Duke Valencius fought fiercely against the encroaching Holy Knights and Purity Battalion soldiers.
“Come at me! You bastards!”
He overturned, disarmed, and threw soldiers to the ceiling, striking a wall of fire to block many from entering.
“How dare you point weapons at a member of the royal family?”
“Requesting additional reinforcements!”
“That’s the real Duke Valencius.”
“See! I told you all those rumors were true!”
“Priest! Please bless us!”
The blessed Purity Battalion soldiers rushed in, but he kicked them between the legs, toppling them.
“Uagh!”
“You crazy bandit bastard!”
“…… It’s chilling.”
“What are you doing! Aren’t those tobacco smuggling criminals running away?”
As he said, the enemy masked figures, guards, and executives were calmly escaping.
However, all the attention of the Purity Battalion soldiers was focused on Duke Valencius.
“You disgrace of the imperial family!”
A Holy Knight charged in, shouting, but Duke Valencius instead placed his neck right in front of the knight’s blade.
“!”
Though the authority of the royal family had fallen, Duke Valencius was a somewhat unique exception.
He was the first royal appointed by the kin-murderer Jeilliris and was also the emperor’s twin.
The Holy Knight hesitated, and Duke Valencius smirked as if he had expected this reaction and countered.
“Just lie down for a moment.”
“Ugh!”
He turned the knight’s helmet backwards, obscuring his vision, and struck down on the top of his head with a broken spear, tripping him by hooking his legs.
The Holy Knight removed his helmet and stood again.
“This…!”
“I knew you would!”
In that moment, what entered his view was Duke Valencius cruelly laughing and grabbing a wine bottle from a table.
Crack! And crunch!
The wine bottle shattered, leaving the now demoralized Holy Knight sprawled on the ground.
“Hahahahaha!”
“Capture him!”
“Tie him up!”
“Lift him up!”
After that, the Purity Battalion soldiers surged forward with ropes, and Duke Valencius brandished a dining fork, striking the hands of the soldiers.
“Ahhh!”
“How dare you lay hands on anyone!”
“You smug tobacco smuggler!”
“Are you not even ashamed?”
Dozens of hands and dozens of ropes were employed, and finally, the Purity Battalion soldiers succeeded in tying up Duke Valencius and dragging him out of the casino.
At that moment, the enemy masked figures and executives had long since vanished from outside the casino.
“They’ve all fled!”
“We found a secret passage, but it’s all filled with some strange gel, and we can’t get out.”
“Uaaaaaah!”
The priest who led the assault bellowed in frustration.
“Duke Valencius! This matter must be held accountable by the royal family! … Huh? Where did he go?”
In the spot he had been, there was only a bundle of burnt ropes left.
With a tenuous seal, no magic learned by a royal could be contained.
“Did we miss all of them? How on earth will I face the saint now?”
The priest buried his face in his hands in despair, and the Holy Knights let out a low groan.
At that moment, Purity Battalion soldiers came up from below and said, “We found the smuggled tobacco!”
“It seems they left everything behind to flee in a hurry.”
“It’s an enormous amount. It’s piled high in a big room, taller than I am.”
“!”
Today the sun rose again, and people gathered like clouds in front of the cathedral and the imperial palace.
In front of the imperial palace, a herald from the Black Iron Knights was proclaiming, while at the cathedral, a priest was holding a magically amplified trumpet.
“Rejoice, citizens! The Black Iron Knights have quelled the smugglers and infiltrators alongside the Church of Light.”
“The blades of light, alongside the Black Iron Knights, have captured the infiltrators who were smuggling illegal tobacco last night…”
As it was fundamentally a market that emptied out at night, casualties were minimal.
Both sides had similar tones in their proclamations.
It was stated that the Holy Knights and the Black Iron Knights had joined forces to capture the smugglers and infiltrators.
The only difference was that the Black Iron Knights focused more on “smuggling,” while the church emphasized “tobacco,” and the church added more about the bandit royal Duke Valencius.
