Simultaneously with the shout, many people rushed to participate in the auction. The fervor was on a different level from before.

One thousand, two thousand, the price quickly soared, and had already surpassed five thousand.

“Everyone must have a lot of money. Five thousand gold is enough to buy a mansion in the outskirts and still have some left over.”

“Well, it’s an item that could change the nation’s political situation. In the worst case, they might even have to select a new crown princess. … But that comment just now, you’re saying that about your friend?”

“Yeah.”

Nigel Ars, who was watching the auction with her chin resting on the armrest, answered Sid Cromwell indifferently.

Her friend, no, Allen, sitting in front, was raising his paddle non-stop.

“But Ars, the auctioneer just said this is the last item, so if Allen’s group buys all the auction items, we won’t be able to go to the back…”

“Five thousand five hundred!!”

Nigel shouted vigorously, raising paddle number 53.

What a stupid mistake, I must have let my guard down too much.

“Yes! Customer number 53! Five thousand five hundred has been offered! Five thousand five hundred gold!”

Paddle number 21, recognizing Nigel’s voice and number, twitched greatly up and down.

Judging by Noah and Yenika whispering something on either side of Allen, they seemed to have realized Nigel’s intention, and both Allen’s momentum and paddle gradually lowered.

Sid was looking at Nigel as if she were pathetic.

“By the way, do you have the money to pay for it?”

“Huh?”

With a face that seemed to say ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’, Nigel nodded towards the front.

In that direction was Allen.

“I knew this might happen, so I brought several blank checks before we left. One of them is in my hand.”

Nigel specially showed a glimpse of the blank check.

“No, I mean… never mind, forget it.”

Sid, seemingly quite frustrated, folded his arms.

“It’s okay if you don’t lend me money, Sid.”

“What! You knew…!”

Sid, his face slightly flushed from having his true intentions accurately read, gritted his teeth.

“Well, someone like you who values honor and will work for the country in the future shouldn’t use your credit for such bad things.”

Nigel said this while casually raising her paddle to the auctioneer’s excited shout of six thousand gold.

“U-Unnecessary meddling!”

Sid sharply turned his head away from Nigel. Though his words were curt, Sid’s ears, unable to hide his emotions, were visibly pink.

“And I have a separate backup plan, so don’t worry about the money.”

Nigel said, thinking of Zeronin Silvas.

Zeronin was a person who didn’t care much for money, and unless it was related to magic addiction, he usually didn’t bend his opinion and mostly listened to Nigel, so this time too, he would have willingly provided a large sum of money.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter whose money it is anyway?”

Nigel muttered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“We’ve got a good team, you know. There’s the only son of the Emperor’s Sword who’s a walking credit, the person involved in the lost ring incident, and even the son of a parliamentary judge. It’s a good combination, isn’t it?”

“Don’t tell me you’re not only checking behind the stage, but also…”

As expected, you’re quick-witted, Nigel nodded.

“Yes, any imperial citizen with their head on straight should report to His Majesty the Emperor. It’s our Academy’s chairman, after all. Everyone involved, including Count Lumen who held the auction, and all the buyers of auction items.”

Nigel quickly added, as if she had realized something.

“Ah, keep this a secret from the kids in front. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them because it seemed like they’d cut ties if I said we were going to make a fuss there.”

“That’s not, hah… forget it. Your crude magic should somehow manage.”

Sid, who was about to get heated with worry, laughed dejectedly as he recalled the results Nigel’s abilities had brought about.

“Ten thousand gold! The item has been sold to customer number 53 for a whopping ten thousand gold!”

Regardless, the engagement ring personally designed by the Crown Prince was sold to Nigel for the hefty sum of ten thousand gold.

Soon after the auction ended, a person in a neat suit approached Sid and Nigel’s seats.

Looking around, each auction item buyer now had an employee assigned to them.

They were wearing kind smiles, but there was a chilling aspect to them. It seemed more like they were there for surveillance rather than as escorts.

“Please follow me this way.”

Not knowing what would happen next, the two stood up and took their first steps.

Sid and Nigel followed the employee’s guidance to the backstage area.

The reason why the auction items were placed in separate rooms might have been to secretly conduct nefarious deeds, as people entered different rooms.

