Chapter 148
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 148
The Imperial family might treat unauthorized mages and black mages as one and the same, but everyone knows they are different.
The former are persecuted for purely political reasons, but the latter are the enemies of all mankind by their very existence.
In other words, one could do anything to a true black mage and be forgiven.
‘The fact that I scammed the Duke has already been laid bare before the world. If I’m branded a black mage on top of that...’
Cold sweat drenched Dominic’s entire body like a waterfall.
Now that things had reached this point, his wealth and his life were no longer the main concerns. In the worst-case scenario, he could be kept in a state between life and death, tortured for months on end.
Unconsciously picturing that horrific future, Dominic began to rub his forehead frantically against the floor.
“Your Highness, this is... I mean, it’s not black magic, no, please, mercy...!”
He opened his mouth to offer some kind of explanation, but he couldn't form a proper sentence. No matter what words he scrambled to say, it would be useless if Lucian had no intention of forgiving him.
Just as the despairing reality became too much and Dominic’s eyes began to roll back in his head—
“Hmm. On second thought, something seems off. Is this really black magic?”
Dominic snapped his head up at the sound of Lucian’s voice, which felt like a single ray of light.
Lucian gave a cold smile and looked around with a theatrical tone.
“I spoke impulsively because it resembled the black magic I know, but there are countless types of magic. Looking at it again, it might not be black magic, but some other spell with a similar effect.”
“Y-yes, exactly! This is a spell from the Metal School...!”
“Therefore.”
Cutting Dominic off, Lucian leaned down with a chilling smile. Meeting those predatory eyes, Dominic swallowed hard and waited for the words to follow.
“I would like you to explain the circumstances in great detail—so clearly that no one could possibly misunderstand. How you came to use such magic to try and deceive me.”
Only then did Dominic realize what Lucian wanted.
He wanted Dominic to confess every single one of his crimes with his own mouth so that he could never escape with another excuse later. And he wanted Dominic to uphold the wager himself, handing over all his assets with his own hands.
‘Ah.’
Realizing he had been checkmated, Dominic closed his eyes.
Now, his only options were the worst and the second-worst. Between those two, the choice was obvious.
“In my youth, I once received help from a certain mage...”
The master of the Dominic Merchant Group was famous by the nickname ‘Steel Dominic.’
It was a title earned because, even among great merchants, he frequently dealt in military supplies. Since all sorts of weaponry and armor were supplied through him, the nickname ‘Steel’ naturally stuck.
For a merchant, it was quite a sophisticated moniker.
However, after the age of chaos began, that nickname was no longer used. It had been replaced by a host of curses.
‘The Seven-Forked Tongue, The One Cursed with Every Breath, The Target of Every Assassin.’
Half the lords on the continent cursed Dominic with hatred and resentment. It reached a point where even a simple country peasant might not know the Emperor’s name, but they had heard of Dominic at least once.
The reason Dominic was cursed by so many was simple.
‘He went around scamming everyone, claiming he had discovered a non-existent metal refining method.’
Tenebrium.
This metal, called ‘Stone of Darkness’ in the ancient language, caused a massive stir across the continent as soon as it was revealed. It possessed strength comparable to Adamantium but could be manufactured at a significantly lower cost.
The method for creating this mysterious alloy was unknown, as Dominic, who unveiled Tenebrium, kept the manufacturing process a strict secret.
Despite threats from all sorts of lords, Dominic only allowed the ‘sale’ of Tenebrium.
—I am a merchant. If you want it, buy it with money. I will gladly sell to anyone, provided they pay.
The lords cursed him as an insolent peddler for his unyielding attitude, but they had no other choice. In an age of chaos where everyone was busy stabbing each other in the back, kidnapping Dominic to monopolize a rare metal refining method was out of the question. It was too obvious that other lords would form an alliance under various pretexts and swarm them.
Above all, the Dominic Merchant Group was a massive entity with branches across the entire continent. While they might not be able to stand against a lord, it wasn't difficult for the leader to slip away and escape in an emergency.
If they earned his grudge, he might run to a rival lord and hand over the Tenebrium refining method instead.
—Damn it! Fine, how much? I’ll buy everything you have!
In the end, the lords had to pay full price to purchase Tenebrium.
Fortunately, Tenebrium was unbelievably cheap compared to its effectiveness. Naturally, the lords didn't hesitate to scrape every gold coin from their vaults and pour it in. Why hesitate when they could make a profit just by reselling it?
The Dominic Merchant Group produced and supplied Tenebrium relentlessly to meet the flood of orders.
It was a year later, when a substantial amount of Tenebrium equipment had been circulated in the market.
—C-Captain! The Tenebrium sword I bought the other day snapped!
—What? That’s impossible! What on earth did you do to break it?
—I just tried to cut a rock! Its strength has weakened!
—That can’t be...!
The lords and knights who had purchased Tenebrium equipment began to notice something strange. As time passed, the strength of the equipment gradually softened.
If it had ended there, they might have dismissed it as a defective batch, but the real problem was the reaction to saltwater, which was discovered by chance later.
The moment it touched saltwater, the once-hard equipment began to crumble into dust instantly.
Only then did the lords realize they had been duped, but Dominic had already fled under the protection of Marquis Bernhardt.
The lords hurled all sorts of curses and demanded Dominic be handed over, but Marquis Bernhardt firmly refused.
‘Rumor had it he offered half his fortune to gain a noble title, but I don’t know if that was true.’
As a mercenary at the time, Lucian had neither the reason nor the time to verify the truth.
However, it was certain that Dominic lived out his later years in peace under the protection of the House of Roglan. And it was also clear that the House of Roglan expanded its military using funds from an unknown source.
