'She was not an Awakened…so even if she would have awoken by now, her rank would be lower than mine… so what am I thinking? If the woman behind the veil would have been my sister, she would have long since spoken to me.'
Even though Nial had faced an extremely weird situation just now and had been needlessly hopeful, he was not angry. On the contrary, he was confused about Kirlia Maverick's behavior, the fact that she tried to silence him in a not-so-harmless way just because he was being a little bit nosy.
He wasn't one to be nosy or rude under normal circumstances but Miranda was his master, and Kirlia was a childhood friend of his Master.
Usually, even if one was arrogant or known for acting violently, it should take a second or two for someone to decide that it was fine to nearly kill a childhood friend's disciple.
But Kirlia didn't hesitate even for a single moment. She released her strength in an instant and prevented him from asking any further questions. Her actions could be deemed as being overprotective of her disciple simply because the veiled woman was asked a question or one could take Kirlia's action as a sign of fear.
If it was the former, it was fine but even the protective instincts of a master wouldn't be able to act instinctively.
That was what Nial thought, which was also why he believed that somehow his question made Kirlia anxious about something.
Unfortunately, there was no time for him to ponder it further.
The female attendant for the Gier auction had just arrived and she was about to introduce herself and the first items that were sold at the auction.
That was why everyone returned to their designated seating areas.
Without further delay, the auction was started and the female attendant introduced herself. She was young and beautiful thus she attracted a lot of attention.
However, the young veiled woman couldn't help but turn her head to Nial, whose cheeks were red, clearly showing the beautiful imprint of the ground on his face.
'Why did my heart ache when I saw Master punishing him?'
The young woman was confused. She didn't know the young, blind man, but the question he asked before had confused her.
Even now, she had no idea why someone would ask her if she had been to Katu before.
She had always been in Liondra, as long as she could remember, at least.
'Have I been to Katu before?'
That question gave her a headache, but she was far more intrigued by the fact that something about the blind man seemed extremely familiar and as if she could trust him with her life.
It was a weird feeling, and something she had never felt before, at least not since she could remember…
"Focus on the auction! I've heard that the Gier auction this year is different than it has been during the last few years!"
Kirlia's voice reached her all of a sudden. She nearly flinched, exposing that she hadn't been paying attention to the announcement.
Her gaze turned toward the young and beautiful attendant once again.
"Is it because of the ancient ruin's dungeon that has been found in the Teradan military camp? I heard that the dungeon has finally been looted completely. They found many runic armaments and even more books about the creation of runic armaments.
But there were only a handful of books with some blueprints about either runic armaments, runic constellations, or the different runic solutions that can be used to achieve a higher potency with the runic constellations that get engraved.
Does someone intend to sell such manuals at the Gier auction?" Kirlia asked, her interest increasing.
While Kirlia spoke a lot, the veiled woman was silent. She merely eyed the people around her behind the veil.
Her master was strict and disciplined her harshly.
However, her teachings were exceptional and she learned a lot from them. That was why she always accepted her Master's orders, and tasks, without asking any unnecessary questions.
"Exactly three manuals will be sold…one for runic armament blueprints, one for runic constellations, and one for basic runic solutions, and our Organization intends to bid for all of them. We need them to advance even stronger. Our plan has to succeed!"
Kirlia's eyes gleamed whenever she spoke about their big plan. She never revealed the details but the veiled woman could tell that it was something important.
The veiled woman had never seen anyone else but her Master from the organization she belonged to. There were too many weird things revolving around the woman who called herself Kirlia Maverick.
Yet, until now, the veiled woman had never really cared about her intentions.
Only when she got a light headache upon seeing Nial did doubts bloom in the deepest parts of her consciousness; doubt about herself, and about her master.
Despite her doubts, the veiled woman remained quiet as she focused on the auction in front of her.
"Hello everyone, as I've already introduced myself, I, Vivienne Kurt, will now present the first object of this year's Gier auction!
