End of the Magic Era
chapter-32

Cadgar departed, leaving only Lin Yun and Faleau in the reception room.

Lin Yun didn't make a fuss about his earlier actions, making Faleau feel a bit guilty...

Up till now, Faleau still hadn't figured out how the situation had escalated to this point.

It had originated from Faleau being busy and estimating that Lin Yun was only an Apprentice Alchemist due to his age, so he hadn't been very polite.

In fact, Faleau would receive many such Apprentice Alchemists every day. They all had merely stepped onto the path of alchemy, yet they thought that it was a good use of time to bring a few of their products to try their luck at the Black Horn Auction House.

Most of the time, Faleau would make them leave their things behind and have them come back to get their money once their things sold. As for those that didn't sell, they would be put in a corner. If someone wanted to get them back, they would have to look for them there.

This might seem a bit unfair, but he was just taking care of the most common case in the most efficient manner.

But the Black Horn Auction House was so big and there were so many deals happening every day that no one would pay attention to Faleau's actions. And those Apprentice Alchemists mostly came here to try their luck, so if it didn't sell, it didn't sell. It wasn't worth offending Faleau for it.

Thus, for so many years, Faleau had never met any troubles from this.

But his luck hadn't held out this time...

It was as if he had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Who would have thought that a 20-year-old Mage would alarm Cadgar, who would believe that the two potions he casually took out were the Volcano Potion and the Ghost Potion? Who could believe that...

In any case, by this point, he couldn't not believe it...

When he thought of Cadgar's warning before leaving, Faleau felt his legs weaken. If he didn't take good care of Mage Merlin, he would have to pack up and return to Okland. But his earlier actions had gone far beyond just neglecting him. Once his earlier behavior was mentioned to Cadgar, he really would be finished; his job, his future, everything would be over...

Faleau thought about it and paled in dread.

But Faleau had indeed been able to become an Alchemist at such a young age, and he had the qualifications to work at a place like the Black Horn Auction House. This definitely hadn't been due to just luck. Knowing how bad the situation was, the young Alchemist immediately bit his lip and suddenly grovelled under Lin Yun's feet.

"Mage Merlin, I made a mistake, a huge mistake, I failed to recognize your greatness. I..."

Lin Yun looked stunned, and his jaw almost dropped down. 'Wh-what kind of scene is this?'

"Mage Merlin, I trust that you are a magnanimous person, please let me off. I truly cannot afford to lose this job…" Faleau went all-in. He could lose his face, but he definitely couldn't lose this job.

Moreover, no one but this Great Alchemist would see his pitiable state...

And Faleau thought that even if someone else did see, he could just say that he was pleading a future Master Alchemist for leniency, and that they likely would never have an opportunity to even interact with one.

"..." Lin Yun was shocked for a long time. It would definitely be a lie to say that Lin Yun wasn't having some thoughts about this fellow. He had remained silent after Cadgar left to see what this young Alchemist would say.

But...

Lin Yun had guessed what would happen, but not that it would be to such an extent.

That young Alchemist was indeed bowing, but the way he bowed was truly unconventional.

An Alchemist in his twenties was hugging his thigh while weeping… was he trying to re-enact a scene from a play?

Lin Yun took a deep breath and used the calmest voice he could bring out to say, "First, stand up."

Faleau shamelessly wailed, "No, Mage Merlin, if you don't agree to let me off, I won't get up…"

"Won't get up?"

"Won't get up?"

Faleau shuddered.

"Move, you don't need to act so pathetic, didn't Cadgar ask you to take care of me and lead me to check out the auction?"

"No, I can't…" Faleau started to speak, but after seeing Lin Yun's expression, which didn't seem too angry or displeased, he promptly explained, "It's like this, Mage Merlin, the Black Horn Auction is only semi-open to the public. Only the VIPs who received an invitation can participate directly…"

"Ah?" Lin Yun froze when he heard that. 'There was such a thing with the Black Horn Auction?'

Before Lin Yun could finish, Faleau already carried a fawning smile as he said, "But it doesn't matter, Mage Merlin. You are High Mage Cadgar's guest, it is tantamount to being a VIP of the Black Horn Auction House. I'll bring you to deal with the formalities, and you can take part in the auction after you are done with those."

"Not bad..."

After leaving the reception room, Faleau quickly helped Lin Yun with what he needed. During that time, Lin Yun got a whole new understanding of the young Alchemist.

