'Should I increase the bid then?' Janice thought before shaking her head, 'No, if I do, it'll mess up my budget. I'll let him have this one and try to bid for the next one.'
Suddenly she remembered something, glanced at Jack, and said, "Sir Jack, I'm not bidding anymore for this one. You can if you want it."
Jack was infuriated when he heard this. How could he not know what she was thinking? However, he didn't show any emotion on his face since he didn't want to lower his 'good' impression on her and shook his head, "It's fine, miss Janice. I'll bid for the next or the last."
"Okay, then." Janice nodded stiffly.
Meanwhile, in room number 2, Leticia bit her lips anxiously and prayed, 'I hope no one raises it anymore.'
Belen, Rima and Max were also feeling anxious about it as they waited with bated breath.
Fortunately for them, no one was willing to pay more than 2 million for a single fruit. So, after waiting a while, Siana announced Max as the winner.
After a pause, she announced, "Now, you may begin bidding for the second fruit. The starting bid is the same as before."
It didn't take long before the price hit 1.5 million; however, unlike before, it didn't slow down until it hit 1.8 million.
"It seems we have to pay more if we want the second fruit," Belen commented.
"It's fine. We'll just bid more." Max said and then glanced at her, Leticia and Rima before saying, "However, I'm afraid we can buy only two fruits."
Without him saying it clearly, they understood his implied meaning that one of them won't get it. They glanced at each other and spoke simultaneously, "It's fine. I don't need it."
Max was a little taken aback by this, and when he glanced at them and saw their expressions, although they were a bit unwilling, they didn't seem sad about it, which made Max sigh and think, 'Maybe, I should've written the [Destrution wheel] in two pages and auctioned them separately. That way, I could've easily bought all three of them.'
Just then, little Arya spoke up, "Big sister Belen, Big sister Leticia, you should have those fruits."
"Mm? Why?" Leticia asked in confusion.
"Did you forget that big sister Rima will become granny Aria's disciple very soon? With Granny Aria around, big sister Rima won't lack anything." Little Arya said with certainty.
"See? That's why I said you should have them. Moreover, I've already broken through to the high stage." Rima chimed in, and her face reddened slightly when she mentioned her breakthrough.
"Really?" Leticia asked, surprised and then said, "But weren't you recuperating? How come..." At the end of her sentence, she trailed off when she remembered the three days she was with Max alone in the room and thought, 'No wonder she broke through.'
Following this, she and Belen congratulated her. Rima felt embarrassed when she noticed the knowing smile on their faces and sneakily glanced at Max. Fortunately, his attention was on the ongoing auction because the price had just reached 2 million Mana stones.
Seeing this, he immediately shouted his bid, "2.2 million!"
In room number 23, Janice's expression darkened because she was the one who made the previous bid of 2 million. This strengthened her suspicion that he was especially targeting her.
"Grandma, we should compete for this one because the price of the last one would be even higher." In room number 12, Gene said to her grandma.
The old lady didn't immediately respond. They had a little less than 2 million low-grade Mana stones in Gene's spatial ring, while the rest were middle-grade ones.
Now that the bid had surpassed the 2 million mark, she would have to use the mid-grade Mana stones if she wanted the spirit fruit.
However, she hesitated because she didn't want to reveal that they had middle-grade stones, which was a rarity in kingdoms like the green leaf kingdoms. So if it was revealed, they might invite trouble to themselves, which she didn't want, especially now when she was at her weakest due to her injuries.
After thinking for a while, she decided to take the risk and made the bid, "2.5 million!"
In his room, Max was taken aback. He didn't expect someone to raise it this much when previously there was no response from them.
So, he took his time counting his current wealth and discovered that he had around 2.8 million low-grade Mana stones. Gritting his teeth, he decided to go all in and shouted, "2.8 million!"
"3 million!" The old lady from room number 12 raised it again.
Sigh!
Max sighed, disappointed and thought, 'Maybe I can buy the next one.' Even though he thought like this, he knew the chances were meagre.
Seeing the bid hit 3 million, Janice didn't make another one. Jack tried to compete and made a bid of 3.2 million, but the old lady immediately raised it to 3.5 million. Therefore he also backed out, thinking he should try bidding for the last one.
After her 3.5 million bid, no one made another bid. Therefore, Siana announced her winner, and the bidding for the third fruit began immediately after.
As expected, for the last fruit, the competition was very intense. Max tried competing but was quickly outbid by others.
This turn of events saddened them. At one time, they thought they might get all three fruits, but now they could get only one.
Leticia was sad to the point where her eyes turned red, and tears threatened to fall. Max was also disappointed, but he could do nothing at this point.
Knock! Knock!
Just then, someone knocked on their door. When the servant girl opened the door, the middle-aged lady who had appraised their items before came in with a smile on her face.
Before Max and the others could say anything, she said, "Dear guests, I noticed you want to buy this fruit too, but it seems 2.8 million Mana stones is your limit. Is that right?"
Max raised his brows slightly before he nodded, "That's right."
The middle-aged lady smiled and said, "I came here with a proposal that would help you with that. Do you mind me telling you?"
"Yeah, please do." Max nodded. He had guessed it when she mentioned the spirit fruit and his limit. Moreover, he also knew what she was going to say next. Apart from his, Belen and Rima also understood her intentions.
On the other hand, Leticia seemed oblivious to it and became excited when she heard they might have a chance at buying their second spirit fruit.
The middle-aged lady nodded, "We would like you to sell us another copy of that spell. We are willing to buy it for 4 million Mana stones which would be enough for you to buy the last spirit fruits."
"Since the first copy sold for 5 million, how about you give me 4.5 million for the second copy?" Max asked. Although he thought the 4 million offer was already good enough, he decided to try his luck.
Hearing this, the middle-aged frowned slightly and nodded, "Okay. 4.5 million it is."
She then added, "You can bid as you like now. As for the spell, you can give it to me after the auction ends."
"Very well." Max nodded and turned his attention to the ongoing auction. The bid had reached 3.8 million.
Just as he was about to make his bid, someone raised it to 4 million.
This bidder was Jack, whose expression was currently hideous. He glanced at Janice, whose expression wasn't any better, and thought, 'I should've bid from the start. If I did that, I wouldn't have to spend this much now. Moreover, there is no guarantee that I will be able to win it in 4 million.'
As if proving him right, Max's voice rang out, "4.2 million!"
Bang!
Jack punched the table, broke it into pieces, and shouted, "It's this bastard again! I will kill him."
He became so angry because he knew this last fruit was also a lost cause since he couldn't bid any more than 4 million due to his family's orders.
After making his bid, Max waited patiently. He wasn't as anxious as before since he now had more than enough money to successfully buy the fruit but still, he wished that no one else should raise the bid so he wouldn't need to spend more stones.
