Chapter 29

The man wearing a frog mask flinched in his seat . The woman sitting next to him seemed to have deduced his identity based on his visible physical features .

“What? The alchemy genius?”

“Did you say Damon Salvatore?”

“Gasp, then is that real?”

Suddenly, the auction hall caught on fire .

“1 . 1 billion gold!”

“1 . 2 billion gold!”

“1 . 2 billion, 5000 gold!”

“1 . 2 billion, 7000 gold!”

“Dammit, 1 . 3 billion gold!”

The number of people participating in the bidding skyrocketed . The name ‘Damon Salvatore’ coming from the woman’s mouth seemed to have amplified their confidence in the philosopher’s stone .

“Ah, that’s why I said you should at least wear a wig…”

“These stupid morons…! 1 . 5 billion gold!”

The man in a frog mask grit his teeth and raised the bidding price .

“2 billion gold . ”

But someone in front called out an even larger amount . The man in a frog mask jumped out of his seat in a frenzy .

“Hey, you idiots! That’s not the philosopher stone!”

“Then why’re you trying to win! 2 billion, 5000 gold!”

“Right…! You’re trying to deceive us to win! 2 billion, 6000 gold!”

A forced laugh spilled from my lips .

Normally, I would have also joined the fight by now and tried to win the item but I felt no inclination to do so . Ever since the host took off the red cloth, my eyes had be transfixed to the item revealed underneath .

That thing inside a glass box .

A crude mineral that looked like a slightly large piece of stone .

I knew what this thing was .

As the man in a frog mask, sub male-lead Damon Salvatore said, that thing wasn’t the philosopher’s stone .

It was what was injected countless times into the body of test subjects, myself included, at the research institute . That thing was none other than a ruin’s fragment .

“2 . 5 billion gold…!”

Finally, I rose from my seat . And under the commotion in the hall, I stretched my hand upwards .

Clang…!

“Uwa!”

“Kyaa…!”

Thread shot from my hand smashing through the alchemized ceiling lights, one by one . The auction house went dark in an instant . Taking that chance, I sent a thread to the stage this time .

I’ve decided . Today, I’m a righteous thief .

“Wha, what the! Security…!”

“Protect the philosopher’s stone!”

The people of the auction house, including the host, kicked up a fuss but the ruin’s fragment had already been skewered by my thread and left the stage .

Thwack!

“Euk!”

Oops, I guess my aim was a little off .

The object flying to me hit the head of someone sitting in front . I inwardly apologized to whoever it was . After it finally arrived in my hand, I hid the palm-sized box in my cloak and slipped out the auction door .

“The philosopher’s stone is gone!”

“How is that possible!”

“Block the entrance now…!”

The area behind me brightened up like a light switch was turned on . Although they discovered the item was missing relatively fast, it was already too late .

I sensed the presence of incoming security guards and shot out a thread . Using it as a support, I flung myself out the hallway’s glass window and landed outside .

* * *

“Wow, what is happening?”

Snow couldn’t stop the surprised laughter that burst out of his mouth . Here he was thinking that something was triggering his interest for a change, then out of the blue, chaos ensued .

The face under a deer mask tilted to the side . His eyes were scanning the rowdy auction house .

This was a secret auction attended only by nobles and wealthy people . Normally, he was the Snow who wandered the streets in a sloppy appearance but actually, he had more than enough qualification to come to this auction .

Moreover, because he was now dressed smartly to attend this auction, he seemed like a completely different person from the one who went to the coffeehouse, looking shabby . Most of all, the current Snow didn’t have the bushy brown hair that covered half of his face .

Behind the deer mask, his neatly trimmed blood-red hair swayed softly, glistening under the lighting .

“I said! It’s not! The philosopher stone! You frustrating bastards…!”

Snow turned to where the shout was coming from .

Damon Salvatore, whose true identity was already revealed, ran to the front and had thrown his frog mask on the floor .

“Sir! It’s difficult for us if you cause a disturbance here…!”

“Difficult? Difficult? Do you want to me to show you what difficult is? You scamming fuckers!”

