Chapter 126: The Wealthy (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 126: The Wealthy (5)
The woman—the proprietor of the Kaiten Auction House—opened her mouth, faltering.
"Y-You are...?"
Sweat pooled at her chin before dripping onto the sashimi blade. Reflected in the drop of sweat trickling down the steel was the image of the masked man.
"...T-The Heavenly Sword."
"Why are auction houses always like this?"
Ryozo crossed her arms and spoke up.
"Pretending to be legitimate, yet never quite breaking free from the realm of the illegal. Is living an honest life really that hard?"
"It's probably because bids are made at market value. I imagine it makes laundering illicit funds rather convenient."
At Kang Geomma’s response, Ryozo blinked behind her mask.
"Who are you?"
"Huh?"
"My Geomma can't possibly be smarter than me!"
"That's a bit too self-absorbed! You're hurting my feelings!"
"Still! Using my brain is the one way I can actually be useful to you! Don't take even that away from me! Shoo, shoo! Begone from my husband's body, you vile spirit!"
Kang Geomma and Ryozo carried on their casual bickering. Yet even while doing so, the sashimi blade hovered steadily before the woman's throat. The slightest movement threatened to slice right through her carotid artery.
It was the exact same brand as the sashimi knife sitting on the dais over there—a Daixo.
However, its purpose was the polar opposite. While that Daixo sashimi knife on stage was for sale, this one was strictly for killing.
S-Still...
The Heavenly Sword was merely holding the knife to her. He had not yet done her any direct harm.
Anyone in the modern world knew it: the Heavenly Sword was a divine hero, transcending ordinary heroes. His methods might be ruthless, but he clearly distinguished friend from foe.
If such a man hasn't touched a single hair on my head yet...
It meant she held a bargaining chip without even realizing it.
"L-Lord Heavenly Sword."
"Hmm?"
The Heavenly Sword turned his head, trailing a dark, sinister gleam in his eyes. For a fraction of a second, the woman's heart nearly stopped.
A-Are those really the eyes of a human? He's practically a sword-wielding devil! Barely restarting her heart before it could completely freeze, the woman pressed on.
"I am Maki Kaiten, the owner of the Kaiten Auction House. I hail from the same hometown as Lady Ryozo, the Immortal Archer beside you."
"Is that so?"
"Sounds like a cheap attempt to play the hometown sympathy card."
Ryozo leaned her mask closer to the woman. The light blue ghost-fires flamed fiercely within her eyes.
"Guess you didn't know I transferred my citizenship to Korea, huh?"
"...!"
"That's true. Ryozo does prefer kimchi stew over sushi."
Abel chimed in, crossing her legs.
Meanwhile, the Hero Association staff moved in perfect coordination. The metallic clanking of handcuffs echoed from all around—the sound of the patrons being cuffed.
"Let go! Unhand me this instant! You think having a warrant gives you free rein?!"
"Now, now. Save the tough talk for your interrogation."
Weapon escorted the line of masked individuals toward the exit. Bound in handcuffs and tied with capture ropes, the patrons were marched out one after another.
Kang Geomma caught a subtle nod from Weapon, then resumed intimidating Maki Kaiten.
"At the end of the day, the Kaiten Auction House is just a front, right? A tool to launder money for nobles and chaebols."
"N-No, that's not true! We run a legitimate business—!"
"Hey."
It was Ryozo.
"Lie to anyone else if you want, but don't you dare lie to my husband."
Schwing.
Even Abel drew Nothung. Her pale, terrified face was reflected in the cold, blue steel of the blade.
"Ms. Maki Kaiten. I came here after mobilizing all the hotlines of the Nibelung family, including my own personal network, to uncover the trail of money laundering your auction house has conducted over the years."
"H-How on earth...?"
Why would the nobles willingly confess to laundering their own money in the first place?
Kang Geomma kindly resolved Maki Kaiten's bewilderment.
"The House of Order."
Auditore da Sicilia.
"They specialize in corrupt nobles, you see. One glare from them, and those nobles spilled everything—even things they shouldn't have."