“Additionally, we tracked the smugglers to a gambling house in the red-light district, attacked it, seized an illegal tobacco stash that could fill a large room, and at the scene, we apprehended Duke Valencius…”
In a time when food was scarce and everyone was struggling, news that a royal indulged in drinking and handling smuggled tobacco with gamblers reached the people’s ears, leading to heightened anger.
“Have you ever seen such a reckless bandit!”
“That guy is still considered royal!”
“Why doesn’t Her Majesty Jeilliris just get rid of him… the bonds of blood truly are fearsome.”
“Isn’t that person also pitiful? With a brother like that, it’s just trash.”
“Even so, to feel sorry for a kin-murderer…”
“No, isn’t that wrong? Surely there had to be something redeeming about him.”
“Oh, you’re still trying to choose your words carefully. Leaving him be is also a problem.”
The mere fact of having such a brother sparked sympathy for Jeilliris.
And then:
“Saint, if we add the sales from the tobacco we brought in, this is the amount we get. We could buy a farm, sponsor about three orphanages, and set up two more free meal centers.”
“That’s a relief. Truly a relief.”
“The church, through funds raised from activities like tobacco sales…”
All of that was part of Duke Valencius’s scheme.
[Greetings. This is the “Masked One” from “Hope.”
As a fugitive, please forgive my poor handwriting.
First, I express deep regret that our meeting ended in failure.
I felt you might not grasp the situation, so I reached out out of moral obligation.
The priest you sent that day was pursued by the church.
All four devotees met a glorious end, and the tobacco was disposed of by the Black Iron Knights.
Holy Knights also stormed into my casino, “Hope,” and I am currently barely escaping with my life.
If you assist in restoring my power, I shall surely repay you… (truncated).]
“I sent it this way, and I received a reply saying not to contact them again. It seems that for some time, their trade with the red-light district will be cut off.”
The Masked One filled Duke Valencius’s cup and detached the lower part of her mask.
Duke Valencius clinked his glass with hers, laughing cheerfully.
“I’m glad it was handled cleanly. It’s most comfortable when working with you.”
“Thanks to the VIP being considerate of our situation.”
The Masked One knew that whenever he said “thanks to you,” a peculiar relaxation appeared in his expression.
In a world where a single word could repay a heavy debt, there was no harm in saying what he liked to hear.
He downed his cup and, with inhuman yellow eyes glinting, asked, “When are you planning to start the tobacco business? With ‘Hope’ shut down, your pockets will inevitably be strained.”
Inside her mask, her eyes gleamed sharply.
From now on, she had to answer cautiously.
Duke Valencius did not want her or the red-light district growing too large while simultaneously wishing for infiltrators, thugs, and politicians to be kept out of the smuggling tobacco market.
“I plan to focus on gauging market scale and assembling personnel for a while instead of flooding the market. After all, you need to grant me over half independence. My pockets are fine. ‘Dawn’ has opened. It’s exactly the same location.”
This was the room where she had briefed Duke Valencius, Barbatos, and Matheos.
It was merely a name change from “Hope” to “Dawn.”
Duke Valencius had just made her say that to prevent her from stating, “Due to financial issues, I must personally dive into the tobacco business.”
“Thorough as always.”
The Masked One smiled, feeling like she was walking a tightrope, and elegantly bowed her head.
“Regardless, VIP. Thank you very much. Thanks to you, I survived once again.”
She had survived.
That meant she wasn’t asking for anything more.
Duke Valencius waved his hand as he accepted the jewelry box she offered.
“What does that mean between us? If you disappear, my pockets will dry up too.”
It was as if he said it was fine to fill his pockets a little more.
The Masked One grinned.
As expected.
Through her unique insight, she was gradually learning more about Duke Valencius.
He wasn’t a bandit, nor particularly merciful, and he wasn’t especially corrupt or greedy.
