The night after returning to the castle, Max and Sophia were welcomed by Iris in the castle hall. She had the maids serve them warm food and arranged hot baths to thank them for their help during the auction.
Max and Sophia, mentally exhausted from their busy day, relaxed as they enjoyed the meal. Afterward, they took hot showers and fell asleep as soon as they sank into the soft beds.
The next morning, following Iris's instructions to the maids not to disturb them, they slept in until the afternoon. They only woke up when the temperature in the rooms rose because of the hot winds blowing from outside.
They woke up drenched in sweat and immediately rushed to bathe and refresh themselves to escape the heat. Heading down to the castle hall, they found everyone else sweating as well, with many servants busy arranging alchemy items to cool down the castle.
Max and Sophia didn't disturb them but quietly sat on the sofas, watching them work.
Later, a maid brought them a few bowls of soup to drink while waiting for lunch to be served, and they enjoyed it with relish.
Soon, Iris came down from her office, sat beside them, and found them happily chatting about how much the auction house had earned from the items they sold.
Max didn't know the exact amount, so, with Sophia's help, they were calculating the total earnings from the auction.
Iris listened as they listed the items one by one, recalled the final amounts each had sold for, and added them up to determine the total money earned.
Iris stopped them from their work, pulled out a stack of papers, and handed them over.
Max and Sophia took the papers hesitantly and immediately noticed the title, "The Auction Earnings." They realized they didn't need to calculate anything since someone had already done it for them. Skipping the front pages, they went straight to the last page, checked the total earnings, and saw the amount boldly highlighted.
Max and Sophia were astonished by the amount of money they had earned from the auction—nearly one million gold coins, including proceeds from the auction catering and the sales of items provided to the ship captains who attended.
They were astonished because, according to them, they should have earned 500,000 or 700,000 gold coins, as the last item sold for 300,000, which caused the auction earnings to double.
Iris, noticing their doubts, immediately waved her hands to get their attention and said, "After the auction ended, several wealthy captains approached the auction manager and spent a few minutes discussing whether the merchant guild could produce additional puppets for them.
These puppets could be upgraded to the third rank by paying in advance. After receiving a positive response, they paid the advance, bringing the total amount to one million."
As Iris mentioned after reviewing the details, it was stated in the list of items sold at the auction that the prebooked items were described.
"So, since this was the city's first auction and there was limited time, the city management hasn't contacted you about the remuneration for your work as auctioneers. They have now decided to pay you a combined total of 100,000 as commission for the work you've Done," Iris said.
Seeing their disbelieving expressions, she laughed and urged them to accept the money, explaining that this act of generosity would encourage the wavering ship captains to join the island immediately.
Max and Sophia promptly agreed to accept the money but requested her to hold onto it, as they planned to make a large purchase to upgrade the ships after the alchemy circle was drawn.
Iris smiled and informed them that earlier that morning, when the alchemy vice guild master came to teach them, he mentioned that their ships would be ready by this evening.
She added that they could take over the ships from the guild master after meeting him.
Max and Sophia's faces lit up with joy, and they smiled happily upon hearing the news, which made Iris smile as well when she saw them.
As they were enjoying their cheerful conversation, the maids arranging lunch arrived and informed them that the food was ready, prompting them to pause their chat and head to the dining table.
They ate happily and then wondered why it was so hot today, sweating despite the alchemy item providing only minimal cooling in the room.
Iris's face turned serious when they asked about the hot weather. She took them outside the castle and pointed to the wind that had been blowing since morning. The system protection from the island lords had ended earlier that day, and the alchemy guild was still busy setting up the array to regulate the city's temperature, which would be completed by evening.
Max suddenly recalled that the ocean beyond the island was facing the wind disaster this month. They had overlooked it, assuming the island was exempt from the system's calculations and that the disasters wouldn't reach there.
However, Iris's explanation cleared his doubts. The disaster was now in its final stages, meaning the waves would intensify, easily destroying any boats not securely docked at the pier.
Then they said goodbye to Iris, planning to check on the boats after visiting the alchemy guild, as they were not at ease knowing the boat was lying there unprotected from the winds.
Iris sent them away and returned to the castle, while Max and Sophia took a carriage to the alchemy guild.
There, they learned the president was unavailable, occupied with the city's alchemy array to mitigate the gales entering the city.
They were then instructed to go to the pier to collect the boats, as the staff finishing the work would hand them over upon seeing the badge they received from the receptionist.
Max and Sophia grabbed their badges and boarded the special carriages that would take them out of the city. They noticed many ship captains moving to and from the city gates, their faces showing signs of tension due to stress form knowing the disaster will affect the city from today.