God of Money: Reincarnated as the Weakest SSS Rank

"This place isn't really my sweat, tears, and blood. I'm not here to deceive you," she said softly. "Everything here was created thanks to my lord, Lord Louis. He rescued me from an abyss to give me a place in high society. So, in my company presentation, I will thank no one but him. We are here because of him, so thank you very much, Mr. Louis. I hope to continue serving you." She said, bowing in front of everyone.

She didn't know that Louis was walking right behind her when she did so.

He gave her a gentle pat on the back. "You don't need to do that. I think I know your loyalty quite well."

His sudden appearance shocked many people who did not expect him to appear out of nowhere at that moment.

He ignored the surprised looks and simply addressed everyone present.

"I don't think I need to introduce myself. I'll be brief. Jessy is my ambassador, so she has power over the entire territory and is only subordinate to me. I expect you to respect her in the same way you respect me. If not... We'll have serious problems. I hope my wrath doesn't fall on any of you, because I'm sure you'll regret it."

A clear threat hung in the air, and the once lively room fell silent.

Everyone, with a few exceptions, could feel a sword pointed at their necks. So no one dared to say anything.

But that terrifying atmosphere was soon broken by Louis' smile.

"Haha, anyway, welcome everyone to the opening ceremony of this new company. I'm sure you'll love the designs that will be made and sold here. Plus, Jessy is lovely, so I'm sure you'll get along well. I remind you that there will be a series of prizes, given specifically by me, for buyers, and some surprises will come later. I hope you enjoy everything we have prepared for you."

With that, Louis let Jessy speak and stepped down from the stage.

Thanks to the drastic change in tone of voice and Laura's refreshing magic at that moment, the oppression that appeared with his first words disappeared immediately afterward.

Finally, the ceremony could begin. Jessy said a few things, the company's creation was finally announced, and the name (Heaven Design) was revealed, and she continued.

Meanwhile, Louis, who was eating some food, received a guest... Well, he had already received him, but Mark approached him again.

"Your power over this region seems greater than I expected. How did you manage to earn such loyalty?" he asked curiously.

Louis glanced at him sideways before taking a bite of his meat skewer.

"Loyalty?" He looked at all the local businessmen and leaders. "Look at the way they look at me. Do you think that's loyalty?" he asked.

Mark frowned and looked at the businessmen and leaders.

They were drinking wine and eating quietly. They were talking to each other, sharing information, and discussing business.

The leaders were doing leader things.

Everyone seemed normal. But when they looked at Louis, something changed.

The aura around them, the way they looked at him, or the looks on their faces... everything became a little peculiar.

"Is it fear?" he asked.

Louis nodded.

"The loyalty that your clan and your men give you is true loyalty. Even if your father and elders died today and left you in charge of the family, I'm sure your most powerful subordinates wouldn't kill you, right? At least most of them won't, and only a few will have those thoughts to take everything for themselves."

Mark nodded. He agreed with him.

"That's not the loyalty I have from them," he said, looking at all the businessmen again. "They fear me. I earned their loyalty by pointing a gun at their heads, because no one had done that before. If I'm not there, they won't be as loyal to me as they appear to be, especially if someone stronger than me shows up."

"Well..." Mark smiled and shook his head. "No one else would dare to do what you did, that's for sure. Even the Castles don't have the guts to do it."

"Hm?" Louis turned to look at him. "Why do you say that? I heard that the Castles weren't very interested in this region."

"It's not that they're not interested. In fact, didn't you notice something strange about what my father said to me? He just told me, 'Go and befriend him.' Do you know why?"

"Because we really don't dare to use force here. Aster Mane taught us a lesson a few years ago. Since then, no one wants to mess with him. Even the Castles want to dominate the Industrial District, but why is it dominated by small mafias, which are only scary to civilians?"

"Besides the fact that they know how to do things very well and are hard to find, it's because they enjoy operating where Aster Mane reigns supreme. So no one but you would dare to do that."

"Ohh." Louis nodded.

He didn't expect there to be so much fear of Aster Mane in these lands. Now he would love to meet this guy.

How did he manage to earn the fear of the Castles? Did he move the earth and make the stars fall?

They continued talking until it was time for the auction.

"Did she make that dress?" Mark asked, frowning.

It was splendid, incredibly beautiful, but peculiar. It wasn't for a young person.

"Yes. It will enhance the beauty of a high-class lady in her 40s. Can you see it?"

"Yes. I think it would look great on my mother. If I buy it for her, I think my dad will congratulate me," he said, immediately preparing to bid.

"This is one of this girl's specialties. She can create dresses that will make someone who doesn't know anything about fashion know exactly what kind of people they would suit." He said.

Mark was amazed by this. It is rare to find designers of this caliber in the world, let alone in someone so young.

In fact, he does not know anyone else who can do it as well as she does.

Her amazing attention to detail gives that beautiful dress its special touch, something different.

Soon, the bidding for the dress began.

It is a haute couture dress designed for people in their 40s and 50s to enhance their beauty, so many of the local businesswomen began bidding for it, reaching astonishing figures.

30,000!

50,000!

55,000!

90,000!

The price quickly approached 100,000 and soon even surpassed that mark, entering dangerous territory.

Even among haute couture dresses, very few have exceeded 100,000.

Just as it reached that milestone, Mark raised his hand.

"200,000!" he shouted, immediately doubling the price.

Several businesswomen wanted to shout out a higher price, because they could afford it for this beauty, but when they noticed who he was, they swallowed their words.

'Mark Neville!'

No one else spoke. No one else raised the price.

Not because they couldn't, but because they were afraid to.

He glanced sideways at Louis. "I let them raise it quite a bit to give them a price commensurate with its quality. I still think the price could go higher at auction, but this is a good price for a dress that will surely go on sale later."

Louis smiled. "Don't worry about feeling cheated. Although similar dresses will come out, this one is unique. The only thing that isn't unique in today's auction is the hat you're interested in. There are two of those," he said.

"Haha, well, it will be my honor to wear the same hat as the leader of the South," he said.

At that point, the dress was sold for 200,000.

The auction continued.

More dresses, men's, children's, girls' clothing...

Clothing of all ages came up for auction in different colors and styles.

Soon, one of the final items came up, which interested Mark the most.

The Top Hat.

He wasn't the only one interested in it. As soon as it came out, its base price was 100,000 Jens because it was so exclusive and beautiful.

But that price rose astonishingly to $300,000 in a moment.

It was then that Mark spoke again.

"500,000!"

His voice brought silence...

It seemed that no one would speak again, and Mark prepared to tell Louis that he was going to get it cheaper than expected.

"600,000!" shouted a businessman from the 12, sitting further ahead. He even stood up and bowed to Mark.

"Young Master, I hope you'll forgive me. Auctions are like that, aren't they?" he said, smiling sheepishly.

It was the businessman supported by his family!

'This shameless bastard...' Mark almost exploded with rage.

"1 million!" he shouted again.

But then, that same man raised it a little more.

And then four others joined in to raise the price.

The price quickly reached 5 million.

5 million for a hat.

'Hmm, are they crazy, or are hats really that expensive here?' Louis felt stunned.

He wasn't very knowledgeable about these hats, even though he loved them. He had bought several before in the Upper District.

Some cost 50,000 Jens or more, but none reached 100K.

But 5 million?

He looked at the expression on Mark's face and sighed.

'These guys are crazy,' he thought.