People might not smart, but if someone told them that they were stupid, people wouldn't accept it. The same thing happened at the store. The first puppet made a commotion followed by the second one who denied that he was not stupid, so he bought the magic water. Actually, if someone thought deeply about it, they could find something strange between these 2 men. Unfortunately, people around didn't think much and just followed the second person who bought it.
When the first man bought the goods after scolding about it, people around were dumbfounded. Something started to change when the second man bought the magic water. He told everyone the first man tried to fool him so as not to buy it, yet the man himself in the end became the one who bought it quickly. The said person even hurriedly exited himself, afraid that someone
would snatch it. The second man stated he wasn't stupid of believing the lies of the first person, so he followed his purchase after that. People right now were flabbergasted and started to hesitate.
Clearly, the first man acted strangely. If he didn't like the magic water, then he shouldn't buy it but the fact that he waited for everyone to disperse before proceeding with the purchase left them all baffled. The trick was simple and it would be soon magnified by the second man when he said he wouldn't get fooled. There was a tone of pride on his voice, making the other customers started to ponder. Everyone here might believe they were not the smartest, but they also believed they were not fool. There was a lingering
misconception around that if you didn't buy it at least one piece, you were stupid. It slowly made an illusion that if you didn't buy it, people would laugh at you from behind.
Baston wanted to see what the effect of his drama, but since the remaining time of puppets were limited, he could only summon the puppets back. Of course, the magic water he bought before was being kept somewhere. These things cost him 2400 pounds and for him, it was very expensive. Even though so, he would prioritize his quest first because the reward couldn't be bought easily with money.
"If I can't use puppets to see, I can always bring myself in there. It's troublesome once Panto and Rembrant see me, but I will just need to make an excuse…"
He opened the door and went down the stairs. At the small lobby, he greeted the receptionist back before he was stopped. The man hurriedly rummaged his cabinet before approaching Baston. He handed a letter to the fat boy while explaining everything.
"This morning, there was someone who delivered this letter for you. He was afraid of disturbing you, so he asked for my help to keep it before giving it to you."
"Thank you very much," Baston replied.
"You're welcome. Our guest satisfaction is our prioritize."
With that, Baston sat first while opening the letter. He read it a couple of times before pondering about it. The letter was an
invitation to the incoming auction. Rembrant was very thankful since Baston gave him the ice bead for sale. This rare and unique item simply brought many attentions from peers. Others wondered how could he get the item, but Rembrant only said his son was the one who helped much in this transaction as
intermediary. Basically, someone wanted to sell this thing and Panto acted as middleman to afford the transaction.
It could be called a coincidence, but some people didn't believe it. They thought Rembrant simply wanted to show-off among the merchants, so he bought this ice bead in magnificent amount early. Whatever people said, the reputation would soon belong to him so he as the merchant didn't treat their words seriously. In the meantime, he rather took care Baston properly because he was such a sudden savior.
Inside the letter, Baston also found a pamphlet that worked like a catalog. It worked just like the book from the academy he stayed before. With the help of magic, he could switch and scroll down whatever he wanted to see. Although it was just one piece of simple paper, but it could contain much
information. The catalog displayed what kind of items that would be auctioned. Including his ice bead, there were supposedly 26 items from cheap to expensive. The cheap one had the price between 50,000 pounds. When he looked at it, he knew he could only be the spectator at the auction then. His money at present simply couldn't reach those staggering item values.
Baston was hooked from then on until the evening came. He spent so much time because he analyzed one by one about the auction items. Looking at the window, the day was already dark so it was useless to go to the store right now. He just hoped the result wasn't bad since he already tried his
strategy. The staff then guided him for the dinner as always while looking at the thriving city from upstairs.
"Hey, have you seen the auction items for this year?"
"Yes, it looks better than before, right."
"Of course, there's even ice bead, you know. This thing is quite rare nowadays."
"I'm pretty sure some nobles will be interested in this thing, even though they might not use it for their entire life."
"Why is that?"
"Because it's only useful for ice wizard for sure. For the other element, it will be wasteful."
"I see. Perhaps, they can trade this thing with others."
"Precisely… I also happen to know that a certain noble family would love to have it…"
"Do you mean that beautiful noble family where most of them are females?"
