Aftermath of Elkom City Grand Auction

 "How can you afford that?!" Manager Sophia asked Ryker, who seemed to be in deep thought. He is currently thinking about whether to ask the manager about the entire thing when he enters his room with an enraged face on.

 After being shaken like a ragdoll, he decided to tell the truth, stopping the manager from abusing him any longer.

 The manager listened to his rather short tale of a young man who gave him all the coins and told him to bid. She turned towards her servant, who opened her mouth, "Yes, what he said is true,"

 The manager slumped on one of the couches, looking tired all of a sudden. "Do you know, how dangerous this is?" she asked.

 Ryker has some idea but he believes it might be more dangerous than what he could thought of, Manager Sophia likely explained it more. Sure enough, she did.

 "The Middle-Grade Spirit Gold is only found in the central territory, the territory under the direct rule of the royal family. The young man should be someone from the royal family.

 For you to get involved with them, even if it was something you cannot prevent, it will affect you more than you imagine," 

 "How so?" to be honest, he could not think of any way involving himself with the royal family being dangerous.

 "All of the things they did, ones they were involved in, will always be dangerous and mysterious, especially for someone like you who did not even reach the Noble realm. 

 I did not know why the young man gave you the seed but it is likely a scheme concocted by the young man. In fact," the manager creates an image of the young man Ryker had seen before, "Is this the young man?"

 "Yes, how did you know?" Ryker asked in surprise.

 "He is the one that gave me the seed," she explained, making Ryker even more perplexed.

 "Wait, he gives you the seed, and then makes me buy the seed, with what is likely his own money," he said the whole situation out loud, just to make sure it sounded weird in his head or everywhere.

 "Yes, it sounds weird but there must be some reason for it," she said, playing with her hair as she thought about it.

 As the two think about it, Miriam seems to be talking with someone using a communication token, exchanging words with the one holding it.

 After a while, she looked at Rykee before saying,

 "We might have just the idea of what the person is planning,"

-x-

 "Thank goodness the Auction House has this secret tunnel, and the manager gave us this Presence Concealing Talisman," Miriam exclaimed as they walked to a nearby inn.

 Going to their home is too dangerous, or at least, it will implicate the others as well. Sophia shows them the tunnel and talisman only because they are her business partners, as well as being one of her customers. 

 There is no way she would sell the information of her customer just like that, or so, Ryker believed. 

-x-

 "For the last time, I will not give you the information of the person inside the room," Sophia exclaimed, crossing her arms as she looked at the mass of Noble experts standing in front of her.

 "They should be some juniors at the Genesis Realm, so you should not try that hard to protect them," one of the Noble experts told her, the others agreeing with the man.

 "Do you forget that the person managed to take out 30 Middle-Grade Genesis Gold? He had paid it up front like it was worth nothing. He likely came from the central territory and under the order of one of the members of the royal family," she reminded them.

 This caused the others to stiffen. After all, anything related to the royal family was just too much for them. They might be powerful, but the royal family's power is greater than they could ever hope to fight against.

 "I might be a Noble expert but I don't want to anger those at the very top. If you excuse me, I am going into my office. But if you want to continue your endeavor in searching for the person, then don't try to force the answer from my servant or I will ban you to the auction house for the rest of your life," the word ban seemed like a thunder booming.

 "I did not want to be implicated by whatever your plan is,"

-x-

 "That is hard," Sophia whined, her head on her table as she was drained from dealing with the Noble experts. She might deter them for now, but no doubt they will try some other methods to gain the information, unscrupulous or not.

 "That young man better getaway far from my Auction House and not come back," she muttered, though she knew it would be hopeless.

 After all, she still needs to pay him for the materials. As she lamented her misfortune, a servant barged into her office. She recognized her as the one who started the rumor and was about to give her a good beating when the servant told her important news.

 "The Duke is here, mistress!" standing up from shock, she quickly tried to make herself somewhat presentable, even though her look was the same. The presence of the Duke of Elkom shook her so that she even started to do things that were redundant for a Noble expert like herself.

 After making sure she looked better, not like there were any changes, she told the servant, "Tell him I am ready to meet him,"

 The servant nodded before opening the door, bowing towards the person who entered. Manager Sophia did the same, and could not help but feel nervous. After all, the Duke usually tells her first before he comes to visit her in her office.

 "My Lord," she lowered her head, the Duke walking towards her before slowly lifting her head.

 "Look how beautiful my little Sophia is. How you have grown from being so small?" the Duke said.

 "My Lord," she whined, the Duke merely laughing at her whining. However, his expression changes to a serious one.

 "Sophia, did you tell the others of the identity of the person who managed to win the seed," he asked seriously. She shook her head, a bit scared by how serious the man who is the closest thing to a family she has.

 "Good," he let out a relief sigh. "This matter is something that I could not handle or explain, but just know, it is important,"

 At that moment, a presence showed itself, removing the cloak covering the person's body. Sophia's eyes widen, so as to not be sensed by her, the treasure needs to be a very high-grade one.

 However, she soon recognizes the person, the identity of the person being more shocking than the artifact he had.