Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Chapter 20: Gift (2)
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After the situation had settled down and I heard the explanation, it turned out Belego had a restriction placed on him.
It was a limitation that prevented him from uttering specific words.
More precisely, it was set up so that even if he mentioned those specific words, they wouldn't be conveyed.
The words under the restriction got trapped in another space, unable to be spoken.
‘A grade of magic one dimension higher than a barrier...’
Thanks to that, figuring out who the final mastermind behind this was had become a distant prospect.
‘Sure, I could pull some tricks if I really tried...’
If I narrowed down the main suspects and had Belego read their names aloud, I could find out.
There had to be at least one name that wouldn't come through.
But I didn't have a good way to narrow down the suspects.
‘At best, all I know is that it's connected to the church somehow.’
The possibility was high since they'd offered him a priest position.
But I couldn't be certain that the person who approached Belego was a priest.
‘They might have sent a proxy.’
That meant I couldn't even establish the bare minimum criteria for filtering suspects.
In the end, the trick I'd come up with was no better than doing nothing at all.
Unless I had him read every single Beharin's name, it would be an enormous waste of time.
So for now, I concluded that uncovering the final mastermind through Belego was impossible.
Instead? I decided to make full use of Belego's background.
I planned to leverage his somewhat unusual origins to extract a hefty compensation.
“Man, it’s sparkling.”
And as a result, I now had the sight of gold and jewels piled up like a small hill right in front of me.
With a satisfied heart, I looked around the inside of the vault I'd taken from Belego.
According to the brief explanation I'd heard just before entering, it contained assets worth nearly hundreds of billions.
On top of that, income from the small textile trading company under Belego's name flowed into this vault as well.
No need to worry about Belego siphoning off the money, either.
“This means any contracts tied to this can't be changed, right?”
I tossed and caught the golden key in my hand with a beaming smile as I asked. Jordan, who had followed me into the vault, answered.
“Yes, that's correct. Not only is cancellation impossible, but access is restricted without the permission slip.”
“And the current revenue flowing into this vault stays that way?”
“If that's how the contract was set up from the start.”
On paper, the vault belonged to Belego, but in reality, only I could use it.
The golden key I held in my hand right now made that irregular arrangement possible.
This wasn't just a simple key—it was like a membership card that allowed entry to Kerman Bank's vault.
Of course, the owner could get a reissue if they lost it.
‘But it's a different story after submitting the transfer certificate.’
If there was an official document proving the key had been transferred to someone else, they could block it.
The paper Jordan held was exactly that document.
Remembering Belego handing over the golden key and transfer certificate brought a smile to my face.
‘It was too good a sight to keep to myself.’
He'd smirked arrogantly, trusting the effect of the restriction on him.
But by the end, his face had gone pale, and I'd made his trembling hands sign the transfer certificate by force. Satisfying.
‘Judging by how readily he handed this over, he probably has one or two more vaults.’
I could take care of those gradually.
‘Next time, I'll snag a record-modifying magic tool and definitely record it.’
To tease him forever about that pale, shaking figure, I had to capture it on record.
For now, this was enough.
‘It's more than overflowing for operating funds.’
No need to exchange my blood-precious mana for cash.
That alone made it a hugely valuable gain.
Not everyone thought so, though.
“This can't just be brushed aside like this.”
Just as I was about to properly inspect the vault's contents.
A low mutter made me turn my head, and there was Rashar, who had entered the vault after Jordan.
‘Still got that serious look.’
It wasn't sudden—this had started when I'd decided to let Belego's crimes slide.
After all, the vault we were standing in was the price of that silence.
She believed Belego's atrocities should be exposed to the world, and he should pay the appropriate price.
Harming otherworlders who came to this world in the name of the Seven Great Gods could be seen as a challenge to the Seven Churches.
‘In a way, it's like attacking allied forces.’
That's why she thought we needed a doctrinal trial to properly sort right from wrong.
‘Punish everyone involved...’
Recalling the conversation we'd had before extracting the vault from Belego, I let out a soft internal sigh.
It wasn't like I didn't know right from wrong or karma.
‘Ideals always look sweet.’
It was just that Rashar's proposal was realistically impossible, so I'd found a detour.
‘Holding the guild accountable for the guys we caught today is impossible.’
They'd cut off the tails, and vested interests would intervene to maintain the status quo.
Even if I dug up the truth and tried to overturn things, those trying to cover it up would move even more vigorously.
With the faltering power of Palao, fighting them would be a losing game.
If I pushed too hard, in the process of cutting tails, not just the mercenaries but even Belego could get cleaned up.
‘That would be a bad move.’
It meant it wasn't yet time to rise up.
In times like these, it was better to hold back emotions, endure, and keep a low profile.
As long as the guild controlled the armed force of the mercenaries, there was no helping it.
In wartime, troops meant power.
So instead of playing a game I was sure to lose, I'd shifted to scraping together every immediate gain available.
By my standards, it was rational, efficient—the best approach.
So no matter what Rashar said, I had no intention of changing my mind.
