Chapter 105 :

“Lord Darkan. This person is not simply my escort.”

“If he is not an escort?”

“He is the one most dearly cherished by the Five Great Masters.”

“………….”

“If, by any chance, you lay a hand on him, the Five Great Masters will never sit still.”

“Not sit still, huh. Are you saying they would even attack the Darkan Territory?”

“Yes.”

“······ Absurd.”

Lord Darkan furrowed his brows.

There is a world of difference between expecting something and hearing it directly from the other party.

Besides, that barbarian-looking man is someone cherished by the Five Great Masters?

At least there is information about the White King and the Four Great Masters, but about the Five Great Masters, there is none.

And yet, he is clearly someone whom even the White King would openly defend.

Lord Darkan turned his head and looked at Guardian Knight Pamel.

Pamel too quietly shook his head.

‘Even Pamel cannot fathom him. That man must indeed be extraordinary.’

Not only that.

‘He crushed the berserker of the Dersian family, didn’t he.’

The report he had heard was unbelievable.

A mighty warrior who wielded the Skull Crusher, the token of the greatest warrior of the Giant Race, scattering sword energy!

Just as the weapon’s name implied, he had destroyed the berserker.

Does that mean the Five Great Masters have even won over the strongest race, the Giants?

If so, then it would make sense why Hudson was boldly speaking so confidently before him.

At that moment, Hudson added:

“··· Of course, even if the Five Great Masters do not intervene, punishment is impossible.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is no being in this world who can harm him.”

“······”

Is it bluff?

But he clearly said that man is cherished by the Five Great Masters.

And the Five Great Masters themselves cannot harm that man.

Meaning—

‘No way······ that man is the Five Great Masters?’

······He didn’t know.

He didn’t know, but he was certain that touching him now would only become troublesome.

“Hm. And in any case, there is no justification to punish him. It is clear that Lady Dersian was the one who attacked first.”

“L, Lord!!”

“Lady Dersian. This is not a place where I cover up your mistakes. You committed a crime, and now you come to me to hide it? Are you saying my honor means nothing to you?”

“That, that is not what I meant, you know that!”

“Not what you meant? You still think you’re the wronged one? Fine then, I shall open a public trial.”

“······!!!”

“How lightly did you think of the Lord of Darkan for someone like you to commit such a thing? And you dare bring your false plea to a man of honor like me? Very well. I shall take this as the will of the Dersian family.”

“N, never! I, I only…!”

A public trial.

Once the trial was held, every resident of the territory and the elders of the Dersian family would witness it.

This was Lord Darkan’s warning to the Dersian household.

She had never expected him to come down this harshly, and Lady Dersian trembled in shock.

“And until the trial is held, Isabella, you will be confined. Your family will also be informed.”

He no longer even mentioned her house with respect.

Knowing what that meant, Lady Dersian’s complexion turned deathly pale.

“L, Lord!”

“Take her away.”

“P, please!!”

Dragged by the soldiers, Lady Dersian was pulled away, flailing in desperation.

Even as she was dragged off, she cried out her grievances, but the lord ignored her.

“······ Will this be satisfactory enough?”

This time Lord Darkan looked at me, not Hudson.

He had made a decisive move for our sake.

But I shook my head.

“Unless she kneels before me and apologizes herself, I will not accept it.”

“······ Very well. So it shall be.”

Soon, the dragged-off Lady Dersian was brought before me in a miserable state.

Her makeup ruined, as though she had cried in panic.

Of course, she never imagined Lord Darkan would not take her side.

Had she known we were from the Labyrinth City, she would never have dared to insist so arrogantly.

Now that Lord Darkan had turned away from her, if she didn’t want the matter to escalate beyond saving, she had no choice.

Before all, Lady Dersian fell to her knees and apologized.

“I… I’m sorry… I truly am….”

Drip, drip.

Her tears fell to the floor as she continued.

“I must have lost my mind for a moment. P-please… please forgive me…”

***

Though I received her apology, I had no intention of forgiving everything with just that.

The real lesson hadn’t even begun.

“We will now begin the Special-Grade Auction!”

A massive dome-shaped auction hall filled with countless nobles.

At last, the special-grade auction began.

Hunting the Four Evils.

Humiliation.

It was disgrace.

A shame she had never felt once in her life.

But she had no choice.

This ‘Special Auction’ absolutely had to succeed flawlessly.

—Isabella. As representative of the Dersian family, cooperate with Lord Darkan and ensure the success of the ‘Special Auction’. Show your ability.

It was the perfect chance to prove her worth to her family.

Depending on the outcome of this Special Auction, her position within the Dersian house would be determined.

But it did not mean she should only focus on the auction.

‘I must become the main character.’

The special auction, held over fifteen days, was an extension of the empire’s social world.

A place where the empire’s nobles, drowning in overflowing wealth, and the “rulers of external cities” competed with gold.

And it was also where they forged new ties for greater advancement.

In short, she was told to become the center, the main character, and gather allies.

To truly win the struggle for succession, external forces were essential.

Purchasing remarkable items with excellent insight was the same.

‘······ I cannot oppose Lord Darkan now.’

The Dersian and Darkan families had a deep relationship.

But Lord Darkan had now drawn a clear line.

She was not the family head, merely a representative—he did not care for her at all.

If she did not kneel, she would have been forcibly sent back to her family.

Another heir would have taken over the auction, and she would have been locked away, wasting her days.

She could not allow that.

Never.

Thus she knelt. She begged.

‘Agents of the Labyrinth, huh? In the end, they’re just monsters. Monsters don’t have money.’

Watching the start of the auction, Lady Dersian regained her composure.

