This banquet did not have any acquaintances of Xia De, so he did not stop, and went straight into the restaurant on the second floor with a glass of wine.

This is the largest auction house in tonight's charity auction. There are 10 lots for one session, and there is a 15-minute break between each session. Now it happens to be the rest time after the show. As soon as Xia De walked in, a middle-aged woman in a lady's clerk uniform greeted her:

"Are you Mr. Hamilton representing Miss Galina to attend the next auction?"

She asked softly, and Xia De nodded, knowing that the ordinary people in front of him were also arranged here in advance by Miss Galina. The Duchess worried that something might go wrong if Shad hadn't participated in a similar auction.

The auction process is very simple. Guests make an appointment for a certain session of the auction in advance, and after arriving at the restaurant on time, they will get a wooden number plate. After the auction starts, you can bid with the number plate. Before the auction starts, there is time to watch the ten items in this session.

"that person......"

When Xia De took the number plate from the woman, the woman said softly.

"Your three o'clock position, a black suit with gold buttons, a moustache, and a black top hat."

She lowered her voice, confirmed that there was no one around, and reminded softly:

"The ring is on his finger."

Xia De nodded, and then separated from the woman naturally. He looked down at his number plate, which was actually painted with a layer of paint, which looked like a tool borrowed from an auction house.

At three o'clock, the man standing in front of the wall looking at the oil painting is the target of tonight. His real name is Steve Evert, and his real identity is a cultist who believes in the Lord of the Blood Banquet. 【Huasheng Ring】In the process of being transferred by the Peace Church, it was accidentally stolen by someone, and the person who stole the ring is naturally the church's undercover agent among the heretics.

The ring itself did not stay in the hands of the venerable Mr. Undercover, but was prepared to be returned to [Blood of Mercury] by the cultists. It is naturally impossible to return such an important relic in such a dangerous situation today, so the ring is kept by the ring warlock of the order, that is, Steve Evant.

He is actually a woman, and has been wanted by the Orthodox Church all the year round. Only by using the power of the ring to become a man can he appear in public.

But the witches who bear the curse are more sensitive to gender than expected. Miss Galina had no trouble figuring out who had the ring, according to her:

"Men using a ring to become a woman still makes me feel very disgusted. And women using a ring to become a man, the feeling of disgust is still there. The former is like seeing a rotting corpse, and the latter is like seeing rot excrement. The camouflage of [Metamorphosis Ring] is useless in front of me."

Because of this, it wasn't that Miss Galina was able to steal information from the cultists, it was purely the use of the [Transformation Ring] that let her know who the target was.

Xia De looked around, and then took the number plate to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the banquet hall to observe the collection of the next auction. The real plan is to get close to Steve Ivant.

Of course, Xia De would not strike up a conversation with a stranger rashly. Seeing that the target was standing next to the third auction item, he went to the first auction item and pretended to check it.

The first lot in the next auction was a dark red long dress hanging on a wooden stand. While the dress itself was beautiful, and those jeweled buttons and trim were alluring, the clothes were older than Shad's body. This is the long dress worn by the queen of the previous generation. She once wore this dress to attend the dinner on April 3, 1819 in the general calendar with King Delarion at that time. It is considered to be the beginning of a 30-year all-out war between the two human kingdoms of the Old World.

This dress probably has some historical value, but Xia De couldn't figure out how the reserve price of 80 pounds was given.

Just when a lady came to check on the dress, he turned to look at the second auction item.

The second lot is an old manuscript book in a glass case by the window. The title of the book is written in cursive letters, "The Encyclopedia of Ancient Fairy Tales of De La Rion", but because of the age, the ink is very faded no matter how carefully it is preserved.

Judging from the brief introduction pasted on the glass cabinet, this book has a history of 60 years, and it was read as a child by Duke Mayhal de Maupassant who lived half a century ago. A very good old book for those of 1863.

At that time, the Maupassant family still held the title of duke, so they had strong financial resources. The writer of the manuscript was a famous writer of that era, and they left behind the collection of essays "Summer Nights", which is very famous even in contemporary times. Miss Louisa's award-winning work "A Midsummer Night's Wish" is said to be inspired by this collection of essays.

"The starting price is 30 pounds. I know this auction, and all the items will be bid at a premium."

Xia De said this on purpose, the voice was not too loud, but it was guaranteed to be heard by Mr. Evant who was standing at the side.

After reading this old book, he turned to the third auction item. It was an oil painting hanging on the wall, and the color of the ink was so bright that it made people feel upset. The painting, called "Field of Harvest," depicts rice fields in autumn in gold, yellow and red.

The painter put so much emotion into the painting that Xia De took a look at the painting and immediately felt a creepy feeling from those crazy colors, but he couldn't explain the reason for this feeling.

"This is probably the charm of art."

Xia De spoke, and glanced to the side. Mr. Ivant looked at the painting intently without speaking, and Xia De looked at the sign with the reserve price:

"Tsk tsk, 160 pounds."

"Strictly speaking, this price is not high."

The middle-aged "man" finally spoke ~lightnovelpub.net~ He squinted his eyes and looked at the painting on the wall, his expression somewhat intoxicated:

"The artist's thoughts can be conveyed through the works, and the writer who drew this painting perfectly expressed his anxiety, restlessness, and panic emotions with warm tones instead of cool tones. This is definitely a pioneering work. Although Five years ago, this painting was only sold for 174 pounds at Bi Ford's auction house, but its artistic value is much higher than those so-called abstract paintings. (Note)”

Fortunately, there were rich people who didn't know much about art. If such words were dared to be said in art colleges or art museums, it would have caused an uproar.

"So, sir, you have a deep study of oil painting?"

Xia De took advantage of the situation to ask, and Evan nodded. Although he was still looking at the oil painting, he had already chatted with Xia De:

"I am not from De La Rion. In my hometown, I am actually engaged in art collection and preservation."

In this world, this kind of business seems to be very easy to cultivate mentally abnormal people such as lunatics and cultists, and it belongs to an alternative "high-risk occupation".