Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 10

It was the exact same sword he had seen in the catalog—a sword with a pitch-black blade and a red gem embedded within it. In the booklet’s illustration, the sacred text had been written only on the hilt, but seeing it in person, the holy words wound around the entire weapon. Having absolutely no knowledge of sacred text, unlike magic, Rowy inspected it with a curious gaze.

‘So that’s the Holy Sword? Rather than looking holy… it looks somewhat ominous.’

Granted, this wasn’t exactly the kind of thing for Rowy to say, given he had never prayed to God once in his entire life. To make an excuse, mages were simply quite distant from God to begin with.

‘Does it actually possess divine power? I can’t really tell.’

To Rowy’s eyes, it was entirely impossible to gauge whether that thing was a holy sword or not.

“As you all well know, the Holy Sword chooses its master! Of course, the master of the Holy Sword is likely not present here today. By any chance, is the Holy Knight Commander among us tonight?”

As if it were a joke, laughter erupted here and there. Which part of that is funny? Rowy tilted his head.

“Or perhaps there is someone here who wishes to slay a demon? To anyone like that, I must apologize, but you will first need to receive baptism from Elysion!”

The laughter grew a bit louder. Rowy was starting to feel a little annoyed now. The host continued to rev up the atmosphere.

“The chosen one shall lift the Holy Sword to cleave that demon, and the heavenly flames shall burn it to its ultimate demise.”

“Amen,” the host added playfully, and the crowd responded with laughter.

“That is a passage from the Holy Scriptures of Elysion. Even if you are not the master of the Holy Sword, it should not matter. Even if you cannot call forth the hellfires, it can still sufficiently ward off evil energy! Look at this delicate forging! Furthermore, this sacred text is said to symbolize protection and purification!”

The host used an artifact to greatly magnify the sword, displaying it for everyone to see. Sure enough, words that Rowy could not read at all were intricately and beautifully engraved upon it.

“And this gem… as far as we have verified, it is a sealing stone. Countless demons could very well be sealed inside it. If you listen closely, you might just hear it—the howling of a demon.”

The host instantly mimicked a sinister voice. Admiring gasps broke out among the people seated at the tables in front of the stage.

“Hmm…”

The response was quite good. If it was an item drawing that much interest from the crowd, the people in the private rooms would likely show interest as well. Everyone was Rowy’s rival. In truth, Rowy, who knew absolutely nothing about swords, couldn’t find a single special quality about this weapon. Even so, Rowy decided that he absolutely had to have it.

Because… Rowy looked at Van beside him. With a completely frozen face, Van was unable to tear his eyes away from the Holy Sword. His tightly clenched hands had turned stark white, and his jaw was trembling as he gritted his teeth. Rowy thought Van looked like he might burst into tears at any moment. …Therefore, Rowy firmly resolved to place that sword into Van’s hands no matter what.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“Now then, ladies and gentlemen, we shall begin the bidding. The starting price begins at fifty million senn!”

Fifty million senn? Van, who had been glaring at the Holy Sword in front of him as if he were going to pierce a hole through it with his eyes, let his jaw drop in sheer shock. Fifty million senn?

“Sixty million senn!”

Along with the ring-a-ling of a bell, the host bellowed out. The auction had officially begun. Quite literally, fifty million senn was merely the baseline starting price.

‘Good grief. I should have just sold it off sooner.’

The previous owner of the Holy Sword, the baptized one, and the former Holy Knight Commander harbored a highly irreverent thought. Suddenly forced into a harsh reality check by the preposterous price tag, Van recoiled. Even though he was only looking at it from afar, it was unmistakable that the Holy Sword was the real deal. If that sword truly was genuine, and if it had appeared before Van’s eyes in accordance with divine will…

“Seventy million senn! No, eighty!”

…No, whatever the case, this is way too expensive!

“Wh-What! Master! Why are you trying to buy that!”

Van was startled and tried to stop him, but Rowy didn’t even pretend to hear him and continuously rang his bell without a moment’s rest.

“One hundred million senn!”

“Have you lost your mind? Seriously?”

Horrified, Van snatched the bell away. One—hundred—million—senn? Van’s face turned white at an amount of money he had never even pronounced before.

“Why!”

“No, it’s far too expensive! You don’t even have any use for a sword, sir! You won’t even be able to lift it because it’s too heavy!”

“Who said I was going to use it? You said you wanted it! Hand it over quickly, we’re going to lose it!”

Rowy snatched the bell right back out of Van’s hand. It was the absolute fastest movement Van had ever seen Rowy make. The bell rang incessantly. With the skyrocketing price, the host’s voice grew louder and louder. The price had already risen high enough. Most of the nobles were backing out, watching this overheated situation from the sidelines and laughing. Currently, there were only three people targeting the Holy Sword, including Rowy.

“Three hundred million senn.”

Along with a ring-a-ling sound, an increasingly unbelievable price popped out. Van was now covering his ears, trembling all over. Just like that, an astronomical sum of money is going to vanish? Simply because I said I wanted that thing?

