CHAPTER 119: AN UPRISING EMERGENCY-3

"Eleven hundred gold coins," the voice from Lounge 9 called out again.

"Here we go again," Chloe sighed, turning toward Azhriel with a teasing smirk.

Without hesitation, Azhriel raised his hand. "Fifteen hundred gold coins."

The sudden jump made several people glance toward his lounge, curious about who was bold enough to bid like that.

Sydelle arched an eyebrow but said nothing, her sharp eyes narrowing as if trying to read his thoughts.

"Sixteen hundred golds," came the calm yet slightly annoyed voice of the leader from Lounge 9.

"Two thousand gold," Azhriel said smoothly, resting his chin on his hand as though he were merely passing the time.

Sydelle let out a small breath. "Guess you really want this one, huh," she muttered under her breath, though her gaze said she understood what Azhriel was actually doing.

Inside Lounge 9, the tension was thick. The servants didn’t even dare to step inside.

The man sitting in the middle—Lord Kerip—suddenly laughed. His deep chuckle made the other two in the room exchange uneasy looks.

"Ah... Lord Kerip?" the man to his right said carefully, unsure if his leader had lost it.

"What is it, sir? Why are you laughing?" the one on his left asked, his yellow hair catching the dim light.

Kerip leaned back with a wide grin. "I’m laughing because I’m about to make that bastard pay—double—for every coin he’s spent."

"Ohh, as expected of our great lord!" the man on the right said immediately, though it was clear he didn’t fully understand what was happening.

The one on the left frowned. "How do you plan to do that, my lord?"

Kerip’s grin deepened. "Simple. I’ll beat him in his own game. Watch and learn."

He raised his voice. "Two thousand five hundred gold!"

"Three thousand," Azhriel answered immediately.

"Five thousand golds," Kerip fired back.

"Ten thousand," Azhriel said, his tone as calm as ever.

The entire hall went silent for a heartbeat.

The host blinked in surprise, stammering as he spoke. "W-We have ten thousand golds! My, what bold bidders we have today!"

"Twenty thousand golds!" Kerip raised it again, slamming his hand on the armrest.

"L-Lord, if we keep this up, we won’t have anything left for the Map of Fog Ruins!" the yellow-haired one said nervously.

"Don’t worry, Oluk. I know what I’m doing," Kerip said coldly. "And even if we run out of money... we can just take it back later. Kill them, and no one will ever know."

"Thirty thousand," Azhriel raised again without hesitation.

"Thirty... thousand?" Raymond turned to him, eyes wide. "Azhriel, what are you doing, buddy? How are you even going to pay that much? I’m not doubting you, but thirty thousand gold is no joke."

"Yeah, man," Samuel added. "We’d help if you needed, but even we don’t have that much to lend."

Azhriel smiled slightly. "Thanks, but I won’t need it."

He looked back at the stage. "Fifty thousand gold."

The host nearly dropped his mic. "F-Fifty thousand! We have fifty thousand gold for the land!"

Gasps rippled through the audience. People leaned forward, whispering in disbelief.

"Fifty-five thousand!" Kerip shouted again, his voice almost breaking with strain.

The hall went silent. Everyone waited for the next move.

But Azhriel didn’t speak. He just sat there, calm as ever, one leg crossed over the other.

Kerip smirked, thinking he had won. "Hmph. Finally ran out of coins, did you?"

The host began counting, "Fifty-five thousand one... Fifty-five thousand two..."

"Sixty thousand," Azhriel said suddenly, his tone light—almost amused.

The host’s eyes widened. "Sixty thousand gold! We have sixty thousand gold!"

Inside Lounge 9, Kerip froze. His hand trembled slightly as he almost realized he’d been baited all along.

"Haa..." he exhaled, forcing a smirk. "Fine. Let him waste his gold. He’ll regret it soon enough."

"Sixty thousand three... sold!" The host slammed the gavel down, his voice filled with excitement.

Applause erupted across the hall, though most were still stunned at the sheer amount spent.

