Chapter 609 – 609. The Saint and the Villainess (4)
The ‘Room of Truth’, which is embodied with the power of Lily’s dream horse, refers to the dream world that interferes with reality.
The power of a normal succubus is to take control of the target’s mind, take the mental body to the ‘dream world’, a unique space only dreamers can enter, and play with it.
But Lily’s power is a little different from that.
The identity of Lily’s ‘Room of Truth’ is not to take the mental body that exists in reality to the dream world, but to implement a virtual space that is like a dream world into reality.
Rather than taking out the mental body itself and taking it to the dream world, this ability to reconstruct a specific space into a dream world by interfering with reality would not have been possible without Illyana’s advice.
Illyana taught Lily to use this ability after being inspired by seeing the ‘realization of the fantasy world’, which reproduces past events and backgrounds identically, as one of her abilities that Eunhyun occasionally displayed.
In this ‘Room of Truth’ reconstructed by interfering with reality, Lily, who is the owner of this space, exerts authority like a queen.
So Lily was putting her newly developed abilities to the test.
“This… I can’t…”
Born and the two employees, the owner of Alteria Corporation, looked at the video floating in the air and looked in disbelief.
It was because in the video, he could see his business building, which had been destroyed by fire.
The production of the situation was possible because Lily was enlarging and showing the situation transmitted in real time through the crystal ball in the room of truth.
“Soon, the knights of our family who heard the commotion will be heading to your company’s building.”
In order to catch the ‘unidentified someone’ who suddenly attacked the building of Alteria Firm, the knights of Armitas who had been waiting in advance would move.
“And we plan to retrieve all the hidden property that you guys have been illegally exploiting in our territory.”
Confession is no different from Born’s own because of Lily’s ability.
And additional evidence that can bind him so that he cannot escape will be brought by the knights of Armitas dispatched to Alteria.
If you only check the physical evidence you have collected, the procedure after erasing the Alteria Corporation from the dukedom and recovering all its properties is very simple.
But before Eleanor could finish it all, she had to point out one thing that bothered her.
“I will tell you one last time. Tell me who is behind you.”
“…”
Born’s crimes of extracting and exploiting the people of his own territory, and letting the exiled Cheolhodan guild in even while cheating on his identity, can already be sentenced to death if he decides.
However, the reason for not doing so was that he needed to figure out what was behind Born.
“Then at least it will save your life.”
“Big…”
However, despite Eleanor’s conciliation, Born clenched his teeth and closed his mouth tightly.
Eleanor called Lily again, thinking how much the bigwig was protecting him.
“Lily.”
“Yes. Little madam.”
When Lily nodded slightly and tried to inject pain into the minds of the three again, the reaction was immediate.
“Let me tell you… ! I’ll tell you!”
The frightened and urgent voice was not Born’s, but one of the company’s employees.
“… Quiet!”
Born raised his voice and tried to intimidate the employee of the company who was about to open his mouth, but since the situation had reached this point, the employee had nothing to hold back.
“The lord of the upper house… ! No! You don’t know, but we’re certain to die here!”
Since the Alteria Corporation was over, Born was no longer their boss.
The employee, who thought it was the right decision to tell everything he knew and beg for his life, hurriedly opened his mouth.
“The Bartell family is behind the funding for Alteria Corporation and sending them to the Duchy of Armitas!”
“… The Barthel family?”
Eleanor frowned when the name of a country she had never expected came up.
The Kingdom of Bartell is a country adjacent to the Kingdom of Pernias, and is a kingdom specialized in maritime trade as it is located along the coast at the eastern end of the Arcena continent.
Although the Kingdom of Pernias also interacts with other countries through maritime trade as a territory called Tirnis, the kingdom of Bartel is characterized by its capital itself being along the coast, so the size of ships entering and leaving the port is different from that of Tirnis. A country where incomparable amounts of money and goods come and go.
“… It is not an improbable story.”
The Kingdom of Bartel is a country with enormous capital centered on its greatest strength, maritime trade.
No matter how much the Duchy of Armitas built up enormous wealth through rapid growth and made the Fernias royal family and nobles nervous, it was incomparable to the flow of money circulating in the capital of Bartel Kingdom.
Rather, from the moment I heard that the Bartel family was behind it, I began to see parts that I could understand one by one.
No matter how rich he may be, Born is just a commoner running a large business.
In order for him to take over the Duchy of Armitas, which is no different from the second-in-command of the Kingdom of Pernias, he would need various things besides capital.
If it was said that the Barthel family was behind the scenes, it would be understandable.
“… It must have smelled like money.”
The reason why the Kingdom of Bartel is trying to control the Duchy of Armitas with the help of Born and Alteria is very simple.
Because it’s money
With the advent of the legendary Dwarves who migrated to the current duchy, the Duchy of Armitas was facing its second golden age.
