Max, on the other hand, had a bitter smile on his face. He glanced at Leticia and others, noticing their disappointed expressions; he sighed inwardly.
He knew they wanted the spirit fruits to improve their cultivation and lower the gap between him and them, and he was happy to help fulfil their wishes. However, what could he do now that he didn't have enough Mana stones?
'Should I have asked little Arya's parents for more Mana stones?' As soon as this thought came to mind, he shook his head.
They had already given them the precious guest tokens that were useful not only in the Ninam city but also in other silver-ranked Elvin cities. Moreover, without even asking, the city lord gave them 100,000 Mana stones.
'It seems I need to find a way to earn Mana stones in huge numbers.' He thought. However, how was he supposed to do that? Kill magical beasts?
However, he could only kill two-star beasts, and their cores weren't worth much. If he wanted to earn Mana stones in tens of thousands, he would have to kill hundreds of two-star beasts, which would take a lot of time.
'It seems I can only do this for the time being.' He thought. Suddenly, a thought came across his mind, and his eyes lit up.
He glanced at the servant girl and asked, "Can I auction some things in the auction?"
"Ha?" The servant girl was aback when she heard this and thought, 'It seems, despite being the VIPs, they don't have enough Mana stones.'
Rima, Leticia and Belen were also surprised and happy to see that he was willing to sell his stuff to buy the spirit fruits for them. However, they quickly shook their heads and said, "Max, you don't have to do-"
Before they could complete their sentence, Max interrupted them, "It's fine. Don't worry."
He then turned to the servant girl and asked again, "So, can I?"
"I-If my lord wasn't a VIP guest of the Greenwave auction hall; you wouldn't have been able to since the time to assign the auction hall has already passed, but the VIPs are allowed to assign their things until half an hour before the auction starts." The servant girl replied.
"Good." Max was relieved to hear this and immediately asked, "So, how do I assign my things to your auction house?"
"My lord, you only need to verify the items you want to auction off with our superiors. If they regard your things as valuable, they will allow you to auction them." The servant girl replied, "If my lord wants to auction something, I can call our superior in charge of determining the values of the potential auction items here."
"Okay then. Please call for them." Max nodded.
"Yes, my lord." The servant girl nodded and gestured for one of the servant girls to go out and bring their superior.
After the servant girl had gone out, the ladies exchanged looks before Rima turned to him and asked, "Max, what do you want to auction? If it's something valuable, please don't sell it. Moreover, our cultivation speed is already very fast with your assistance." When she reached the last part of her sentence, her face reddened due to shyness, making her look enchanting.
Max smiled at her and turned to look at Leticia and Belen, who also nodded. Seeing this, his lips curled into a smile, and he shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I won't sell anything too valuable, and even if I do, it's fine since you guys are my women, and it's natural I take care of you, right?"
Upon hearing this, the ladies felt their bodies tremble and were overcome with emotions. This also included Belen because she clearly saw that his gaze was on her when he finished speaking.
Given her intelligence, it wasn't difficult for her to realise what he wanted to convey. Realising this, warmth surged in her heart, and her eyes turned moist.
Although he always treated her the same as Rima and Leticia, because of her agreement with him, she had always regarded her status in his heart to be lower than Rima and Leticia's, who could be considered his women.
A long time ago, she had already fallen in love with him; however, she didn't dare to nurture these feelings and would always blame herself for making that deal with him. If she hadn't made that deal, he would have treated her the same as Rima and Leticia.
However, now that he practically told her she was also his woman, how could she not feel emotional?
Upon witnessing this scene, the servant girl sighed in her heart, 'Not only is he so handsome but also very... considerate. How good it be if I could find a man like him!'
After a few moments, Leticia curiously asked, "So, what do you want to auction off?"
"You'll find out when the expert from the auction hall arrives." Max smiled.
...
Only five minutes had passed when the servant girl returned with a middle-aged Elvin woman.
After entering the room, the middle-aged woman's gaze shifted to Max and the ladies one by one, and she nodded slightly. When she noticed little Arya, who was busy eating, her brows rose in surprise.
As if noticing her gaze, little Arya turned to look at her. The middle-aged woman immediately walked toward her and bowed lightly in greeting, "Greetings, saint girl. How are you?"
Little Arya looked at her with a puzzled look. It was clear that she didn't recognise her, but she still nodded in return and good-naturedly replied, "I'm good, auntie. How are you?"
"I'm also good." The middle-aged smiled before turning toward Max and the others, "Dear guests. Can you show me what you would like to auction?"
"Yes." Max nodded and took out a few talismans and the jars of blood he found in the dark mage's spatial ring. Although he wasn't hopeful of these items having some value, he still took them out to try his luck. Who knows, maybe they were valuable?
"Please see if any of these is valuable enough to be put on the auction?"
"This...!" The middle-aged lady was stunned when her eyes landed on the blood jars. She wasn't the only one who was stunned; Belen, sitting beside Max, was equally stunned.
After a moment, both cried out simultaneously, "Beast essence?"
******
Bonus chapter (3/10)
