Chapter 16: The Tin Knight and The City of Pleasure (10) + Illustration Added
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 16: The Tin Knight and The City of Pleasure (10) + Illustration Added
Money drives people to a frenzy.
Greed drives people to a frenzy.
Competitiveness drives people to a frenzy.
The desire to show off drives people to a frenzy.
It was, in a way, only natural that an auction house, built by gathering all these elements, would be a crucible of desire.
Moreover, if that auction house was not in some ordinary city, but in Albert, the City of Pleasure, where all sorts of criminals and corrupt nobles gathered, its vileness was beyond words.
And that fervor was clearly being conveyed to the girl in the ‘product waiting room’ behind the auction stage.
“Huu…. Huu….”
The heir of Friedel. The only daughter of the Kingdom’s First Sword. The ‘young lady’ whom Ronnie was trying to save with all her loyalty.
The girl with various titles desperately took one deep breath after another.
It was the only way she could manage to stay sane.
And for good reason.
Even if she had visited the auction house as a ‘guest,’ the waves of malice and excitement would have made her sick to her stomach. But now, the girl was here as a ‘product.’
It would be abnormal not to feel terror in a situation where, in a few moments, she would be sold off like an object to a stranger who would then control her life.
‘That message… It definitely said today was the day.’
The message from someone, delivered to her on the day she was handed over to the lord’s castle.
That message, which mentioned Ronnie’s name and promised to rescue her, was the girl’s last remaining hope.
The unidentified red jewel, described in the message as a ‘pill.’
Swallowing something that a bizarre creature called a ‘living, moving mouse skeleton’ had been carrying inside it was an incredibly unsettling affair, but the girl had no other choice.
All that was left was to wait, but…
‘…Not yet?’
The girl was anxious.
Before she knew it, the auction was past its midpoint, and nearly eighty percent of the products that had filled the waiting room were gone.
Even if her turn was last, there wasn't much time left.
Could the plan have failed? Or were they aiming for after she was sold, not before?
It was then, as she was passing the time resenting the faceless someone who hadn't told her any specific details of the plan.
Ssssk.
Suddenly, something like purple smoke appeared in the corner of the girl’s vision.
‘What’s that?’ The girl stared at the smoke, and soon realized a startling fact.
She didn't know when it had started, but billowing purple smoke was filling the floor of the waiting room.
“What is this?! Where’s it coming from?”
“Open the door—no, don’t open that one! If it leaks out onto the stage, we’re all dead! Open the back door! The back door!”
The smoke, which at first only reached her ankles, covered her vision in the blink of an eye, and shouts and screams erupted from all over the waiting room.
‘It’s happening!’
Color returned to the girl’s face.
Thinking the rescue operation had finally begun, the girl got up from her crouched position.
Or rather, she tried to.
‘Huh?’
Thud. The girl collapsed to the floor.
A terrible dizziness made the world spin before her eyes.
“Cough! Cough!”
Something surged up from deep within her, and she reflexively vomited it out.
It was blood—brilliant, crimson blood.
What in the world is happening? What’s going on?
No one answered the girl’s questions.
And with that, the girl lost consciousness.
And regardless of whether the girl was conscious or not, the blood she had vomited began to do its job.
The blood, bubbling like stew in a cauldron, grew in size and eventually transformed into the shape of the girl.
It wasn't just a simple shape; it was a truly astonishing transformation that replicated her skin, her hair, and even the clothes she was wearing.
“Cough! Cough! Dammit, which bastard did this…!”
Finally, the smoke cleared, and one of the auction house staff approached the cage where the girl was trapped.
The staff member saw the blood clot, now in the shape of the girl, inside the cage and let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey! Is the main product safe!?”
“Yeah! Fuck, I was worried someone had snatched her.”
“We still haven’t found the culprit who spread the smoke, so don’t let your guard down. If anything happens to that young lady, the lord will have all our heads.”
“You don’t have to scare me, I know, you bastard.”
Perhaps because they had confirmed the ‘product’ was safe, the staff chatted with a noticeably more relaxed demeanor.
It was a truly bizarre scene.
It was as if they couldn't see the real girl lying on the floor at all.
A short while later.
When it was finally time for the auction’s highlight, the staff dragged away the blood clot shaped like the girl.
Guards are necessary to protect something.
There was no need to guard a waiting room with no products.
Since manpower was also needed to find the culprit who released the purple smoke, the waiting room, once filled with slaves and staff, was left completely empty.
With the girl sleeping soundly in her cage—
Peek.
—and a small bone mouse hiding in the corner of the waiting room.
Plink. A purple, bead-like object slipped out from between the bone mouse’s ribs and crumbled the moment it touched the ground.
The auction house staff never would have dreamed that the source of the purple smoke they were so desperately searching for was right here.
The bone mouse leaped lightly through a gap in the open cage and slapped the girl’s cheek with its tail.
The girl’s eyelids fluttered, and soon, her closed eyes slowly opened.
“Ugh, uum, eek!?”
The girl reacted exactly as a normal person would upon waking up to find a mouse made of only bones sitting on their face.
That is, she screamed and reflexively swatted the bone mouse off her face.
The bone mouse spun through the air before landing gracefully on the ground as if performing a circus act. It was a needlessly brilliant display of skill, as if it had practiced acrobatics in a past life.
Clack, clack.
The bone mouse clattered its jaw as if protesting to the girl who had swatted it away, then made a gesture for her to follow.
It was a clear and disciplined motion, so much so that even the girl, who had no experience communicating with rodents, could understand.
The girl cautiously began to follow the bone mouse.
*
The moment the golden-haired, violet-eyed girl stepped onto the stage, the heat in the auction house flared up to the point one might wonder if it would physically burst into flames.
