Episode 51. The Eyes of Tolois (1)
Clap clap clap clap.
Clap clap clap clap!
The host began clapping his hands so loudly that the seal skin he was wearing shook. The auction of the stone was a success.
“Your Majesty, it’s 300 million! What on earth is Hwaunseok that makes that guy get 300 million… … .”
Kuze said that but didn’t expect an answer. Of course, what do you think? Now, the 30 million won deposit is ridiculously high.
“Even if the auction house takes a commission, it’s still a huge profit!”
“no.”
It was a voice that froze Kuze’s excited heart. Rubin shook his head.
“yes?”
“There is no immediate profit.”
Kuze couldn’t figure out what those words meant.
As the minions of Tish Kingven, who were just filling in the numbers, rushed out, Rubin also moved immediately.
But Rubin wasn’t headed to the auctioneer’s quarters. Instead, he went to the bidders’ area and started wandering around the alleys. He eventually stopped in front of a building.
Knock knock.
As soon as they knocked, the door to the guest room opened wide. A middle-aged man appeared. The man smiled brightly when he saw the two of them.
‘Who is it?’
It was natural that Kuze did not recognize the man. He was one of the users of the 122nd bidding room that had just been there, but they all had their faces covered.
Unlike Kuze, who hesitated, Rubin went inside without hesitation. Then, a middle-aged man suddenly grabbed Kuze’s arm.
“What are you doing? Come in quickly! Kuze!”
“…Do you know my name?”
thud.
As the door closed behind Kuze, the man laughed so loudly that he seemed to be triumphant.
“It’s me, 0529.”
0529! How could Kuze forget this number? It was the number of the person who just won the bid on the meteorite. The person who solved Roinenser’s troubles in one go!
But the fact that Interest knows my name… … .
An ominous feeling of foreboding comes over Kuze. After a while, he begins to sense a dark aura coming from the man in front of him.
“And also… a crow that safely returned from planting seedlings at Gillyfield Arboretum.”
“Ha, as expected.”
The successful bidder was Tina.
Now I understand why Rubin said, “There is no immediate return.”
The winning bid of 300 million was meaningless. No matter how much it was sold for, if it was a deal with Tina, there would be no money involved.
No. I can’t say it’s meaningless. Since I have to pay a 10 percent commission to the auction house, it actually creates debt.
At that moment, a question suddenly came to mind. Why did the master say that there would be no profit ‘right away’? If there is no profit, then there is no profit, so why did he say ‘right away’?
“… … .”
Meanwhile, Rubin quietly glanced at his watch. It had been thirty minutes since the meteorite had been sold.
The auction house will call the successful bidder and the bidder the next morning according to the rules. They will control the exchange of the remaining amount after deducting their brokerage fee.
But before that.
‘Tis Kingven will come first.’
The customer who deliberately gave Tina a chance to bid. His number was 7670. He was definitely Kingven.
“… … !”
at that time.
The dark room that the three people had spread out reacts. There is a visitor outside the room. As expected, Tiss was quick in making decisions and taking action.
Tiss came alone. He was looking around, looking around. Then, just like Rubin had done a moment ago, he knocked on the guest room door. Knock, knock.
Kuze walked out and opened the door.
“Hello. Are you 0529?”
The man asked politely with a sly smile. He looked to be around the same age as Kuze. If he were to be teased about his appearance, he would look like a weasel.
“I am not.”
“Then are you inside?”
“Let me in.”
Rubin said. Following his instructions, Kuze stepped aside and let the man in.
Thud thud.
The visitor leisurely looked around the accommodation. Then he found Rubin sitting at the table and looked at him with surprised eyes.
“You have a child.”
Rubin chuckled.
“Are you 7670?”
“Oh… … .”
“Perhaps you came looking for 0529?”
“Yes, but it’s strange. When I saw it at the auction just now, the voice of the successful bidder was clearly that of an adult.”
Tiss Kingven tilted his head. He had come to meet the man who had won the bid for the meteorite for 300 million, but instead he was meeting a young child.
“Please sit down.”
Kingven did as he was told.
“… … .”
“I am not 0529 who won the bid for the meteorite. I am 6321.”
“6321… …?”
