Chapter 15

Chapter 15. "The Thing Bought from Them with Money." (9)

When I turned my head, Exel had unfolded his arms, rested them on the table, and was quietly watching the elf lady being dragged out by two armed men.

At a glance, she seemed to have somewhat sharp eyes, but perhaps because she kept them half-lidded, she did not look bad at all.

If anything, she was even more attractive because of it. And hanging around her neck was a large restraining collar.

So it seals magic.

"What a beautiful elf."

After offering that impression of Frid’s mother, Exel glanced at me and said,

"Of course, no elf other than Miss Tarsis probably even enters your eyes."

I let out a short laugh at his joke. Exel smiled faintly as well, then slowly lifted his eyes and looked at the elf woman standing between the guards on either side of her, both with longswords drawn.

She looked somewhat gaunt, and her pale silver hair was even more striking than Exel’s. It was so light that it was almost white.

Her clothing, meanwhile...

All she wore was a set of light undergarments, with white cloth wrapped around her on top of them.

Damn....

Just then, the auctioneer in armor stepped forward and said,

"As you can see, she is a pure elf. A beautiful silver-haired lady, is she not? Elves are precious commodities that are difficult to own, because if their pride is wounded, they commit suicide. She originally knows how to use magic, but as you see, we have placed antimagic shackles upon her, so she cannot use it. Now then, we will begin the bidding at twenty million woni."

At once, the price began rising from every direction. We remained silent and waited. After thirty minutes of fierce competition, almost everyone had given up, and that was when we finally entered the bidding ourselves.

About ten minutes later, only three people remained locked in a fierce(?) struggle over the elf.

One was the kindly-looking, plump marquis who had bought that fake painting first.

Another was me.

And the last was....

"Sixty million."

"Sixty million! We have sixty million! Is there no seventy million?!"

Exel looked at me and flashed a grin.

"An auction is unexpectedly entertaining."

I raised my hand to signal that I was offering seventy million, then said,

"Oh! Yes, we have seventy million! Does anyone have more? Eighty million!!"

"The person concerned probably does not think so."

"Well, no matter how matters turn out, we are going to save her."

"Is that so?"

I nodded at his words. Then again, neither of us was participating in the auction out of some desperate need to absolutely buy her, nor were we worried about losing money.

We were doing it carelessly, almost without interest, purely out of curiosity. At that moment, the plump marquis, who had kept raising the price while competing with us, flashed us a smile, rose from his seat, and shouted,

"I will bid one hundred million woni!"

For a brief moment, silence fell over the auction hall. Then the auctioneer said in a bewildered voice,

"O-one hundred... million woni?"

"That is correct. I bid one hundred million woni."

He said it while looking at Frid’s mother, who sat in the chair placed atop the stage, staring around the auction hall with a gloomy face.

In response, she turned her gaze toward the marquis’s face for a moment, then immediately looked away. Watching that, the marquis laughed heartily and said,

"I have heard that elves know a great many things, yes? I mean to buy that young lady and have her teach my children. I once read in a book that there is no teacher finer than an elf."

Hmm. That was, in its own way, not a terrible idea.

Then again, while elves are beautiful, their pride far exceeds anything humans can imagine. To take an extreme example, if they believe they have been defiled, they kill themselves on the spot.

Thoroughly, too. But within the limits permitted by their pride, they can also place themselves beneath humans.

It is strangely complicated, and not the least bit amusing, but that is precisely why they can be bought and sold as slaves like this.

The marquis looked at Exel and me with a triumphant smile. Exel grinned back at him, then lifted his teacup, partially concealed his face with it, and immediately frowned. I glanced between Exel and the marquis, then raised my hand.

"I will offer one hundred and twenty million woni. Marquis, I suggest you yield."

When the marquis heard my words, a flush slowly rose across his face, and I smiled faintly. At that moment, the auctioneer, sensing that the air in the room had grown slightly dangerous, hurriedly began trying to steer the situation elsewhere.

"Ah, gentlemen, please calm yourselves. But forgive me for asking, do the two of you currently possess more than one hundred million woni in cash?"

At those words, the marquis seated at the front looked toward a young man sitting beside him, who appeared to be his servant. The young man laboriously lifted a large bag and said,

"What is inside this bag amounts to a total of two hundred million woni in gold coins. If you doubt it, come and confirm it yourselves."

The auctioneer sent two employees to the marquis’s table, and shortly thereafter, the man peering into the bag turned back with a somewhat startled face and nodded.

All eyes in the room turned toward the marquis, but when the auctioneer turned his head and looked at me, everyone immediately swung their heads around my way as well. I swept my eyes across them once.

Then, beside me, Exel, who was returning their stares with an irritated expression, said quietly,

"How troublesome, Reed. Show them what you brought."

I pulled the small leather pouch from my trouser pocket, slowly undid the knot, then turned it upside down.

At once, what had been inside spilled out across the table.

Clatterrrrr~

Under the candlelight burning throughout the room, all manner of gemstones poured forth, scattering brilliant colors.

Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and black diamonds, said to be the rarest of gems, along with many others besides.

Those who looked upon them forgot how to close their mouths, and I looked at them expressionlessly, then held up the folded slip of paper I had crammed into my pocket as I said,

"This is the certificate of appraisal written by Mr. Radmi of the Alcantria Chain Jeweler.

Please inspect it."

The auctioneer stared blankly at our table for a moment, then cleared his throat and likewise sent two employees to our side. Soon, two neatly uniformed men stood before us.

The man carefully read the signature written on the paper I handed him, along with the quality certification for each stone, then picked up the gemstones lying on the table and examined them by touch before bowing his head and saying,

"It is confirmed. Forgive our discourtesy."

