Chapter 90 : Chapter 90
Chapter 90: Auction (1)
He did not deviate from the focus of the present.
The habit and ideology, painstakingly acquired, were the driving force that allowed Homer to grow into a strong man who targeted the Black Land.
It was the strength that allowed him to find Simurtr, who was loitering in front of the Hella auction house, without losing his way despite being utterly disappointed.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. That you’re so great.”
“It sounds strange to hear that in a place like this.”
“There are no bad people among those who respect Lord Exa.”
Looking at Simurtr, who was showing his guard, Homer smiled.
‘He is someone this old man has recently taken a liking to. If you happen to meet him, please treat him well.’
Aran had said that about Simurtr, but Homer had no particular intention of going to find him and doing anything.
“The adopted son with white mana. Just as he said, you resemble Lord Exa.”
Flinch.
At those words, Simurtr reacted strangely.
‘It seems your upbringing was similar. You’re not used to compliments.’
This too must have been a reason why Aran had taken a liking to him.
In Mectera, Exa had not been treated well.
‘The child is not at fault.’
Homer.
Did not like Mectera.
The Exa that Homer remembered was not someone who would miss Mectera.
Becoming the hero of Mectera was a cunning scheme by Gerehk Mectera. Gerehk’s soldier was a punishment from heaven.
The reason Harkinwagen was known as a force of Mectera was simply because Homer followed Aran, who was chasing Exa.
“The two people beside you. Are they your companions?”
“……”
Simurtr nodded his head silently.
He should speak formally. That was right. It was proper. But Simurtr’s mouth did not open easily.
Though he had done so all along since his reincarnation, it was not an easy thing to do to Homer.
‘To that Homer?’
His face hadn't changed much. It must mean he had reached the state of a mature Sword Master.
That was why it was even harder to let go. Facing him, the image of Homer, who used to follow him while sobbing, came to mind.
Please include me too. Please, even if I die, I want to go with you… Every time they were deployed on a mission, every time Exa tried to leave him behind, the weak Homer would cling to Exa’s pant leg.
“You, you had a connection with Koral too?”
He swallowed hard. Just as he was about to answer Homer, Haryun suddenly spoke.
“Koral?”
“That mask. It’s Koral’s, isn’t it?”
Surprise was hidden on Haryun’s face.
She had never seen Koral in person. But it was Koral who distributed Bahab’s goods in the west. Haryun had memorized some of Koral’s information.
“That’s? Koral’s mask?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
First Degrate, and now Koral.
For Haryun, who had seen Simurtr’s life report, it was an incomprehensible network of connections.
“Haha. I’ve been found out. That’s right. We formed a deep connection in Huit. We’re close.
Aren’t we, young master?”
Homer, who had come up beside him, suddenly wrapped an arm around Simurtr’s shoulder.
What is he doing? As Simurtr glared at him, Homer nudged the shoulder he was holding.
Simurtr decided to play along for now.
“That’s right. You see him? He saved me from something dangerous. But it turned out he was a precious person from Koral.”
“That’s right.”
Kanan affirmed.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. I thought I would never see you again, so I am glad to see you.”
“You’ve become much more polite.”
“I was rude back then.”
Simurtr’s eyes, which had been looking back and forth between Homer and Kanan, lit up.
Koral. One of the participants in the auction for distinguished guests.
‘They came to participate in the auction.’
Homer Harkinwagen, who had followed Exa.
And The Unsetting Sun, which revered Exa.
‘My sword. They heard the rumor about Elder and came in Koral’s place.’
Did one of the two also have a connection with Koral?
That wasn't important. It was a minor thing, and Simurtr didn't think about it.
“So. Why did you come looking for me?”
Homer had said he had heard the story from the butcher. It wasn't a request. There was another reason for his visit.
“Why, to repay the kindness from Huit, of course. I was also asked a favor personally.”
By Lord Aran.
Homer whispered in his ear.
Good. Very good. Simurtr was inwardly grateful to Aran and praised him.
“I hear you’re after Remeter. I was just about to enter the auction house, and I happen to have a spare mask… By any chance, is your companion from Bahab?”
Homer’s voice, which had been chattering, was momentarily filled with caution.
He didn't want to be caught by Bahab.
Homer wanted to hide that he was a Harkinwagen, and Kanan that he was from The Unsetting Sun.
‘They came disguised as Koral.’
Otherwise, there would be no reason to be on edge.
