Return of the 10th Circle Archmage

Chapter 33 19. Cresty Auction

In front of the hotel window on the 44th floor overlooking the twilight of dawn, I enjoyed the scenery of New York.

Ari was still sleeping on the bed, wheezing. Last night, Ari dared to sleep on the floor, so she secretly carried her to her bed when she fell asleep.

I couldn’t sleep, so I stayed up all night by the window overlooking the night view.

“Hey, Jun-hyeok! Are you awake already?”

While I was being sold on my other thoughts, Ari, in pink pajamas, got up and yawned.

“You can sleep on the floor, but you moved it to the bed!”

“I slept the wrong way on the floor and my mouth went back.”

“I hope.”

After stretching, Ari went into the shower room to wash herself first. The auction is tomorrow, so today I plan to explore New York a little more as planned yesterday.

‘I may come and go often in the future, but I have to get used to it.’

In fact, my first thought after returning to Earth was, ‘Let’s just sell the jewels we brought from another world and live happily with our family’.

However, such a simple dream was gradually shattered, and it felt like he was slowly stepping into the center of power.

It is often said that it is unavoidable to make a lot of money, but in the end, it was clear that big money would come at a price.

‘It was such a shame to sell a single gold bar, but I would do more with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of jewelry.’

Besides, it was a problem even after the jewelry was sold.

Will I ever run a business?

Not for fun, really serious.

As long as several people have already been drawn in, it is no longer possible to end it in a haphazard manner. Everyone risked their lives and stepped out for me, but I shouldn’t be shaken.

‘Yeah, in the end, I just have to proceed as I thought and planned.’

It may be a little inexperienced as it is my first time, but do I still have a strong helper?

“Mr. Junhyeok. Wash quickly. It is said that the early bird picks up food first, right? I have a special person to meet today. Hurry up and wash up.”

“Yes.”

I shook off my complicated thoughts and went into the bathroom with my underwear.

*

Ari and I had breakfast at the hotel.

The menu included salads with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, grilled salmon, and various delicious-looking breads, sandwiches, and soups.

I was hungry and ate them eagerly.

While having breakfast, Ari briefly explained the people she was going to meet today.

“Last time, I explained that auctions only bid, not trade.”

“Yes.”

“Junhyuk’s jewelry is very rare. There is only one diamond on the planet.”

“Are rainbow diamonds that rare?”

“Is there only one? And, far from being aesthetically inferior, it is the prettiest of all colored diamonds.”

“Then the person you’re meeting today must be someone related to the secret auction.”

“that’s right.”Ari continued the explanation by taking a bite of the sliced ​​sandwich with a bread knife.

“It would be nice to sell it right away at an auction, but there are very few rich people who have thrown hundreds of billions of dollars at once. Usually, several wealthy people invest their money and participate in an auction as a joint stake, or they live in a very wealthy group.”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s not billions, it’s hundreds of billions of dollars, so you have to understand that.”

“What about the secret auction?”

“Secret auctions are different. Rich people spend a lot of money in the sun, but it’s different in the shade. Fees are very low.”

“···········?”

positive and negative.

I honestly don’t know what you mean.

No, I think I know. Wealthy people who view tax avoidance as the biggest challenge on earth, so they don’t want to pay a lot of money.

Those are the things that only the poor do, and the real wealthy often do not look rich or look ordinary.

“You know the oil countries in the Middle East, right? The royals who own land with oil fields.”

“I know. I heard that Lamborghini was all over the place like the Matiz in the Middle East.”

“Even though the price of oil has dropped a lot, they’re still a bunch of people.”

“Are the people we will meet people from the Middle East then?”

“There are people from the Middle East, there are people from Europe, there are people from America, and it’s very diverse.”

“It’s not just meeting one person.”

“Today there is only one person, and there may be more after the auction ends tomorrow.”

I guess everything hasn’t been finalized yet.

Even though she was meticulous in everything she did, she was just a foreigner in this unfamiliar land. To the people here, we are unfamiliar Asians. ‘Cause it’s only going to look like that.

“Actually, starting today, we are going to build friendships rather than travel. Shall we go see the traders in the shadows who will trade in the long term?”

“It is.”

Me and Ari wore suits instead of casual clothes. In fact, the trip ended yesterday, and today would be the start of a full-fledged business.

*

Me and Ari met a merchant in the shadows at Labo, an Italian restaurant next to Washington Square Park.

“Hello? Laiba”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Choi. It’s been a long time.”

A foreigner wearing a white turban with tanned black skin greeted Ari politely.

The two were happy to hug each other without hesitation, as if their faces were already ripe. It was a foreign-style greeting, but it bothered me a little.

I overheard their conversation through interpreting magic.

Ari pointed at me and gave a brief introduction.

“This is Mr. Lee, whom I talked about last time. Junhyuk Lee.”

“Nice to meet you, Junhyuk Lee. My name is Leiva.”

“nice to meet you.”

I spoke with Leyba in a native speaker’s pronunciation through the interpreter magic. Ari looked surprised at my English skills, but soon found a poker face.