“Yes, ladies and gentlemen! The highlight of today’s auction has finally arrived!”
Smiling as if satisfied by the fervor, the auctioneer continued his explanation in a cheerful tone.
“A member of the Lion Duke’s bloodline, hailed as the greatest martial family on the continent! Although she is from a collateral line, not the main one… Now, look! At this vibrant golden hair and these bewitching violet eyes! Golden hair is common, and violet eyes can also be found, albeit rarely, but only those who have inherited the Lion Duke’s blood possess both at the same time! This is none other than proof that this girl has strongly inherited the blood of her great ancestor!”
At the auctioneer’s words, murmurs akin to exclamations of awe rippled through the auction house.
“Hah, so the rumors that the heir of the Friedel domain was sold into slavery were true.”
“The colors are certainly astonishingly vivid. Her eyes are like jewels.”
“Hmm, isn’t the risk too great? The power their bloodline holds in the Empire is by no means small.”
As if reading the hesitation in the guests’ minds, the auctioneer raised his voice even louder.
“They say the legendary hero, the Lion Duke, had a very special constitution. Overwhelming physical abilities and a robustness that was impervious to any disease! His descendants also inherited a part of that ancestor’s power, which is why they have been praised as the greatest martial family for so long. And blood, of course, is something that can be newly inherited!”
The implication in the auctioneer’s words was clear, and it was enough to stir the greed of the participants.
Voices expressing their desire to buy rang out from all over, and as if in response, the bid price climbed higher and higher.
Dorothea watched this unfold with a cynical expression.
‘It was a good thing I didn’t bring Ronnie.’
If Ronnie saw her master being sold off like an item at a marketplace, she would undoubtedly be immensely shocked.
She might even grit her teeth and vow to kill everyone here.
Ronnie was endlessly polite to Dorothea and the Tin Knight, whom she could call her saviors, but at the same time, she was also a warrior who could coldly kill a bandit or two without batting an eye.
That was not something Dorothea wanted.
Not only was smashing everything and gaining infamy not to her taste, but if things went that way, Dorothea wouldn't be able to receive the product she had won with her own money—or more accurately, the money she had ‘received’ from Colombo.
Gazing at the girl—no, the ‘something in the shape of a girl’—on the stage, Dorothea gave a faint smile.
*
After the auction ended.
The lord of Albert City found it hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from curling up.
“Hahaha, I didn’t expect so many passionate participants. The Lion Duke’s main line won’t let this slide if word gets to them. I suppose they want her enough to accept that risk.”
The selling price was one thing, but what truly satisfied the lord was the sight of the participants, veins popping on their necks, rushing to get their hands on a single slave.
Enjoying the disgraceful sight of the self-proclaimed ‘noble blood’ was one of the lord’s nasty hobbies.
In that sense, he might even have felt grateful to Colombo for providing such an amusing spectacle, but—
“My lord. Colombo is persistently requesting to see you.”
“Placate him somehow and send him away.”
—business was business.
If the girl sold for a price that satisfied the lord, he would support Colombo’s ‘independence.’
That was the contract the lord had made with Colombo, and indeed, the girl had sold for a high price.
All that remained was for the lord to keep his promise, but he had no intention of doing so.
It was a decision made not because he looked down on Colombo, but because he acknowledged him.
‘He’s bowing his head for now, but if he grows, he’s the type who would devour me without a second thought.’
Of course, it would take quite a long time for him to actually reach that level, and it was unlikely the old lord would still be alive by then… but that was no reason to feed a young wolf.
From Colombo’s perspective, having gone so far as to draw up a contract, he probably thought the lord wouldn’t act so pettily as to lose face. But bandits are shameless by nature, and they only get more shameless with age.
An old man who was an old bandit was, needless to say, no exception.
‘Well, he’s not the type to back down this easily. He’ll keep looking for an opening, so I won’t be bored for a while—’
—CRASH!
“S-stop them! Intruders!”
At the sudden commotion, the lord’s eyes, lost in thought, shot wide open.
Wondering what was happening, he looked down from his window toward the main gate and saw Colombo and his gang cutting down the gatekeepers, trying to force their way inside.
But it was a futile act.
The lord had gone to great lengths to protect himself, and the castle was filled with highly skilled individuals.
When two knights in heavy armor firmly blocked the main gate and other soldiers swarmed them, the Colombo bandit group was trapped with nowhere to go.
“L-Leader! Why are you doing this!?”
“W-wait a minute! I didn’t know! I have nothing to do with this!”
Some of the bandits shouted in panic, but the castle soldiers paid them no heed and calmly proceeded to slaughter the group.
Realizing they had no escape route, the bandits fought back reluctantly, but they were hopelessly outmatched from the start.
Colombo and some of his top men showed true fighting spirit, throwing themselves into the fray without regard for their own safety, but it was only for a moment.
Soon, they too became cold corpses before the soldiers’ blades.
Watching the scene, the lord clicked his tongue, tsk.
“…Did I overestimate him? To think he couldn’t even endure a moment of humiliation.”
Perhaps he thought the lord would try to silence him and decided to strike first, but even so, it was too rash and foolish an action.
While disappointed that his judgment had been off, the lord did not forget what needed to be done.
“Get rid of all the Colombo bandit scum within the domain. Make it clear to the city’s riffraff what it means to point a sword at me.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After the vassal bowed and left the room, the lord was left alone with his thoughts.
For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being played, but that thought didn’t last long either.
After all, the lord hadn't suffered any loss from this incident.
A day later.
It was only after hearing a complaint from the client that the girl sold at the auction had turned into a pool of blood that the lord finally understood the source of his unease.