Father, I Won’t Do Anything

“First, let’s start with the first auction item. Take a look at this ring studded with high-quality sapphire. Those of you with refined tastes would have recognized it at a glance…”

As the auctioneer finished speaking, people began raising their hands to bid.

“Fifteen million gold!”

“Eighteen million gold!”

“Twenty-three million gold!”

Jaina doubted the numbers her ears were hearing. Even for her, unfamiliar with the human world, the amounts were astonishingly large.

‘It’s enormous.’

At that moment, Hilvenzia casually asked from beside her.

“Jaina, how about that necklace?”

Jaina followed Hilvenzia’s fingertip.

An emerald necklace.

Although not well-versed in jewelry, even Jaina could tell it was an exquisitely crafted necklace that looked expensive.

“It’s pretty.”

“Do you like it?”

A soft smile curved Hilvenzia’s lips.

“Yes.”

It was a similar color to Hilvenzia’s eyes, so it would surely suit her well… Jaina was about to continue, but.

“Forty million gold.”

Hearing only Jaina’s single word, Hilvenzia immediately entered the bidding.

Not a few millions, but the lump sum of forty million gold at once.

‘Incredible.’

Jaina covered her small mouth, seeing the surrounding people inhale sharply.

‘For an alchemist of Hilvenzia’s caliber, this amount must be trivial.’

The auctioneer smiled faintly as he spoke.

“The bid is now at four million gold. If there are no further bids…”

“Fifty million gold.”

In an instant, the auction house fell silent. Everyone looked as if doubting their own ears.

“Hmm.”

Hilvenzia gently lifted the butterfly mask she was wearing.

“Today won’t be boring, it seems.”

Her gaze landed on the ponytailed woman who had called out fifty million gold.

After a moment, Hilvenzia opened her mouth.

“Sixty million gold.”

* * *

Throughout the auction, Hilvenzia bid on every single item.

She called out such staggeringly high amounts that no one else dared raise their hand.

However, there was someone obstructing her solo run – the ponytailed woman who had bid fifty million gold for the emerald necklace.

The two went back and forth, raising the bid and winning every item at the auction.

“It’s rare to find a customer with such refined taste.”

Catching the auctioneer’s eye with the result, after the auction ended, he approached Hilvenzia with a smile.

“We happen to have an auction for even rarer items scheduled tonight, and I would love for you to attend, madam.”

“Then I shall do so.”

With Hilvenzia’s casual reply, the three ended up participating in the second auction as well.

While waiting for the next auction to begin, Hilvenzia, holding the accessories she had won, posed a question to Jaina.

“Jaina, which one do you think looks better?”

“The emerald, without a doubt. It matches your eye color, lady Hilvenzia.”

“Hoho, unfortunately I’m not the one who will be wearing it.”

At those words, Jaina carefully examined the designs of the jewels Hilvenzia had won.

“Then perhaps a color that suits the wearer would be best?”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“And the design too. This one is mature, this one is more for a younger person to wear…”

As Jaina spoke, Hilvenzia nodded her head repeatedly. The look in her eyes as she gazed at Jaina was quite serious.

The two continued their conversation like this until the night auction began.

“Jaina, can you put on a necklace by yourself?”

Jaina narrowed her eyes.

“You’re not planning to gift me the jewels you won for my birthday, are you?”

If it were Mikael, he would have bluntly said, ‘What’s the problem, idiot, I’m giving them to you!’ But Hilvenzia was more subtle than that.

“No, why would I do that? Why did you think that?”

“Then that’s a relief.”

“Such needless worry.”

Hilvenzia tilted her head and smiled brightly.

“Although, I could give them to you if you want.”

“No, I’m fine, really.”

“I wasn’t suggesting it because I’m interested or anything. Hmm, I should have mentioned it sooner.”

As Hilvenzia joked, Jaina gave a faint smile. Taking that chance, Hilvenzia’s hand moved swiftly.

“Ah!”

In an instant, Hilvenzia had slipped a blue sapphire bracelet onto Jaina’s wrist.

Jaina struggled to remove the bracelet, but strangely, it wouldn’t come off easily. Fitting snugly on her wrist, it seemed magic was at work.

Watching Jaina fail to remove the bracelet and whine, Hilvenzia let out a small laugh.

“This bracelet has location tracking and magic power detection spells placed on it.”

And she casually added words that would make anyone else faint.

‘She still has that incident on her mind.’

It seemed she had devised this method out of concern for Jaina rushing into the flames.

“This isn’t a gift. We can’t have our precious ingredient taken away by others, can we?”

