Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Chapter 20 Gift (1)
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“Ugh, haak! It hurts, it hurts!”
Thump, thump. I could feel the impacts on my arm, but they were barely more than a tickle.
That didn’t mean I was just going to sit there and take it.
Every time he swung at my arm, I tightened my grip around his neck.
Only then did he realize that the more he struggled, the worse it got for him, and he went limp in my hands.
Unfortunately for him, I didn’t stop.
“How about giving me some answers?”
I squeezed his throat even harder, making it abundantly clear.
“Argh!”
He let out a scream, and layered on top of it came a familiar voice.
“K! Find K!”
It was Rashaar.
‘So she showed up after all.’
I’d told her I was fine, totally unharmed, not a hair out of place.
With a faint chuckle, I snapped the chubby, flailing arms of the perp dangling in midair and shifted my stance.
“Y-Young master!”
The man who’d followed the perp here turned pale and stamped his feet in panic.
Just after I’d twisted the perp’s arm, the guy named Galon—who’d stepped away—returned.
“You bastard!”
The moment he grasped the situation, he drew his sword like he was about to charge me.
So I immediately pressed my dagger to the perp’s throat.
“Come at me if you dare?”
My taunt made the tip of Galon’s sword tremble.
“One step closer, and he dies.”
To prove I wasn’t bluffing, I drove my dagger into the perp’s shoulder.
“Aaack!”
With a presumed knight nearby, who knew what surprises might pop up.
I needed to seize the initiative decisively.
This was me hammering home that I’d kill him if I had to.
“Doesn’t sound like an empty threat? Come on in. I can investigate the mastermind from a corpse just fine.”
This guy was the perp, after all.
I curled one corner of my mouth and added that, making Galon grit his teeth and back away.
With the screaming perp pinned under a proper ground technique, I said,
“Interrogation time. Name, age, affiliation, occupation, and reason for trying to kidnap me. Spill it all.”
“Aaack, aaaack!”
While waiting for the perp to open his mouth, I glanced sideways.
I wanted to check the unusually lively church forum.
Curious if there were new updates, I hit refresh, and the window flickered once.
The first thing that popped up in the new window was the post title.
「Title: Currently Being Kidnapped - Author: K」
It was the post I’d made while tied up by the guy who’d revealed his name as Radriol.
At first, Palao priests had flooded the comments, turning it into a mess.
‘Probably because I’m still the only player in the church.’
They showered me with excessive attention.
If I ever visited the Palao temple with Rashaar, they’d all swarm out just to sneak peeks.
‘Some even smile shyly when our eyes meet.’
If it were the priestesses, I might’ve felt a bit embarrassed but not minded.
‘The priests doing it too? Not so much.’
Recalling a few awkward moments at the temple made goosebumps prickle on my arms.
Shaking off the memory, I checked the comments again.
After scrolling past hundreds from other priests, the comments suddenly cut off.
Jordan had tidied things up.
He was a priest I’d met a couple times when visiting the temple with Rashaar.
- Nearly went bankrupt on points trying to keep the church afloat, but you broke through Rashaar-nim’s stubbornness. Truly grateful.
Rashaar’s push had tanked the church’s tithe rate to rock bottom, causing plenty of headaches.
That was why he’d taken a liking to me for fixing it, and he often approached me first.
Our talks mostly covered managing future players joining the church.
He was rational, plan-oriented, cut the formalities, and got straight to business.
With so many similarities, we’d built rapport quickly.
The comment section now doubling as a chat was entirely his doing.
- Jordan Rodiel: K, your safety is paramount. Follow their instructions for now. Rashaar-nim is heading out with rescue forces.
- Jordan Rodiel: If you learn anything about who ordered the kidnapping en route, inform us immediately. We’ll move swiftly.
- Jordan Rodiel: But if updating us isn’t feasible, don’t push it. Your safety always comes first—don’t forget.
Below his calm comments was...
- Rashaar Bennet: These outrageous scum!
Seeing Rashaar’s comment nearly made me snort.
‘Side by side like this, she’s definitely different from Jordan.’
When we first met, she’d tried to play it cool.
But after watching her for nearly a month, she often decided based on emotion.
Bringing me into the household stemmed from wanting to believe in hope, after all.
Of course, that didn’t mean she was impulsively swept away by feelings.
She just weighed emotions more heavily than I did when deciding.
I prioritized if a choice was logically right or wrong; for her, it was whether it felt emotionally agreeable.
So to reassure her—and clue in Jordan—I’d fully explained why I was getting kidnapped.
That kept the church from rushing in blindly to save me.
Instead, they moved stealthily based on my real-time location updates.
The goal: net every involved party without missing a single one.
‘If another church is behind this, it’s a jackpot.’
