Chapter 92
Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: Slave Auction House (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A mansion located in Shioten.
Numerous nobles had gathered at this villa owned by the Deolic family, engaging in casual conversation.
“Does anyone know who that man at the auction was?”
“There aren’t many who can spend that kind of money so casually…….”
The topic of conversation was undoubtedly the man they had just seen at the auction.
The mysterious man who had bought up every single Ain tribesman slave and vanished.
All sorts of speculations flew around, but no one could provide a clear answer about his identity.
“Does Deolic Count happen to know anyone?”
One noble addressed Logan Deolic, who had been sitting quietly with his mouth shut.
Logan had not joined the conversation at all thus far, keeping his lips firmly pressed together.
“I don’t.”
“If even Deolic Count doesn’t know…… I-I’m sorry.”
The noble, who had tried to act friendly, hurriedly closed his mouth under Logan’s sharp gaze. He belatedly realized that Logan was not in a good mood.
‘……Clay Banheart.’
The man who had purchased all the Ain tribe slaves at the auction and disappeared.
Logan was reminded of Clay by his actions.
It was just a hunch, but Clay’s name kept circling in his mind.
This incident was utterly incomprehensible by common sense.
‘……If it’s that guy, it wouldn’t be strange even if he did something no one else would think of.’
Buying up all the Ain slaves seemed too excessive to be mere hobby. There had to be some reason behind investing that much money.
And Clay Banheart always committed acts that surpassed everyone’s expectations.
That was why Logan immediately thought of Clay upon seeing the man’s inexplicable eccentricity.
“Hey, Gwyn Viscount. Is this auction over for today? I heard the Ain tribesmen you caught were all sent out today.”
One noble asked the man who had been sitting quietly until now.
The man, who looked as timid as a mouse, hurriedly rubbed his hands and bowed his waist. He was Gwyn Viscount, the one who oversaw all the underworld auctions.
“Actually, a more unique auction is scheduled for tomorrow.”
“A more unique auction?”
“Thanks to the prince of Lavanteira’s help this time, we were able to sweep them up on a large scale, right?”
“That’s true.”
“We obtained quite a few rare items back then. For example…….”
Gwyn Viscount, satisfied with the attention focused on him, quietly opened his mouth.
“You know, the Seven Heavenly Swords.”
At the mention of the Seven Heavenly Swords, Logan’s eyes, which had been still until now, flashed open. It was the item that had made Clay renowned as a hero across the continent.
“There was a temple in the village we raided this time. Was it the one with the dwarves? It just so happened that they were moving it at the time of our raid, so we took it perfectly. Of course, there were various other items as well…….”
“Where is it?”
Gwyn Viscount frowned slightly as someone interrupted him, but upon realizing it was Logan, he hurriedly bowed.
“It’s scheduled to go up at tomorrow’s auction house.”
“So it’s currently stored at the auction house.”
“Yes.”
“Take me there.”
“Pardon?”
Gwyn Viscount’s eyes widened at Logan’s words.
“I said take me there.”
“P-Please wait. That’s an item for tomorrow’s auction!”
“And?”
Logan slowly rose from his seat.
A thick killing intent began to emanate from his body.
The nobles paled one by one and fell silent under the killing intent of a knight on the verge of becoming a Sword Master.
Even though they had recently ceded hegemony in the south, the Deolic family was still one of the most prestigious houses in the Talua Kingdom.
There was no noble here who could dare defy him.
“I’m saying I’ll buy it. How much?”
“Th-That’s…….”
Gwyn Viscount hesitated, rolling his eyes.
Logan’s anger surged at his behavior.
Gwyn Viscount was clearly keeping in mind ‘that man’ who might come tomorrow. He could very well bid an unimaginable sum.
Thus, Logan didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.
No matter what, he wanted that sword for himself.
“Gwyn Viscount.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Do you want to die?”
“……!”
Gwyn Viscount flinched in shock at Logan’s murderous demeanor.
The Logan before him now was not the head of the Deolic family he had known until now.
Right now, he was sincerely trying to kill Gwyn Viscount.
“I-I’ll sell it.”
“Good. Then guide me there right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was an outrageous demand, but no one could open their mouth in the face of Logan’s killing intent.
* * *
Entering the room where the Ain tribespeople were gathered, they were all sitting politely.
“Oh my. Come in, Clay.”
Riya said with a bright smile.
As she smiled, the surrounding Ain tribespeople flinched noticeably.
I gazed at them for a moment before calmly speaking.
“Before I introduce myself, let me say one thing first. I didn’t buy you all to use you as slaves.”
Doubt flickered in their eyes. It was only natural.
“The reason I paid money to buy you is solely to send you back to your homeland.”
“Don’t spout nonsense!”
An elf youth stood up and shouted.
Judging by the wounds on his appearance, he seemed to have been beaten.
“You think we don’t know humans’ schemes! You must have some evil plan…….”
“Hmm.”
The elf youth, who had been spewing venom, quickly lowered his voice upon seeing Riya smiling faintly.
