The bishop remained silent.
All he did was look at Cale up and down repeatedly.
They could hear the auctioneer's voice from beyond the curtain.
“The first item is a fountain pen with a beautiful feather. The feather is, as expected, the remains of a beautiful Beast person.”
The voice was loud enough to break the silence in terrace 1.
“How much do you want?”
A dry voice echoed inside the terrace. The servant almost arrogantly started to discuss the deal. It basically revealed that he was actually the bishop.
He asked his question and did not say anything else.
‘Who are you?’ or, ‘do you really have the item?’
Those kinds of questions were not important at all.
For the bishop, who had experienced all sorts of things throughout his life, the only thing that mattered was the single line in Cale's invitation.
< Do you wish to gain a divine item? >
The sentence written underneath that gave credibility to the reason for the invitation.
< I am in possession of the Night's Exultation that the pope had hidden away. Buy it from me. >
The bishop knew that the dead pope was a greedy man. That was the reason he had given the Night's Exultation as an offering.
He also knew that the pope had a secret area where he kept all of these treasures.
Wasn’t it possible that a divine item would be in such a location?
The bishop wanted to become the pope.
He was just waiting for the right opportunity to seize the position.
He continued to observe the man in the white mask in front of him.
The masked man had yet to answer his question about how much he wanted for the item. The masked man's uncovered mouth slowly started to open.
“They say that the Night's Exultation shines even brighter when it comes into contact with dead mana. This is different than how normal items react when they come into contact with dead mana.”
The bishop sighed and responded back to the masked man who was spewing nonsense.
“What is it? You want to take your Night's Exultation and experiment with the fake one in the temple?”
The bishop could hear the masked man scoff at him.
Cale shook his head while looking at the bishop.
“Old man, what a terrible personality you have.”
“This is normal as you get older.”
The priest in front of them flinched, however, he did not turn to look behind him.
The priest quietly stood there and pretended to not be aware of the bishop in servant's clothes and the intruder.
“How much do you want?”
The bishop asked for the price once again.
The Night's Exultation appeared in front of his eyes at that moment.
“I guess you don't suspect that I'm a spy from the Empire?”
The bishop bluntly responded back to the masked man’s question.
“Spy or not, the fact that you are a merchant trying to sell me an item does not change.”
‘This dude is quite smart.’
This was indeed the case. Whether he was a spy from the Empire or not, the bishop cared more about the chance to recover the Night's Exultation and purchase a divine item.
Cale liked this bishop quite a bit. However, he did not fix the error in the bishop's statement.
Merchant.
Cale was not a merchant.
In fact, he was a hunter.
He was planning on throwing out the baits one by one in order to draw in the prey in front of him into a trap.
The first bait was the divine item.
The bishop would definitely purchase the Night's Exultation in order to get his hands on a divine item.
He needed a way to remain connected to Cale.
Cale opened his mouth to speak.
“How much?”
“What? Ho!”
The bishop laughed in disbelief.
The punk in front of him was telling him to initiate a starting price. However, the bishop actually liked this.
Why?
It was because this merchant knew who held the upper hand.
The masked man knew he was in control of this discussion. That was why he was trying to pressure the bishop. The bishop liked intelligent people like this.
It made it easier to handle them. The rational people were the ones who understood their gains the best.
“5.”
The bishop called out 5 billion to start.
It was a reasonable price for the Night's Exultation. This had been the cost when it was originally found.
If you consider how long ago it was discovered, it was an astronomical price.
However, Cale was stern.
“How much?”
The bishop immediately shot back.
“6.”
The two of them were in a race in this negotiation. The auction started behind them as well.
The negotiation remained calm.
“How much?”
“7.”
They could hear the auctioneer's voice coming from beyond the terrace.
“Alright, we have 300 million counds! Any other bids? Ah! An extra 1,000 counds!”
Cale asked again at the same time.
“How much?”
The priest seemed to be getting anxious because of the two words Cale were repeating over and over. He seemed to be flinching every time it was asked.
“8.”
The priest gasped at the bishop's response.
Both the bishop and the intruder were making it hard for him to breathe.
“How much?”
The bishop could tell that the man in front of him was getting bored.
“10.”
10 billion counds.
The price had reached the 10 billion level.
Although the price was double the original selling price, the bishop could tell something after looking into the masked man's eyes.
‘This still is not enough.’
The bishop started to speak before Cale could open his mouth once again.
“15.”
He was now putting the value of the Night's Exultation as the price for the divine item and the pope position.
He then added on.
“However, it is impossible to give you anything more than 10 billion today.”
“How much?”
“Ho.”
The bishop could not help but gasp.
He started to glare at the masked man.
“Is that the only thing you know how to say? You're supposed to respect your elders. You little punk.”
Although the words sounded as if the bishop was scolding him, the tone was gentle. In fact, it even sounded a bit affectionate, but Cale was not one to be tricked by such an act.
Cale was tired of speaking and just asked with his gaze.
‘How much?’
The bishop lifted his hands up as if he admitted defeat and responded back.
“20.”
“Gasp.”
They could hear the priest gasping in front of them. He seemed to be shocked at the price.
“That's the max.”
The bishop shook his head with a tired expression.
He was trying to tell Cale that he was telling the truth. However, there was something Cale had learned during his time as Kim Rok Soo.