Unlike Palao, a stable church’s negotiation tactics here would be intriguing.
Even if unrelated, no issue.
From eavesdropping while playing possum, the bounty on my head wasn’t 1,000 her but 10,000 her.
‘The middleman skimmed off the top, looks like.’
That skim: a whopping 9,000 her—roughly 900 million won.
The mercenaries who’d handed me to the guild and fled after pocketing 1,000 her were already nabbed by Palao holy knights.
That 1,000 her was as good as mine.
Add the 9,000 her recovered by nabbing the guy who’d just collected his payout here?
Total haul: 1 billion won.
Uncovering the mastermind had netted a 1 billion bonus.
‘That’s plenty.’
Yeah, plenty. This hostage stunt wasn’t about rooting out the mercenary guild’s crimes.
No intent to solve what even this world’s powers couldn’t.
No reason to step up.
‘I’m no superhero.’
Can’t cut off all crime with personal power.
But if that crime targets me?
‘Can’t uproot it, but I’ll snap some branches.’
Through this screaming lump in my armbar, I could snap a pretty thick one.
Yet his mouth was heavier than expected.
‘Didn’t expect him to spill easily.’
He was holding out well despite the howls.
‘Fat cushioning the pain?’
All that blubber might’ve blunted the joint twist.
Simple test: twist harder.
“Let’s see if you keep your mouth shut after it snaps.”
Immediate effect.
“Auuugh! Ack! I-I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”
Yep, hurt enough to scream, but not break him—until a bit more torque.
My pressure cracked him open.
“—offered me the gig!”
Problem cropped up in the weirdest spot.
“What?”
“—! — offered the proposal!”
He was clearly speaking, but I couldn’t hear it.
Frowning at this causality-defying nonsense, I glanced at Galon watching from afar, then eased my grip.
The armbar released.
But I didn’t let the perp go.
My dagger was back at his throat.
He gulped, clutching his formerly twisted arm.
“Say it again.”
At my prompt, the terrified perp smirked crookedly anyway.
“——offered it.”
Still inaudible. He’s talking, but no sound.
My face twisted in bafflement at the eerie phenomenon.
Around then, familiar faces burst in.
Palao church holy knights, rounding up the suspects.
“K.”
Of the holy knights stationed at the Habon temple so far: eleven.
Objectively few.
Just Bennet retainers at Rashaar’s mansion outnumbered them at over fifty.
But in the Palao church, not a force to scoff at.
War had decimated their ranks years back, and Palao’s fall spurred many desertions.
‘Around 200 formal knights left in the church.’
Most guarded the High Priestess’s headquarters; others bolstered combat-heavy temples.
Mostly near contamination zones with frequent fights.
Protecting charitable followers there, too.
Selecting and deploying to Habon took time.
Still ongoing.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, perfectly fine.”
I stood with help from Alio, a holy knight I’d met early in Habon.
Meanwhile, others bound the perp, Galon, and the presumed attendant.
As things wrapped here.
“K!”
Rashaar arrived.
“You okay? No injuries?”
She circled me frantically, beside herself.
I deliberately kept my usual demeanor to calm her.
“As you see, fine.”
“Truly glad, really.”
She sighed in relief, hand on chest—briefly.
Then she rubbed her temples like a headache victim.
“Honestly... can’t keep up with your thinking. What goes through your head to decide to walk into a kidnapping?”
What thinking?
“Figured I wasn’t in real danger, so it worked.”
The moment ransom came up, my life was secured.
That’s why I’d volunteered as bait to snag the mastermind.
“Don’t be too harsh. We got ’em proper, thanks to me.”
I jutted my chin proudly sideways.
Rashaar’s gaze followed.
Her reaction was intriguing.
She flinched, muttering in confusion.
“...Belego Protoram?”
Only one implication.
‘They know each other.’
The perp—head turned away from me, not quite looking—was apparently Belego something.
“Know him?”
At my question, Rashaar replied coolly.
“Eldest son of the late Count Protoram.”
Her voice chilled; her expression frosted over.
‘Noble, even a count’s family...’
Noticing my interest in Belego, Rashaar elaborated on House Protoram.
They’d amassed obscene wealth post-war.
Incomparable to other nobles?
Like Korean chaebols—untouchable.
“Hmm.”
After her rundown, I briefly pondered, then approached the bound Belego.
He shuddered as I neared.
Not looking at me, but all his nerves focused my way.
Aware his situation sucked.
He’d grasp what I was about to say.
Arm around his shoulder, I grinned.
“Our young master.”
Belego’s eyes shook.
Ignoring it, I asked amiably,
“Got a lot to live for?”
Hope so. More side income from this mess that way.
Damn System