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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 58: On Par with the Entire Merchant Alliance
Every time I spoke, the main hall filled with cheerful laughter.
I looked around at the executives with a pleased expression for a while, then said with a broad smile,
"Who's in charge of finances?"
"In charge of finances, ahahaha!"
"Let's go smell some money."
"Smell money, ahahahaha!"
"Are you parrots?"
"Parrots, ahahaha, my sides..."
When I made eye contact with each of the executives, they finally stopped laughing and composed themselves.
"I asked who manages the money."
As the executives nervously exchanged glances, I raised my right hand, engulfing it in flames.
"These guys are really... pushing my buttons."
Suddenly, Daisy smacked the back of the head of a frail-looking executive, and he reflexively blurted out,
"Ack, I'm the treasurer, but..."
"But?"
The treasurer replied with a bitter expression.
"The thing is... the money I manage isn't much. The boss, no, Shepiro, personally handled the actual tribute collection. I just received the money Shepiro gave me each month and managed the underlings."
As he spoke, the treasurer's face flushed red, as if overwhelmed by a sense of injustice.
"I didn't even receive much. I couldn't say anything, and I was always getting yelled at from both sides... Sob."
Daisy interjected, confirming the treasurer's words.
"The treasurer is right. The executives were fine because they collected money separately, but the situation for the lower ranks hasn't improved. You'll see when we go to the treasury. There's barely anything there."
"Let's go then."
We followed the treasurer to the treasury. Inside, piles of tattered uniforms were stacked high, and a small pouch of gold coins lay to one side.
I pointed at the uniforms and the pouch alternately and asked,
"Everything's in tatters. Is that for a week?"
The treasurer replied with a sullen face,
"That's for a month. As you can see, it's barely enough to feed everyone."
"The more I learn, the more despicable he seems."
He had been collecting so much in tributes but paying his men meager wages.
"Embezzlement is a serious crime. Where would this despicable man hide the money?"
As I muttered to myself, the executives responded, feeling like they were on a treasure hunt.
"Maybe he hid it in the backyard."
"It could be outside the estate."
"Perhaps he secretly entrusted it to an inn or merchant in Leon."
I shook my head and said,
"You don't understand the nature of a despicable person at all."
"Then?"
"Despicable people are inherently paranoid. They can't sleep at night unless they check on their possessions with their own eyes every day. Where does Shepiro spend most of his time?"
"In his office."
"Let's go."
* * *
We opened the door to the boss's office and entered. It was a fairly spacious room with a raised platform at the front and several chairs on either side.
The center was just an empty wooden floor, a simple layout.
"Check the walls. And the floor too."
The executives searched the walls and floor in groups, but they couldn't find anything unusual.
Daisy shook her head and said,
"It doesn't seem to be here, Brother. I've been in the boss's office many times, and I've never noticed anything strange."
I also scanned the walls and floor but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"Where's the bedroom?"
"Right in front."
I immediately left the office and entered the front room.
It was a simple room with only bedding.
"That coward slept here?"
I stared at the spotless bedroom for a while, then went back to the office, out into the hallway, and back and forth, comparing the two rooms.
The office wall and the bedroom wall were connected.
"This is strange."
The area of each room was smaller than it appeared from the hallway.
Which meant...
There was a gap between the walls.
"Gather around."
At my command, the executives once again tapped and pushed on the walls, but they still couldn't find anything unusual.
One of the executives cautiously said,
"...Could you be mistaken?"
"That's third-rate thinking."
"I really don't think there's anything here."
"Third-rate people make mistakes, first-rate people have conviction. Step aside."
I enveloped my entire body in a Wind Barrier and slammed my body into the wall.
Boom—
The wall caved in, and the entire office shook.
I slammed into it again, and with a cracking sound, debris started falling from the ceiling.
But the wall still held its shape.
"Damn, it's sturdy."
As I stepped back and prepared to charge again, the executives exclaimed in alarm,
"Are you going to ram it again?"
"You guys should help too. Your boss is working hard here, and you're just watching."
"..."
"Useless bunch."
Meanwhile, Daisy suddenly took out a piece of paper from her pocket and scribbled something on it, saying,
"The conviction that one can lose their mind at any moment. Note to self."
I didn't understand what she meant, but her conviction was commendable.
I glared at the wall in front of me, fueling my hostility. The moment I imagined it mocking me, I charged at full speed and slammed into it.
With a sound like an iron gate bursting open, the entire wall crumbled.
Crash—
The whole room shook violently from the impact.
Debris from the ceiling rained down like a shower.
"It's collapsing!"
"Don't panic, you idiot. It won't collapse."
Daisy smacked the backs of the executives' heads to calm them down.
Amidst the chaos, I remained speechless.
The sight before me left me speechless.
The executives, sensing something unusual, also approached one by one and stopped on either side of me...
"Wow... Oh my... Really... Wow..."
We stood there in silence for a moment, admiring the shimmering waves of gold.
Countless gold bars filled the room.
In the midst of the silence...
"Sob."
The third-rate treasurer suddenly ran forward, grabbed a gold bar, and started wailing.
Daisy quietly approached and patted the treasurer's back.
* * *
I woke up from a nap and went out to the main hall.
