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[ Alright~. The amazing golden apple goes to no.34 again for 170 platinum. Good deal for such amazing and rare stuff, dear customer! ]

The auction had gone on in our absence and it was already time for lunch.

But before that, there was one last item up for auction.

And we were so fortunate that we came back as soon as this last item came up to the giant table.

[ "Alright! What do we have for our last auction item before we go to the lunch and taste the exotic delicacies prepared exclusively by our best chefs~?" ]

Right… they were previously going to serve a lavish three-course meal for all these people.

It wasn\'t a loss, considering these customers were mostly nobles and people of higher standing, so that much spending was understandable. But still, there were countless people who didn\'t buy shit and attended the auction to munch on the delicious things served during the ongoing auction, lunch, and the after-auction celebration.

It wasn\'t something that hindered the finances, but it also wasn\'t something that would make any difference if it was just tweaked a little bit.

\'Actually, the head chef had a reaction like his lifelong wish had been fulfilled when I told them about the change of menu.\'

Today, one of the greatest things I did in this place was to change the entire menu of the event.

It was something that was ever-changing throughout these years, but the money spent on the food of these people in just a single day was enough for many common people to eat lavishly for months.

It couldn\'t be called a bad decision as mom too wouldn\'t have liked feeding many pigs that were here just to have fun.

It was something essential to maintain the image of the great Hiraani.

Nobles naturally knew how to cause a ruckus when they didn\'t like things. And it would hinder the image of this great place that mom so greatly cherished.

She didn\'t care about the bad words of the shitty nobles, but the aftereffects of the words from a noble could very well cause great losses in many ways.

She was a merchant. She naturally didn\'t like the loss just because a piece of trash said something about the food served at an event that was mainly organized to raise money for the people of their nation.

It was negative in many ways, so the great spending of money was a problem they all had just accepted as inevitable.

\'Well, that changed today.\'

Yes, the food would be lavish. It would be some of the best meals they would have in their entire life spans. Just that the food that would be served could be made from some savings of a common family.

\'If only they hadn\'t finished making the starters and refreshments.\'

The cost would have been cut to thirty percent more.

\'Anyway…\'

[ "Oh~? What do we have here? A book? Looks old and cool, almost as if the old books in a mage\'s library. So~? Who will start?" ]

The menu was my personal creation and the head chef was pretty impressive in how he understood everything so easily.

He was good from the notes and I believed he would carry all the finely detailed instructions I gave him masterfully.

He was impressive and a master of his field and also someone mom trusted enough to give him all the kitchen responsibilities.

I trusted him and all the other people in that special kitchen. I knew their minds would be blown when they eat that banana~.

Anyway, the item on the big round table was called a [Spellbook]. A consumable item that contained a certain type of spell that could be used a few times.

It was a rare artifact and only a few wizards, or witches, could produce one of these.

The magic one of these spellbooks contains is at least (tier-7) and it could be used at least three times.

But the one on the table was even more special.

It was a thick tome with a red leather cover and old pages.

It looked quite normal, as if an old book was picked up from some old library.

Normal appraisal skills would also only show that it is an old book, too.

It was nothing like the traditional spell books that one could tell it was a spell book just by looking at it. They looked that much more attractive, after all.

But this simple-looking book that contained a (tier-8) spell that could be used four times was something close to a national treasure.

There was no way I, the three mysterious spenders, and all the mages, high nobles, great mages, \'unknown\' big shots, and so on down there would miss this one.

"It\'s mine," Rein said in a serious tone while looking deep into my eyes.

"To finally go and explode some mountain that you want for so long?" I asked as I gave her a look that totally denied her claim on that item.

"Obviously," she answered… with a straight face that was damn serious.

This crazy girl actually wanted to have some fun by creating some tremendous explosions. That book with (Bubble of ignition) was just the right thing to do.

If that book falls into the hands of this crazy witch, this tactical weapon would definitely be wasted on something useless.

"And that\'s even more of a reason you aren\'t getting that."

My voice was stern, and Anna was smirking while looking at the two of us.

Mom and the other ladies were the same, and it hadn\'t even been a few minutes since we came back from that short trip with the beautiful (?) headmaster.

Our timing and the timing of this thing coming up was just right, and it was good.

I will take that thing so that this witch and many others like her don\'t use that great thing for useless stuff.

"Oh, darling~. I\'m not just your Rein right now, remember? I\'m also the representative of our house. I can spend all the money I want~.

Try it if you can, but that thing is mine~."

She had a smirk that was saying she wasn\'t going to back down this time.

This was foolish. Something many wouldn\'t understand. And also petty.

But that thing was worth the war…

She understood the value of that artifact and even with the smirk that genuinely wanted to go there and blow up some place, her greed was completely understandable.

She was here as a representative of her house and that artifact down there was something that could totally be of great use to her household.

They were one of the only six dukedoms of the great empire, after all.

The scale of her household was, in fact, far greater than I had yet seen.

There was far more than just a huge estate in the middle of a forest to the name Atraxia.

It was a great place, and that artifact spell book was a difficult object to get my hands on. Not that I was worried.

It was mine even if the opponent was my beloved friend and the emperor of this country himself.

[ "Ohh~! We have our first bid, second, and now fifth. Wow, looks like everyone does like books." ]

The numbers on the big water screen were rapidly increasing.

[ 40 platinum - no.78 ]

[ 69 platinum - no.69]

[ 150 platinum - no.56]

[ 190 platinum - no.70 ]

Many people knew the value of that simple-looking old book and the price for this one item was going to reach new seas.

