Read Misfortune Market: A HASEA CHRONICLES STORY (BOOK 1.5) for Free Online Page B

coin at the same time as a desired service or loan. Notches are made with a knife around the edges of the coin (or coins if the debt is large). At the point of trade, the number of ‘notches’, what each notch represents and the timescale of repayment are agreed upon by both parties. In most cases a single notch will represent a monetary value, piece of information, or a return service. The metaphorical severity of each notch depends of the value of the goods or service originally offered. A record of the notch is typically kept in a ledger by the lender, and the coin itself represents the record for the recipient. Each time a service or monetary amount is offset, a notch is added to the coin, until the total is reached and the debt is repaid.
     
    I finished reading and Gabriella showed the others. That makes sense now. I was beginning to get the impression that whoever this Overseer was; he was very dangerous.
    The Overseer pulled a pocket watch from a fraying pocket on the front of his suit. The chain glinted in the focused lighting that came from the spotlight on the rafters. He was silent for a beat, before loudly announcing, “I now declare the Auction open! Griwal please reveal today’s exciting lots.”
    The Overseer gestured to one of the Oni guards. The obedient creature walked over to a long piece of frayed rope at the rear of the stage and gave it a yank. The curtains slid open, revealing a number of auction lots. Only one of the lots remained hidden – a second purple curtain about twenty inches long connected to another rope. It was curved around the unrevealed object - and that object was about the size of a single person.
    Andrea.
    Next to me I felt Gabriella tense up as she drew the same conclusion. “How the hell are we supposed to get her without alerting everyone in here?” she whispered. Her question was followed by tense silence. None of us had the answer.
    A split second later, a raucous round of applause broke out among the crowds as they took in what was for sale. The Overseer raised his hands and everyone fell silent. He gestured towards the Devil. “Zaris - my esteemed colleague - would you be so kind as to fetch me lot number one?”
    As if the Overseer’s words had breathed the fearsome creature to life, he jerked his head upright and moved over to the back of the stage.  He picked up a wooden box that had been placed on a pedestal and moved back until he was standing next to the Overseer once more. With a deft swipe of his thumb claw, he unlatched the lock and the box cranked open. The Devil held it up at an angle so that everyone in the crowd could see its contents.
    Inside the box was a bed of hay, supporting a long dagger that gleamed in a rainbow of colours under the dim light of the market. Most of the blade was stained with dark blue blood.
    “Pandemonians and Hybrids, what you see before you here is none other than the Diamond Blade that was used to kill Prince Ashan when The Sorrow and its followers stormed his palace.” A wave of excited chatter spread around the room. I saw some of the market-goers shift uncomfortably. They must be Luminar.
    “Such a valuable and unique item will no doubt appeal to the discerning collectors among you, or for any merchants here, will no doubt fetch an almost immeasurable resale value with the right buyer. Therefore, we will start the bidding at four notches.”
    A sea of tarnished coins was raised skywards, as the owners shouted the numbers etched on the rough surface of their metal. The Overseer marched up and down the stage, pointing at various sections of the crowd as the price of the macabre item rose steadily upwards.”
    “Four notches to number eleven.”
    “Six to number three.”
    “Eight to eighteen.”
    “Ten notches to number twenty-two.”
    The auction kept going until coins began to shrink from the air. After a few more seconds of quick-fire auctioneering the lot came to a close. The Overseer pointed at what seemed to be a