Just who could that mysterious stranger be?

Once everyone had seen the effectiveness of snow powder, they started bidding like crazy.

"40,000 silver coins"

"70,000 silver coins"

"100, 000 silver coins"

"__"

Landon also decided to bid as well.

It wasn't that he needed the powder, but he was basically targeting those that had bullied the old Landon.

Back in the days, several nobles and their children, would laugh at him, trip him over and even pour water or food over his head... They basically treated him like a clown for their own amusement.

And other times, they would beat him up badly, all in the name of practice.

Presently, most of these nobles had come to the auction with their sons.

So once petty Landon saw the boys who used to bully him, he immediately started making things difficult for them.

"120,000 silver coins"

"120,001 silver coins"

Minister Frederick and his son Moham, looked at the mysterious man who seemed to be making things difficult for them.

From the man's height and body structure, Minister Frederick could somewhat guess that this stranger should be around the same age as his son Moham.

But when had he offended the stranger?... Why was this man hell bent on annoying him?

Hmmp!!! .... It didn't matter what the stranger thought..... Today, no one could stop him from getting this snow powder.

Since this stranger wanted to make a fool out of him, then he would just raise the price to a ridiculous amount.

'At the end, Let's see who will have the last laugh', he thought.

"This booth will bid 700,000 silver coins"

Those who had smaller budgets, almost began crying... how did the bidding move from 200,000 silver coins to 700,000 in a blink of an eye?

'Minister Frederick, aren't you just bragging about your wealth at this point?... What was the point in having such a huge price jump?

Won't the prices eventually go up with time?... At least give some of us the opportunity to have hope.'

Minister Frederick smiled provocatively as he looked at Landon.

'Boy... your years too young and inexperienced to make me suffer a loss.'

All those nobles that were in the upper echelon of nobility, understood that Minister Frederick was having a battle with the mysterious stranger.

It would definitely be better to sit this one out.

Even if they wanted to continue bidding, they were sure that Minister Frederick would most likely bid to the very end.

As for the other nobles, they could only sigh as they knew that they wouldn't be getting this first batch of snow powder.

Some of these nobles weren't as rich or popular like Minister Frederick.

Even within nobility, there were different groups of classes.

There were noble families people whose names were once a symbol of power...  but as the years went by, these families had lost their power and support within the empire.

There were also nobles that had once angered the king, and of course, had their forces cut down by half.

But then again, there were nobles like minister Frederick, who were filthy rich and could easily get anything that they desired.

It was definitely better to let the super rich Frederick take this first batch.... In that way, the other nobles wouldn't need to worry about him bidding later on.

"We have a bid of 700,000 silver coins going once..... going.." 

As the host spoke, Moham looked at Landon and snorted.

"One should know their own limits....Hmmp!!.....Truly a toad that claims to be a pheonix"

Everyone looked at the calm and collected stranger, and thought that he had given up.

And just when the host was about to close the bidding, Landon interrupted.

"Going twice... going thrice....." 

"700,001 silver coins" 

"___" 

The audience immediately quieted down.

Minister Frederick and his son shot death stares at Landon.

Such a bid was an obvious insult.

What was the aim of adding the extra silver coin at the end?... For heaven's sake, what would the auction house do with that extra 1 silver coin?

If Landon had known their thoughts, he would simply retort back and tell them that: for one to become a millionaire, every single coin mattered.

Even if one had 999,999 coins, without the extra 1 coin, it could never be a million bucks..... or so Bill Gates said back on earth.

Minister Frederick was so angry that he seized the Megaphone from his servant and continued bidding.

"800,000 silver coins"

"800,001 silver coins"

"850,000 silver coins"

"850,001 silver coins"

"__"

Since the amount wasn't enough to allow him to withdraw from the bidding, Frederick calmed himself down and continued on.

"Since our young mysterious friend here is truly generous by adding one silver to his bids... then I would like to bid 1.3 million silver coins!!!!" 

Frederick and Moham lifted their proud chins and sneered at Landon.

But of course, their victory was indeed short lasted.

"1.3 million and 5 silver coins"

Immediately, the smiles on the faces of the father-and-son duo instantly dropped.

What sort of troublesome person was this?

In fact, everyone had the same idea as well. 

'Fine!!... You want to bid, that's naturally alright.

But you increased the price by only 5 silver coins?

Are you really normal?

Previously, you had added 1 silver coin, and now its 5... do you really think that we should acknowledge you just because you added a few more silver coins?

Don't you have any shame?'

Dammit!!!!!

Both father and son got up from his seat angrily and faced Landon.

Moham's was so angry, that his face became as red as a tomatoe.

How dare this scoundrel compete with his father?

"2 million silver coins"

"2 million and 5 silver coins"

"2.2 million silver coins"

"2.2 million and 5 silver coins"

"__"

As they continued bidding, several nobles couldn't help but think.

'As expected, Minister Frederick is indeed a wealthy man.'

At the end, Frederick had used 3.7 million silver coins to buy the first 5 bags of snow powder.

Although the father and son duo had won, their ego's had been wounded by the mysterious stranger.

Who didn't know their family status and situation within the Empire? They were one of the top richest and powerful families in Arcadina.

Frederick's sister had married King Barn and was the first and official wife of the King. His nephew was also the crown prince,Eli.

Hence he had gained a lot of finance and power all through the years.

For someone to go against him meant that they also went against his sister, the Queen.

And to make matters worse, both father and son felt that the stranger had simply been playing with them all along.

Their hearts were burning with a strong desire to kill the bastard.

So as the auction continued, they began to quickly devise a plan for their new found friend... they had decided that once the stranger stepped out of the auction house, they and their men would immediatley slice him into several pieces.

Frederick knew that if he didn't kill this bastard, people would be laughing and making fun of him from the shadows.

He had to admit, this stranger had really made him eat dog shit today.

In fact, most of the people within the audience knew that this stranger wouldn't last another day, since he had offended the great Minister Frederick.

.

Once the auction was over, Minister Frederick and his men followed the mysterious stranger to a dark alley.

But once they got there, they soon realised that the stranger was nowhere to be found.

It was like he had just vanished into thin air.

They immediately went back to the auction house and asked about the man's identity... But sadly, even the managers there didn't know who he was, or where he stayed.

This.....This was really too strange...

Just who could that mysterious stranger be?