God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 168: Episode 33_So Sue Me (5)

8.

POP—

Squeezing out the last of her remaining mana to teleport, Kardian opened her eyes to a human world that looked very different from the one she remembered from hundreds of years ago.

’Humans have advanced quite a bit.’

At the same time, she tensed.

This was the heart of enemy territory.

If she were in her true body, it would be one thing, but she was in a polymorphed state with her mana completely depleted.

She didn’t even have enough to revert to her true form, so she had to be cautious, and then more cautious still.

Her appearance was perfectly human, and she wore a robe on top of that. As long as she wasn’t stupid enough to go around proclaiming she was a dragon, there was no reason she should be exposed, but she couldn’t help being wary.

The more one has, the more careful one becomes.

’How infuriating would it be to die wandering around in this human form, leaving my true body behind?’

She decided to rein in her temper for a while and dug through her memories.

Kardian had come here for one reason, and one reason only.

’Humans use auction houses when they want to sell precious items.’

Everything in her lair had been a treasure humans could barely dream of touching—rare and extraordinary, every last piece.

Naturally, such items would be traded in a large, prestigious auction house. According to the map in her mind, the largest auction house on the continent was located in the Imperial Capital.

That was why she had come here.

It might not be the right place, but she had come anyway, without any concrete proof.

That was how desperate she was.

’Who dared to rob my lair?’

She couldn’t wipe out the entire human race in her current form, but she could at least crush the one responsible.

With that resolve, she asked for directions along the way and finally arrived at the auction house.

As befitted the greatest auction house on the continent, entry was restricted, and there was even an admission fee. But a dragon was hardly so poor that she couldn’t afford it.

“You can take seat number thirty-five.”

Though her lair had been looted, there were still remnants left behind—the trash Han Simin had discarded. She sold it all off and used the proceeds to enter the VIP auction hall.

The auction had just begun.

Kardian crossed her legs and watched from her seat.

’Fine. Let’s see just how impressive the things you humans trade really are.’

She didn’t expect much.

After all, she had lived her life as a dragon, crushing dwarves and elves and stealing their treasures to add to her collection.

Human "treasures" were hardly worthy of the name.

“Alright! Just as we briefly announced, we have some truly incredible items prepared for today. In my personal opinion, these may be the rarest and most valuable items we’ve ever put up for auction in our history.”

The auctioneer’s oily patter was the same as it had always been, regardless of the era.

The hall was buzzing with anticipation as the auction proceeded.

Then, the first item was brought out.

She was struck speechless.

The moment she saw it, Kardian straightened in her seat, her gaze boring into the item before the auctioneer could even begin his explanation.

"That’s—!"

’How could humans possibly have something like that?’

* * *

The Emperor’s nickname was the Iron-Blooded Monarch, earned for showing no sign of fatigue even after years of continental warfare. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Whatever people said, his robust stamina was his pride and joy.

Yet that very man was now sweeping his gaze over the treasury with a drained expression.

“What an obsessive bastard.”

Han Simin had spent an entire half-day sitting in one spot, doing nothing but sorting items.

He hadn’t eaten, hadn’t drunk, hadn’t even relieved himself—he just sat there.

Only someone who has actually done it can understand how grueling that is.

Thanks to Han Simin, the Emperor had now experienced it firsthand.

He knew Han Simin’s character far too well to simply leave him alone in the treasury. Even with the Emperor watching, he had already seen the man “accidentally” try to pocket items on at least two occasions.

Yet he couldn’t allow anyone else into his private treasure vault. It was a space that only the Emperor himself was permitted to enter.

He had no idea how this good-for-nothing had gained entry, but as long as the man was here, the Emperor had to keep watch himself.

In a way, he had gone out of his way to suffer.

Still, after all that trouble, it looked like nothing had actually been stolen, which put his mind at ease.

Just in case, he planned to do one last check before leaving to rest.

He paused.

’Huh?’

His body was exhausted, but the satisfaction he had been feeling suddenly wavered.

Something was missing.

Frowning, he brought over the treasury’s inventory list and began to compare.

One by one.

Just a few minutes ago, he had been cursing Han Simin, but now he checked every single item in the vault with the same obsessive focus Simin himself would have used when money was on the line.

And then he found them.

The several items that had vanished.

“Heh.”

A hollow, resigned laugh escaped him, bypassing anger entirely.

’Just when did he do it?’

He hurriedly summoned the Royal Knights and ordered them to find Han Simin.

Of course, this was long after the items had already appeared at the auction and been sold.

* * *

9.

Kardian’s opinion of humans began to shift.

’So humans these days deal in items like that...’

It was a misunderstanding, in a way, but for humankind, it was a positive change nonetheless.

As she was still reeling from the shock, more and more familiar items began to appear before her.

“As I thought.”

The items from her lair.

’So they were all brought here at once.’

Her brow furrowed involuntarily.

Now all she had to do was trace their origin and find the culprit.

She wanted to leap up right then and there and wreck the place...

She held her tongue.

...but she forced herself to remember why she had polymorphed into a human instead of coming in her true form.

Her physical abilities were superior to those of most humans, but not to the point where she could rampage through the heart of the Imperial Capital, the very core of human military power.

So she used her head.

Dragons were a race of magic. Their minds were sharp as well.

The answer came easily.

’Win the bid, then meet the seller.’