Alchemist Damon Salvatore .

By far, one of the top geniuses even in the ‘Alchemist Tower’ .

A corner of Snow’s lips curled upwards as he watched the alchemist lose his marbles, his nasty short fuse obviously still intact .

Actually, Snow was one of the people who acted like a decoy and raised the bidding price earlier . Of course, he wasn’t a crazy alchemist like Damon Salvatore, nor was he trying to actually win the thing called the philosopher stone .

It was just that Snow sensed earlier on that the man wearing a frog mask was Damon Salvatore so he thought of raising the price a little to provoke Damon .

Although things didn’t go the way he expected, he felt a little refreshed to see Damon Salvatore explode in anger while not getting what he wanted .

“You don’t know when to quit, Damon Salvatore . ”

Damon was losing his temper at the auction house manager, then he stopped at the voice that flew in from the side .

“Don’t you think it’s time to learn the world doesn’t move as you wish and I don’t know, reduce the times you go insane?”

Cold, dark eyes skid in the direction of the voice .

And a man sitting in the front seat with his chin propped on his hand, came into sight .

“You…”

The man was wearing a deer mask . Naturally, Damon couldn’t see his face but he could easily decipher the man’s identity from the voice he heard and the red hair he could see .

“Hah . No wonder I thought this auction management was a mess, considering it’s pretty well-known . ”

Following that, Damon’s mouth was dripping arsenic .

“Their level is obvious, seeing as a bastard like you is here . ”

“With you foolishly making a scene like this auction belongs to you, I think it’s just at your level, isn’t it?”[1]

Crackle .

Lightning seemed to strike between the two for a second . [2]

The people around instantly felt the temperature drop and trembled as they studied them .

Damon, who was glaring at Snow, looked away first as if saying Snow wasn’t even worth being his opponent, and coldly turned around .

“Why waste my time with an abandoned dog, all bark and no bite . ”

Words filled with blatant ridicule arrived at Snow’s ears . Damon stepped on the frog mask on the floor, crushing it to pieces .

Snow picked his ears at the ridiculing words which didn’t even tickle him . Then he also got up from his seat . There was no reason to be in the auction house anymore . Although the management was blocking people’s exit because of the missing item at the auction, most of the people there were nobles, so they weren’t easy to control .

In that gap, Snow also took snuck out the door . As he walked through the quiet hallways, Snow tilted his head . In the end, he didn’t find Yuri inside there .

Perhaps the place she meets Damon Salvatore wasn’t here but somewhere?

Then again, when he thought about it, it didn’t make sense for an ordinary female employee of a coffeehouse to be attending a place like this auction house, even if there was something a little unusual about her .

‘More importantly…’

Snow lifted his hand to touch the cracked top of his deer mask . It was the sign of him being hit by something flying in the air when the lights went off in the auction hall earlier .

‘That was definitely the thing on the stage . ’

The flying piece of rock connected to something like a white thread still lingered before his eyes .

He didn’t know who it was but he felt they were a bold thief . Most of all, with just the fact that the thief destroyed Damon Salvatore’s expectations, Snow found himself liking the thief .

Although they did smack his head while stealing that item .

“Let’s enjoy the festival since I’m out anyways…”

He muttered to himself after standing and watching the streets for a few minutes after leaving the building .

Honestly, it had been a long time since he went to a place filled with so many people .

Knowing he wouldn’t merge into the crowd with his distinct attire, Snow covered himself with a cloak . And he bought one of the frog masks sold on the street, replacing the mask that was covering his face before .

Then he mingled into the crowd moving towards the square to see the upcoming firework .

For the first time in a long while, the night was noisy .

Translator’s Corner:

[1] Damn, I spent 30 mins refining this sentence . Not even kidding . And it still sounds terrible . A more accurate translation is: “With you making a scene like a reckless fool as if this auction belongs to you, I think it’s just at your level?” but that sounds crappy .

[2] You know that thing in manga, where there’s lightning crackling between two characters? I imagine something like that .