Chapter 129

In a lavishly extravagant room, two individuals faced each other with expressions as if they wanted to kill one another.

“I only regret not being able to execute you then. Tax evasion, contract killing, drug trafficking. I caught everyone, yet how did you manage to slip away?”

“If you’re so strict, what are you going to do about your subordinates’ retirement? Be sure to take care of it when the time comes!”

“Don’t be mistaken. I’m taking good care of it. I’m just wary of what you might do.”

A slender woman wearing a red fox mask and a black suit faced a giant man clad in black full-body plate armor.

The ruler of the red-light district, the Red Mask, displayed the ability to show dissatisfaction even while masked.

The commander of the ‘Black Iron’ knights and chief of police, Sir Barbatos, shook his head with a look of lament that he couldn’t send the Red Mask to Wyvernfit immediately.

“What brings you here?”

Sir Barbatos sighed deeply as he looked at me.

“I’ve heard greetings being offered to His Majesty. With His Highness freely traversing this filthy den of evil, I am severely concerned about the future of the empire.”

He was known as the greatest knight loyal to the imperial family, referred to as the ‘Tyrant’s Hammer’ before the return, and was still as loyal as he was back then.

The Red Mask gasped upon seeing me.

“VIP! Please save me. Sir Barbatos is definitely bringing up matters that have already been concluded as not guilty.”

“Claiming you are not guilty would make the goddess of justice laugh,” I retorted.

At that moment, the situation became clear to me.

Sir Barbatos held the title of ‘Black Iron’ commander and was responsible for the crackdown on the red-light district.

If he is to judge, the Red Mask was undoubtedly the only one left alive among the operators of the red-light district, a place where everyone could be deemed the same. It was absurd to claim she was innocent; it appeared as if she had shredded the evidence of drugs, contract killing, and suspicious relics, making her out to be a villain.

This situation where I had to help her must have felt extremely absurd and empty to him.

However, regrettably for him, I was the one who had informed him about the operation.

In return for providing strength and information to the Red Mask, I had ultimately given her the responsibility to cleanse the rotten red-light district whenever it was ready to rot again.

Thus, today, I stood with the Red Mask.

“Sir Barbatos, as a righteous knight and the superior of a chief of police, do you mean to say you cannot trust the judgment of judges and constables?”

Sir Barbatos made a face as if he had just been slapped on the back of the head.

He looked as though he wanted to seize me and drag me before Jeilliris immediately.

The Red Mask stepped closer to me in a mocking manner and shrugged her shoulders.

Sir Barbatos narrowed his eyes.

“Is it her who has filled Your Majesty’s pockets with gold and silver coins?”

A dense killing intent flowed through the room.

While Jeilliris’s killing intent was sharp like a razor blade, Barbatos’s was heavy like a block of stone.

The Red Mask was incapable of manipulating mana, and for a moment, her legs gave way, causing her to sit on the floor.

I barely managed to hold on while stifling sounds of discomfort.

“Manager!”

Guards rushed in, but upon witnessing the situation, they dared not enter.

Sir Barbatos was akin to a knight crashing into the wall of a Sword Master.

If this building were to collapse entirely, he would be the type to hold up the ceiling with one hand while supporting me with the other.

Yet, with such intense killing intent radiating from him, no one dared to approach, even if they were mercenaries.

Then, as if by some miracle, the killing intent dissipated.

* * *

Sir Barbatos contorted his face.

It wasn’t something he retracted; someone had pushed it away.

“Sir Barbatos. No matter how much of the ruler of the red-light district you are, it doesn’t look good for a knight to intimidate a woman.”

The familiar voice entered the room.

He wore a black monk’s hood and a clanking necklace engraved with a spell of diminution.

“However.”

Sir Barbatos exhibited a rare appearance of being humbled.

He was both a loyal knight and a devout believer.

The owner of the voice removed his hood.

Tall, with black curly hair and dark eyes, he had a cold demeanor like a statue chiseled from marble, marked by the stigmata on his forehead.

The black saint Matheos, the divine hammer of the gods, filled with righteous indignation.

“Moreover, she has built up merit through substantial donations, so it is all the more unacceptable to intimidate her. If there are any crimes…”

He reached out one hand and lifted the Red Mask.

The Red Mask blushed further upon seeing his deep eyes, prominent brows, and the outline of his nose.

