25 Auction House

"Yawn... Even though I'm still physically fine for someone my age, I'm starting to find it hard to get up this early in the morning."

It was already six o'clock in the morning and as it was early summer the first rays of the sun were already peeking over the horizon slightly illuminating the city sky.

Oscar was walking leisurely through the cobblestone streets of the city's residential district and following his usual routine for the day, he had woken up early to open his store at seven in the morning.

Although the hair on his head was now completely white, Oscar was still working as energetically as the day he opened his store 35 years ago.

Back then, Oscar was still an inexperienced and naïve young man who, after saving for more than ten years as a tailor's apprentice, had finally managed to open his own store in the city's commercial district.

In the beginning, Oscar had made many mistakes and almost lost his store. But through hard work and effort, he had managed to pull through.

Today, while Oscar's store was not the best in town, it did have a certain amount of reputation and affection among local shoppers. But that was good enough for him.

Oscar walked for a couple more minutes, turned a corner, and finally came to a small store. On the wooden sign, which hung above the door, one could read the words [Oscar Batier's Tailoring and Accessories Shop.] carved and written in perfect Renmani.

On the right side of the store, there was a glass display case, in which some suits, dresses, and other products of the store could be seen.

Oscar reached into his pockets, pulled out a bunch of keys, and headed for the store door. But just as he was about to open it...

"Huh?"

Oscar noticed that the wooden door was not only ajar, but the door frame, as well as the hinges and doorknob, were broken. Seeing this, he immediately pushed the door open and went inside.

The entire store was upside down. Sample fabrics and various pieces of clothing were lying on the floor and some of the glass display cases were broken.

Realizing that someone had robbed him, Oscar immediately went behind the counter, bent down, moved a couple of loose floorboards, and looked in the gap underneath.

When he saw that all the money bags were inside, Oscar breathed a sigh of relief and checked the drawer where he kept the rest of the money. When he opened it, he noticed that not even a copper Rael¹ was missing.

'They just stole the clothes?' Oscar was puzzled. Although normally the security in the shopping district was good, thefts still tended to happen and his store had been no exception. However, this was the first time someone had only stolen clothes and not money.

'Hm?.... What is this?'

Once he calmed down, Oscar had finally noticed the bundle of cloth that someone had left on the counter. On it was a piece of old paper that had an inscription on it.

Oscar took the note and began to read it aloud. "To whom it may concern: Broke your door and other things. Needed clothes urgently. I think this will be enough to cover the damage and the things I take."

After reading the note, Oscar unwrapped the cloth package and when he saw what it contained, his eyes widened like saucers.

The package was filled with gems such as emeralds, rubies, and a few common diamonds. Enough to make up for the damage to the store and maybe more.

****

'Hmm... Did I go overboard with the damage money?' Marcus wondered as he recalled the events that had taken place a few hours ago.

After infiltrating the city, Marcus had gotten his hands on some clothes and although he could have stolen them, he pondered a bit before deciding.

As someone who had lived with a lousy quality of life, Marcus knew what it was like to work to try to live from day to day and have someone else take the fruits of his labor without having made the slightest effort.

So after appealing to his last ounce of conscience and human compassion, he decided to drop off some valuable gems to make up for the damage and then left the store. But he was beginning to regret it.

'I have to abandon that thought. I am no longer on earth, I am in another world where there are other rules and I am no longer human. The standards no longer apply to me!' He said to himself.

At that moment, Marcus defined what would be his new line of thinking and decided that if necessary he would stain his hands with blood, no regrets, no looking back. All for survival.

But the changes that occurred in his mind were not visible on the outside as he walked through the streets of the technical district of the city, observing the houses and buildings which were made of rock, bricks, and wood. The whole city had a typical 13th-century European style, although it seemed a bit more modern than that.

It was seven o'clock in the morning, the sun's rays were already illuminating the sky and the cobblestone streets were crowded with people getting ready for another day of work.

But for some reason, every time someone saw Marcus, they hurried to let him pass and bowed as if he were someone important. This had already happened several times in the last hour and even the district guards treated him like a noble!

'Mmm... This is starting to get uncomfortable. But why this reaction? Even if I have a mask on, I thought I chose a normal set of clothes.'

Marcus was dressed in a pair of brown leather boots and gloves, pants, and a long-sleeved black gambeson, along with a black cloak covering his skeletal nape.

He was also wearing an all-black mask that had no holes but had a minor enchantment which gave the wearer a full panoramic view. This had been the most expensive item in the store with a value of 5 gold Raels¹.

After having "bought" some clothes, Marcus had spent the last five hours gathering information and familiarizing himself with the structure of the city.

The port city of Neima had a population of approximately 200,000 and was divided into multiple districts or special zones.

The city was guarded by huge rock walls 6 meters(20ft) high. Outside the walls, the city was surrounded by houses and farms, which were intended for the agricultural industry.

Inside the walls, the city was divided into five districts, not counting the pier and the two warehouse areas, which were located in the northern area of the city.

