Translator: SumTLMan
With neatly cut red hair, a strange smiling mask, and a dashing leather coat.
Eliza of the Storm Valley.
Not long ago, Angel had crafted the counterfeit “Scarlet Sovereignty” and given it to her, not expecting to see her today in the appraisal room of the Sky Auction.
Eliza was walking out of an appraisal room specifically serving formal wizards, followed by an old man dressed in a silver wizard’s robe.
“Ghostface, are you really not considering putting it up for auction this time? I guarantee that as long as you put it up, it will definitely become the finale of this auction.” The old man was trying to persuade her, his robe painted with gear-like patterns, each movement seemingly making the gears roll.
“Don’t follow me, I said I won’t sell it,” Eliza interrupted the old man irritably.
“But…”
“No more buts. Those two items aren’t a set, and their prices aren’t linked. Stop following me!” Eliza turned around and snapped, making the old man, who wanted to continue talking, finally shut up, embarrassedly returning to the appraisal room and closing the door.
Their conversation wasn’t covered by any magical concealment, so everyone around them heard it. Judging from the conversation, Angel guessed that the old man wanted Eliza to put up some treasure for auction, but Eliza refused.
As for what treasure could make the old man in the appraisal room say it could “definitely be the finale,” Angel had no intention of probing. In fact, the moment Angel saw Eliza, he turned away.
He didn’t want to get involved with Eliza again.
Not to mention how awkward it was for him to craft the “Scarlet Sovereignty” for her, but the secret treasure involved too many relationships, even Sanders told him not to get involved, so Angel’s first reaction upon seeing Eliza was to turn around and leave.
But Angel’s actions, no matter how fast, couldn’t outpace Eliza’s glance.
“Huh, isn’t that Angel?”
Before Angel could react, Eliza appeared beside him: “E… Eliza.”
“I’ve been looking for you these past few days, and I didn’t expect to meet you here.” Eliza’s voice came from behind the mask: “I went to the Blooming Manor to find you, Sanders said you’ve been secluded in alchemy. I guess you’re refining alchemy for this auction, right?”
Angel nodded: “I crafted some small trinkets not worth mentioning, wanting to exchange them for some magic crystals to spend.”
Eliza simply wanted to start a conversation and didn’t probe into what Angel had crafted. Instead, she continued: “I happen to have something to ask you, so why don’t we go somewhere else to talk?”
Angel quickly shook his head: “Mentor asked me to return to the manor before nightfall, and it’s already getting dark. If you have something to ask, why not say it here?”
Eliza furrowed her brow, unsure if Angel was telling the truth, but since Angel had already brought up Sanders’ name, she couldn’t directly take him prisoner. She could only nod and say: “Alright, listen closely…”
Eliza’s lips moved slightly, and a series of sounds were directly imprinted on Angel’s heart.
As Eliza recounted, Angel’s expression grew stranger and stranger until finally, he shook his head at Eliza: “It’s impossible. I can’t craft it anymore, please seek someone more skilled.”
“But I heard you’ve already reached that realm, haven’t you?”
“Lady Eliza, that was just an accident. It was mainly the thousands of years of accumulation in Black Castle that allowed me to accidentally reach that level. It is absolutely impossible for me to do it again.” Angel said sternly: “Mysterious things are not to be trifled with.”
Eliza seemed to understand but eventually sighed: “Alright, it seems I can only continue to deal with King Guman…”
Angel pretended not to hear anything and didn’t want to listen.
Since he had already said he couldn’t do it, Eliza didn’t make things difficult for Angel and let him leave.
However, watching Angel’s shadow disappear into the dimly lit area, Eliza couldn’t help but sigh. She had already thought of a way to deceive King Guman, but it seemed that Angel’s path was no longer an option.
But she had no choice, in such a large mechanical city, it seemed that there was no one else who had reached the mysterious realm apart from Angel.
“Brother…” With a sigh, Eliza shook her head and disappeared into the night.
On his way back, Angel was still relieved that he hadn’t gotten too involved in the “treasure”. As for Eliza’s final request, Angel didn’t even think about it and completely discarded it, because with his current abilities, it was absolutely impossible.
After all, Eliza’s request was basically for Angel to craft another Mysterious Object.
However, if mysterious items could be crafted so easily, would they still be worthy of the word “mysterious”?
Returning to the Blooming Manor, the night was deep. The fatigue from not sleeping for several days hit Angel like a bombardment. He originally intended to find Gloria and ask her what kind of illusion she wanted. But he was too sleepy, and as soon as Angel returned to his room, he was sealed in bed, unable to wake up. In the blink of an eye, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
When Angel woke up, he was still in a daze.