Meanwhile, Azhriel leaned back in his seat, a quiet smile on his lips.

He could already imagine the look on Kerip’s face.

’He thinks I’ve gone broke,’ Azhriel thought, his eyes faintly glinting. ’But no one even realizes what that land truly holds.’

Azhriel stood from his seat, fixing the fingers of his gloves with a calm, practiced motion.

"I’ll be back in a minute," he said, his tone casual but leaving no room for questions. Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked out of the lounge, his steps quiet but steady.

*****

"How very sly."

Sydelle’s voice broke the short silence that followed his departure. A faint smirk played on her lips as her viridian eyes gleamed with knowing sharpness.

"What are you talking about?" Arianne asked, tilting her head.

Sydelle rested her elbow on the armrest and her chin against her palm. "About our mysterious boy, of course."

That immediately caught everyone’s attention.

"What about him?" Arianne pressed.

Sydelle’s smile deepened slightly. "That bid just now. I’m fairly certain Azhriel’s real reason for coming to this auction was for that property."

Nyverra crossed her arms, intrigued. "Oh? And how can you be so sure?"

"You see," Sydelle began, her tone calm and confident, "from the very start of that bidding round, Azhriel played his strategy perfectly. The moment the first price was announced, he raised it by a large amount right away—and then kept raising it in big jumps after that."

She glanced toward the stage where the host was already preparing for the next item.

"That kind of behavior tells everyone in the room one thing—that he wants that item badly. He made it look like he was desperate for it."

Everyone listened quietly now, even Kevin, who had leaned slightly forward.

"So when the people in Lounge 9 noticed, they took the bait. They assumed he’d go all in for it and started bidding aggressively to drive the price up."

Sydelle paused for a second, then continued. "And once the bid reached its peak, Azhriel stayed silent—just long enough to make it seem like he was hesitating, like he’d finally reached his limit."

"That hesitation would’ve made the other side panic, thinking they were about to win—and have to actually pay the full price themselves."

A faint smile curved her lips again. "So, they stopped right where he wanted them to. He delayed his final bid on purpose, and when he finally raised it again, he made sure it was a blow they couldn’t answer. By then, they’d already fallen into his rhythm completely."

Everyone in the room went quiet, processing her explanation.

Kevin let out a low whistle. "Damn. That’s... actually pretty smart."

Chloe laughed lightly. "Smart? That’s downright terrifying."

"More like brilliant," Nyverra said softly, her amethyst eyes glimmering.

Sydelle leaned back in her chair, looking satisfied. "He made them think they were the ones bleeding him dry, when in reality... it was all part of his plan."

And she was absolutely right.

******

On the academy grounds, a different scene was taking place.

Crash.

A boy flew through the air and slammed hard into the wall. His back hit it with a heavy thud before he slid down onto the grass.

Blood dripped from his mouth as his vision blurred from the painful impact.

Before he could even take a breath, several kicks struck his body one after another.

"Ahh!" he cried out, but no one stopped.

"That’s the price you pay for saying that name in front of me again," a cold voice said. It was David — the same cadet who had bullied Azhriel before.

"Yeah, you idiot! How dare you mention that bastard’s name in front of us!" one of David’s lackeys shouted.

"I–I’m s-sorry..." the boy gasped between shaky breaths.

"Sorry? You think a damn sorry can calm me down, you stupid freak?" David growled, before punching him again — this time right in the stomach.

Air wheezed out of the boys lungs as the impact made his body flew in air. A cracking sound echoed as the boy’s ribs were broken.

"Enough. How about you stop, Cadet David."

A calm but sharp voice cut through the night, halting everything in an instant.

"Instructor Rodrick." David said.

******

I don’t know why but this Chapter was strangely hard to write, i mean yeah i was high on caffeine and had pulled an all nighter for my uni assignment but it was just very different for this one.

Though, enough rambling if you have any problem with this chap you can ask me. And why I didn’t write all this in Author’s Thought, it’s cuz mf never read it.

So, that it have a nice day oh, Chapter will be regular from now on.