Chapter 223

Chapter 223. The Kidnapper and the Swindler (8)

“The cost of distribution is going up, and so are all other prices.”

In modern society, the world couldn’t simply be viewed as separate countries.

Grains, energy, consumer markets, and raw materials necessary for various manufacturing industries—

All these structures were organically connected.

‘Initially, Lily couldn’t completely suppress Saudi because of a large reason being the caution against oil monopoly.’

In this regard, I found myself contemplating whether the Hamas Clan might prove more useful than anticipated.

Instead of eliminating them outright, I decided it was better to turn them into pawns that would heed my words.

So here I was, having placed a restraining magic tool on the one who seemed most likely to obey, and departing.

Most of the members, who hadn’t been actively discriminatory, were left alive and well.

From now on, I must manage to ensure that no clan in Saudi Arabia dares to covet the position of the Hamas Clan.

“The only player group capable of demonstrating power in Saudi Arabia will now be Hamas.”

The players tasked with managing that would be those affiliated with the Order of Palao.

In return, I promised a maneuver to guarantee a more favorable supply of oil for their home country in the future.

Thus, it became possible—if not guaranteed—to minimize confusion due to oil in the impending war.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts and explain part of the plan to Sniper.

“Huh, so that’s what you thought of, huh….”

His eyes, barely visible under his trademark bucket hat, were fixed on me with a gaze that bespoke intentional observation rather than mere viewing.

My eyebrow arched at his uncharacteristic demeanor.

Though we had no personal acquaintance, Sniper and I was relatively compatible business partners.

The fact that the problematic business involved assassinating players who had caused incidents made it far from ordinary.

Yet, we’d never had a conflict of opinions or feelings of resentment due to mistakes made in handling work.

The reason for this was clear.

“That’s because he recognizes me as the boss and cooperates.”

Although we’re working together, I’m the one giving instructions and making decisions, the one responsible, in a sense.

Sniper acknowledged this, which is why there was no conflict.

He probably thought of himself as the hired hand.

In reality, I did hire him in exchange for a random box.

There was no reason to say no to someone actively preventing conflict.

We’d been getting along without any issues until now; why was he suddenly staring like that?

“You make it sound like thinking is difficult.”

I subtly probed, attempting to discern Sniper’s mindset.

Sniper chuckled softly, responding with a slightly low laugh.

“Hey, let’s be honest here. You know there aren’t many guys like you, right?”

“…….”

“Those who can’t think for themselves have no bottom. Although they live in the same world, they have no clue how the world works. They neither ponder the causes of price or interest rate hikes nor question them, simply bowing under the pressure of adapting to the impending circumstances.”

“…….”

“And there are plenty of such guys in this game, too.”

I had no intention of denying his point.

There are those who create the circumstances they desire and those who get swept up in already changed conditions.

Most fall into the latter category. And that doesn’t change when compared to players.

I wondered why he was bringing it up, and as I was staring back at him, Sniper shrugged.

“No special meaning. I just thought they’d think it’s strange that I’m sticking next to you.”

Before I realized it, I furrowed my brows.

“I’ll keep sticking next to you. Because I got a renewed conviction that this is the line to stay on.”

What Sniper had just said also implied that he was expecting something in me that others did not have.

‘It’s commotion everywhere.’

It was just because I wanted to, because I considered it necessary.

The expectations and wishes of others being added to that weren’t pleasant.

However, since it happened repeatedly, I found even pointing out that issue annoying.

“Let’s just do what I’m supposed to do.”

I had no obligation to respond to expectations that were one-sidedly thrown my way.

Whether they hoped or got disappointed, let them deal with it by themselves.

I exhaled a faint sigh and stood up from my seat.

I looked down at Sniper, still sitting, and spoke.

“Enough with the beating around the bush. What’s the real issue?”

Although I granted the license for hiring the Bounty Hunter, personnel didn’t materialize at this point.

Given the circumstances, he was still lingering in Bihar, assisting with the work even when the fight dipped into a lull and waiting for me to emerge.

‘Can’t be genuinely curious about Hamas Clan’s treatment.’

Sniper was essentially a private person.

He cooperated with me not out of a sense of justice to eradicate problems caused by players but for the random box as his reward.

People like Eisa, who pursued world peace with great ideals, were of a completely different ilk.

“Just, you know, a personal favor to ask?”

Sure enough, Sniper, lightly lifting his bucket hat, smiled slightly, something I’d rarely seen before.

Narrow-eyed, taken aback by this rare smile, I listened.

“You probably have some connection with this game, don’t you?”

The conclusion was self-evident.

I was the one who first proposed the Bounty Hunter position and replenished the lacking personnel.

“I’m not here to interrogate or question that.”

Leaning back against the rubble, Sniper raised both hands, as if to indicate no hostile intentions.

“I simply want to ask you a favor. If you manage to secure divine water on your end, I’d like a transaction opportunity. Even if it’s not the physical thing, if it’s a method to procure it, it doesn’t matter. If you share the information, I’ll definitely pay for it.”

Even if it cost his life, he declared decisively, before pulling down his bucket hat again.

I wasn’t particularly surprised by this sudden request.

“So he opened a random box of 100.”

It signified he hadn’t obtained divine water from there.

Typically, random boxes yield what the player personally needs.

Yet, not being able to secure divine water with 100 random boxes meant—

“Inevitably, he’d look for alternative methods.”