“Leiba. I ordered your favorite cheese cream spaghetti. Sit.”

“Oh, Miss Choi. thank you. It doesn’t disappoint me either.”

Reyba stared at Ahri with her heart pounding in her eyes. Somehow, when she saw it, she didn’t feel good again.

The three of us continued our conversation by munching on spaghetti and zuppa soup.

“Miss Choi. Did Mr. Lee say that the jewel to be presented at this cresty auction is the rainbow diamond?”

Ray Ba stared at her Ahri with a frankly suspicious expression on her face. It was a completely different expression from before. If she died for Ari, she would even pretend to die.

“Yes. Would you like to see it?”

Ari answered Reiva, and looked back at me.

Whoops.

I nodded her head to her and pulled out her rainbow diamond from her arms. When I crossed the airport, I kept it in the subspace pocket all the time, and it was the first time it was released in New York.

“Oh oh······.”

A rainbow diamond that emits a brilliant purple light.

Leiba looked at it ecstatically and stretched out her hand.

“Can I touch you once?”

“of course.”

I handed the rainbow diamond to Leiva, who will be my professional broadcaster in the future.

“It’s really great. How many carats is this?”

“430 carats.”

Ari, who was next to me, answered.

“If it’s a 430, the price would be staggering.”

The most expensive jewel ever sold at a public auction was a 59.6-carat pink diamond sold at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong.

The jewel, which sold for about 80 billion won, was the highest price among existing jewelery auctions.

Before that, the 14.62 carat blue diamond ‘Oppenheimer Blue’ sold for 68.1 billion won at an auction at Cresty in New York.

The 59.6 carat and 14.62 carat colored diamonds sold for 80 billion and 68.1 billion won, respectively, so my rainbow diamond, which has 7 or 8 times higher carats, would cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

‘Because it’s the only rainbow color in the world.’

So far, colorless, orange, red, blue, and pink diamonds have come out, but rainbow diamonds have never come out. Is it like a diamond that does not exist on Earth at all?

“Is this a diamond made from a real natural stone?”

So Leyba was skeptical at first too. Ari grinned at Ray Bar and nodded her head.

“This is a jewel that will be put up for auction tomorrow, would you like to bring a counterfeit?”

“It is, indeed.”

Ray Bar nodded her head as if in agreement.

It’s a fact that everyone knows unless you’re an idiot.

If it’s a counterfeit product anyway, I’m sure we’ll be eliminated from the auction review. Cresty, the two largest mountain ranges in the world’s jewelery auction, had never been so lax in its work.

It was a kind of absolute trust in this industry.

Since Leiva was only a broker, once the value is confirmed at the Cresty auction, he and Ari will decide the price under the water.

-The real auction will be held somewhere other than Cresty.

– Anywhere else?- Black market.

– Where are you?

-It is a place where rich people in the shade can trade rare items without worrying about taxes.

– It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.

-of course. It is a place that the general public will never know.

Before meeting Reyba, Ari said that to me. So I was aware of the existence of a black market.

“Okay, Miss Choi. Mr Lee. Then we’ll see you tomorrow after the cresty auction ends.”

“Yes, Leiva. Good luck with your bid tomorrow. Best price!”

“Heh heh. I will break the spirit very much so that the juniors do not dare to step into it. Miss Choi. I believe in myself.”

“I believe you, Leiva. Good luck tomorrow. go for it.”

Ari cutely clenched her fists and smiled broadly at Ley Ba. It was a beautiful smile that any man could not help but pass over.

Me and Ari left the restaurant to see Leiva off.

Boo-woong, boo-woo-woong.

A supercar that emits a loud exhaust sound.

It’s cool, but I turned my head to Ari because I didn’t know her name.

“It’s a Porsche 918 Spyder. One billion dollars.”

“10 billion······.”

1 billion per car!!!

I heard that Ray Baran was a low-ranking broker in the black market, but seeing how big the black market was, seeing her riding a billion-dollar car like a horse, could not even be imagined.

“Are you envious?”

Ari poked my side and smiled a little.

“Yes, I am envious.”

“Then, after selling the jewelry, Junhyeok, would you like to buy one too?”

“well. Let me think about it.”

If you have hundreds of billions of won, wouldn’t it be burdensome to just drive a car like that?

With that thought alone, I walked the streets of New York with Ari folded arms.

Just like yesterday, he gave off a date atmosphere, and he was close to Ari and received the jealous eyes of the white hyungs.

*

next day.

At Rockefeller Center, between Midtown Manhattan and Trump Tower.

The long-awaited cresty auction was held.

We commissioned Crestier Rainbow Diamond’s appraisal the day before, and the appraisers unanimously recognized it as genuine. So, Rainbow Diamond participated in the auction without any problems.

Hundreds of seats were filled in the auction house with numerous foreign journalists, bidders, and wealthy people overflowing with money.

“You waited a long time.”

and.

The auctioneer standing at the altar on the stage shouted in a majestic voice to all who were seated.

“We are starting the 44th Cresty Auction, the world’s best jewelry auction.”