Chapter 176 – Pertinax Auction House (5)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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As though the overheated auction house had been lying, a chill now hung in the air. Because of the appearance of one girl, Chloe.

Stare-

Her already red eyes were bloodshot to the fullest. Tiny blood vessels had gathered dangerously around those crimson pupils.

How could a person had eyes like that. The glint with killing intent sizzling within truly suited the word yandere.

‘What happened to your promise to leave us alone for thirty minutes, Patriarch……’

I reproached Altair inwardly. Then I lowered my eyes slightly.

Just as I thought. In her right hand she was tightly gripping her weapon, a katana.

The blade that must once have been pure white was now bright red from having drunk its fill of blood. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, but it didn’t look like she had any intention of greeting me warmly.

In her left hand was an ominous bundle. The lower part of the cloth was damp.

Thick liquid was dripping down in droplets. As for what was inside… it had to be that which she had personally cut off and taken just now. A villain’s head.

Actually, it made no sense for me to be trembling before Chloe at this point. Even if her martial power had grown explosively, she still would not be my match.

Annoying though it might be, that was the reality. And yet whenever Chloe entered that `mode,` I tensed up instinctively. I suspected it was PTSD. Our first meeting had simply been too intense.

‘Damn it.’

As though time, which had been still, had started moving again, Chloe began stepping forward.

Only then did Hon seem to detect that something strange was in the air, and turned her head. She looked back and forth between me and Chloe, then tilted her head adorably.

“Why is that human acting like that?”

…

Was I the only one feeling the sense of crisis here? I had no intention of blaming Hon, but this was at least worth being on alert about.

It really felt like I was the only one reacting to those eyes full of killing intent.

Ryozo had been the same before too. I couldn’t tell whether I was too sensitive, or these people were too numb……

But when I tried to answer that innocent-looking face, I stopped. There was actually something I needed to ask Hon.

`You’ve come back.` Those words definitely had some kind of meaning. For now, after handling this situation first, I would try talking with her more.

I grabbed my knees and stood up. It didn’t look like the other side had any intention of talking, but I had only just learned the Blessing of Communication.

If that was the case, then I should make full use of that blessing. I intended to force open her ears, closed in sinking killing intent, with that blessing. Otherwise, I would have to resort to force from my side as well.

I drew a breath and manifested the Blessing of Communication. Whatever happened, I had the mindset of knocking first and seeing what came of it.

Chloe.

“……”

I called her name. Her steps did not stop.

I think there was been some kind of misunderstanding first of all.

“……”

Her footwork quickened a little more. Katana in the right hand, bundle in the left. A warning bell rang in my head that that combination was extremely dangerous.

Even after manifesting the Blessing of Communication, it had no effect whatsoever. Which meant that the other side was rejecting communication itself. She did not want to hear or say any words at all.

Tatadat.

Chloe suddenly leapt high. Jumping power that looked as though a single leap might let her touch the ceiling. Kicking off the ceiling, she launched herself forward.

If one were to animate the phrase float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, that scene would be exactly it. I groaned.

‘This is driving me insane.’

Now that it had gone this far, there was no avoiding a clash. Even if it was somewhat excessive, I had to counter it. Just as my hand was dropping toward my pocket.

Ssshaeek!

Suddenly, another presence rushed at Chloe from the side. It was Nox. Appearing like a flash of lightning, he drove Hongryundo at his younger sister without hesitation.

Sensing the ambush, Chloe swung her katana to meet it.

Chaeng! Blades locking together in the air of the auction house. And the owners of those blades were family.

Nox bit hard on his lower lip.

‘I came in just in case, and this is what I find.’

While he had been briefly checking another area, Chloe had entered the auction house.

The reason was that the person wearing the crow mask seemed to be Kang Geom-ma.

Nox had known for some time already, but had kept silent.

Because he knew better than anyone how Chloe went crazy at the mere sight of Kang Geom-ma. On top of that, she had been especially thirsty after her return to the academy had been delayed for so long. So he had hidden the truth.

But Chloe had figured out that the crow mask was Kang Geom-ma by scent. She kept wrinkling her nose, and in the end……

It wasn’t a dog, and yet she identified someone by smell. Even though she was his younger sister, she had a talent for making a person’s skin crawl.