Kang Geomma whispered in an eerie voice.
"Ah."
"I watched over their shoulders, and whew... don't even get me started. It was quite a spectacle, though. I figured it might come in handy someday. And somehow, it feels like that 'someday' is right now."
"P-Please tell me what you want!"
"Oh. Quick on the uptake, isn't she, Geomma?"
At Ryozo’s exclamation, Abel nodded knowingly.
"She took a family auction house and elevated it in a short amount of time. If nothing else, she has good instincts and resourcefulness as a merchant."
"I quite like 'enemies' like this—ones who appreciate the economy of words."
"...I-I don't necessarily have to be your enemy, do I?"
"That depends entirely on how you act."
Kang Geomma pulled back his sashimi knife.
Maki Kaiten quietly let out a sigh of relief.
I-I survived.
Right. The Heavenly Sword clearly wants something from me. There's no way he'd kill me—
Just then, the goosebumps on the back of her neck stood on end.
She felt the piercing, lethal stares of all three—the Heavenly Sword, the Immortal Archer, and the Sword Princess—focused on her simultaneously.
"I can practically hear the gears turning in your head," Kang Geomma warned. "Keep scheming, and you'll end up like him."
He shifted his gaze toward the dais. Dark red intent to kill burst forth like a beam of light, striking Pertinax X directly.
"Kugh, a-ack..."
Mid-scream, Pertinax X's eyes lost focus layer by layer. Had he passed out, or was he dead? Judging purely by his appearance, he looked no different from a corpse.
"Keh, hk!"
Even Maki Kaiten, who wasn't the target of the killing intent, choked out a desperate gasp. Just being in the vicinity felt like her lungs were tearing apart—as if a bomb had detonated inside her ribcage.
How could a human's killing intent be this venomous?
Dark circles instantly washed over Maki Kaiten's haggard face.
"The difference now that I've become an adult is that I have enough human grace to write off a first offense as a mistake," Kang Geomma told her. "However, on the second offense, I handle them even more harshly than I did in my teens."
"Haah..."
Maki Kaiten's mind went completely blank.
"This isn't a negotiation. It's an interrogation. All you have to do is answer truthfully."
"...Y-Yes..."
Ryozo whispered into Maki Kaiten's ear.
"The reason I like Geomma is that he isn't a hypocrite. He never gives anyone more than two chances either."
Every muscle in Maki Kaiten's body went limp. A pungent smell began to drift upward.
She thought to herself:
If I make enemies of these three, it would be far better to beg for death.
*
Her soul practically drained, Maki Kaiten confessed everything she knew.
As she spoke, her hair wilted like withered green onion roots, and her face shrank into wrinkles.
Leaving her completely drained of energy behind us, I conferred with Ryozo and Abel.
"So the Kaiten Auction House was a stage set up by the Emperor to allow the nobles to circulate funds. Even if he didn't publicly invest in it or attract capital himself."
Ryozo summarized the situation. By this time, the number of patrons in the auction house had visibly dwindled. At most, only about five people remained.
I examined each of their faces before looking back at Ryozo. She fiddled with her lower lip, analyzing the full picture.
"Why would the Emperor put up his own item for auction in a place like that?"
Abel tilted her head.
"It must be to hand it over to someone."
"...His Majesty is something else. He could just give it directly, yet he resorts to such a roundabout method. How annoying."
"It's likely the exact opposite."
At my words, Ryozo and Abel shifted their gaze back to me.
Even while receiving their attention, I kept my eyes fixed elsewhere—on a middle-aged man wearing an owl mask.
"To annoy me. That's why he deliberately put it up in a shabby marketplace meant for his subordinates."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We should hear it directly from the person in question."
I strode toward the owl mask. Even as I approached, he didn't turn around. Though my sticky killing intent must have been crawling all over his skin, he showed no sign of intimidation.
"...Why on earth are you doing this?"
I spat out at the owl mask.
"I thought our accounts were settled a long time ago."
"Well, now."
The man removed his mask. In the next moment, he turned to face me slowly. Seeing his face, Maki Kaiten paled in horror.