“I don’t think he’ll stop there. It seems our thoughts and feelings are a bit confused, making it hard to accept properly. If you could explain in more detail, considering our feelings, we would be grateful.”
I nodded readily at the polite elf youth’s words.
“First, I am Clay Banheart, Count of the Talua Kingdom. Since you Ain tribespeople have nothing to do with human nobility, feel free to address me by name. And this lady here is Riya Asktalin, princess of the Asktalin Empire.”
“Hehe, if you call Clay by name, it’s fine for you to call me by name too.”
She smiled kindly, but what Riya meant was this:
If you dare have the guts to call me by name, go ahead and try calling Clay by name first.
Thanks to that, I instinctively knew none of them would call me by name.
“The ones who kidnapped you are an extremely small group of lawless humans. Recently, the Empire and several kingdoms have been implementing policies to seek peace by opening channels of harmony with you Ain tribespeople.”
“You expect us to believe that……!”
“Oh my.”
“……I’m speaking to everyone, but I do think it’s certainly a difficult issue.”
The elf youth spoke politely before slowly sitting back down.
The other Ain tribespeople approached him and patted his shoulder.
“Of course, it’ll be hard for you to truly trust me right away. So rather than just talking, I plan to show you through actions.”
I briefly explained to them what would happen next.
I told them I would send them back to the Kezman Mountains as soon as the Talua Kingdom’s birthday festival, which would start soon, ended.
Naturally, not a single one believed me.
It was expected, but it seemed I needed to somewhat restore their perception at least before departing for the Kezman Mountains.
‘By the way, most of them don’t have any particular settings…….’
As I thought that far, I suddenly noticed a girl.
She was holding her twin sister protectively, and she had a unique setting.
More precisely, there was something that caught on the special notes.
‘Second owner of the Madness Disaster?’
Caught off guard by the completely unexpected information, I read it over several times.
Madness Disaster.
It was definitely a familiar name.
It was the disaster that led to the death of Talua Kingdom’s king, Leogart Talua.
But there was something even more concerning.
[What on earth does ‘owner of the disaster’ mean?]
‘Who knows…….’
Owner of the disaster.
Did it mean someone who could control the disaster at will?
My mind was confused by the incomprehensible information.
Hastily checking the others’ settings as well, there were a few more unusual ones.
‘Carrier?’
They had settings like ‘those who die from the Madness Disaster’ and ‘the one who carried the Madness Disaster.’
The two dwarves had the peculiar setting of carrying the disaster attached, but I couldn’t figure out what that meant either.
“Please think of this place as your home and rest, everyone else……. The six I call now, I’d appreciate it if you could have a brief talk with me.”
“A talk?”
The Ain tribespeople looked anxious at my words but glanced at Riya and nodded.
If Riya hadn’t been there, it would have wasted a lot of unnecessary time.
* * *
I guided the six Ain tribespeople to a small room.
This room was thoroughly soundproofed, so there was no worry of sound leaking out.
“Wh-What’s going to happen to us now?”
The oldest dwarf looked anxious, having surveyed the room’s structure.
“It’s really nothing much. I just have a few questions.”
“Q-Questions?”
I nodded and got straight to the point.
“Could you tell me how you were kidnapped?”
“H-Humans raided our village…….”
“We were attacked while transporting goods.”
“……I went out briefly to gather food and got kidnapped.”
They were all trivial reasons, but I focused on the dwarves’ words.
I stared intently at the two dwarves and said,
“Could you tell me what goods you were transporting when attacked? Please explain in as much detail as possible.”
“Th-That’s…….”
As the dwarves hesitated, Riya spoke in a cold tone, seemingly frustrated.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t drag this out and just tell us quickly.”
“U-Ugh. Alright. Recently, an ancient ruin was discovered in an elf village. And it turned out to be a ruin related to us dwarves.”
“A ruin related to dwarves?”
“Have you heard of the Seven Heavenly Swords by any chance?”
I nodded calmly.
It was something I had fully anticipated—that an incident involving a disaster and the Seven Heavenly Swords could occur in Lavanteira around the time Fabian headed there.
“Of course. I’m the owner of one of those Seven Heavenly Swords.”
I slowly lifted Genova from my waist, and the dwarves’ eyes widened upon seeing Agatram and Genova embedded in it.
“Th-This is definitely one of the Seven Heavenly Swords! No, and this scabbard—what is it……! Do you know who made this scabbard!?”
“It was made by Fairy Queen Beatrice. From the wood of the distinction fairy tree.”
“F-Fairy Queen?”
They looked utterly bewildered, staring back and forth between the sword and me.
“They say fairy craftsmanship surpasses imagination……. We still have a long way to go.”
As master craftsmen, they immediately recognized how extraordinary the scabbard was.
Especially the elves, who lived in harmony with nature, had their faces go dreamy from the aura emanating from the scabbard.
‘I should’ve shown the scabbard sooner.’
Just the fact that I received something from a fairy made the Ain tribespeople’s favor toward me skyrocket.
Fairies were beings you could never meet unless you were righteous.