I Hate Systems

Duketace and Kowla walked through the street, actually entering the trial auction hosted by the Starwing Auction House, participating in the auction.

All along, Kowla expressed her excitement while Duketace stared with a stoic attitude, expressing his dissatisfaction from time to time at the gullible nature of his daughter. In truth, most of this was acting, performing their roles as they had discussed beforehand.

Duketace would be the stoic father while Kowla would be the gullible daughter. Currently, they acted as if they were about to meet someone to sell a really important treasure tonight. And by mistake in her enthusiasm, Kowla blurted out that fact.

As they had rehearsed the same detail multiple times, when they actually did the act, they were realistic, convincing the spy of the same. Though, if the treasure they were planning to sell was subpar, they would probably be disposed of in anger by the auction house authorities.

But, both Duketace and Kowla were rather confident in the power of the Forbidden Tale. After all, it had mobilised all the Ascenders of the plains to contest for it furiously.

While they were enjoying the fake auction, Kowla stared in excitement at a furious middle-aged man shouting with a reddened face, his spittle splashing around as he competed in a bidding war against a fellow rival for an important treasure.

"Wow dad, they are going at it in full spirit." Kowla was into it before long, enjoying the entire fake auction.

Duketace didn't bat an eye at her excitement, remaining immobile like a mountain as he seemed to be on guard. His eyes shot to the side, staring at a well-dressed man taking a seat right next to him.

The man wore a suit, donning a pale hat that seemed to have lost some of its original colour and texture over repeated wash. He seemed to be a man liking silence, calmly observing the auction, noticing Duketace's glance as he offered a smile in return.

"Dad, that necklace is so pretty! Buy it for me, please." Kowla simply took advantage of the situation, shamelessly asking for anything that caught her eye. "You promised you'll buy me a necklace when we visited this city."

"Lady, the necklace shown here is a fake. You shouldn't buy it." Upon seeing Kowla's incessant pestering, the suited man couldn't help but interject, "Trial Auctions only display counterfeit goods."

"Counterfeit goods? And not fake goods?" Duketace asked, taking a glance at the other party before asking, "Are you a frequent visitor of these auction houses?"

"Indeed, that's my one interest in life now." The suited man said, "I always manage to scrape by for a ticket to all the auctions in the city. I've managed to do so for over a decade now, so I've seen my fair share."

"Fake goods are created by the auction house itself for the treasures in their possession. As for counterfeit goods, it's the same as fake goods but is labelled as those created by other auction houses when they don't have possession of the related treasure." He then shook hands with Duketace, "Ahh, I'm Yurtale."

"There doesn't seem to be any difference between a fake and counterfeit good." Duketace shook hands in response, "Both aren't real anyway. Oh, you can call me Duketace and this child of mine is Kowla."

"Oh, there's a big difference between the two." Yurtale whispered a little, "It's concerning the silent wars happening between the auction houses. Generally, the fake goods sold in this Trial Auction are their best way of advertising their catalogue. After all, only for the treasures they plan on selling would they bring out a fake good."

"That way, based on the reaction of the crowd in this trial auction, they'll determine which treasure makes the final cut to be auctioned." He spoke.

"Such a system exists?" Duketace was surprised, to say the least, "So, they probe the excitement from the audience beforehand to hype up the real auction, huh."

"Yep, and this is where the counterfeit goods arise." Yurtale massaged his forehead, "Competing auction houses would display it in their Trial Auction and then remove the item from their itinerary of the real auction, labelling it unattractive to the audience. This way, if that treasure sells for a high price in another auction, they would be accused of malpractice."

"Malpractice?" Duketace frowned.

"Of using a plant to jack up the prices." Yurtale said, "And that's the best way to lose credibility among the people. Any auction house that loses credibility would go out of business in a matter of days. So, it's a pretty volatile environment."

"Which auction house is the most credible in the city?" Duketace asked, throwing out the question just like that. But in truth, he was alert, being unable to decide on which auction house to approach. He truly didn't wish to lose his life while trying to sell the Forbidden Tale.

Therefore, he wished to see what this person had to say. Even the opinion of one other person might reduce their risks by a lot. So, he didn't hesitate to ask.

"If I'm being honest, even the most reputable auction house has its fair share of blood." Yurtale lowered his voice to whisper, "If you are in possession of a treasure beyond what your strength can protect and still refuse to sell it, even the kindest of auction houses would reveal its true colours. Too many tourists have lost their lives due to that."

He stared at Duketace, "If you are planning to sell something to any auction house, never ever accept a private gathering. Meet at public gatherings, places backed by powerful organisations. That way, your life is guaranteed and there's a pretty good chance you'll walk out with more money than you would originally."

Upon seeing Duketace's face pale a little in response to his words, Yurtale frowned, "Wait, did you accept to meet someone in private?"

"…Yeah." Duketace nodded, sighing in response.

"Contact them to meet somewhere in public." Yurtale said, "That's your safest bet. You're an Invoker, so you aren't entirely helpless either."

"…No, I think I'll refrain from that." Duketace shook his head in the end, "I don't wish to take this risk unnecessarily. I only came here to dump the cause of misfortune that has plagued my family for ages. I won't needlessly head into danger for that."

"Well…I might have a solution for that. It's safer, but…" Yurtale raised an index finger, "I'll charge you a hefty commission for that."