Chapter 152
Chapter 152
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Drexler
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Drexler
◆
“How does it look?”
Carlyle tapped on the mask covering his face and flashed a grin at Elena.
It was an essential item required to enter the secret auction house. The name itself was “secret,” so naturally, it was meant to conceal one’s identity.
“It looks cool—!”
“⋯⋯.”
Carlyle silently stared at Vespa, who was squealing in delight.
⋯⋯No.
He hadn’t exactly been hoping for a reaction like a fan meeting a celebrity.
“It’s cool, so cool! W-Would you try on some of these clothes too, not just the mask?!”
Vespa, her face slightly flushed, gathered various outfits from inside the dressing room and shoved them toward Carlyle.
⋯⋯Ah, right. Come to think of it, her main job was as a maid.
He’d heard she wasn’t just handling housework but also had a hand in selecting Gray’s clothes.
It seemed like something had suddenly ignited her passion, as if she’d developed a sense of mission to make Carlyle look even cooler⋯⋯
[⋯⋯That’s not all there is to it, though.]
“⋯⋯.”
⋯⋯True enough.
Her face wasn’t just flushed—her eyes were slightly unfocused, and her breathing was a bit heavy.
Let’s see. He felt like he’d seen this kind of scene somewhere before⋯⋯
‘Ah.’
It was like a perverted photographer shooting a pictorial for a female celebrity.
Her expression was exactly like that right now⋯⋯
Fortunately, not everyone was as fixated on that as Vespa.
Panhaima grabbed Vespa by the neck with a pained expression, as if she had a headache coming on, and lifted her up.
“Huh? Panhaima, wh-what⋯⋯?”
“—Go outside and start surveillance first. I’ll contact you if anything happens.”
“⋯⋯Thank you, Panhaima.”
As soon as the thanks ended, Panhaima grabbed Vespa by the scruff of her neck and dragged her out.
She looked just like a mischievous puppy caught by its owner and lifted by the scruff⋯⋯
“⋯⋯Hmm.”
Elena quietly tilted her head.
“I think Vespa’s a pretty good kid.”
“Of course she is.”
Not because of whose daughter she is⋯⋯ or rather.
Objectively speaking, Vespa was a really good person.
More than that, the fact that she intended to stand by Gray’s side until the end made her not just good, but perhaps a bit unusually devoted⋯⋯
“So, isn’t it your fault that you’ve ruined such a good kid?”
“⋯⋯.”
“Whenever she gets tangled up with you, she goes off the rails. Shouldn’t you take responsibility until the end?”
“⋯⋯That sounds a bit off.”
He would take responsibility, somehow.
⋯⋯Though he wasn’t sure about the nuance she was implying.
“Wow, you’re not going to pretend you don’t know after turning her into that state, are you⋯⋯? Shamelessly calling your own tastes normal or something.”
Look at her.
“Where would I find normal people around me?”
“⋯⋯The one nitpicking is right there?”
“No, really. Is there even one normal person around me?”
Elena shut her mouth.
⋯⋯Exactly.
Starting with Gray, they were all intense individuals without exception.
There’s a saying about birds of a feather flocking together, but it was rare to find a group this devoid of normalcy even if you washed your eyes and looked⋯⋯
“⋯⋯Wouldn’t it be good to have at least one normal person around?”
He suddenly felt a bit sorry for her.
Elena could at least avoid them, but this guy had to stick by her side all day.
Carlyle quietly looked at Elena.
Soon, he let out a chuckle and said.
“I have my senior.”
“Huh?”
“Whenever I feel like I’m drifting away from humanity, looking at people like my senior brings me back to my senses. Like, ah, this is what normal people are like⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯Does that mean I’m plain and boring?”
“It means you’re a kind and good person.”
Hmm.
Yeah, she was definitely that type. Elena puffed out her chest.
“Right. You need to keep someone like me close. Get as friendly as possible.”
Elena grumbled as she crossed her arms.
Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Carlyle quietly watching her.
“Why?”
“Senior, are you hitting on me right now?”
“⋯⋯Huh?”
How did it turn into that?
“No, you just said with your own mouth to get as close as possible to someone like you⋯⋯”
“N-No!”
“Anyone hearing that would interpret it that way⋯⋯”
“W-Who would do that to you! No!”
“Yeah, let’s go with that.”
“N-No! I’m really not—!”
