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Chapter 35
“Oh, the book of that novelist Armano or something? That book’s been very popular over the years.”
“Popular, what, for something like that novel? It’s a waste of paper.”
“That’s not necessarily the case.”
Blowing over the ink of what he was writing, Marcel spoke.
“There’s only one copy of that book in our village library, and as soon as it’s returned, there’s already a long line of people trying to borrow it.”
“It’s that bad? Well, it must be a popular enough novel that it got made into a play even though it’s only been a few years since it got published.”
“That’s why there’s these droves of teenage girls who keep saying that they’re going to be knights, and everyone’s going crazy trying to stop them. In fact, the number of women trying to get into the Order of the Black Lion got higher when recruitments are open.”
“……”
Yves closed his eyes, feeling faint.
“I can’t take it back because I said I’ll buy her anything, so I’m going to buy her a sword now. I’ll have to clean up all the copies of that book right away.”
Yves looked over to Marcel.
“It’s not in the logs. Why don’t we have a mana sword?”
“A mana sword is usually a personal weapon, so we didn’t prepare any for storage. There aren’t any new ones, but if we look carefully, we might find a few old swords.”
“Ah, alright.”
Yves nodded.
Generally called just mana swords, these mana-reinforced swords were made from forging metal from the raw material and reinforcing it with a mana stone. The process to make such a sword was so meticulous that they were considered to be special swords that only blacksmiths in the northern region of Kelenocross could make.
Of course, they’re bound to be expensive and rare.
And naturally, mana swords were used by only mage knights.
When a knight receives the seal of a mage knight to indicate their proficiency, it was a common occurrence that a mana sword was bestowed upon them by the lord of a territory or by the emperor himself.
It’s not an item that you’d find in any old storehouse.
Marcel asked,
“Why are you looking for a mana sword? Perhaps, maybe, you can feel mana surging within you?”
“Nope.”
“Then it’s not something you need to look for. If a knight who doesn’t know how to wield mana carries it around, it’s going to be a burden too heavy to bear. It’s literally going to be like a pearl necklace on a pig’s neck, and…”
“Just focus on the work you’ve been doing.”
“Yep.”
As Marcel buried his nose back into his pile of paperwork, Yves became lost in thought.
‘Should I just pick some other sword from the armory and give it to her…? No, that’s not gonna be good enough.’
It was a ridiculous gift for a woman who’s gotten obsessed with one romance novel, but Yves had to stay in Radis’ good graces right now.
‘I have to hold onto her tightly.’
Looking back, it was a great choice for the marquis to take charge of Radis until she came of age.
If Olivier were to try and take Radis away, this was the greatest excuse to still keep Radis by his side.
However, if Olivier were to say that he likes Radis and she follows him… It’s going to be difficult to stop them.
If that happens, it would look like he was trying to hold onto her for different reasons.
Just, Radis had to stay within Yves’ grasp until Olivier had enough trust in him.
For this, Yves really had to prepare a gift that would please Radis.
‘Where can I even find a mana sword…?’
* * *
That evening, Yves appeared once more in front of Radis, who was about to return to her room after she had eaten a full bowl of stew that had meat so tender it practically melted on her tongue.
“Radiiis…!”
Yves called out to her, gasping for air because of how urgently he had been running.
“Come, haa, haa, with me…!”
“Marquis, take your time. I’m not going anywhere, so speak slowly.”
After catching his breath, Yves spoke.
“The night market, want to come with me?”
“What’s that?”
“An auction! Don’t you want to pick your own sword?”
The moment she heard the word ‘sword’, Radis’ eyes twinkled.
“I’ll go!”
“Okay, then go get ready.”
Yves spoke in a heavy tone.
“Unlike a day market, it’s pretty dangerous out there.”
“Really?”
And the moment she heard that it was dangerous, Radis froze.
She’s had four years of hunting demonic beasts.
She didn’t want to be an obstacle if they ever came to face a dangerous situation.
So without any qualms, she wore a cute dress that she didn’t really want to wear, then wore a colorful hat that she didn’t even really like.
On the other hand, Yves ended up wearing the usual black cloak.
Allen prepared an ordinary carriage without the marquisate’s coat of arms, and he brought a small basket as well.
With a nervous voice, Radis asked.
“Is there a weapon in there?”
Allen secretly opened the lace cover over the basket and showed what’s inside.
“It’s a bottle of wine and a few chicken sandwiches. There’s also a serving of pumpkin salad. Please eat these if you get hungry.”
Full of confusion, Radis just accepted the basket and climbed into the carriage.
“Do you usually take a basket of snacks to dangerous places?”