In the northeastern area were the slums, as well as the headquarters of multiple local gangs and some illegal businesses such as the city's black market. To the southeast was the residential district, which housed the majority of the inhabitants.

The commercial district was located in the center of the city and was mainly occupied by street merchants, artisans, and other types of businesses such as bars and restaurants. The noble district was located in the northwestern part of the city and was home to all the wealthy and powerful people of the city.

The technical district, where Marcus was currently located, was situated in the southwestern part of the city and was considered to be the economic center of the city.

This district was home to most of the branches of large mercantile companies, schools, high-class businesses, as well as the headquarters of the syndicate and the city's main mercenary and adventurer clans.

The reason Marcus was here was very simple. He needed money.

As undead, Marcus didn't need to eat, sleep, or any of the other basic needs of living beings. But, since he planned to stay in the city for quite some time, he needed a place to stay, and that required money.

Fortunately, Marcus had looted the treasury of the subway facility, so even after spending a lot of money on buying clothes, he still had a good amount of financial funds.

There was also the option of selling the Rehi crystals he had obtained by killing monsters the last two months he had spent in the jungle. But since Marcus still didn't have much information on these, he decided to sell only treasury items.

A few minutes later, Marcus stopped in front of an impressive building, the facade of which was covered with white marble and had large burnished bronze doors guarded by two pairs of guards in enchanted armor on either side of it.

On the entrance could be read the words [T.M.S Company's Auction and Pawn Shop].

When the guards on either side of the door saw Marcus, they bowed and let him pass as if he were a regular customer of the place.

Behind the huge doors was a foyer, which connected to a long black and white marble hall, with tall columns, crystal chandeliers on the ceiling, and over 50 people sitting on stools behind long wooden desks on both sides of the hall. On the walls of the hall, there were multiple bronze doors over 2 meters(6.5ft) high.

At the end of the long marble hall, there was a large line of people waiting to be served by a white-bearded old man with a monocle, who stood behind a tall black wooden desk.

'Wow... This looks just like the *ringotts bank from the movie!' Marcus was impressed by the architecture of the place. In his past life, he had only seen such buildings in movies and tv series or internet images.

Once he had finished admiring the architecture of the place and following common sense, Marcus stood at the end of the line and waited for his turn. But not even two minutes had passed, when one of the employees of the place, a blonde woman in a white suit approached him.

"Excuse me, sir, is there something I can help you with?"

'Uh....is she talking to me?" he thought.

Marcus didn't understand why this woman was talking to him. Had he made a mistake without realizing it? Was her appearance odd? Had something given him away?

"This... Are you coming for next month's auction or do you wish to buy a specific product? Our branch has a lot of enchanted items, elixirs, and magic scrolls for people of your status."

'But what the f**k is she talking about?!!... Someone of my status? Even the employees look nobler than me! ... I better say something before some misunderstanding happens... 'I hope this spell works... Minor Telepathy.'

"Actually, I came because I need to pawn some things. "Marcus replied.

"Eh?!... Excuse me but, did you just..."

"Ah about that, my vocal cords were severely damaged, so I can only communicate through Telepathy. I hope that doesn't inconvenience you."

As a skeleton, Marcus possessed no vocal cords, so he could not speak.

Fortunately, the introductory magic book Marcus had gotten in the subway facility after killing the skeleton mage had several level 1 spells of the energy element including [Minor Telepathy].

This spell only served for the thaumaturge to transmit his thoughts directly into a person's mind, but could not read minds. But with this Marcus was able to communicate with others.

"Uh, no, it doesn't bother me at all! If you wish to sell any products you can accompany me to the adjoining rooms and we'll send someone to assess the price of the items."

"Okay."

Marcus followed the white-suited woman to one of the huge bronze doors. Behind the door was an elegant marble room, which looked like a luxury suite in a 5-star hotel.

In the center of the room, there was an expensive red carpet with gilt edges. On this, there was a luxurious hand-carved square wooden table and a pair of white armchairs on either side of it.

"Please take a seat and in a few minutes, someone will come to attend to you.....Is there anything else I can offer you sir?"

"No, I'm fine."

The woman bowed and left the room. Marcus sat down in one of the armchairs next to the table, took some bundles out of his inventory, and waited for the appraiser to arrive.

But although he seemed calm on the outside, the truth was that he was very confused.

'But what the f**k just happened?... At what point did I become a VIP?.... 'Wait, let's not jump to conclusions, maybe this is a simple misunderstanding.' He said to himself in an attempt to calm down.

A few minutes later, Marcus was still deep in thought when two men entered the room.

One of them was a fat brown-haired man, dressed in smart clothes and had a large mustachioed mustache over his lips.

The other was a black-haired young man, about 20 years of age. This one wore a suit just like the woman a moment ago, the only difference being that this one was black.

But for some reason, there was a strange energy emanating from the younger man.

***

1) Rael: Currency used by some of the kingdoms and cities of the eastern part of the Austra continent.

100 copper Raels = 1 silver Rael.

1000 silver Raels = 1 gold Rael.