The Shadow Organization Members Raised Through Pay-To-Win Are Too Strong

The meeting with Fredrick, who was in charge of the Hartwell family’s finances, ended briefly.

As he was responsible for the finances, he must be busy dealing with various matters.

But I was thinking about his name.

‘Fredrick Rosemund.’

At first, Fredrick introduced his surname as Copperfield.

But his real surname, Rosemund, appeared on the status window.

‘Why is someone from the Rosemund Viscount family here?’

Of course, it’s not that I completely don’t understand.

Wasn’t Count Benedict Hartwell’s wife from the Rosemund Viscount family?

To Albert and Bastel, it was their maternal family, and their maternal grandfather was Viscount Rosemund.

In that sense, it’s not entirely strange for someone from the Rosemund family to manage the finances of the Hartwell family.

The problem was that Fredrick tried to hide his identity.

If he had nothing to hide, he wouldn’t have done that.

‘If it weren’t for the status window, I would have been deceived too.’

This incident made me realize that the ‘Character Deactivation’ authority had high utility.

‘It seems to show the real name after all.’

As long as I make contact with the other party in any way, I can find out their true identity.

However, there was one regrettable point.

‘It’s a bit disappointing that it only applies to targets I make physical contact with.’

Because if I can’t make contact, I can’t deactivate the character, let alone know their real name.

Still, it was definitely better than not having it.

Now that I knew the status window displayed the other party’s real name, the next step was determining the extent of what the status window meant by ‘character’ and ‘contact.’

First, I learned that the range of characters applied not only to members but also to ordinary people.

Then would it work on monsters, too?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t immediately find out about this part.

‘I’ll have to experiment with this later.’

Next was the range of contact.

I was curious if it literally had to be me directly touching to be recognized as contact.

So far, I have made contact with two people, Chloe and Fredrick.

With Fredrick, direct physical contact was made through a handshake.

On the other hand, with Chloe, contact was made while she was helping me get dressed.

Looking at this, I could tell the other party didn’t have to touch my bare skin to be recognized as contact.

Then, to what extent would indirect contact be recognized, rather than direct contact?

If contact is made even over the clothes I’m wearing, would it also be contact with a stick I’m holding?

Or going further, would it be recognized as contact with my bodily fluids?

‘For example, saliva or blood?’

This experiment was important.

If I could find out the extent of indirect contact, the ways to utilize this ability would be truly endless.

I immediately bit my finger and drew blood.

And I put a few drops of blood in an empty glass.

Now, all that was left was to find someone to make contact with this blood…

‘Who should I experiment this on?’

As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just call Chloe and ask her to dip her finger in blood.

Should I sprinkle blood?

Immediately, strange rumors would spread about a young master who sprinkles blood inside the mansion.

‘Lena and Rey are a bit…’

The children who had a hard life at the orphanage, and now their employer suddenly asks them to sprinkle or touch blood?

It would definitely hurt the young ones’ hearts.

“I guess Emilia is the only option?”

Just then, the list of Phantoms appeared before my eyes.

– Gray Reaper

It was an authority I gained when the synchronization progress reached 20%.

The ability to check the list of Phantoms around me, and the ‘Gray Reaper’ mentioned here referred to Emilia.

‘Looks like she’s back.’

Emilia, who I had ordered to keep an eye on Albert, had returned.

I was curious about Albert’s whereabouts, and it was time to experiment with the ability, so the timing was good.

*  *  *

To cut to the conclusion, blood did not count as contact.

Emilia expressionlessly dipped her finger in the glass containing blood, but there was no reaction.

‘So it doesn’t work with bodily fluids…?’

Well, if that were possible, it would be too much of a cheat.

Although contact through bodily fluids didn’t work, indirect contact was partially recognized.

‘When an object I’m in contact with is also touched by the other person, it’s recognized as contact.’

If the other party touched a stick I was holding, that was also recognized as contact. However, there was a condition that the distance between me and the other person had to be within one meter.

It was the result of experimenting with Emilia for a long time.

“……”

Fortunately, Emilia followed my orders well without complaint.

‘I wonder if she thinks it’s strange?’

I felt self-conscious, but it was a necessary process for me.

Now that I had detailed information about the ability’s conditions, it was time to proceed to the next step.

“So, did you find out about Albert’s whereabouts?”

At my question, Emilia immediately replied.

“Albert is staying at the Rosemund Viscount’s residence.”