"Y-Your Majesty...!"
"I heard you loud and clear, Maki. You rattled off my internal affairs so smoothly, even things I wasn't aware of myself."
"Th-That's not what I meant—!"
Maki Kaiten held her head and promptly fainted. Glancing at her, I spoke to the Emperor.
"She's pretending to pass out."
"I am aware."
...!
"Dispose of your traitor as you see fit. Now it's your turn to answer my question. Why do you interfere with me at every turn?"
"Interfere?"
"You knew that among your possessions, there was an item capable of saving my friend. I don't know how you found out, but you knew, didn't you?"
"I did."
"It's not a consumable item, is it? If you had agreed to lend it, I would have asked politely."
I narrowed my eyes with force.
"Tossing it onto the auction block out of nowhere—no matter how I look at it, it seems like your intention was to put me in a bind."
"Haha."
The Emperor let out a dry laugh, the corners of his eyes twitching.
"You are the one who is overly full of yourself, Heavenly Sword."
"What?"
"The one I wanted to put in a bind wasn't you, Heavenly Sword. It was Auditore."
"Touching them is touching me."
"Haa... Heavenly Sword..."
The Emperor shook his head as if finding me pathetic.
"Whether you admit it or not, you are already one of the monarchs who rules half of this world alongside me."
"I don't acknowledge that."
"That is your freedom. However, the world views it otherwise. At any rate, if I may offer a word of advice out of concern: view a hunting dog strictly as a hunting dog."
"A hunting... dog?"
"This world is structurally a class-based society. From the moment you wore the insignia of the Heavenly Sword, you became a monarch. And Auditore became your dog."
It grated on my ears.
Yet I couldn't refute it.
In this world, I, who advocated for equality, was the heretic.
Because a nation where all people are equal was, in this world, an alternate dimension.
The Emperor continued.
"Auditore has been poking around my limbs lately. They were hunting dogs that performed their roles well. However, even those fiercely loyal dogs will bite their master if they grow hungry."
"So you tried to throw Auditore to them as prey... and put a leash on them using the auction item?"
"From where I stand, it seems you are far quicker to understand things than the Immortal Archer."
Standing a short distance away, Ryozo flinched, her shoulders flinching slightly. Abel simply glared quietly at the Emperor, her blade Nothung unsheathed.
Even those two seemed reluctant to engage in an all-out war with the Emperor.
In terms of sheer violence, as long as I was around, even the Imperial Family was no match for me.
However, both the Nibelung and Saki families boasted long, storied histories.
Naturally, they had deep-seated ties with the Imperial Family, whether overt or covert.
Going into open hostility against the Imperial Family would cause collateral damage to the people associated with their houses.
The power I lack compared to the Emperor...
An understanding of this world.
Even after spending ten years here, I still couldn't truly comprehend the ecosystem of this world in my heart.
That was precisely why these pathetic nobles kept trying to crawl all over me.
"Well, it's a shame. Heavenly Sword, had you and Auditore intended to bid fairly, I would not have stopped you."
The Emperor stood up, brushing dust off his clothes. He looked me straight in the eye at eye level.
"'That item' belongs to the Imperial Family. If you try to take it by force, the world will view you as nothing more than a robber."
"..."
"If so, I suppose I will have achieved my intended goal as well. I have no particular desire to torment a robber's hunting dog."
"...So it belongs to the Imperial Family."
One of the Emperor's eyebrows arched slightly.
My faint, smirking smile was reflected in his pupils.
"If it belongs to the Imperial Family, then it also belongs to someone with the right of succession."
"You..."
In that instant, the crisp click of elegant dress shoes invaded the quiet auction hall.
"Lord Heavenly Sword."
It was Victoria. She was holding a small box in both hands.
"I'll put this to good use."
I brushed past the Emperor.
"You might possess everything in this world—whether power or wealth—yet you couldn't even win the heart of your own child. How pitiful."
Before passing him completely, I made sure to leave him with one final remark.
"You poor man."
— The Wealthy. [END]