Whispering Poems

The process of the auction is very simple. Guests make an appointment for a certain auction in advance, and then when they arrive at the restaurant on time, they will get a wooden number plate. Once the auction has started, you can bid on the number plate. Before the auction starts, there will be time to watch the ten items of the show.

"That man"

The woman whispered as Shade took the number plate from the woman.

"Your three o'clock position, black formal suit, golden buttons, mustache, black top hat."

She lowered her voice, confirming all There was no one around, and he reminded softly:

"The ring is on his finger."

Shade nodded, and then naturally separated from the woman. He looked down at his number plate, which was even painted and looked like something borrowed from Auction House.

At three o'clock, the man standing in front of the wall looking at the oil painting is the target tonight. His real name is Steve Evante, and his real identity is a cultist who believes in the Lord of the Blood Feast. [Transfiguration Ring] In the process of being transferred by the Peace Church, it was accidentally stolen by someone, and the person who stole the ring is naturally the undercover agent that the church broke into the cult.

The ring itself was not left in the hands of the respectable undercover gentleman, but was prepared by the cultists to return it to [Blood of Quicksilver]. It is naturally impossible to return such an important relic in such a dangerous occasion as today, so the ring is kept by the ring warlock of the order, which is Steve Evante.

He is actually a woman, and is wanted by the Orthodox Church all the year round. Using the power of the ring to become a man can only appear in public.

But the cursed demoness is more gender-sensitive than expected. Miss Galina can easily determine who owns the ring, according to her statement:
"Men use a ring to become a woman, it still makes me feel very disgusted. And a woman uses a ring to become a man, disgusting The feeling still exists. The former is like seeing a rotting corpse, and the latter is like seeing a rotting excrement. The disguise of [Metamorphosis Ring] is useless in front of me.”

Therefore, it is not that Miss Galina can steal information from the cultists, it is purely the use of the [Transfiguration Ring] that allows her to know who is the target.

Shade looked all around, then took the number plate to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the ballroom to observe the collection for the next auction. The real plan is to approach Steve Evante.

Of course, Shade doesn't rush into a conversation with a stranger. Seeing that the target was standing next to the third auction item, he went to the first auction item and pretended to check it.

The first lot in the next auction is a long dark red dress hanging on a wooden frame. While the dress itself was beautiful and those jeweled buttons and embellishments alluring, the dress was older than Shade's body. This is the long dress worn by the previous queen. She once wore this dress to attend the dinner on April 3, 1819 of the general calendar with the then King Delarion, and the speech of the king in that dinner is considered to be old The continent's two major Human Kingdoms are the beginning of a total war that lasts 30 years.

The historical value of this dress is probably a little bit, but Shade can't figure out how the reserve price of 80 pounds was given.

Just as a noble lady came to look at the dress, he turned to look at the second auction item.

The second lot was an old manuscript book, which was placed in a glass case by the window. The title of the book "Delarion Ancient Fairy Tales" is written in squiggly letters, but because of the age, no matter how carefully preserved, the ink marks are already very light.

Judging from the brief introduction posted on the glass case, this book has a history of 60 years and was a reading of Duke Maupassant who lived half a century ago. For the people of 1863, it is an old book in very good condition.

At that time, the Maupassant family still had the title of duke, so it had a lot of financial resources. The writer of the manuscript was a famous writer of that era, and he left a collection of essays "Summer Nights Collection" which is very famous even in contemporary times. ". Miss Luyisa's award-winning work "A Midsummer Night's Wish" is said to be inspired by this collection of essays.

"The starting price is 30 pounds, I know this auction, all the lots will be auctioned at a premium."

Shade said this deliberately, the sound is neither too big nor too small, but guarantee It can be heard by Mr. Yvent who is standing by.

After reading this old book, I looked towards the third auction item. It was an oil painting hanging on the wall, and the bright colors of the ink made people feel disturbed. The painting is called "The Harvest Field" and depicts rice fields in autumn with golden, yellow and red.

The artist put so much emotion into the painting that Shade took a look at the painting and immediately from those crazy colors, a feeling of have one's hair stand on end, but Can't tell the reason for this feeling.

"This is probably the charm of art."

Shade said, glancing to the side, Mr. Yvont focused on the painting without speaking, Shade looked again towards the sign with the reserve price:
"tsk tsk, £160."

"This price, strictly speaking, is not high."

Middle-aged "man" "Finally speaking, he squinted at the picture on the wall, his expression a little intoxicated:

"The artist's thoughts can be conveyed through the works, and the writer who painted this picture is perfect. It is absolutely pioneering to express your anxiety, unease and panic in warm tones rather than cool tones vividly and thoroughly. Although this painting was sold at the Biford Auction House five years ago, it only sold for 174 pounds. , but its own artistic value is much higher than those ignorant abstract paintings. (Note)”

Fortunately, the scene is full of rich people who don’t know much about art. It has long caused uproar when it was said on occasions such as the Art Academy or the art gallery.

"So, sir, do you have a deep research on oil painting?"

Shade asked, Yvont nodded, although he was still looking at the oil painting, he had already Chatted with Shade:
"I'm not from Delarion. In my hometown, I'm actually engaged in art collection and preservation."

This kind of profession seems to be easy to cultivate in this world. People who are mentally abnormal, such as lunatics and cultists, belong to an alternative "high-risk occupation".

PS: Charity auction, so most lots are at a premium.