Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 6

If it hadn’t been for the voice that suddenly cut through the air, that is. The person who opened the door and walked in was a man with a kind impression, his long, navy-blue hair neatly tied down. At the sudden intrusion, Van readjusted his grip on the dessert knife in his hand. Of course, whether someone entered or not, Rowy’s spoon didn’t stop. However, the unexpected guest, Seilan, knew exactly how to grab Rowy’s attention.

“Look here, this isn’t on the menu, so I figured you wouldn’t have ordered it. A mango smoothie.”

“A mango smoothie!”

Rowy’s face brightened as he immediately reached his hand out. Seilan placed the mango smoothie into his hand. Watching him eagerly suck on the straw, Seilan smirked and took an empty seat.

“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

“Who are you?”

Rowy asked without even looking at Seilan. At those words, Van was so appalled that he snatched the mango smoothie out of Rowy’s hand.

“Is he a stranger, sir?”

“Give it back!”

“How can you just take and drink food given to you by a stranger like that, sir?”

Having his mango smoothie stolen before he could even properly taste it, Rowy held out his hand. Van shook his head firmly.

“Why are you nagging me?”

Filled with annoyance, Rowy slammed his fork down onto his plate. A screeching, unpleasant noise echoed. Of course, Van didn’t budge an inch.

“And why are you ignoring me?”

Seilan readily chimed in between them. However, Rowy still wore an expression that said he had absolutely no clue who this was. Who even are you?

“What do you mean you don’t know me! Joseph, you, and me! Didn’t we used to eat together back at the academy?!”

“Mmm?”

At the familiar name of Joseph, Rowy paused. Seeing that Joseph’s name seemed to work, Seilan raised his voice even more. “You know me! Seilan! Well… we only ate together once, but still. We did eat, didn’t we?” Seilan brazenly lifted his chin.

“I heard you came to the city for the first time in a while, so I just came to give you an invitation!”

“I absolutely detest things like balls.”

“Who would invite you to a ball anyway?!”

Having caused an utter disaster at his coming-of-age ceremony, Rowy was currently under a ban from attending balls. Of course, since no one invited Rowy to begin with, Rowy himself was unaware of this fact.

“Anyway, it’s nothing like that. An auction happens to be taking place, so I came to give you an invitation.”

“An auction?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you come out to the city to have some fun? I already heard the news that you bought a slave.”

The expression on Seilan’s face as he spoke was mischievous. Rowy recalled the slave trader. He talked too much, and his mouth is loose too. It was a merciless evaluation. Well, buying a slave wasn’t exactly a secret anyway. Rowy gave a half-hearted nod.

“I heard you bought a bed slave, and a total…”

Seilan’s eyes drifted toward Van’s lower body. At the baffling conversation, Van unknowingly stabbed his fork deep into the pie.

‘He bought me as a bed slave, not a combat slave?’

Van’s eyes shook violently at the shocking revelation. Van hurriedly looked over at Rowy, but Rowy, naturally lacking any such thoughts, was just picking through his ice cream.

“Well, I have zero interest in your private life.”

Seilan subtly whispered.

“A massive mana stone came in.”

“A mana stone…”

Only then did Rowy realize why this man had gone out of his way to approach him and strike up a conversation.

‘An uncut mana stone.’

If that was an auction item, Rowy was the only person in this city capable of buying it.

Only a mage could turn an uncut mana stone into the commonly used form of a processed mana stone. For that reason, mana stones were usually bought in bulk by magic towers, processed, and then sold.

However, uncut mana stones did occasionally pop up in auctions like this from time to time because, in the case of large mana stones, selling them to an individual fetched a much higher price than selling them to a magic tower.

“But processing mana stones is a hassle.”

Rowy’s expression instantly turned indifferent. He had plenty of money to buy processed mana stones, so why on earth should he exert himself to process one? Besides, right now, he was genuinely in a state where processing a mana stone was impossible anyway… Seeing Rowy lose interest again and pick at his ice cream, Seilan quickly stood beside him and flipped open a catalog.

“Listen to me, sir. The size is as big as a fist, you know? It’s hard to come by a mana stone of this size!”

“I don’t know. What would I even use it for?”

“What do you mean there’s no use for it? It’s perfect for summoning demons, which you love so much!”

Summoning demons? Did I hear wrong? Hearing another shocking statement, Van tweaked his ears.

“Demon summoning, demon summoning!”

Seilan was now completely in front of Rowy, waving both arms to a strange song. He seemed to be mimicking a summoning ritual in his own way. Van’s expression shifted from confusion to sheer patheticness.

“Hmm…”

It was an eyesore. Watching that pathetic display, Rowy finally remembered the man in front of him. They had crossed paths a few times back at the academy.

