I Possessed It Instead of My Younger Sibling

124 – How Did It End Up Like This?

I, who was confused by Ene’s copying of money, came to my senses and spoke to a middle-aged man with a kind-looking face who was standing next to Ene, who was smiling, to find out the truth.

“Mice. What happened that caused the funds to increase in such a short period of time?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Mystiltein. These funds were earned only through honest transactions by the Lord of Ene, without using any illegal methods!”

The middle-aged man’s name is Mais.

A former merchant who was hired by Ene using the experience she had gained while making a request in order to learn the necessary skills and know-how as a merchant.

He is a capable merchant who started off as a single person and rose to the top of the upper middle class in just 30 years.

In a decisive opportunity to rise to the top of the hierarchy, a series of unfortunate events and the betrayal of one of the top allies led to the downfall of the top.

Before Ene gained the ability to become a merchant, I entrusted him with acting as an agent for the merchant. A person whose ability and experience as a merchant, as well as his character, are beyond doubt.

“Mistiltein! The Lord of the Sangdan is truly a gift from heaven!”

But the way that man looked at Ene was filled with only awe.

“Ho, is that tidy?”

“An outstanding intellect who absorbed all of the skills and experience I have accumulated over 30 years in less than half a day! An innate observational eye that sees everything as if the person I am dealing with is in the palm of my hand! I try to maximize the benefit without hurting the other person’s feelings. The courage to continue trading without blinking even when a knife is pointed at one’s neck that seems to come naturally to those who want the most!!!! Who receives the favor of the God of Wealth!!!”

“Oh, oh…”

“If the experience of an ordinary person like me can be of any help to someone like this, it is truly an honor for the family…”

He was so passionate that even I, who asked him about it, was taken aback.

I slowly turned my gaze away from Mais, who was pouring out endless praise, and placed my hand on Ene’s head, who was looking up with expectant eyes.

“That’s great, Ene. This is an achievement that far exceeds expectations.”

“Eh, ehehe… This alone is worth 200,000 gold… “

After patting the girl with her happy face and her head in your hands until she is satisfied.

I took out all the money except for emergency items from subspace and handed it to Ene.

“It will be approximately 100,000 gold. At first, I was planning to entrust it to you little by little so as not to be swayed by large amounts of money, but with your resourcefulness, this amount should not be a problem.”

“Wow! I can make bigger deals with this! Please leave it to me, Brother! Based on this, I will develop the entire commercial power of the continent, and in the future, I will let you spend your whole life in a castle bigger than the imperial palace. That’s it!”

“… It’s good to be motivated, but there’s no need to go that far.”

It must be a joke, but it’s scary that it doesn’t sound like a joke.

… It’s a joke, right?

I feel like this kid can really do it…

‘Maybe I unleashed a huge monster on the continent… Huh?’

Piri-

As I was secretly trembling, the communicator in my pocket rang.

The opponent is Basted Catsy, the head of the Black Cat.

As soon as the communicator rang, I received a call from Basted right away thanks to Ene who quickly left the room with Mais.

-Hello~ It’s been a while, Mystiltain~

A playful woman’s voice is heard over the communication device.

“What’s going on?”

-Oh. It’s been a while since we’ve only exchanged text messages since we first met, so it’s been a while since I heard your voice. Isn’t that too cold? Please be a little friendlier~. If you act like that, you won’t be popular with women… No, but somehow you seem to be popular. It’s just my feeling.

“…If you’re just going to talk nonsense, stop now. We’re busy here.”

-Ah, you’re too hasty. Well, I guess you could say that you are very hardworking, so much so that you don’t even know when to take a break. Clear at least 3 dungeons every day, solve additional mercenary quests, and then train the young lady you take on as your new subordinate, right? … Do you rest? This isn’t just empty talk, I’m really worried, right? Even the superhuman can die from overwork… ?

“I sleep about an hour a day, so I’m getting enough rest.”

-… That’s never enough rest!!!

“If you keep talking about other things, I don’t think it’s important, so I’ll just stop…”

-Ah, okay, okay! I’m going to tell you now, so don’t hang up!

As I pretended to hang up, a woman urgently stopped me through the communicator.

In my experience, if you lose control of the conversation to that type of person, they can be easily swayed, so you need to be strong like this.

At that time, Bastet spoke in a serious voice.

“It’s still an estimate based on the information you gathered, but I think I’ve found the location of one of their heads.”

******

Dark dawn when the sun has not yet risen.

Ezerina and I were on the roof of the tallest building nearby, watching a group of mercenaries just leaving the mercenary guild in the distance.

A mercenary group of approximately 20 people.

