Auction

A few hours passed, and all the participants were gathering in front of the gate. You could hear people talking about the auction.

Rohan was standing in front of the gate with Welli and Louis, and when he saw the people gathering, he said, "Wow, I didn't expect so many people to take part in the auction."

Welli said, "That's true. How did you manage to get everyone to come, Louis? After all, we only have two pieces of information to sell, so not many people will be able to buy anything."

Louis said, "Hahaha, that was easy. Everyone's bored of just looking for runes day after day. So all I had to do was mention the auction, and most of them said they'd come along."

Welli said, "I see. That makes sense. I would have come to watch the auction too, even if I wasn't going to buy anything."

Rohan then said, "It looks like most of the participants are already here. Shall we begin?"

Louis said, "Yes. Let's go."

He then walked over to the group of people and said, "Good evening, everyone. The auction is about to begin. Unfortunately, we don't have any chairs for you to sit on, but feel free to sit on the floor."

The participants then began to sit down, and Louis said, "Well. Now that everyone is settled let's get down to business. Information. The first thing we're going to sell is the information about the red rune. In this auction, we intend to sell this information ten times. The base value is one green rune, and it can be increased by one green rune each time. Let's get started."

At first, no one raised their hand. After all, although it's not that rare, a green rune isn't easy to come by, either.

This made Rohan somewhat worried, but Welli said, "Calm down. Remember what Louis told us. It's normal for the first offer to take a while."

Rohan said, "Yeah, you're right. Let's wait a bit more."

Right after he said this, someone raised their hand, which prompted Louis to say, "One green rune for my friend over there. Anyone willing to pay two runes?"

After a while, no one else had spoken, so Louis said, "Going once, going twice, going three times, sold! On to the next round. We're back at one green rune. Anyone willing to pay for the information?"

The following two rounds passed, and the information about the red rune was also sold for just one green rune.

Rohan then said, "I thought the other participants were going to bid more for this information, but it seems I was wrong."

Welli said, "Yes. It seems Louis was right about that. They're probably not fighting over the information because the people who bought it must have agreed to share the information."

"That was a concern of mine at the time he invited me to do this auction, but he said he had a solution for it. I hope that solution works."

Two more rounds then passed, and five of the ten pieces of information about the red rune had already been sold. They were all sold for one green rune, which made Rohan and Welli worry.

Welli said, "It looks like whatever his solution is isn't working. We'd better change strategy. We need to raise the price of the information."

Rohan said, "Calm down, Welli. There's no need to do that."

"Hm? Weren't you the most worried one? What happened to make you calm down?"

"I looked at Louis."

"You looked at him?"

Welli then looked in Louis' direction, and when he saw him, he understood what Rohan meant. Louis had a huge smile on his face.

Welli said, "Hm, he doesn't seem to be worried. Everything seems to be going according to his plan."

Rohan said, "Yes. Let's wait a little longer. Louis will probably sort this situation out soon."

...

Louis had just sold the fifth piece of information about the red rune. Then he said, "Well, now that half of the information about the red rune has been sold, we're going to hand it over to the buyers. Please, everyone who bought the information, come to me. I'll pass the information on to you."

Upon hearing this, the five participants who had bought the information headed towards Louis. When they arrived in front of him, Louis said, "Give me the payment, please."

Everyone then took a green rune and handed it to Louis.

Then he said, "Perfect. Now, I'll just need you to sign the papers, and then I'll pass the information on to you."

One of the people who had bought the information then said, "Papers? What are you talking about?"

Louis said, "Don't worry, it's just a formality. My test is different from yours, so I need a record of the runes I've exchanged."

One of the people who had bought the information then said, "That's right. I have already made a transaction with Louis' help. He always asks the people involved to sign a paper."

Louis said, "Exactly."

He then took some papers out of a pouch on his belt and handed one to each person who had bought the information. 

He then handed one of them a pen and said, "Just sign at the bottom of the paper, and I'll give you the information."

The person who had already made a transaction with Louis before the auction signed the paper without a second thought. Louis then took a small note from the same bag he had taken the papers from and handed it to the man, who put the note in his pocket.

Seeing this, the other four signed their papers and handed them to Louis. He then gave each of them a note and said, "Thank you very much, but now that you've all signed, I'll explain the terms of the transaction."

One of the people then said, "Terms? What terms?"

Louis said, "Of the contract you just signed. What else would it be?"

"Contract? Didn't you say that this paper served as a record of the transaction for your test?"

"Yes, and what's wrong with a contract being used as a record?"

"All right. What are the terms of the contract?"

"Don't worry, it only has one term. You can't divulge the information you've just received."

Another person then said, "You tricked us!"

Louis said, "I didn't trick anyone. You fooled yourselves. Did you really think that I would hold an auction to sell information and not have a way to protect it from spreading? For you to think that is an insult to my intelligence, but that's okay. Now that you've signed the papers, everything is fine."

One person then said, "I won't accept that! Say what you want, but in the end, you tricked us into signing these papers! I'm not obliged to follow your terms!"

"Well, be my guest, but the fine for breaking the contract is twenty green runes."

"Twenty green runes?! Are you crazy?! Actually, it doesn't matter how much it is! I don't intend to pay it!"

"I understand your frustration, but let me warn you. It doesn't matter whether you intend to pay or not. You'll be forced to pay in the end."

"Really? And who's going to make me? You?"

"No. They will." said Louis, pointing in a direction.

Everyone then looked in the direction and saw that Uson and Hes were there.

One of the people who had bought the information said, "The city guards? Are they going to force us to pay? What does this auction have to do with them?"

Louis then said, "Everything. After all, before holding the auction, I asked for their permission and help with the transactions. Therefore, they will guarantee all transactions in this auction."

"You're lying. Why would the city guards help you? They've always been neutral in all situations."

"Yes, and they remain neutral. After all, they're only maintaining the integrity of the transactions we make, nothing more."

Uson then said, "Louis is telling the truth. We're not helping anyone, and we don't intend to. We're just going to make sure that no one gets the better of anyone."

Hes said, "That said, think carefully before you break the terms of any transaction made at this auction. After all, it's very easy for both of us to collect your fines since all your runes have to pass through us before they can be used."

Everyone was silent when they heard this, and then Louis said, with a huge smile on his face, "Well, now that this situation has been resolved, let's get back to the auction. We still have five pieces of information about the red rune to sell. Actually, 'still' is not a word that represents this situation well. Let me rephrase that. We 'only' have five pieces of information about the red rune to sell, so don't miss this opportunity. After all, who knows when you'll have the chance to get this information again."