Chapter 9

“Be careful with that one. She’s got a nasty temper. I thought she was raised delicately, if not nobly, seeing how pale she is. But as soon as she woke up, she knocked the jaw off the guy who was getting handsy with her.”

“That’s why he’s been walking around like that. Serves him right. That guy’s been touching the merchandise too often, and I was planning to teach him a lesson anyway.”

Iru walked on, listening to the men snicker.

At first, she thought about resisting and refusing to leave, but she quickly changed her mind.

‘If I don’t behave, they’ll just drug me.’

So Iru intentionally pretended her body was still weak, staggering slowly as she followed the men’s lead.

“This is the last item for today, right?”

One of the men said, sliding his hand down Iru’s back. His fingers started to grope around her waist. His sticky touch, full of lust, made her feel disgusted, but she lowered her head and continued walking, following the men.

“Of course. There hasn’t been anything like this lately. This one’s going to sell for a lot. Plus, today we’ve got some important guests, so you can expect a good price.”

“You always say that, but you’ve never brought in proper buyers before.”

The man who had said they could expect good things was ridiculed, and he shouted in anger.

“Today is different! A royal is coming!”

“A royal?”

Even Iru looked up at him, surprised by his words. The man, seemingly pleased with their reactions, puffed up with pride and continued.

“That’s right. There’s a certain royal who still can’t give up on the Holy Sword and keeps visiting us. He’s the one who orders us to keep digging up the cave every time he comes.”

“Ah, that guy.”

At the mention of someone still searching for the Holy Sword, the other men nodded in agreement.

‘Who could it be?’

Six months had passed since the cave collapsed. But who was this royal who still hadn’t given up on finding the Holy Sword and kept coming back? Iru racked her brain, trying to recall which member of the royal family might be so obsessed with the Holy Sword.

…There were too many.

“Anyway, he’s probably the wealthiest person around here right now, don’t you think? That’s why I asked the diggers to spread a rumor. I told them to let word slip that a perfect woman is being sold today—black hair, purple eyes, snow-white skin, the perfect one to have in bed. That must’ve reached the royal’s ears. He ran here the moment he heard, wanting to participate in the auction.”

“Even the mighty royals drool and run at the thought of a good time.”

“Why would royals be any different? If anything, they’re worse. I heard the emperor has 19 children. Even my dog doesn’t breed that much.”

Their blasphemous words would get them beheaded if they were in the empire. But inwardly, Iru agreed with them. The royal family, and the nobles for that matter, were notorious for their debauchery. It wasn’t just a recent problem either.

‘Still, a royal coming all the way here to buy a woman?’

Iru tried to guess who it might be, but she sighed in frustration. Again, there were just too many possibilities.

* * *

Iru thought they would take her straight to the auction house, but the men instead handed her over to another room. Inside, there were women and men, half-dressed or barely clothed, lounging around.

“So this is the special one for today? Worth spreading rumors about, for sure.”

The people inside whistled as they took Iru and began washing her. The one cleaning her body gently rubbed her skin with a soft cloth, marveling as they did so.

“I’ve never seen skin this flawless before.”

“Right? Is she a noble lady? Or did they raise her underground in some back alley?”

They were genuinely impressed. No matter how delicately someone was raised, by the time they reached Iru’s age, signs of life would normally show on their body. But her skin was startlingly white, without a single freckle or blemish in sight.

“It’s like she was just born.”

As someone said that, Iru quietly looked at them. If the Holy Sword was what made her like this, then they were right. The person, uncomfortable under her gaze, gave a strained laugh and awkwardly spoke again.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. Let’s hurry up. There’s an important guest waiting, and we need to make sure she looks worth the price.”

After washing her, they brought out thin scraps of fabric.

“What should we dress her in?”

They called them clothes, but to Iru’s eyes, they were more like dragonfly wings—so sheer you could see everything through them.

“If everything’s visible, that’d ruin the fun. Better to cover her just enough.”

Were they seriously considering such things? Iru swallowed her rising disgust and let them do as they pleased. There was no point in resisting until the right moment came. Besides, there was no real shame in it for her.

Iru had been raised as a knight from the moment she started walking. To a knight, the only shameful thing was defeat, not showing skin.

