Chapter 8: A Completely Legal Transaction Without Any Legal Flaws 3

For Archbishop Maxim Caffeola, the past week had undoubtedly been the longest seven days of her life.

Every moment was engulfed in a profound sense of anticipation and excitement.

As each day passed, her eagerness intensified, even to the point of keeping her awake in bed at night.

‘Tomorrow is the day… Tomorrow, Santana’s wealth will finally become mine… Those fertile, vast lands… and those beautiful buildings, everything will be in my hands!’

Worth a staggering sum of thousands of talants when converted to monetary value.

An amount that would take her over a decade of embezzling funds, selling indulgences and sacred relics with utmost effort.

The mere thought kept the Archbishop tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep a wink.

And…

At last, the raucous crowing of roosters could be heard.

Simultaneously, the Archbishop sprang from her sleepless bed, changed her clothes, and immediately headed to the mailbox.

However…

Contrary to her expectations, the mailbox remained empty.

Although the morning cocks had crowed, some more time was still needed for the missive from the Papal State to arrive.

Automatically, the Archbishop’s brow furrowed in irritation.

“…Why hasn’t the letter arrived yet? Honestly, those lazy fools, how dare those serving the sacred Lord’s will be so negligent. I’ll have to summon and discipline them separately later…”

Pacing back and forth in front of the mailbox in the chilly dawn air, the Archbishop vented her dissatisfaction.

At that moment, she noticed a messenger on horseback approaching.

“Oh? Your Grace? What brings you here at this hour…”

“That is… ah… no, there’s no time to explain. Quickly, hand me the missive. There is urgent business of the Lord that must be attended to immediately.”

“Ah… yes, please wait a moment…”

With those words, the messenger began sifting through the letters he had brought to find the one addressed to the Archbishop.

Watching him, the Archbishop’s heart yearned to discipline this ‘lazy’ fool, but in this crucial moment, she decided to let it pass, as there were more pressing matters than punishment.

And shortly after…

After what felt like 30 years, though barely 30 seconds had passed, the messenger finally produced a letter and placed it before her.

“Here it is, Your Grace. From the Papal State…?”

Before he could finish speaking, the Archbishop snatched the letter and immediately returned to the cathedral.

Witnessing her behavior, the messenger felt puzzled…

Paying no heed to his bewilderment, the Archbishop gazed at the letter clutched in her hand with lustful eyes…

More precisely, the document officially confirming Santana’s excommunication.

“Excellent… it’s all done. Now, I need only gather the holy knights and seize his assets!”

At this point, with the excommunication finalized, there was a high likelihood that Santana was no longer in the city.

Although it had declined somewhat in recent times, in the past, those whose excommunication was confirmed would be dragged to the city center, stripped of their cash, clothing, and valuables, and subjected to a brutal lynching.

Nowadays, with the Pope’s authority significantly diminished and the rise of heretical forces opposing the Church’s will, excommunication no longer carried such potency. Nevertheless, the inherent risks always remained.

As such, the Archbishop could easily surmise that if she were in Santana’s position, she would have already disposed of anything she could and left the city by last night at the latest.

‘Well, whatever becomes of that wretch is no longer my concern. What matters now is pondering how to utilize his vast wealth that will soon be mine.’

Envisioning a rosy future, the Archbishop immediately began summoning the holy knights.

Accompanied by the holy knights, the Archbishop set out to seize Santana’s real estate holdings.

Along the way, amidst her grand procession, she received an unexpected piece of information.

“What did you say? Cazeros?”

“Yes, she abandoned her holy knight’s insignia and left this place the day before yesterday.”

“Based on the circumstances, it seems she likely followed that heretic Santana. What should we do?”

“Hmm…”

Caught off guard by the unforeseen situation, the Archbishop felt somewhat perplexed.

Although she was aware that Cazeros had aided Santana, separate from that, the Archbishop herself acknowledged Cazeros’s devotion. As such, she had no intention of severely reprimanding her.

However, regardless of the Archbishop’s thoughts, Cazeros had departed.

Perhaps she had fallen for Santana’s cunning persuasion, or perhaps out of fear of the punishment the Archbishop would mete out.

‘Regardless of the reason, she has left… and at such an important juncture, when thousands of talants are about to fall into my hands, I have no time to dwell on her…’

Having decided to disregard Cazeros, the Archbishop’s eyes finally fell upon one of the buildings Santana had owned – her first target.

All that remained was to enter, recite the excommunication decree, and issue new property deeds under the Church’s name.

As the anticipatory Archbishop entered the building, that was when it happened.

“…Huh?”

“What’s this? What business brings you here?”

The next moment, her eyes fell upon familiar guild markings and numerous laborers.

Feeling somewhat perplexed, the Archbishop nonetheless spoke to them in a confident tone.

“The question is, what are you lot doing here? This place now belongs to our Church, as the property of the excommunicated Santana. Thus, I, Archbishop Maxim, command you – cease this disturbance and leave at once!”

Presenting Santana’s excommunication decree, the Archbishop issued her order.

However…

Instead of cowering, the laborers responded with derisive laughter at her demeanor.

“Ha, it seems Your Grace is quite behind on the news.”

“Unfortunately, this building has become the property of the Beden Guild. It no longer has any connection to that man Santana. Whether he’s excommunicated or not is irrelevant.”

“Wh… What did you say? That’s… preposterous…”

The unexpected words from the laborers caused profound bewilderment to creep onto the Archbishop’s face. However, several plausible possibilities soon arose in her mind.

‘Hmm… well… now that I think about it, it’s not entirely impossible. A continental-scale guild like Beden would have the power to conduct transactions without heeding us. But even for them, acquiring all of Santana’s assets in such a short time should be impossible. At most, it could only be this building and a portion of the lands.’

Thus, though she had lost a small portion of the meat she had coveted, the Archbishop consoled herself with the thought that her share remained plentiful.

She then proceeded to depart and head toward another of Santana’s buildings with the holy knights.

However…

“This… this is absurd! There’s no way such a thing could be possible! Even for Beden Guild, how could they amass such funds…”

“Are you saying this document is a forgery? Look here, there’s clearly a transaction contract drafted four days ago. As it bears the Lord’s seal of authentication, even Your Grace must acknowledge its legal validity!”

“Tch…”

Just as he said, the transaction contract bore the undeniable seal of the Lord…

Indicating no legal flaws whatsoever.

According to the contents, Santana had taken out a loan equal to the appraised value of the building, using it as collateral, in accordance with the law.

If he failed to repay the loan within four days, the collateralized building would be seized.

In other words, like the others, this building had already been acquired by the Beden Guild long ago.

And this phenomenon extended not only to the buildings but to all the lands Santana had owned. By the end of that day…

Despite spending the entire day scouring every property Santana had possessed with the holy knights, the Archbishop could not lay claim to a single room or plot of land.

“Daaaammmmnnnnn iiiiiiiiitttttt!!!!!”

Thus,

as the sun set, the Archbishop Maxim finally realized that everything had already been lost.

In this bizarre situation where she could not obtain even a scrap of the goose that laid the golden eggs, let alone the eggs themselves, the Archbishop ultimately let out a wretched scream filled with profound anguish and turmoil.