That mercenary group was a group of mercenaries who had received an exploration request from Basted and were heading to a location presumed to be where one of the leaders of the Demon God Church was located.

“They are the Red Fang Mercenaries.”

“Do you know this mercenary group, Ezerina?”

“Yes. Although they are famous for being violent and frivolous in nature, they are one of only three Red Jade-level mercenaries around here. Half of the mercenaries are strong men who have reached superhuman status, and the leader of the mercenary group, Eric the Red Flame, is an A. They are a group of extremely skilled mercenaries who are at the level of a fully-developed demon who freely uses fire-type gifts.”

“Is it that guy?”

I looked at a middle-aged man with a ferocious look advancing at the head of a mercenary group.

A fierce and fierce force like fire that can be felt even though it is several kilometers away.

At least he was stronger than I am now.

I ran a rough simulation of the battle in my head based on the opponent’s strength as measured by my senses.

“If we fight head-on, the winning rate is 20%, but if we fight for a long time, it’s around 40%… I still have a long way to go.”

“…Master. In the world’s perception, it is common for a superhuman to be praised as being great even if he can withstand only 5 hits of a demon’s attack. Rather, why is it that a master who is still at the superhuman level has a win rate of over 20% against a fully mature demon…”

Ezerina, who heard my whispers from the side of her, looked at me with her speechless eyes and then changed her words.

“More than that, with their skills, even if something goes wrong, they will be able to survive with the information about the bishop.”

“──No, we will be annihilated.”

“Yes?”

“I’m leaving now, Ezerina.”

“Oh, yes.”

I could have sworn they would be annihilated.

Because, as they left the city, there was a terrible ‘smell of death’, like a deep rotten swamp, wafting in the air.

Jeobeok-jeobeok-

On the way back home. I quietly opened my mouth.

“Ezerina, if you happen to discover traces of the bishop, run away from the spot with all your might without looking back.”

It was a quiet but above all stern warning.

“Even if there are hundreds of people like me and you now, they are the only true ‘monsters’ who can annihilate them all in a matter of seconds.”

3 weeks after that. Contact with the Red Tusk mercenaries was lost.

After that, their whereabouts were never found again.

******

A few days to realize once again the difference between the level of the enemies and your current level, and to further increase the intensity of your training while refining your mercenary group.

The mercenary corps was also beginning to take shape to some extent, and the increase in stats and proficiency in functions and gifts were also showing satisfactory growth.

‘Well, thanks to you, I feel like I have a little more peace of mind.’

Today is a break day when all lectures at the academy are open.

Moreover, today’s weather was very pleasant, with warm sunlight shining gently and a cool breeze blowing, so I decided to take my time and relax for today, but…

‘… How did it end up like this?’

Sitting on a bench in the park, basking in the warm sunlight, I said that to myself.

Currently, I was in quite a difficult situation.

There is only one reason.

“…”

Ji-

He holds my hand with a hand like a delicate jade, and just looks up at me with silent, emotionless silver eyes,

It was because of Suu Icicle, a silver girl with a beautiful doll-like appearance and an impressive ephemeral aura.

“…”

Suu silently looks down at my hand her her connected to his hand her and then looks at my face her her again and again.

It was a very unusual sight for a girl who normally wouldn’t even make eye contact, let alone talk to others, to hold a man’s hand and show interest.

Of course, it was very noticeable to other students.

“… Hey, look at that. That Bingseolhee (氷雪姬) is holding Seoksu’s hand affectionately.”

“Are you lying…” ” ? Is this the Icicle that you didn’t even recognize even though Panks, famous for being Casanova, wooed you passionately… ?!”

“The chief seems to be better at seducing women than Casanova.”

“Now that I think about it, every time I see that chief, he has a girl with him.”

“Ah, is that cute girl with pink hair who looked so calm? I saw her on my way to school.”

“Huh? Wasn’t it the purple-haired Miao? It seemed close at a distance.”

“What are you talking about? You must be talking about the green-haired elf girl who was hugging you every time you saw her.”

“Hmm? I got along well with the blonde-haired girl in the sparring room almost every day…”

“… Does being the top 1st grader also mean the top in seduction skills..!?”

“A man who changes the woman next to him every time I see him… !”

“Is this author the number one man in the Academy that Namgoong said he would most want to hug… !”

Because it was a break day, there were quite a few students in the park.

Thanks to this, my reputation is becoming dangerous at Mach speed… !

“Suu. I’m sorry, but let’s move seats for a moment.”

I got up from the bench, holding the girl’s cool hand, and walked her out of the park.

“…”

Suu quietly follows where I lead.

Looking at her like that, I thought to myself how I ended up in this situation.

Okay. This situation started early this morning with a call from Professor Ellini.