If Anyone Dies, It's You
The hall, which had frozen over for a moment at the knights' entrance, soon buzzed back to life.
Arthur rolled his eyes around the room, surveying it carefully.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so far.
The commanders had already melted into the crowd, exchanging light pleasantries, while Benjamin and Helen, who had come along, stood pressed close behind them like bodyguards. Perhaps because of what Arendt had said earlier, their shoulders looked slightly more relaxed, but they hadn't completely let their guard down yet.
Honestly, that's the normal way to act.
It was the guy next to him, calmly munching away at cookies, who was the strange one.
Arendt was popping snacks into his mouth one after another, watching the crowd with indifferent eyes — an utterly unreadable, apathetic face that gave no hint of what he was thinking.
"...Hey. What are you doing?"
"People-watching."
The answer to the question Arthur finally couldn't hold back was even lazier than he'd expected. Even as he replied, Arendt's cheeks kept working as he chewed, and the sight was so maddeningly annoying that Arthur opened his mouth to snap at him again — then stopped short when he caught the look in Arendt's eyes as they swept over the crowd.
His expression was as sullen as ever, but his eyes were glinting sharp. Anyone else might have missed it, but Arthur, who had crossed swords with him more times than he could count, noticed it easily.
Those were the eyes of someone hunting for an opening in his prey.
Arthur let out a short sigh and sagged his shoulders.
"...Shouldn't you call that 'observing' instead of 'watching'?"
"Same thing."
It wasn't a denial, at least.
Arthur shifted his gaze to follow Arendt's line of sight.
There really wasn't much to see. Just tycoons, collectors, and nobles clustered in twos and threes, chattering away. Some were cooing over the food and drink, some were trading compliments about how splendid the evening was... and a few wore grave expressions as they exchanged opinions on business and the jewel that was tonight's star attraction.
Arthur threw another glance back at Arendt.
Nobody was paying him any attention.
Then again, he wouldn't have given a second look to an apprentice knight either — one tucked meekly into a corner, stuffing his face with snacks. The commanders they actually cared about were all over on the other side of the room.
In other words, Arendt was putting the hunter's theory he'd preached at Benjamin and Helen earlier into practice, personally.
Arthur sidled over and asked quietly.
"You think he might be hiding among them?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I'm keeping an eye out."
Arendt popped another cookie into his mouth and chewed.
"And what good is looking going to do you?"
"You gonna tell me if I ask?"
"You wanna die?"
"Try it, if you can."
As their pointless bickering buzzed low between them, the far end of the hall grew a little noisy. Arthur and Arendt fell silent at the same moment and lifted their heads.
Neumann, who had slipped back into the hall at some point, was now standing on the dais. Clearing his throat to gather everyone's attention, the host of the event wore a warm, easy smile.
"First, allow me to extend my deepest gratitude to all of our distinguished guests for joining us despite the troubling circumstances."
The moment his voice filled the hall, the clamor within it fell silent in an instant.
"The arrangements are modest, but they were made with great care. I hope you will all enjoy this evening in comfort."
Beside Neumann stood a man who made no effort to hide his nerves, his eyes darting about constantly. Judging by the look of him, public appearances were clearly not his forte.
"With that, I would like to introduce the man who made tonight possible — Baron Franz Cromwell."
Neumann finished with a smile and casually took a step back. Which left Baron Franz Cromwell standing at the very front of the dais.
When a round of applause broke out, the baron's face went a shade paler, but he forced a cough and opened his mouth.
"I am grateful to Guildmaster Neumann for his generosity in arranging this occasion. My name is Franz Cromwell."
The baron droned on — how the proceeds from the jewel's sale would be donated to an orphanage, how he hardly knew where to put himself with all the attention the unfortunate incident had drawn.
Arendt quietly studied the baron as he shoved yet another snack into his mouth.
His complexion's gone stale because of that threatening letter, hasn't it.
Looking at his ashen face, Arendt almost — just almost, a very tiny bit — felt sorry for him.
When the baron finally finished his needlessly long-winded greeting, his nerves having made him run on forever, Neumann stepped forward once more.
"You have all waited long enough, so delaying further would be poor hospitality. I suspect every person in this room has been looking forward to this moment."
Pausing briefly, Neumann swept his gaze slowly across the room, then declared with force:
"I hereby present tonight's auction piece — the Uncooling Heart."
"Oooh...!"
"Finally!"
The crowd began to stir. The knights' eyes gleamed as well.
The guildmaster's hand swept the velvet cloth off the display cabinet, and at last the jewel of rumor revealed itself.
In that moment, even Arthur found himself forgetting the situation entirely, staring spellbound.
Mounted on the black torso mannequin was a necklace of elegant design. Set upon the intricately wrought silver chain was a gem of vivid, blood-red color, as though drenched in fresh blood.
Sinister enough to captivate a soul, and yet at the same time somehow utterly pure and clear — the sight drew gasps from the crowd.
"It's breathtaking, no matter how many times I see it."
"The journey here was worth every hour."
Smiles bloomed across the murmuring faces. The reactions left Neumann looking rather proud as well.
"Our guild's independent investigation has confirmed that this gem carries a very long and storied history. It was first named in the royal house of a distant foreign land, before eventually finding its way here, to the Callion Empire."
Neumann's voice continued.
"They say this gem calls down calamity until it finds a master worthy of it — that it abandons its owner's hand and wanders the world of its own will."
The misfortunes Baron Cromwell had personally endured were more than enough to drive the jewel's value even higher.
Interest and greed began to kindle together in the eyes of the attendees.
The knights, however, reacted a little differently. Arthur, who had been standing there slack-jawed, started jabbing Arendt in the side.