Hearing Hilvenzia’s joke, Jaina ended up smiling faintly.

But there was someone who took it seriously.

‘What is that woman saying?’

Izren shot Hilvenzia a deeply wary gaze. What threat could a child who was barely half his size pose?

‘Indeed, there are no ordinary people at the Magic Tower.’

As Jaina’s escort knight, Izren resolved to work even harder.

“It seems you don’t like it.”

“You know that’s not it.”

“I’m hurt by your lack of interest. Even when you know that bracelet is a magical artifact.”

The blue sapphire bracelet Hilvenzia had gifted wasn’t simply enchanted with location tracking and magic power detection spells.

The sapphire gem set in the center had a special spell that would activate a defensive barrier in dangerous situations.

“Last time, I didn’t say anything since Mikael scolded you thoroughly…”

Hilvenzia brought up the past incident where Jaina had gone so far as to forcibly transform into a dragon to save people.

“If you want to torment yourself like that, it would be more fun to become one of my experimental subjects.”

Hilvenzia grabbed Jaina’s cheek with one hand. The soft flesh stretched out following her touch.

“Owow. Lady Hilvenzia.”

Despite Jaina’s whimpers of pain, Hilvenzia showed no change in expression as she spoke seriously.

“But this is quite fun, you know.”

Hilvenzia even brought her other hand over, now pulling both of Jaina’s cheeks. As Jaina squirmed in agony, Hilvenzia showed no mercy.

“I’m scarier than I look, you know.”

Not just scarier than she looked – she was simply a scary person!

Jaina shot her an aggrieved look, but Hilvenzia only continued smiling.

However, her expression was different from usual.

The smile now on Hilvenzia’s face was brighter than her habitually casual one.

With a clear voice, Hilvenzia said:

“Jaina. Happy early tenth birthday.”

And then the official night auction began in earnest.

‘Huh?’

Jaina sensed an atmosphere quite different from before.

While the daytime auction had a leisurely feel of affluent people selecting luxury items, everyone at the night auction exhibited an indescribable fervor.

‘Is it because this is an auction for premium customers, so they’re all greedy?’

But it didn’t seem like mere greed or a desire to show off. It was more of a primal craving.

‘This doesn’t feel right.’

Jaina opened her doe-like innocent eyes sharply, scrutinizing the auction house.

True to her apprehension, the words reaching her keen ears weren’t the kind to be easily dismissed.

“That jewel… it must be the one Viscount Ellegott has been searching for, even shedding tears of blood.”

“But there’s no way that idiot would know about a place like this.”

“Hehehe. Of course not, this is a place even nobles are unaware of.”

As they said, the night auction seemed to involve something special.

If the early auction items included a family’s heirloom, then the later ones would undoubtedly be even more outrageous items.

Jaina could sense the anticipatory gazes of the people locked onto the auctioneer.

She glanced up at Hilvenzia beside her, but the other woman’s expression was unchanged, simply wearing her usual relaxed smile.

“Now, I shall introduce the main event of this auction!”

The moment the featured item was announced, Jaina noticed shock spreading across Izren’s face – the non-human who had come as her escort knight.

‘What’s going on…?’

His eyes, staring straight ahead, were bloodshot. As if he had received an excessive shock, or perhaps it was tinged with sorrow.

Whatever it was, it was clear he was in an abnormal state compared to usual. Izren’s body trembled as he stared intensely at something.

‘Huh?’

No, perhaps it wasn’t Izren trembling, but her own body instead.

Jaina felt a sudden dizziness from the strange scent invading her nose.

‘…I realized too late.’

The moment she thought she saw opaque pink dust particles floating within her vision.

That was the end of it. Jaina’s consciousness was swallowed by pitch-black darkness.

* * *

“You knew beforehand, didn’t you?”

Izren’s furious gaze pierced sharply into Hilvenzia.

These were the first words Izren had spoken to Hilvenzia since accompanying them as an escort knight, his voice clenched tight.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lies.”

“How insolent of you. Do you really think you’re in a position to speak to me like that?”

Hilvenzia’s tone towards Izren was cold and low.

However, her voice soon shifted to seductive and sly.

“Hohoho, even if I knew your kind would be sold at this auction house, you have no right to question me about it.”

“…”

“Neandra, was it? Indeed, you have the looks popular for taxidermy. Not to mention the hidden secrets. Isn’t that right, ‘kitty’?”

On the auction house stage, a member of Izren’s Neandra race was bound in chains with a black cloth covering their eyes, their entire body tightly restrained.