It was a disguise. From Homer’s caution, Simurtr gained conviction and looked at Haryun.
‘The disguise is none of my business.’
He was now able to participate in the auction.
Akarr’s test was now on the back burner. Later. It wouldn’t be too late to do it after the auction.
If it came to it, he didn't have to comply. He just had to trust Haryun as he had thought before.
‘She’s not the type to make promises she can’t keep out of a sudden whim.’
The transmission of the Swelling Flame.
It might have been something she had said out of overwhelming emotion, but he believed that Haryun would keep her word.
‘But what about this auction?’
The rebellious phase of someone whose values were complete could become a rebellion.
But Haryun was not. She was still young.
The rebellious phase of that age was like a midsummer night’s dream. One forgets it quickly upon waking from sleep.
‘In the end, she’s a Bahab. An enemy.’
Blood is thicker than water.
Though she was like this now, she would soon settle back into Akarr’s embrace. Not like Hejel, but she would come to terms with reality.
It was very unsettling, but such a future was predetermined. She was a Bahab he would have to kill someday.
“Is the young lady a Bahab? And the person next to her is her guard?”
Homer had recognized Jeremiah’s skill in an instant.
‘As expected.’
A Sword Master.
Only Bahab could have such a strong person by their side. Homer’s suspicion was plausible.
‘This is as far as it goes.’
It was Bahab’s auction house.
Haryun’s presence would tarnish the meaning of Homer and Kanan’s disguise as Koral.
‘It’s right to drop her here.’
He couldn't take Haryun.
She might end up holding Homer or Kanan back. That was not something he should do to those who had helped him.
He felt sorry for Haryun, whose first bellows-work was ruined, but…
“No! That’s not it. We’re not from Bahab. Right, mister?”
Haryun, who had suddenly exclaimed, nudged Jeremiah’s side with her elbow.
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Uh, right. We have no connection with Bahab.”
Jeremiah’s acting was quite awkward.
“What is this…”
“Isn’t it so.”
Simurtr, who was about to tell the truth, stopped talking.
Please. Haryun was saying with her eyes.
She wanted to confirm for herself whether a comrade’s memento was really being auctioned.
Even though she already knew that her mother was a scoundrel who would use her daughter, even though she had already been burned, she wanted to be burned again.
‘What would change.’
It was bravado, and nothing would change.
If Haryun became a hindrance in the not-so-distant future, Simurtr had the will to kill her. He would have to.
“You seem to be from Bahab.”
“We’re not. Right?”
Homer’s suspicious gaze shifted over.
Please. Haryun’s eyes were still desperate.
‘…Shall I try planting a seed.’
Just as he had done with the siblings and Beden.
Simurtr could not win against Haryun.
“That’s right. They’re not from Bahab. They’re my friends.”
Just in case.
***
“Do you know? Exa Mectera and Akarr Bahab were not on good terms. No, they were on f*cking bad terms.”
“What are you talking about.”
“No, really. Do you know what their first meeting was like? She told him to sacrifice himself instead, calling him a lowly cripple who had been expelled from Mectera.”
“Lies.”
Haryun glared at Simurtr.
Though distrust had formed, her respect was not tarnished.
Akarr Bahab might be unqualified as a mother, but not as a Bahab. She became a hero because she was more than enough.
The achievements Akarr Bahab had built were real. The current era was proof of that, and they could not be belittled or willfully ignored.
“No, it’s true. I heard it myself. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were mortal enemies. If it was about Lord Exa, Akarr Bahab would find fault with every little thing.”
“That’s right. It was a situation where they should have been holding onto each other’s lifelines tightly, but she just picked fights, calling him of lowly birth.”
“Oh. That’s a secret history that even a war veteran would find hard to know, yet you know it well. You said you respect Lord Exa the most. Did they tell you in Mectera?”
“Aran told me.”
“I see!”
But.
Why were these people acting like this?
“Are you saying that Akarr Bahab is trash?”
Haryun said, after listening to their conversation silently.
Though Simurtr had tried to say it indirectly, the Koral mask was relentless.
“Does it come to that?”
“It seems so.”
At Haryun’s words, Simurtr and Homer looked at each other.
Homer did not point out her tone. Simurtr liked that. And the fact that they got along quite well even though they had just met after a long time.
‘Though it seems like he’s just excited because an old story came up.’
Because he was planting the seed with her.
“You’re both talking in a way that can only lead to that conclusion.”
