A Villainess pulled out the Sword instead of the Hero.

 “You still call me that! Wow, I was afraid I wouldn’t see you after what happened to your mom!” 

He jumped up, arms outstretched in glee.

 

Morgana quickly sidestepped and dodged. The force of the lunge caught him, and he hugged his father instead.

 

The owner showed his son the paper and said,

“Lennon. Have you ever seen one that looks like this?” 

Ah, so his name was Lennon.

 

It was a nickname Morgana had always called him, and not in a good way.

 

Though neither of them knew it. Lennon glanced at the paper and blinked.

 “Isn’t this the one that’s supposed to be at the auction tonight?” “This is the dagger? Aye. There’s no way it’s this dagger.” 

The man denied Lennon’s statement. But Lennon explained to him with great enthusiasm.

 “No. Look at it, Father, and the strange pattern here. I can picture out in your mind right?” “Aren’t you the only one who can see that?” “No, I tell you it is!” 

Morgana snapped back, staring at the scowling old man.

 “Is that a dagger made by a master craftsman?” “Oh, it is!” 

Lennon nodded vigorously. 

 

The location and appearance of the sword matched what I knew about it. If it was at an auction, it didn’t mean it was still in someone’s possession.

 

Morgana urgently asked him,

“What do I need to do to buy it? “What, do you have the money?” “I’ll take care of the money, bas…, no. Lennon, you just need to show me how to get there.” 

Lennon’s cheeks flushed at being called by his proper name. He swallowed hard, cleared his throat, and spoke confidently.

 

“

Okay. It’s not a place where just anyone can enter, but my shop sometimes makes deliveries. I’ll let you in with merchant privileges!” 

In response to his confident reply, the owner slapped him on the head in disbelief.

 “You wretch, who are you to do as you please, and you don’t even acknowledge your father?” “Ah, father, come on!” “Take him away so you can smear the name of your father later!” 

The words were barely above a whisper, but Morgana heard them all, nakedly, in her ears.

 

He was afraid she’d go in there with his name on it and beat down the place with a scythe as she’d done to him.

 

Such was the reputation Morgana had built up over the years. She couldn’t help but knit her eyebrows down in pity.

 

Like someone who’d made life as difficult as possible.

 

Then she blurted out,

“I wanted to apologize to you, Sir, for what I did, and I know I’m not the best person, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I was young then.” 

The two men’s jaws dropped at her words. The owner in particular stuttered and fumbled for words.

 “Ugh, my mom died, and it was so… hard.” 

Lennon’s face scrunched up, and he blinked back tears.

 “Don’t worry, Morgana. I’ll be sure to get you to the auction!” 

The owner still had a scowl on his face, but that didn’t stop his son’s pursuit.

  

Night fell, and as promised, Morgana met Lennon again outside the auction house.

 

Lennon’s face flushed again when he saw Morgana, who was wearing a robe because it was night.

 

He turned away from Morgana, cupping his fist over his mouth.

 “Ahem. It’s like a date. Right?” “It isn’t?” 

What the hell, I’m at an auction to save my life!

 

But Lennon was humming happily, as if he didn’t care. He had already stopped listening to Morgana’s explanation.

 

‘I think I know why Morgana beat him up.’

 

Morgana asked as he led her through the back door of the auction house.

 “Are you sure you can just barge in like that?” 

Lennon chuckled, holding up a small piece of wood with the weapons dealer’s name stamped on it.

 “I mean, who doesn’t leave something on the top as collateral and never show up?” 

With so many outsiders frequenting the place, Britain often sold valuable items to merchants or borrowed money by pledging items as collateral.

 

Morgana looks around the hallway leading to the auction house and asks.

 “Are there enough of them to justify a permit to the auction house?” “It’s Britain. Some people don’t bother to visit because they’ve been killed by monsters, and usually they don’t because they don’t have the money.” “Oh…” “That’s how they get to the auction house, through the tops.” 

So the best of the best were all eligible to enter the auction.

 

If you weren’t one of the top people in Britain, Lennon explains, invitations were reserved for the nobility and wealthy few.

 

Lennon pulled back the curtains that covered the entrance to the room, and the auction house came into view.

 

Despite the fact that the auction was being held at night, there was no shortage of people in attendance.

 

There were quite a few people seated in an auditorium in an oval shape with a stage in front.

 

It resembled an amphitheater. Although it was dark because it was underground.

 

Lennon took a wooden numbered tag from a man who appeared to be an auction staff member standing at the entrance and handed it to the first-time visitor.

 “The place is usually packed, but there’s not a lot of good stuff on offer today, so it’s a small crowd.” 

The room was already half full. I took a seat and waited. Then, poof, the center stage lights up, and the host walks in.

 “I’d like to thank everyone for bidding on the auction!” 

No one responded, but the host began the auction with a familiar sounding explanation.

 

There were a few strange items at first.

 

Like a painting of their cat that they hired a famous artist to paint because it was so beautiful.

 

The weirder ones went for pretty reasonable prices. We waited for a while, and I started to get antsy.

 

Morgana sat down next to Lennon, who was half dozing, and poked him in the side with her elbow.

 “The dagger. Are you sure it’s coming out?” “Uh, yeah, it should be out soon…” 

The host’s voice drowned out Lennon’s muffled reply.

 “This time, it’s a dagger supposedly made by the now deceased Dean Artisan!” 

Poof

, to the center stage once again, and the dagger in particular, lit up.

 

At long last!

 

As Morgana took her place, Lennon, who had been sleeping late next to her, whispered.

 “Hmm, that looks like it’s going to be pricey. Are you sure you’re okay with that?” “I’m fine.” 

Remembering how poor Morgana had been before, he stared at her anxiously.

 “Okay, then, we’ll start at fifty gold!” 

The host announced the bidding, and unlike before, a few more people began to raise their prices.

 “Number 42, seventy gold!” “Number 17, 100 gold.” 

The man numbered 17 hesitated a couple of times before raising his hand, as if he wanted to raise it.

 

His robe hid his face, but his sturdy build made him stand out from the crowd.

 

But he didn’t end up raising number 17.

 

The bidders seemed to be mostly nobles, and the plain color of the robe made it stand out even more.

 

As a collectible luxury item, the bidding quickly climbed to 500 gold.

 

Two men who seemed to have quite a bit of money were battling it out.

 “Hmm. Number 50, 600 gold.” “42, 620 gold!” “Number 50, 700 gold.” 

Morgana held up number 28 and waited for the limit price. She had a lot of money, and she didn’t bother trying to bargain.

 “Seven hundred gold. Do you have another 700 gold?” 

The man at number 50 shrugged as if he’d won.

 

It was a good amount. When the host asked again. Finally, Morgana held up her sign.

 “Number 28, 1,000 gold.” “One, one thousand gold! One thousand gold!” 

The host’s voice grew louder at the suddenly large sum.

 

Lennon, who had been sitting next to me the whole time, jumped up and down in his seat, wide-eyed.

 “Are you crazy, Morgana, what are you going to do with a thousand gold?” 

The man at number 50 glanced back at her ruefully. The host turned to him.

 “One thousand gold, guest number 50. Ten million gold. Do you want it?” 

The man crossed his arms as if he was hesitant to answer the host’s question, but then he waved his hand.

 Thud, thud, thud– 

The sound of a wooden mallet rang out.

 “One thousand gold! The dagger of Master Dean is sold to guest number 28 for one thousand gold!” 

On this day, the largest amount of money in the auction house was Morgana’s 1,000 gold, and the item was a dagger.