“She should be executed swiftly and without pain.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Saint?!”

Both the Red Mask and I were taken aback at the same time.

It was second nature that execution by burning was an excruciatingly lengthy method, and we couldn’t understand why such a thing was suddenly being brought up.

Matheos had undeniably performed miracles at the Alchenberg monastery on the rainy night in the past.

Naturally, we thought he would be more benevolent than before his return.

But listening to what he was saying, it seemed that he might have become more malevolent instead.

Back then, he burned in anger, and now he spoke of it with a smile.

“The tobacco is a product monopolized by the church that the world widely recognizes, and if the red-light district is involved in smuggling, it would mean you are either incompetent or lying if you claim you don’t know what goes on.”

Ah.

“The matter of the infiltrators and the imperial decree indeed arrived, but I cannot welcome you, manager.”

As a saint, he could only speak that way.

“It was the compassion of a human named Matheos that picked you up when you fell, but I am the saint at the peak of the church organization. Furthermore, the red-light district is overflowing with the eight deadly sins designated by the church. As it stands, I would like to purify it all by fire.”

Then those coming here would undoubtedly commit one of the eight deadly sins on their own streets!

This thought almost escaped from my throat before going back in.

For now, it was best to calm things down.

I hastily interjected between Matheos and the Red Mask.

“Saint, did you enter well back then?”

“Ah. Duke Valen.”

His demeanor shifted again, and he smiled with the charm that people liked.

He seemed to look slightly intimidated, for some reason.

“Yes. Archbishop Argos has sent his regards to you, and he expresses his desire for you to attend the coronation ceremony.”

“Ah. The coronation ceremony. Yes. I must attend. I am merely grateful for the invitation.”

Jeilliris had asked for the papal appointment to coincide with the oath of loyalty, indicating a desire to maximize the reasons regional lords should come up.

Fortunately, the church agreed to accommodate this request for a small donation.

“However, Saint, unlike other rulers of the red-light district, the Red Mask lives a life in line with her conscience and faith.”

Matheos shook his head with a frosty gaze.

It seemed he could not entertain such nonsensical words, even if they were uttered by me.

“The God of Radiance prohibits gambling.”

The Red Mask was the manager of a casino.

I hurriedly inserted another comment.

“Recently, after experiencing a minor corruption and being treated by a priest, she has decided to turn over a new leaf.”

“A casino manager turning over a new leaf….”

“She intends to give back tithes properly.”

I knew that even the most nonsensical statements establish trust when accompanied by money.

It was a very regrettable matter, but if the duke failed to understand this, it would pose a problem for the nation.

Such issues arise when one fails to empathize, making it difficult to cope.

“Wha—?!”

“Excuse me?!”

A twitch appeared on the eyes of both the saint and the Red Mask.

If the casino were to pay a proper tithe, it would surely amount to a staggering sum.

Being a seminarian and having engaged in volunteer work, Matheos must understand how many charitable activities he could initiate with that money.

He blinked several times and then spoke in a gentle tone, as if bestowing blessings upon nobles in a charity meeting.

“Oh dear. I hope my sister does not suffer any lingering effects.”

Before I realized it, the way he addressed her had become “my sister.”

It almost resembled a split personality.

“I felt completely healed after hearing the saint’s voice.”

The Red Mask also replied politely.

She whispered to me so softly that I could barely hear.

“VIP, if you declare that without my consent…!”

I responded in a similar tone.

“Anyway, it’s going to close soon, isn’t it?”

“!”

“There’s no chance like this to get closer to the saint. When would you have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the saint?”

“…Saint.”

Sir Barbatos was astonished as he observed the saintaliferous transformation.

I felt as though I had witnessed the moment faith wavered in his eyes.

Good, now the story can progress.

Sadly, one must shake a person’s spirit to draw their attention to others’ words.

I was sorry for having done something that Sir Barbatos might hate.

However, if he harbored disdain for me, the Red Mask would pay the tithe regardless.

The church would feed the orphanages with that and educate them.

After all, the wealthy should be hated but not their money… is that right?

I clapped my hands and cheerfully spoke.

“Now, let’s get to the point. We need to know who’s coming and where if we’re going to catch them, don’t we?”

Even if Sir Barbatos harbored malice toward me, he wouldn’t harbor it toward the imperial family, and the saint and the Red Mask had found common ground.

Everything was falling into place.

