What was called an 'auction' was actually an open space near the slums filled with 'furniture' and 'daily necessities' that were confiscated from various noble houses. The so-called auction was actually a few items with a salesperson standing next to them, and a few ordinary people bidding on them. Although it was completely different from what Leone had in mind, it was indeed a novel experience.
There were quite a few people in the crowd who, like Leone, were wandering around and not buying anything. But most of them were because they hadn't found anything they liked, while Leone was because she had no money.
That's right, no money. Her original 'family assets' were all confiscated. Later, things like the ingredients for home use were delivered by special people, which resulted in Leone only having some 'pocket money' that Lancer had given her. This also led to her wandering around for a long time only to find that she couldn't afford the things she liked, and she didn't like the things she could afford.
But at this moment, a 'shout of surprise' came from a distance. With a curious mindset, she also squeezed her way over.
At this time, a small auction was being held on a raised platform.
"Please take a good look, everyone. This 'sash' with its patterns should be a creation from the beginning of the empire, and it was collected in the treasure vault of the Streit family. It is absolutely not an ordinary item..."
The auctioneer was talking a lot, but the reaction below was very flat. The 'sash' was not made of precious metals, and there were no gems on it. It was just a leather and metal sash. It was not light, and generally, no one would wear it with them. It could only be kept at home as a collection, but collecting a sash... it seemed very strange no matter how you looked at it, as it wasn't a famous item.
But Leone, who was standing behind the crowd, had her eyes light up when she saw that sash. She was sure that she had never seen that sash before, but for some reason, she felt a voice calling her to take it. But after looking at her wallet, she didn't even have half of the money.
Just as Leone was thinking about what to do, a young man in a formal suit suddenly appeared next to her. Leone subconsciously took a step back. Although she had never been spoken to by a person like this before, she knew that nobles liked to use this trick to lure girls who didn't know anything.
And the young man was also stunned when he saw Leone expression, and then he showed a wry smile.
"Miss, I think you might have misunderstood me. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Kaser, and I am one of the organizers of this large-scale auction. I wanted to tell you that our auction house can 'loan' money. As long as you can prove that you have the ability to pay back the money, you can sign an IOU and purchase the item directly."
The other party's words made Leone stunned, as she had never heard of this before, but the other party continued to explain.
"Although the total value of all the items this time is not too exaggerated, it has not exceeded the record of our auction house. The reason is that although the total value of the auction items this time is not low, the number is too large, and we are mostly dealing with ordinary people in the Imperial Capital. They might not be able to come up with so much money at once, so we launched this service."
After saying that, seeing that Leone still had a disbelieving expression, he sighed helplessly and leaned closer.
"I had the honor of seeing General Lancer and you out shopping together, so..."
Leone had no reaction to all the 'great theories' he said before, but the last sentence made Leone have an expression of 'sudden realization.'
Although Lancer deliberately avoided contact with other nobles, there were still quite a few nobles who actively came to him to 'make connections.' Lancer would at most give some 'ordinary things' and would also give a gift in return, which was considered a normal exchange of favors. This also led to some people not being able to find an opportunity to 'bribe' Lancer.
'It seems that they've set their sights on me.'
Although she hadn't seen the world of nobles, she had seen quite a few things like 'paying respects'.
"Okay, but it must be under my name..."
"No problem."
In the end, Leone successfully borrowed the money and bought the sash that no one had wanted. And on the other side, the young man, looking at Leone leaving with the sash, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. But then, a man in rough clothes suddenly came up to him.
"Did you get it done?"
"I did, but I can't figure out what's so strange about that sash?"
"Who cares? Our mission is just to protect her secretly. You go back first. Number 4 will take your place."
"No problem."
The two of them had a brief conversation and then left. But when the man walked into an alley, he suddenly felt a gust of wind coming from behind him...
"Who!!"
"Bang~!!"
After buying the item, Leone also felt a bit incredulous. Although it wasn't a huge amount, the sash wasn't cheap either. At least it was a number she had never saved up before. Even now, it would take her a while to save up enough money to pay it back. But she was willing to trust her intuition. After all, the only 'mistake' she had ever made in her life was when she tried to attack Lancer. But now that she thought about it carefully, although their meeting wasn't a good one, the outcome was not bad?
But when she pushed open the door of her house, she saw an 'unexpected' person.
"Esdeath?"
The person sitting in the living room was none other than Esdeath. The other party was a regular here, and the kind that was very rude. So although Leone was a bit surprised, she wasn't too shocked.
"Come with me."
But what surprised Leone was the sudden words from Esdeath. Although it didn't sound like anything was wrong, she just felt that the other party was a bit different from usual.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm planning to go see Lancer."
The other party's words made Leone relieved. So she was planning to go find Lancer for a spar again.
"Master went to the Northern Fortress. He'll be back soon. You can wait a little longer."
"Northern Fortress? No, no~ I'm planning to go to the south to wait for him."
Before Leone could react, Esdeath rushed over.
"Snap~!"
The plate that had just been set was smashed to pieces by Esdeath's hand chop, and a barely dodging Leone looked at Esdeath with an incredulous expression, as if she didn't understand why the other party was attacking her. Esdeath also seemed surprised that her attack had missed, but then the surprise on her face turned into a sinister grin.
"Not bad! Quite an improvement! But it's still not enough!"
"Bang!!"
She dodged the hand chop on her right, but Leone was hit directly in the abdomen by Esdeath's uppercut with her other hand, and she was fiercely thrown into the cabinet. The originally clean room was instantly in a mess.