The curtain finally rose on the special auction.

Those without money can only sit and watch.

How could “monsters” from the Labyrinth have money?

And the first day was the most important.

The day where everyone measured and gauged each other.

She would show them what real “money power” was.

She would engrave the Dersian family’s majesty—and her own presence—into their eyes.

***

Inside the dome-shaped auction hall sat roughly five hundred people.

On the left side were the empire’s nobles wearing masks and their escorts.

On the right were the invited guests from external cities.

Perfectly split in half.

As if they despised even sharing the same space.

Hudson, Valte, and I sat on the right. The area for outsiders.

Even a personal invitation from the lord couldn’t change the seating.

‘Rulers of cities, or leaders of major forces.’

I slowly observed the “outsiders.”

Excluding escorts, around a hundred people.

All of them rulers of their respective cities or those of equivalent status.

‘I’ve seen some of them briefly at Darkan’s Afternoon, but most are unfamiliar.’

‘Among them, players are mixed in.’

I was certain.

Among them, there were players pretending to be Pangaenians.

Players acting like natives.

Who could they be?

Which player was pretending to be a Pangaenian?

‘The Empire knows for certain that players exist.’

And more than just knowing.

The Empire openly rejected players.

When playing as Wilhelm, I couldn’t form ties with the Empire for that reason.

Even when the Great Expedition was initiated, the Empire didn’t participate. Even though most factions, including the Goddess Church, sent support—yet the Empire did not show up at all.

Why?

Because Wilhelm led the Great Expedition.

Because they judged that Wilhelm was not a Pangaenian.

Just because Wilhelm was not native, the Empire refused to send any support to the expedition to attack the Demon Realm.

Their rejection of players was extreme.

And now players have entered the Empire?

‘They’ll try to kill them.’

They would never leave them alone.

They might use the Reaper Church, or simply attempt assassination.

The Reaper Church having its headquarters inside the Empire was no coincidence.

Perhaps—

‘They may even have people who identify players. They could be right here among the guests.’

A place with this many outsiders gathered.

Of course someone would try to flush players out.

Investigations might have been done during the invitations, but the Empire was notoriously thorough.

I could not let down my guard.

This place was poison for players.

Still—

There was a reason I was certain players were here.

‘··· If Hudson’s information is right, there is a Master here.’

At least one.

No, more than two.

A Master, and other players as well.

Hudson had investigated the sales route of relics sold in the Master’s city, the “Ancient Ruin City.”

Most were consumed in the Golden City, Arcana—so the investigation itself wasn’t hard.

And he found that the Master was openly gathering gold.

Even lowering relic prices to accelerate sales, and deliberately pushing the payment deadlines to right before the Special Auction.

‘It must be those bastards.’

And the Master’s face was long known.

All the “Descent Bodies” of the other Seven Heroes were.

Though they wore masks, there were things one could not hide.

【★★】

Level.

A 2-Star Transcendent!

And the woman beside him was also—

【★】

A 1-Star Transcendent.

True Transcendents who had properly consumed the Goddess’s Stars.

Both were players.

‘The Master still hasn’t identified me.’

But I had already identified the Master.

Knowing first and knowing later made a world of difference.

It meant I could move first.

One of the speakers, the Master, had participated in the Special Auction.

The Master.

What should I do with him?

‘If only Serengeti were here······.’

If Serengeti were present, we could attempt an ambush and take him down.

Together, Serengeti and I could manage even a 2-Star Transcendent.

But Serengeti wasn’t here.

Killing the Master alone would not be easy.

I shook my head.

But that didn’t mean I had no methods.

‘I could feed the materials and make the Throne of Radiant Light.’

There were many options.

This place sold special-grade items, and I had enough gold to buy the materials.

In any case—

‘If the Master is here, then there are likely other players as well.’

Those two were not the only ones.

There were more.

Players unknown even to players.

Someone perfectly disguised as a Pangaenian would be hiding.

Thus, discovering them—and preventing them from discovering me—was just as important as dealing with the Master.

“Honored guests, the first auction item will now be presented! The ‘Race of Cold Fire’! A child of the legendary race whose flames once burned endlessly across the ancient North!”

As the auctioneer bowed and introduced it, a glass container was brought forward.

Inside it, a child with blue-flaming hair sat hugging their knees.

Beaten, bruised all over.

Blood running down from their head.

Even though they were being presented as merchandise, no one had even bothered to clean them.

I lightly tapped Hudson’s back from behind so no one would notice.

—Do not react.

This was the Empire, and everyone present saw slaves as natural.

Slaves were common enough in Pangaenia.

But those who pitied slaves?

Only players.

Earthlings.

What was the intention of showing such a badly injured slave right from the start?

The auctioneer swept his sharp gaze across the hall.

Especially toward the outsiders’ seats.

Was the auctioneer himself a “player detector”?

“The starting bid is one million gold! One million gold to begin. Bidding moves in increments of 500,000. Esteemed guests who wish to bid, please open the folding fan you were given!”

Silence filled the room.

A slave for the first item.

Even if a legendary race, the condition was poor.

Feeding, resting, raising—no guarantee it would be worth it.

“The Race of Cold Fire?”

“What legendary race, it’s just trash.”

“They’re weak. And aren’t they mute?”

“I’ve never seen one survive for more than a year after purchase.”

Even with wealth, without discernment one is ridiculed.

Contrary to the auctioneer’s introduction, the perception of the “Race of Cold Fire” was at rock bottom.

Then Hudson, for the first time, opened his fan.

“Bidder number 55! A bid of 1,000,000 gold!”

55 belonged to Hudson.

Was he buying out of pity?

Of course not.