Legacy of the Dark Sage

One after another, the crowd waiting outside the tent entered. The combat mages assisted them as instructed by the Crepuscule representative.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Leif could not help but mutter as she watched the crowd stream inside the tent.

"Hm..." Alta agreed with a slight nod.

Kyran remained silent. His expression was also unreadable, and they could not guess his thoughts.

Except for Cyneah.

Cyneah said nothing, but she tugged Kyran's sleeves as if to get his attention.

Feeling the tug on his sleeves, Kyran looked at Cyneah and plastered on a calm smile, "Let's go in."

"Will it be fine?" Mira also voiced her doubt. "Just as the others said, there are no magic fluctuations or Array formations around the tent, so..."

"Array formations don't necessarily have to be visible to the naked eye," Kyran explained. "Moreover, there are formulas that can help hide and contain magic fluctuations."

Mira frowned and looked at Kyran, "I don't remember reading anything about that."

"I may have some reservations about Null's overall capabilities, but not in Array," Alta said, looking at Mira. "We can trust his words."

"..."

"..."

"...Thanks, I guess," Kyran replied before taking Cyneah's hand and escorted her toward the tent. "The crowd might be blocking our conversation, but try to keep it to a minimum."

The others followed behind them.

"I think it is best to converse now and then," Leif pointed. "If we don't take at all, we will appear more suspicious."

"That's why I said keep it to a minimum," Kyran repeated with a deadpan expression.

"..Ack! F-Fine!"

Cyneah chuckled at Leif's embarrassed retort.

"To be honest, I haven't sensed the observers since arriving here," Alta said, furtively checking their surroundings. "It's either because there is no need to observe us since we're walking right into their territory, or the opposite, we are walking right into another territory they can't mess with."

"Yes," Kyran nodded in agreement. "But the observers are still around. It is feint, but they are here and blend well with the crowd. Right now, the noise around them makes it hard for them to eavesdrop on us properly, but I can feel them watching."

Alta tried not to furrow her brows in response to Kyran's statement. She did not believe he had better detection abilities than her, but it might be possible if she included the fact that he had dragon blood running in his veins.

A dragon's senses are far higher than any of the beings in the Higher Realm. No. That was not entirely correct. Their senses were among the superior ones, even during The Realm era.

"If they are around and are not fazed by the presence of the Crepuscule members, then..." Mira looked toward Kyran, observing his reaction. Unfortunately, he retained his deadpan expression, making it hard to read his thoughts. Fortunately, he did supply the things she did not say.

"Chances that those observers are part of the Crepuscule Clan is higher."

"I agree."

"It does make sense."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Alta and Leif also agreed.

"Once we're inside, please keep your thoughts to yourselves. However, if you needed to say something important, you know what to do."

"Okay."

"Will do just that."

"Fine."

After a while, they were also escorted inside the tent.

The inside of the tent was different from what was expected. Rather than appearing shabby, with the ground floor and a stage at the center with bleachers for the attendees, the interior looked like a real auction house, with sold walls filled with expensive paintings and marbled floors with fine red carpet.

There was a proper reception and two stairs leading upstairs, likely to the entrance to the gallery.

"Welcome to the open auction."

Another Crespuscule member, a male mage in human form with similar fox ears and three tails, greeted Kyran and his group. He stood respectfully from the reception and checked a tablet on the counter.

"You are Null, correct?" he added, checking something from the tablet.

Kyran nodded. He was not surprised at being recognized by the receptionist because he found a scanning array that scanned their features when they entered. The others also sensed it because they felt their clothes react, ensuring their original features were protected.

Cyneah, Alta, and Leif were not alarmed by their clothes reacting to the scanning array. They reckoned that if Kyran did not say anything, they could pass without problems.

Mira was the only one who felt slightly nervous. But Alta's confident declaration of Kyran's Array knowledge helped her regain her wits.

"You have submitted quite a few items for the open auction," the Crepuscule receptionist continued while looking at the tablet again.

"That's right," Kyran replied, leading his group closer to the counter. "Do I surrender the items before entering?"

