Chapter 412
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Morning Session
The morning session began leisurely, with us first enjoying the atmosphere of the auction.
“Congratulations, bidder number twenty-two!”
The winning bidder for a chair and table set was decided.
I was told that the items to be auctioned in the morning session were general items, which I interpreted to mean that they were things that I could buy in a store if I looked for them, but it seemed that many of them were one-of-a-kind handmade items.
Some items were sold at the starting price, some were competed for, and the price went up, and some were not sold because no one partic.i.p.ated in the bidding.
“Hmm… there are some items that no one bids on, huh~”
“It was a bit of a vulgar-looking decoration. If the starting price had been set a little lower, there might have been some people who would have bid on it… but at that price?”
“… I see.”
The starting price is normally set by the seller.
Although it is acceptable to sell an item worth about 1,000 coins at a starting price of 100,000 coins, it will not sell because no one will partic.i.p.ate in the auction, since those who partic.i.p.ate in auctions are somewhat discerning. Conversely, an item worth 1,000 coins may be offered at a starting price of 100 coins. However, if the item is outbid, there is no problem, but if it is sold at the starting price, you will lose a lot of money.
“Selling things at the starting price must be tough~”
“You don’t have to worry. I’m pretty sure any of your listings will go up in bid in no time, even if you set a lower starting price.”
“Hahaha~”
That being said, the starting prices for the items we put on display were set by Al-sama and the other royal family members, so I’m sure they’re fair prices.
“”Hey, hey.””
“What’s wrong?”
“”What does this mean?””
(We got a thousand G’s!)
“Ah!”
“”Nnyiu?””
Allen and Elena were interested in the hand signs and tried to imitate them.
The children, who were watching with their chins on the railing, must have looked like partic.i.p.ants. The two’s hand signs were called out.
(Anyone else? Then the bid is settled at 1,000 gold!)
“Ah~…”
Allen and Elena made a successful bid.
“”Ehehe~””
Seeing my reaction, Allen and Elena must have realized what they had done and giggled.
“A oneperson sofa? Well, you are lucky it’s something you can make a use of, Tak.u.mi.”
“Yeah. As long as it’s not bought at an outrageous price, it does not matter.”
Since it’s an item from a morning session, it wasn’t a hard blow to our expenses.
“Allen, Elena, that hand gesture you made just now was a signal to the auctioneer, and you were basically telling him how much you were willing to pay for the item. So please don’t imitate the hand gestures anymore.”
“”Got it~””
“Ah, but when you want something, you have to tell me first, before doing hand gestures on your own!”
“That time.”
“Is okay, then?”
“There are various hand gestures, so ask which one is the correct one to use first.”
“”Okay~””
Now, they would never make the same mistake again.
“”Oniichan, that!””
“N?”
“”Want!””
“Isn’t that too soon!?”
“……”
I felt relieved, but Allen and Elena immediately found something they wanted.
When I shouted in surprise, Al-sama was holding his stomach, as if trying to hold back his laughter.
“”But~ we want~””
“Ah~… so it’s that~”
What the children wanted was a giant, stuffed bear.
It must be quite large, since its height was the same as the auctioneer’s.
“So they auction stuff like that, too~”
“This is a specialty that comes out every year.”
“Wow~ is that so~”
“”Can we?””
“I don’t know what fabric it’s made out of, so it’s not necessarily going to feel good to the touch. If you’re okay with that, it’s fine with me… but you don’t want to leave it to the brother agent, you want to bid yourselves?”
“”Yeah!””
They want to do the hand gestures themselves.
“Err… I apologize, but would you mind if I asked you to teach the kids how to do it properly?”
“Yes, I’m at your service.”
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I asked the agent, who was quietly waiting at the side, to teach the children the hand gestures.
“Dear guest, if you excuse me asking, what is your budget?”
“Ah, right. Uh, as much as it takes?”
“Eh, o, okay, understood.”
So, the children partic.i.p.ated in the auction with the help of the agent, and won the auction with flying colors.
“”We won!!””
“Is it just me, or does it sound like they meant ‘won’ in a game, instead of ‘bought’ in buying and selling?”
“You are good, Al-sama. It sounded that way to me, too.”
This time, the price went up a few times because there was someone else to compete with, but the kids seemed to be having a great time competing.
“I was wondering, when do we receive the items and pay for successful bids? Is it after everything is finished?”
“Some people will leave after they get what they came for, so you can go to the back of the hall and they will take care of it. But those in the private rooms don’t have to go about it that way, the staff will bring it here themselves to take care of it.”
“… Ahh.”
This is a VIP room of some kind. I guess we are being treated differently to begin with.
“”Al-sama, here!””
“N? Nn!?”
Allen and Elena suddenly held out their hands to him, and Al-sama quickly held out his palm instinctively. Then, money was placed in Al-sama’s hand.
Al-sama exclaimed in surprise as he was handed the money.
“Oh, is this the money for what you bid for?”
“”Yeah.””
The two kids gave Al-sama the money for the stuffed bear and the sofa they had just bid on from their bags.
“Oniichan will pay for it, okay?”
“”Will pay ourselves!””
It seems that they are willing to pay for the items they bid for by themselves.
“”That’s why!””
“Can we.”
“Buy more?”
They seemed to enjoy partic.i.p.ating in the auction and wanted to do more.
“Hahaha~ Well, it’s fine with me, but… only what you really want, okay? Don’t partic.i.p.ate in every single one.”
“”Got it!””
I’ll just warn them about that, because I really don’t want them to join in on all the items just for the fun of it.
Then the children cheerfully replied and once again focused their attention on the stage.
“Is that really okay, Tak.u.mi? They seem to be more and more excited to bid, you know?”
“Well, nothing seems to be that expensive at this time of the day, so I think we should be fine.”
Frankly, when it comes to morning session, the kids could probably take out enough money to buy everything.
“… Will those twins be satisfied with just the morning session?”
“……”
I could not refute Al-sama’s prophetic muttering.
“What about that one~?”
“Ohh~ looks good~”
“That one is good also~”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Allen and Elena consulted with each other, and each selected a piece of furniture. In addition, Allen bid on a sword belt, and Elena bid on a hair ornament and… four other items, for a total of six items in the end, and the morning session came to an end.