Ch.29Lark’s Orb (1)

“Oh, five million gold! Ah, ten million gold! Who is that gentleman? Could he be the Emperor?!”

He is the Emperor.

Ruide covered his eyes, unable to bear watching anymore.

‘What are they doing, seriously.’

He could understand Irene’s behavior, but he had no idea what the Emperor was doing there.

The auction was heating up.

“Eleven million gold!”

Once the bidding passed ten million gold, most bidders gave up.

Hersy was among them. She slumped in disappointment.

“T-twenty million gold! We might be setting a record price here!”

The corners of Ruide’s mouth trembled increasingly.

Those two were bidding against each other by the second. Whenever Irene placed a bid, the Emperor immediately countered.

The Emperor was one thing, but Irene was the real problem.

Irene’s money was Windsor family money.

Which meant it was essentially Ruide’s own money!

‘That lunatic…!’

Of course, he had also gotten excited and spent 100,000 gold on an Arctic fox, even though it would normally cost only 1,000 gold.

But Arctic foxes are cute.

Does it make any sense for the Windsor family to pay twenty million gold for a video of his presentation? That could buy an entire baronial estate. Ruide couldn’t stand it anymore. He glared at Irene, trying to catch her attention.

Fortunately, their eyes met. Ruide desperately shook his head, signaling her to stop.

“Twenty-one… th-thirty million gold! One moment please. We’ll need to verify funds at this point.”

After bidding thirty million gold, Irene gave Ruide a thumbs up. She even smiled reassuringly.

“You little…”

Ruide almost cursed out loud. Even Hersy beside him was shocked.

“R-Ruide?”

“At this rate, we’ll be bankrupt. I need to stop this.”

In Ruide’s mind, Irene had already become a gambling addict who would ruin their family.

Ruide stood up with determination and looked around. He spotted the Chancellor, who seemed eager to applaud, and headed toward him.

“Chancellor.”

“Hahaha, with this money, we could build a new training ground… Hm? If it isn’t the slacker. You’re still here?”

Clifford looked at Ruide with a broad smile.

“Hehe, boy. Did you get greedy after seeing the amount?”

Ruide wasn’t greedy for money. He already had 100 million gold in his spatial storage.

He had connected his spatial storage to the Windsor family vault so he could spend freely.

But now, half of it was about to disappear.

“…This is enough, isn’t it? Please stop it, Chancellor.”

“Hehe, I can’t do that. The excitement of an auction is exactly what bidders want, isn’t it?”

As expected, this money-loving Chancellor wouldn’t give up easily.

Ruide bit his lip and said, “I’ll grant you one wish instead.”

“A wish?”

“You wanted something from me, didn’t you?”

Clifford gave a hollow laugh.

“So you knew?”

“Yes.”

What the Chancellor wanted was full disclosure of the theories presented at the demonstration.

In fact, the Chancellor had first proposed it to charge more for the memory crystal, but still.

Ruide had noticed when the Chancellor asked with regretful eyes, “Are you really going to freeze the theories from the presentation?”

“Hehe.”

Clifford stroked his chin. After a moment of consideration, he nodded quickly.

“There’s no point in maintaining my pride in front of you, slacker. Fine. In truth, that’s what I wanted more than a few tens of millions of gold. But…”

Clifford looked at the two heated bidders with stern eyes.

“Even if I intervene, do you think they’ll accept it?”

“Give it to both of them.”

“What?”

“…You have extra memory crystals, don’t you? Just collect payment from both of them. You probably won’t lose money that way, since the bidding has gotten so heated.”

Clifford was annoyed at how neatly Ruide resolved the situation.

Despite their positions as Chancellor and student, it felt like he was being led around.

But there was no better solution for the Academy.

Financially, thirty million gold would be a record high. Even if they held another auction in the future, it wouldn’t reach this amount.

Plus, there was the academic prestige the Academy would gain by publishing Ruide’s magical theories.

Though Clifford didn’t like it, he had no choice but to nod.