‘Not that I’m comfortable wearing this…’

She couldn’t help but feel ridiculous in the outfit, so obviously made to cater to twisted tastes. If her comrades could see her now, she would have wished for death from embarrassment. But all those comrades who would have laughed at her were now dead.

‘Everyone…’

To keep herself from losing her mind to rage, Iru bit down hard on her lip.

She could take all the mockery in the world. She could even strip and dance if it meant bringing her comrades back. 

With impossible fantasies in her mind, Iru quietly endured the hands touching her body.

* * *

As soon as the dressing was complete, Iru was once again dragged by the men, moving somewhere. The path gradually widened, and as the surroundings grew noisier, it seemed they were headed to the auction hall.

‘I knew there were auctions for selling people in Lagash, but I never thought I’d end up here myself.’

Lagash was the land where the Holy Sword had been discovered, located at the center of the continent, and it was a primeval land that no nation could claim ownership of. It was a place said to be the origin of all lands, a region with treacherous and complex terrain. After the collapse of the kingdom that ruled over it centuries ago, nearby nations waged wars over Lagash for quite some time. However, none succeeded in taking control, and for a long time, it became a lawless land, owned by no one.

Because of this, those who couldn’t find a place in their own countries were the first to flow into this land. Over time, Lagash turned into a haven for crime, a zone where law did not exist.

‘If this were the Empire, we would have burned it to the ground by now, you bastards.’

Seeing the people buying and selling humans so brazenly filled Iru with fury as a knight of the Empire. As she continued walking, she resolved that, no matter how long it took, she would one day burn this place down.

‘Should I escape along the way? Or wait until I’m taken to the Empire?’

Even if she escaped, it wouldn’t be the end. First, she would have to make it back to the Imperial Palace. But in her current state, how could she prove she was a knight of the 9th Knight Order?

‘And that’s assuming I can even manage to escape.’

If she were in her original condition, escaping from this place would be nothing. She could move for days without tiring, and if she had a sword, she could easily cut through anyone in her way. But in her current state?

‘I’d be caught in an hour, maybe even less.’

In fact, she’d probably be captured within ten minutes. Even if she were to somehow acquire a weapon, her body wasn’t in any condition to wield it properly. And worst of all…

‘I’d stand out far too much in this form.’

In the past, people would stare in awe as if a monster had passed by. But now, if she wandered around alone like this, people would treat her like a stray animal, rushing to grab her.

‘If I’m lucky, they’ll sell me off like these guys, but that’s not likely what most would do.’

It wasn’t hard to imagine the kind of fate that would await a powerless, weak, and beautiful person like herself.

As Iru continued to ponder, they reached the end of the hallway.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Another man tied a rope to Iru’s bound hands and dragged her out like a dog. Climbing the stairs behind a tall platform, Iru found herself facing a dark space.

The auction hall was dimly lit, with only the stage illuminated. The area where the customers sat was entirely shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see the people sitting there. However, the moment Iru stepped onto the stage, the noise erupted.

Whistling, applause, shouts to strip her, and voices yelling they had raised their hands first all echoed throughout the room.

Amidst the vulgar noise, Iru squinted to adjust her eyes to the darkness and scanned the area where the customers sat.

‘Where are they?’

The men were confident they would sell her to royalty. In truth, Iru was hoping for that outcome as well. As disgusting as they were, being sold to royalty was better than being handed over to some strange noble. Not that she trusted their sense of morality, of course.

‘They won’t believe me if I say who I am, but if I mention the Holy Sword, they might listen, at least.’

There was still a royal searching for the Holy Sword who came to this place. That gave her some hope.

Iru quickly went over the royals she knew in her head. No matter who she thought of, they were all wretched people who made her sigh. But there was one, just one, royal who might be of help in this situation.

‘The problem is, that person would never be here.’

The only direct royal with no interest in the Holy Sword, and someone who would never come to buy a woman.

As she was thinking about this unlikely person, Iru’s gaze returned to the darkness, only to see someone stepping up onto the platform.

The figure approached Iru and grabbed her chin. Dark blue eyes stared directly into hers before the person spoke.

“How much for this woman?”

Iru looked up in shock at the man standing before her.

The one asking for her price was none other than Nergal, someone she never imagined would be in such a place.