I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

41 – 41. The Warrior’s Auction

Auction house prepared in the center of the manor. At night, it became a place where so many demons came and went.

There were a lot of demons in the market during the day, but compared to the current auction house, there would be fewer of them.

Even there, there was someone who caught my eye.

“Alfred… Is that right?”

“Yes, long time no see. But why are you looking at people’s faces so curiously?”

The auction house attendant looks at Alfred in surprise.

Of course, all the demons around were looking at Alfred.

In the past, an existence that commanded the Demon King’s army.

Among the demons, he was called the spokesperson of the demon king, and in fact, Alfred was no different from the second person in the demon army.

Of course, in the end, the hero was deliberately sent to the demon king, and as a result, the hero contributed the most to defeating the demon king and winning the war.

“Oh, nothing! What kind of relationship do you have with the beautiful woman next to you?”

The auction house attendant pointed to a woman standing next to Alfred, silent and tense.

A demon with beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. It doesn’t look like anything special on the outside, but I got the feeling that I’ve seen it somewhere.

“You are my bride? Like you said, it’s a bit too beautiful.”

“…”

Alfred said, putting his hand on his white, smooth shoulder.

The woman blushed in her face without saying a word.

At the same time, sympathetic eyes turned to the woman.

“Excuse me, but what kind of demon are you-“

“My family’s demon tribe. I’m in a great mood today, but I can do some nasty things if I get the mood.”

Alfred said with a wide smile.

“Okay! Guys, go in!”

But the staff realized that it wasn’t just a smile to reassure people, but also a silent threat.

Finally, the clerk bowed his head politely and let Alfred into the auction house.

Just in time, the VIP seat was empty, so I was guided there.

Of course, Alfred was guided halfway through threats.

“…Ha! Alfred, aren’t you too confident?”

As we were ushered into the exclusive VIP table, Arcel let out the breath she was holding back and tried to relax her.

Entering the main gate surrounded by demons around her made even Arcel nervous.

“Is there anything wrong with being confident?”

“But I heard that you are also called a traitor to the demons. But can I show her face so openly? There were a lot of people during the day, so I didn’t notice it, but…”

“Well, if I’m a traitor, what can other guys do? There are no demons to be wary of here except for Grandma Clen. Besides, the demons know very well what happens if they touch me.”

“I see…”

It was a matter of course.

Alfred is usually difficult to understand because he is hidden by his smirk, but among the demons, he clearly had a very strong power second only to the demon king.

In addition, in the past, demons who did not cooperate were directly subdued or exterminated on behalf of the demon king.

There is no way that he is unaware of his notoriety.

The story of the demons must have been mixed in the reason why he was nicknamed Satan.

“In the first place, the weird thing is the human side, what the hell did you have the guts to touch the hero who defeated the demon lord? It’s a hero who caught the demon king that the other people couldn’t handle and told him to defeat.

It was said that a new demon king could appear on the spot.

Moreover, the power must be more terrible and stronger than the previous demon king.

“I’d rather you turn it upside down too. At that time, I’m sure you could have swallowed several countries by yourself.”

Alfred says that if he were himself, he would certainly have been.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t even dare to do that because he was so powerful and overwhelming.

“The human king isn’t that strong, is it? There are not a few cases where inheritance is passed on to offspring who do not have the ability. This side, the demon king was too strong, so I couldn’t do that.”

“There is no point in doing such a thing. I didn’t mean to be a hero. I just hoped that the day would come when we could live peacefully without worrying about war.”

Arsel said with a wry smile.

Alfred stared at Arcel, saying he thought so.

“…Have you got anything on my face?”

“No, I can’t be naive to anyone, so I feel a bit like a Hogu.”

Even so, Arcel leaned back in his chair without a hint of displeasure.

He himself already knew that was stupid.

“Then it’s fine.”

“What is okay…”

He knows it’s stupid, but he chose to do it.

There seemed to be no regrets about that choice.

Alfred shook his head and decided to take a look at the items on the auction.

[Welcome ladies and gentlemen! It’s finally the time you’ve been waiting for!]

A light shining in the center along with the speaker’s words.

A luxurious auction house reminiscent of an opera house, silence descends as if a performance had begun.

Of course, just because the silence fell doesn’t mean it became quiet.

All you can hear is the host’s words, but people’s eyes are focused on one place.

“…Alfred, what is that?”

While the auction was going on, Arcel said as if she had found something with her hands shaking.

“That? Armor, why?”

“That’s why the armor is on auction!”

Armor tailored to the shape of a woman.

The armor is not made of heavy and durable steel, but is made of leather that can be worn lightly.

But it was strangely familiar to Arcel.

Of course, armor of that type is common, but if it was, it wouldn’t even be on sale like this.

“Usually, there are many cases where celebrities have used those items that come up at auctions like this. For example, about two years ago, a set of wine glasses used by the demon king sold for 1 kg of gold. Originally, the price wasn’t that high, but after the death of the demon king, the price jumped up a lot.”

Alfred kindly began to explain why these things had been uploaded.

“Well then, who is the owner of that armor…?”

“That’s right, demons don’t handle armor like that. Have any famous people ever worn something like that? They were called cheating wizards or dragon slayers. No, it’s in too good condition for what people were wearing back then.”

And soon it was discovered who had used the armor.

[This is the legendary warrior who defeated the evil demon king! This is the armor that hero used!]

“Ah, could it be that you were wearing it?”

“Why the hell is that here?!”

Arsel jumped up from his seat and asked Alfred.