“This kid. What kind of danger are you expecting? Since it’s the night market, of course it’s more dangerous compared to the day market. But it is still within Larrings.”
“What? Kid…”
Radis was puzzled when he called her a kid.
It was the first time she heard herself be called that ever since she was literally a child.
She sat quietly all the way to the auction house, wondering if she made a mistake.
As Yves mentioned, the auction house seemed to be far from any danger since it was on the Larrings boulevard strip.
The night market was in an underground space beneath a two-story building, and it was really wide and clean.
The security here was also excellent.
“Now, Radis.”
Yves Russell got off the carriage first, then offered his hand to escort about fifty centimeters away.
“Don’t stray far away from me.”
Radis thought he was being ridiculous.
She took off without him, carrying the basket with one hand.
“Radis, wait for me!”
“……”
“Isn’t it heavy? Don’t you want me to hold it? Give it to me.”
If a burly man like him would even carry a cute basket like this, and with a black cloak on him to top it off… He would look both ridiculous and suspicious.
But Yves seemed to be sure of himself.
“What do you think?”
“Of what?”
“My manners.”
With how much he twisted his tongue just to say that, the word ‘manners’ sounded like ‘manning’ instead.
Radis almost burst into laughter right then, but she clenched her teeth and pressed down the urge.
“If I were you, I’d have fallen in love with me already. But it seems like you’re not?”
Far from falling in love, to Radis, Yves looked like the most suspicious person in this entire place right now.
With his black cloak, his broad and strong shoulders, yet delicate touch.
And with that cute basket in his hands, to boot.
Given that Yves looked like that, when they approached the entrance of the auction house, the security guards naturally looked apprehensive.
“Wait.”
They blocked Yves’ way.
Then, Yves raised his hand to show the ring on his finger.
There engraved was the coat of arms of the Russell Marquisate, which featured a shield with a black lion in front of it.
The guards, who saw the marquis’ seal, hesitated and backed down. But still, they eyed that cute basket suspiciously.
Radis yanked the basket from Yves and showed what was inside. When the guards saw the appetizing sandwiches, the guards leaned down and sort of licked their lips.
“Let’s go in now, come on.”
Yves also reached out for the basket again for him to carry it.
At that moment, Radis stared at his hand and wondered if she could smack it away.
“Why are you looking so intently at my hand? Want to hold it?”
Yves’ large hand then headed for Radis’ small hand and held it tightly.
“……!”
“Ah, there’s so many people here. It’s stuffy.”
“……!”
“To get rid of them. Hm… What do you think will happen if I said I’ll buy everything and they’ll get lost? Ah, I can’t do that because it’s an auction, right? Wow, there! More people that I hate the most! It’s a good thing I dressed like this.”
Yves continued to chatter on about this and that, but Radis couldn’t hear any of it.
She was busy staring at her own hand folded in his, her eyes wide.
Yves’ hand was big and warm.
And it was even very tender.
When his big, warm and tender hand wrapped over her hand, it felt like her knees were about to give out.
“Okay, let’s sit here!”
Yves chose two suitable seats for them and sat Radis down.
Naturally, he let go of her hand because he needed to pull out the chair for her, and it was only then that she could breathe again.
It was the first time in all her life that she held hands with someone in this way.
As she was sitting down now, she grasped the handle of the basket on her lap very tightly as though it was a lifeline.
Her face felt extremely hot.
It shouldn’t mean anything, and there’s a lot of people in this place so the marquis was only concerned about her not getting lost.
“Ah, I’m thirsty. Radis, give me some wine.”
Yves’ low voice beside her ear made her heart drop to the ground.
Radis took out the wine and gave it to Yves.
It was fortunate that the auction house was dark.
Yves didn’t seem to notice that her face had turned bright red.
“Can you give me a glass?”
Radis took out a glass as he asked for it, giving it over with a trembling hand.
“Where’s the corkscrew?”
Radis stared at Yves.
She wasn’t feeling nervous at all anymore.
“Why do you keep asking me?”
“Well you’re the one holding the basket like that. How can I take it out myself?”
“There’s no corkscrew.”
“There isn’t? Then how can I open it?”
“Argh, just give it to me!”
Radis grabbed the wine bottle’s neck tightly and pulled the cork.
Pop! As the cork was removed, a sudden sound echoed out.
Yves shook his head in resignation.
“You’re really strong. You can be a general, a general I tell you!”
“Ha…”
No matter how much that was the first time for her, Radis’ pride was hurt by the fact that her heart fluttered for a moment because of Yves of all people. As she did a facepalm, Radis let out a deep sigh.