Only Obedient to Me! Sir Knight Chapter 9

“Nom.”

“Wh-What on earth! What do you think you are eating right now, sir?!”

Crunch, crunch. A hair-raising sound echoed through the room. Van panicked and frantically reached out toward Rowy.

“Mmph.”

“Spit it out, sir. Spit it out! Why are you chewing and eating stones?!”

Van’s large fingers forcefully pried open and scraped through the inside of Rowy’s mouth. Rowy shook his head sideways desperately, but he was no match for Van’s strength.

“Mmmgh!”

The massive fingers ruthlessly rummaged around inside his mouth. Every time Rowy shook his head, tears driven by pure reflex tumbled down like heavy drops. Van, who had been single-mindedly digging around, saw those tears, caught himself in shock, and immediately withdrew his hand.

“Are you alright, s—no, I mean, why are you eating stones?!”

Choking on something, Rowy began to cough violently. Van hurriedly handed him some water, but Rowy batted it away. Horribly flustered, Van kept rubbing Rowy’s back until he finally calmed down.

“Ugh.”

“I am incredibly sorry, sir. I was just so shocked.”

Eyes thoroughly brimming with tears glared resentfully at Van. Meeting that gaze, Van unconsciously dropped to his knees right in front of Rowy and carefully inspected him.

“Are you truly fine, sir? Mana stones… are they originally meant to be eaten? No, there is no way that’s true.”

“I wasn’t eating stones. I was trying to absorb mana.”

“…”

Van had never once heard of someone chewing on mana stones to absorb magic. No matter how ignorant he was about magic, it was painfully clear that such a claim was utterly preposterous. Wait, is he even actually a mage to begin with? Van scanned Rowy with a deeply skeptical look.

Mages. Literally, those who wield magic. The countless artifacts they created could be encountered quite commonly all over the place. Why, even on the stage down below, they were currently conducting the auction using a megaphone artifact.

However, actually crossing paths with a real mage was by no means an easy feat. This was because the vast majority of them spent their entire lives cooped up inside magic towers, utterly consumed by their research. Mages cared for absolutely nothing outside of magic research. Ruined eyesight from long hours of study, stress-induced hair loss, and a hunched back from a chronic lack of exercise—that was pretty much the standard image of a mage.

Yet, didn’t the person right in front of him look as far removed from that stereotype as humanly possible? Eyes that looked as if raw gems had been embedded straight into them, beautifully flowing silver-blonde hair, and an impossibly elegant neckline that commanded one’s gaze… the straight line of the spine tracing beneath it, and further down, that fair, rounded…

‘Madman.’

I’ve completely lost my mind. To think he was imagining things like that right after thinking of him as a child. Van forcefully wrapped a hand around his own head and smacked it. He hit himself so hard that a sharp cracking sound rang out. However, whether Van’s head cracked open right in front of him or not, Rowy’s attention was entirely fixated on one single place.

Rowy’s eyes drifted toward the remaining mana stones. Among the mixed assortment of small and large stones, the one as big as a fist instantly caught his eye. Gulp. A thrilling, electric sensation hummed inside his mouth. Before he knew it, he swallowed his saliva. Witnessing this, Van panicked entirely and grabbed Rowy’s hand in a tight grip.

“Surely you aren’t planning to eat that massive one too, are you?!”

“Are you a fool? That one wouldn’t even fit in my mouth.”

Rowy gave Van a utterly pathetic look. Well, true… it certainly wouldn’t all fit inside that small mouth of his. Panted breaths as his mouth was filled to capacity with just Van’s fingers, a flushed red tongue hotly—Van’s face turned completely pale at the sudden, runaway train of thought.

Since when? Since when did I become such a degenerate? Ever since he heard that talk about being a bed slave the other day, something had gone seriously awry with him. He was certain that at first, he had treated him like a young younger brother… no, even just a moment ago, he was viewing him as a mere child! This was all the fault of this master who kept clinging to him and demanding to be dressed. Though, he wondered if it was really right to go blaming others for it! Van vigorously shook his head, quickly dispelling the highly inappropriate thoughts.

“Ahem, just because it happens to be a size that fits in your mouth doesn’t mean you should eat it, sir. In the first place, I have never once heard of someone eating a mana stone to absorb mana.”

“It’s not like I’m eating them because I want to either…”

Rowy retorted with a pout. It wasn’t as if Rowy particularly enjoyed biting down on rocks either. He was truly just trying to consume mana. The true cause of the headache that had been growing steadily worse since leaving the island was…

‘As I thought, it must be a lack of mana.’

Now that he had chewed on a stone, the headache faded slightly due to the small amount of absorbed mana. However, this was nowhere near enough. While external mana could technically be converted into internal mana, the loss incurred during the process was simply far too severe.

Mages are individuals who build up mana within their bodies through rigorous training. They then refine that mana into a usable state to execute and complete magic spells. This is a remarkably delicate and complex task, which is why ordinary mages typically store mana in advance within their personal magic tools before casting anything. Doing so allows them to manifest magic with only a brief incantation, or even with no incantation at all depending on the mage’s level of mastery.