At first I thought I had come to the wrong place, but I soon realized I was wrong.
If it’s 6321… …
“Aren’t you the client, not the successful bidder?”
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Tiss Kingven bit his lower lip in an incomprehensible situation. Rubin reached out to him and asked for a belated handshake. Kingven took the boy’s hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
Rubin’s next words were just two words.
It was just two words, but the impact was enormous. They were words that shattered that calm heart.
It was a remark that made me have no choice but to get up in a hurry, even to the point of tipping over my chair.
“This is how we meet, Tiss Kingven.”
“… … !”
Kingven’s surprised face was something to behold. For someone who was called a ‘businessman from the future,’ his facial expressions were surprisingly awkward. No, that must mean he was surprised.
Kingven couldn’t speak for a while, just moving his lips.
“I didn’t know you’d be going alone without an attendant, Kingven. Oh, that’s to be expected, since you’re the famous Tolois.”
“… Do you know me?”
“I can’t say I know, but I can’t say I don’t know either.”
“What is that… … .”
“That’s not important. Anyway, I was waiting for you to come. You came because of the meteorite, right?”
“That is true, but.”
“So wouldn’t it be better to sit down again and start negotiating?”
At that moment, Tina walked out from behind Kingven. Tina’s appearance was still 0529, and she intentionally cleared her throat to reveal her presence.
As soon as the real bidder appeared, Kingven quickly sorted out the situation. He quickly came to the conclusion that he had been tricked by the client.
‘You knew me. And you knew what I wanted… … .’
It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“It seems like we’ve really fallen into a trap.”
“A trap? Do you think I’ll kidnap you?”
“then……?”
“I just want to sell meteorites for a ‘fair price’, and preferably to someone who needs them.”
He said he would sell it to someone who needed it at a reasonable price. In other words, the 300 million Lilk that was just sold at the auction was not a reasonable price.
Of course, Kingven agreed. If there had been more competitors, it would have been over 1 billion.
Rubin said.
“I know why you stopped at the 300 million threshold. Kingven, you were probably trying to find out how much the other bidders and clients knew about the value of the ‘Hwaunseok’.”
It was an accurate point. If there were two people besides Kingven himself who knew the value of the meteorite, he should reconsider the market value of the meteorite. It would be difficult to have a competitor in his plan to control the world’s money through the meteorite.
But judging from the attitude of the boy in front of me, it seemed like he knew the value of the fire rock inside out.
“Kingven. Do you know the effects of the meteorite?”
“… … .”
“And we are aiming for mass production of meteorite. In a few years, meteorite will bring about a huge wave on the continent as a building material.”
Who on earth is this boy? He was becoming increasingly scared. How much did he know about me?
Even Iza knew that he intended to name this building material ‘Hwaunseok’. He had never told anyone about that name. He had just written it down in a small notebook.
“6321. If Confucius knew the use of the fire cloud stone, I wonder if there would be any point in negotiating.”
“That’s a good point.”
“… … .”
“But I’m not suggesting that we negotiate over the exchange of meteorites. I’m suggesting that we negotiate over the right to mass-produce the meteorites that you want.”
At those words, Kingven was lost in thought for a while, and Rubin waited silently. A businessman would know how to weigh the pros and cons.
“… … .”
Kingven’s gaze lingered on Tina for a moment.
‘Just as I filled the auction house with people I bought with money, that successful bidder is nothing more than this boy’s puppet. So then… … .’
If the successful bidder had been a third party, Kingven would not have taken this negotiation seriously, but if there was only one person who knew the value of the meteorite, it was worth continuing the negotiation.
“Please give me a moment.”
“Understood, Kingven.”
In fact, Rubin suffered no loss. He had never had any blueprint for mass production of meteorite in the first place. He had no business interest in it either.
In any case, the most important thing was to prevent the collapse of Roinekrow. And to create secret funds for revenge. Just in case, he had also left one meteorite behind.
From now on, the only thing that mattered was getting as much profit as possible. 1 billion? 2 billion? No, that wasn’t what Rubin wanted.
Kingven, who was worried, asked.
“Then can you back up your words by some appropriate means? For example… … .”
“Are you talking about Tolois’s notary?”
