198: Next plan

Upon reaching the backstage area, Arthur discovered that it consisted of small, individual rooms. It seemed the Dawn Merchant Guild was quite attentive to the privacy and security of its guests.

At the same time, Arthur noticed that in this small backstage area, there were at least two Legendary Experts from the Dawn Merchant Guild standing guard.

Neither of the Legendary Experts concealed their Qi; anyone who wished to sense it could do so.

This was likely meant to deter everyone, preventing anyone from succumbing to their greed and attempting to seize the auctioned items.

Arthur even suspected that the Dawn Merchant Guild had other Legendary Experts secretly hidden, completely concealing their Qi, just in case.

After all, the Dawn Merchant Guild had put up too many good items for this auction, valued at over ten billion gold coins, so caution was necessary!

Of course, this had nothing to do with Arthur, as he had no intention of stealing anything.

After stating their purpose, Arthur and the others were quickly led into a small partitioned room.

A person who appeared to be the auction house steward was already waiting there!

"Young Miss Avril!"

The person inside first greeted Avril before turning his gaze toward Arthur:

"Since Young Miss Avril is accompanying you, if I haven't guessed incorrectly, Your Excellency must be King Arthur.

I am the handover staff arranged by the Dawn Merchant Guild."

In fact, the steward had the information of all bidders in his mind; otherwise, handing the items to the wrong person would be awkward.

He said this also to try and improve relations between Arthur and the Dawn Merchant Guild.

"That's right, I am Arthur, and I'm here to finalize the handover of the items I just purchased!"

"Please wait a moment. Our Guild will only retrieve the items you purchased after confirming your identity, Your Excellency!"

Two minutes later, the steward returned.

"Thank you for waiting!"

After offering an apology, the steward, wearing a space ring on his right hand, waved it, and the items Arthur had purchased appeared on the table in front of them.

A supreme Legendary greatsword, the magic jewelry purchased by Karona and the other women, a drop of water of life, and a bottle of immortality potion.

"The Legendary Greatsword is 1.211 billion gold coins, the fifteen pieces of magic jewelry are 510 million gold coins, one drop of water of life is 400 million gold coins, and one bottle of immortality potion is 1.63 billion gold coins.

That totals 3.751 billion gold coins!

Next, the forbidden curse scroll and Dragon Crystal consigned by Your Excellency sold for the high price of 2.5 billion gold coins.

Therefore, calculating the total, Your Excellency still needs to pay the Guild 1.251 billion gold coins.

Of course, since Your Excellency is a distinguished guest of our Guild, I will take the liberty of rounding down the odd amount. You only need to pay 1.25 billion gold coins.

Do you have any objection, Your Excellency?"

Hearing this, Arthur shook his head slightly.

"The steward's calculation is very accurate, but I don't wish to pay in gold coins. I would like to use high-grade magic crystals as payment instead, if that is possible!"

Yes, Arthur had thought of another way to save money.

high-grade magic crystals are hard currency, normally costing at least 1.5 million gold coins each.

However, Arthur purchased them from the Portable Shop for only 100,000 gold coins each, meaning that by paying with high-grade magic crystals, Arthur only had to pay one-fifteenth of the cost!

This was a massive saving of gold coins!

On the other side, the steward of the Dawn Merchant Guild was first stunned upon hearing Arthur intended to pay with high-grade magic crystals, looking somewhat incredulous, but then his face broke into a smile.

high-grade magic crystals were excellent commodities that were difficult to buy even with gold coins. Arthur's willingness to pay with them meant the Dawn Merchant Guild was gaining an advantage!

He nodded repeatedly, laughing:

"Of course, you may. We couldn't be happier for you to pay with high-grade magic crystals!"

"Then how is the exchange rate calculated?"

"Regarding the exchange rate, could you first let me inspect your high-grade magic crystals so I can confirm their quality?"

Hearing this, Arthur immediately took out a high-grade magic crystal purchased from the Portable Shop from his space ring.

The steward of the Dawn Merchant Guild took the high-grade magic crystal and observed it closely:

"The energy is abundant and pure. These are supreme high-grade magic crystals. If they are all of the same quality, our Guild is willing to exchange them at a price of 1.6 million gold coins per piece. What do you think?"

1.6 million gold coins per piece was 100,000 gold coins higher than the price Arthur sold them for at the Lionheart Merchant Guild.

It seemed Arthur had priced them too low before!

But upon reflection, the 1.5 million gold coin price tag for high-grade magic crystals at the Lionheart Merchant Guild already gave Arthur fourteen times the profit; that was enough!

A slightly lower price meant they sold faster, allowing Arthur to earn more!

Since the price was even higher than Arthur expected, he naturally agreed.

Arthur waved his right hand, and seven hundred and eighty-two high-grade magic crystals, each the size of a baby's fist, floated beside him.

"These are seven hundred and eighty-two high-grade magic crystals. Consider the extra half-piece a gift to the Guild!"

"Then I thank King Arthur on behalf of the Guild!"

The steward of the Dawn Merchant Guild scanned the crystals, confirmed they were all supreme high-grade magic crystals of the same quality, and immediately stored them in his space ring.

Gaining so many high-grade magic crystals at once, he might even get a promotion, the steward couldn't help but think internally.

Seeing the steward accept the high-grade magic crystals, Arthur also carefully inspected the auctioned items on the table, confirmed there were no issues, and put them away.

With that, both parties had settled the transaction!

Afterward, Arthur and the others left the backstage area of the auction house.

Along the way, Avril suddenly spoke:

"King Arthur, now that the auction is over, what are your plans? Will you spend a few days touring Dawn City, or return immediately?"

Hearing this, Arthur looked around and noticed that Karona and the others all wore expressions suggesting they would follow his decision.

Even Doria, who was the most playful, didn't say anything.

Since Arthur became King, Karona and Olivia had spent almost all their time in the Royal Palace. Now that they had finally managed to travel, they definitely wanted to see other countries.

However, they thought that since Arthur was the King, it would be inappropriate for him to be away for a long time, so they offered no other opinions.

People with deep affection naturally consider the other person, and Arthur was no exception:

"Let's stay in Dawn City for two days first! Then we will travel slowly back to the Lionheart Kingdom!

With Melita as the Chancellor, it won't matter if I'm away from the Lionheart Kingdom for a few weeks!

What do you think of this idea?"

As soon as he said this, clear expressions of excitement appeared in the eyes of Karona, Olivia, and Doria.

In the end, Karona, who had been with Arthur the longest, spoke up:

"Arthur, the Lionheart Kingdom has just unified the Doreen Peninsula, and there are still many matters to attend to. If you are absent, many documents cannot be signed, and many things will stall. Let's just go back!"

Karona did not know about Melita's absolute loyalty and was still worried.

"It's fine. For the documents, I can simply grant full authorization to Melita and have her sign on my behalf.

If there are other matters Melita truly cannot decide, she can just contact me via magic communication!"