episode_0076

“So.”

Asel pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead and stared at Elena, who was sucking on a blood pack.

“You need someone to go to the auction house with, is that it?”

Her sudden visit and declaration that he should be her lover. The background wasn’t feelings or love, but rather a request to attend the auction house held this evening as her partner. The underground auction house on the academy grounds could only be entered by men and women paired together. She had come to him because she needed to purchase something there.

“That’s right!”

The auction house on the academy grounds. A legitimate branch operated by the Leonard Merchant Group, and a hub of distribution where all sorts of items converged. A warehouse of relics where various tools prepared solely for academy affiliates were desperately seeking owners.

Asel had only heard about this place. He knew the auction house existed but had never visited. It wasn’t just that he was too lazy to go, but that he didn’t particularly need anything. It might be different if some great magic tool appeared, but according to the rumors he’d heard so far, the item of the highest quality recently was a grotesque bird’s feather.

Of course, that wasn’t an item to be taken lightly either. A grotesque bird’s feather, widely used in alchemy and as a magic catalyst, was expensive enough to easily exceed several hundred gold coins. It just wasn’t necessary for Asel.

So he had lost interest and lived his life, when suddenly Elena came looking for him to go together.

Perhaps an item that caught her interest was newly put up for auction. Asel asked her what it was. Elena leaned forward slightly with her upper body and replied.

“Bloodsucker Blade (吸血刀)! It’s a dagger that gets stronger the more blood it drinks! Rather than making weapons out of blood every time I fight, I thought it would be better to get a weapon I can handle directly, so I want to buy it!”

Bloodsucker Blade, huh. It certainly was a weapon that suited Elena, a vampire. As a vampire, she would be able to freely control the madness that comes with craving blood, so it was clear that it would be much better for her, a vampire, to take it rather than it falling into the hands of some mediocre swordsman.

However, what was puzzling was why she hadn’t brought any of the various arms and equipment that must have been stored in the Valdemia Grand Duchy.

Well, never mind. There must be reasons. It’s ridiculous to seriously worry about someone else’s family affairs.

Asel dismissed the thought that had popped into his head and looked at Elena, nodding.

“Alright. I’ll cooperate. What time and where should I go?”

He was bored anyway, and since things had turned out this way, he might as well see the auction house. Asel readily accepted Elena’s request. Elena’s eyes sparkled, and she jumped up from her seat.

“You’re really going to help? Wow, thank you! As expected, there’s no one like you!”

Elena bounced over to Asel’s side and hugged his upper body. It was sudden physical contact, but since the subject was Elena, he didn’t feel much emotion. It was more like a large, friendly dog sticking to him, perhaps.

Still, it wasn’t unpleasant, so Asel chuckled and ruffled Elena’s hair. Even though her hair was messed up, Elena enjoyed his touch without showing any displeasure.

After a moment of that. Elena, clinging tightly to Asel’s body and leaning in, looked up at him with blood-red pupils and opened her mouth.

“You should come to the plaza at 6 in the evening. Dress as 멋지게 (멋지게) as possible! The dress code today is suits and dresses!”

“Really? I guess I should wear something appropriate.”

“I’ll be wearing a black dress. You wear a black suit too!”

“Okay.”

Asel smiled faintly and tapped Elena’s pointed ear with his fingertip. Then, a sudden question came to mind, and he asked her.

“But why me of all people? You could ask someone else.”

“Oh, that?”

Elena smiled brightly and turned towards Asel.

“You’re the only guy I’m close to!”

***

Even in the evening, the academy grounds were quite lively. The streets were bustling with students enjoying the weekend, and shops with colorful lights fiercely twinkled, driving away the darkness. Asel sat on a bench in the plaza and stared blankly at the scene.

Perhaps it was because he had been through a lot recently, but whenever he enjoyed such a peaceful atmosphere, he would secretly feel anxious that something might suddenly happen. Being sensitive was better than being completely oblivious to safety, but Asel himself thought it might be a bit excessive.

Still, once he became conscious of it, it gradually subsided, and after a few minutes, he could purely enjoy the academy’s night streets.

“What are you going to do about the midterms? Did you review the problems the professors gave you?”

“Let’s not lose in this year’s inter-grade competition, everyone! No matter what, we have to beat the freshmen!”

“S-Sara… I recently started liking someone…”

Students chatting about various topics. Street vendors shouting for them to stop by, and the cheerful noise of someone recognizing a friend echoed faintly in Asel’s ears.

‘This is youth.’

Asel thought such an old-fashioned thought and wore a gentle smile. Just then, a familiar face walking towards the plaza entered his vision.

“Where is she…”

Her pure white hair, usually tied low on both sides, was let down coolly. A red flower ornament was pinned in her hair, and an obsidian ornament hung from the tip of her pointed ear.

The attire she was wearing was a black dress that minimized exposure. Except for the upper chest covered by translucent black fabric, the only skin revealed was her shoulders, collarbone, and thigh exposed due to a slit on the side of the skirt.

However, that alone was insufficient to cover her body. Although the material wasn’t tightly fitted, the fabric around her chest and hips was pulled taut. On the contrary, there seemed to be some looseness around her waist, and the dress swayed from side to side with each step.

In contrast to her explosive figure, her unmade-up face exuded the fresh feeling of a young girl.

