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Chapter 20
It wasn’t painful enough to be unbearable, but it did feel as though invisible chains were restraining my body.
I staggered forward, twisting slightly as I walked. A spell had been cast even on my feet, forcibly making me move.
“Are you okay?”
When I whispered softly toward Noah, he nodded faintly. His eyes were full of irritation, but it didn’t look like he was particularly hurt either.
I thought we’d be made to walk down another long corridor, but our destination turned out to be quite close.
“You’ll go in one by one. You two are last.”
A mercenary grabbed Noah and me by the arms and shoved us backward. Judging by the fact that we were last, it seemed they hadn’t found anything rarer than my hair and eye color.
“Now then! This is the 77th auction! We proudly present only slaves handpicked to suit our esteemed customers’ refined tastes! We wish you the best of luck hitting the jackpot!”
The auction began immediately. A man with notably pointed ears was the first to go up.
Perhaps because he was first, the bids didn’t go very high. People raised their paddles leisurely, until Noble No. 77 shouted “77 gold!” and everyone else lowered theirs.
“The first item—77 gold! 77 gold! 77 gold! Sold!”
The auction hammer came down crisply three times. Thinking it a pleasant start, the audience let out soft laughter.
They were buying kidnapped people—what was so funny about that?
Should I just kill them all?
The cruel thought briefly crossed my mind.
“Luisa, dial down the killing intent.”
Noah said this as he tightly gripped my left hand. Maybe because my magic was being suppressed by the ring—both my thoughts and my mana were sharpening too easily.
Thankfully, the mercenaries didn’t notice, and I quietly eased my aura.
After that, I deliberately shut off my senses of sight and hearing. At this rate, it felt like I’d overturn the entire place before Rivael could even rescue Adele.
Time dragged on tediously. The line of people ahead of us visibly shrank as the minutes passed.
“Woman, come out.”
I had my eyes closed when a mercenary dragged me forward.
Already my turn?
I pressed down hard on my drooping eyelids. At that, a flustered voice spilled from the mercenary’s mouth.
“Why is your restraint—!”
“Now! Today’s highlight! Look at this woman’s hair color! It’s as though it perfectly contains the two holy goddesses themselves! Her eyes are even more mysterious—take a look!”
I slowly removed the hand pressing against my eyes. With my heavy lids half-lowered, I surveyed the three-tiered hall spread out before me.
About forty people on the first floor, thirty on the second, and around ten on the third.
As my gaze swept across them, gasps of shock erupted here and there.
“Why is she here?!”
Some people threw down their paddles and jumped to their feet.
“H-Hey! You can’t come up here just because this slave is beautiful!”
“Bullshit! I—I’m leaving. I don’t need slaves or any of that crap!”
Okay. You’re out.
I must have smiled without realizing it at the man’s behavior, because soon, scattered individuals began leaving the auction hall.
Still, most of them remained seated. Some didn’t recognize me, while others—apparently convinced I’d truly been captured—watched with gleaming eyes.
Just try raising your paddle. Let’s see what happens.
When I stood there doing nothing, the auctioneer—who’d been glancing between me and the hall—hurriedly continued.
“A woman who looks like she’ll purify your soul just by looking at her! And as a bonus, this boy comes with her! Starting bid—300 gold!”
Considering the first item had sold for 77 gold, it was an outrageous starting price. Those who didn’t know me raised their paddles enthusiastically.
“Oh! No. 32! 600 gold!”
Especially No. 32. Wearing a crude mask, he was practically rampaging with his escorts in tow. Even the guards were masked, making their faces impossible to see.
‘Guess I’ll see him when I kill him.’
Anyone who frequented a place like this had something wrong with their humanity. They had no value alive—better to put them down peacefully.
Meanwhile, as the price kept rising and I still said nothing, a few humans who knew me finally began raising their paddles timidly.
“W-What? No. 11, you’re canceling?”
“C-Cancel! I never raised it!”
The moment our eyes met, they canceled immediately. Without even a fight.
Eventually, the battle narrowed down to No. 32 and No. 77. Seeing how fervently they raised their paddles even after No. 11 backed out, it was clear neither of them knew who I was.
“…2,315 gold! Sold! Congratulations!”
Victory went to No. 32. After the long battle, he was so happy he even jumped in place.
As he did, his crude mask slipped slightly.
“Huh?”
He was someone I’d seen before.
As I frowned and tilted my head, the guard beside him met my gaze directly.
‘Run.’
That’s what he mouthed.
Then that meant he was someone I knew—someone who’d been on relatively good terms with me, at least.
I couldn’t tell who he was, since his face was hidden.
“Luisa. Two o’clock.”
While I was processing that, Noah had come up beside me and whispered.
When I shifted my gaze in the indicated direction, I saw a mercenary who appeared to be Rivael—and Adele, being held by him.
“So… can we wreck this place now?”
“What are you doing?! Get down to your master at once!”
Noah’s voice and the auctioneer’s overlapped.
