Auction in the Land of Sands

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[Auction in Ashur City]

The auction in the City of Ashur, Kingdom of Mandora, will take place in seven days.

Young man! Place at least one item for auction in your shop. Aim for a minimum profit of ten thousand Tia.

Teleportation to Ashur City will be accessible five days from now.

Prize: Cloak of the Abyss Raven

Punishment: Inability to speak until the next event arrives.

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The City of Ashur is the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Mandora. People refer to Ashur as the Oasis of the Land of Sand.

While Cien was still living in Westya, he had visited Ashur several times.

He went there with his father to discuss business matters. Furthermore, after his father passed away, Cien took over the Millard Family's business in Ashur.

Therefore, Ashur is not an unfamiliar place for Cien. He might be able to meet some acquaintances there, that is, if they are alive or still consider him as a friend.

Ten years have passed, and Cien has no idea what the relationship is like between his business partner in Ashur and the current Baron Millard.

But for now, Cien is greatly interested in going there.

After Cien and Veronica finished their breakfast, he instructed the girl to tell Mia to come to him once that lazy aide had awakened from the world of dreams.

Veronica was curious about Cien's words regarding his departure, but Cien replied that he would explain it later.

Cien, along with the villagers and guards from Huntara, resumed the village's construction.

When he left, the construction process would certainly be unfinished. At least before leaving, Cien wanted to help as much as possible.

In the afternoon, when Mia woke up and finished her lunch, Cien told Mia and Veronica to come to the shop.

Inside the shop, Sella was already waiting behind the cashier's counter.

"Oh, Milord. Have you returned?"

"There's something I want to discuss with them. Ah, could you make some tea, please?"

"Very well, sir."

Cien led everyone upstairs. Sitting around the dining table, Cien began to explain the purpose he wanted to convey to Mia.

The most important thing was that he wanted Mia to be responsible for the village's development while he was away.

Every night, Cien would call Mia to inquire about the progress that had been made.

He was afraid that the villagers might face unexpected problems or obstacles. Afterall, they were still not familiar with Death Valley.

Mia understands Cien's wishes. She even accepted it with pleasure.

Watching over the village's development for several days wasn't as challenging as her job overseeing the progress of the Huntara Kingdom.

Mia understood this issue, but several questions arose in her mind.

"What does it mean by calling every night? Will you come home every night, or do I have to find you? And furthermore, where does Lord Millard actually want to go?"

"I will be going to Ashur in Mandora. And by calling, I mean using telepathy. I will contact you around eight o'clock in the evening."

"Ashur?!" Mia exclaimed.

"Telepathy?" Veronica uttered, her eyes filled with interest.

"Uh, Milord wants to go?" Sella was surprised as she had just arrived at the dining table and placed a cup of tea on it.

The three women were simultaneously shocked for different reasons. Cien chuckled dryly as he looked at their expressions, apparently not expecting that he would leave just like that.

"Yes, I'll be gone for a while, Sella. Don't worry, I think I'll be back home within a week. During that week, I'll entrust the shop to you. Serve the customers—or Yelina as usual."

Sella let out a sigh of relief. She thought Cien would leave Death Valley forever. She and the other residents had just moved here and didn't know much yet.

Moreover, they were currently protected by Cien's protective formation. If Cien left, what would be the point of staying in this dangerous place?

"Hmm? Wait, Ashur in Mandora? Umm, can that place be reached within a week?" Sella wondered, realizing that Cien's destination was far away from Death Valley.

Death Valley is located in the northern part of the Kastia continent, while Ashur is in its opposite direction, the southern part of Kastia.

A week? Even a month is already considered quite remarkable to reach there.

But earlier, Cien unexpectedly said that he would go and return within a week. Isn't that impossible?

"It's highly impossible," Mia replied briefly, glaring at Cien sharply, "Lord Millard, we are not fools. You don't need to lie about going to Ashur and returning within a week. If it's a week, I believe you would most likely go to Marina or Blackwinter! Am I right? I don't know why you want to conceal going to those two cities, but I think it's best for you to be honest."

"..."

Cien fell silent, gazing at Mia's serious face as she insisted on him telling the truth.

But the problem was, he had already told the truth! If they still didn't believe him, should he lie to be considered truthful?

'I feel foolish doing that.'

"Uncle... Uncle..."

"Hm?"

Cien felt a tug on his sleeve and looked at Veronica, whose eyes were shining as she looked at him.

"Ugh, what is it, Vero?"

"TELEPATHY! I heard it's a unique magic that only a few ancient people possess! Is it true that Uncle Cien can do it too?"

"Ancient… ugh, let's discuss this another time, Vero."

