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Chapter 37
Realizing that there was no way out of this now, Yves raised his hood slightly away from his face and replied coldly.
“What are you talking about, Roderick?”
“Where did you get the intel that I was eyeing that sword?”
Clapping his palms together once, Yves replied.
“That’s what I call an egotistical sense of self-consciousness. You’re already claiming it, but I never even tried to get any intel like that.”
“W-What a bold-faced lie! You called out such an outrageous price like that!”
Brandt Roderick exclaimed as he gritted his teeth.
“Remember this! The people of the southern region will never acknowledge you as a Marquis. What did you do that day that only you survived in the Marquisate? The truth will be revealed!”
Without batting an eye, Yves replied.
“Roderick, take your 1.1 billion rupen sword and scurry on home. You bought what you came here for anyway, why don’t you show it off and go brag about winning it at such a high price from a merit-less member of a founding family of the empire, hm?”
“Urk!”
Brandt Roderick was bristling with rage.
He won the auction, but it didn’t feel like he won at all.
He was fuming like he was an overworked chimney, but the only sound Brandt Roderick was making was from his clenched teeth. He couldn’t even say any rebuttal.
He already knew that there was nothing he could say in retaliation.
For now, it’s not worth showing the appearance of a mature nobleman and the young Marquis Russell bickering like children.
The only one who’d lose face was him.
Moreover, he had never beaten Yves Russell in an argument before.
Eventually, he had no choice but to huff and turn around, spewing cliché lines.
“I will never forget what happened here today!”
Radis frowned while watching the back of that man’s head.
She knew how Brandt treated Robert, so she couldn’t form any good impression of the man.
Brandt had kicked out Robert from the family just because he was such an outstanding talent.
With his words and actions now, calling him a ‘small man’ was the perfect description for him.
Besides that, there were some other things that bothered her.
About the trap that drove her to her death.
‘Brandt Roderick.’
Radis decided to remember the man’s face.
Instead of trying to walk away, he looked at Yves, who was still looking towards the direction Brandt had disappeared to.
He seemed to be gritting his teeth.
Sighing briefly, Radis shook Yves’ arm.
“Marquis.”
“
Yeah.”
“Let’s go get my 110 thousand rupen sword.”
Hearing the similar sounding price, Yves smirked.
When Radis saw that smile, she laughed as well and continued.
“I can buy it with my pocket money, but you did say that you’ll buy a sword for me, right, Marquis?”
“Of course. Did you even bring a wallet with you?”
“Mmh, I did just in case. Here it is
”
“O-ho! Put that away, Your Ladyship.”
While joking around, Yves seemed to be more relaxed.
Radis smiled, feeling relieved as well.
* * *
The place to claim items was very crowded. When Yves fetched the 110 thousand rupen sword, Radis stood quietly in one corner and waited for him there.
There were people walking around who looked a bit shabby at first glance in this place that was supposed to be reserved for guests.
Radis could tell right away what kind of people they were.
‘That coat of arms is from the May Mercenary Guild, and that other one is from the Mormor Mercenary Guild. I guess most of the guys here are like that. Are they here to sell things?’
In the northern region, the larger mercenary guilds would go to war for the trophies they could acquire, but most of the mercenary guilds in the southern region were on a smaller scale.
Their main duties were usually escorting the merchant guilds or some security details for shops. They also sometimes hunted demonic beasts.
Radis didn’t like mercenaries that much.
This was because mercenaries tended to overprice their items and services.
And

