155 Dekan Does Not Cheat Honest People
Inside the Church.
Morion had taken the key from the Mayor’s pocket and had been gone for almost an hour without returning.
Dekan, who remained in the church, had already skillfully tied up the unconscious engineer and locked him in the confessional.
Then he gently helped the Mayor back into a seated position on one of the chairs, allowing him to rest face-down on the long table.
Finally, Dekan took out paper, a pen, and the documents obtained from the engineer, researching the bridge design plan Morion had requested.
Time passed, stretching into dozens of minutes.
At last, the heavy doors of the church were pushed open again, and Morion seemed to have gathered some useful information.
Dekan briefly glanced up at Morion before continuing to focus intently on his own design work.
After all, completing Morion’s requirements wasn’t an easy task.
But that wasn’t a problem for Dekan.
Wasn’t it just a budget of thirty holy gold coins?
Morion, disguised as the Mayor, slowly walked over to the real Mayor and slipped the key back into his pocket.
Then, he went to the confessional, touched the engineer, and activated [Contact Mimicry].
By the time Morion returned to Dekan’s side, he had transformed into the likeness of the engineer.
“Did you find anything useful?”
Dekan asked without looking up.
As Morion approached within a certain distance, Dekan naturally became alert.
“I thoroughly searched, including the Mayor’s house and the places only he has access to. There’s nothing related to our mission, no clues at all concerning the bloodline you mentioned.”
Leaning on the table, Morion replied while casually observing Dekan’s unfinished design draft.
“There’s definitely something wrong with this town. If these places are devoid of clues, it’s unnatural—it’s as though everything has been deliberately cleaned out.”
Dekan put down his pen, frowning slightly.
The story’s background clearly indicated that an event was brewing between the town and the city-state.
With priestly figures gone missing days ago, the bridge destroyed, something was undoubtedly already underway.
It was impossible not to uncover any information.
If gentle methods couldn’t uncover the truth, then more extreme measures would be necessary.
But that would have to wait until Dekan reunited with Cornelia.
Even without Chloix, Dekan and Cornelia’s cooperation could be considered expert-level in “convincing with virtue.”
“Still, we did gain something useful,” Morion grinned, continuing, “This mayor is undoubtedly a big-time corrupt official. He appears frugal, but when I checked his house just now, there were plenty of valuable items hidden in the attic.”
Dekan let out a cold laugh: “No wonder the mayor seems to dislike me so much; he must be worried I’ll unearth his corruption.”
Morion said, “It must be worth over a thousand holy gold coins.”
Dekan replied, “What are you talking about? The mayor is very upright and honest.”
Morion responded, “Oh, then I must’ve been mistaken — there wasn’t a single coin in his attic.”
The two had uncovered yet another treasure.
However, they weren’t in a rush to take it out. For now, their policy was maintaining their good-citizen identity.
Since Dekan didn’t increase the dose of anesthetic, the Mayor should be waking up soon.
Soon, Dekan gently tapped the unconsciousMayor awake.
“You….”
The Mayor awoke from his unconscious state. He looked around, finding himself already inside the church.
He rubbed his head, feeling dizzy with a slight pain in his forehead.
“It’s too dark in the church. Earlier, you tripped over some scattered books on the ground when entering, causing you to fall unconscious.”
Dekan said gently beside him, like a kindly priest.
The Mayor hesitated but eventually nodded. His attention quickly shifted. He realized only the masked priest and the engineer were in sight, but the previous bodyguard had vanished.
“What about the guard?”
The Mayor asked curiously.
“I’ve sent him back to the caravan to fetch some medicine for your superficial wounds.”
The Morion, now disguised as the engineer, mimicked the engineer’s tone.
The Mayor nodded, although he felt somewhat out of place, he didn’t suspect them much.
After all, how could they possibly switch people within such a short time? Furthermore, there was a legitimate priest present; the security issue was adequately covered.
“Oh, Mayor,” began Morion, “After recalculating the bridge repair work, it seems that the quote of three hundred holy gold coins might be insufficient.”
Morion’s expression suddenly turned troubled.
“Well, how much will it take then?”
“It might require five hundred holy gold coins.”
“Absolutely not, five hundred holy gold coins is way too much.”
The Mayor flatly refused.
“Based on my years of experience, I swear to this holy priest, in this church, before the statue of the deity, no construction contractor can complete this job for less than four hundred and fifty holy gold coins. Also, their builds cannot guarantee quality like our professional team does.”
“……”
The Mayor fell silent.
“In that case, unless… we still charge you three hundred holy gold coins, but you must first pay the full amount to solve our funding issues.”
Morion sighed as if making a difficult decision, “It’s for the good of the townsfolk. Even if it costs us money, we will ensure the completion of the bridge. You know, business hasn’t been good for us lately…”
The Mayor’s eyebrows twitched, seeming somewhat tempted.
If what Morion had uncovered was accurate.
Earlier, using the Mayor’s identity, Morion had learned that the Mayor could withdraw up to five hundred holy gold coins from the town’s public fund.
If five hundred holy gold coins were spent on repairs, there wouldn’t be much left for personal enrichment.
In the face of this tempting yet high-risk proposal, despite the obvious trap, the Mayor hesitated.
“Please rest assured, we will sign a formal contract with you.”
Morion earnestly added.
At the same time, Dekan secretly cast [Three Corpse Frenzy] to provoke the Mayor’s greedy thoughts.
Additionally, Morion used the [Friendship Aura], counteracting the effects of the spirit magic on themselves.
[Friendship Aura]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Tier: Orange Epic]
[Rank: 3]
[Effect: Reduces the influence of mental magic on individuals within its radius and decreases the hate level towards the caster. The size of the radius affects the mana consumption.]
[Note: Thank you kindly.]
This was the same spell card Morion had used earlier in his secret clash with Dekan.
The Mayor seemed to momentarily lose his senses, snatching the contract Morion handed over.
“Then it’s three hundred holy gold coins in full!”
“I’m glad you made the right choice.”
Subsequently, the Mayor and Morion left the church together, effortlessly finding the accountant, withdrawing money, signing the contract, and making the payment.
