Edward handed them the anonymity contracts and asked the students to sign them.
He gave the reason that since there were 33 of them present here vying for those 20 seats, there were going to be 13 unsatisfied students who might leak what took place at this place to get their revenge.
By signing the contracts, every student would be granted anonymity whether they win or lose those seats. This would allow the students to bid for the twenty seats without worrying about revenge from the ones who couldn't secure their place.
The students found sense in Edward's statements. This was a Master Ranker's class after all. This was a huge opportunity for them to make contact with the potioneering of that stage and understand its principles. They wouldn't miss such an opportunity by chickening out from the opportunity presented by their inside man in the academy.
Edward conducted the auction for seats as soon as the students were done signing the contract. He allowed the students to bid and fight for every seat individually. That meant he had twenty rounds of bid in which the students fought with each other twenty times.
In the end, the twenty students who were going to get the seats were selected. The remaining 13 students couldn't do anything but suffer in silence. The ones who had won had paid more price in Extols than them after all. They could only blame their unpreparedness for coming here with less dough.
But Edward wanted to milk the 13 students too. So he offered them more benefits in the lab activities and took a sizable chunk out of their Extols stash in exchange for lofty deals he was never going to fulfil.
The 13 students who had lost the bid felt some kind of comfort in the fact that they could get something out of coming here. And most importantly, their image as rich kids with deep pockets was maintained in front of their peers. This was the mental satisfaction they were looking for, which Edward targeted precisely.
"Alright, kids. Wait for the test event to take place at the academy. Rest of you who got the extra deals from me, it'll take us a few days to work on them. But you should see the power of Extols you have used here soon. Till then, goodbye and have a safe journey."
Edward gave his closing speech after which the students started dispersing. Sienna was glad that the bid took place without any hiccups. She cursed her worrisome heart that told her something was wrong.
She had won the seat for herself. Vivi and Luna were not as loaded as her. So they required some financial support from Sienna which the latter gave without minding much. The Slughorns knew how to get the returns on their investments after all.
Sienna and her two friends started to leave along with the other students when she heard Edward's voice from behind:
"Miss Sienna, may I have a word? Oh you two girls, Vivi and Luna, you can stay too for I have something important to tell you."
Sienna was puzzled by Edward's new offer. She was going to refuse to stay with her any longer. But she heard Edward's hushed voice before she could do that:
"Miss Sienna, I have a special deal for you. And this would be something exclusive to you, you see. That's why I couldn't bring it up when the other students were around. And your friends Vivi and Luna can stay if it makes you uncomfortable."
Sienna was stopped from saying her no out loud by Edward's reasonable explanation. She had paid the guy the most. She thought it was only natural he would give special treatment to her. Plus, she found the mental support she needed to stay behind with Vivi and Luna around.
The girls were curious about the deal Edward was going to offer Sienna. They also felt that they owed it to the scion of the Slughorn since she had invested her Extols in them.
Soon all the students left. And only the three girls and Edward remained at the scene.
"Well, what is it?"
Sienna asked impatiently. Edward smiled lightly before saying:
"Please have some patience, miss Sienna. We have a few lurkers hiding in the shadows keeping an eye on you. We'll wait for them to leave before we can proceed further.
Meanwhile, drink this tea. It would help you calm your nerves."
Edward retrieved a teapot and three cups from his storage. He offered a teacup to each of the young ladies present there before pouring the tea stored in the teapot.
Edward had cast a fire spell on the teapot beforehand. The execution was for a brief period before serving the tea. That warmed the tea just at the right temperature, making it ready to serve.
The three young ladies didn't know about Edward's elemental affinity beforehand. So they didn't see any problem with it. They drank their teas one sip at a time, gossiping among themselves as they had always done, in this timeline as well as the previous one.
The time flew by. The lurkers had already left after finding out Edward and the three girls were on guard against them. The young ladies had been talking about some juicy gossip by then so they didn't mind continuing their talk a bit longer.
But soon, without them knowing, the three girls became drowsy and were put in a state of forced slumber. Edward smiled after seeing the fruits of his efforts sleeping on the ground.
'Reen, any news?'
Edward AKA Eren asked his beast companion. She had been scanning the area with her mana sense under Eren's command.
"Nothing suspicious. The lurkers have left for real. There's nobody around except for us and the food… err… I mean these three girls."
Reen's confirmation soothed Eren's mind. From his storage, he retrieved a bottle of wine and drank the contents without using a wine glass.
"Hmm! Perfect"
Eren commented after taking a few gulps of the wine.. It wasn't clear whether he was referring to the taste of the wine or the progress of his plan so far.
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