Modern magic focused heavily on just how much of this refined mana one could control, or how efficiently one could wield it. Because of this, instead of leaving mana inside their physical bodies, most mages transferred as much of it as possible into their magic tools.

Rowy was exactly the same. As an outstanding mage, Rowy possessed a total of five magic tools: two bracelets, two rings, and one necklace. Currently, however, Rowy had left every single one of his magic tools behind on the island.

As a high-ranking mage, Rowy naturally possessed far more internal mana than average mages, even after packing his magic tools to their absolute limits. That was why, initially, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual. Yet, after leaving the island, as time ticked away, Rowy belatedly realized that something was going horribly wrong. The culprit was none other than… mana depletion.

‘I’ve never been short on mana before, so I had absolutely no idea.’

Why on earth would Rowy, a man who had been hailed as a prodigy mage his entire life, ever have to experience running out of mana?

‘So if you don’t have mana, your head hurts…’

Rowy entertained the absent-minded thought as he reached his hand back out toward the mana stones. Seeing this, Van looked like he was dying to stop him as he firmly grabbed his arm from the side.

‘It’s not like I want to eat it either, sheesh.’

Pouting his lips, Rowy shook off Van’s hand. If Van had actually applied his strength, Rowy wouldn’t have been able to budge an inch, but seeing as Rowy claimed there was a reason for it, Van seemed to be letting it slide for now. At present, Rowy didn’t even have the proper mana required to process a mana stone, so short of brutally shoving an uncut mana stone into his mouth, he had no other viable method to consume its magic.

“…”

Rowy, who was about to shove another stone into his mouth, caught sight of Van’s trembling eyes and instead picked up a processed mana stone. Processed mana stones allowed for the absorption of mana without the absolute need to chew them. Of course, the amount of mana was significantly less than that of an uncut stone.

The mana stone flashed with a brief light in Rowy’s hand before instantly dying out into a dull black. It was, quite literally, a primitive method. It possessed zero efficiency. Even so, as things stood, this was his absolute best option. Sure enough, even with such a minuscule amount entering his system, a wave of vitality surged through his body. If he chewed and swallowed all the small mana stones and managed to drain the mana out of that massive stone…

‘Even if I do all that, it won’t amount to much.’

It wouldn’t serve as a fundamental solution.

‘As expected, I need to head back to the island early tomorrow.’

Of course, he would still have to figure out what to do once he actually returned… Rowy’s eyes glowed with a sharp crimson hue as he forcibly crammed the external mana deep into his own body.

. ꕤ ｡ ˚⋆

“For our next auction item, thank you all for waiting so patiently! It is the Holy Sword, Ignis!”

At the sudden voice echoing from the stage, both Rowy and Van snapped their heads toward the window. Upon the stage, a sword shrouded in a black cloth was put on display. The gazes of the crowd converged completely onto the stage.

“When it comes to the Elysion Temple, our customers hailing from the Empire might find it rather unfamiliar! After all, I imagine many of you are devout followers of Solanis!”

Solanis was an order rooted deeply within the Empire, and it was a long-standing tradition among imperial nobles to visit the Solanis Temple to pray whenever a new year dawned. On such occasions, the nobles naturally offered up incredibly hefty donations, allowing Solanis to grow immensely wealthy alongside the prosperity of the Empire itself.

Backed by such an abundant and overflowing financial lifeline, Solanis had expanded continuously and was currently the single largest temple order on the entire continent. In truth, this was the absolute first time Rowy had ever even heard that another religious order existed outside of Solanis.

“Elysion is a small order with its primary registry based in our neighboring kingdom, Marzen. Since their main temple is currently utilized as a tourist attraction, it is certainly worth dropping by at least once if you ever find yourselves traveling near the area!”

At those words, Rowy tried to recall Marzen, the kingdom he had crossed through two years ago in order to reach Serafilla. However, no memory of any temple remained in his mind whatsoever.

“Of course, you might find yourselves slightly disappointed if you see it in person. It lacks the sheer, dazzling luxury of the Solanis Temples found in the Empire. After all, Elysion offers up an entirely different kind of tribute to God instead of gold.”

The host intentionally scanned the seated audience for a few silent seconds before continuing his speech.

“And that is… the very blood of demons.”

A collective, low gasp erupted from the crowd. The host delivered the lines with exaggerated gestures, putting on a theatrical performance.

“The Elysion Order possesses one solitary goal, and that is… the total eradication of demons! A temple established for the exclusive purpose of bringing about the absolute annihilation of demons—that is precisely what the Elysion Temple is!”

‘Demonic eradication?’

“The ultimate pride of this small order is none other than its Holy Knights. Raised from a tender age specifically for the great war against demons, it is said that the individual martial prowess of each knight easily rivals that of an Imperial Knight. And the singular blade permitted solely to the Commander of those Holy Knights is… this very sword!”

Flash! The spotlights snapped on.

“The legendary blade said to burn demons to their ultimate demise with sacred flames! The one and only weapon on this earth capable of truly slaying a demon! The Holy Sword, Ignis!”

With a dramatic flourish, the host yanked the cloth away. Completely sucked into the spectacle, Rowy unconsciously leaned his body far forward.