The new recruits were still in the midst of their training.
I went into the tea room, grabbed a piece of dried meat, and then went back out to the main hall, chewing on it while overlooking the courtyard.
"Third-rate! Escape! Third-rate! Escape!"
I squatted down and observed for a while. The guys from the headquarters and the branch weren't much different.
Except for a few executives, they were all the same.
In fact, comparing the mid-level executives, there wasn't anyone who could even match Carrot.
Of course, it wasn't that surprising. Third-rate was still third-rate.
Daisy alone could handle all the executives, so it made sense why the branch members were afraid of the headquarters.
The difference in skill only mattered when it surpassed the third-rate level.
So how does one surpass the third-rate level?
It actually starts with one's mindset. Mindset comes before skill.
You need to overcome the mindset of giving up when things get tough or annoying. And what comes next?
'Ah, I forgot.'
I tried to continue my stream of consciousness on the theory of third-rate, but I failed.
I was just trying to kill time with random thoughts, but the boredom persisted.
'When will they be back?'
I had instructed the treasurer to organize Shepiro's secret stash.
But I had been waiting for a long time, and there was still no sign of them.
I wasn't the type to nag my subordinates, so I hesitated to check on them.
'...Should I go one more time?'
To be honest, I had already gone there about five times to ask when they would be finished.
While I was contemplating whether to go again, I suddenly thought of something to alleviate my boredom.
I immediately crossed the main hall and headed to the maintenance room in the backyard.
I turned on the light in the dark, empty room, and a sharp blade gleamed in the corner.
The black dagger.
The blade was only as long as my index finger, and the handle was so small that I could barely grip it with my thumb and index finger curled like pincers.
Its overall shape was that of a dagger, but it was so small that it was more like a hidden weapon.
'Hmm.'
I picked up the cube-shaped device with my left hand and inserted the dagger into it.
With a click, the dagger was sucked into the cube as if it were being absorbed.
'Ice Thorns.'
With ice shards swirling in my right hand, I chanted the Wind Barrier spell.
The Wind Barrier that enveloped my entire body gradually compressed, and several layers overlapped on the ice shards in my right hand.
I had concentrated the shield's defensive power solely on my right hand.
I held the cube close to my right hand and gently pressed the small protruding part on the back with my other hand.
At that moment...
The compressed Wind Barrier shattered, causing the back door to shudder violently. The resulting blast of wind pressure shattered the window into pieces.
Not only did it completely tear through the Wind Barrier, but it also pierced the ice shards in my hand, creating cracks.
I could feel the dagger's aura at the tip of my palm.
"Wow."
It pierced through even though I had fully compressed the Wind Barrier.
I was surprised when I blocked it from a distance,
But its power was several times stronger when activated up close.
It was comparable to the sword aura of knights who had just reached 4 stars.
Rather than the firing power being strong, it was the dagger's unique aura that was exceptional.
"This isn't something a third-rate thug should be carrying."
It was definitely not an easily obtainable item.
Especially assassination weapons like this were rarely traded through normal commerce or auctions. Even with a lot of money, it wasn't something you could just buy if you wanted to.
I spent some time examining and studying the dagger.
* * *
Another day passed.
I stretched and went out to the courtyard. Training was already in full swing from early morning.
I watched Daisy scolding the mercenaries, took a walk along the wall, and then wandered around like a lost puppy.
Thinking I had waited long enough, I went back up to the platform. Just then, the third-rate treasurer, looking haggard, appeared in the distance, stumbling towards me.
With a welcoming heart, I grabbed both of his gaunt hands and shook them.
"Welcome!"
The third-rate treasurer flapped like a scarecrow, so I quickly let go of his hands and said,
"Did you figure everything out?"
"Yes, I've grasped it all."
"How much is it?"
Suddenly, the third-rate treasurer pulled out a booklet from his pocket, straightened his posture, and began speaking.
"Besides the gold bars, there were other assets inside, so it took a while to assess. The amount was several times more than I expected. First, let's talk about the gold bars. Each gold bar is equivalent to five pouches of high-grade gold coins. Considering the amount of gold in one pouch of high-grade gold coins..."
"Stop. My head hurts."
I waved my hand and shook my head.
Having been cooped up in Khaoto, I couldn't grasp the scale even when I heard the numbers.
"Explain it simply. Is it a lot or a little? Is it enough to acquire a decent merchant group?"
Suddenly, the third-rate treasurer grinned and gestured with his hand.
It was quite an arrogant attitude, but his eyes were so confident that I didn't say anything.
"Leon may be small, but it's a commercial city. There are many merchant groups coming and going. However, most of them are not really merchant groups but just a few merchants acting together. You can create a merchant group with just three merchants, so it's natural. They just call themselves merchant groups in name only."
It was the treasurer's time to shine.
"In Leon, there are only three places that can truly be called merchant groups - the ones leading the Merchant Alliance. You asked if it's enough to acquire a decent merchant group, right?"
"I understand. The treasurer is quite the storyteller."
"No."
As the executives gathered around us...
The treasurer savored the moment and slowly opened his mouth.
"From what I've seen..."
"..."
"It's on par with the entire Leon Merchant Alliance."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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