The equipment produced by the dwarves, which existed only in legends or books and were described as a fantasy race, boasts a level of performance that is different from equipment on the market so far, and the number of adventurers who flock to the Duchy of Armitas to obtain these equipment is increasing noticeably.
Of course, it was a natural fact that the following merchants smelled the money and flocked to the Armitas Territory.
The current dukedom, which is showing a huge influx of population and the economy is booming one after another, is attracting attention as a territory that other countries are also paying attention to.
What the Bartel family is paying attention to is not the enormous wealth accumulated by the dukedom.
The internal structure that creates that wealth, or the Armitas Duchy itself, which has the potential to sweep more money in the future.
“Okay. Okay.”
Unsure, Eleanor nodded her head and gestured to Lily.
Lily, who understood the meaning, unlocked the Chamber of Truth, which continued the harsh torture.
As if it had changed, it changed again to the space of the mansion where the dinner continued, and the devil’s ability that had bound the three people was released.
“Heo-eok, hee-eok, hee-eok!”
As soon as Lily’s restraints were released, the three of them collapsed on the floor as if they were falling from chairs, and were forced to breathe heavily and break out in a cold sweat.
Soon, Born twisted her face and grabbed his subordinate by the collar.
“If you tell me what’s behind it, do you think the royal family will let us live!?”
“Even if you don’t say anything, dying here is the same! Do you really think that the royal family will protect us until the end!?”
That couldn’t be the case, the staff assured.
He was just an ordinary commoner, but like Born, he was recognized for his good skills and held a fairly important role in the company, and he was a man who did not hesitate to do dirty work for money.
Due to the nature of this industry, where it is often used when necessary and discarded without mercy when the value of use disappears, the employee was thinking in his heart that his future might change at any time.
So he made a decision.
If you want to live, if you have to live, you have to blow the rear here and beg Eleanor for your life.
“You are no longer my boss! Don’t order me!”
The employee shook Born’s hand that was gripping his collar and quickly approached Eleanor and knelt down in front of Eleanor.
“I, I said everything! Save me! Please!”
“… Okay.”
The employee who had looked at himself and Lily with a lustful, low-key gaze until earlier was begging for forgiveness with an ugly, servile face.
Having obtained all the information she wanted, Eleanor had no intention of dealing with these three people any longer.
“Lily.”
“Yes. Little madam.”
Lily, who had returned from being a lustful dreamer to being a maid before she knew it, immediately hypnotized the three of them according to Eleanor’s orders.
The three of them opened their mouths half-opened as if they were out of their minds, making a hazy look as they encountered the demonic magic that pulsated in Lily’s red eyes.
“You cannot reveal what happened here to the outside world.”
“Egg… I will…”
Born gave her a dazed expression and nodded weakly at her.
In a sense, the dream demon’s power to inject coercive constraints into his mind is close to a curse.
The three people who had not yet recovered their corrupted minds fell limply on the floor due to the dream magic that Lily injected.
Lily left the three of them behind and opened the door.
The knights who had been waiting outside came in and carried the three people on their backs and left the mansion.
“I didn’t know you would really save me.”
As promised, Eleanor did not kill Born and her two employees.
But just because you didn’t kill doesn’t mean you showed them mercy.
Those who committed heinous crimes within the dukedom will be downgraded to slavery, and will live their lives as unreasonable labor digging ore in mines for the rest of their lives.
“For them, living in the future is hell.”
All property, status, and business that were symbols of strength and power were taken away.
Since there is nothing left for them now, they will have to walk a harsh path different from the present, when they were affluent, so how can it be called mercy?
And Eleanor intended to take this incident as an opportunity to conduct a thorough investigation and punish all those who participated in the evil deeds of Alteria.
“The Kingdom of Bartel… Would it be okay?”
“I wouldn’t know if there was no evidence. There is clear evidence that he committed a crime, but even the Kingdom of Bartel has no right to say anything. Still…”
Eleanor didn’t let go of her frown, as if she didn’t like it.
“I don’t think the Bartel kingdom will retreat like this.”
It is clear that they will pick up faults and make a fuss.
Considering the distance that the news of the collapse of the Alteria Corporation, which had been sent ahead of them, could reach Bartel Kingdom, it would take two months at the earliest.
In that time, she had to make preparations.
“Whoa…”
Eleanor, who confirmed through the window that Born and the two staff had been taken away by the knights and completely left the ducal residence, sat down on a chair at the table and let out a big sigh.
As soon as she solved a fairly heavy case, she released the tension she had been holding on to.
After drinking a cup of black tea Lily poured her, she stared at the ceiling with a tired expression on her face.
“I miss that person today…”
When Eun-hyeon returns, she expresses her desire to discuss this matter right away.
“… Yes.”
And it wasn’t just Eleanor who missed the face of her long-absent husband.
