The Herb King

Aethelwolf's group arrived at the Golden Dragon Auction House. There were already many people seated, waiting for the auction to start. Most of these people were rich merchants and nobles. Only a few of them were solitary experts.

Aethelwolf headed to the front row and took a seat. "Olivia, you can sit here." He said as he patted his lap.

"Okay." Olivia nodded her head and sat on his lap. She then gave him an adorable smile.

Julie Irish sat on the seat to his left, while Jade Kristine sat on the right seat next to him. The others also took their seats around Aethelwolf.

Olivia raised her head and looked at Aethelwolf as she asked. "Papa, when will the auction start?"

Aethelwolf stared at the time on his watch and replied. "Just a few more minutes. The seats are almost fully occupied so it should begin soon."

Olivia crossed her arms as she looked at the stage.

Suddenly, a familiar figure walked to the stage. It was Brian Linaza who dressed formally. After walking to the center of the stage, he smiled at the crowd and said. "Good morning, everyone! Thank you for visiting our Golden Dragon Auction House! Today, we have gathered some of the most valuable items from various places. I hope that you will find something interesting for yourselves. Please take your seats and enjoy the auction!"

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Everyone clapped their hands to show him some respect.

"There will be fifty items that would be auctioned today. All of the items have already been appraised by the most skilled Appraisers in our empire so you have nothing to worry about their authenticity."

"The first item is a full set of Refined-Rated armor. It is made from..."

"The starting bid is 5,000 gold coins. Every increment must be above 100 gold coins."

A flashy bronze armor was displayed on the stage. Although it was only a Refined-Rated armor, the fact that it was a full set made it even more valuable.

Many solitary experts started bidding for the armor.

This armor might not be appealing to the nobles and merchants, but to people like them who were always exposed to danger, it was something that they needed to have.

"10,000 gold coins!"

"10,500 gold coins!"

"14,000 gold coins!"

Aethelwolf and his group calmly watched the bidding for the armor.

"Albert, invite those solitary experts to our mansion after the auction is over." Aethelwolf.

Albert who was seated behind him nodded his head. "Yes, Sir Aethelwolf." He was curious about Aethelwolf's plan for those solitary experts, but he dared not ask anything.

"Some of them might be dangerous so you have to be careful." Aethelwolf warned him.

"Don't worry, Sir Aethelwolf. I'll take care of it." Albert confidently replied.

While they were conversing, the bronze armor was already taken by an early stage Level 4 solitary expert who goes by the nickname Fast Sword. This man was quite famous in the Leone Empire because of his sword techniques. Many even tried to invite this man to join their households, but all of them were rejected. He said that he would only serve the person who can cure his wife who was afflicted by a strange illness. Unfortunately, everyone who tried to cure his wife has failed.

Aethelwolf has also heard about the story of this person. He was surprised that he would see such a famous character here. "Other than Fast Sword, there are also some unique individuals present in today's auction." He muttered to himself.

Julie Irish moved closer to him and whispered. "Are you interested in that person?"

Aethelwolf turned his head at her. "You mean Fast Sword?"

Julie Irish nodded her head.

"Who wouldn't be interested in an expert like him?" Aethelwolf smiled.

Julie Irish shook her head. "Do you think it would be easy to invite him? That man's wife is also an expert like him, but she has been bedridden for many years. Fast Sword even brought his wife to the nearby empires to look for a cure, but it always ended in failure. You might be a great Doctor and Alchemist, but even you might not be able to save his wife. Just forget about it."

Hearing this, Aethelwolf laughed lightly. He looked at her and said. "People said that Sir Johann couldn't be saved from his illness. They also said that no one can save Sir Julius. However, look at them now."

Julie Irish was speechless when she heard his words. She couldn't even utter a rebuttal since what he said was the truth. They all thought that Johann and Julius were going to die, but they were eventually saved by Aethelwolf.

"Fine. Just pretend that I didn't say anything." Julie Irish said.

"Papa, that man is pitiful. Can you save his wife?" Olivia stared at him with big puppy eyes.

Aethelwolf rubbed her head as he smiled. "Papa will try his best to save that man's wife."

Olivia smiled happily when she heard this.

"The second item is rather special. It is the..."

More items were auctioned, but Aethelwolf didn't bid for anything. He was only there for the materials of the transformation necklace.

Julie Irish and the others raised their bids for the items that they found interesting. Even Albert joined the bidding for the auctioned items.

Suddenly, Aethelwolf adjusted his posture. He looked at the gemstone that was displayed on the stage. It looked beautiful and it even attracted the attention of the ladies in the auction house.

"This gem is excavated in the mines of Vale City. Our Appraisers said that this is a piece of Imperial Jade. It can be used to add more power to your weapons. The starting bid for this item is 40,000 gold coins and every increment must be at least 1,000 gold coins!"

"41,000 gold coins!"

"42,000 gold coins!"

Aethelwolf didn't immediately bid for the item. It was a rare piece of gem so it was very tempting to the noble ladies and gem collectors.

He watched the people bid for the gem and waited for his chance.