Elena flailed in protest.
Her teary-eyed plea was quite desperate.
It was probably a reaction because Gray would glare if she heard.
‘She’s so innocent.’
She was fun to tease.
“L-Let’s go in—!”
While Carlyle was smirking, Elena hurriedly stepped into the corridor leading inside the auction house.
◆
The auction house was filled with people wearing masks.
For a secret auction, the crowd was surprisingly large.
“By the way, you said you came to help with your father’s business? Is there something specific you’re after?”
“There are so many unique items, so anything decent will do. The Far East is so isolated that if we can acquire anything, we can sell it at a premium. But⋯⋯”
Elena looked up at the stage in the center.
“⋯⋯There doesn’t seem to be anything decent?”
They were still covered with tents, but even the silhouettes alone suggested they were no ordinary items.
Some even seemed alive, wriggling beneath the tents⋯⋯
While observing them, the surrounding lights flickered off one by one, and the auctioneer appeared on stage.
“Thank you all for coming today!”
Ladies and gentlemen, this honorable occasion, auction blah blah.
Carlyle half-listened to the auctioneer’s enthusiastic voice while scanning the surroundings.
‘No unusual vibes so far.’
There were no obvious clues related to the Ten Glyph Society, the main reason they were here.
It just felt like a straightforward auction.
‘⋯⋯Is my intuition off?’
They say intuition is like the big data accumulated over a lifetime.
As someone who’d regressed infinitely, he prided himself on having sharp instincts.
Carlyle let out a dissatisfied huff and crossed his arms.
Meanwhile, the auction was proceeding apace.
Items came up, bids were placed, and they sold.
Elena next to him was participating quite enthusiastically at times.
“I-I got it! Got it—! Yes—!”
Watching her jump for joy when she won a bid was kind of cute.
[⋯⋯.]
“⋯⋯.”
Carlyle quietly glanced at the Holy Sword disguised as a bracelet.
No, she wasn’t saying anything.
But the silence emanating from it felt laced with dissatisfaction.
‘⋯⋯What is it?’
[⋯⋯.]
‘Hero, tell me in words.’
[⋯⋯Didn’t you say you see me and the others like daughters?]
‘I did.’
[Elena doesn’t quite give off that vibe.]
‘⋯⋯Pardon?’
[Doesn’t it feel like you’re quite conscious of her?]
‘⋯⋯⋯⋯Pardon?’
In what way?
Carlyle blinked, but the Holy Sword’s tone remained grumpy.
[From watching up close, I can definitely tell.]
“⋯⋯.”
⋯⋯Huh.
Is that so?
Thinking about it, yeah, maybe.
The natural banter and laughter he shared with her felt different from the Hero Party members, who always “indulged” him no matter what.
‘Well, still, I think of you all, including the Hero, like family—’
[Son of a bitch.]
‘⋯⋯.’
[⋯⋯Son of a bitch, really.]
‘⋯⋯⋯⋯.’
⋯⋯Better not continue this conversation.
And the situation right in front of him was starting to feel a bit off.
“Now, the next item!”
The masked auctioneer pulled away the tent covering it.
It was that “living” something he’d seen wriggling beneath earlier.
“Introducing a rare creature procured from the Sand Kingdom! A body like iron, and incredibly intelligent—it understands every command from its owner! While imperial law prohibits slavery, such creatures are not deemed illegal, so bid with peace of mind!”
The tent was fully removed, revealing what lay beneath.
A “human” sitting cross-legged inside an iron cage.
But the reason the auctioneer called it a “beast” was intuitively obvious.
⋯⋯Its head was that of a jackal.
A wolf’s head. A human body.
A monstrous half-man, half-beast.
“Ah, bro. It says I’m not a beast.”
It even yawned with its wolf head and spoke in a bored tone.
“See! It understands human speech perfectly and communicates without issue! Hunters risked their lives to capture this beast!”
“You gonna keep saying that? Gotta admire the bluster.”
Carlyle, watching quietly, let out a groan-like sound.
⋯⋯His head was spinning.
“—You crazy bastard.”
No, no way it was “captured.”
It was a thousand times more convincing that it turned itself in.
⋯⋯Considering what that thing was, absolutely.
“Why the reaction? Do you know what it is?”
He knew.
All too well.
“I know him.”
Drexler, that bastard.
What the hell is he doing there⋯⋯?
◆