Chapter 149: Broken Goods Auction (1/2)

Idris called him the next day, inviting him to the monthly auction that the Broken Goods would host. Every auction house would pick a day to sell their goods to the public. Usually, it's an eventless day to make sure people would be able to attend.

Arthur groaned as he left his comfy bed and started dressing. As his conscience cleared, he remembered what Master Ronin had told him. He had finally understood why Master Ronin would wait until now to tell him this.

If Arthur heard that he was fated to change the world as soon as he awakened, he would have been crushed under the pressure of such expectation. However, he had changed so much over the past months since he had awakened. Even though it was unrealistic that such a fate awaited him, he didn't plan on shying away.

As he got dressed and came down, he saw that many reporters were still there. Arthur sighed and braced himself to give them an interview. As soon as they spotted him, they rushed forward holding their mics and cameras with them like a tiger chasing its prey.

”Young hero, please allow us to interview you!”

”Mr. Arthur, if you have the time…”

Arthur raised his hands and asked them to calm down. Weirdly, he wasn't nervous. He saw how obedient they became when he agreed to give them an interview.

”However, I'll be answering only a few questions from everyone.”

The group nodded at his words and prepared their equipment. Arthur sat on a couch with the reporters sitting in front of him. Luckily, he had dressed up with a jacket and a long-necked shirt. The interview started right away.

”What's your relationship with the princess and how did the two of you meet?” Was the first question by a beautiful receptionist wearing trimmed glasses.

”I met Princess Nera in the Runes Apprentice Cup. We…” Arthur proceeded to explain how distant they were before the party and how nothing happened between the two.

”What do you have to say about the predictions that you'll become the champion?” Another question came from a short man with a recorder.

”I,” Arthur paused as he remembered he should stay humble. ”Will do my best. I've met other participants who were quite formidable, so I'm excited to have a go against them.”

A few other questions popped up like his plans, invitations from workshops, and the likes. Arthur excused himself in the end when the reporters were mostly satisfied with the interview. He knew this would earn him another burst of fame, but at least they wouldn't keep running after him from now on.

Arthur noticed how disappointed the receptionist was as he walked outside. Maybe he had helped the hotel rack some money, after all. It wasn't a high-class hotel, since those were too extravagant for Arthur's tastes.

He found a driver waiting for him, sent by Idris. Nodding to the bald burly man who opened the car's door, Arthur hopped into the car.

”Sir, I've been assigned by the company as your driver from now on. Wherever you want to go, please give me a text of the time and place to pick you up.” The driver gave him his card and Arthur thanked him.

To travel around, Arthur could just use his teleport rune. However, Idris asked him to make an entrance to the auction house as a form of publicity. Emma had called him yesterday too so they could meet and decided to tag along when he said he wanted to attend the auction.

”I bet someone is going to get jealous.” Arthur grinned as he remembered the warning the prince gave him. He had also read an article of how the prince's limelight was stolen by Extrasort, the mysterious ranker in the magic tower.

He felt so much satisfaction from that.

The prince has proved himself to be rotten, just like his younger brother. A vile tree can't bear unrotten fruit, it seems. The royal family had no qualms about 15-years old scraping from dungeons to live, why would they care about their people now?

Once he had this mindset, Arthur noticed how corrupt this place was. It used the strength of awakeners to divide the people, marginalizing the non-awakeners until there only empty husks. The gap between this nation's classes was so wide that it could be seen from the exterior of the Palace of Royals.

The car pulled over in front of a large building. As Arthur thanked the driver and left the car, he read the giant sign of the auction house.

Broken Goods Auction.