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Chapter 36
While taking a sip of wine out of his glass, Yves said,
“Give me a sandwich, too.”
Irritated, Radis placed the entire basket on Yves’ lap.
Yves took out one large sandwich from inside, gobbled it up, then looked alternately between the other sandwich and Radis.
“…You can have it.”
“Really?”
“I had dinner already. I’m not hungry.”
“You already did? I didn’t even eat dinner because I was busy working. I asked Marcel—ah, Marcel is my aide. I’ll introduce him to you later. Anyway, when I asked Marcel to find out the auction schedule, he said it was today. I don’t know whether it’s good luck or bad luck, that’s why I came here without eating dinner first. For your sake!”
“I’m very grateful…”
“Oh, you don’t have to thank me for this.”
Yves continued to speak in a glib manner.
“Radis, your every wish is my command.”
“Huu… Your sandwich is spilling over.”
“Ack.”
He covered his mouth to push back the sandwich that was about to burst out of his lips, and Radis just stared at Yves, wondering if he really was a proper human being.
Apparently, when she first met him, he seemed like a man who was dignified enough to carry his title as a marquis, but…
‘Well, it doesn’t matter. As long as he does his job properly.’
When fulfilling his duties as the marquis, Yves Russell seemed to be a fairly capable man anyhow.
The marquisate wasn’t thriving exponentially, but the domain seemed to be doing well without any problems.
The word ‘peaceful’ suited it very well.
‘What does personality have anything to do with it? I’ll just ignore his quirks.’
Radis looked around the auction house. She ignored Yves, who was now reaching for the pumpkin salad.
The auction house was filled with people.
There were some who unabashedly showed their faces, while the others hid their faces like Yves did. There were also a few who had rather dangerous atmospheres to them.
Then here, Radis understood a little what Yves meant by danger earlier.
With a crowd of suspicious people in the audience, the auctioneer stepped onto the stage and held his arms out in a wide stance. With a loud voice, he spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, no advance viewings were held before this auction. There was not even an appraisal. All these here are items! It’s up to you to judge their value and set their price! That is what the night market is about. Now, let us start the auction. Here is the masterpiece of the century which everyone has been waiting for, 〈 The Woman in the Robe 〉! We’ll start with 10 million rupens!”
Items such as paintings, ceramics and jewelry came up to the podium one after another.
In Radis’ eyes, they all seemed suspicious.
However, the auction house’s audience seemed to be very enthusiastic about them all.
It felt like her sense of money had gotten paralyzed over these bids that went far higher, beyond her imagination.
“What kind of plate that’s the size of a sauce bowl costs 20 million rubells?”
Wiping his mouth after he finished the pumpkin salad, Yves replied.
“If it’s genuine, it should cost around 50 million rubells.”
“Then is it genuine?”
“I’m not sure. If it is, then that’s amazing. If it’s fake, then it’s fake. But I don’t think it’s a bad replica. Well, besides that, it’s time for the weapons to come out now.”
At the word ‘weapon’, Radis’ eyes glistened as she looked back towards the podium.
After a showcase of a war hero’s helmet and a mercenary king’s armor, at last, the weapons were brought to the stage.
“Ohhh!”
The auctioneer lifted a sword with his white gloved hand, and the crowd became excited.
“Now, I’m sure that most of you here today have heard of this beautiful double-edged sword. One edge that represents God’s will to protect the world, and the other edge that wields the power of the devil, full of destructive power enough to bring an end to an era! It is The Sword of Fire, ‘Pyyrha’!”
In the auctioneer’s hand, a beautiful silver sword was shown brilliantly.
The beautiful blade of the sword stretched coolly, and like a shooting star, a flame pattern was engraved upon it. The sword hilt that was shaped like a flame was also as beautiful as artwork.
In the middle of the handle was a bright red mana stone, which also shone dazzlingly.
When Yves saw the sword, a smile of satisfaction came to his lips.
This was the reason why he postponed all his scheduled tasks today and rushed to the night market with Radis, just to show her this sword.
Dropping his voice to a hush, the auctioneer spoke secretively.
“’The Sword of Fire’, the sword known as ‘Pyrrha’ which the founding contributor to the empire Alexis Tilrod wielded, had been lost to the world—until now. The imperial family even denied the very existence of this sword and numerous imitations circulated around the vast land. However! ‘Pyrrha’ certainly existed, and it has now reappeared before you! The Sword of Fire, ‘Pyrrha’! The bid shall start at 100 million rupens!”
At the end of the auctioneer’s explanation, Yves lifted his hand with the ring and said,
“1 billion rupens.”
“……!”
Silence fell onto the auction house.
Yves glanced towards Radis with a smug smile on his face.
He was expecting that her eyes would be radiating starlight.
‘Radis, this is all for you…!’
But Radis wasn’t even looking at ‘Pyrrha’.
She zeroed in on one spot behind the podium, lost in thought.
Noticing that Yves was looking at her, Radis tilted her head, perplexed at his behavior.
“That sword, you’re buying it?”
