Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Bidding Frenzy
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Nihil approached the children with feigned innocence, acting like he knew nothing at all. Sir Evan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of the lynx calmly carrying on with his performance amid the suffocating tension.
In a hurry to smooth things over, Nihil scanned the kids once before crouching down and leaning right in close to the one panting for breath, shoving his face into the child's.
The moment the child saw Nihil's face, he froze, his eyes going wide. His face really does come in handy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nihil spotted Lianus pursing his lips, but he pretended not to notice and spoke up.
"Hey, kiddo, don't cry. You got scared thinking the puppy might die, huh? I'll help you out!"
With that, Nihil cocked his head as if pondering what to do next, then slipped off his robe and wrapped it around the squirming puppy in Lianus's arms.
"Ta-da! Now the puppy won't get cold!"
Nihil handed the puppy back to Lianus and immediately turned to leave. The chilly atmosphere thawed in an instant the moment his back was turned.
The stares that had been fixed on the children shifted to Nihil, now that his face was out in the open. It might've been better if he'd had some grime on him, but Sir Evan had wiped his face clean when he'd been crying drunk, so it gleamed spotless.
Sir Evan inwardly regretted not dirtying it up a bit himself when Nihil spoke.
"Um, you grown-ups all done? Can Nil say the numbers now?"
Pretending utter ignorance, Nihil peered closely at the gold coin before strolling along the bars of the cage.
As expected, the eyes that had been glued to the gold now chased after Nihil instead. Sir Evan rubbed his face dryly, relieved by the shift yet still uneasy.
Lianus bit his lip hard. He admired Nihil for twisting the mood to his will even in this disadvantageous spot, but he hated his own incompetence that left Nihil to cover for his mistake. He resented the screaming child, too.
That's when the portly man who'd poked at the platform with his cane suddenly piped up.
"Five gold! I'll buy that kid."
With those words, the auction kicked off out of nowhere.
Nihil inwardly sneered at the man bidding a measly five gold, but on the surface, he flashed a bright, clueless smile.
Of course, five gold wasn't nearly enough for the gambling riffraff of Sharten Street to hike up a body price over.
But throw some nobles into the mix, and it was a different story.
"Seven gold."
Another man spoke up, and the bidding began to climb bit by bit.
Seizing the moment, the auctioneer reached for Nihil, but Nihil smacked him on the head and scampered off giggling.
"Wanna play tag again?"
Nihil was trying to seize control once more, but no one cared anymore about pranking the auctioneer.
One nobleman glanced pityingly at the auctioneer cradling his bald pate and spoke.
"Hey, if I win the bid, I'll handle dragging him off myself, so just let him go and get on with it!"
The auctioneer scratched his head and found himself reluctantly running the show.
"A-alrighty then, we've got twelve gold! Anyone else?"
Just like that, the tables turned completely. Nihil, who'd been leading the bet, had become the item up for grabs, and the price crept up sluggishly toward fifty gold.
"Fifty, fifty—going once?"
"...Sixty."
About five minutes dragged on before it seemed the auction might wrap, and Sir Evan finally stepped in.
Even if it sold here, the lynx wouldn't actually go, but they needed to buy time until the guards arrived.
"Sixty gold! Anyone higher?"
The price had been inching up by twos and threes when it suddenly jumped ten, drawing all eyes to Sir Evan.
He considered unleashing a bit of killing intent but held back—scare everyone off and win the bid outright, and he'd have to flash his badge.
He only carried his royal knight badge, not a commoner's ID.
Showing it would turn the place into chaos.
Sir Evan sighed inwardly and, instead of killing intent, eyed up and down the noble-looking fellow who'd bid fifty last, taunting him.
"Not as rich as you look, huh?"
"Y-you insolent cur! Seventy! Seventy gold!"
"Seventy! Seventy gold, we've got!"
Thankfully, the fool took the bait easily.
Sir Evan glanced at the obediently waiting Nihil before upping the bid again.
"Eighty."
"......"
Whether the noble lacked deep pockets or figured Nihil wasn't worth it, the middle-aged man hesitated to counter.
That's when Nihil jumped back in.
"Nil get sold?"
Even stuffed in the rabbit hutch like he already was, Nihil tilted his head innocently before breaking into a lovely grin.
He was hiking his own price now.
His eyes curved so adorably. The noble stared blankly before bellowing.
"Eighty-five!"
The dumb lardball fell for the lynx's lure and bid higher right away. Sir Evan countered without pause.
"Ninety."
"Ninety-five."
"One hundred."
As the bidding kept climbing, Ban—the one watching from the side—whispered to Lianus.
"Hey, your big bro got money?"
