Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: A Perfectly Legal Transaction with No Legal Flaws 3
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Archbishop Maxim Cafeo.
For her, the past week had been the longest seven days since she was born.
Every single moment had been wrapped in anticipation laced with intense excitement.
With each passing day, the thrill only grew thicker, to the point where it kept her tossing and turning in bed at night.
‘Tomorrow... tomorrow, Santana's fortune will finally be mine... that fertile, vast land... and those beautiful buildings too, all falling into my hands!’
An astronomical sum equivalent to thousands of talents.
She'd have to embezzle funds and sell indulgences and holy relics for over ten years at full throttle just to scrape together that much, so she'd spent every night wide awake, writhing on her bed without a wink of sleep.
And...
Finally, the raucous crow of the rooster began to echo.
At that sound, the archbishop kicked off the covers from her sleepless bed, changed clothes in a flash, and hurried straight to the mailbox.
However...
Contrary to her expectations, the mailbox was still empty.
The rooster had crowed at dawn, sure, but the papal missive wouldn't arrive from the Holy See for a little while longer.
The archbishop's brow furrowed automatically.
"...What the hell? Why hasn't the letter come yet? Those lazy idiots... serving the sacred will of the Lord, and they're this slovenly. I'll summon them later and deal with it..."
The archbishop paced back and forth in front of the mailbox, venting her frustration into the chilly dawn air.
Just then, she spotted a messenger riding toward her on horseback.
"Oh? Archbishop? What brings you here at this hour..."
"Never mind that... Hah... No time. Hand over the letters right now. I have urgent business for the Lord."
"Ah... yes, one moment please..."
With that, the messenger began sifting through the letters for one addressed to the archbishop.
Watching him, she itched to lay hands on this 'lazy' fool right then and there, but with more pressing matters at hand than punishing him, she decided to let it slide for now.
And shortly after,
those thirty seconds that felt like thirty years finally passed, and the messenger pulled out a single letter before her.
"Here you are, Archbishop. From the Holy See...?"
Before he could finish, she snatched it and bolted back to the Great Cathedral.
The messenger stared after her in bewilderment...
but ignoring him completely, the archbishop gazed at the letter clutched in her hand with eyes blazing with desire...
More precisely, at the official certificate confirming Santana Andreas's excommunication.
"Perfect... it's all over now. Just gather the Holy Knights and go seize his assets!"
Now that the excommunication was official, Santana had likely already fled the city.
It had tapered off lately, but in the past, the excommunicated were dragged to the city center, stripped of cash, clothes, and valuables, then lynched to death.
These days, the Pope's authority had waned, and heretical forces opposing the Church had grown stronger, so excommunication didn't pack the same punch. Still, the danger always lingered.
Put herself in his shoes, and she'd have liquidated everything sellable and left by last night at the latest—the archbishop had no trouble guessing as much.
‘Whatever happens to him now is none of my concern. What matters is figuring out how to spend that massive fortune.’
Visions of a golden future dancing in her head, the archbishop immediately summoned the Holy Knights.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Leading the Holy Knights, the archbishop set out to seize Santana's real estate holdings.
Strutting along triumphantly, she received some unexpected news.
"What? Kazeros?"
"Yes, she abandoned her Holy Knight insignia at the inn two days ago and left."
"From the looks of it, she probably followed that heretic Santana. What should we do?"
"Hmm..."
The unforeseen development left the archbishop slightly flustered.
She knew Kazeros Sophia had helped Santana, but the girl's piety was something even she acknowledged, so she hadn't planned to reprimand her harshly.
But regardless of her thoughts, Kazeros had fled.
Probably fallen for that heretic's cunning words... or simply terrified of the punishment she'd face.
‘Gone is gone... no time to worry about her now. Not when thousands of talents are about to land in my hands...’
Having decided to put Kazeros out of her mind,
that's when the first of Santana's buildings—and her primary target—finally came into view.
All that remained was to enter, read the excommunication decree aloud, and draft new deeds.
It was then, as the eager archbishop stepped inside.
"...Huh?"
"? What are you lot doing here?"
The next moment, a familiar merchant company crest and a swarm of laborers came into view.
A twinge of confusion hit her, but she addressed them in a commanding tone.
"What are you scum doing here? This was Santana the excommunicated's property—now it belongs to the Church. By order of Archbishop Maxim, quit causing a ruckus and get out!"
She flashed the excommunication decree as she commanded them.
However...
Far from cowering, the laborers just snorted in derision.
"Hah, aren't you a bit behind on the news, Archbishop?"
"Sorry to say, this building belongs to the Beden Merchant Company now. No ties to Santana anymore, so excommunication or whatever doesn't matter."
"! Wh-what...? That doesn't make any... sense..."
The laborers spouted something utterly unforeseen.
Deep bewilderment clouded the archbishop's face, but soon enough, a few possibilities surfaced in her mind.
‘Ugh... well... thinking about it, it's not impossible. A continental powerhouse like the Beden Merchant Company has the clout to deal without glancing our way. But even they couldn't snatch all of Santana's assets in this short time. At most, a building or two and some land.’
Though a chunk of her prize had been snatched, plenty remained hers—she consoled herself with that thought.
She promptly left and headed with the Holy Knights to another of Santana's properties.
However...
"Th-this... this can't be! No way that's possible! Even the Beden Merchant Company couldn't scrape together that kind of money..."
"So you're saying this deed is fake? Look here—it's a sales contract dated four days ago, stamped by the lord himself. Legally airtight, as you well know, Archbishop!"
"Kuh..."
The contract bore the lord's unmistakable seal...
proving zero legal flaws.
Per its terms, Santana had pawned the building for a loan equal to its value; failure to repay within four days meant forfeiture.
In other words, this property, like the others, had long since passed to the Beden Merchant Company.
And the same held for every building and plot of land Santana owned.
That day,
the archbishop and her Holy Knights scoured every last one of his holdings...
yet failed to claim so much as a single room or patch of dirt.
"Goddamn iiiit!!!!!"
And so,
as sunset approached, Archbishop Maxim finally grasped that it was all too late.
Not even a scrap of goose meat, let alone the golden egg—this absurd turn of events drew a wretched scream laced with profound resentment and confusion from the archbishop.