Sniper chose me for that alternative.

He presumed that whatever relationship I had with the game, my chance of acquiring divine water was higher than his,—

‘Ultimately, he’s someone who will accompany me until the Cratoll issue is resolved.’

I was not tasked with actively searching for divine water for him.

He requested only that I inform him if I happened to acquire it or learn relevant information.

I had no reason not to honor his request.

“Alright, I promise.”

My concise answer prompted Sniper to speak in a slightly hoarse voice.

“I beg you.”

I nodded, then turned away.

* * *

Leaving Sniper behind, I arrived at Kymol, where the mansion of Count Protoram was located.

“Now, let’s see what this guy has been hiding.”

I had no intention of freeing the fish that had willingly swum into the trawl.

“Maybe I’ll completely strip it to the bone.”

Finding the mansion of Count Protoram wasn’t difficult.

Having received advance notice, the holy knights surrounding and watching over the mansion gave way readily.

I stepped into the vast mansion, similar yet different from the Bennett residence.

In the hall where the central stairway led to the second floor, all the mansion’s servants had gathered.

Pale-faced, they kept casting wary glances at the holy knights monitoring them.

“They must be startled.”

Surely, they were taken aback by the abrupt arrival of the holy knights.

To top it off, they’d probably heard the news that the master of the manor had been arrested, so their shock was understandable.

I singled out one among them to guide me to the spaces Reitan frequently occupied.

Before embarking on a full-fledged search, I opened a shop to purchase a magic stone.

It enabled the use of a search magic that could detect mana arrays within a certain range.

It could locate not only obvious teleportation circles but also those that were concealed.

Typically, it was used to find magically made traps.

I used that magic stone to thoroughly search Reitan’s bedroom, library, office, and the parlor used for entertaining important guests.

Of course, I didn’t neglect the obvious safes and document holders—

I slashed cushions of beds and sofas, crushed chairs and desks, tore up floors and—even shook books off the shelves.

I looked for any hidden confidential documents.

The search was not fruitless.

I sensed mana emanating from a certain location.

In a false-bottom drawer of the office’s desk, I discovered a document indicating embezzlement of materials meant for supply to the Order army.

In a secret space found beneath the library’s floor, two ledgers, filled with unexplained numbers and names, were hidden.

“A bribe ledger, perhaps…”

I clicked my tongue as I pocketed the ledgers.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t what I had been searching for.

What I sought from Reitan were clues related to gods and divinity.

“I heard he found that divinity held in Agnotia.”

This made me suspect that he might have unearthed more pieces.

Even if he hadn’t discovered any, I hoped he’d marked regions suspected to contain divinity.

“It would take me too long to search from scratch.”

A year could be long, or short, depending on its unfolding.

My plan was to retreat to Earth within that period, having amassed as much divinity as possible.

To that end, seizing the foundations someone else had built seemed the quickest route.

Thus, Reitan was my best bet to possess what I desired.

However, despite rummaging through his dwelling, the results hadn’t been promising.

“Did he fail to find it, or am I missing something?”

Envisioning Reitan, who had likely been taken to the Association’s underground prison for harming players, I sighed deeply.

If I couldn’t find it on my own, I would have to pry it from his lips—

“It won’t be easy.”

Perhaps I should continue searching a bit more.

I rose from my seat and addressed a servant standing behind me.

“Is there any place else the count frequented? Tell me of every place he’s ever visited.”

Prepared to leave no stone unturned, I’d decided to scour any location Reitan had ever set foot in.

“He, he dined at the dining… Oh! He’d occasionally visit the wine cellar personally.”

As I received directions and exited the study, I abruptly halted in the corridor.

Caught by an inexplicable sense of discomfort, I found myself frozen in place.

I stood in the corridor, alternating glances between the study door and the office door beside it.

Having visually retraced the distance between the doors several times, I reentered the study.

Using even strides, I measured the internal space and then moved to the office, where I again measured its size.

Finally, returning to the corridor, I gauged the distance between the study and office once more.

The source of the earlier discomfort became apparent.

“They’re different…?”

The external measurement taken in the corridor and the internal measurements differed significantly.

“No matter how thick the wall may be, it shouldn’t exceed 1 meter.”

But, the discrepancy measured in steps suggested a gap of nearly 2.5 meters, or perhaps close to 3 meters, between the rooms.

Having reached this conclusion, I recalled a memory.

“Now that I think about it….”

The hidden space I had tracked Velgeo to in the Atar Empire’s imperial capital—

It too had been a passageway crafted by exploiting the space between walls.

“It’s an effective method for creating secret passageways.”

People with a dull sense of spatial perception would struggle to detect the anomaly.

Reflecting on this past memory, I re-entered the office, feeling my way along the wall that bordered the study.

“I didn’t conceive of another secret location because there was no discernible mana.”

What if the absence of mana was a deliberate ploy?

“Perhaps it was intentionally excluded as a factor.”

An ideal way to deceive those, like myself, searching the mansion with anti-trap magics.

After brief hesitation, I clenched my fist and drew back my arm.

And then, with a thud—!

“Eek!”

The weighty reverberation caused the servant to recoil in fright.

Unconcerned by his reaction, I grabbed onto the hole I’d punched into the wall and tore it apart.

Through the crumbling stone, a distinct scent of paper wafted out.