I'd already explained it plenty regarding this, so rather than adding more words, I just quietly watched Rashar.
Finally, she bit her lip hard, lowered her head, and said,
“...Sorry for bringing up a settled matter.”
She seemed to have a lot she wanted to say but didn't want to challenge my decision.
‘Her feelings must be complicated in many ways.’
After a brief moment of thought, I approached Rashar.
I bent down to match her eye level and said,
“Do I seem like I'm letting it go too easily?”
I didn't actually hear a response, but guessing what she'd say wasn't hard.
Looking at Rashar, who was silently swallowing her frustration, I ended up chuckling.
‘How many times has she even seen me?’
We weren't family or friends—just people on the same boat with similar goals.
Yet here she was, angrier about what happened to me than I was.
‘Not bad.’
Normally, her continuously opposing my decisions would have annoyed me.
But right now, it was more amusing than irritating.
She was acting like that because she was genuinely furious about what I'd suffered.
Knowing that, I felt like I should comfort her this once.
With a ting, I tossed and caught the key, straightened up, and said,
“Don't worry too much.”
“Hm...?”
“This is just, like, a preview.”
“A preview?”
“I'm the type who holds grudges.”
“Holds grudges?”
“I always pay back what I'm owed.”
Tracking down the mastermind through Belego right now was tough.
Even if I found them, I didn't have a good way to settle the score.
But there was no guarantee it would stay impossible forever.
This was also why I'd decided to bury the matter involving Belego.
‘Better to keep that guy alive than dead.’
By keeping an eye on him—the link to the mastermind—I believed clues would eventually pop up.
Yeah, I hadn't given up on investigating the mastermind.
‘I'd just decided to endure and wait it out.’
And I would definitely pay them back.
So what if people pointed fingers calling me petty?
Unless I handled it myself, I wouldn't feel satisfied.
‘Fine, let's practice some patience.’
Waiting while occasionally venting on Belego wouldn't be boring.
“So don't worry for no reason.”
“......”
“Later, when you see what I do, you might even feel sorry for that Belego bastard. You might get disappointed in me.”
It was a deliberate light joke, said casually because Rashar's serious expression was bothering me.
“That will absolutely never happen!”
But Rashar responded with an even more serious and earnest face.
I hadn't meant for her to take it that seriously.
Feeling awkward, I scratched my neck, shrugged, and said,
“Well, then I guess I can torment him without holding back.”
“Promise me you'll do it. That kind of person needs to be taught a proper lesson!”
“Yes, yes, I'll make sure to live up to those expectations.”
Grinning as I replied, I held out the golden key to Rashar.
This was my first step in meeting her expectations—and one of the reasons I'd gone after compensation from Belego in the first place.
“Huh?”
Rashar alternated glances between me and the key, tilting her head.
I kindly explained my action.
“Take it.”
Still smiling, I spoke, and Rashar's eyes widened like full moons.
She looked incredibly shocked, but I'd thought of this the moment I realized Belego was loaded.
Time to fill up the coffers of the cash-strapped Palao Church a bit.
This was also my way of repaying the debt I owed Rashar.
‘It won't help much as the lady of the Bennet family, but as Palao's apostle, it will.’
The one I'd indebted myself to was the Bennet family.
But I'd only been able to do that thanks to Rashar.
The true owner of my debt could be seen as Rashar, so it was only right to repay her.
“If the church needs money, take it from here. You can't touch your personal funds, right?”
I'd heard her father, Marquis Bennet, had blocked it.
Not a single coin from the Bennet family assets could flow to the Palao Church.
‘Resentment toward the goddess who chose his daughter as apostle and then vanished, or something.’
The story flow I'd heard through Centler was simple.
Rashar had been a genius showing tremendous talent since childhood, so her father's expectations were high.
The family plan was for the eldest daughter to succeed, while second daughter Rashar was set to join the holy knight order of Senoa Church, which the Bennets served.
Then out of nowhere, Palao intervened and chose Rashar as her apostle.
Up to that point, it could be brushed off as an unexpected variable.
Being chosen as an apostle of one of the Seven Great Gods was an immense honor.
But right after choosing Rashar, Palao vanished, and soon rumors spread that she'd been extinguished.
An apostle of a church whose god had disappeared.
‘From her father's perspective, it was enough to make his blood boil.’
In his eyes, Palao was the being who ruined his daughter's future.
Cursing the irresponsible goddess who imposed duties on his daughter and then vanished was a natural progression.
Blocking money to the Palao Church was because of that.
In fact, I'd seen Rashar agonizing over church finances multiple times.
With hardly any regular income coming into the temple, it was only natural.
‘Rich girl, so her body was probably pampered without want.’
But her heart likely wasn't.
So when I realized Belego had money, I'd thought of it.
Securing operating funds for the church this time around seemed like a good idea.
Since it'd been on my mind from the start, there was no reason to hesitate.
I directly placed the key in her hand, as she showed no sign of moving.
But Rashar flinched in surprise and tried to hand the key back.