Where the Hell Did Everything Go Wrong?
The fifth day since returning to the imperial capital. Just as I started wondering if things might finally calm down a bit, the door to the guild leader’s office burst open with enough force to nearly shatter it. A familiar figure stormed in.
“Haa.”
I set down my fountain pen and slowly lifted my head. Sure enough, my secretary stood before me, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. The usual pattern.
“Guild Leader! Y-you must look at this right now!”
In his trembling hands was a fresh copy of the Imperial Daily, the ink still wet.
“I get it, I get it.”
I deftly snatched the newspaper from my frantic secretary’s grip. After all, Bahel and I had already sworn to keep everything completely secret. At worst, the headline would be about how the Caldia Merchant Guild had secured fifty percent of the principality’s weapon supply contracts, or that we’d officially entered the arms industry.
‘There’s no way he’d be stupid enough to confess his own disgrace…’
No, it went far beyond mere disgrace. He wouldn’t have confessed to crimes that could earn him an extermination order from every faction on the continent, right?
With that thought in mind, I leisurely scanned the front-page headline.
“...?”
I froze solid.
Iregos Principality’s Shocking Confession!
Secret Deal with an Original Prisoner and a Sincere Apology!
No matter how many times I rubbed my eyes, the letters refused to change. The article itself was pure insanity. The Prince of Iregos had personally issued a public statement to the entire continent. He had confessed in full detail that his own son had nearly joined hands with the Tearful Marionette—a calamity capable of destroying the world—and was now offering a heartfelt apology for that foolishness.
That alone was enough to make my head throb, but the next paragraph drove the final nail into the coffin.
……And the one who corrected all of this tragedy before it was too late was none other than the master of the Serbenrote Empire’s greatest merchant guild, the great man who has even recruited one of the Seven Stars. Thanks to Ideon Caldia, Guild Leader of the Caldia Merchant Guild.
The Principality of Iregos expresses infinite gratitude for his overwhelming foresight and mercy, and swears eternal friendship.
Below that stretched an endless parade of gushing praise articles from every newspaper across the continent and the empire. The great savior who had protected peace in the eastern continent. The genius guild leader who had subdued even a calamity using economic power rather than military might. The true pillar of the Caldia ducal family.
“...I don’t even know anymore. Whatever.”
They say that when a person receives too great a shock, they actually become calm. It seemed to be true. With half-glazed eyes staring into empty space, I let out a hollow laugh.
‘This is all bullshit.’
God damn it! I told him to keep it a secret! I said the only reward I wanted was money since the deal was the most important thing!!
Why is it that the harder I struggle just to survive, the more my fame skyrockets and the guild’s credibility blasts through the atmosphere?!
I clenched the newspaper tightly with both hands. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, I ripped it to shreds and shoved the pieces into the trash bin.
My secretary flinched at the sudden, incomprehensible action, but I paid him no mind and turned my gaze to the desk. A mountain of newly updated contract documents had piled up since this morning.
“I was wondering why the number suddenly tripled or quadrupled…”
They were clearly requests that had flooded in from across the continent after the Prince of Iregos’s announcement, all desperate to establish trade with the Caldia Merchant Guild.
I ground my teeth, suppressing the boiling rage and sense of injustice rising within me.
‘Fine. If this isn’t enough, I’ll cause a real catastrophe.’
I would find the perfect, utterly doomed business venture—one guaranteed to fail and rip the guild’s very foundations out by the roots.
With both eyes wide open, I began meticulously scanning through the mountain of documents on my desk, one by one.
I spent the entire morning glaring at the mountain of contracts, sorting the wheat from the chaff. No—sorting out the truly rotten stones that would be perfect for destroying the guild. By the time I’d exhausted myself, lunchtime had long since passed.
“Ah… my head hurts. I must have been sitting too long.”
I did a light stretch and opened the door to the guild leader’s office. Just then, Elenoa was approaching from down the hallway, a stack of approval documents clutched to her chest.
“⋯⋯.”
Normally she would have immediately launched into a tirade about whatever bizarre stunt I’d pulled this time. But today, her steps were heavy and her head hung low.
When she finally stopped right in front of me, Elenoa looked up with sunken eyes, still gripping the documents tightly. After a brief staring contest, she bowed deeply at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
“I am truly… deeply sorry for everything until now.”
“...?”
Her sudden apology left me frozen mid-stretch, one side of my body extended while the other remained bowed. It was an incredibly awkward pose. Yet Elenoa continued without seeming to care in the slightest.
“Young Master, you have proven your abilities so clearly and in so many different ways. Yet I, who am supposed to be the vice guild leader, continued to doubt your foresight and only harbored suspicions. I have no face left to show you.”
