Chapter 174: Underground Auction House

While appeasing our hunger with boiled beans, the food we ordered finally came out.

Assorted seafood barbecue, grilled over an open flame, and beer, the drink dwarves love the most.

Generally, I heard octopus and squid are called devilfish because of their strange appearance and are avoided, but perhaps there are no such superstitions here, as they came out perfectly grilled whole.

They must be meant to be dipped in the red sauce that came out with them.

“Wow! This is amazing!”

Dorothea let out a pure exclamation, seemingly unable to wait any longer as she equipped forks and knives in both hands.

For Dorothea like that, I cut the fish, shellfish, octopus legs, etc., into appropriate sizes and served them onto her side plate.

Gabriel, watching that sight from the side, stroked his chin and said.

“Like a father and daughter.”

“…Are you picking a fight right now?”

“No, it’s just a normal observation. Because you look like you’d be a good dad.”

Dorothea, who was holding out her plate, teased.

“Heh heh, are you sulking at being called old?”

“It’s not like that.”

Having something that pricked my conscience, I vaguely mumbled something and turned my head.

Honestly, comparing Dorothea’s and my appearance is unfair because Dorothea’s body’s growth stopped at age 17 due to the witch’s secret art.

Meanwhile, I have the body of someone in their late twenties.

Moreover, the person herself said it without any malice, so the damage was even greater.

Anyway, we thus ate the seafood barbecue and drank beer, having a happy mealtime.

“Cheers!”

Each other’s wooden mugs clinked.

As a result, the golden liquid inside sloshed and mixed into each other’s mugs.

I chew and eat the palm-sized, unknown fish from the head.

Usually, fish with thick bones should have their meat picked off, but this one seems to be a fish meant to be eaten whole.

Seasoned only with salt and grilled over fire, the meat was savory and nutty, and I felt like I could eat several if it was this.

Then, I wash down the fish oil lingering in my mouth with cold beer.

“Keeeuh! This is the taste!”

The delicacies I couldn’t eat in the Nidaros Royal Castle melted away like snow in my mind.

Fancy prepared meals are good, but eating local food in this way isn’t bad either.

That is precisely the charm of travel.

“Indeed, after eating only meat, eating fish feels refreshing.”

Dorothea, the drinker, closed her eyes tightly as if moved and savored the taste.

If it were her usual style, she would have been gobbling down food and alcohol, but just for today, it seems she didn’t want to.

Camilla and Sophia were each tearing off a piece of a large octopus leg, but considering it was their first time eating it, their expressions weren’t bad.

While each was savoring the food in their own style.

Gabriel, who was eating three servings of food and beer alone, asked.

“By the way, after eating, what are we going to do now? Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“I don’t think so. Do you have any recommendations?”

Then, Gabriel nodded while eating a scallop skewer.

“Speaking of Nidaros’ specialties, of course, there’s nothing but the Underground Auction House and the casino.”

“Oh. The Underground Auction House.”

I’ve heard of it before.

A huge auction symbolizing Nidaros, the city of capitalism created by dwarves, where all things in this world are bought and sold.

“If you happen to have something you want to buy, or something you want to sell, visiting it once wouldn’t be bad.”

I nodded and asked the other companions who were busy eating.

“What do you guys think?”

Then, Dorothea answered, her cheeks puffed out like a squirrel.

“I agree.”

In succession, Camilla also said.

“I also have no objections.”

As for Sophia, the last one, instead of answering, she gave a slight nod to signify her agreement.

Anyway, since the vote ended in an instant, I looked back at Gabriel.

“By majority rule, it seems okay to go to the auction house?”

“Great. Then, after the meal ends, let’s go to the Underground Auction House.”

Gabriel said that, holding her empty mug in her right hand, raised it above her head, and called the waitress’s name.

“Mary! Over here! Refill my beer!”

---

“Burp!”

“Ugh, how disgusting.”

Despite Dorothea’s scolding, I nonchalantly pretended not to hear and walked away.

Currently, we were moving from the restaurant to the Underground Auction House, following Gabriel’s guidance.

The casino also piqued my interest a bit, but going there and wasting money seemed much more expensive than impulsively buying things at the auction.

“This is the entrance to the Underground Auction House.”