“Did we?”
“I think we might have.”
“But considering that she was about to let her own territory’s people die because she lacked respect for the lord, maybe so?”
“Oh. Do you know about the Bahab air raid?”
“I know, I know. I heard it all from Aran. It was a surprise attack by the Doom Species Count Bemerem using his authority.”
“Amazing!”
What does a Simurtr younger than me know.
What did the Koral Merchant Guild, which didn't even exist during the war, hear directly.
Because she was hiding that she was from Bahab, she couldn't even show her displeasure.
Haryun shook her head and casually looked to the side. Jeremiah, who was always by her side, was not there.
The spare masks that Koral had given were two, and they were used by Simurtr and Haryun.
‘I will wait at the entrance.’
When the four wearing Koral’s masks were about to enter the auction house, that was what Jeremiah had said.
She wasn't particularly anxious. Though Simurtr and Jeremiah had been concerned about Hejel’s schemes, Haryun didn't think he would go that far.
‘This is Hella, but it’s still Bahab.’
Moreover, the Simurtr who was spouting insults over there was a strong man who had brought down the Black Tower and had so easily put Renate Noel in a near-death state.
She had a caller in her bosom, and if she just pressed it, a signal would go to Jeremiah.
Even if Simurtr wasn't there, Jeremiah would immediately respond to Haryun’s danger.
“Once, when Lord Exa returned, the Baperr facilities were gone. They said Bahab had pushed them over to make him indebted to them.”
“Why would they do such a thing. What were they lacking.”
“Akarr Bahab coveted Exa Mectera. Just like she covets me now.”
So they pushed over the Bahab facilities equally and they all became homeless together.
Haryun ignored Koral, who was saying such things. No, what would a merchant guild that was formed after the war know.
‘Koral’s representative.’
That man, who had identified himself as Hor, was just playing along. Because Simurtr was a Mectera.
‘He wouldn’t be able to say it in front of Bahab.’
He must be thinking that he should look good to the Mectera by his side rather than the distant Bahab.
Because he was hiding his identity. And he had also called Simurtr a benefactor.
“By the way, you’re living in Bahab, right? You’re close with Lady Haryun Bahab. Have you ever heard the name Egna?”
He was direct. He didn't hesitate to speak. He spoke without thinking, and it was an attitude that was quite familiar to Simurtr.
“Was helping me just to ask that?”
“I would appreciate it if you knew that most of it was goodwill. This is a personal greed.”
Simurtr smiled lightly.
He had thought it was pure goodwill. Well, even if he had been asked a favor, it would be hard to be so friendly at first sight.
‘It seems Degrate is keeping a tight lid on things.’
The name Egna was something Homer would want to dig into. Simurtr regretted having given that name at Pakun.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. It’s not that I’m not close with Haryun, but I’ve never heard that name.”
“Is that true?”
“Why would I lie to someone who helped me.”
Homer was not the meticulous type. He was similar to a Mectera swordsman. And he was even wearing a mask. Homer could not see through Simurtr.
“Egna. I am looking for the one who used that name. Because of that, Harkinwagen has been sending messages to Lady Haryun Bahab every day.”
“And?”
“She said she didn't come. That she was consistently ignored.”
Does this one even intend to hide his identity?
In his own mind, he probably thought it was fine, but in Simurtr’s eyes, it wasn't. Haryun was watching from the side with her eyes wide open.
“From what I hear, it seems she had a good reason.”
As expected. Haryun said.
“Before that, Lady Haryun Bahab had also been sending messages to Harkinwagen repeatedly. A reply did come, but it was cut off at the butler’s level, not Harkinwagen.”
This one didn't seem to have any intention of hiding it either.
“You ignored her when you needed her, and then looked for her when you needed her. From Lady Haryun Bahab’s perspective, it must have been really vexing. I think I would have ignored them too.”
“Hmm. Harkinwagen said they didn't know that such a message had come.”
“You ignored it because it wasn't an official Bahab message, didn’t you?”
“No. If it’s from Bahab, Harkinwagen ignores it all.”
“Then it would be even more vexing. I think she would have just burned the letter.”
“I should go and see her myself.”
“Don’t come.”
Aren't these bastards acquainted with each other?
Simurtr thought without thinking.
“Young lady, are you perhaps from Bahab?”
“Then are you from Harkinwagen, mister?”
“Hmm. That’s not it.”
“Me neither.”