Her appearance was enough to momentarily steal the gaze of Asel, who had grown up seeing many women. He stared blankly at her, wondering if this was really the same Elena who was like a puppy. Sensing his gaze, Elena, who had been looking around, found him and smiled brightly.

“You came early? Have you been waiting long?”

“…No. Not long.”

Asel stood up and replied to Elena’s question as she trotted towards him.

Elena looked up at him and exclaimed in admiration.

“Ooh…! You look even cooler dressed up!”

“You’re beautiful too.”

“Hehe. Thank you!”

Asel chuckled at her brightly smiling face.

It was a smile that always felt pleasant to see. She seemed too harmless for a non-human who sucked human blood. It was enough to make him suspect she might be a creature that evolved to sink her teeth into necks in such a way.

It was a useless thought. Asel tapped the hair he had pushed back coolly with the palm of his hand, then looked at Elena and asked.

“So? Where should we go?”

“Follow me! Let’s go right away!”

Elena grabbed Asel’s hand and exclaimed. Asel obediently followed where she led.

The clasped hand was colder than expected. As a vampire with a low basic body temperature, he could feel his body heat being taken in real-time. And as if the sensation felt good, Elena let out a nasal sound and shivered slightly.

“It’s so warm…”

“Do you like it?”

“I do! Hold my other hand too.”

“Okay, okay.”

When Asel smiled and held out his hand, Elena switched places and grasped his right hand tightly this time. A cool sensation flowed up Asel’s arm, and warm heat permeated Elena’s entire body. With subtle smiles blossoming from the pleasant coolness and warmth, they began walking towards the auction house.

Suddenly, Elena opened her mouth.

“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you this.”

“…? What is it?”

“Normally, you can enter the auction house alone, but this time it’s specially open only to couples? And they say the reason is because a lot of items good for lovers came in.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

“So we have to keep pretending to be lovers at the auction house! Otherwise, we might get kicked out?!”

“You mean we need to act?”

“Yep!”

Elena nodded vigorously. Asel grunted, then soon chuckled and nodded.

“Leave it to me.”

Asel was quite confident in his acting. He had seen over 10 different plays in Wiheim alone. Since quite a few of them were about love, it would be enough to imitate the behavioral patterns of the actors from those plays.

Let’s go with the concept of a man who is cold but warm to his woman. That was the role played by a supporting actor who was more popular than the lead.

Just as Asel made that resolve and began to self-hypnotize internally, Elena muttered softly with a pensive look.

“But what is it like to be lovers?”

“Have you never met someone of the opposite sex?”

“No. In the Grand Duchy, I was stuck in the castle, and Dad turned down all the engagements. Besides Dad and my brothers, I’ve never properly talked to a man.”

“He seems to cherish you quite a bit.”

“Is that so? But Asel, have you ever dated a girl?”

“I’ve received many confessions, but I turned them all down, so never.”

“Ooh… A colleague?”

“Seems so.”

Elena hugged Asel’s arm and wore a ‘hehe’ smile.

“First, is this kind of behavior okay for lovers? When I watch plays and stuff, the girl often hugs the guy’s arm like this.”

“Do what’s comfortable. I’ll match you on everything. Or would you rather do as I tell you?”

At Asel’s suggestion, Elena nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

“Okay.”

***

I want to die.

I want to stick my nose in a dish of water and drown right now. Then I wouldn’t have to see these awful couples.

Nigel thought so and handed the ticket to the woman with a blank face.

“You may enter.”

“Thank you. Let’s go, darling.”

“Okay.”

A man and a woman, dressed neatly, passed Nigel and entered the auction house. Nigel watched their backs, then crumpled his face and tore at his hair.

‘Why am I, a single person, doing this here!’

It had been hours since he had let dozens of couples into the auction house. The feelings that were fine at first were gradually shattering. Watching the lovey-dovey couples non-stop made his insides seethe with frustration. What were they thinking setting the auction house entry requirement this way for some damn couple items? The more he thought about it, the more rebellious he felt towards the auction house owner.

Why did I have to be assigned to the auction house entrance on a day like this, damn it.

Just as Nigel was thinking that and shedding tears, more guests appeared from the opposite side.

He immediately regained his professionalism, stood at attention with a blank face, and greeted the guests.

“Is it here?”

“Yep!”

Again, it was a male and female couple. However, the appearance of the two was incomparable to the people who had visited before. The man was outstanding, and the woman exuded both a cute and a sensual atmosphere.

At the sight that would surely steal any man’s gaze, Nigel also stared blankly at the woman. Meanwhile, the man and woman kept approaching, stood in front of Nigel, and expressed their intention to enter the auction house.

“Hello. We’d like to enter.”

“…Wow.”

Approaching right up close, her appearance shone even more brightly. Her facial features, finely gathered on her pale skin, and her blood-red eyes. And her long white hair reaching her hips gave her a mysterious aura.

A feeling of being far away even while being close. At the moment Nigel stared intently at her.

*Swish!*

The man pulled the woman into his arms and directed killing intent towards Nigel.

“Do you have some business with my woman?”

Seeing him completely consumed by the concept, Nigel hurriedly came to his senses and bowed his waist.

“…Hoherue?”

On the other hand, Elena, her cheeks flushed red, uttered a strange language as if she had lost her ability to speak.