Chapter 326: Good Friends

Lady Hue’s face had been pale since she revealed the information about the Church’s representative to me, but she still managed a smile as the Auction continued.

More of my items crossed the stage.

The Permafrost Fangs went first. Three pairs. Six million gold crowns.

I blinked.

The Blizzard Mauler pelts followed. Three pairs. Three million.

My fingers curled around the armrest.

The Patriarch’s Ice Crown. Three pairs. Twelve million gold crowns. A few of the smaller items went for under a million each, and the Stalker Spine Shard sold for around eleven million.

All together, my items earned fifty-three million gold crowns.

I sat there with my mouth slightly open, unable to close it. The number kept bouncing around the inside of my skull like it was looking for somewhere to settle and couldn’t find a surface big enough.

Lady Hue chuckled.

"I was quite surprised when you said a hundred thousand. I almost thought you were being humble." She tilted her head, studying me with something between amusement and pity. "I don’t know the kind of life you’ve had to live before now, but you underestimate these items too greatly. Are they that unimportant to you?"

I glanced at her. My jaw still felt loose. I straightened in my seat and forced it shut.

"Lady Hue, more than the prices, I’ve noticed that it’s been one person buying these items. Why exactly is that?"

Lady Hue shrugged. "Everyone has their reasons for visiting the Night Auction. He might just be a lucky man who happened to encounter the items he was looking for. You should be happy for him."

Then her eyes changed. The warmth vanished and something guarded slid into place, smooth as a door closing.

"I’m not going to give you his identity."

"Ah ah..." I chuckled lightly. I would’ve loved to ask, actually, if it wasn’t that I had somewhat ruined my reputation in that regard. "No, you don’t need to worry about that."

On second thought, I didn’t need to know who they were. I just needed to keep in touch with Lady Hue. Whoever this man was, he’d be looking forward to the next auction.

’Which means I need to stay the anonymous sovereign so I can rake in even more profits when I start hunting higher rank Spirit Beasts.’

Although those higher ranks felt like a nightmare. I knew how much raiding a single level 1 Apex beast was costing me, so no, it wasn’t going to be easy.

I sighed and folded my arms, still running the number in my head, wondering what exactly I was supposed to do with that much money. I had come here thinking I’d earn enough to cover expenses back home and pad our coffers a little. Maybe double what I brought.

Not this. Never this.

’Does the Black Snow Company even have this much money in their treasury?’

Maybe they had a few million. I was sure it wasn’t as much as fifty. The job Levi and Nisha had to go out for was worth one hundred and fifty thousand gold crowns, and we’d treated that mission like S rank.

So it was safe to say right now that I was, by any reasonable measure, stinking rich.

"I’ll prepare a private S class bank for you," Lady Hue said. "Only Sovereigns have the right to have a bank like this, but it might warrant attention on your path. What are you willing to do?"

I turned the words over for a moment.

"Haven’t I already been introduced as a Scavenger Sovereign? Won’t that alone bring attention?"

Lady Hue’s tone didn’t shift, but her posture did. She sat a fraction straighter, the way someone does when the conversation stops being pleasant and starts being important.

"This is different. Your identity will be tied to the account. It will be traceable."

"Traceable to whom?"

"We will need your personal information to open the bank. If the Sovereigns ever decide to find out who you are, or the religious leaders want to bring you into their fold, they can use the bank to trace you. The Recimiras government can do the same." She paused. "It can bring rather annoying disturbances."

She was right. It would be annoying. But I lingered on the religious leaders part. The image of the Church suddenly arriving at my doorstep, all smiles and open arms, begging me to be their ally because I happened to be a Sovereign...

A grin spread across my face before I could stop it.

’Why make things that easy for them.’

Especially after the message I planned to send them today. I doubted they’d want me in their good books after that. I needed them to hate me, to loathe me at every turn, so this vengeance could be savored to the very last drop.

"Well, isn’t there an alternative?" I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "I can simply use a proxy, can’t I?"

Lady Hue went still. Then she nodded, slowly.

"Yes, you can."

I leaned closer to her.

"Can I use you as my proxy?"

She stared at me. Her lips parted but nothing came out for a full second. Then she drew back, putting distance between us.

"Lord Cade, that would be dangerous, no?"

I laughed and waved the concern away. "What would be dangerous about it? We’re comrades now, aren’t we? I’m in your debt and you very well might be in trouble because of me. This way we can always stay in contact, make more deals in the future."

I held up a finger. "Moreover, I need your help with one other thing. Do this for me, and you can brag about being very good friends with a Sovereign."

Lady Hue’s brow creased.

"Lord Cade, you seem to have a lot of baggage around you."

I laughed. "Haha, oh my, what can I say? I tend to be full of shit."

I let the humor settle for a beat, then dropped the grin. "But trust me, this one is different. I’m looking for Cressida, who I assume is your sister?"

The air between us changed.

Lady Hue’s face didn’t just darken. It closed. Every trace of warmth, amusement, and professional composure folded inward like shutters slamming shut before a storm.

I knew that look. I’d worn it myself often enough.

I had just said a name I shouldn’t have.