Chapter 60

Chapter 21. Tesing Underground Auction (3)

"Ten."

One hundred gold coins.

This was Jin's bid. It was neither too high nor too low for the initial bid on the ancient magic book. Nevertheless, the other mages participating in the auction inwardly regarded Jin as crazy.

'He's going to spend a hundred on that?'

Some mages were purely curious. After all, this was the first magic book Jin, who hadn't bid once in the past week, was trying to buy.

"150."

"150, we have a bid!"

Someone raised the price and called out. His attitude wasn't serious; he was grinning at Jin.

He was mocking Jin. The foolish desire to buy an unknown magic book to make a fortune or achieve great success. This was a common sight in the magic book auction.

Jin ignored the person and called out the next price.

"170."

If it were his first life, he might have bid a thousand or two thousand to show off his wealth and crush the provocateur's pride.

But now, he was a seasoned man who knew that drawing attention at this moment would not be beneficial.

"Any more bids? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Sold."

The magic book was handed over to Jin.

Murakan calmly flipped through the book, then grabbed Jin's hand under the chair.

'Kid, this is a historic windfall.'

This great black dragon is not a fool who only knows about mana. He can cast many spells like other dragons, and his magic level in his prime was above 9th tier.

If Murakan is this excited, the magic in the book must be on par with Oh Henserk's legacy.

Moreover, Jin's luck didn't end there.

"Next, the twenty-fifth item. It's something left by a mage named 'Shujel Hister.' Start bidding!"

Hister.

When Jin first visited Marmite's tavern, this was the name he inquired about from the owner. Upon hearing the surname, Jin doubted his own ears.

Hister is the name of the family to which his magic teacher belonged. Officially, the family was completely wiped out hundreds of years ago.

"200."

When Jin called out the price again, the mages began to murmur. They all thought Jin must have something, but they also thought he was foolish for only picking the good stuff.

"200, any more bids?"

The magic book of Shujel Hister was quickly sold.

"Why? Kid, is this another hunch?"

"Just in case, if I only buy one, people might look at me strangely. I have a good feeling about it."

Murakan, who checked the book as soon as it was in his hands, shook his head after a minute. However, Jin, who examined it alongside him, found it hard to calm his racing heart.

"It's just a mediocre magic book with a strange and crude encryption system."

It's natural that Murakan didn't recognize it.

The strange and crude encryption system, as far as Jin knew, was known by only two people in the world: himself and his teacher. Since Jin learned it from his teacher, this 'Shujel Hister' must be his teacher's ancestor.

Seeing the familiar encryption brought a lump to Jin's throat. Managing to keep his composure, Jin patiently watched the rest of the auction. No other items worth buying appeared.

The night in Tesing was over. After the auction, participants either stayed to enjoy the festivities or left immediately.

Jin was always the latter, but today he needed to stay at the auction house.

"Jett."

"Yes, sir."

"I need to meet Alu the Spider Hand."

The clouds immediately darkened on Jett's face, who always just said "I know" in response.

"Well... sir, that's difficult. Even if you're a customer, it's impossible to meet Alu. Introducing you to Salkar is the best I can do. If you must meet him, you'll need to give me a few days."

"Tell Alu that Veradin Jip wants to see him."

Jett's eyes bulged as if they would pop out.

V, Veradin Jip, you say? Jin covered Jett's mouth before he could ask.

"Do you understand?"

Jett blinked to answer.

'Oh, my! These people are not just members of the Viment Special Task Force... they are members of the Jip!'

Cold sweat poured down his body. No matter how notorious the Viment Special Task Force was, it couldn't compare to the Jip in the Lutero Magic Federation.

If someone else had introduced Jin as Veradin Jip, Jett would have laughed and cursed. But the person was different. Jin and his companions were extraordinary in Jett's eyes.

Moreover, those who had lived in the Lutero Magic Federation for a long time would never even think of impersonating the Jip.

Jett's mind began to race.

'I was wrong. I was completely wrong. Not the Viment Special Task Force, but the pure-blooded Jip! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'

Five minutes ago, when he assumed they were part of the special task force, becoming their informant was Jett's ultimate goal. That way, he could save his life and, by showing continued loyalty, gain more benefits than in Tesing.

Compared to the opportunity to become a lackey of the Jip?

For the commoners of the Lutero Magic Federation, there is no greater success than becoming a part of the Jip. When Jin let go, Jett left with a determined look.

