's other side and spoke.
"Please have a seat, Mage Abium."
Abium nodded and sat down without saying a word.
On the other hand, Tabitha pulled the table drawer, took a wooden box filled with white crystalline cards, and placed it on the table.
Following that, she wore a polite smile and spoke.
"Mage Abium, your two crystals sold for 33,500 white gold coins. After deducting the initial payment and 1050 white gold coins for taxes, you will get 30,450 white gold coins. You can withdraw the amount in any merchant guild."
While speaking, she took 30 crystalline cards from the wooden box and handed them over to Abium.
'Each crystal card is worth 1000 white gold coins. I heard of these crystal cards but have never seen them upfront.'
He quickly took those crystal cards from Tabitha's hand and stored them in his space ring.
In truth, he never expected that he would earn so much money in just a few hours and was still shocked inside.
'I wonder how much I will get if I auction all the elemental crystals. No, that would be the stupidest idea.' After all, he knew how dangerous this world was and decided not to even think of selling them.
As for the current transaction, Abium didn't think Tabitha would reveal it to outsiders.
'Maybe mages? But that's what I want. I want a Second-Tier Mage to take notice of me and pick me as his disciple.' In truth, that was the only way for Abium to get into the Academy.
Otherwise, he would remain as a roaming mage and wouldn't get any benefit from the royal family or nobles.
While he was in muse, Tabitha took out a small golden ring with a flower symbol on the front and gave it to him.
"Mage Abium, we only give this ring to VIPs but you already earned the qualification. If you have anything good like Nether Crystal, don't forget to auction it at our Orchid auction house." She added with the same polite smile.
'Oh? She believes that I have more elemental crystals, huh? Not bad.'
Concealing his facial expression, Abium extended his hand and caught the golden ring from her hand.
At that moment, Tobin moved towards the nearby black cupboard and took out a small wooden box.
After that, he opened the wooden box, took out some white gold coins from it, and gave the rest along with the wooden box to Abium.
"This is the remaining 450 white gold coins, Mage Abium," Tobin added.
Meanwhile, Abium stood up from his seat, caught the box, and stored it inside his space ring.
"Then, I'll take my leave, Lady Tabitha. If you want to contact me again, please send a word to Baron Auguinare."
Saying so, he turned around and quietly left the appraisal room.
As Tabitha watched him leave, she couldn't help but smile. She then calmly turned her gaze towards Tobin and spoke.
"It seems he never attended any auction in the past. What do you think of him?"
"It's difficult to say in a few words, Chief. But he has so many mysteries." Tobin said with a solemn tone.
"Hmm, I thought so too. Anyway, we should focus on increasing the Auction's security next." Tabitha quickly shifted the topic and started talking about various issues.
…
In the meantime, Abium returned to the guest room and regrouped with others. Then, they moved away from the guest room and returned to the reception hall. Although many nobles and merchants noticed their arrival, none cared much about their presence.
Most nobles moved towards the nearby carriage house and left the Orchid Auction House in a hurry. Only a few remained standing at the entrance and seemed to be in the middle of discussing.
Their main topic was, of course, the necromancers!
Baron Auguinare turned his gaze towards his disciples as the group walked out of the main building and spoke.
"You two go and bring our carriage. We will wait outside the compound gate."
"Yes, Teacher." Both of them nodded their heads and hurriedly walked towards the carriage house.
On the other hand, Baron Auguinare took a step forward and started walking towards the compound gate.
Before long, Baron and others arrived outside the Auction House and stood on the roadside.
At that moment, A loud male voice came from their right side, causing Abium and others to turn around and look at their right side in surprise.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
Abium saw an old man, around 70 to 80 years old, standing right next to the entrance gate and looking at them with a grin. He had long silver hair, a wrinkled square face, deep-set blue eyes, and appeared around 175 cm high. He wore a red silk-lined shirt and white pants and even held a cane in his left hand.
He was none other than Count Tibal!
He stood alone near the gatekeeper and stared at Abium and others with a mocking grin.
Noticing their stares, he controlled his inner emotions and thought of how to get the fairy.
'If not for that mage, I might have already put my plans into action. Tsk.' He clicked his tongue in annoyance and gripped his cane tighter.
Meanwhile, Abium knew what Count Tibal was thinking in his head and pondered.
'If the vision I saw in Undead Plane is true, things will become messy sooner. Well, I'm also waiting for an opportunity like this anyway. It's time to attract some attention.'
He curled his lips upward, moved closer to Helena, and spoke lowly.
"Go and make this place more chaotic."
Upon hearing his words, Helena got stunned inside and asked in a hurry.
"Do you want me to offend that Noble? Are you out of your mind? Even speaking against a noble in public will get me hanged!"
Meanwhile, Abium chuckled and shook his head.
"Trust me, I've my own plans."
Although Helena felt something was not right, she decided to trust his words and nodded her head.
She quietly turned her gaze towards Camilla and spoke calmly.
"Wait here."
Then, she took a step forward and started walking toward Count Tibal.
Her action surprised everyone, including Baron Auguinare and Count Tibal.
At that moment, Count Tibal showed a confused look and soon frowned as he saw her looking right into his eyes.
A bad omen appeared in his heart.
'Maybe she is planning to give me that fairy?' Such thought appeared in his mind.
But reality played a cruel joke on him. As Helena arrived much closer to Count Tibal, she suddenly raised her hand and gave him a tight slap on his cheek!
A loud slapping sound echoed everywhere, causing the nearby soldiers, merchants, nobles, and even the apprentice to freeze in shock.
The surroundings went silent.
"F*ck!" Baron Auguinare was the first to wake up from the shock and cursed loudly.
In the meantime, Abium smirked inwardly and muttered.
"Good job!"
On the other hand, Count Tibal danced in the air and fell due to his weak body.
Before Count could understand the situation, Helena looked at him with a disgusted face and roared.
"Old pervert! Why are you looking at my sister like that? If not for your noble title, I would've butchered you."
Shocked by her words, Count Tibal hurriedly crawled backward and asked with fuming rage.
"W-What? Y-You dare to slap a noble?"
He was a Noble of the Peral kingdom and served the king for nearly 50 years, but no one disrespected him like this in his entire lifetime.
He quickly rubbed his cheek and noticed that all nobles, merchants, and even some commoners watched him from all directions!
Within a second, his face turned scarlet red.
He felt humiliated for the first time and tried to order his soldiers to kill her but couldn't utter a word.
At that moment, he felt something hit his chest and went pale.
In the meantime, Helena gave a kick on his chest, turned around, and started walking.
Silence!
An eerie silence appeared at the entrance!