Now we could start the work.

* * *

The saint, the duke, and the commander of the knight order sat sequentially on a long sofa, while the casino manager set up a movable chalkboard and a map in front of them to begin explaining.

“Next Wednesday, we plan to import smuggled goods through the canal. We’ll be filling barrels with flour before packing them with rolled-up tobacco.”

“You’ve been clever to not let the tobacco smell escape while preventing the smell from permeating the tobacco.”

Sir Barbatos’s eyes sparkled.

“After the tobacco is moved to the wholesale flour dealer, the transaction will occur in the back street behind the market. Each intermediary will purchase tobacco from the smugglers, transferring it to their managed dealers.”

“Will the infiltrators be coming through the same route?”

This time, the saint asked.

“Yes. However, they won’t disembark from the ship. They only need to verify that the tobacco has hit the market.”

“We’ll need a way to draw them out.”

Matheos frowned, while Valencianus appeared untroubled and laughed.

“As an excuse that the items can’t be distinguished, or perhaps that they want to see another internal collaborator acting as someone who has already been corrupted.”

“Excuse me?”

“The fact that the Red Mask allowed you to catch a whiff of that tobacco at our first meeting shows a clear intent to corrupt. Were it not for the church’s purification, you would probably be having strange thoughts right now.”

“Indeed.”

“I’ll act as though I was another infiltrator you met inside the monastery.”

Valencianus confidently declared.

“I’ll change my aura from the outset… huh?”

The Red Mask and Sir Barbatos recoiled from the peculiar aura.

Valencianus’s golden eyes had transformed into reptilian vertical slits.

Though slightly different from the infiltrators, it was undoubtedly an inhuman aura.

“Under these circumstances, they should be convinced I’m merely an infiltrator serving another ancient one.”

Sir Barbatos closely examined the map before standing and pointing out several places with his finger.

“Duke Valen, leave the barricading and site encirclement to me.”

The locations he indicated were the veins of the city capable of blocking five people with one person and encircling ten with three.

Despite his rugged exterior, he was a knight skilled in tactics as much as he was in swordplay.

“In this instance, I’ll turn all the intermediary rats into wyvern food.”

“Don’t worry about the infiltrators. I’ll be there, accompanied by Knight Templars and combat priests. I’ll show them that no matter how dark the shadow, it dissolves before the light.”

Common enemies always unite their ranks.

The black saint, the bandit duke, the commander of the Black Iron knights, and the casino manager gathered their heads together to work out the plan.

* * *

It was Monday evening.

Valencianus met with the Red Mask in the VIP room of the red-light district.

With a sophisticated voice, the Red Mask conveyed the happy news without hesitation.

“They want to meet the VIP face to face. They’re willing to land soon.”

“Sounds good.”

Valencianus’s reply was unusually brief.

However, the Red Mask did not express any doubts and waited patiently.

She had learned to wait for the right moment and never to miss an opportunity.

Now that Valencianus was before her, it was a chance.

He smiled faintly, seemingly pleased with her response.

“Once we eliminate all the intermediaries this time, someone will fill that position again.”

The Red Mask replied in an elegant voice.

“Yes. That’s typically how it goes in this business, isn’t it? Those who prioritize money over conscience are endlessly replenished.”

“If those kinds of people are doing this, it might be better to have someone who fears the imperial family take the reins. What do you think?”

“If you entrust it to me, I’ll manage it well so that no strange tobacco circulates. If the VIP helps, I’m considering directing some of the supplies towards the church as well.”

Then, beginning her pitch, the Red Mask spoke of the most important detail.

“I won’t be managing it myself; I’ll send another child.”

Valencianus smiled with satisfaction.

The Red Mask recalled his warning.

A warning not to grow too big.

“True. Good thinking.”

That night, he forged one more secret pact.

As long as there are those seeking smuggled tobacco, there will be sellers.

Since it was impossible to kill them all, someone needed to manage them at an appropriate level.

“The amount we display in our palace has grown so large from next month that we might as well deliver it at night by wagon.”

“Sure. I’ll inform the guards at the side gate.”

It was something too petty for a tyrant to engage in, yet too risky for an ordinary royal family.

For a notorious tyrant with all sorts of bizarre and grotesque rumors, it fit the description of the bandit prince from the imperial family perfectly.

“Only two days remain.”

“Yes, indeed.”