Chapter 14 —
“How many times do we have to say it? We’re not thieves!”
“Yeah! We didn’t steal anything here!”
“Please, just be quiet…”
Three voices could be heard—man, woman, man. All sounded like they were middle-aged.
Kiri, as always, counted how many people there were. She relaxed when she realized their goal wasn’t the carriage.
“Looks like a thief got into the auction house. That’s probably what all the noise is about.”
“…Why are those people here?”
Irenea peeked out the window toward the front entrance and muttered. Kiri widened her eyes in surprise.
“You know them?”
“Not yet. Hmm… I didn’t expect them to come all the way to the capital. Did they come because they’re worried about Rey?”
Her voice trailed off, sounding like she was thinking out loud. Kiri got a strange feeling from that.
She had said, “Not yet.”
Sometimes, Irenea would say things like that—as if she already knew what was going to happen.
It felt different from just having a good business sense. Kiri had always brushed it off as her imagination, but whenever something like this happened again, that strange feeling came back.
‘They used to say that in the days of old magic, some great wizards could see the future…’
Could it be that the Marchioness is one of their descendants? Maybe she sees the future in her dreams?
‘Nah, no way.’
“I need to go check that out,” said Irenea suddenly.
“Huh? You want to go yourself? But your brother already went…”
“If we leave it alone, those people might get dragged away by the guards.”
As Irenea stood up, Kiri quickly knocked on the carriage wall. A knight standing guard opened the door right away.
Kiri got out first, helping Irenea as they headed toward the front gate, where a loud argument was happening.
“These people are unbelievable! Hey! Someone call the city guard and arrest them all!”
“What’s all this noise?”
“Gasp! Oh—Marchioness Blair!”
The guard captain, who had been yelling at the three cloaked people, recognized Irenea and immediately bowed his head.
“Sorry for the disturbance. These troublemakers will be taken away shortly, so if you could just wait a moment—”
“That’s Rey’s swo—! Mmph!”
A woman who had been pointing at Irenea’s sword was suddenly silenced by a giant hand covering her mouth. It belonged to the biggest man of the three.
“You idiot! You can’t just point at a noble!”
“But…”
Their faces were hidden by hoods, but that didn’t matter. What caught Kiri’s attention was their bodies.
With her experience from fighting in arenas for years, she could tell just by looking—they were all hardened warriors.
‘If these people had decided to go all out…’
The eight guards, including the captain, wouldn’t last ten minutes.
Why would skilled fighters like these be lurking near the auction house with their faces covered?
Even Kiri had to admit—it looked very suspicious.
She leaned toward Hawk, the knight standing in front of Irenea, and whispered:
“Who are they?”
“No idea.”
The strangers kept glancing toward Rey’s sword, but there didn’t seem to be any hostility toward Irenea.
Still, Hawk didn’t lower his guard and muttered in confusion:
“That man gave the guard captain three donghwa coins.”
“Three donghwa?”
A donghwa coin with three wheat stalks on it was worth 1,000 larc.
‘If they gave him silver coins, okay—that’s a real bribe. But why donghwa coins?’
You could only buy a few loaves of bread with that. Giving that as a bribe? It almost felt insulting.
Then suddenly, Irenea gasped behind them.
“Three donghwa? That’s a huge bribe!”
“Huh?”
Kiri, Hawk, and even the guard captain stared at her in shock.
The captain especially looked offended. From afar, someone yelled, “See, I told you!” and his face fell even more.
“A true businesswoman sees value where others don’t! Three donghwa is big money, you know! We’re not robbers!”
A skinny man shouted as he approached. Kiri and Hawk tensed up at once.
Sensing their caution, the man didn’t go near Irenea. He stopped in front of them and pulled something from his pocket, handing it to Hawk.
“We’re not suspicious people. We just came to watch the auction, but we didn’t know you needed a catalog to enter. We’ll leave quietly, so please just let us go.”
“What the—?!”
Who wears full cloaks and hides their faces just to watch an auction?
Before the captain could argue, Irenea stepped forward and looked at what was in Hawk’s hand.
Two donghwa coins. That meant 2,000 larc.
Irenea let out a bright laugh.
“Alright then! Since it’s such a pricey request, I’ll allow it.”
“Huh? Are you serious, Marchioness?”
“I’m in a great mood today. I just finished a deal I’ve been hoping for.”
Lifting the sword in her arms proudly, Irenea smiled at the guard captain.
“For my sake, just let these people go. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. You know me, right?”
“Well, of course… who in the capital doesn’t know Marchioness Blair…”
The captain glanced at the two coins in Hawk’s hand and shook his head in confusion.
He felt like he was under a spell. Still, he waved his hand at his men.
“Let them go.”
“But… are you sure?”
“She said she’d take responsibility.”
Even without her title, everyone in the auction knew how much money Irenea Blair had spent.
She had been the first to enter the auction today, and she definitely spent the most.
“Never upset a VIP customer. Especially not one like her. Handle their requests first—ask questions later.”
Honestly, even if those strangers were thieves, it wasn’t the auction’s problem.
But if they upset Irenea and she decided never to come back?
Now that would be a disaster.
‘Still… I’ll probably get yelled at later…’
The captain reported it to his boss, expecting a scolding.
But instead…
“Good job! Marchioness Blair left in a good mood, right?”
“Uh, yes… She said she was very happy with the deal.”
“Ha! She said that?! Then it must’ve been great! That was a five hundred million larc deal!”
“…How much?!”
“Five hundred million! She made 50 million larc just sitting there! If she ever comes again, treat her like royalty, got it?”
As his boss danced with joy, the guard captain just blinked.
“Five hundred million… seriously?”
Then his face filled with disbelief.
‘She dropped 500 million larc on a sword—but still accepted two coins as a bribe?!’
Later…
The guards let the trio go, but the three cloaked strangers didn’t relax until they returned to the inn.
Once safely inside their room, they finally exhaled in relief.
Vin, the man with blue hair, threw off his hood and shouted:
“Damn it, what was that mess?! We almost went to jail!”
“Don’t talk about jail in front of me!”
Michelle, who also removed her hood, snapped like an angry cat.
She was 45—middle-aged, but not old. Yet her hair was white like a granny’s, and her right hand had no thumb or index finger.
That mark meant she was a criminal—likely a thief. If the guards had seen her hand, they probably would’ve dragged her off on the spot.
“Having all of us wear hoods was a bad idea.”
“Oh, come on. You agreed with it too. The priority was not getting seen by Rey.”
“Well, I changed my mind. I’d rather Rey see us. At least she wouldn’t throw us in prison.”
“I agree,” said Heath, nodding silently.
Vin added, “Anyway, we got out safe thanks to me. So I’m deducting 1,500 larc from each of your shares.”
He’d been the group’s accountant for 26 years.
Heath, used to his stinginess, just nodded, knowing arguing wouldn’t change anything.
But Michelle exploded as usual.
“Hey! That’s 3,000 larc total! Why don’t you lose any money?”
“I paid with my clever thinking. I was going to take 1,000 more each, so be grateful.”
“Grateful?! I saw you pick up the coins the guard captain threw away!”
“What? Then just pay 1,000 larc each.”
“When did you even notice?! Ugh, fine, 1,000 it is.”
Michelle grinned in victory—
Until she realized…
Vin still hadn’t lost a single coin.