Then he turned around, nodded toward the auctioneer, and quietly disappeared.

I grinned and sent a smile toward the marquis sitting some distance away, and he sat there huffing hard through his nose.

After listening to the whispered report from the employee who had approached us, the auctioneer nodded and said,

"Hmm, this cannot be helped. Since both gentlemen are qualified, we will continue the auction. We have one hundred and twenty million. Is there any higher bid?"

The words "any higher bid?" were directed at the marquis. After hearing them, the marquis fixed the auctioneer with a steady stare.

At that moment, one of the employees here approached him, leaned down, and whispered something in his ear.

A short while later, the marquis broke into a broad smile, lightly raised both hands, then sat back down and said,

"I will give up here. Black-haired young man, I yield. You have won."

...There was something going on there.

Well, it did not matter. This had been our objective from the beginning.

"Yes! Congratulations! This elf has been sold to that gentleman for one hundred and twenty million woni!! Everyone, please give him your applause!"

Clap clap clap clap clap~

"............!!"

"............!?"

"......!!"

People around us were saying things that sounded vaguely like congratulations, but not a single word reached my ears.

It was probably the same for Exel beside me. He sat there with his lips pressed tightly together, merely staring blankly at the elf lady with silver hair as she came down the steps from the stage, nearly being dragged along while surrounded by guards.

I was the same.

Before long, the silver-haired elf lady came to the table where we were seated, and the guard who had brought her said,

"Congratulations. We will now hand over the auction item you purchased.... Also, payment is collected in advance."

But... what is wrong with your eyes?

The guard’s eyes were terribly red, though I had no idea why. And as he spoke, he kept sending us a look that was almost a glare, so Exel and I had no choice but to quietly endure his stare without understanding a thing.

I set the pouch of gemstones I had brought and the certificate of appraisal atop the silver tray respectfully offered by the employee who had followed them over.

The neatly dressed man bowed and took them away. But this fellow was a little strange too. When he lifted his head, his eyes were cold in a way quite different from the guard standing silently in front of me, glaring at us with red eyes.

Hmm. This reminds me of Rene’s eyes from long ago.

Back then, her eyes had looked like that too.

"...Thank you."

Such a cold tone. It made it feel as though we were the ones doing something wrong.

The guard, who had until then been glaring(?) at us, gave something like a brief greeting, glanced at the silver-haired elf standing behind him, then turned away.

Then he began following after the uniformed man walking some distance ahead. And the elf whom we had bought from them with money smiled warmly at those two as they left.

After they were gone, Exel, still seated, casually pulled the chair beside him back with a scrape and said in a leisurely tone quiet enough for only us to hear,

"Please, sit."

Though she still wore a slightly uneasy expression, she hesitated for a moment, then cautiously sat in the chair he had drawn out.

Then, as though struck by a sudden thought, Exel rustled around, took off his longcoat, and held it out to her. The elf lady looked at the coat set before her, then looked up at him in confusion.

"Put it on. Are you not cold?"

"Ah, um, I-I’m fine."

It was the first time she had spoken.

Her voice was beautiful. Rene’s had something slightly girlish to it, while this lady’s voice gave off a more mature feeling. Since she was a mother, perhaps that was only natural.

In any case, when she tried to decline like that, Exel shook his head from side to side, rose from his seat himself, and draped his longcoat over her shoulders.

At once, the elf lady looked up at him with a stunned expression as he looked down at her. A moment later, with tears welling in her long, narrow eyes split elegantly to the sides, she continued in a trembling voice,

"I do not know what you intend to do with me, but please, I beg you, do not make me end my own life. I have a child. So I...."

At her words, I smiled a little bitterly, while Exel’s face slowly twisted, and then he began chuckling.

The elf lady, watching our reactions carefully with a dazed face, received no explanation from either of us and began looking even more on the verge of tears. Before she could break down completely, I decided to offer at least a little explanation.

"My name is Reed. And yours?"

"Ah, I am Irisa."

When I turned to the side, Exel had now collapsed face-down across the table and was still quietly shaking with laughter, and I smiled wryly as I looked at his trembling back and said,

"Harinun danira rilmidan teu, danira rai Frid a jerindra."

The moment I told her in the language of the elves that Frid was safe, her eyes, which had seemed so small a moment ago, widened, and something slid down from her dark eyes.

There was no choking sob, like a human’s.

It simply... flowed down.

Exel, who had been collapsed over the table chuckling, also stopped laughing and looked at her. She went on staring at us while the tears kept streaming down her face, then slowly lowered her head.

At once, her long silver hair, nearly white in color, spilled down over the white, slender line of her neck.

"...Ra ri iinmiji, ...ra ri iinmiji."

'Thank you,' huh....

With both pale hands, she clutched tightly at the collar of Exel’s black longcoat draped over her body as she said those words, warm tears continuing to spill from her eyes, all while she wore a quiet smile.

After crying like that for a long while, Irisa lowered her head and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, then lifted her head, looked at us, and slowly asked,

"Where is Frid now?"

"He is outside, waiting for you. Ah, there is no need to hurry. Let us wait a little longer before going out. We will show you something entertaining."

Exel said that with a smile, and Irisa looked at me with a baffled expression. But I, too, merely smiled like Exel. So Irisa asked no more and simply closed her eyes and waited quietly.

She really was an elf. She had nearly been sold off as a slave, had been rescued instead, and yet she could remain this calm.

If she were human, she would probably have been sobbing uncontrollably and clinging to us by now. In any case, we waited until the auction ended.

But after a long while, the room that had been noisy from the auction suddenly fell into silence.

I turned my head and looked up at the platform.

Standing atop it was another elf, just like Irisa.

And that....