I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 23

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 23.
‘I could comb through the Continent like searching for a needle and dig up a couple more. But there’s no time.’
As it happened, Rumdrax was in Burnta Prison, making him easy to reach.
“If I meet Sana after I’m dead, she’ll grab me by the collar first thing.”
Cho didn’t discriminate between villains, heroes, or oddities, so I’d wondered why she’d been reluctant about Rumdrax—but it seemed to come from a sense of responsibility as an aunt.
“Keep it secret from Mom.”
“She’ll see through it anyway.”
“Aunt. Right now, you’re taking my commission. Just pick one—either help me as my aunt, or work as the information broker Chorni. Only one.”
She was always lecturing me about keeping public and private matters separate, yet as time wore on, Cho herself blurred that line more and more.
Cho deliberated, then sighed and spoke.
“Burnta Prison is still beyond me.”
“You can do it, Aunt.”
“If I get caught, you’re in danger too. You know as well as I do that the interrogation methods in Burnta Prison aren’t something you can endure through sheer willpower alone.”
Cho was speaking as though failure was a foregone conclusion. She was worried that if she got captured, she’d spill everything she knew about me.
It didn’t suit her usual confidence. Her hesitation had a transparent cause.
‘It’s because of me. I’ve become Cho’s weakness.’
I was the only niece my sister had left, and Cho’s affection flowed toward me.
“Aunt, I believe you’ll succeed.”
I offered her the best words I could muster.
“Where does this baseless faith come from? Didn’t I tell you not to trust people so easily?”
“I’m not trusting blindly.”
I pulled out a report I’d prepared in advance and handed it to Cho. It was a record I’d meticulously investigated and documented—how she created Chorni, how that creation grows and develops, the entire process laid bare.
I’d made it beforehand, hoping it might serve Cho when she one day writes her memoirs about Chorni.
‘Hoping that day would come.’
I never thought I’d be showing it to her now.
“Read it.”
As I held out the report to Cho, she reluctantly accepted it. Her eyes moved rapidly left and right across the page.
The report revealed one stark truth.
The number of people seeking Chorni was rising sharply.
It might seem like a modest achievement in isolation, but the growth trajectory was unmistakable.
“Look, Aunt. Look at your potential.”
Cho kept her gaze fixed on my report without answering.
Her finger traced the projected line of Chorni’s growth—the steep curve climbing from lower left to upper right. Her finger trembled faintly where it touched the end of that line.
“You’re certain it will happen like this?”
Of course. This is the future I’ve seen, heard, and lived through.
I nodded with conviction.
“Our Chorni will become someone who can prevent wars? Or start them?”
Below the graph, I’d written what Chorni would do going forward. The sentences were phrased as predictions, but they were things Cho had already done in the past.
“She’ll be able to save thousands of lives. Or take thousands.”
Cho’s eyes alone lifted to meet my gaze.
“You… ah, never mind. Let’s not speak of it.”
Cho exhaled a long breath. She found it hard to believe. She wiped her face with her hand several times. Finally, her gaze shifted from the report to me.
“Let’s do it.”
“Really?”
I’d made the suggestion, but I didn’t expect Cho to accept so readily. I thought she’d at least wrestle with it for a day or two!
“Let’s do it. Let’s see if it’s Burnta Prison or something else.”
Fire blazed in Cho’s eyes.
Passion fueling her like kindling.
“I’ll infiltrate it myself.”
Days later, Cho came back with a plan. It was indeed a plan for her to infiltrate personally. There was no one in Chorni yet with Cho’s skill.
‘Someone needs to help Cho soon.’
I left the Chorni problem for Cho to handle and focused on our plan.
“How exactly will you infiltrate?”
“Direct method. I’ll grab one of the changing guards, swap clothes, and slip in as though I’ve forgotten something.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
“The whole idea of breaking a con artist out of Burnta Prison is dangerous to begin with.”
I thought it over and added:
“A new recruit would be ideal. I heard they hired a new instructor a week ago—if the build is similar, a disguise should work without too much trouble.”
“They check eye color, I’ve heard.”
“I’ll reach out to someone who makes artificial eyes.”
We discussed anticipated problems and debated solutions.
“I need money.”
“Funds are essential for the work. How much?”
Chorni slid a piece of paper with the amount written on it across to me. I’d wondered why she hadn’t simply stated the figure aloud, but the sum was quite substantial.
“It’s not money I’m throwing away carelessly. First, we need to Teleport to the region where Burnta Prison is located.”
Teleportation is a vital transportation method connecting major cities. However, it costs considerable money each time, so ordinary people don’t use it.
“You know how they record your identity when you use Teleportation.”
“Right. That’s why I’m troubled. If we don’t use Teleportation, the work will be delayed significantly. You said it was urgent.”
A way to board Teleportation without exposing her. There’s one method that occurs to me.
“I’ll go with you. I’ll have my aunt go as my handmaiden in Jenis’s place. After we Teleport to a city near Burnta Prison, I’ll stay there.”
Since Teleportation requires verified identity, it was right to proceed as I suggested.
“Will that be all right?”
Chorni looked reluctant, but she couldn’t find a better alternative.
“Yes, I’ll say I’m taking a brief rest cure for a health ailment. There’s supposedly a fine hot spring near Burnta Prison. By Teleportation, we can reach Burnta Prison in two days. After that?”