Her trembling voice was laced with self-loathing and profound reverence.
Only then did I finally understand what she was trying to say. I let out a small sigh and pondered.
‘Haa… I didn’t expect to win this woman’s recognition so quickly.’
The strict brake that had constantly thrown wrenches into my grand plan to bankrupt the guild had just vanished. Should I be satisfied with this situation for now? Or should I feel a little sorry that things had turned out this way simply because I was ridiculously lucky?
‘…No, there’s no need to feel sorry. In the end, I was right—even if it’s only in hindsight.’
Having finished my internal debate, I offered her the most relaxed smile I could manage and gently patted her shoulder.
“There’s no need for self-reproach, Elenoa. As vice guild leader, and as my senior who has learned far more about running the guild than I have, you simply said what needed to be said. If you didn’t keep us centered like that, how would the guild even function?”
“…….”
I’d spoken in the most neutral, rational, and dry tone possible—leaving absolutely no room for misunderstanding. Yet when Elenoa lifted her head, her eyes looked anything but normal. Those moist, glistening eyes shimmered with blind trust.
It was eerily similar to the burdensome expression Lilian used to make when she looked at me.
‘…This feels ominous.’
My instincts screamed at me. If I let the mood continue like this, something very bad was going to happen.
So I hastily changed the subject.
“Anyway, let’s talk about the rest later. I have an appointment with Lady Iriniel right now.”
The Atoning Winged Person. The Wing of Repentance. One of the Seven Stars, boasting the greatest martial power on the continent, and a precious guest who could save me from this terrifying spiral of success.
Even after returning from the Iregos Principality, she had remained holed up in the guild headquarters’ highest-grade VIP room, showing no signs of leaving. Today, I was determined to meet her, shove five thousand gold coins as a bodyguard contract fee plus a fat stack of compensation money under various pretexts into her arms, and chase her out.
However, Elenoa, who had clearly misunderstood my words completely, clasped her hands together and murmured softly.
“Now that I think about it, you even personally dealt with the Tearful Marionette, one of the Original Prisoners. Could it be that Lady Iriniel, one of the Seven Stars, has fallen for that magnificent achievement and wishes to remain by your side?”
“…….”
What an utterly ridiculous misunderstanding. Just how distorted did the rumors have to become for people to conclude that a mere merchant guild leader like me had slain an Original Prisoner?
Feeling goosebumps crawl up my arms, I barely managed to suppress the urge to immediately clear up every single misunderstanding and cry out about how unfair this all was.
‘Damn it, what achievement? I just quietly rode the bus from beginning to end!’
Anyway, I needed to get out of here as fast as possible. I had just realized that even Elenoa had completely lost her mind. If I said one more word, there was no telling how far my evaluation would skyrocket inside her head.
I mumbled something about afternoon guild business and the documents I’d set aside, then hurriedly quickened my pace.
After walking in a daze, I soon found myself standing in front of the VIP room. I took a deep breath and straightened my clothes. Inside my coat were thick gold certificates and an enormous compensation statement I had created by attaching every miscellaneous pretext I could think of.
‘No matter what, I’m shoving this money onto her today.’
Steelng my resolve, I grabbed the doorknob and stepped inside.
“Iriniel, have you finished packing your thi—”
I had planned to jump straight to the main point the moment the door opened and completely stun her. But the instant Iriniel, who had been standing in the middle of the room gazing out the window, turned her head to look at me, my mouth froze shut.
Instead of her usual rugged mercenary outfit, she was dressed in neat, pristine attire that looked almost like pure white holy vestments. The sight was so breathtakingly beautiful it could steal one’s soul. Moreover, the sharp, wary glint that usually filled her eyes was gone. In its place was an unbelievably calm and serious aura.
While I stood there, too flustered to speak, she took a step forward and spoke first.
“Employer… No.”
Iriniel paused as if choosing her words carefully, then knelt on one knee and bowed her head.
“Ideon Caldia, the one who helped avenge my father. A man of such tremendous ability that I cannot even begin to compare.”
“W-wait, why are you suddenly kneeling on the floor…”
“If you will permit it, I wish to remain in this guild and continue assisting you from now on. While I’m at it, I can also continue my father’s revenge.”
“…….”
“I still have many shortcomings… Please teach me.”
Just where… Just where the hell did everything start going wrong?
Before I could even utter a word of protest, I found myself staring at her kneeling like a knight pledging absolute loyalty. In my heart, I shed tears with all my sincerity.
All I wanted was to safely stash my family and close acquaintances away in the Ertio Peninsula and then enjoy this dark fantasy world to my heart’s content…
So why the hell does everything keep twisting like this?!