Chapter 44

Sponsor | Recipient | Amount (Gold) | Date
Rubel Duchy | Royal Knights | 500,000,000 | 1499.08.21

Shocking content. It was the fact that the Rubel Duchy had been secretly sponsoring the Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Brishwin.

…Five hundred million gold. Even someone who didn’t know the value of gold in this game world could tell it was an astronomical sum just by glancing at it while doing a somersault.

This was an event that would appear later… In a few years, the Kingdom would start a war.

They would deploy a massive number of high-end weapons that could never be produced with the Kingdom’s own technology and hire the greatest mercenaries on the continent.

Can’t you roughly see the whereabouts of that five hundred million gold?

That’s right, it’s used as war funds.

In other words, the Rubel Duchy was providing the Kingdom with funds for war! If this were revealed, even a ducal house wouldn’t emerge unscathed.

‘Everyone would be beheaded for treason…’

I didn’t know exactly who in the Rubel Duchy was providing that money. It didn’t matter who committed the treason. Everyone would end up dead anyway.

‘My goal is for the protagonist to become the Duke, not to ruin the family.’

This ledger was a very dangerous weakness for the Rubel Duchy.

‘Even the protagonist, who discovered this in the game, struggled immensely with it.’

But for me, it would serve as an excellent means of blackmail. A way to oppose Jeffrey Rubel. Not only that. The records of other sponsors listed here could also be used effectively. Let’s keep them safe for the future.

‘What?’

Before I could even finish reading the notification window, my hands felt lighter and the books disappeared. They had actually entered the Inventory, a virtual storage space!

‘I was wondering how I’d carry these around hidden.’

The game-related items I currently held were two Holy Relics and three ledgers. It seemed they counted as five in total.

‘Items not in use must have automatically entered the Inventory.’

Excited by this unexpected gain, I returned to the surface with a light step.

The sun crept up, warmly illuminating the dining room.

‘It’s been a while.’

Since I’d seen such bright sunlight, that is. It was thanks to the demonic energy being almost entirely gone.

“Uuuuugh…”

“It’s… it’s bright…”

The four people who had been sleeping with their heads on the table woke up one by one, groaning at the sunlight so intense it pierced through even as they shielded their eyes with their hands.

“Are you awake? Here, everyone take one of these.”

To those who couldn’t even open their eyes properly in their half-asleep state, I handed out four cups of tea from a tray.

‘I didn’t think I’d have to brew this again.’

To recover the public sentiment I lost yesterday, I had searched the food warehouse diligently to prepare it. The very thing known to be good for fatigue recovery and hangovers…

“I-Is this Leafage Tea?”

“Oh my.”

“Did you brew this, Saintess?”

They all accepted the teacups while appearing dazed. Arianne also stared blankly at the Leafage Tea before taking a sip.

“Mm. It’s delicious. The aroma is excellent too. It was worth teaching you.”

Receiving Arianne’s recognition meant it was made correctly. In other words, it would suit the others’ palates as well. Sure enough, exclamations broke out here and there. Starting with Kalat, who snapped awake and poured out his impressions like rapid-fire, everyone expressed their gratitude in their own way.

“It is truly delicious! Especially the heart of the Saintess who brewed this personally while thinking of us… I am so moved and grateful that it’s almost a shame my eloquence is lacking to say more!”

-Lol so long.

“I’d like to say this isn’t the kind of work the Saintess should be doing, but I appreciate the sincerity.”

True to form, Ilian threw in a nitpick.

“It tastes good.”

The protagonist praised it normally.

“Still… I feel like we let our guards down more than I expected yesterday.”

Perhaps he felt guilty for not carrying out his duties faithfully. Setting down his empty teacup, the protagonist spoke gloomily.

“Sir Hereis, that’s just over-enthusiasm talking. At this rate, you’ll be sending back the reinforcements that are already on their way.”

Ilian leaned back slowly against the chair, stretching lazily as if everything were a bother, while Kalat snapped back that we had done everything we were assigned, so what more was there to do?

-He’s right though.

-Let someone else handle it now.

-You did everything for them, what more do you want to do?

I learned that the reason the investigation headquarters was taking so long to arrive, despite being only half a day’s distance away, was that they had to join up with the Inquiry Committee.

“That may be true, but…”

“Ah. Vice-Commander. We actually do have one task left.”

“Oh boy, what are you trying to do now?”

Despite Ilian’s jab, our high-and-mighty Imperial Knights continued to manufacture more work.

“Because someone said they could absolutely never acknowledge the very significant evidence of the Countess colluding with the Kingdom of Brishwin. We’re simply trying to find an alternative.”

“…”

The two from the Church averted their eyes, seemingly feeling the sting of that remark.
Sensing the atmosphere was about to turn icy again, I quickly smoothed over the conversation.

“Come to think of it, you mentioned yesterday that there was a way.”

“Yes. As the Saintess is already aware, this expedition was originally intended for the investigation of the Countess.”

“We didn’t exactly come here without a plan.”

“And what is that plan?”

Kalat asked, unable to contain his curiosity. Of course, he didn’t get an answer.

“Why should we tell you?”

Had the grudge between the Imperial Knight duo and the Church duo not been settled yesterday?

As Arianne continued to act prickly and offended, the speechless Church side fell silent once more.

-Fighting again?

