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chapter 22
It was chaos.
As a commotion broke out in the observers’ section, Number 81 seemed to sense something and tried to throw down his auction paddle and run.
But it didn’t go well.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ugh—agh!”
A man in a black mask grabbed him and threw him aside.
Number 81 rolled and hit the wall, and the man ripped off his mask and tossed it far away. He then lifted his ear very carelessly.
“Ah, there really is something here.”
“Ugh…ugh…”
“Choose. Either let it pierce your eardrum, or take the magical tool out of your ear yourself.”
There was an intimidation in his tone that made it feel like he really would do it.
Trembling, Number 81 handed over the magical tool he had in his ear along with the connected device.
When the man in the black mask, Tesah, turned to return to his original position after handing both the tool and Number 81 over to the guards, someone was standing in front of him.
“My goodness… I really didn’t expect to get caught by the runner. And to think it was a collusion with the seller… this is…”
It was Number 80.
She looked rather timid. Perhaps a bookworm, she wore glasses over her mask, and the cold sweat beneath them showed how startled she was.
Just as Tesah was about to brush it off and leave, her words grabbed at his ankle.
“I rushed in blindly because I heard the book I wanted would appear in today’s auction, and I never imagined something like this would happen.”
“You knew about the auction items in advance?”
“Yes. I received an invitation in my name. Tonight’s evening auction would feature Interpretation of Power. I’d never attended an auction before, so I was excited, thinking maybe word got around that I like books.”
No. Private daytime auctions might have invitations, but there’s no such system for evening auctions.
Someone had clearly targeted Number 80 intentionally.
Tesah had a sense that the man dragged away after his transmitter was discovered hadn’t acted alone.
“Anyway, thank you very much. You saw it from the observers’ section, right? If you hadn’t helped, I would have lost a fortune. You can’t even cancel an auction.”
“There’s no need to thank me. Someone else helped you.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Well…”
Tesah noticed the pawnshop owner’s seat was empty and lost his words.
“If you find out who helped me, please contact me. I want to thank them personally. I really do.”
Turning over the business card that read [Hannah Diego], Tesah splashed some water on his face.
The only reason he had come to the auction today was that the pawnshop woman was reported to be here.
‘I thought she might come to sell the Lugenote. But…’
No.
The Ruby Clip flickered faintly in front of her, but if she had brought the real Lugenote, it wouldn’t have been just a faint flicker.
She didn’t reveal why she had come, but she seemed to be here merely to participate in a simple auction.
Selling pawnshop items, studying the auction items, and…
‘I see, but why act like you don’t know?’
She had discovered and restrained a fraudster.
Her words and actions were completely unsuitable for an Aivor accomplice.
A thought slowly crept in: maybe—just maybe—she really was innocent.
Tesah shook his head. No. That can’t be.
‘Aivor also worked diligently for months, winning people over.’
No one expected him to steal the sacred sword.
So it was impossible to just trust her based on a few words or actions.
‘Besides, her reaction to the forest painting was strange. I need to observe her more closely.’
And the clip was still flickering.
Even if she hadn’t directly hidden or touched the Lugenote, it was clear she was somehow connected.
‘Good thing I wore a mask.’
The use of magical tools was prohibited inside the auction, but he wasn’t particularly worried. He had prepared.
He covered the scarred areas with the mask, and the tattooed areas were hidden under a shirt that reached his neck.
The only concern was the color of his eyes, which the mask couldn’t hide.
‘But I solved that with the ash-colored lenses, not a magical tool.’
They were made by the kingdom’s engineers. He couldn’t wear them for long, but it sufficed.
Still, when the woman looked him in the eyes a few times, he felt a strange sensation.
Even though there was no way she could discover his identity.
“How much do you charge to borrow a guest for an hour?”
Who asks for help like that?
Tesah unconsciously smirked, temporarily putting aside the thought that it might be partly his fault, and adjusted his expression.
‘She just says strange things to confuse people.’
In Tesah’s hand was a collapsible baton.
When the guard returned the magical tools, saying, “Here are your companions’ items,” he had taken it absentmindedly.
Seeing the heavy baton, he felt a sudden curiosity.
‘She said she’d handle the transmitter herself. How did she do it?’
Did she have something in that enormous bag?
Tesah immediately recognized her on the night street.
The only person at the auction carrying such a bag herself without leaving it to someone else was her.
Yet, for some reason, her back looked a little slumped.
Even her unusually red eyes.
‘Not something to worry about. Observing could yield a clue.’
Returning, Tesah met his waiting subordinate, Milton.
Milton, normally a bit clumsy, seemed especially flustered today.
“I found nothing unusual at the auction. So why are you acting this way? Any new news?”
“No, nothing came from Moro.”
“But…”
“Uh, didn’t you leave a business-card-type magical tool at the pawnshop? Until now, there were no signals, but today when I checked—”
“Huuugh, hhrrr… what should I do, hrrr…”
“The sound came this morning, but the pawnshop owner was crying like this…”
Milton described the scene: someone curled up under the counter, sobbing.
“The crying stopped abruptly. Something must have happened, but I can’t guess what.”
Milton, speaking cautiously, brightened.
“Oh! Didn’t you see that woman today? Did anything strange happen to her, or did her situation change?”
Tesah couldn’t answer.
He hadn’t asked a single question about her wellbeing among the many questions he did ask her.
Tesah roughly swept his hair back.
“I don’t know.”
Why?
Something prickled at the edge of his mind.
Late at night.
Carlos, released after signing the permanent no-access order, recoiled when he saw a carriage painted with roses.
But it was too late. He was thrown into the carriage like luggage.
“Cough, gck…”
“I heard what kind of commotion you caused.”
A cold voice.
Carlos, half-collapsed, trembled as he looked up.
He saw Count Hugo crouched in a corner. Just as he was about to look at Countess Rosanne sitting opposite, her shoe stomped on his back.
“I thought Hugo alone was enough to disappoint me, but you managed to ruin even this easy task. Do you know how much damage you’ve caused me?”
“I- I’m sorry, Countess! It was truly unexpected!”
“Do you plan to cover your mistake by calling it an accident?”
“I swear! How could I know the magical tool would break suddenly! And I absolutely didn’t mention your name!”
Carlos cried like a child.
It was unfair. Why did the tool have to break at that exact moment?
He started blaming others incoherently.
He said Number 81 had also acted foolishly, and a strange girl had stirred things up, leaving him unable to regain his usual composure.
Moreover, the peculiar painting had gone up to 100 million gold, failed to sell, and the auction had become overheated, making it hard to gauge the atmosphere…
“Wait.”
Carlos’ rambling stopped abruptly.
“The painting that failed at 100 million gold… what painting was that?”
“Eh? That… that was Forest of Colonia!”
A brief silence hung in the air.
“Bring it down.”
“Eh? Y- Yes! Understood!”
Carlos dashed out and the door closed.
“I intended to discard it anyway, but I at least planned to assign some errands… ruined. Hannah Diego, I couldn’t even get rid of that nuisance.”
Rosanne clenched her fists tightly.
“Phew, I’ll think about dealing with that fool later… Hugo.”
The name made Hugo flinch.