[ 300 platinum - no.3 ]

That was the emperor… and he definitely didn\'t need that book down there.

\'He\'s doing the same thing I did. Well, it\'s alright.\'

[ 400 platinum - no.21 ]

He didn\'t have to hinder me this time. There was someone who actually was going to compete for this item.

[ 420 platinum - no.369 ]

[ 430 platinum - no.21 ]

[ 440 platinum - no.369 ]

[ 450 platinum - no.21 ]

…

The numbers that had only fixed with no.21 and 369 after we suddenly crossed 400 platinum astonished many people, but the even more interesting thing was how the no.3, the biggest spender, just backed off from this fight after making one bet.

It was also interesting how the two of us were going so slowly.

The price was growing by ten platinum, which was understandable, but then Rein did something Rein liked.

[ 501 platinum - no.21 ]

[ 510 platinum - no.369 ]

[ 511 Platinum - no.21 ]

The others didn\'t understand it but, this was so like her… only spending the minimum amount.

"You started this minimum too early, dear. I understand that you are representing the entire house, but that doesn\'t mean you have more money than me. Neither does it mean that I have reached my limit for today\'s spending."

[ 999 platinum - no.360 ]

The numbers suddenly jumped dimensions.

"You fu-"

"Mm-hum hu, manners, noble lady. There is a gorgeous young girl with us."

"..."

[ 999 platinum 100 gold - no.21 ]

Her reaction was cute right now, but the reactions of others, including my little brother and big sister, were also unique.

For Anna who was cheering for both of us and didn\'t practically understand the concept of money, the two of us were just playing a fun game.

But the other two were different.

I don\'t know if they had bet such a high sum themselves on some particular item, but me doing so was genuinely surprising.

We were talking about 999k gold. Something that had made the jaws of the nobles down there falls to the ground.

It was an absurd sum of money. But definitely something payable if you actually know the value of that simple-looking book.

And Rein also knew that, so she increased the price, though it was a little increase compared to the big number beside it.

But that was also close to my limit for this book.

Now, everything depended on psychological warfare.

[ 999 platinum 111 gold - no.369 ]

"..."

[ 999 platinum 120 gold - no.21 ]

[ 999 platinum 121 gold - no.369 ]

"...?"

[ 999 platinum 122 gold - no.21 ]

[ 999 platinum 122 gold 100 silver - no.369 ]

"...!"

[ 999 platinum 130 gold - no.21 ]

[ 999 platinum 130 gold 100 silver - no.369 ]

"Why…!?"

[ 999 platinum 300 gold - no.21 ]

[ 999 platinum 300 gold 300 silver - no.369 ]

"You\'re a devil!"

She was really pissed off. Anyone would, actually. The bids that looked very close to each other were actually very slow, as if I was in deep thought. And just when she thought she got it, I jumped in with an absurdly close but mocking bet.

"Big brother is teasing sister Elle~. Hehehe."

Anna was giggling while seeing the two of us. She could feel that this friend of mine wasn\'t at least hurt or anything.

She was upset, and it was fun seeing her make that rare, cute face.

[ 999 platinum 301 gold - no.21 ]

"I\'m not backing away just yet! I don\'t know, but I will chase you till the end!"

She had a flushed face, but she actually meant those words.

She would follow my every bet with the bare minimum amount she could afford, trying to go as far away as possible, taking whatever time it needed to get over the item.

Now… the bad thing was her bad habit of doing what she actually meant. And she meant this one.

She would take the whole day if it meant getting that old book.

But we didn\'t have that privilege… the nobles who were first surprised were now getting bored, and many were already leaving the room.

Still, many were waiting to see the outcome of this absurd but fun battle.

It was the entertainment of a kind but still, many would start complaining or might already have started complaining.

This round couldn\'t go on for long. We had to finish it quickly. And she wasn\'t going to back down now that I had pushed her to this limit.

\'I made a mistake…\'

Should have known she might react like this instead of just backing away.

It wasn\'t the question of getting the item anymore but instead, saving as much as possible while getting the item.

She was something… but, she wasn\'t getting this spellbook.

"Rein."

I called her out instead of placing a bid and she looked at me with anger and hatred-filled eyes.

"How about I get that spellbook this time but… I will help you with blowing up whatever mountain you want. How about it?

You know you can\'t win this time, right? Why waste everyone\'s time? Let\'s have some lunch.

I said I was hungry after \'that thing\' right?"

She understood what I was saying and still looked at me with a hateful gaze.

The hunger part was genuine, though. I could eat a whole big chicken right now.

She read my eyes… and sighed in defeat.

"UwU~? Why is my grown-up amazing son hungry hmm~? What did you two do~?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all..."

My voice was stern, while she was a bit sad that we did nothing. Nothing at all…

"Huhuhu."

She laughed with a smirk and the other ladies also giggles. Well, that was them…

[ 1000 platinum - no.369 ]

That much was enough for a good item like that. And she wasn\'t going to follow anymore.

…

[ 1111 platinum - no.3 ]

"He\'s an a**hole."

"The reason I don\'t like him."

That was Rein and my dear mom… well, it was petty. And strangely, I saw it coming.

[ 1111 platinum 1 copper - no.369 ]

Yup. That was the end.

He didn\'t bid any further, and I had to pay a gooooood 111k gold and one copper more than it would have been.

\'He might turn out to be a variable after all…\'

Well, that wasn\'t something for the current me to think about.

I got the spellbook, so it was finally lunchtime now~.