I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 60: Mery Auctions

Lander arranged the rare stones in a double triangle shape, with the two stones in the middle touching each other and the stones in the corners about 15 centimeters apart.

Then he whispered something and lightly tapped the ground beneath his feet.

At the moment of the tap, the strategically arranged stones trembled, and the blood beneath them glowed with a strange, deep crimson hue. Then something flashed before Lander’s eyes, Edward could see it too.

’Footsteps...’ Edward carefully observed where the footsteps led and realized, unsurprisingly, that they were heading toward the direction of the men who had beaten him.

"There are more footsteps here."

"Investigate the other footsteps. I think the victim of the blow is not our target, but rather the perpetrator," Edward suggested.

Lander nodded and went back to work...

"The footsteps lead here," Lander said, looking at the building across the street.

"This is Iron Blood Street," Edward said. "Corner 7, to be more specific."

"Yes, they went into that building. Shall we investigate?" Lander asked.

Edward smiled. "Of course." He casually walked out of the alleys, striding as if he were at home.

Lander couldn’t help but sigh at how calm he was... he was quite nervous. ’That’s what someone talented looks like. No matter what anyone says, he’s amazing.’ He had to force himself to walk behind Edward.

Soon they were in front of the building’s large door, Edward looking at the sign at the entrance that announced the name: "Mery Auctions," written in a deep gold color.

"Don’t speak inside, let me handle everything," Edward whispered so that only Lander could hear.

He couldn’t understand anything, and Edward was already going in, so he could only follow him with his mind full of confusion.

Inside, the building had several long corridors: four to the sides and one to the front. None of them had a name indicating where they led or what could be found there, but they were divided by colors and arrows.

The hallway at the front had a gold arrow. On the sides, the ones on the right were blue and white. On the left, black and red.

Edward looked carefully at these hallways, wondering which one to choose. ’Well, someone has to be here, right?’ He smiled and walked down the hallway at the front, which had a gold door at the end.

The door was open, so Edward simply pushed it open...

As he crossed to the other side, he could see several people walking between the offices. They were all wearing the same uniform: the women wore dresses identical to the one worn by the woman he had seen in the alleys, except that they did not wear the gold bracelet.

The men wore tight pants and beige linen shirts. A white leather belt encircled their waists to carry weapons or bags.

In the distance, the voice of a man conducting an auction could be heard.

As soon as he opened the door, two men approached them from the side.

"Your token?" one of them asked.

Edward frowned. "I don’t have one."

The guard raised an eyebrow, slightly annoyed. "If you don’t have one, why are you here? Only authorized personnel and those of status may enter Miss Mery’s auction." Both of their spears struck the ground.

Edward was hit by a strong breeze, which shook his clothes, but failed to move him or make him stagger.

’So strong?’ The guard tightened his grip on his spear...

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come to the auction. I’m looking for Miss Mery. I want to hire some wooden chopsticks." Edward apologized politely.

"Ah-ah, I understand, young sir." The guard stammered and forced a smile. "I’ve always said they should put signs on the walls, not just those unintuitive arrows. Follow me, I’ll take you there."

The other guard’s back was covered in sweat.

’Not even with spiritual energy...’ He felt the pressure leave his body as those two began to follow their companion...

"Phew... young people are really scary these days." He shook his head and returned to his post.

Edward and Lander were directed to one of the corridors on the left, the one with the red arrow and painted red.

"Go ahead, someone will take care of you," said the guard, and after accepting Edward’s thanks, he ran off.

Edward opened the door and went in...

On the other side was a room with several offices behind it. These were not corridors like before, but work rooms.

Several desks were arranged in three different places, and behind each one were some shelves with books and documents.

The only desk that had an owner at the moment was the one in the center. Sitting at it was a woman, yawning.

’The same one from the alley.’ Edward noticed her and approached.

Even when he was very close to her, the woman didn’t notice him.

Knock.

He knocked loudly on the desk.

"Ah!" The woman jumped up. "You... Who are you?"

"They say you can hire people here to teach someone a lesson. Is that true?"

"Eh..." The woman immediately realized that he was a client, her brain reconnected with her body, and she sat down.

"Yes. Would you like to hire someone? Miss Mery is busy at the moment, dealing with an important matter..."

"Don’t worry, I can wait. We’re in no rush."

"Very well." The woman smiled and gestured to one side. "Take a seat, and when Miss Mery is finished, I’ll tell her."

Edward and Lander sat down to wait. That woman clearly had a bad hangover, so she hardly noticed them for the rest of the time.

"That woman is one of the ones who was in that alley," Lander whispered. "Could she be the perpetrator?"

Edward nodded. "Do you know anything about this woman named Mery?"

Lander thought for a moment before answering. "What I know is that she owns this building and runs a famous auction in the slums. She doesn’t usually show herself too much, but her auction belongs to the Merchant Tower." He suddenly frowned.

"What are we doing here, anyway?" he asked.

Weren’t they after Silas’ daughter? How did they suddenly end up in a room, waiting to talk to this woman named Mery?

Edward didn’t answer; he was deep in thought.

’According to that man, the real leader here is Miss Merchant. If they’re both right, it means Merchant is hiding behind Mery to run this whole organization. Why is she doing that? Who is she hiding from, if she’s so conspicuous at night?’

Perhaps the man in the alley was deceiving him, but seeing his eyes full of hatred, it didn’t seem possible...

Trssk-

The sound of a door echoed in the room, waking the yawning woman, who stood up straight.

Two people came out of one of the doors. A woman and a man.

"Thank you very much, Miss Mery. I look forward to hearing your good news." The man looked haggard and had dark circles under his eyes; he hadn’t slept in days. But his clothes were elegant and red; he was a man of money.

Mery was a tall, elegant woman. She wore a splendid, voluminous velvet houppelande with a high belt. Her arms were adorned with a large gold bracelet, even more polished than the one worn by the woman sitting in the middle of the room. The distinctive Merchant Tower logo was in the center.

"We’ll take care of it, Mr. Dry. Take care," replied Miss Mery, before glancing at the two young men sitting nearby.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Miss Mery, they say they want to hire some men. They’ve been waiting for you for a few minutes," replied the woman, sitting down, getting up abruptly.

Mery nodded. "Bring them in." And she returned to her room.