"Ehhh... but this is telepathy, you know. Tele-pa-thy! It's more important than Uncle's destination!"

'No. My destination is more important than mere fake telepathy!'

Cien refused to say anything about the telepathy he mentioned.

Explain it to Veronica? Madness, it's impossible! He didn't have telepathy. Only cell phone functions! What could he explain?

Cien turned back to Mia. He explained that he would indeed go to Ashur. Not Marina, let alone Blackwinter.

As for how he could go and come back in a week, Cien could only say, "I have my own way."

No matter how determined Mia and Veronica were to ask about his method of going to Ashur in a week, Cien wouldn't utter a word.

In Kastia, Cien had not found anyone who could use Space Magic, let alone teleportation.

So if he said he could use teleportation, both would be confused because there was no such concept in Kastia. Or if there are, Cien belief, just a few people who know it. Such ancient people that Veronica mentioned.

Explain it? It would surely be very difficult. How could he explain the concept of space, time, and dimensions to the people of Kastia when he himself didn't know how teleportation worked?

Moving from one space to another. How could that magic be performed? Cien didn't know.

So instead of telling them and causing problems for himself, he'd better stay silent and let those people imagine how he left with their own imaginations.

After explaining his departure plan, Cien spent the next five days as usual. Assisting in the construction and explaining the development plans after he left.

The construction of the residents' houses would likely be completed by the time Cien was in Ashur. After that, other buildings would be worked on.

The first is development to tackle water problems. If it was only for daily life, making wells would be sufficient.

But for the plantation, it would require even more. Therefore, Cien had made a plan to build a small reservoir.

The water for the reservoir would come from a river located on the east side of the shop. It was about a three to four-hour walk.

It would be a large and long-term project. That's why he planned to do it bit by bit.

In addition to the small reservoir, there were other things that needed to be done, such as making furniture for the house, creating a farm, and building a house for Terrion.

For Terrion, he requested his house to be built on a tree. The reason behind this was so that he could watch over the village environment for any dangers.

Cien accepted the idea and was even interested in it. He even thought about not just making one treehouse for Terrion but also intended to create treehouse outposts within his protected area.

During those five days, he discussed the construction plans with Mia, Terrion, and Balmut.

Mia herself planned to stay in Death Valley until the construction was completed.

The first reason was that she and Princess Sravati still felt responsible for the well-being of the residents they had sent there.

This included assisting the residents in building their houses, which was why Sravati provided tools for house construction.

The second reason was that she couldn't return to Huntara without the guards she had brought along.

The ten guards, including Ian, were very enthusiastic about helping the residents build their houses. Mia couldn't take such reliable workers in the midst of the construction just because she wanted to leave.

Mia was afraid that Sravati and Cien's relationship would worsen if she did that. That's why Mia would stay in Death Valley for an indefinite period of time.

During those five days, Cien not only worked and planned construction together with Mia and the others, but he also built a cage for his Moon Rabbit.

The cage, made of Hellteak wood, successfully confined the Moon Rabbit.

After all of that, Cien began preparing for his departure.

He used the large coffin again. He filled the coffin with some of his own weapons. However, this time there were no extraordinary items like magic items.

Cien only brought ordinary weapons. Although the word 'ordinary' here could still be questioned whether it truly meant 'ordinary' according to the standards known by normal people.

As for the items to be auctioned off, Cien brought one Mana Core, the blood from a Lesser Earth Dragon, and one Monster Core from a Blackwood Stag.

"Ten thousand Tia. I think all this can exceed the mission's target. The problem now is... whether the auction house still accepts items for auction? If not, ugh... I'll be mute for a month!"

Headaches resurfaced. Before Mia and the residents arrived, being mute until the next event came was not a big problem.

But now? This punishment would be very troublesome. He wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

The day of teleportation access finally arrived.

In the morning, when the residents usually started to prepare for work, Cien left his shop and saw the residents, including Mia, who would usually still be asleep, gathered in front of the shop.

"Whoa, I'm just going away for a little while. There's no need to be like this..."

Cien felt touched by the actions of the people who had come to see him off.

He spoke to a few individuals, reminding them of the tasks that needed to be done, before eventually fading into the embrace of the forest.

Carrying a large wooden box, Cien disappeared from the sight of the villagers.

Once he felt he had gone far enough and confirmed that no one was following him, he took out his phone. With a single touch on the screen, Cien vanished without a trace.

He headed towards the Land of Sands, where the largest auction in Mandora was about to take place. It was a place where the Abyss had taken root within.

Oh~ poor Cien… he truly had no idea what kind of place he was visiting.