He had to admit that this young Alchemist truly was capable. He was able to handle matters quickly and efficiently, and he had reached the pinnacle at using others' reputations to settle problems.

He relied on Cadgar's name to help Lin Yun cut through the red tape. When meeting some fool, Faleau would simply use the Cadgar move: "This is the Chief Appraiser's guest, what are you doing? You don't want to do it?"

Who would make things difficult for the Chief Appraiser's guest?

In this manner, they were able to breeze through the required procedures and in a short half an hour, Faleau brought Lin Yun an invitation letter to a luxurious private room. This was one of the auction house's best rooms, and there were only a total of seven of these rooms. In the past, they were set aside for each major force's leader. Only the peak powers of the eastern side of the kingdom could have their own seat. In Thousand Sails City, only the Sage Tower's Solomon, and the Twin Moons chamber of commerce's Monchi were able to have one of the seven private rooms. Someone like Sossu of the Viper Nest could only sit on the outer floor.

After they were done with the formalities, the two arrived at the site of the auction, the entire top floor of the Black Horn Auction House. It was a huge place that could hold a thousand people. When the two arrived, they could see many important guests sitting in the large area.

Cadgar had just said that the Black Horn Auction was a huge event in the entire eastern part of the kingdom, and these weren't empty words. When Lin Yun looked in from the entrance, he found out that nearly all of Thousand Sails City's top figures had come. The Sage Tower's Solomon, the Twin Moons chamber of commerce's Monchi, the Viper Nest's Sossu, Silvermoon Mercenary Group's Sasu, and others...

The VIP boxes were on the second floor, and they were the best seats in the entire auction floor. Faleau led the way while Lin Yun followed, looking around in curiosity. The two of them quickly reached the last private room on the first floor.

Just as they were about to go up, they were stopped by someone.

"Hey, Young Master Merlin, this isn't a place for you…" The one who stopped the two young men was the butler of the Monchi family, Jonathan. He was in his fifties and had a short stature with grizzled hair. He was always blunt and unkind to people of lower status.

But before Lin Yun even answered, Faleau stepped forward.

"Who are you? What are you trying to pull by blocking this path?" Faleau certainly wasn't polite.

The young Alchemist originally wasn't a polite person. After all, before Cadgar arrived, he had been trash talking Lin Yun. How could a mere butler be worth his attention… Moreover, Faleau was still backed up by Cadgar. This was tantamount to representing the entire Black Horn Auction House, so he wouldn't have any problem being unscrupulous now.

"I am the butler of the Monchi family, Jonathan. This is Master's box. How could you rush through this area as you please, disturbing my master's rest? Are you able to handle the consequences?" Jonathan wasn't easy to deal with either. In Thousand Sails City, the Monchi family definitely had great power. Besides holding the Sage Tower in high regards, it didn't attach much importance to the other forces, let alone two kids...

Jonathan didn't think that he would meet someone even more unreasonable this time. This young fellow surprisingly didn't back down when facing the butler of the Monchis. Even more surprisingly, Faleau stepped forward and slapped him. A loud sound echoed, and the surroundings went silent. Jonathan covered one of his cheeks while pointing at Faleau with a trembling finger, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He was the butler of the Monchi family, one of the most trusted subordinates of his master. Even the leaders of each major force in Thousand Sails City would be polite to him. 'Did this kid go crazy?'

"Yo-you… You dare slap me?" he forced out, as he looked at Faleau in consternation.

"Why wouldn't I dare?" After Faleau slapped him, he seemed as if he was up for more. "Creating trouble in the Black Horn Auction House, it seems to me that you don't want to live."

To be honest, Jonathan really had bad luck...

Normally, Jonathan should have been inside the box accompanying Monchi. As the trusted butler of the Monchi family, he definitely didn't need to stand outside the box as a guard.

But somehow, Jonathan had noticed Lin Yun coming over.

This was a happy coincidence…

Lin Yun had previously humiliated Mason and many people of the Monchi family, including Jonathan, knew about it. Seeing Lin Yun walking over, Jonathan suddenly felt like showing off in front of his two young masters.

It seemed like an extremely good opportunity for him.

His master had come in person today, and there were so many elite mercenaries guarding the family. Even if that Mafa Merlin was extremely bold, how could he dare stir up trouble here?

As long as Mafa Merlin didn't dare to retaliate, he would be able to humiliate him and help Young Master Mason get back at him, and later on, Young Master Mason would definitely treat him favorably. He might even compliment him in front of Monchi himself.

But ultimately, things didn't go quite as planned for Jonathan.