Nox looked at Chloe again. Hollow eyes, empty like a husk.

Now that things had come to this, half measures were impossible. Chloe had been steadily honing her practical sense all through the break. Her potential and experience had come together just as expected, and she had been reborn as an astonishing assassin.

If he did not take the Chloe in this state seriously, then this side would be the one to lose instead.

Nox swung Hongryundo boldly again. Chloe’s moment of swinging her blade came at the exact same time.

Shik! The two blades that had seemed about to tangle instead tore through the air. Because both were feint attacks employing the Blessing of the Crow.

But the intentions behind them differed. For Nox, it was in order to avoid a direct strike at his younger sister.

For Chloe, it was a distraction meant to conceal a hidden blade. Tch, Chloe clicked her tongue.

The next moment, she wound up her waist. Then, using that spring, she spun. She loaded acceleration into her blade and drove it forward. Blow after relentless blow poured out.

Kagakang!

Nox endured it by crossing the two Hongryundo blades in an X. Or rather, he barely held out. Even though he had absorbed the shock, it felt as though his hands were going numb.

Once speed enough for strong attacks was loaded into it, the pressure of each strike was no joke.

Even if she had lost her reason, wasn’t this truly the momentum of trying to kill him.

And in that very moment of surprise, Chloe kept the spinning force alive and continued her barrage. Sometimes she shaved at the left and right edges of his vision, and if he so much as blinked, a blade was already stabbing from behind him. It was an offensive loaded with murderous edge.

Nox opened his eyes wide. He reduced thought and prioritized action.

The siblings’ blades collided without rest. Inside the dark auction house, broken scenes appeared in succession like strips of film cut out and pasted together.

Sparks flashed and blinked in the air like car taillights. At times silver straight lines crossed back and forth on the ground as well.

Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!

The two blades were used like instruments, making an ensemble. Almost like background music. The siblings performed a sword dance upon a stage like an opera theater.

Had there only not been blood spraying, it was no different from a desperate battle. At that rate, neither of them would finish with an intact body. And the more fierce the clash became, the more the side being pushed into defense was Nox.

Naturally so. Chloe, who had lost her reason, intended to utterly finish off her opponent. Nox’s purpose was the far more difficult one of subduing his younger sister.

Regardless of skill, it was a fight overwhelmingly disadvantageous to Nox.

‘I have to step in.’

Leaving Hon behind, I placed a hand on the hilt of my blade.

But at that moment.

“Stop!”

A booming shout shook the entire hall. Only then did the siblings’ blades come to a halt in front of each other’s throats.

A bead of sweat gathered at the tip of Nox’s chin and fell onto the blade below it. That sweat washed away a thin smear of blood from Chloe’s sword.

It took a little time for the excitement of the fierce battle to settle. The siblings, who had been aiming at one another in that stance, finally withdrew their swords.

“Haa- haa-.”

With one knee braced, Nox drew in ragged breaths. He ran the back of his hand across his chin. A mouthful of sweat came away.

He straightened up unsteadily and lifted his gaze. Focus was slowly returning to Chloe’s eyes.

‘…Looks like she’s come back to her senses.’

Only then did Nox let out a sigh of relief, and turned around. Led by the patriarch, the members of Auditore had come in.

After sweeping his gaze over the surroundings, the patriarch let out a deep sigh. Then he wiped his face and shook his head.

“Things had been quiet for a while, and yet once again it is like this. Just how long do you intend to torment this grandfather’s insides before you’ll be satisfied, Chloe.”

Chloe blinked her dim eyes. Then she collapsed smoothly like a puppet with its strings cut. Nox caught that younger sister of his. Looking down at the one who had gone limp in his arms.

Well, she had dragged out all of her potential. Exhaustion had probably come crashing in. With that, might she at least be unable to lift a finger for a few days. Nox wished that inwardly.

The situation calmed down.

Wearing an awkward smile, the patriarch said to me:

“To think she would come into the auction house during the brief time I was away. You’ve had to witness an ugly sight.”

I shook my head.

“Not at all. Rather, praise Nox more. He appeared at exactly the right time and wrapped up the situation. If I had stepped in, it probably would have escalated further.”

“My liege!”