“Viscount Rosemund?”

Emilia’s voice had turned cold since coming to the mansion, but now it felt even more chilly.

But I didn’t have the leisure to pay attention to that.

‘Viscount Rosemund…’

It was a name I heard again.

Fredrick was a member of the Rosemund Viscount family, and now there is news that Albert, who left for the Empire, was staying at the Rosemund Viscount’s residence.

‘Why didn’t he go to the Academy?’

The fact that he headed to Viscount Rosemund as soon as he arrived in the Empire felt strange.

“Were there any other unusual points?”

If Emilia were an ordinary person, finding Albert’s whereabouts would be a great achievement.

However, she was far from ordinary.

As expected, after a moment, Emilia opened her mouth.

“The daughter of the deceased Marquis Hoffman met with Viscount Rosemund.”

“Marquis Hoffman?”

Marquis Hoffman was the leader of the Imperial Merchant Guild Alliance.

However, he suddenly passed away.

The publicly known cause of death was a fall.

They say he died while drunk, but I knew well that the situation at the time was too coincidental.

While talking with Bella, I could only guess that there was something behind the incident.

‘For example, there’s Emilia.’

Even if it were true, I had no intention of interrogating her.

There must have been things I didn’t know about.

Rather, why was the deceased Marquis’s daughter contacting Viscount Rosemund?

“Yes, the name of Marquis Hoffman’s daughter is Ellin Hoffman. She will come to meet Ethan soon.”

Is Ellin a Phantom?

Here, Phantom is specified as my guard, but in the game, they were literally experimental subjects.

If they survived, I gave them some freedom and used them as informants. Emilia excellently carried out her duties as one.

‘If she says that much, she’ll come to me soon.’

Then why was the Marquis’s daughter coming to see me?

‘It’s more troublesome than I thought.’

One thing that was certain was that Viscount Rosemund was behind the current situation.

Fredrick Rosemund.

Albert Hartwell.

Ellin Hoffman.

Then Emilia asked in a cold voice.

“Shall I take care of it so Ethan doesn’t have to worry?”

“No.”

I immediately shook my head at her question.

“You’ve done enough. Good work.”

If what Emilia meant by taking care of was really taking care of the matter, I would have agreed, but there was a high possibility it wasn’t that.

I pondered for a moment, tapping my fingers on the desk.

‘Viscount Rosemund is Count Hartwell’s father-in-law.’

Looking only at the status, it seems the Count would push Viscount Rosemund, but the reality is different.

Because Count Hartwell is from a duchy, while Viscount Rosemund is a noble of the Empire.

‘Could it be that Viscount Rosemund is trying to swallow up Count Hartwell?’

Looking at the atmosphere, all targets seemed to be heading towards Count Hartwell.

“Hmm.”

But there was no merit in swallowing up the Hartwell family.

There was no advantage other than the title of Count. In terms of wealth, Viscount Rosemund had far superior riches.

So much so that even though it’s been 10 years since I played the game, I remember the settings of the Rosemund family better than the Hartwell family.

In fact, Viscount Rosemund operated the best merchant guild in the Empire, so he had that much weight.

‘Is there a reason why he wants the Hartwell family?’

If he wanted to expand his territory, using force through a territory war would be a better option.

With the Viscount’s wealth, he could recruit mercenaries on a large scale.

‘I need to find out about this for sure.’

I had to find out what Viscount Rosemund was scheming.

I didn’t like the idea of just sitting still and being taken advantage of.

After finishing my thoughts, I ordered Emilia.

“There’s a treasurer in charge of the Hartwell family’s finances. His name is Fredrick Copperfield. But that’s fake, and his real name is Fredrick Rosemund.”

At the mention of Rosemund, Emilia’s expression changed slightly.

No matter how capable she was, she probably didn’t know Fredrick’s real family.

“From now on, you’ll be monitoring Fredrick, but Emilia, you don’t need to step forward. For this matter, let’s have Lena handle the surveillance.”

Because Emilia had to monitor Viscount Rosemund’s movements.

Moreover, Fredrick’s range of activities was within Hartwell territory, so it was fine to have others handle the surveillance.

I took out a money pouch from my bosom.

“This money should be enough for Lena to mobilize the children from the orphanage she stayed at. The important thing is to handle it without any connection to me.”

Of course, several guilds dealt with information in the Eluncia continent as well.

I would easily find information about Fredrick if I requested information from such places.

However, they worked for money.

