Chapter 294: Is Gervas's Identity Not Simple?

"Ladies and gentlemen, Count Oliver has bid four hundred and eighty gold coins. Is there anyone else who wishes to continue bidding?"

The castle steward naturally hoped someone else would step forward to continue bidding.

He immediately cast his gaze hopefully toward the crowd.

Unfortunately, four hundred and eighty gold coins had already reached the limit price in the nobles' minds.

If it went any higher, it would be better to raise them oneself.

Everyone had come here simply to save money and effort.

Even if the quality of your cavalry is indeed high, five gold coins can buy ten strong slaves.

After weighing the options, naturally no one bid again.

The castle steward waited a moment, and disappointment appeared in his eyes.

Of course, the selling price of these criminal slaves had met expectations, so he did not delay any further.

"Four hundred and eighty gold coins, first time!"

"Four hundred and eighty gold coins, second time!"

"Fo..."

"Five hundred gold coins!"

Just as the castle steward was about to call out the third time, Gervas acted again.

This time he was considerably quicker, avoiding the impression that he was deliberately picking a fight with Oliver.

Of course, he also knew that even if he hadn't done this and had bid against Oliver from the start, the other man would still have been displeased.

For a scion of such a great family, the only way to make him stop holding a grudge was to learn from other counts and simply admit defeat without a fight.

But Gervas had traveled from afar and was determined to secure these cavalrymen.

Moreover, he intended to take both batches, so it was impossible for him not to incur the other's hatred.

Since that was the case, he might as well disregard most concerns and focus entirely on the auction.

Bidding up at the very last moment could exert great psychological pressure on the opponent, making them unable to guess one's bottom line.

For instance, the first batch of cavalry had been secured so easily for exactly this reason.

That was why he acted this way.

Although gold coins were not scarce for him, Storm Domain was in need of rebuilding, so every bit saved counted.

Whoosh!

And his renewed bid surprised everyone.

Everyone present, including Oliver, had not expected anyone to buy out the entire two hundred cavalrymen.

After all, the difficulty was considerable and the cost was high.

What no one expected was that someone in the hall would actually do this.

And it was someone from an obscure count's family.

The castle steward above suddenly brightened, looking at Gervas as if he were the God of Wealth. "Lord Gervas has bid five hundred again. It seems he truly values this batch of criminal slaves!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, is there anyone else wishing to raise the bid? If so, please hurry!"

As the steward spoke, his gaze remained, seemingly present yet absent, fixed on Count Oliver.

Count Oliver's jaw twitched, and the look he cast at Gervas clearly carried anger.

"Five hundred and ten gold coins!"

"Five hundred and thirty gold coins!"

"Five hundred and forty!"

"Five hundred and sixty!"

Hush!

When Gervas calmly called out five hundred and sixty gold coins again, the nobles in the hall lost their composure.

Mainly because Gervas's aura was simply too overwhelming.

Anyone with eyes could see that Count Oliver, born of a ducal family, had already grown impatient.

Yet this southern noble named Gervas remained as calm as water.

The gold coins added in increments of twenty seemed not to be gold, but copper coins.

The two sides' temperaments were clearly ranked.

Fire seemed ready to burst from Oliver's eyes. "My lord, you have already secured the first batch of cavalry. Can you yield this second batch to me?"

"If my lord can agree, I, Oliver, will certainly remember this kindness!"

"I am sorry, Count Oliver. I traveled a long distance specifically because this batch of cavalry is extremely important to me, as my domain frequently faces dangers!"

"Therefore, although I wish to help my lord, I am truly powerless. My apologies!" Gervas's expression did not change much, but his tone was very sincere.

Of course, in Oliver's view, this was merely Gervas's excuse!

Your bearing looks even more imposing than mine, the second son of a duke. Would your domain be so dangerous that it resembles a minor noble's?

Do you really think I, Oliver, the second son of a ducal house, am a fool?

As far as I know, recently, apart from the north, there have been no major disturbances along the kingdom's borders, especially since the western tribal rebellion was suppressed.

Oliver gritted his teeth. "Five hundred and seventy gold coins!"

"Six hundred!"

"You..." Oliver's eyes bulged, and he nearly rose to curse the streets.

But he ultimately had to maintain his dignity; after all, this was in full view of everyone, and there was no indiscriminate fighting or killing as in storybooks.

Gervas merely smiled faintly, his meaning clear: let the bidding decide the truth.

And the funds Oliver brought certainly exceeded these six hundred gold coins, but he did not intend to bid again.

First, the price had already left no profit.

More importantly, the other party's casual demeanor made him look more like a duke's son than the speaker himself, as if gold coins cost nothing, so he decided not to argue further.

"Lord Gervas bids six hundred gold coins. Does anyone else wish to bid?"

"Six hundred gold coins, once!"

"Six hundred gold coins, twice!"

"Six hundred gold coins, thrice... Congratulations, Lord Gervas, on successfully purchasing the second batch of criminal slave cavalry!"

Under everyone's gaze, both sides resumed the transaction, but this time, Gervas asked the castle steward whether he could use glow pearls for the payment.

The steward paused, then immediately replied, "Lord Gervas, of course that is acceptable!"

"Of course, the only requirement is that they cannot be calculated at a premium price, but rather valued at their normal market rate!"

Gervas nodded, naturally having no objection.

So, he waved to his subordinate, and Evlan handed over another wooden box.

The wooden box opened, revealing five glow pearls the size of chicken eggs, dozens the size of lychees, and hundreds the size of longans before everyone's eyes.

"Good heavens, so many?"

"Yes, there must be at least three or four hundred glow pearls here?"

"The quantity is secondary; look at those five glow pearls the size of chicken eggs, those are truly rare, and those lychee-sized glow pearls are also quite hard to come by!"

"Everyone, I increasingly feel that this Gervas has an unsimple background. Could he be the illegitimate son of some duke? After all, only a great family could produce such a quantity of glow pearls!"

"Indeed! Look at his conduct just now; he was even more steady than Count Oliver, yet his age is so young. This is absolutely not an aura that a count's family could cultivate!"

Gazing at the glow pearls inside the wooden box, the guests in the hall turned their heads one by one and began whispering among themselves.

To the current Gervas, glow pearls were no longer considered rare items.

But to the nobles, they remained just as coveted.

For instance, Hou Jue Darwin nearby, gazing at the five glow pearls the size of chicken eggs, could barely restrain himself from stepping forward personally.

He kept signaling the castle steward with his eyes.

The castle steward suppressed his excitement, "Lord Gervas, are all of these intended for the exchange of the criminal slaves?"

"Yes," Gervas nodded lightly.