“Huh?”
When something caught Radis’ eye, she frowned for a moment and soon approached a group of people.
* * *
The man who looked to be the auctioneer shook his head and spoke.
“Gorz, the night market is already over! If you want to sell some items, please come back during the next scheduled auction!”
“Then when’s the next auction scheduled?”
“How many times do I have to tell you for you to remember? The next auction schedule for the night market will only be set after there are enough items available that the customers would be interested in!”
The auctioneer touched his beard and gestured to the man named Gorz.
“And, Gorz, it’s obvious what kind of item you’ve brought. Is that another egg? Don’t even try to sell something so ugly here. One or two of those things had been sold before just because of short-lived fascination, but have you seen any getting sold recently? It’s just trash that you know will rot!”
“It’s different this time!”
Gorz, the bald mercenary in a dirty outfit, approached the auctioneer and whispered with a low voice.
“This one is quite different. You’ll know it when you see it. This is a very, very special item!”
After heaving out a sigh, the auctioneer responded.
“Well, fine, take it out then. I’ll take a look first.”
“Huh? Oh, uh
 I don’t have it on me right now.”
The auctioneer glared at Gorz with an annoyed expression on his face.
“What nonsense are you talking about now?”
“It’s not here. I hid it at our headquarters.”
“Gorz, are we playing a game now? You said that I’ll know it when I see it. But you aren’t even going to show me here? Do I look so gullible to you?”
“Hehe, it’s too dangerous to bring it all the way here. If you just give me an advance on the payment
”
“This bas—”
The auctioneer pushed Gorz hard on the chest with a loud accompanying sound.
“Get out! You don’t even have anything to sell here but you’re asking me to pay you in advance?! Tough luck! Don’t ever seek me out again! Ugh!”
Staggering back after being pushed by the auctioneer, Gorz replied back in an angry voice.
“You’re going to regret this!”
With an eyepatch on, a smaller man beside Gorz tried to calm him down.
“Look, I told you so. It’s impossible to get an advance.”
“Sh*t! Luke, I told you we should have brought it!”
“Gorz, that thing is so ominous. If we move it, we’ll be in danger!”
It was right then.
Someone grabbed the man by the back of his neck and whispered grimly.
“Caught you.”
Gorz and Luke looked behind them.
There stood Radis, wearing a cute dress and a fancy hat.
As she glared at Gorz, Radis said,
“You detestable punk.”
Then, someone else placed their hand on Radis’ shoulder and said,
“Caught you.”
Radis didn’t have to look back to see who it was.
Yves sighed as he glanced at Radis.
“You troublemaking young lady.”
Yves took Radis’ hand off the man’s neck.
Then, he said to Gorz,
“Sorry about that. Our young lady here is a bit of a troublemaker.”
“What?”
Luke immediately shut Gorz’ mouth.
“Hehe, old man! We’re the ones who were rude here!”
“Shut up!”
“Shh, come on.”
Luke whispered into Gorz’ ear.
“I’ve seen that guy’s ring! He’s Marquis Russell!”
“

.!”
As Gorz and Luke fell silent, Yves quickly dragged Radis away.
“Radis!”
“

”
“I know it’s a bit surprising to see some ugly faces, but it’s too much to say that someone’s detestable just because they’re ugly!”
“That’s not what I mean at all. That jerk
!”
Radis couldn’t bring herself to speak.
She recalled this mercenary named Gorz.
He was a criminal lowlife who played a decisive role in the reason why Radis had such a negative perception of all mercenaries.
The leader of the Kingsnake Mercenary Corps, Gorz!
Gorz was a horrible villain who would lure small demonic beasts to attack villages just so that he could get commissioned to save them. After his method was discovered, he became a wanted criminal.
But it would take years before Gorz would become incriminated.
Right now, no one knew the evildoings of Gorz.
While he patted Radis’ shoulder as if soothing her, Yves handed something over to Radis.
“Here you go.”
It was the rusty, 110 thousand rupen sword that was wrapped in cloth.
Finally holding this sword, Radis exclaimed,
“Ah
!”
“Heavy, isn’t it? It’s filthily heavy.”
“It’s fine.”
Radis patted the rusty iron blade.
Seeing this, Yves looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“If you’re going to bring it to the mansion, put a note on it that says it’s not trash. If anyone sees it, they might try to throw it away.”
Radis glanced at Yves and said,
“What do you mean, trash?”
From where she was, patting the rusty sword, she could see the backs of Gorz and Luke as they were about to leave.
It would be several years later until Gorz would become a wanted criminal.
Perhaps Gorz was just an ordinary mercenary now.
However

‘What ominous thing were they talking about?’
Those words made her think about something peculiarly unpleasant.