The rooms seemed to be sound-proofed, as no sound other than Nigel’s footsteps could be heard in the corridor, which felt chilly.

After walking for a while, the employee stopped in front of a door.

Now, in this secluded room, Sid and Nigel would get closer to the depths of the auction house.

Sid swallowed hard due to the mounting tension.

Turning his head to look at Nigel, Sid felt somewhat relieved to see that she appeared no different than before.

Click.

The employee quietly opened the door. Inside, a muscular man was standing still in front of an object like a statue.

In the center of the room was a transparent square case. Upon closer inspection, there was a ring inside.

Two elegant white gold curves symbolizing the imperial family formed the base, and at the center of the ring was a large teardrop-shaped diamond.

At a glance, the diamond seemed to be of an enigmatic color that looked both pink and purple, supported by intricate spiderweb-like carvings, and around it were smaller white diamonds that, though smaller in size, emitted a light no less brilliant than the purple diamond.

It was a beautiful ring that exuded both majesty and the affection of its creator.

‘… It’s more surprising that it hadn’t gone missing earlier.’

The ring was so conspicuously luxurious that it was remarkable it hadn’t been pickpocketed right after Yenika ran away.

“Will the gentleman be paying for the auction item?”

Without answering, Nigel felt a strange sense of satisfaction as she took out a blank check from her pocket. Then, she picked up a pen, wrote down five numbers, and handed it to the employee.

“Oh my…!”

The employee blushed as he accepted the check.

“Y-You can take it right away.”

And he opened the transparent case covering the ring. At the same time, the brilliance of the previously enclosed ring shone even more under the light.

Nigel carefully reached out and grasped the small velvet case containing the ring.

Looking down at the ring, she felt a truly strange feeling.

That this priceless, precious object had been put up for auction, and that it had come into her possession upon payment.

Snap.

Nigel closed the case and carefully tucked it away.

For now, a sense of relief at achieving her primary goal overshadowed her confused feelings.

‘Now Yenika won’t have to make that sad face anymore.’

Nigel smiled, recalling Yenika’s bright smile as she tossed her pretty hair.

At that moment, the employee handed Nigel and Sid some documents.

“Customers, please sign here.”

It was none other than a confidentiality agreement. It was a contract spelling out in concrete terms that what happened in this auction house should remain here, a life-or-death agreement.

‘… Of course. I thought it was resolving too easily.’

Sid’s face instantly hardened after skimming through the contents.

As Nigel and Sid hesitated to sign, a man with a build two or three times larger than theirs slowly approached them.

However, Sid seemed more afraid of the document in his hand than the hulking figure before him.

While it might not matter much if Nigel, who was ostensibly an orphan with nothing, signed the contract, it could be disadvantageous for Sid, who had much to lose.

For instance, under the name of ‘treason’ against the imperial family.

If he signed the contract, he wouldn’t be able to mention Lumen’s name due to the life-threatening agreement, and Sid, unable to provide any reason for possessing the ring, would reach a point of no return.

Seeing Sid’s confused face made Nigel feel quite unpleasant. She also felt sorry for using Sid’s status to enter the auction house, starting with her forced tears.

Riiip.

At that moment, Nigel snatched the document trembling in Sid’s grasp. Then she overlapped it with her own document and tore them both to shreds mercilessly.

The pieces of paper fluttered down in curves, settling one by one on the marble floor.

“What is this…!”

The hulking man and the employee, a beat late in grasping the situation, immediately rushed towards Nigel.

“… Good thing it’s soundproofed.”

Nigel muttered in a voice so low only Sid could hear.

At that voice, life instantly returned to Sid’s face, which had been as empty as a void.

And in Sid’s sparkling eyes, an even brighter flame filled up. And then…

BANG!!

An enormous sound that seemed like it would blow away the room reverberated.

Sid, who had reflexively squeezed his eyes shut and crouched down, opened his eyes to see two people sprawled on the floor, crushed under what used to be a large wall, and Nigel standing firmly.

“What are you doing? Get up.”

At that moment, Nigel’s delicate hand reached out to Sid.

Sid blinked, then chuckled and grasped that hand.