"This is a contract pledged as collateral for a debt by a professor of the Morvael Academy. The terms are, of course, concealed. The starting price is one thousand gold coins."
I thought I remembered this from the novel, and that was precisely why I wanted this contract. It was not only the contents of the agreement that I knew, but also the identity of the professor who had issued it.
However, it quickly became apparent that I would not be able to secure this auction item cheaply. Judging from the looks around me, many people wanted this contract. After all, being an academy professor was one of the most prestigious titles in this world.
A contract offered by a professor in exchange for debt could be priceless, or it could be worthless. At least, that was probably how most people here saw it. Even in the worst case, simply having dealings with a Morvael professor was a blessing even for those who were not students.
Before the old man's words could fade from the hall, the bidding panels lit up again.
The first bid came cautiously. Then another. The numbers rose steadily and decisively. It was a sign that everyone was thinking the same thing. No one rushed, no one tried to intimidate. This was not an item to panic over. It was not an object. A wrong move, a wrong intention, a wrong owner could all lead to irreversible consequences.
As for me, I remained calm.
Because I knew what this contract was not.
It was not a transfer of power. It was not a favoritism agreement. Nor was it a blood-written, soul-sealed contract of enslavement. For a Morvael Academy professor to attempt something like that would have been impossible. The Academy was arrogant enough to protect its own faculty from such binding constraints.
The bids passed fifteen hundred. Two thousand. Two thousand five hundred.
At one end of the VIP boxes, someone seemed particularly eager. Almost every bid was answered immediately. That indicated fear of the contract's potential rather than knowledge of its contents. No one wanted it to fall into a rival's hands.
I continued to wait.
Three thousand.
A brief silence followed. Some hesitated. Others shifted into more comfortable positions. This was the threshold. Beyond this point, bidders were no longer merely curious. They were people with concrete plans.
Four thousand.
My eyes narrowed involuntarily. That figure had already exceeded the contract's material value. But in VIP auctions, material value was never the true metric. What was being purchased here was future possibility.
Five thousand.
That bid came from directly in front of me. Calm, precise. Its owner did not wish to drag this out.
At that moment, I raised my panel.
"Six thousand."
A subtle ripple ran through the hall. This was my first bid. Several gazes shifted toward my side, but the masks revealed nothing.
The response was immediate.
"Six thousand five hundred."
Someone was testing me, trying to gauge my level of commitment.
"Seven thousand," I said.
This time, the pause was longer.
In one corner of the VIP section, someone lowered their hand. On the other side, someone placed their panel on the table. But it was not over yet. The owner of the five-thousand bid had not withdrawn.
"Seven thousand five hundred."
At this point, I was expected to back down. That would have been the rational choice. Before even reaching the Academy, tying up this much gold in a single piece of paper would normally be considered madness.
But I was not being reckless.
I was making an investment.
"Eight thousand."
The old man lifted his head slightly. For the first time, I saw a reaction from him. He had not expected the contract to climb this high. Or perhaps he had, and was simply curious about who was responsible.
No sound came from the opposing box.
The silence stretched on. Far too long.
Finally, the bell rang.
"Sold," the old man said. "For eight thousand gold coins."
An attendant handed me the contract inside a sealed case. The moment I took it, I felt a faint fluctuation of mana from within. It was not active. It issued no warning. But it was not entirely inert either.
Then, with everyone watching, I opened a portal and placed the box into my storage space without hesitation. Even behind their masks, people's surprise was evident. Directly magical storage spaces were rare in this world and usually the domain of high-tier mages.
Normally, such storage was obtained through rings, small pouches, or rune stones, all of which were extremely expensive. In my case, however, storing my belongings through a portal was both startling and, most likely, irritating to onlookers.
Because no one could steal anything from a storage space that could only be accessed through a portal opened with my consent. If rings or pouches were stolen, everything inside them could be taken as well. In my case, that was impossible.
That was precisely why I deliberately opened the portal in full view of everyone. I hoped that once we left this place, no one would bother following me.
When the portal closed, the atmosphere in the hall visibly changed.
No one spoke. They could not. VIP auctions had an unwritten rule: you note what you see and swallow what you feel. Showing a reaction was weakness.
Even so, weakness could be sensed, even behind masks.
A few people tilted their heads slightly. Some shifted in their seats. The gazes that had just moments ago been weighing the contract's contents, returns, and risks were now weighing me. It was not that I had bought the contract, but how I had stored it, that drew attention.
That was good.
Because the wrong kind of attention created the right kind of deterrence.
Most of the people here would now continue the auction assuming that a high-level mage was present among them.
And so the auction continued. This time, a small girl bearing a slave mark was brought onto the stage. It was obvious from her age that she was not an adult, but in this world, adulthood was largely irrelevant. I was no paragon of virtue, and my funds were not unlimited, so I had no intention of involving myself.
Now that I thought about it, my storage space was already nearly half full with the coins I had taken from the goblin cave. Perhaps I could be a little more aggressive with the next items. I was not certain how much gold I had, since I had not counted it, but it was probably somewhere between fifty and a hundred thousand coins. That included copper, iron, and silver coins as well.
Fifty thousand or a hundred thousand. Either was more than sufficient before entering the Academy.
After the girl on stage was sold, the hall briefly returned to its routine. People relaxed again. Some deliberately looked away, while others pretended to be uninterested as they surveyed their surroundings. For me, this was merely an interlude. The real matters were not yet finished.
As the next item was brought onto the stage, there was a subtle shift in the old man's tone. Most people would not have noticed it, but it was clear enough to me.
"This item," he said, "is not something everyone needs. But when you do need it, nothing else can replace it."
What was placed on the platform looked at first like a potion. Then the old man explained what it was, and several men, particularly those I assumed to be older, became visibly excited.
"This potion will make your sexual organ function again as if it belonged to a young man. It has been tested, and its effectiveness is guaranteed."
The reaction in the hall was different from the one caused by the contract. This time, the disturbance was not silent. It was unashamed.
Throats were cleared in several boxes. Heads dipped slightly behind masks. In a few sections where women were seated, visible discomfort appeared. Some averted their gaze, others stared at the stage with open disdain. Potions like this made no difference in war or magic. But in a world obsessed with status, they were still in demand. Those who could not accept the loss of their power tried to compensate for it with gold.
For me, it was a trivial item. I already had a plan to obtain a perfect body in the near future, and that included that particular area as well.
Still, watching this would be entertaining.
I only wished I had some popcorn.