“Let’s do that.”

He stood up with his hands behind his back, called over an attendant, and whispered something.

The attendant quickly relayed the message. After hearing it, the auctioneer announced:

“By the organizer’s proposal, both bidders win at thirty million gold each! With this, we conclude this session of Mediaevali. Winners, please prepare your payment and come to the counter. Thank you.”

**

At the Mediaevali counter.

In this place where identity was strictly protected, auctioneer Carlona stood with the two winning bidders.

“Originally, His Majesty’s order was ‘Do not let the memory crystal with Ruide’s image fall into anyone’s hands’… but.”

Irene signed the guarantee document and handed it to Carlona. Carlona bowed politely, trembling.

“It seems Ruide intervened, so I’ll back down here.”

The Emperor held the memory crystal up to the light as he spoke.

“I was thinking about how to punish an impudent subject who tried to outbid the Emperor, but I’ll let it go for the sake of my dear niece.”

Irene slightly bowed her head and replied.

“Niece… I’m honored, but my father is not part of the imperial family.”

“Throughout history, the Windsors have been connected to the imperial family. Aren’t you like a niece? Where else would those red eyes of yours come from?”

“That doesn’t make me your niece.”

The two had been engaged in a battle of nerves for some time.

The Emperor smiled with composure.

“Then shall I call you son-in-law? I’m already planning your marriage to my daughter—”

“As the next head of the family, I refuse that engagement in advance.”

“My, I should expedite this before you become the family head.”

Irene’s eyebrow twitched.

Until now, she hadn’t blinked at anything he said, but Ruide was clearly her weak spot. The Emperor felt a sense of satisfaction. He left the counter with his hands behind his back.

He planned to visit Ruide after so long.

Not to be outdone, Irene followed closely behind.

**

On the way to the counter to collect his Arctic fox and Rak’s Orb.

Ruide encountered the Emperor and Irene.

Hersy hid behind Ruide when she saw Irene. Of course, since Ruide was shorter, she wasn’t well hidden.

“If you wanted an Arctic fox, you could have sent a letter.”

Irene stepped forward and spoke first.

“I didn’t particularly plan to raise one.”

If Ruide had wanted one, he could have gotten an Arctic fox anywhere.

He hadn’t done so because he only recently started missing the North.

You don’t know what’s precious until you have it. Ruide had decided to raise the fox as soon as he saw it.

“Really? You looked quite happy. If you miss the North, right now…”

“Ruide. It’s been a while.”

The Emperor interrupted and crouched in front of Ruide.

‘…Do you have nothing better to do?’

Ruide had such an irreverent thought.

“You could have visited me since you came to the island.”

“I’ve only been on the island for a month.”

The Emperor looked disappointed.

“A month is a long time to wait.”

“…We came together in the first place.”

‘Who is this man?’

Hersy was puzzled. She couldn’t recognize the Emperor due to the powerful perception-inhibiting magic cast on him.

However, she could guess he was someone of high status since he seemed familiar with Ruide. Hersy greeted him.

“Hello. I’m Hersy Minerva. I’m Ruide’s friend.”

“Oh, the Minerva heir, aren’t you.”

The Emperor spoke gently.

“Continue to get along well as ‘friends’.”

There was a strange emphasis on the word “friends.”

The Emperor stood up.

“I’d like to chat more, but I came out in a hurry and don’t have time.”

“Farewell, Your Majesty.”

Irene immediately bowed her head. Hersy was a bit surprised. Was there someone in the empire who warranted such respect from the Windsor heir?

‘Could it be the Emperor?’

What am I thinking?

Hersy shook her head vigorously.

“You come with me.”

Irene just smiled without answering.

“I have important matters to discuss. About Windsor.”

The Emperor spoke with his hands behind his back. Irene wasn’t pleased but couldn’t refuse family matters.

Instead, she said to Ruide in a small voice.

“Wait for me at the mansion with Amelia.”

“Okay.”

Irene unbuttoned her coat and followed the Emperor.