He was indifferent.
The reason was unknown.
Why she was going this far for the indifferent was still beyond her comprehension.
But she understood the phenomenon.
His golden gaze seemed inhuman because he looked at everything around him as if it were not even human.
His rampages across various places aimed to create a state where everything rolled smoothly without needing his attention.
That’s why he likely sought local collaborators instead of directly managing situations and locations.
To prevent a vicious cycle of betrayal and purging, he must have chosen those who had much to lose or those in need of help, while giving them a sufficiently long leash.
“It doesn’t matter.”
What she wanted was not the power or magic that Duke Valencius was wary of.
She wanted money and the freedom to earn and spend it; his leash regarding that was exceptionally long.
As long as she didn’t grasp the whole economy of the capital in one hand and shake it, Duke Valencius wouldn’t care how much she earned.
Thus, the Masked One willingly accepted the leash Duke Valencius offered.
“I was almost killed again. He is truly my opportunity.”
It wasn’t an ordinary leash; it was more like a spiked collar to protect her neck from the wolf.
I climbed into the carriage.
Behind was a load of jewels and silver coins and gold coins, and beside me sat Rudi.
“Lord Valen, did you finish your work well?”
She asked in a gentle voice.
I nodded, feeling as if I might cry for some reason.
I settled into my seat as the carriage headed toward the imperial palace.
It was over.
Suddenly, as the tension eased, the world spun before my eyes.
Rudi anxiously held my shoulder and helped me lean back.
“Lord Valen! Are you okay? Coachman! To the church…!”
I loosened another button on my shirt and said, “No, Rudi. Let’s go home. Please.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Do you want me to think of it as a story? I’m too frustrated, and I want to tell someone.”
Rudi thankfully nodded.
“Actually, I wanted to ask first, but I hesitated because I was scared to. Please tell me. I’m very curious.”
I opened my mouth, letting the words spill forth like a flood.
“The Masked One wanted to protect the casino while refusing the demands of the infiltrators, the church wanted to stop the tobacco smuggling, and the Black Iron Knights wanted results.”
And I wanted to meet all three of their demands while controlling the smuggling tobacco market to prevent any such occurrences from happening again.
“You know we combined our strength to stop the infiltrators and catch the smugglers.”
“Yes.”
But the real fight always begins after the battle ends.
“It was easy to cut out the Black Iron Knights. I handed over the infiltrators who couldn’t even sell the corrupt tobacco and their useless underlings, which gave them sufficient results.”
“Then the church and the Masked One fought over the smuggling tobacco market?”
Rudi’s green eyes sparkled as she grasped the gist.
“Exactly. Moreover, the Masked One needed to survive against the infiltrators too.”
“Ah.”
“So I decided to use the church. I became the bait, and the Masked One spit out half of the normal tobacco she brought that day.”
“The church ruined the Masked One, so the infiltrators won’t need her anymore.”
They needed the influence the Masked One and “Hope” had over the red-light district.
A fallen Masked One had no obligations to assist.
I nodded.
“Precisely. That’s how she broke free of the infiltrators. The church seized a tremendous amount of tobacco, so they likely wouldn’t suspect she’d be hiding any more.”
Thus, she also eluded the eyes of the church.
“I obstructed the infiltrators’ plot and acquired the influence over the tobacco market and gold coins.”
“The trust of the saint, too.”
“Eh?”
Rudi said suddenly.
“That night, the saint remarked that Lord Valen appeared different.”
“Ah.”
I recalled what I had said and done.
Ordering the knight to let 100 people be corrupted when it could be prevented, commanding that a person be skinned like a potato sprout, and forcefully dragging the saint’s wrist.
… Oh, the world.
I should be excommunicated.
I had no idea what I was thinking to say such things.
What kind of a boast is it to be desensitized to human death, as if I would preach the truth?
What I said was factual, but it should not have been the truth.
“… I suppose I must look worse.”