“I remember now.”

“You finally recognize me?”

“Swindler.”

A swindler? Van’s eyes snapped right back to Seilan. Having been severely burned by a swindler before, Van grew a level more vigilant of the man before him. His kind-looking face certainly did seem like a swindler’s. He had been deceived by faces like that far too many times. It was Van’s painful past.

“A swindler?! Someone might hear you!”

“But it’s true. You scammed me.”

“What are you talking about?!”

Seilan, who had raised his voice, quickly looked around the room. Even though they were inside a private room, how excellent could the soundproofing of a dessert cafe frequented by young noble ladies actually be? And without a doubt, the young ladies coming and going here were customers several times more important than Rowy. He couldn’t risk losing all his customers just to sell a single mana stone that wasn’t even his main trade.

“Watch your words. Our merchant group always operates on a foundation of trust…”

“You sold me a mushroom, telling me it was a demon’s claw.”

“The problem is the human who actually took that to mean a real demon’s claw!”

…Why would anyone even need a real demon’s claw? Van’s wavering eyes directed back toward Rowy once more.

“Anyway, I don’t really need a mana stone. It’s a hassle. And I’m not really interested in demons anymore either.”

“You used to sing songs about demons, so why the sudden change?”

Rowy didn’t answer and buried his face in his ice cream again. Sigh, so I can’t sell the mana stone. If I can’t sell this, I’m going to starve… I even bought a mango smoothie out of my meager funds… Seilan muttered, putting on a pitiful act. Of course, Rowy acted as if he didn’t hear a thing.

“Whew, it’s my fault for expecting anything from you. Taking on that mana stone for nothing.”

Ultimately, Seilan let out a deep sigh.

“Still, come by and visit. We brought in a lot of fascinating things this time. It was good to see you after so long, man. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

At the unexpected greeting, Rowy subtly looked up at Seilan. However, Seilan turned right around and vanished into thin air, as if he had never been begging just moments ago. Only the catalog was left behind on the seat where he had briefly sat. Feeling his appetite fade for some reason, Rowy set his fork down.

“Is he a friend of yours, sir?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess so.”

At Rowy’s ambiguous response, Van tilted his head. Rowy picked up the catalog. When he opened the folded section, the mana stone appeared immediately. The man was meticulous to the very end. Rowy, who laid the catalog open on one side of the table, reached his hand out to Van again. Van, who placed the mango smoothie into that hand, scanned the catalog.

True to his word, it was a mana stone the size of an adult man’s fist. Considering that even a mana stone the size of a pinky nail could keep a minor, everyday magic spell functioning semi-permanently, a stone of this size would possess an astronomical value, even if he didn’t know the exact amount. Of course, that was assuming it could be processed.

Did Seilan come to sell it because he thought Rowy could process a stone of that size, or was he trying to pull a scam just as Rowy said?

“Ugh.”

Rowy, who had greedily sucked down the smoothie, clutched his brain-freezing head and made a crying face. Van quickly extended a hand and massaged Rowy’s head. Rowy whined like a child. A child like this can process a mana stone? …No matter how I look at it, he really seems like a swindler.

“So you were a mage, sir.”

“Mmm. But that one is too big. I can’t process it…”

Due to a certain reason, Rowy was currently in a state where he couldn’t use magical tools. With the mana he could use right now, processing a mana stone this large was impossible. Van nodded his head at those words as if it were only natural. It wasn’t as if he were some archmage. How could anyone process a mana stone of this scale? Furthermore, speaking of demon summoning to someone who looked so angelic. …Surely not, right?

“…By any chance, do you wish to summon a demon, sir?”

“Huh? No.”

Whew. Van inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Even if he is a friend, buying an item you do not need is a waste, sir. If you have no need for it, you do not have to purchase it.”

“Mmm.”

As if he were barely listening to Van’s words, Rowy’s attention was instantly stolen by the cake. Whether the chocolate-coated strawberries suited his palate, the cake was left bare and misshapen, with only the strawberries picked out and eaten.

‘A mage…’

Ever since the young noble master walked around completely exposed on his own, he figured there must be something to him, and if he were a mage, it made sense. Even if his own achievements were low, if he used an artifact crafted by a high-ranking mage, it would be more than enough to protect his own person.

Of course, when he looked while changing his clothes, he hadn’t seen a single magical tool, let alone an artifact… At the naked body that flashed through his mind in an instant, Van swallowed hard without realizing it. At the time, he hadn’t thought about anything because he was busy comforting a crying child, but it seemed to have been vividly engraved into his brain.

‘To think I was a bed slave.’