“Three hundred and ten million senn has been bid!”

As the bids crossed the three hundred million mark, one competitor dropped out. However, one person still remained, immediately matching every price Rowy called out.

“They’re coming at me over a piece of junk. Who is that?”

Flushed red with excitement, Rowy raised his voice. Van was at a complete loss, seeing this belligerent side of him for the very first time.

“Four hundred million!”

“…Four hundred and ten million senn has been bid!”

“Eek!”

Rowy snapped in pure irritation at whoever kept following his bids. Rowy absolutely had to get his hands on anything he wanted. Because that was how he had lived his entire life. Rowy picked up the bell that had the alarm magic cast on it. A one-way communication magic was carved onto the surface of the bell. It was a spell that transmitted an alert to the host.

Rowy swept his hand over the magic formula. Since he had already chewed on some mana stones, subtly warping a simple magic circle like this was entirely manageable even without his magic tools. Soon, Rowy’s bell was connected to the entire auction house. Rowy picked up the bell and brought it right to his lips.

—Uh, can you hear me?

“Hello?”

The languid voice pierced into every single corner of the auction house. At the sound of a voice suddenly echoing right in their ears, collective gasps could be heard from all over. Soon, the entire auction house fell dead silent.

“I need to take that thing. If anyone has a complaint, care to come find me directly? I’ll bid five billion senn.”

With a utterly bewildered expression, the host continuously glanced at the staff members behind him. Soon, having received some sort of message, the host faced the stage again and shouted.

“Fi—Five billion senn! Is there anyone else who wishes to place a bid?”

“Five billion senn?”

Van’s jaw dropped completely.

“If there are no further bids, it is sold for five billion senn!”

A victorious smile spread across Rowy’s face.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“Let’s get a refund.”

“I’ve never done such a thing before.”

“How about you try doing it for the first time today, sir?”

“Hmph.” Rowy scoffed. Van followed closely behind him, acting completely frantic. The two were currently heading toward the private reception room inside with a guide to receive the purchased Holy Sword. Normally, they would have been handed the item within their private room, but this situation had unfolded because Rowy insisted on paying in cash this time as well.

He’s carrying five billion senn around? Van’s eyes shook incessantly. You have five billion senn on your person, sir? The guide’s eyes were shaking incessantly as well…

Since the amount was by no means small, time was required for verification. It was arranged that once the verification was complete, they would receive the Holy Sword, and in the meantime, they were to be served simple refreshments in the reception room. Of course, Rowy didn’t particularly want to eat anything, having been thoroughly disappointed by the strawberry ice cream earlier.

“Five billion senn? Do you happen to have money left over in your pouch even after paying that much, sir?”

Van whispered directly into Rowy’s ear. He was terrified that someone might overhear and ambush them. Huh? Do you need money? Not understanding the reason, Rowy whispered back in tandem. How much do you need?

“Good grief. Good heavens.”

Faced with a dizzying sensation, Van called upon God. To put it bluntly, he felt far more lightheaded right now than he ever did when standing before a great demon. He really has no idea how terrifying the world can be. They couldn’t just keep carrying this around in their cloaks forever, so what on earth were they supposed to do?

Van sat down even closer to Rowy. By now, the two were pressed tightly against each other with practically no space between them. The sight of two men stuck completely together on a spacious sofa was quite laughable, but the guide, whose mind was utterly consumed by the physical reality of five billion senn, paid the two no mind whatsoever.

“Would you mind waiting here for just a brief moment, sir? I will deliver the item to you directly once the verification is finished.”

Handing the money over to the guards with trembling hands, the guide offered a polite bow.

“Would you care for some wine while you wait?”

“Wine?”

Rowy’s eyes instantly flashed. Come to think of it, it had been quite a long time since he last had alcohol. In truth, drinking it at his coming-of-age ceremony had been his first and last time.

“No alcohol allowed.”

“Why?”

“After taking that much headache medicine, sir?”

Van shook his head with absolute finality. Rowy nodded his head submissively.

“Mmm, then give me something sweet. Anything. The ice cream tasted bad.”

“Ahem, so it was not to your liking. If you could wait just a moment, I will fetch something even if I have to get it from a nearby shop.”

Offering a polite bow, the guide left the room. Once it was just the two of them left, Van pressed himself even closer to Rowy. Because they were already stuck tightly together, Rowy was pushed aside slightly.

“Are you truly going to buy that sword for five billion senn, sir?”

“I already bought it. I’ll give it to you.”

“I have absolutely no need for a five-billion-senn sword, though?”

“Just take it. You said you wanted it. It’s good to use a good sword.”

“As for a sword, I already have one, don’t I?”

Van lightly tapped the sword buckled at his waist. This, too, was a sword Rowy had purchased for him. However, Rowy’s reaction remained completely stubborn.

“That one’s a cheap one. It’s better to hold an expensive one.”