"Yes, you're right…"
Baston unintentionally heard the conversation in his dinner. It was quite interesting since other people talked about the ice bead. Moreover, not only they talked about how rare it was, they also conversed with each other about a certain noble family who would likely seek this thing. At that time, Baston also remembered back what he knew from the principal of Zeverius Academy. Some people regarded ice element as the most important thing, so it would be better to be careful. He wondered if it had the same connection with what he was listening right now. For the best, he should take a caution according to the information.
Tomorrow morning, Baston found the result of his newest quest. It wasn't bad neither excellent. The old book showed he got the good result which should be so-so from his point of view. He began thinking that
something might occur at yesterday time at the store to make him reached such a result. Anyway, he might accept the reward first before going to the store.
"Blizzard Insignia, capable to use the spell of blizzard for one time only…"
There was a paper full of inscription in his hand. It looked ordinary whenever he scanned it, but since the old book stated the description, he believed this thing was quite powerful. Although it was consumable item,
this thing could help him greatly once he faced some dangers outside. He kept it inside the old book and walked ahead to the store. As always, the place was crowded, but this time, it had more people than usual. He wanted to go in, but the line up was long so he was quickly discouraged. Still, Baston was curious what happened to make everyone nevertheless waited here.
"Excuse me…" Baston patted one of customers, "Why the line is so long? Is there something happening inside?"
"You don't hear any recent news?"
"What news?"
"Do you know about magic water?" the person explained patiently, "This thing is vey expensive right now. People want to buy it, but since the promotion already ends, the goods is taken back yesterday night after
the store is closing their doors. Other people don't know about this, so when they make a visit today and found about it, everyone complained to the store."
"This…" Baston was dumbfounded, "Didn't they buy magic water yesterday? Why they come back again today?"
"Well, you don't know that most people still hesitated before. After buying a few of it, they just left and went home. Who knows that
there's a news saying that the magic water is high on demand at the black market? I even heard some people dared to buy one piece at the price of three times more expensive. This becomes a lucrative business for everyone, so they quickly go in here and try to hoard it, yet it's too bad the goods have already left."
Baston smiled bitterly about it. Based on what the person told him, the good result yesterday was because people still hesitated about it. Many people were interested but they only bought a few of them. When they
found another opportunity about magic water, they couldn't catch it anymore since the goods were taken back. At this time, he didn't know whether he already helped Rembrant or just making a new problem for him. He felt guilty but there was nothing he could do.
The people didn't stop until Rembrant as the store owner came forward and explained to everyone. Based on the contract, the unsold goods must go back at yesterday night. Even though he already called the supplier to postpone this decision, there was no other way since it was already determined. The best he could do right now was to make a petition among the people around. It would then state each of them who wanted to buy magic water at the fastest time. With this, hopefully, everyone could accept it.
People around were restless, but since this was the best thing they could do, they then gave each of their own signatures. One by one, the line was getting smaller until it was finished at noon. Rembrant who saw these names couldn't help but smiling upon this little trouble. The people who waited on the line could become his potentially new customers. Just half of it could already make him had a good night sleep, so if all of them would become his customers, he couldn't imagine it.
Baston came to the store after the commotion dispersed. Although Rembrant and his son looked tired, but there was a happiness on their faces. Baston coughed before greeting both of them.
"It looks like you're very busy. I hope I don't disturb you."
"Of course not, you're my benefactor. How can I mind of your coming here, young master Baston," Rembrant greeted back happily.
"Yes, just like what my father said, you already help us a lot. If there's not the ice bead, my father will have a headache for the coming days," Panto added.
"I'm sorry I can't accompany you for now. There's an urgent thing to do at the moment, so I will ask Panto to replace me. I will go to you as soon as possible," Rembrant said.
"It's alright. I'm just Panto's classmate. You don't need to treat me specially."
"How could it be? If I don't treat you the best, many colleagues of mine will question me about the treatment."
Everyone exchanged greetings before busying themselves. Panto accompanied Baston since his father had other things to do. While they went for sightseeing, Panto began to talk about yesterday's event regarding the popular magic water.
"Do you know that this thing is very high on demand now because a certain person? Yesterday, there was someone making a fuss about it. He told everyone that it was a fake product, yet he was also the one who bought it a lot. It was such a big disparity, so in the end, people started to follow his action. Unfortunately, many people were still hesitating back then. If not, they already bought in a bulk and started to sell it in the black market."
Panto then continued, staring at the empty shelf of magic water, "Also, did you know that certain person from before was being searched upon until now? There's a funny reason about that."