Saying that, where Gabriel stopped was a large staircase leading down underground.

The atmosphere was like the entrance to some dungeon, but it was clearly a public facility of the city, so numerous people were going up and down the stairs.

Originally, dwarves were a race that lived underground, so they tend to prefer creating large underground spaces in this way.

This is all thanks to architectural skills incomparable to humans’, and the feeling of actually visiting the Underground Auction House, which I had only heard about, was quite novel.

Perhaps because sunlight doesn’t reach it as it’s underground, luminous stones are embedded at regular intervals on the high ceiling.

Considering how incredibly expensive just one of those is, this space itself is literally a product of throwing money around.

As we headed towards the auction house’s front desk with Gabriel, who volunteered as a tour guide, one of the people inside startled and rushed out.

“Gabriel-nim! For what reason have you visited today?!”

“Ah, I came nearby and had some business, so I stopped by. My friends wanted to look around the facilities here.”

Gabriel said that, pointing at us, and the employee immediately greeted us too.

“Greetings! My name is Daedalus!”

It’s good that he’s so disciplined, but really, I don’t want to attract attention in this way.

Perhaps sensing my troubled expression, Gabriel spoke first.

“I want to watch the auction happening today, do you have any available rooms?”

Then, the employee named Daedalus immediately raised his head.

“Of course! You are a VVIP of our main branch, Gabriel-nim, so even if there are no rooms, we must make one!”

“Please wait a moment!”

The man said that and immediately went into a room behind the front desk.

He came out about 3 minutes later.

“Here is the room key. You can go to room 203.”

“Thanks.”

“If you need room service, please call us anytime.”

The man said that and treated us with an extremely respectful attitude until we left the front desk.

I asked, following Gabriel, while moving to room 203.

“How often have you frequented this auction house to receive such treatment?”

“I haven’t visited often, perhaps more than you think? It’s because the amount spent is large every time I visit.”

Replying nonchalantly, Gabriel, who was walking, stopped in front of a door painted red.

The nameplate says room 203.

“Click!”

“Let’s go inside.”

Following her, who looked familiar, as we went inside, I understood what a VIP room meant.

Unlike the general participants sitting crammed together in chairs, the VIPs in this room had a structure where they could leisurely participate in the auction while sitting on the terrace.

What kind of social stratification is this.

It’s a structure that literally shows the extremes of capitalism.

“Sometimes useful items are put up for auction at this auction house. When I want to buy things like that, I’ve visited often.”

Unlike the Dwarves, who thought of her as an arch-enemy, Gabriel must be a big spender to the auction house owner.

Everyone knows dragons like treasure, so…

“This is the catalog for today’s auction. The order of proceedings and brief descriptions about the items are written, so it would be good to read it.”

“Let’s see…”

I unfolded the catalog she handed me wide, as if it were a newspaper, and checked it.

Indeed, living up to the reputation of the Underground Auction House for selling everything except the non-existent, the items being traded just for today numbered over dozens.

Various artworks, weapons, jewels or artifacts, even animals or slaves, they didn’t discriminate by type.

Anyway, since I didn’t really intend to buy much, as I was roughly scanning through the list of items written in the catalog, I suddenly paused.

“Philosopher’s Stone?”

It’s a legendary gem that only mages who reached the pinnacle of alchemy can create.

My necklace, Unlimited Power, which I wear, was originally an artifact made by transmuting the Philosopher’s Stone, so…

Even considering the entire Western Continent, it seems unlikely that more than a few exist, so for such a precious item to appear at the auction like this!

It’s said that when you go, it’s market day, looks like I got lucky.

I decided to aim only for the Philosopher’s Stone, without giving any attention to the other items.

“I don’t know who the original owner is, but I hit the jackpot.”

Thus, having decided to overspend today, I asked Camilla beside me.

“Is there anything you want? I’ll buy you one at a time like this.”

Then, Camilla shook her head back and forth.

“I’m fine. Please don’t worry too much about me.”

Should I say this is typical of Camilla? Perhaps because she doesn’t have much desire for material possessions, she immediately refused my offer.

I thought I should buy and gift a suitable accessory if one appeared during the auction, and after hearing the bell signaling the start of the auction, I headed towards the VIP room’s terrace.