Chapter 392

The auction process was ordinary.

Uldein hosted and introduced.

“The first item is a pulley made by student Gaston Deban. The Deban family is…”

Of course, because the item itself did not differ much from the mass-produced kit anyway, most of it was dedicated to praising the family and the student.

Once the item was brought out like that,

─ Hmm… About one gold for a pulley?

─ I bid one gold and one silver.

it was in this manner that the merchants bid.

Though it was a considerably high price for a holy power pulley, it was, after all, a courtesy to the Deban family and a form of support for its heir.

“Yes, sold for one gold and fifty silver!”

“Thank you!”

Gaston was extremely pleased with the fact that he received a fortune of well over one gold at once.

─ By the way, why did Deban make a pulley?

─ Shh! There’s a rumor that it’s to lock those black mages at the bottom of a well and barely feed them by lowering food with that.

─ What? As, as expected of the Black Magic Crusher, Deban?

‘Why am I the Black Magic Crusher…’

Knowing the nonsense rumors surrounding him, he had made the most peaceful object possible in his own way, but to think such storytelling was possible!

As Gaston received his payment and returned to his seat, his eyes met Roan’s.

*Stare—*

Roan was looking at Deban with an extremely gloomy face.

“Ugh! U-Ugh!”

Gaston ended up dry-heaving without realizing it.

The students watched this and murmured.

─ Hey, what’s wrong with Deban all of a sudden?

─ Hey! It’s because you brought up black magic that he felt an instinctive revulsion!

─ What? How much does that guy hate black magic?

Indeed, Gaston Deban, worthy of the nickname Black Magic Crusher!

Meanwhile, Roan, who had no particular thoughts, tilted his head as he looked at Gaston.

‘Did that guy always hate black magic that much?’

Even searching through his memories, that did not seem to be the case.

He was just always attendance number one, so he was called around here and there.

‘…Or is the aversion to black magic unconsciously growing stronger due to my existence?’

It was a plausible deduction.

Roan thought he should focus all his efforts on hiding his identity even more in the future.

Just then, Sion tilted her head.

“By the way, Roan.”

“Yes.”

“Why are the merchants paying in gold instead of talants?”

Thinking about it, it was certainly strange.

If they were foreign merchants who didn’t know Acherandir at all, it would be one thing, but they visited frequently.

They must have known well that only talants were used here instead of the imperial currency.

Roan also nodded.

“A sharp observation.”

“Yes? Ah, hehe, I don’t think it’s that much…”

Sion twirled her hair, looking embarrassed.

Roan nodded again.

“Yes, actually, anyone can figure it out with just a little thought.”

“Roan!”

Sion burst out in anger.

Roan, regardless of her reaction, pointed behind the students.

“Look over there.”

“Yes?”

Sion turned her head, wondering what Roan was talking about.

There was Uli, who had disappeared.

─ Talant-Gold Exchange Booth

Special Discount Service: Exchange Fee 30%! ─

“…”

Sion faced forward again as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

“No… way?”

“Yes, the merchants are paying in imperial currency at the professor’s request.”

“How could…!”

Sion shuddered at such malicious and persistent behavior.

To receive an exchange fee, and 30% at that, from the students because there was nothing else to squeeze out of them!

Roan said with a benevolent expression.

“Yes, exactly.”

“…Yes? What is?”

Sion asked, unable to understand what he meant.

“A wise leader’s anger should actually be focused on the thieves within rather than the enemies outside.”

“Ah…”

Roan’s advice usually felt entirely cryptic, but this time she could understand it clearly.

“You mean we should seek out the black mages hiding inside the empire as much as possible, right?”

“…?”

Roan couldn’t understand why the conversation suddenly jumped there.

He meant to catch the thieves stealing the country’s wealth like that, not black mages!

Sion whispered into Roan’s ear.

“The professor is indeed wicked enough to resemble a black mage. To be honest, I didn’t hate black mages that much… but since Roan says so, I will consider it.”

“No, that’s not it…”

Roan hurriedly moved his mouth, sensing that things might go terribly wrong if this continued.

An insurance company should pay out the claim, but what on earth did it mean when they were instead trying to take the insurance money!

“Yes? Then are you telling me not to catch black mages?”

Sion asked, her innocent eyes widening.

─ What? Darc said not to catch black mages?

─ Puhaha! As if that would ever happen!

─ He has already caught over twenty of them himself!

─ Ah, could he have meant, ‘I’ll catch them all, so the empire should stay out of it’?

The surrounding students also held their bellies and laughed as if they had heard a funny joke.

They laughed so enthusiastically that Roan’s brow furrowed.

“…Whether you catch them or not.”

However, it seemed Sion had gained some realization even from Roan’s blunt words.

“Aha! You mean to handle it quietly so the citizens don’t feel fear? Really… Roan, you are so thoughtful yet cold-headed…”

There was no point in bringing this up any further; it wouldn’t lead to any answers.

A black mage, of all things, having a worse image than a professor who took a 30% exchange fee from students!

And that the black mage happened to be himself!

In any case, the auction proceeded quickly after that.

Although confusion arose among the students who learned about Uli’s exchange booth,

it was because, even after deducting the fee, the noble premium was so large that it was still a great benefit for the students.

“Student Rafia Kedan’s knife sharpener is sold for two gold!”

“Thank you!”

─ Hahaha, not at all. I was surprised by the good quality of the knife sharpener. It is fully worth two gold.

“Student Riel Heilick’s typewriter, three gold!”

“Thanks.”

─ Uh… Is the price not to your liking?

“Thanks.”

─ H-Hieek! Please, anything but an external audit from the Heilick family…!

Although the Heilick family was famous for their paladins, they were also very famous for external audits of merchant groups due to their meticulous and cold nature.

