Chapter 159: An Archdemon’s Horn and a Strange Noble

"Don’t be in a rush, Krai. I will tell you in just a moment," Edwin responded with a soft tone, resuming his way up the stairs without looking back.

Ryan followed him in silence, climbing the wide, carpeted steps.

He had lost Runa’s earring, the relic that passively masked his stats. Right now, he was forcing his own mana control to the absolute limit in order to keep his aura suppressed.

It was manual work, tedious but necessary. He wasn’t emitting any type of power that would give away his newly acquired, monstrous SS rank.

In the eyes of any casual observer in that building, he could easily pass as an ordinary, low-level adventurer who could barely hold a heavy weapon.

Even so, the attitude of Edwin and his companion was alarming. The assistant walking behind the noble barely let a trace of energy escape, but the Inspect skill Ryan used immediately classified him as an A-rank assassin.

What was truly concerning was the excessive calmness that both of them maintained. They moved with the absolute confidence of those who know they have the upper hand in any scenario.

’I don’t know what his goal is by inviting me, but it is convenient. I mean, as long as I can obtain useful information.’

They reached the second floor. The private space was elegant, adorned with heavy red velvet curtains and carved wooden railings that offered a perfect panoramic view of the main stage on the ground floor.

Down below, the sound of the crowd blended with the amplified voice of an announcer giving the official welcome speech, praising the rare wonders that the merchant guild had gathered in the city for that afternoon.

Edwin took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs upholstered in dark leather. With a polite wave of his hand, he motioned for Ryan to take the adjacent chair.

There were exactly two seats available at the front of the box, separated by a small circular mahogany table, keeping a distance of at least a meter between them.

Ryan sat down, keeping his back completely straight. The man accompanying them as an assistant made no gesture of seeking rest; he remained standing, as static as a stone statue, strategically positioned to Edwin’s right.

The auction on the ground floor did not take long to begin. The announcer on the stage pulled away a silk cloth covering a marble pedestal, revealing the very first item.

It was a horn, dark and twisted, with a surface that seemed to absorb the light from the chandeliers on the ceiling.

The auctioneer announced with a theatrical voice that the piece belonged to an archdemon hunted down by an elite group in the dangerous and distant lands of Demon King Rohan.

Bids for the horn erupted immediately among the audience on the first floor. The base price started at five thousand crones, but the euphoria of the wealthy merchants, blacksmiths, and nobles present quickly drove the figure through the roof.

"Ten thousand!"

"Fifty thousand crones!"

"Two hundred thousand!"

The clamor of voices bounced off the walls of the enormous building, raising the bid until it reached two hundred and fifty thousand crones in a matter of a few seconds.

Edwin observed the frenzy from the height of his private box, leaning his elbow indifferently on the armrest.

"Those archdemon horns are quite useful materials for crafting weapons and armor."

Edwin spoke suddenly, breaking the silence between them with a casual tone.

"Of course, on their own they don’t do much. They must be processed and combined with other relics in the forge of an expert artisan, but they work extremely well as the core of a weapon."

Ryan listened to the explanation, but his mind drifted for a moment toward his own party.

’It is truly lucky that Beatrice isn’t in this place right now.’ Ryan thought, maintaining a completely expressionless face as he looked at the stage.

He wasn’t thinking it out of some abstract loyalty toward demons, but rather out of a matter of empathy toward his companion.

After all, Beatrice was a demon. Seeing that kind of thing, dismembered body parts of her own species being auctioned off to the highest bidder and exhibited as simple forging materials in front of a crowd.

It would probably be humiliating for her. The atmosphere in that theater was a constant reminder of the cruelty between both races.

"Aren’t you interested in bidding on that horn, Krai?" Edwin asked, turning his head slightly to look at him.

"No. It’s not the kind of thing I am looking for," Ryan commented briefly, without taking his eyes off the platform.

Edwin let out a small nasal chuckle, crossing his legs.

"Naturally. Seeing the weapon you bring with you, a horn of such a low level as that of a simple archdemon is not something that interests you in the slightest, is it?"

Ryan slowly turned his face to look at the noble. The atmosphere in the box tensed in a fraction of a second.

"What are you referring to?" Ryan asked.

"Weren’t you the one who said on the stairs that I didn’t have to keep pretending?"

Edwin responded, returning his gaze with total calmness.

"The guard at the entrance must have ignored it completely, he is just an employee. But I noticed it immediately when I saw the hilt of your weapon peeking out from under your clothes. It is a chimera, isn’t it?"

Ryan hesitated for a moment. His initial instinct was to think that Edwin’s assistant or the noble himself had used some high-level analysis skill or an inspection magic on his inventory.

But he quickly rewound that idea and discarded it.

’I know the rules of this world. For the system to allow you to inspect the details of a specific weapon or identify its rarity magically, touching it physically is a requirement. No one can scan my equipment from a distance.’

So he decided not to overthink the matter in his head and simply ask directly, seeking to understand the extent of this man’s knowledge.

"So you are familiar with this class of weapons?"

"Yes, I am very familiar with it," Edwin affirmed, resting both hands on his knees.

"And that is the exact reason why I wanted you to come with me. You see, possessing a chimera category weapon tells me two very important things about you. First, that you are an adventurer of an exceptionally high level. Second, that you are definitely not from this city."

Edwin paused briefly, evaluating his guest’s reaction.

"There would be absolutely no way I wouldn’t know of your existence if you were a regular resident of Kalistia."

"It’s true," Ryan commented completely naturally, accepting the premise to see how far this individual’s game went.

"I am only passing through. I heard rumors about the magic accessory auction in the city and became interested in the event. But tell me, how did you realize with just a glance from afar that this weapon was a chimera?"