“…I’m giving it to you though?”
“What? No, I’m good. I don’t need such an expensive sword. I don’t want to take that sword back with me.”
“……!”
Then, Radis pointed to the rusty iron sword, which looked more like a club than anything, lying at random behind the podium.
“I want that one. How much will that cost? Can I buy it with my pocket money?”
“……!”
The area around Yves’ eyes turned blue.
Meanwhile, the auctioneer didn’t know who Yves was, and so asked him straight out.
“One billion rupens, does anyone want to outbid one billion rupens!”
Then, one man from the audience barked out a laugh and stood up.
“You look wet behind the ears, young man. How fearless!”
Radis glanced at him.
The man continued to say, as he was looking at Yves, that this was the kind of person he hated the most.
Yves’ expression changed instantly, and he growled with a low voice.
“Brandt Roderick…!”
The moment she heard this name, Radis flinched.
Brandt Roderick.
He was the head of House Roderick, which was one of the most prestigious families of the southern region. And at the same time, he was the father of Robert, the commander of the subjugation squad.
Robert once told her about the relationship between House Roderick and House Russell.
The two families had been on bad terms for a very long period of time, and in particular, Brandt felt terribly resentful towards Yves Russell, as he had succeeded the title of marquis at a young age.
“I merely heard about the sword and came to see its splendor, yet here you are, taking away that opportunity for everyone else. Is it the same when that family that did not contribute to the founding of the empire 500 years ago, turned to the south and set their roots there?”
Brandt looked around and spoke with a loud voice, and the people around him burst into despicable laughter.
Glaring at Yves with a derisive sneer, as if encouraged by the others’ laughter, Brandt spoke.
“You can’t have everything, young man.”
Then, as Brandt took off his hood, he shouted.
“1.1 billion rupens!”
“Ohhhh!”
The audience looked alternately between Yves and Brandt, their eyes glistening with anticipation.
Although Marquis Russell’s name wasn’t explicitly mentioned, those who knew the meaning behind Brandt’s words would have been able to infer who Yves was, or at the very least, could guess that he was a representative of the marquisate.
In an instant, the bidding for Pyrrha, the sword of fire, became an intense battle of pride between House Roderick and House Russell.
Reading the atmosphere, the auctioneer recited the bid at a fast pace.
“1.1 billion rupens, going once!”
As soon as everyone looked where Yves’ pointed his finger, Yves looked back at Radis.
‘Really? Are you really not interested?’
It was a sword so beautiful that any knight would want to have it.
It was even the sword of her ancestor, Alexis Tilrod.
The moment he got some information about the sword ‘Pyrrha’, Yves had been certain that Radis would be absolutely ecstatic to have it.
But here, Radis only stared at Brandt for a moment, then turned her attention again on the rusty iron club.
As he saw her eyes twinkling like that, it really seemed as if she liked that lump of rust.
After ten seconds of internal conflict, Yves lowered his hand.
“Ohhh!”
For the last time, the auctioneer cried,
“Going twice!”
Not expecting that Yves would give up so easily, Brandt took off his hood and looked back dubiously.
And, the auctioneer brought down the gavel.
“Sold for 1.1 billion rupens!”
‘Huuuu!’
Yves inwardly let out a huge sigh of relief.
Losing the bid wasn’t very pleasant, but it’s not like he showed his face here.
So it’s alright to pretend he didn’t know about this lter.
If Radis didn’t want that sword, just as Marcel said, it would be like a mana sword that’s useless to him.
Besides, that kind of sword wouldn’t be practical as a girl’s decorative sword anyway.
When the sword was sold for an unexpected amount of money, the auctioneer smiled and placed the sword back in its box, sending it to the back of the stage.
The auction continued afterwards, but the atmosphere continued to remain cold because people were paying keen attention to Brandt Roderick and the man in the black cloak who they believed was Marquis Yves Russell.
Now, the auctioneer pointed to the case where the rusty iron club was and then shouted,
“Excavated in the southern wilderness, this here was once a sword! It’s now buried in a thick layer of rust, but only the Lord of Time knows what kind of story this trapped sword has. The bid shall start with 100,000 rupens!”
When they saw the dirty rust, no one raised their hand.
The auctioneer shouted for the last time, holding up the gavel.
“Anyone who wants to bid?”
Radis carefully raised her hand.
“110,000 rupens… May I?”
“Of course, beautiful lady! 110,000 rupens! Going once! Going twice! Sold!”
Yves absolutely could not understand her.
After the auction was over, Yves followed her to the back of the auction house to claim her bid, and he asked.
“I thought you wanted me to buy you a mana sword?”
“That’s right.”
“Is that a mana sword? It’s just a lump of rust. No matter how much it’s honed, it’ll be hard to wield it again.”
“That’s all I need.”
“Huh, seriously…!”
Then, behind them, someone spoke with a deeply grim voice.
“I’m at a loss for words.”
Yves and Radis turned back.
It was Brandt Roderick.
“Is this another one of our schemes, Marquis Russell?”