‘I’m not sure about the noble title, but it’s certain he secured his safety by offering a vast fortune.’
Otherwise, there would be no reason to protect Dominic, who had earned the resentment of so many lords.
When he first heard the rumors, Lucian hadn't understood why Dominic would pull such a stunt. If he was one of the top merchants, why not just keep doing business instead of dragging his name through the mud?
But thinking about it again now, he felt he understood the decision a little better.
“...And that is how I came to commit such a sin. This lowly old man was blinded by greed and crossed the point of no return.”
By the time Lucian finished recalling his past life’s memories, Dominic’s confession was nearly over.
To summarize: in his youth, he had formed a connection with a mage and learned a method for temporary metal enhancement, which he used for this scam.
Confirming there was nothing else worth listening to, Lucian spoke to Dominic.
“Dominic.”
“Your Highness! Please, have mercy...!”
“Do you resent the nobility?”
Dominic, who had been pleading his innocence, froze at Lucian’s words. Lucian didn't wait for an answer and continued as if talking to himself.
“In an age of chaos, a merchant’s life is as fragile as a fly’s. If you have no power, no contract is ever truly honored. It’s no exaggeration to say there’s no way to survive other than becoming a chartered merchant under the protection of a specific lord.”
“...”
“So, I can understand the scheme to make one big score at the end and offer the profits to secure a high status... but no matter how I look at it, it was excessive. You would earn several times more resentment than what you gained.”
Even if Dominic’s later years were peaceful in the previous life, that was merely the result. Having earned that much hatred, he must have been plagued by the threat of assassination for the rest of his life. Not to mention the utter contempt he received for destroying the credit he had built as a merchant.
And yet, Dominic had insisted on screwing over numerous lords in exchange for a small gain. It was far too short-sighted to be a move aimed solely at profit.
“Tell me, Dominic. Was it really for profit that you tried to deceive me and the Northern lords? Did you pull this scam just for such a meager gain?”
“...Heh, hehehe.”
A bizarre laugh escaped Dominic’s bowed head. After laughing under his breath for a while, Dominic raised his head with an expression that seemed to have transcended everything.
“What does my motive matter now? I have committed a sin, everything has been revealed to the world, and all that remains is to be punished.”
“...”
“I intend to offer everything as promised, so please, do as you wish.”
With those final words, Dominic closed his eyes and fell silent. It was a sign of resignation, as if nothing mattered anymore.
After watching Dominic for a moment, Lucian gave an order to the soldiers.
“Lock the criminal Dominic in the dungeon, and bring in the masters of the other merchant groups waiting outside.”
The merchant guild masters, dragged in by the rough hands of the soldiers, were half-insane with terror.
They thought they would be released thanks to Dominic, but to think it was all a scam. At this rate, far from being released, they were about to take the fall.
“Y-Your Highness! We knew nothing! This is unfair!”
“Please, conduct an investigation! We will prove our innocence!”
“If you keep chirping, I’ll start by taking the head of whoever has the loudest voice for fraud.”
At Lucian’s single sentence, the guild masters, who had been peeping like a brood of chicks, shut their mouths instantly.
After glaring at them for a moment, Lucian finally got to the point a few minutes later.
“You all know about the wager between Dominic and me.”
“O-of course.”
“Then this will be simple. It has been revealed that the ore said to rival Adamantium does not exist. According to our agreement, all of his assets are now mine. The problem is that it’s difficult for me to track down all those assets. He surely has a significant amount of hidden wealth that he hasn't disclosed.”
“That... is a possibility, isn't it?”
“Therefore, in exchange for specially pardoning your crimes, I intend to task you with tracking down his hidden assets. Will you accept?”
“...!?”
The guild masters snapped their heads up at the unexpected proposal. If this offer was real, it was an incredibly light punishment compared to their crimes. Whether there were hidden assets or not, they would be forgiven as long as they did their jobs well.
If there was nothing, they’d report nothing; if there was something, they’d report it faithfully, finish the job, and leave. And if they actually found hidden assets during the search, they might even pocket a tidy side-income. It was a common ‘accident’ for some amounts to go missing during an asset audit, after all.
“We will leave it to us...!”
“However, if the hidden assets found are below a certain amount, I will have no choice but to doubt you. You understand what I mean, don't you?”
The guild masters, who were about to joyfully accept Lucian’s proposal, froze at his following words. Doubt them, when it hadn't even been confirmed if hidden assets actually existed?
‘Damn it. This is just a way of telling us to pay a fine as the price for our crimes.’
‘And it’s not a one-time fine. He can claim we’re suspicious dozens of times if he feels like it.’
‘Essentially, he’s telling us not to even think about playing tricks while this job is ongoing.’
Tracking hidden assets was merely a pretext. The real purpose was a warning to stay in line, as he could put the ‘leash’ of suspicion on them at any time as long as their dealings continued. For the guild masters, it meant they had to continue trading on terms favorable to Lucian, lest they be strangled to death at any moment.
Faced with this utterly unreasonable treatment, the guild masters shouted in unison.
“That goes without saying! You have every right to be suspicious!”
“If any such wicked person is found, we will tie them up and bring them to you ourselves!”
“No, if necessary, we will even compensate you from our own personal funds!”
What else could they do but accept the leash? If they said the wrong thing now, a cold blade would sweep across their throats instead of a collar. For the guild masters, who were technically accomplices in deceiving the Duke alongside Dominic, it was a relief to end it here.
Their eyes felt hot for some reason, but surely, those were tears of joy for having saved their lives. No matter how much money they lost, nothing in the world was more precious than life itself.