“That was what I wore when I was training swordsmanship with knights when I was an apprentice. I lost it at some point and I didn’t know where it was, so why is it here?!”

“If you ask me about that…”

“Rather than that, why are demons putting things like that up for auction?!”

“Calm down and sit down again. Don’t create trouble by attracting attention.”

Alfred calmed Arcel down and put him back in his seat.

But of course there was no way to calm down.

Looking at it now, it wasn’t just the armor, it was an old wooden sword, a cracked shield, and even clothes.

All of these were worn or used by Arcel.

“No matter how much it’s an auction, sometimes fakes come out, and besides, it’s quite popular when it comes to things from warriors? In the original war memorabilia, personal items used by major figures are also popular items.”

“Wait, why the hell…”

Arsel knew that too.

However, when I was in the position of the person concerned, an indescribable shame began to weigh down my entire body.

Even many demons admire and show interest in the clothes they were wearing.

Aren’t trivial items such as shoes and gloves, as well as even underwear, on the auction list?

“Oh, can I buy that…”

“What the hell are you trying to buy?!”

I wonder where the demons got such a thing.

And I wonder how he can be sure that it belongs to him.

Of course, all of them were filled with things in Arcel’s memory without a single doubt.

“Aha, I see. Granny Clen said the last main product was the holy sword used by the hero. Perhaps the theme and theme of this auction is the warrior. Usually, these auctions have a theme to attract the attention of the customers.”

“Dragon… I wasn’t the only warrior…”

“Since you are the most recent and have defeated the Demon King head-on, you must be the most popular. Besides, collectors will like it even more since they are hostile to humans.”

“But…”

Arsel trembled.

It seems like your body temperature rises by 0.1 Degrees each time your stuff starts to come out one by one.

I even flinched when someone called for a high price.

“Some of them will have fakes, because there have actually been cases in the market where fakes are forged and put up for auction.”

[Don’t worry! All of the products being auctioned here go through expert appraisal and only those that have been confirmed as 100% genuine are being uploaded!]

“Who the hell is an expert?! Who is the expert to appraise all those things?!”

“No, even if you ask me about that…”

Arcel grabbed Alfred by the collar and shook him.

The shaking made Alfred’s neck rattle like a spring doll.

[It went through the appraisal of Satan Alfred, a warrior expert! All of them even have a quality assurance certificate!]

“…Alfred?”

Arcel glared at her with her eyes, which seemed cold to death.

It really looked like it was on the verge of pulling out a holy sword.

“Oh, come to think of it, did the staff here come to me last year with something like that? I was just giving money, so I only roughly told you if it was real or not-“

[Especially, this outfit is said to have been worn by the warrior who defeated the demon king while sleeping, and it is said that this outerwear was used when secretly going to restaurants while hiding his identity as a warrior!]

“…Still, I took the money, so I have a conscience, so I told you based on my knowledge to some extent.”

Alfred replied with a bright smile.

However, it seems that there is a strange sense of anxiety and fear in that bright smile.

He was trying hard to maintain a nonchalant expression.

“Alfred.”

“Why?”

“Alfred.”

“Why are you calling me by name?”

Arsel’s eyes feel empty.

That void contained an unspoken will to make what you see empty.

Vessels are sprouting in Arcel’s knuckles, and it seems that you can hear the sound of joints loosening.

“You said you were definitely an expert on warriors.”

“Isn’t it? Among the demons, I’ve been watching you the longest, haven’t I?”

“Then, do you know how powerful the warrior’s fists are and how much the warrior’s bare-handed fighting skills have been learned?”

“No…? That’s right, you used holy swords most of the time, and you used magic only occasionally, didn’t you?”

Alfred quietly backed away.

However, the distance from Arcel was not far.

On the contrary, I felt like we were getting closer.

“Then why don’t you take this opportunity to check it out? I’m sure I’m not used to bare hands. At best, I caught a wild boar with my bare hands when I was young.”

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“In addition, he also destroyed orcs and giant gargoyles with his bare hands, maybe? …Guard! Guard! A hero is here!”

Alfred hurriedly runs away looking for a security guard.

Alfred, more than ever, felt the threat to his life from the bottom of his heart and wanted to run away.

Thump!

“Ugh!”

But I ran into an invisible wall and was blocked.

The escape route was blocked by a fire barrier at the entrance of the VIP seat.

This only works when a big fire breaks out in the auction house, but it’s not uncommon for it to suddenly activate.

“Why is there a barrier all of a sudden? No way-“

Alfred looked around the auction house just in case.

There, I saw a woman leisurely waving her hand.

‘Wow, did you eat one of these?’

It was Clen.

As for Clen, she seems to have already been at the auction house, as she is the auction house hosted by her, and while the other demons were concentrating on the auction, she was keeping an eye on Alfred and Arcel.

It must have been that they caught Alfred, who was trying to escape after seeing how things were going.

I couldn’t hear her voice, but the shape of her mouth was like this.

Just as I can hold you to decapitate you, I can hold you from running away.

-Can I help you if you ask? Even if I can’t defeat Clen’s grandmother, I can hold you to decapitate her.-

That’s what Alfred said earlier.

I said it to test, but it was clear that I had it in my heart.

‘This is wrong.’

In the end, Alfred gave up and looked back.

Behind her, Arcel, emitting red eyes as if he were a demon king, approached right in front of her nose.

“…Could you give me some time to prepare my heart?”

Alfred asked, shyly opening his eyes.

Those were Alfred’s last words.