Kingven nodded.
If the Tolois Auction House notarized a contract between two people, it was subject to Imperial law regardless of the status of the two people. In other words, if either of them broke it, they would be pursued by Imperial forces.
“That would be enough. Then I can give you up to 3 billion Lilk in exchange for the meteorite.”
As expected, he was a businessman. He expected that Rubin would not be satisfied with even 2 billion, so he started with 3 billion from the beginning.
‘Kingven’s maximum would be at least 5 billion.’
Rubin thought so calmly, but the other two couldn’t. When he heard the words 3 billion reels, Kuze had to focus all his energy on controlling his expression, and Tina gave up on even trying.
Just open your mouth wide until it gets dry.
however.
“It’s too little, Kingven.”
Tina blinked, doubting her ears. Didn’t the Roinen family have an ascetic childhood? Did they live an ascetic life for so long that they didn’t know what 3 billion meant?
“3 billion is too little?”
“Your maximum would be around 5 billion. But even that wouldn’t be enough.”
In fact, Kingven had been thinking of 5 billion as the maximum. The reason Rubin was able to pinpoint this accurately was because he remembered what was written in Tiss’s biography.
He was shocked and covered his face with both hands.
‘More than 5 billion relays is too risky.’
That amount of money was beyond what Kingven could afford right now. He was sure that the value of the pyroclastic rock was much higher, but the problem was whether mass production would be successful.
It was too reckless to gamble on a business that had a high chance of failure.
“Do you think it’s too risky? Well, I understand. That’s why I prepared in another way.”
“… … ?”
“Kingven. If you accept my terms, I will give you 3 billion.”
“… I’m afraid to ask what the conditions are.”
Rubin chuckled and continued talking.
“I want to do an equity transaction rather than a lump sum.”
“Equity trading?”
“Please give me 20% of the profits from the meteorite business.”
“hmm…….”
Kingven was lost in thought again.
I knew what Rubin was talking about. He was talking about taking 3 billion rilks, and 20% of the money he would earn from meteorites in the future.
‘Are you sure I can succeed in mass production?’
There was something strange about the scale in the boy’s head. On one side was 5 billion Lilk, and on the other side was 3 billion and uncertain future earnings.
What kind of confidence do you have that makes you willing to give up 2 billion and invest in the future?
The future is literally a time that has not yet arrived. In a situation where it is not known whether mass production will succeed or not, the boy is not shaken by the large sum of money right in front of him.
“That’s unexpected, Kingven.”
“… … ?”
“I guess you were a bit insecure about yourself. I thought you had much bigger potential.”
“ha…….”
Kingven buried his face in his hands again, and let out a soft laugh.
I never expected to hear something like that from a ten-year-old boy.
Ironically, the phrase “foreseeing the future” was something Kingven himself could use more confidently than anyone else on the continent.
‘Could it be that they are the same type as me?’
Suddenly, a premonition crossed Kingven’s mind.
There were people in the world with unique abilities. Kingven was one of them, but he was different from everyone else. It wasn’t an ability like Aura or Mana. It wasn’t something like the transformation of the Phantom Tribe or the giant-blooded tribe.
An eye that recognizes the true value of people and things.
The lower-level appraisers of Tolois accumulate knowledge and information to determine the value of an item. On the other hand, the higher-level appraisers use ‘appraisal magic’ to determine the true value of an item. In other words, they were a type of wizard.
What about Kingven then?
His ability did not belong to any one place. It was a pure ability of his own, beyond magic. With this ability that he had since birth, he could see hidden values that were not revealed even by magic.
“… … .”
Soon, Kingven looked directly into Rubin’s black eyes that seemed to suck him in. It took exactly three seconds for the ability to manifest. All he had to do was look directly at him for three seconds.
At that moment, smoke rose, visible only to Kingven’s eyes. The smoke began to envelop Rubin.
It wasn’t an actual phenomenon. It was just smoke that appeared only in Kingven’s field of vision.
“… … !”
“Are you okay?”
Kuze, who was standing next to him, asked cautiously.
Kingven, who had been looking at Rubin, suddenly staggered. His face was filled with surprise, as if he had encountered something completely unexpected, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
‘… This can’t be happening!’