Chorni didn’t press further with pointed questions, trusting me as much as I trusted her.
“Three days. Within three days, make contact with that man and see if he’s willing to leave. If so, send word.”
We put our heads together to minimize risk factors.
“But Diana.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Even if it’s dangerous, I have to do it, don’t I?”
A moment ago she’d been the leader of Chorni, but now she was my aunt again.
“Yes. I intend to go through with it even if it’s dangerous, but with you by my side, it won’t be dangerous at all.”
Chorni’s expression grew ambiguous—both pleased and sorrowful at once. Watching that expression, my chest tightened, and I turned my gaze away.
“Let me tell you my plan. If Rumdrax comes out—”
I intend to send food and plenty of alcohol to the guards at Burnta Prison under the name of the Irenberg Family.
When my father was alive, he’d often sent encouragement gifts to people working in state institutions, so there’s nothing unusual about it.
‘I’ll say it was sent while passing through for a nearby rest cure.’
The guards at Burnta Prison suffer from excessive workload, and since they watch over vicious criminals, they’re extremely on edge.
Because of that, there are many drinkers among them, and they often make mistakes by drinking while on duty. I recalled Dayson complaining when he personally conducted an investigation into the matter.
“I’ll send alcohol. They’ll certainly drink it.”
“Once the guards are intoxicated, I’ll make my move.”
“Are you confident you won’t be caught in three days?”
“You just get the alcohol ready.”
Chorni had returned to her confident self. She drew out a purse of money from the drawer.
“What if that man escapes after getting out?”
Chorni asked as she tucked the purse into her bosom. Perhaps because it was a matter involving me, she—unusually—went over the bridge of considerations dozens of times.
‘Even a sturdy bridge breaks if you keep tapping it.’
Still, since this was important work, we needed to properly confirm each other’s safety. I explained my thoughts to Chorni calmly.
“Once he reads the letter, he’ll want to meet me at least once.”
I’d written plenty of things in the letter to Rumdrax that would tempt him.
‘I promised to show him the Holy Artifact of the Kingdom.’
The Holy Artifact of the Kingdom, which exists only in legend, lies in the deepest part of the Royal Palace. Only the King and Queen can see the Holy Artifact. And only during the Grand Wedding Ceremony at that.
This fact was highly classified. All the kingdom’s people know of the Holy Artifact’s existence, but only the royal family shares knowledge of who can see it and when.
‘Perhaps the Holy Artifact conceals some great power.’
I let out a small laugh.
I don’t know what it was like during the Age of Fairies, but the Holy Artifact, passed down through generations and revered, is now nothing more and nothing less than a symbol.
‘It’s just a hunk of stone, scrap metal.’
Yet for some reason, Rumdrax had shown excessive interest in the Holy Artifact of the Kingdom. That’s why he’d visited the kingdom several times.
In the past, whenever he came to the Royal Palace, he’d disguised himself as a different person. It took time, but after learning belatedly that Rumdrax had visited, I investigated—and found no treasure missing from the royal household.
He risked danger coming and going, yet he didn’t steal anything.
‘He couldn’t steal it.’
I’d concluded that what Rumdrax wanted was something in the Royal Palace he could never reach—the Holy Artifact itself.
His movements had gradually drawn closer to the location where the Holy Artifact lay, and that was the foundation of my reasoning.
‘I’m certain of it.’
So once he reads my letter, Rumdrax will come to see me at least once.
‘Since he so desperately wants to see the Holy Artifact of the Kingdom.’
I counted the days until I would meet Rumdrax, then opened the inner drawer.
As I reached into the drawer, my fingers brushed the edge of the Contract that Rumdrax and I would soon sign.
‘Wait a moment, Your Highness Cassion. Once Rumdrax comes, I’ll hand him the Twilight Mansion right into his grasp.’
***
Rumdrax Balansino lay on a hard mattress, one leg bent at the knee, swinging his foot idly to kill time.
A year locked away in Burnta Prison.
‘I’m bored enough to try leaving.’
A year was plenty of patience. And by now, public opinion should have settled.
Rumdrax traced a mental map of Burnta Prison’s interior. Despite a year of confinement, he still hadn’t completed it—too many blank spaces remained in his mind’s eye.
‘I need help. But who?’
He racked his brain, but no one came to mind. He was beginning to think he’d wasted his entire life.
Tap. Patter-patter-patter.
His foot froze. The sound was unmistakably deliberate. Rumdrax’s eyes darted toward its source without moving his head.
A stone lay on the floor.
Rumdrax stretched as if waking, then drifted closer to the small window set into the ground.
The opening through which food was passed stood slightly ajar. And before it lay the stone.
Rumdrax’s hand reached out slowly, closing around it. He examined the stone with meticulous care.
‘Who threw it?’
He never for a moment believed the stone had rolled here by accident.
Burnta Prison wouldn’t have stray stones lying about. And the floor hatch, which opened only at feeding time, would never swing open on its own.
‘More than that—this stone isn’t from this region.’
Someone had sought him out. Rumdrax was certain of it.
Villains Bought with Money (Serial)
Author │ Lee In-hye
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 1101, 33 Aegis Tech Tower 8, 11th Floor, Guro-dong, Guro-gu, Seoul
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ http://blog.naver.com/jayplemedia1
© Lee In-hye 2021
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder,
and no part of its contents may be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this may result in civil and criminal liability.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————