"Money...? Yeah, probably......?"
Lianus had been glowering at his best friend's rising price tag when Ban's question made him ponder Sir Evan's wallet.
He didn't know royal knights' pay, but as the sole guard for a prince like himself, with near full-time duty barring the odd outing, Sir Evan must pull decent wages.
But he was common-born, and buying Nihil as a knight seemed a stretch no matter how you sliced it.
Human trafficking was illegal to begin with.
"He's... just killing time."
"What? What if they get caught?"
"If we do, we knock 'em all out and bolt, right?"
Lianus tossed out a half-baked answer off the top of his head.
Sir Evan's finances didn't matter to him. If payment came due, he'd cover it himself.
What irked him was that lardball noble jacking up his best friend's price nonstop.
"...I don't like that fat bastard. Who does he think he is, trying to buy Nil?"
"......"
Ban stared at Lianus spouting curses with such a gentle face and was at a loss for words. Not just the brother—the kid brother had bite too.
"Hey..., you too......"
"Huh?"
"Nah, nothing. You siblings really..., take after each other."
"Really?"
Lianus's eyes lit up at the idea he resembled Nihil, grinning wide. Then he suddenly drooped his head.
"What's wrong?"
"Big bro says not to use bad words."
"......"
Ban decided not to pry further.
Meanwhile, Nihil's price had just topped 160.
"Two hundred!"
"......"
The noble jacked it up at once, shooting Sir Evan a smug look.
Sir Evan had no intention of paying anyway, so he could've kept bidding, but push it further and suspicions about his status would arise.
That's when Nihil spoke up again.
"Don't do that, grown-ups—play tag with Nil instead! Nil likes people who play with him. How 'bout the first one to catch Nil gets to take him? 'Course, Nil won't make it easy!"
"Goo—no."
Sir Evan nearly agreed before shaking his head. He didn't want to turn the lynx into more of a spectacle. There were other ways to stall.
He turned to the noble.
"How about I duel your knight? Two hundred gold's a hefty sum for you, no? Winner buys for one hundred. What do you say?"
"Hmm......"
The noble didn't answer right away. Sir Evan's garb screamed common mercenary, but that massive build made him worry his own knight might lose.
As he dithered, the lynx unleashed provocation.
"Fatso mister, better not! Your knight looks way smaller and weaker! He'll probably get hurt, bleed everywhere, and bawl his eyes out like 'oww, oww, it hurts!'"
Sir Evan doubted such childish taunting would work, but hilariously, the noble's guard barked.
"Y-you arrogant whelp! My lord, no mere mercenary could best me!"
"You sure?"
"Of course, my lord! Leave it to me!"
"But......"
The noble still fretted over the huge size gap, squinting as he sized Sir Evan up and down.
Then Nihil reached through the bars, tugged Sir Evan's cloak hem insistently, and whispered loud enough for all to hear.
"But...... Nil actually likes small and cute stuff. That mister's big, okay, but... not cute at all, so Nil doesn't wanna go with him. Bear mister isn't super cute either, but better than that guy. So Bear mister's gotta win. Oh, don't tell that mister—might hurt his feelings."
"Pfft......!"
Laughter erupted here and there at Nihil's not-so-secret secret.
Sir Evan finally cracked, chuckling as he asked,
"Then what do you like? I'll get you a gift if you come with me."
"Kitten."
Hey, you little shit. That's off-limits.
Sir Evan couldn't forgive the lynx for daring to covet his kitten, but ridiculously, the provocation had worked perfectly, so he had no choice but to prep for the duel.
And Nihil was hugging his kitten tight, plain as day.
"Shell."
"Yeah?"
"Might get dangerous, so you kids stay in here."
"In the cage?"
"Yeah."
But when Nihil opened the portable cage door, one child started trembling like a leaf.
"I-I-I d-don't wanna st-stay in th-there."
"Not forcing you. Won't lock it either. If it's too scary, just hide behind it. I'll watch over you."
"H-how you gonna pr-protec—mmph!!"
As the child geared up to scream again, another boy finally clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Shut it. Open your mouth one more time, and I'll tie you up and feed you to those hounds."
"Mmph! Mmmph!!"
The child shook his head frantically at the threat.
In the meantime, Ban figured listening to Nihil was best and shuffled into the cage, with Lianus eyeing things before following suit.
The auctioneer, bets settled, yelled at Nihil to hand over the key, but Nihil ignored him. The longer they dragged, the better.
Still, his yapping spooked the hesitant kids into scurrying inside.
Once they were all in, Nihil approached to close the door. But as he reached out, a trembling hand shoved him away.
"Y-you stay back!"
Bang!
The cage door slammed shut.