Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 3] Chapter 62

[Vol. 3] Chapter 62: Reading people’s hearts

“Duoduo, one hundred thousand.”

“Okay.”

The White Feather girl had just raised her pen to write down the number when Felina stopped her with a hand.

“Please wait, Miss Violet, this kind of bidding method is very likely to create a confrontational mindset in the other party. I suggest…”

“You don’t need to worry, Felina. After all, this thing is something I insisted on buying impulsively. I won’t trouble Lilya to help pay. How about it?”

Violet thought the other party might be dissatisfied because she was irrationally squandering money. However, Felina immediately shook her head at her words.

“You misunderstood. I didn’t mean to stop you from buying. It’s just that doubling the bidding price at once, in a competitive environment, might already be enough to suppress the entire field. But the current situation is one-on-one, and we don’t know the other party’s budget. There’s no need to make both sides uncomfortable, right?”

“Oh?”

After a moment of contemplation, the priestess felt that Felina’s words made sense. Since she wasn’t well-versed in this aspect, she decided to listen to the opinion of Felina, who was better at administrative and diplomatic work than herself.

“So, what do you think is the best course of action now? I must get this book.”

The usually reserved girl nodded slightly.

“Understood. In that case, Duoduo, please quote us 500,000.”

“Alright… Huh? How much did you just say?!”

Having responded almost instinctively, the receptionist girl from White Feather suddenly turned around with a face full of astonishment, rare for her, and confirmed it again.

“I said five hundred thousand, five hundred thousand universal gold coins in the Azure Sky Kingdom. Any problem with that? Or is there a bidding limit here?”

Seeing the cool and handsome girl in the windproof hat remain calm, uttering a shocking declaration as if saying, “Let’s have beef noodles tonight,” even Violet and the dragon lady next to her were taken aback. Violet thought Felina would choose to raise the bid more subtly to test the other party’s bottom line, but unexpectedly, Felina went even further, directly raising the offered price by ten times?!

However, since Felina was handling it, the priestess wouldn’t change her mind or interfere with Felina’s actions. She decided to let her play it however she wanted. Even if the Queen wouldn’t reimburse her, for Violet, gold coins were just simple numbers, especially now that she realized the value high-level equipment represented in this world.

“No, no, no. Naturally, there’s no limit to the bidding…”

The White Feather girl named Duoduo, though well-trained and experienced, was also shocked by this extravagant behavior. After double-checking, she cautiously wrote down the number on the bidding board.

So, in full view of everyone, behind the original 50,000 on the display, an extra zero was added.

“Oh! The distinguished guest in Box 73 has bid again! They have bid… ah? Five, five hundred thousand?!”

Auctioneer Xiaomo, ready to passionately praise and applaud, was also stunned as she saw the change in numbers. Even her sweet smile turned strange. She even raised her hand to signal a staff member standing nearby and whispered a few words, probably asking them to check if there was a problem with the bidding system.

This was normal.

Although 500,000 gold coins could only be considered mid-range in the final transaction prices for all traded items, it was crucial to note that the book without words had been unsold several times, and it was an inexplicable item with a base price of only 10,000 gold coins.

If the previous bidding could be understood as both sides raising the price, this move of directly multiplying it by ten was truly peculiar, both inside and out.

However, no matter what Xiaomo or other customers might think or guess, the fact remained that after quoting this astronomical price, no one had the courage or desire to continue bidding.

This included the three beastmen in Box 76 who had previously competed with Violet.

In the end, this book without words was knocked down by Xiaomo at the high price of 500,000 gold coins, her face full of disbelief.

In the private room, Felina visibly breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile appearing on her meticulous face.

“Luckily, we didn’t disgrace ourselves. It seems the other party didn’t have a firm determination to compete with us for this thing.”

Although the dragon girl looked very confused, seemingly puzzled about why she had to spend so much money to buy it, this eccentric human could still smile. However, Violet gradually understood.

She returned the smile.

“I see, truly worthy of being the envoy appointed by Lilya. I’ve learned from you, Miss Felina.”

Although it seemed like Felina spent a lot of unnecessary money, in reality, she had acquired the item Violet needed at the smallest cost she could afford at that time.

The reasoning wasn’t complicated.

This book without words didn’t have an accurate value standard itself.

This led to its price being infinitely magnifiable.

After all, if it was indeed, as Xiaomo claimed, a magic book hiding ancient lost spells or some other great secret, let alone 500,000 gold coins, many would be willing to pay 5,000,000 gold coins for it.

Initially, others might have thought that these two were brainless fools being played by the auction house.

However, the more intense and prolonged the competition, displaying an excessively strong intention to acquire, the more it would lead onlookers to doubt the value of this seemingly worthless item. In the worst-case scenario, it might even escalate into a crowd dispute and maliciously inflated prices.

On the other hand, there was the so-called consciousness of comparison, or being “on top.”

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the other party only bid up to 50,000 gold coins. If Violet continued with her bidding strategy, after a few rounds, the price would directly reach or even surpass 500,000.

Given the purchasing power displayed by customers in the first half of the auction, in a situation where both sides were heatedly competing, several hundred thousand or even a million gold coins weren’t really that much.

So, Felina chose to drop a bomb directly, seizing the initiative before the situation escalated into a frenzy. She thunderously subdued everyone, including the auction house itself, and left them stunned.

At the same time, this move also demonstrated her team’s abundant budget. It was like saying, “I have money, and I want to buy it for fun. Who do you think you are, daring to compete with me?”

In doing so, Felina wouldn’t make her own demand too obvious. Instead, she made people think, “Is this person a nouveau riche with a loose screw? Who bids like this?”

No one would willingly compete for an item with an unclear purpose against someone who seemed to have more money than sense.

Maliciously inflated prices were even more out of the question. Who knew if the sudden 500,000 bid came from someone with a problem in their head? What if you raised the price, and they suddenly decided not to buy it? Wouldn’t that be a bad deal?

In summary, Felina’s strategy was to be unreasonable and defy common sense, leaving everyone in a state of uncertainty. People couldn’t figure out her intentions, and as long as the bidder wasn’t determined to take the item, they were likely not to continue raising the bid.

Clearly, Felina’s tactics were successful.

Facing the lavish praise from the priestess, the envoy captain remained composed, as if such things were not new to her.

“You’re exaggerating. It’s just a little cleverness in understanding human nature. It’s useful occasionally, but not something for the grand stage. In this world, the most crucial thing is still absolute power and strength, both for nations and individuals, isn’t it?”