"Hey. Hey. Hey...!"
"I already know, so stop poking me."
Even as he answered in irritation, Arendt couldn't tear his eyes from the jewel either.
Richt's face had gone rigid, while Diana and Kendrick wore strange curves at the corners of their mouths.
The moment the jewel entered their sight, they had all felt it too.
A disquieting ripple of mana.
Helen and Benjamin, on the other hand, showed no sign of having noticed anything amiss.
"It really is as beautiful as they said."
"No wonder everyone's packed in like this."
Overhearing the two whispering, Diana let the words slip like a joke.
"I think you two could use some more training."
"Wha—?!"
Leaving the green knights gaping behind him, Arendt allowed the corner of his mouth to curl up slightly.
Just as I thought... that's an artifact too.
In the novel, it had vanished into Vincent's hands before anyone could lift a finger — so much so that its very existence had never been identified.
"...We should retrieve it."
"I was thinking the same."
Arthur agreed with Richt's murmured words. Whether the enemy attacked or not, they had all instinctively understood that a thing like that could not be left circulating out in the world.
The knights stared coldly at the dais.
Oblivious to their thoughts, Neumann carried on with his explanation.
"Given the distinguished company we have tonight, I intend to conduct the auction in a slightly different fashion."
"The time is now eight in the evening. Please enjoy your refreshments at leisure, and from this point on, submit your bids to me in the order you arrive. I will announce the highest current offer once every fifteen minutes."
It was a method designed to preserve the nobles' dignity while keeping the hall from descending into an uproar.
"The winner will be whoever submits the highest bid by half past eleven tonight. We will open at one thousand five hundred gold."
The instant he finished speaking, those who had been eyeing the jewel since earlier swarmed toward Neumann like storm clouds.
Kendrick burst out laughing.
"I think I'm starting to understand why that young whippersnapper worked so hard to lure us here."
"I couldn't agree more."
As she replied calmly, Diana cast a sidelong glance toward Arendt.
Call it coincidence or destiny — whenever that brat made a move, something big always followed. As if he could see the future coming.
Arendt, the very one who had dragged the knights here in the first place, simply stood there watching the dais with an unreadable face.
A short while later, Arendt beckoned Arthur and Richt over and murmured something to them. Listening quietly, Arthur's face suddenly twisted in disgust. The two bickered back and forth a few more times, then seemed to settle down for a moment under Richt's mediation.
And then, not long after, Arendt was seen slipping his hands deep into his pockets and quietly easing his way out of the hall.
"Sir Laios, your little whippersnapper seems to be plotting something."
"......"
At Diana's playful remark, Laios silently watched Arendt's retreating figure.
"Are you sure it's fine to let him go?"
"I imagine he has his own reasons."
Laios answered Kendrick's veiled question flatly. Even so, he couldn't quite take his eyes off Arendt until the boy's back had disappeared completely.
The moment he was gone, Arthur and Richt stepped up beside the commanders.
"Where did Arendt go?"
"Well..."
At Laios's immediate question, Arthur hesitated with a troubled face.
"...He said he was going to the restroom."
"......"
"Said he might've eaten too much... which, to be fair, he has been shoveling something into his mouth nonstop since earlier."
Bewilderment washed over Kendrick's and Diana's faces in an instant. Benjamin and Helen looked equally nonplussed for a moment before their expressions crumpled in disbelief.
"He left his post for a reason that flimsy?"
"He's always been a free spirit, that one..."
So rude, too.
Leaving the rest unsaid, Arthur gave an awkward laugh.
After a long moment, Kendrick let out a snort of laughter.
"That boy truly is impossible to figure out..."
"Did he say anything else?"
But Laios, it seemed, was thinking a little differently. Richt, who had been standing there silently, spoke up.
"He said that as long as he was the one leaving, that was enough — and that under no circumstances were we to step outside the hall."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Hard to say. We're not sure ourselves."
Richt trailed off vaguely at Diana's question. Just then, a servant's booming cry rang through the hall.
"The current highest bid stands at two thousand five hundred gold!"
As if that had been a signal, the knights all fell silent. This was no time to be worrying about the guy who'd wandered off.
Laios murmured gravely.
"First, we must secure the jewel."
"You don't mean... you're thinking of joining the auction?"
"We have no choice. We can't forcibly seize something that has an owner."
As Benjamin gaped in shock, Kendrick answered in his place.
Diana allowed herself a faint smile.
"We were invited like everyone else, so our eligibility is beyond question. Though I've never once actually participated in an auction in my life."
There was not the slightest attempt to hide the note of intrigue in her voice.
Seeing their usually austere commander reveal such a side of herself for the first time, Helen was struck speechless.
"There'd be no need for that — we could simply have it transferred in the name of the Imperial Knight Orders. Appeal to stop the auction on the grounds that a dangerous party is after it, then pay Baron Cromwell a fair price..."
But her objection was neatly shut down by a single light remark from Diana.
"Sir Helen, look over there. Do you really think that argument will land?"
By now, the nobles looked to have dug in their heels, ready to yield not a single inch — each resolved to have that jewel for themselves, no matter what.
"Then we compete fairly, like everyone else."
Besides, the Crown Prince had already promised to take full responsibility for anything Arendt did, so billing the expenses afterward would hardly be a breach of etiquette.
Kendrick grinned and drove the point home.
"Count us in. Might as well crack off a pillar or two of the imperial treasury while we're at it."
There was one thing the Crown Prince had overlooked when he shook hands with Arendt.
Get too close to black paint, and you come away stained black yourself.
The Arendt Method was spreading, slowly but surely, among the knights — like a poison.