"We can do that after you make yourselves comfortable in your private room."

"...Alright."

"Then," the Crepuscule receptionist gestured toward his right, where another one of them appeared out of nowhere. This one seemed to be a young fox with youthful looks and somewhat innocent air. "Please follow Marigold. She will guide you to your private room."

"Thank you."

"P-Please follow me," the young fox greeted them and gestured toward the stairs.

"I-I will be your personal guide in today's open auction. P-Please do not hesitate to ask for anything you r-require. I will t-try to provide it."

The young fox's stuttering made Kyran remember Cyneah during their first meeting, and he instinctively turned to look at her. She rarely stuttered around him now, and he admitted to missing it a bit because she only talked like that when she was feeling embarrassed.

As if reading Kyran's thoughts, Cyneah tightened her hand around his with a frown.

Kyran stopped himself from chuckling at her reaction.

"Do you know who will come and check our items?" Leif was the first one to ask Marigold a question.

Marigold tilted her head slightly, seemingly trying to recall who was assigned to her guests.

"Uhm... I-I'm sorry, they say the vice head will check them since most of your items are Alchemy items."

"Vice head?" Leif stopped herself from frowning at that information.

To be honest, they did not want any of the executives near them at this early stage of the game. This was because an executive could make decisions without checking with others. If the vice head realized how good Kyran's potions and pills were, he would inform Estrid and have her come and check it.

"Y-Yes," Marigold replied. "Because most of your items involved Alchemy, t-the vice head, being an Alchemist himself, is the best one to check the value of your items."

Alta furrowed her brows after hearing Marigold. She then looked toward Kyran, who, even with his emotionless expression, seemed to show some concern.

The reason behind their reaction was because the information they had from the Ogen members staying in the outer city was that none of the auction house executives were proficient in Alchemy. They did have an Venerate Alchemist among their ranks, but he was not an executive.

Initially, they expected that Alchemist to be the one checking their items. But they did not expect there was actually an executive with Alchemy knowledge.

Marigold sensed the air around them turned stiff and she looked at them in concern, "I-Is there a problem?"

"No," Cyneah was the one who answered.

Marigold looked at her and only then noticed Cyneah's mirror-like eyes. She gaped at her, seemingly mesmerized by her eyes and beauty, before muttering, "S-So pretty..."

But then she stopped short, realizing what she had just said, and she immediately said, "I-I'm sorry."

Cyneah smiled and shook her head, "There is no reason to apologize."

"B-But, t-the Mistress said it is rude to blurt how pretty someone is right in front of them."

"It would only be rude if the other party felt offended," Cyneah replied. "I am not offended. Instead..." she smiled wryly, "I'm a little embarrassed."

"Y-You don't have to feel embarrassed! Y-You look very p-pretty. Especially your eyes..."

"Thank you."

The two continued talking, with Marigold forgetting the stiff atmosphere she noticed earlier.

Kyran was grateful for Cyneah's diversion.

Marigold was only a Sovereign and a pretty weak one, so she did not notice Cyneah spreading her Soul magic's influence on her. This was how her focus was diverted toward Cyneah's pretty eyes.

Kyran signaled the others not to say anything else with his eyes.

The others gave their consent with a slight nod.

They arrived at their private room after walking for about ten minutes. Marigold offered them drinks and food while she sorted the items they would put up for auction.

After fifteen minutes, a knock came from the door, and a male voice came from behind.

"Please excuse me," the voice said before opening the door and showing himself in without waiting for Kyran and his group's response.

"I am Reynard and the Vice Head of the Auction House."

A male fox, in human form, dressed in a long gold robe, greeted. He had long red hair, golden-slitted eyes, and fox ears. As for his tails, unlike the ones Kyran and his group saw earlier, Reynard had five tails. This obviously meant his status in the Crespuscule was higher, and he likely belonged to the generation after the older one.

"There is only an hour left before the start of the auction, so allow me to look at and evaluate your items."

"Please," Kyran replied, gesturing toward the table where he laid out the potions and pills with Marigold's assistance.

Reynard looked at him and smiled before approaching the table.