The first object is far from simple. In fact, we have an extraordinary item to sell, an ancient manual that has been found in the ancient ruin's dungeon of the Teradan military camp.
Many brave men and women died procuring the first ancient manual that is about to be auctioned off.
Let me introduce you again to the ancient manual [Runiciers Path]!"
While many powerhouses started to gossip among each other and felt excited about the ancient manual that had appeared in front of them, Miranda, Nial, and Mathias could only smile wryly.
"Are you feeling fine, Nial?" Miranda asked out of nowhere. She hadn't asked before because he had looked fine to her.
But after taking a second glance at Nial, Miranda could tell that something was bothering him.
'Maybe I should figure out why he asked Kirlia's disciple that question?'
Yet, even before she could, Nial answered both the question she had asked and the one in her mind.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I am probably just a little bit confused because I mistook the veiled woman for someone I know from Katu…
Don't mind it, I'll be fine in no time." Nial referred to his well-being when he said that, not his confusion.
The veiled woman was still someone he was intrigued about and he had to get to know whether his inkling had been correct or not.
But that could wait for some time because the Gier auction was more important for them.
"This 'ancient' manual is already priced at 100,000,000$. I guess it will reach a few billion before these powerhouses stop increasing their bids, right?" He suddenly asked when hearing how high the bids had gone.
Miranda just nodded her head with a faint smile while Mathias couldn't help but shake his head before he got an idea.
In an instant, he became excited, feeling as if he had received both a birthday and a Christmas present at once.
"Don't we have the same one? We should start making copies and sell them too. That way we will be able to earn even more than by creating runic armaments!"
Mathias' voice was loud enough to be heard everywhere, under normal circumstances. Fortunately, Miranda had set up a small voice-isolation device because she knew that one of her two disciples would mess up a little bit.
She had already heard about the 'secret' intel that some ancient manuals from the ancient ruin's dungeon would be auctioned today.
Thus, she had made some preparations to be ready for every possible scenario they might face.
Thanks to that Mathias' outburst hadn't been heard and Nial was able to explain to his friend why it was not feasible for them to recreate any of the manuals that were sold at the Gier auction.
"If it were only about information, we could recreate them such as ordinary diaries or books that deliver information about simple procedures.
That would be possible to recreate. However, if we're talking about the blueprints and teaching materials for runic constellations, let alone runic armaments, we would be required to have a perfect understanding of each runic armament and constellation before we could copy them properly.
Even then it wouldn't be considered easy because there would still be complications if we interpret certain information differently. But then again, there are many ways leading to the correct answer, so different interpretations may as well lead to the same, correct result.
And for now, even I have only the most basic understanding of the runic constellations that I've engraved on the casted Black Iron weapons."
Mathias merely nodded his head at Nial's explanation. He didn't understand everything but he could tell that it would be quite difficult to copy the manuals for now.
It would also limit the fortune they would make in the long-term because the number of created runic armaments would increase manifold the more books available on learning how to create runic armaments would be out there.
Thus, Mathias quieted down and accepted Nial's reasoning before his attention returned back to the Gier auction.
It was quite boring because most items sold were not exactly helpful for them. Even if they found something even marginally useful, they couldn't afford them.
Their money was already spent before they sold the runic armaments, meaning that they had different plans with the money they would soon get their hands on.
However, this turned out to be quite problematic because the second half of the auction had far more treasures in store for them than they expected there to be.
"There is even Abyssal Steel, and an Earth Essence core…. Fuck it…"
From being overly bored, Mathias nearly jumped up from his chair at the sight of the two materials that had been unveiled in front of them. They were of exceptional use for both him and Nial.
But both friends could control themselves, knowing that the bidding price for them would be way too high for them to handle.
Yet, even after they worked hard to suppress their desire to purchase the goods, Mathias' entire confidence to ignore his temptation was shattered at the sight of the next item.
"I need that…"
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