“Well... maybe.”
In response to Felina’s clearly suggestive remarks, Violet could only smile without confirming or denying and chose not to continue the conversation.
After that, the auction continued.
Although there were a few items in the upcoming lots that piqued Violet’s interest based on their names, unfortunately, upon closer inspection, they turned out to be either ordinary or things Violet couldn’t comprehend but could reasonably assume were useless to her.
However, the last item hidden away for the climax of the auction surprised her a bit. It turned out to be a hatchable Earth Magic Dragon egg.
The Earth Magic Dragon was said to be a second-generation descendant born from the crossbreeding of the Basalt Dragon and another magical beast, with a blood purity exceeding 50%. It surpassed Earth Dragons, belonging to the more rare and powerful pseudo-dragon species.
Typically, an Earth Magic Dragon would reach at least 5th rank upon maturity, equivalent to the so-called legendary status. Moreover, the frontal combat capability of a large 5th-rank magical beast was generally stronger than the legendary status of ordinary humanoid creatures, unless the latter possessed some exceptionally powerful weapons or equipment.
Although Earth Magic Dragons were hard to tame due to their untamed nature and had enormous appetites, taking several decades from hatching to adulthood, if successfully raised and gained loyalty, the benefits were evident. They could even become a cornerstone for a significant family.
After all, even in powerful nations like the Human United Kingdom and the Feathered Kingdom, where they could count on the world’s top national strength, the number of residents who were legendary was limited to a handful.
The fact that the Winged people could bring out this dragon egg for auction instead of hatching it themselves made Violet speculate that, on one hand, it was well-known that Earth Magic Dragons were challenging to raise and train. On the other hand, it might be related to the awkward situation the Earth Magic Dragon faced in the living environment of the Azure Sky Kingdom, where it couldn’t fly.
In the end, the dragon egg was sold for the astronomical price of 20 million gold coins, purchased by the occupants of Room 76, the three beastmen from the Beastman Kingdom. It’s highly likely that their primary objective in attending the auction was to acquire this Earth Magic Dragon egg. No wonder they chose to concede in the bidding war against Violet.
After the successful conclusion of the auction, it was already late in the night, past 10 PM. As the buyers of the auctioned items, Violet and her companions, after a short wait, were led by Duoduo to the backstage to settle the auction gold payment and collect their purchased items.
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To ensure customer privacy, transactions were carried out independently and privately. When Violet, accompanied by Duoduo, returned to the corridor where they came from and entered a certain room, they found another Winged being inside along with several auctioned items neatly arranged on a table.
Little Dragon wasn’t interested in anything, while Violet purchased a few bottles of potions and the aforementioned wordless book. Felina spent the most, acquiring a high-quality purple-grade armor and a necklace-like magical item, also of purple-grade quality, for an additional 3 million gold coins.
These were among the highest-quality items in the entire auction, and their final selling prices were seldom matched. When Felina casually spent another three million, Violet internally joked about how this seemingly upright person turned out to be so wealthy behind the scenes.
“Madam, they have arrived.”
“Mm.”
After Duoduo led them into the room and greeted the Winged lady dressed in a palace gown with a mask similar to Little Ink’s, she quietly exited and closed the door behind her.
The woman, who had been facing away from Violet’s group, slowly turned around, giving them a somewhat ambiguous greeting.
“Three ladies, I didn’t expect to meet again so soon.”
Hmm? This voice...
Miss Priestess felt a stir in her heart.
The mask worn by the woman should also be a magical item with effects like concealing one’s aura. Although it might not be as effective as the golden-grade 【Cognitive Obstruction Mask】, without Violet deliberately probing, she didn’t notice any issues at first.
However, as soon as she spoke, the mask’s effect was evidently greatly diminished. Even Fiora, who had relatively weaker abilities, immediately caught on, showing a surprised yet not entirely unexpected expression.
“Are you... Lady Hilda Kulk?”
Hilda smiled slightly, took off the white mask on her face, revealing her gentle and mature exquisite beauty.
“Yes, it’s me. I didn’t expect to meet you here, Lady Felina Trollope, and... Miss Violet and Miss Xiao Guang, right?”
“Hehe, indeed, we are acquaintances. We just met this morning, so let’s not talk about not seeing each other for a long time. Good evening, Lady Hilda.”
Violet waved with a smile, while Little Dragon nodded slightly with a rather indifferent expression, and Hilda seemed unperturbed.
Looking at this easily approachable and trustworthy gentle face, Miss Priestess couldn’t help but think to herself.
Indeed, it’s her... One of the right-hand figures under the Feathered Emperor, a legendary powerhouse affiliated with the 【Wings of Freedom】, and also the person in charge of hosting the delegation from the Human United Kingdom.
In fact, upon hearing that 【Fragrant Residence】 was backed by the 【Wings of Freedom】, and after arriving here and discovering that even the attendants were the rare Winged beings from the outside world, Violet had been thinking that this place was most likely directly related to the Feathered Emperor.
Since even the Hilda of the [Four Wings] has appeared here, this speculation can be considered basically confirmed.
However, the question that Violet never asked was naturally asked by Felina, the head of the United Kingdom delegation.
Or rather, it could be called asking a question with a known answer.
“Since Lady Hilda is here, does that mean that the [Fragrant Auction House] is actually an organization under the [Wings of Freedom]? In what capacity are you appearing before us now? As a merchant? Is this auction at the behest of the Feathered Emperor?”
Hilda smiled and responded with a question.
“So, Lady Felina and the two of you, what position do you come here with tonight? Envoys of the Human United Kingdom?”
“...”
Adjusting the hat on her head, Felina fell silent for a moment and shook her head helplessly.
“Well, Lady Hilda is indeed impressive. She doesn’t leak a drop of water, and I admit defeat.”
The winged lady, on the other hand, laughed lightly, covering her mouth.
“Hehe, where, where, Lady Felina is still meticulous, wise, and has a broad view of the overall situation, understanding some clever arguments. I, on the other hand, only know a few tricks of sophistry.”
On the side, watching these two women exchange mysterious words with each other, the dragon lady tilted her head and quietly approached Violet’s ear.
“Master, what are they talking about? Why do I understand every word, but when they come together, I completely don’t understand the meaning? Did the translation artifact break?”
“Cough...”
Violet also didn’t know how to respond.
Should she describe these two as having a very close personal relationship, being unconcerned about trivial matters, or should she portray them as confrontational, always ready to catch each other’s small flaws in times like these?
In any case,
“Listen, kids shouldn’t try to understand, you’ll learn bad habits.”
“I’m over three hundred years old, not a young dragon anymore, really, Master... well, it seems like they’re done.”
After neither party gained any advantage, the two envoys representing the Human United Kingdom and the Azure Sky Kingdom, tacitly refrained from further entanglement.
Hilda stepped aside, allowing the items on the display table to be seen clearly.
“Alright, no more nonsense. These are the auction items bought by the three of you: a set of 【Magic Potion Combination Pack】, 【Sakura Court Soft Armor】, 【Book Without Words】, and 【Thorned Love】, totaling 5,507,000 gold coins. Let’s round it down to 5,500,000. How would you like to pay?”
“Of course, we’ll pay directly with magic crystals. According to your country’s exchange rate, 5,500,000 gold coins is exactly 550 third-tier magic source crystals, right? That’s the correct ratio, isn’t it?”
Felina reached into her ring, one by one pulling out five sacks filled with something hard, each about the size of a human head. Without waiting for Violet to speak, she continued to take out a money pouch roughly half the size of the previous ones, placing them all on the display table.
“Do you need us to count it?”