The merchant, who was tearing up even after spending three gold on the typewriter, was only able to return with peace of mind after Roan stepped forward and cleared up the misunderstanding.

Besides that, there were others.

─ …What is this? I bought it since the Young Master of Wycronon made it, but…

“A glowing roly-poly toy!”

─ So what does… Well, it seems like it would be good to use in a banquet hall.

*Tap—*

─ Excuse me… why isn’t the toy standing back up?

“Oh? That shouldn’t be the case…”

Demona’s roly-poly toy—which did not stand back up—for some reason made one want to turn off the lights and dance.

“Hector Pabilto’s ‘Invincible Conscience Interrogation Device Using a Scale’, one silver!”

“One silver is ridiculous! Who on earth bought it?”

─ I did.

“One silver? Didn’t you mispeak and mean one hundred gold?”

─ No, who would mistake one silver for one hundred gold? Besides, I offered a conscientious price so it can be resold back to the Pabilto family.

“If you weigh their conscience and it’s light, they are a wicked person with no conscience, so interrogate them. If it’s heavy, they committed a crime despite having a conscience, so interrogate them. Where else can you find such a perfect interrogation device?!”

─ …That is exactly the problem.

“???”

There was also Hector’s so-and-so interrogation device, which made even the watching Roan shudder.

When his counterargument fell flat, Hector eventually took his single silver and went to the exchange booth.

“Tsk, one silver doesn’t even cover the fee. Just go outside and buy a snack.”

“Even the pro-professor, *cough*…!”

The expression of Hector, betrayed even by Uli whom he had trusted, was quite a sight.

It was like a piece of granite that had been struck five times by a hammer.

Fortunately, Sion’s distance measuring device possessed the level of quality officially sold by merchant groups, so it went for a whopping ten gold.

Not only was a measuring device expensive as long as its quality was guaranteed, but the premium from her status as a Saintess candidate was also enormous.

But in truth, these student products were either well-made or extremely bizarre, with nothing in between.

As a result, the merchants only took turns spending a tiny fraction of the money they brought.

─ Now it begins.

─ Indeed.

The true auction could be said to start with the large object covered in a massive cloth that was making its appearance now.

This time, Uli specially stepped forward as well.

Uldein shouted vigorously.

“Now, this is the holy item crafted by Professor Uli that everyone has been waiting for!”

When Uli snapped his index finger and thumb together,

*Snap! Whoosh—*

the cloth covering the holy item flew away, and the holy item inside revealed itself.

─ Ohhh!!!

Sure enough, the merchants let out gasps of admiration at the grand size and appearance, befitting a professor of Acherandir.

It was none other than—

─ Oh! To think we would get to see Professor Uli’s golem!

It was a golem, which was practically Uli’s signature by now.

On the other hand, unlike the merchants, the students were indifferent.

─ What’s the big deal about Professor Uli’s golem?

─ We even take his classes.

Since they saw Alphard, who could be considered the best of Uli’s works of all time, every week, a mass-produced (?) golem like that didn’t even make an impression.

One merchant asked in a trembling voice.

─ Professor, wh-what does that golem do?

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

When Uli answered coolly, the merchants tilted their heads.

‘‘‘How are we supposed to know just by looking?’’’

Honestly, guessing the purpose of a golem before it even operated was a very difficult task.

Unless they already knew the answer beforehand.

“Darc, surely you can tell by looking?”

Uli asked Roan.

Roan replied casually.

“Is it a prayer golem?”

─ Haha, a prayer golem? Young Master Darc, surely you jest…

“Yes, exactly.”

─ ??!?!?!?!?!!!

The merchants were far more shocked than when Uli’s golem was first revealed.

No, a prayer golem itself was shocking enough to make their heads spin, but how on earth did Roan guess it at a single glance?

“Well… while normal golems stand before activation, that golem is kneeling. Moreover, its attire is that of a priest. Also, the fingers, which are usually not well-detailed, were made similar to a human’s, as if designed for clasping hands. Do you need further explanation?”

Roan explained, thinking it might help the merchants with their purchase.

…Though, to be honest, he questioned why such a thing as a prayer golem was made in the first place.

─ My goodness, you have to observe all of that?

─ Are we even merchants…

─ I heard the Darc family has a secret merchant group…

And the merchants were seized with a deep sense of self-doubt.

Meanwhile, Uli did something behind the golem and eventually turned two dials to activate it.

*Hiss—*

A thick puff of smoke was released, and then—

─ Ah! O holy light, Lu, who always watches over me!

Amazingly, the prayer golem began to pray in an extremely enthusiastic tone!

─ This foolish believer prays for the light that will guide me! You scatter all evils and…

But when Uli turned a dial on its back,

─ Ohhh! O Telga, God of Forests and Trees, who embraces all things! I wish to always seek refuge in you!

as if it had never prayed to Lu, the golem switched its target to Telga.

Uli scratched the fur on his cheek and spoke.

“Since time was short, I only put in about three hundred gods. Still, you should be able to use it in most situations. I also included five nuances: calm, peaceful, passionate, proud, and resentful. Oh, since resentment might invite divine punishment, don’t use it unless absolutely necessary.”

Though he said it like it was nothing, it was truly an incredible specification for a golem!

…Of course, he meant it was an incredible specification for a ‘prayer golem.’

Since it was practically the first invention of its kind, there was no denying its greatness, but…

‘It is a golem so useless that I feel a sense of self-doubt for guessing its identity.’

Roan let out a sigh as he listened to Uli’s explanation.

Uli, true to his role as a crafting professor, created all sorts of bizarre golems during the game, but even Roan had never seen a monstrosity like a prayer golem.

Honestly, shouldn’t whoever made such a thing receive a joint divine punishment from the gods?