“Yeah. Let’s go down.”
“T-This slave—!”
“And wreck it.”
I released the magic that had been suppressed. The ring tightly fitted around my ring finger shattered into pieces.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
The atmosphere in the auction house changed in an instant. It started the moment the female slave with the unusual hair color began to move on stage.
Pajijijik—!
Golden mana exploded outward from her, spreading like vines and wrapping around the entire building.
It was an astonishing amount of mana—so beautiful it was almost awe-inspiring. The mercenary group, who had been staring blankly at the undulating light, hurriedly rushed toward her.
“Stop!”
In the blink of an eye, dozens surrounded the female slave. Sharp weapons were aimed at her. Yet her expression remained calm throughout.
‘A few expert mid-levels… hmm. That one’s probably the leader. Upper-level.’
It was surprising enough to find an upper-level expert among a group of expendables like this. In theory, it was the tier right below Sword Master, after all.
Of course, it didn’t look like the mercenary leader would ever become a Sword Master in his lifetime. He’d barely avoided staying stuck at mid-level.
After finishing her assessment, Luisa began compressing the wildly crackling mana. Its uneven shape instantly transformed into a long greatsword.
Faced with a divine feat only upper-level swordsmen could perform, the mercenaries finally realized something was wrong and began coating their weapons with mana.
The mercenary leader, in particular, ostentatiously layered his blade with even denser mana than Luisa’s.
Of course, creating something entirely out of mana and merely coating an existing object were worlds apart.
But mercenaries lacking both skill and experience couldn’t possibly know that. Seeing the darker hue of his mana, the leader puffed out his chest confidently.
Ashamed that they’d momentarily feared Luisa, the mercenaries raised their voices and shouted at her.
“Go on, try us! Our boss is a man who barely survived a one-on-one fight with Luisa herself!”
“…?”
At those words, the mana surrounding Luisa loosened for a moment.
‘When…? I’ve never met him. That man…?’
Was this some kind of parallel world?
Luisa wore a blank expression. Seeing this, the mercenaries grew even more smug.
“Haha! Unless the great Luisa herself comes here, you’ll never beat us! You brats!”
‘But I am Luisa…?’
Even when his subordinates babbled about him being a level below Luisa, the leader didn’t get angry—he laughed heartily instead.
‘No, seriously. Why are you so happy?’
Shouldn’t it be “I’m stronger than Luisa!” or something?
At that moment, Noah—who seemed to read Luisa’s thoughts—whispered beside her.
“Looks like they gave up early, knowing they couldn’t beat you anyway…”
That made it even more absurd. What exactly had she done to terrify them that much?
Scratching her neck with an awkward expression, Luisa tossed a question at the leader.
“You say you met Luisa? Where did you meet her?”
I don’t remember anything at all, so go on—tell me.
At her question, the leader twitched his eyebrows and answered hesitantly.
“Ahem! About three months ago! On a rainy day, in an alley, we fatefully confronted each other!”
If it had been such a fateful confrontation, it must’ve been incredibly dramatic. Yet Luisa hadn’t had any particularly memorable encounters like that in the past several years.
After rambling on about his fierce battle with her, the leader finally snapped back to his senses and pointed his sword at Luisa.
“Trying to escape, are you?! Don’t even think about it, woman!”
Still completely failing to realize that the woman before him was that very “Luisa,” his arrogance only grew.
Still, for an upper-level expert, his form was decent compared to ordinary mercenaries.
“Good. At least you’re strong enough to make this worthwhile.”
If someone who couldn’t even use mana had gone around claiming they’d faced her, she would’ve been truly angry.
Without any need for further action, Luisa hurled the mana-forged sword straight forward.
The blade—made of pure, 100% mana—twisted and coiled through the air like an eastern dragon, cutting through the mercenaries.
It was a realm of power they had never witnessed before.
At first, the mercenaries tried to block it, but quickly realized it was impossible and scrambled to flee in all directions. To make matters worse, the poison Noah had spread caused most of them to lose strength and stagger.
Luisa charged in, snatched a sword from a mercenary’s hand, and began personally finishing them off.
Each time her blade sliced through the air, screams filled the hall.
“W-What is this…?!”
Seeing his own sword snap cleanly the moment it clashed with hers, the leader recoiled in shock and hastily retreated.
Only now did he realize something was terribly wrong. What should he do? Grinding his burning lips together, his eyes darted frantically.
‘That’s it!’
What caught his eye was one of his mercenaries—and a young slave.
The subordinate’s face looked oddly unfamiliar, but that didn’t matter. He must’ve been taken as a hostage. Whether that devil of a woman would stop her blade for a hostage was uncertain, but there was nothing to lose by trying.
“Come here!”
The leader dragged Adele over, who was limply leaning against the mercenary. It all happened in an instant.
The mercenary—Rivael—released Adele without resistance. At a speed Rivael could easily have blocked, yet he chose not to.
After rain, the ground hardens.
Rivael was the type to believe in that saying rather firmly.