-Lmao, the Saintess is about to burst into tears.

How did they know?

I really did feel like crying.

“I’m joking.”

W-Was that it?

I let out a sigh of relief internally.

“Gosh! Sir Arianne, really, you startled me!”

“Priest Kalat’s reactions are so immediate that it’s fun to surprise him.”

“I-Is that so?”

-People who are easy to tease usually don’t realize it themselves.

-But was that really a joke?

It felt half-sincere, but… Arianne looked at Kalat with cold, unimpressed eyes before returning to the main point.

“Well, it’s nothing grand. I just intended to look for the ledgers.”

“Ah, the ledgers for the diamond mine?”

“Exactly. I brought a document that records the entire trade volume of diamond mines within the Empire for the past year.”

Arianne pulled out a document about the thickness of a slim book from her robes.

“This is it. Since we know the production and trade volumes…”

“We can cross-reference them!”

“Precisely.”

“Now, now~ let’s get going. Where would those ledgers be?”

We headed toward the library together in a friendly row. Just as Liam—the first employee we had sent out—had testified, the ledgers were hidden in a secret room within the library. Apparently, one of the bookshelves could be lifted.

“Why are there so many secret rooms in this place?”

Ilian groaned as if he were fed up with it. While the protagonist held up the bookshelf from below, we entered the ledger archive one by one. Inside, the walls on all four sides were packed with books.

“At the very least, these shouldn’t be fake ledgers. Not with them hidden like this.”

If even these were fakes, the Countess would be terrifyingly meticulous.

“Oh! Didn’t I find the right one?”

As we each investigated a section of the shelves, Kalat checked a certain ledger and called us over. On the first page of the ledger in his hand…

Mine Name: Lutenhill Diamond Mine
Location: Garain County
Ledger Manager: Treasurer Rosette Hassen

“It seems to be the one,” Arianne said with a low groan.

-Oh? Rosette Hassen?

-Isn’t that Arianne’s friend?

-Looks like she’s involved in this too, damn.

“Now I see why Sir Arianne’s friend was so desperate to be rescued quickly.”

“Yes. It seems she intended to flee. I suspected as much when she said she was the Treasurer, but…”

Since she had something to hide, she would have wanted to escape. As the one who recorded the fake ledgers, Rosette Hassen must have shared an unusually close relationship with the Countess. Coming to that realization, the protagonist offered his condolences to Arianne.

“You must feel terrible. You two seemed quite close.”

“Did you still think that even after overhearing our conversation?”

“No. It’s because I remember seeing her at the Academy. You’re talking about that brown-haired friend who followed Sir Arianne around everywhere, right? The one with square glasses.”

Arianne’s eyes went wide as if she couldn’t believe the protagonist remembered Rosette.

“You remember that? No, were you watching us?”

“Of course. The genius of the Blair family. The future Swordmaster and the future head of the house. Did you think I wouldn’t pay attention?”

‘…’

The flow of this conversation… isn’t it ominous?

…This is an Arianne Event that occurs in the County.

I had felt a bit relieved because Ilian and Kalat were here, but…

‘It’s showing me right away that I was wrong.’

Before I knew it, Kalat and Ilian had lost interest in the duo’s conversation as they were busy reading other ledgers.

It was abnormal behavior. Just a moment ago, they were happy about finding the real ledger. It wouldn’t even be enough if they were pestering her to read it together, yet they suddenly lost interest in the ledger in Arianne’s hand?

‘Is this the “force of the original work” at play?’

And because I’m a possessor and not an original character, I’m unaffected and able to create variables in the story?

Thinking about it now, I wonder if the reason the rescue team member was swapped from Frederick to Arianne was for the same reason.

It was a trick of the game system to push the heroine and the protagonist together.

“W-Well, the Vice-Commander himself was also…”

Feeling a bit embarrassed by the praise, Arianne struck back by recalling their time at the Academy.

“With your status as a Ducal heir, your good looks, your great personality, and your outstanding swordsmanship… do you have any idea how popular you were? Every single female student at the Academy adored the Vice-Commander.”

Ding!

“Of course a dating sim protagonist has to be popular!”

-For real, no need for modesty. Let’s go with Option 2.

-Not necessarily.

“And I’ve completely figured Arianne out now.”

-???

-I bet one vote that he’ll regret that statement because he picked the wrong choice.

-222 votes.

-33333 votes.

“I see that Arianne likes things to be a bit humorous. But not something too absurd—it has to be sensible, realistic, and witty humor! Option 2 and 3 are that kind of answer, but Option 2 feels a bit too much like a show-off, which is annoying to see. Therefore, it’s Option 3!”

-Wow, I’m convinced.

-I think he’s right. There couldn’t be a more accurate analysis than this.

-Eh, no way.

-You actually trust Mo Je-won??

‘Crazy.’

Does your skill actually improve if you keep playing dating sims?

If so, Mo Je-won was improving by leaps and bounds every day. Because, amazingly, that choice was the correct answer.

“Saying ‘everyone’ is an exaggeration…”

“I-I would have liked you too! If someone like Sir Hereis was at the same school…!”

-???

-Again???

Surprised by the voice that suddenly cut in, the protagonist and Arianne both stared with wide eyes. I desperately ignored my embarrassment and cried out.

“I also wanted to try attending the Academy! What is it like? The Academy!”