The auction house would act as an intermediary, of course, but there were far more ways to bypass them than there were to survive starting a brawl here.

With a method decided, she waited for the right moment.

She just had to win the most valuable item, the one that would come out last.

As she waited, she thought back.

What had been the most valuable thing in her lair?

There had been at least hundreds of different items. How could anyone truly compare their value? Still, when she recalled the item that had been buried at the very bottom, stored in a precious box, she shot to her feet.

’The Dragon Heart!’

A reservoir of mana. The keepsake her mother had left her.

Come to think of it, that was the reason she had gone into her long slumber in the first place—to replenish the mana that had been sealed away. The heart wouldn’t break the seal on her power, but it could restore up to eighty percent of her former strength.

That would be more than enough.

But now it was gone.

’Surely it will appear... won’t it?’

Her hands and feet trembled with anxiety.

Fortunately, she had locked it with a powerful magical seal that no one could undo—unless they were a 10th-circle mage capable of forcibly breaking it with mana.

Even so, she was uneasy.

It’s only natural to feel anxious when something precious is out of your hands.

So she prayed.

’Please, let it appear. Even if it’s just the box.’

Her wish was granted.

“Our final item of the day: a Dragon Heart!”

However, the box she had so desperately longed for was already open, its seal broken, as if it had willingly revealed its contents to another.

Inside, a heart as dark as jet and shining brilliantly lay exposed.

* * *

In Han Simin’s personal grading system, the Dragon Heart was an SS-rank item.

There had been only one reason he had put it up for sale in the same batch as F-rank items.

’Gotta do some marketing.’

When you want to make a quick buck and get out, public reaction is everything. You can claim you’re selling a lot for cheap, but you still need buyers for the items to actually move. On top of that, you want to create the perception of high quality.

It was like slipping a piece of 1++ premium Korean beef in among a pile of cheap pork—everything somehow tasted better.

That was why he released it. Besides, a Dragon Heart would hold its value no matter when he put it on the market.

“One hundred gold!”

“Two hundred gold!”

As expected, the price shot through the roof.

His shoulders rose with pride.

He had never imagined there would be something like that in the lair. He had almost thrown it away, thinking it was just some dull, old box.

He mentally whipped himself again. He’d never thrown anything away in his life, and he’d nearly made a disastrous exception. There had been so many other shiny items that he hadn’t wanted to waste his Master Key on such a shabby box.

But the beginner’s mindset still lingering in his gut scolded him, and since using the Master Key on most ordinary chests didn’t even consume a charge, he had tried it—and hit the jackpot.

’I did lose one charge, but still.’

A Dragon Heart.

For that, losing one use of a key he had gotten for free was nothing.

“Ten thousand gold!”

The Heart blew past ten thousand gold.

As it did, several more people entered the auction hall.

Mages who had gotten the news and rushed over.

“Twenty thousand gold!”

“Thirty thousand gold!”

They were spending money like absolute lunatics.

No, they really were lunatics. That was what mages were. To raise their circle, they were the kind of people who wouldn’t hesitate to turn to black magic and spill the blood of thousands of children. There were that many people obsessed with magic.

To people like that, a Dragon Heart meant even more.

“One hundred fifty thousand gold.”

“What?!”

That was true even for the 9th-circle Archmage, the Master of the Magic Tower.

The moment he joined in, the auction turned into utter chaos.

The nobles who had been raising the price at the start clicked their tongues and backed out. They were rich, but they couldn’t compare to mages. Besides, even if they had that kind of money, they didn’t value a Dragon Heart enough to compete with mages for it. At best, they would use it as a display piece or as a way to recruit a mage, but the price had gone far beyond what that was worth.

“Two hundred thousand!”

“Three hundred thousand!”

At this point, it had become a competition between the Masters of the Magic Towers across the continent. 9th-circle mages and 8th-circle mages. Senior and junior in all but name, but none of that mattered in this limitless bidding war.

They didn’t care about how much gold they had on hand. Judging by their momentum, they would sell their towers if that was what it took to stay in the auction.

Just as Han Simin was savoring the delicious thrill of it all—

“Two million gold.”

The crowd gasped.

Kardian stepped in.

And the hammer fell in her favor.

* * *

The other items had fetched decent prices as well, but none of them could compare to the Dragon Heart. Han Simin stuffed the gold into his pouch and headed straight out to meet the winning bidder.

Normally, the auction house would receive the payment on his behalf, but how could he possibly let that much money pass through someone else’s hands?

Han Simin’s business mindset: trust no one but yourself.

“Who is it?”

“That person over there.”

He walked toward the robed figure holding the Dragon Heart.

“Hello. I feel so relieved, seeing that the buyer is someone who truly understands the value of such a fine item.”

The figure remained silent.

“How would you like to pay? Cash is best, but promissory notes are fine, and I’m happy to take land or buildings as well. Of course, that’s assuming we verify the value first.”

“I have already paid.”

“Huh? When?”

As Han Simin frowned, trying to recall, Kardian pushed back her hood.

Hair as black as the void spilled down, revealing a flawless face with skin as white as snow. The contrast was striking.

“Wow. You’re gorgeous.”

Han Simin had seen enough beauties by now that he no longer startled at the sight of one, but even he drew in a sharp breath.

As he stared, Kardian reached out her hand.

The moment she grabbed his wrist—

POP.

She cast Teleport, using the very last dregs of mana she had scraped from the marrow of her bones.