Would Viscount Rosemund really not expect that?

‘Surveillance of Fredrick takes priority over his information anyway.’

It wasn’t too late to act after discovering who he met and his activities.

And I planned to utilize children for this surveillance.

‘Children wouldn’t be suspicious.’

He probably wouldn’t even think that children would monitor him.

I was concerned about persuading the orphanage’s director, but Emilia would handle it well.

“Understood.”

Emilia bowed her head and left.

She was smart, so she would know what I meant.

“Now, shall I do my part?”

First, I planned to target the Rosemund Guild.

But if I only targeted Viscount Rosemund, it would be difficult to avoid suspicion.

[Leader, just give the order.]

I didn’t even have to go far.

Because in the end, Viscount Rosemund also belonged to the Imperial Merchant Guild Alliance.

“Find a way to audit the Arcadia Empire merchant guild alliance.”

There was a reason I told them to find a way, not to actually conduct it.

If it were a kingdom other than the Empire, I could have immediately proceeded with the audit.

‘I had already infiltrated the officials with members.’

However, even when I played the game, the Arcadia Empire had only managed to win over one noble.

I didn’t know how the dynamics had changed during the 10-year gap, so for now, I ordered them to find a way.

No matter how I ordered, Black Raven would successfully carry it out.

[Confirmed Leader’s order.]

After giving the order, I turned my head and looked out the window.

Tap- Tap-

Raindrops began to softly hit the window.

“It’s raining.”

Soon, the rain intensified, instantly blurring the scenery outside the window.

*  *  *

The capital of the Arcadia Empire.

It was a gloomy day with light rain falling.

Inside the office of the Imperial Audit Agency, the faces of the officials were filled with annoyance.

“An audit on a day like this… We really have no luck.”

One auditor grumbled while looking out the window.

The rain showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

“I know, right? And to audit the entire merchant guild alliance at once? Did we fall out of favor with the nobles?”

Another auditor let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

The sudden order to audit the guild alliance was absurd.

When were they supposed to monitor that many alliances?

Just then, a man sitting in front stood up from his seat.

“Alright, stop complaining and let’s get going. An order is an order.”

It was team leader Herbert.

“I’ll stop by the restroom and then go, so you guys prepare first.”

With those words, Herbert was the first to get up from his seat.

“The team leader is too passionate, isn’t he?”

The auditors also reluctantly got up from their seats.

They didn’t feel like going through the rain to the guild alliance headquarters, but as the team leader said, they had to carry out the given orders.

That was the life of a public official.

The group from the audit agency each put on a raincoat and stepped out of the building.

A dedicated carriage was parked outside.

The rain was getting heavier, blurring even the horse’s vision, but the guild alliance headquarters wasn’t far away anyway.

“Oh, team leader, you’re here already?”

As they entered the carriage, Herbert, who said he was going to the restroom, was already seated there.

He had a stern expression, and the atmosphere was strange.

“But what’s that bag?”

One auditor asked in a lowered voice, looking at the black bag Herbert was holding.

Was there something else to bring besides the document bag?

No, but the bag was too big for that.

Above all, the team leader didn’t have anything in his hands when he went to the restroom?

“……”

Herbert silently began to unzip the bag.

It was different from Herbert’s lively atmosphere just a moment ago.

Something was odd.

The air felt heavy.

The auditors, instinctively feeling that something was wrong, tried to get out of the carriage.

But it was already too late.

As the expressionless Herbert opened the bag wide, green liquid poured out from inside.

Their identities were slimes.

Dozens of slimes gushed out and pounced on the screaming auditors.

“Aaaargh!”

“What! What are these things!”

Agonizing screams filled the inside of the carriage.

But they couldn’t leak out of the carriage, drowned by the heavy rain.

Herbert watched with cold eyes as his former colleagues, whom he had worked with, were massacred.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, but he paid no heed.

“Now, there’s no time.”

Herbert muttered with a faint smile.

Then the scattered green slimes began to move.

Soon, they began to gather in one place.

At first, it was a shapeless lump, but gradually, it began to take on the contours of a human.

The green slime wriggled and slowly formed a torso, arms, and legs.

Features also appeared on the face, identical to the appearance of the auditors who had just died.

Seeing this, Herbert took clothes from the bag and handed them over.

“The leader has given an order. We will now destroy the guild alliance headquarters.”

With Herbert’s words, the slimes that had turned into auditors slowly rose to their feet.