‘She’s so cool…’

Hersy thought Irene looked cooler than any knight she had ever seen. Her neat appearance, behavior, tone—everything. Though a bit intimidating.

While she was momentarily entranced by Irene’s retreating figure, she turned around to find Ruide already walking away.

Hersy ran a little to catch up with Ruide and asked.

“Who was that person?”

“Secret.”

“I see…”

Hersy pouted.

**

Having successfully won what he wanted, Ruide returned to the Academy.

He had agreed to wait for Hersy since she had remaining classes. He had that much loyalty.

Moreover.

“Yip, yip!”

He wanted to play with the fox.

‘It’s the same Arctic fox I saw at home.’

Ruide watched with fond eyes as the fluffy ball ran around Dellin’s Lake as if it were home.

Just looking at it seemed therapeutic. Ruide crouched down and opened his arms.

“Come here.”

Did it already recognize its owner?

The Arctic fox spotted Ruide and ran at full speed into his arms. Ruide naturally lay down on the grass.

“Yiiip!”

The fox licked Ruide’s face. Ruide laughed and hugged the fox.

He stroked its head, and it purred as if enjoying the touch.

Ruide grabbed the fox by its armpits and lifted it up.

“Foxes really are love.”

Cute black eyes and small, swift ears. Above all, the soft, fluffy fur felt good just to touch.

“What should I name you?”

Ruide pondered seriously.

“Whitey?”

“Yip…”

“Snowball?”

“Yip!”

The fox didn’t seem to like those names. Realizing he had no talent for naming, Ruide decided to consult Hersy.

For now, he needed to play with the fox. Ruide put the fox down beside his head and took out his staff, pointing it at the sky.

“An Arctic fox should run on snow, after all.”

Thanks to temperature control magic, it didn’t really matter, but snow would make the Arctic fox happier.

Blue light extended from Ruide’s staff and reached toward the sky.

It wasn’t some extraordinary magic that changed the weather. It simply sprinkled water from the sky and froze it.

The change happened immediately. Small ice crystals fell onto Ruide’s skin. The fox licked them. White snow began to fall on Dellin’s Lake.

“Oof.”

Ruide got up. He reached into the air, intending to pull out something random to play with.

“…This is a bit much.”

What he grabbed was a Mana Heart. It looked like a red crystal, with legends saying it came from dragons.

He casually threw it into the air. The spatial storage swallowed the Mana Heart. Ruide reached deeper and pulled out something else.

“Huh?”

This time it was Rak’s Orb. He was about to put it back since it seemed ominous. But then.

“Yip, yip!”

“…You like this?”

The fox wagged its tail frantically, unable to contain itself. It seemed interested.

“Hmm.”

Ruide lifted the orb and examined it more carefully.

…He felt nothing. Really, nothing at all.

“It should be fine, right?”

Even if something happened, he was confident he could handle it. In the original story, even “Lazy Ruide” easily subdued Rak.

Without much concern, Ruide threw the orb.

“Yip!”

The fox dashed forward, caught the orb in its mouth, and brought it back to Ruide. Ruide’s expression brightened.

“Good job, good job.”

He patted its head once. The fox obediently spat out the orb. It wrinkled its nose and wagged its tail as if asking him to throw it again.

Ruide threw it with all his might.

But then—

Woong!

“…?”

Rak’s Orb didn’t continue forward but stopped in mid-air.

It resonated, emitting a purple light.

Ruide stared at the orb in disbelief for a long time.

“…And it was so peaceful for once.”

Soon, the orb glowed intensely, and something like fog seeped out.

[Kuhaha-! I have waited for this moment- Foolish human!]

“……”

Ruide’s brow furrowed.

His expression quickly changed to one of facing waste material.

He immediately reached into the air. The ice crystals falling from the sky instantly gathered in his hand, forming a spear.

[Q-quite impressive. B-but do you think magical combat has any meaning against the g-great Rak…]

“Return to the earth.”

Ruide mercilessly thrust the spear.