If it weren’t for Sanders reminding him that the auction was about to begin, he might have continued to lie in bed for a long time.
Quickly taking care of his personal hygiene and changing into a close-fitting gentleman’s suit, Angel finally left his room.
At the door, a tall horse and black carriage were ready, waiting for the two to get on and then slowly heading towards the Sky Auction.
After boarding the carriage, Angel saw Sanders inside with his eyes closed, and the first question he asked was: “Why are we taking a carriage?”
Wouldn’t walking or flying be faster than a carriage?
Sanders glanced at him faintly, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
Angel understood: “A sense of ceremony.”
After all, it was an auction event, and as a wizard who prided himself on his noble demeanor, Angel had to maintain a sense of ceremony when participating in any social activity, or at least go through the motions… To put it bluntly, he had to put on a full show.
That’s how Angel silently accompanied Sanders in putting on this act.
He thought that when they arrived at Sky Auction in a carriage, it would be especially awkward, given that so many people would be watching. But later, he realized that he was overthinking it.
At most, Sanders was only maintaining his “noble lord” image, while many wizards didn’t even bother with that.
There was no shortage of strange characters among wizards.
Angel saw one wizard holding an orange tree, insisting on entering the venue. The orange tree was two meters wide and ten meters tall, laden with fruit.
In the end, the guard wizard at the entrance didn’t stop him after checking his information.
Besides, there were many people who came to the auction in carriages, and the tall carriage that Sanders chose was actually one of the more low-key options among the group.
There were even those who arrived in carriages pulled by eagles, which looked far more impressive than their horse-drawn carriage.
Angel had initially thought that this ceremonial act was a bit embarrassing, but now he suddenly felt that Sanders was indeed a low-key person.
The auction began amidst this rollercoaster of emotions.
As with the previous Twilight Auction, it was impossible for someone of Sanders’ status not to have a VIP box.
This time, Angel joined Sanders in the VIP box on the third floor, box number 012. Although the number was towards the end, the view was actually the best among all the boxes, facing the auction stage on the first floor directly.
A series of auction items passed by quickly, accompanied by the flashing lights and the auctioneer’s introduction.
The first few auction items were things like sets of potions, and although the prices were high, there wasn’t much to say about them. They were purely based on quantity.
The only thing worth mentioning was that the auctioneer hosting this auction was not unfamiliar to Angel.
She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a silver-white tight uniform, with her hair pulled up high and a serious expression on her face.
“Mentor, why is she here?” Angel looked at the figure on the stage with curiosity in his eyes.
“She is from Sky Mechanical City herself, so it’s not surprising that she’s here.” Sanders paused and smiled: “She probably couldn’t get what she wanted in the Savage Grottoes, so she had to return to Sky Mechanical City.”
“Couldn’t get what she wanted?” Angel didn’t know what Sanders was referring to.
“Do you think the daughter of the Beast King would go to the Savage Grottoes without a purpose? Just to stay in the small Sky Tower as a regional manager?” Sanders spoke bluntly. There was no need to explain these things to Angel initially, but Angel’s progress was so rapid that he estimated it wouldn’t be long before Angel could enter the core circle of the Savage Grottoes, and he would learn about these things sooner or later.
“The daughter of the Beast King?” Angel muttered these words, and it took him a while to react: “Mentor, are you saying that Lady Melanctha is the daughter of the Mechanical Beast King?”
Sanders nodded: “Exactly.”
The auctioneer on stage was Melanctha, who had been in charge of Sky Tower in the Savage Grottoes. Angel initially had a good impression of her, but after the parasitic incident, her impression of Melanctha and Baroque plummeted.
Angel envisioned Rosen’s face in his mind and then looked at Melanctha’s appearance.
Angel had never thought that these two would be father and daughter. Apart from their cold expressions, they didn’t resemble each other at all. Even the coldness of their expressions had a significant difference; Rosen was pure icy cold, while Melanctha was stern and serious coldness.
“Melanctha’s return to Mechanical City is probably for that path. Unfortunately, Rosen can’t help much with that.” Sanders said indifferently.
“That path?” Angel was puzzled for a moment, and then suddenly realized: “Do you mean the Path of True Knowledge?”
“Exactly. She’s overthinking it, which prevents her from taking this path.” Sanders paused: “Just like Flora.”
Was the reason Flora didn’t step onto the Path of True Knowledge that she overthought things? But, what does overthinking mean?
When Angel asked this question, Sanders chuckled: “You’re overthinking it right now.”
The topic ended there because Angel noticed that the butterfly heart necklace he had put up for auction was placed on the auction stage.