Jett quickly passed through a few officers and entered one of the auction house's side doors.

"Ah, I don't know. It'll work out somehow."

Murakan shrugged, but his eyes betrayed a subtle hope for a fight. Gillian sighed deeply, pressing her forehead.

Impersonating the Jip.

Whether it works with Alu or not, Gillian had a more pressing concern.

'If this gets to the ears of the family, especially the head of the family... the young master will never survive.'

It would be unprecedented in the family's thousand-year history.

That's not all. The Jip would undoubtedly be determined to catch the impersonator. Lies are bound to be exposed eventually, and the consequences of being caught are unimaginable.

On the other hand, she was amazed that the young master could pull off such a grand deception so casually.

The out-of-place violin melody played aimlessly. As the feeling of time dragging on grew stronger, a different member of the organization found the three instead of Jett.

"You're Veradin?"

Smack!

Before anyone could stop him, Jin slapped the man's cheek. Instantly, the attention of the remaining people was drawn to them.

"Are you Alu?"

It's not Alu. Jin asked anyway, even though he recognized the man's face. The organization member, with a perplexed look, couldn't fight back.

If this brash kid was really Veradin Jip, Tesing could be wiped out in a day.

"No. The boss sent me to bring you three."

Smack! Jin slapped him again. The organization member, who had been hesitant, immediately bowed deeply.

So far, everything was going according to plan.

"Tell him to come himself. I revealed my name, yet he dares to send someone?"

Whoosh!

A bright red fireball formed in Jin's right hand. His mask glowed black in the fireball's light.

Clearly, it was a 5th tier or higher magic.

Anyone can claim to be the Jip, but for a young boy to cast such powerful magic and claim to be the Jip, it would be difficult if he wasn't the real deal.

"I'm sorry, I'll inform the boss immediately."

Other organization members, sensing the mood, quickly escorted the remaining guests out. The man who had been slapped also hurried away, but Jin wasn't satisfied and added one more line.

"Tell your arrogant boss to crawl here. Since he missed the first chance, he deserves this punishment."

Jin, who extinguished his magic, looked around. The guests were already gone, and the remaining organization members looked awkward.

They had all heard Jin's words clearly. If the boss really crawled in, they would have to crawl too.

About five minutes later.

Alu the Spider Hand was indeed crawling to Jin. The sight of a heavy-set middle-aged man crawling was not pleasant. Alu's eyes were filled with mixed emotions.

A group of subordinates accompanied him, and Jett was among them.

Jett, who had mentioned the name 'Veradin Jip' and been dismissed as nonsense and beaten, had a bruised face.

The other organization members, who had been standing awkwardly, quickly pressed their bodies to the ground.

'The name Jip is indeed terrifying. He seems to have an aura of 7th tier, yet he crawled without even checking?'

If things went this way, the rest would be easy. After roughly interrogating Alu, he could pretend to inspect the warehouse and take the helmet.

But Alu was not an easy opponent. If he saw a weakness during their conversation, he would immediately attack the three.

Jin didn't say a word as Alu crawled to his feet. He acted as if such a domineering attitude was natural. In fact, he had also learned it in Runkandel.

"Stand up."

"I am Alu, who runs Tesing. I failed to recognize the great one who stands above this land. Please forgive me."

Standing, Alu was over 2 meters tall, making Jin feel like he was facing a wall. However, Alu kept his gaze lowered, unable to meet Jin's eyes.

Having dealt with Jip's subordinates before, he was now thinking he had encountered a pure-blooded Jip, a natural reaction.

"Stop the nonsense and look at this."

Jin threw the magic books of Chenmi and Shujel to Alu.

"What do you think of these?"

Alu, who opened the magic books, immediately turned pale.

"They are magic books. I apologize for trading ancient magic books without the Jip's permission."

"These two magic books I bought today are extremely rare even in our family. I can't even imagine how many magic books have been lost over the years."

"Lord Veradin. To be honest, I am a warrior. Due to my ignorance, I have disrespected the Jip by not recognizing the value of magic books. From now on, I will do my best to recover the already traded magic books. Please give me a chance."

"Will you recover them faster than our mages? Stop the nonsense and bring the ledger and customer list immediately. From tomorrow, the family will conduct the search directly."

As Jin skillfully lied, Alu realized there was no answer. If the Jip started the search, Tesing would be dismantled that day.

So Alu had this thought.

'Veradin Jip... Does the main family really know that this person is here?'

If not.

It might be better to eliminate him.