At that moment Choi Seol-ah came running over in a fluster. In dangerous moments she really did vanish cleverly. And then she reappeared wearing an expression full of concern.

When I narrowed my eyes, Choi Seol-ah became fidgety. Her pupils made a full circle as she avoided my gaze. So she did have a guilty conscience after all.

‘Then again, it’s not like the situation would have improved much even if she’d stayed.’

More than anything, I lacked the energy to scold her. Whenever Chloe went into yandere mode, it felt like my spirit got drained right out of me.

I turned to look at Hon beside me. She was sitting there blankly collapsed. She looked just as dumbfounded as she had before.

At this rate, it would be hard to have any more conversation with her.

But it sat badly with me to part with Hon like this.

No matter what, I still had to get a clue from her about the fourth fragment.

If I just sent Hon away like this, things would become extremely troublesome.

Should I take Hon in, like being chosen by a stray cat? Oddly enough, there was no rule in the dormitory regulations that said one must not live together with someone.

The developers of Miracle’s Blessing M probably had simply failed to think that far.

But aside from those long ears, Hon looked exactly like a teenage girl. Even pretty, despite the ragged appearance.

I shook my head from side to side.

‘No, that won’t work.’

If I lived in the same room as a girl like that, what would happen to my image.

All kinds of needless stories would end up going around on the cadets’ lips. Just imagining it made me dizzy.

…But before that.

“Patriarch, what do you intend to do with that baby dragon?”

At my question, the patriarch stroked his beard and pondered for a moment. After a brief pause, he answered.

“To tell the truth, that point troubles me a little too. Under normal circumstances, we’d have to send her back into the Demon Realm, but didn’t she happen to come to us through an auction. If the demon race learns of it, they’ll raise hell. They might seize on it with delight as justification, too.”

The patriarch spoke as though troubled. He was right.

If the demon race seized on this as a pretext, then things might head down a road of nothing but worsening.

The worst case would be an invasion carried out under that justification.

As things stood, the demon side had already lost two Legion Commanders. They had to be in the middle of regrouping their battle lines.

Humans had put a member of the demon race up for auction? That would amount to pouring oil onto a burning house.

“Then what about this. We get the headmistress’s understanding, and have the academy manage that dragon instead. Under the cover identity of a cadet. Her appearance isn’t that different from a human’s anyway. And I spoke with her briefly, but she isn’t a member of the demon race who would harm humans.”

At my suggestion, the patriarch’s brows twitched.

“You communicated with a demon?”

“Yes. Somehow I ended up getting a blessing that lets me hold conversations. In any case, the point I mean is that the academy secretly manages the dragon.”

After listening quietly, the patriarch nodded.

“Mm. Now that I hear it, it isn’t bad. No, I almost feel there may not be a better direction than that. Hoakin Academy is extraterritorial ground. On top of that, security has become far tighter lately because of all these incidents. To the point that there isn’t even the slightest gap left in its defenses, you might say. However.”

After glancing once at Hon, the patriarch continued.

“It seems you’ll need someone who can play the role of guardian. That would be necessary if we’re to persuade the headmistress.”

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“……?”

Without a word, I cast my gaze toward Choi Seol-ah.

The instant our eyes met, a sense of foreboding filled her complexion.

* * *

Not long after finishing his conversation with Kang Geom-ma, Altair received a phone call. A Swiss international number was displayed.

“Yes, Sword Emperor. The situation has been wrapped up, more or less.”

[You’ve gone through a great deal in the meantime. The long journey that began with Cladi has finally come to an end.]

“Haha, gone through a great deal, you say? By the strangest coincidence, at the auction house……”

Altair explained in detail what had happened. On the other end of the line, the Sword Emperor listened with a surprised expression.

[…To think something like that happened. What in the world was Kang Geom-ma doing there?]

“I didn’t ask. But because that boy was there, the situation came to a smooth close. Isn’t that one fact enough?”

[Well, that’s true enough. Otherwise, before long I can go and ask him myself.]

“Yourself? Then surely, you don’t mean……?”

Even through the phone, the patriarch felt as though he could see the corners of the Sword Emperor’s lips rising.

[Indeed. Preparations for the succession of the Seven Stars are nearly complete, so I too should return to the academy. Exactly one month from now, the succession shall take place at Hoakin Academy.]