I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 69.
“Ah… Acting Head of Household? Ah! Someone who handles the Head’s duties in their stead… I see.”
The shift in his expression laid bare his every thought.
Surprise at my youth, disbelief that someone so young could be Head of Household, and yet—a grudging acceptance, followed swiftly by the conclusion that I probably amounted to nothing.
“I’d like to discuss a business venture. Please, sit.”
Hendricks’ gaze drifted past me to Oskin. He’d already decided that Oskin was the real power here.
“Oskin, would you be kind enough to bring us refreshments?”
Rather than launch into a tedious recitation of who I was, I chose to show him through action.
The person you think is above me? They answer to me.
“Yes, Lady. Did you enjoy the Apricot Pie from yesterday? You said the apricots were wonderfully sweet and tart.”
Pies take time to prepare, so the fact that Oskin offered to fetch one suggested he’d made it ahead, anticipating the compliment.
“The Apricot Pie sounds perfect. What do you think, Hendricks?”
At the sudden mention of his name, Hendricks froze mid-sit, eyes darting between Oskin and me.
“Excellent choice. Food from the Lord’s Castle is always superb. Haha.”
He laughed awkwardly and settled into the sofa.
“I’ll be direct. I want to entrust you with a business venture, Hendricks. With 3-Circle magical ability, it shouldn’t be difficult.”
The moment he sat, I laid out the matter. Hendricks’ shoulders twitched sharply.
“3-Circle? I’m a 5-Circle mage.”
Out here in the countryside, there’s no way to verify his Circle rank on the spot. If he protests and demands proof, I can always feign offense and leave for another region.
“I understand you left the Magic Tower on the cusp of entering 4-Circle.”
Hendricks’ neck flushed crimson.
“That’s—that’s slander!”
He thrust both palms against the table and shot to his feet. His face burned so intensely it looked ready to burst.
“Slander? I could prove what you’ve said false this very moment.”
I withdrew my Magic Pouch and, with deliberate flair, slipped my hand inside.
A golden box emerged—a treasure chest etched with intricate magical formulae.
“This one has a 3-Circle Lock Spell on it.”
I reached into the pouch again, this time producing a larger box.
“This is 4-Circle.”
Last, I drew out a pouch no bigger than a child’s head. Though made of gold and ordinarily quite heavy, a weight-lightening enchantment made it easy enough to handle.
“And this is a safe sealed with a 5-Circle Lock Spell. You can see the difference at a glance, can’t you?”
Hendricks wet his lips and closed his mouth with a soft smack. His eyes gleamed with barely concealed greed as they swept across my Magic Pouch and the boxes on the table.
“If you can open these boxes, I’ll give you everything.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
Despite the hunger in his gaze, Hendricks didn’t stubbornly insist it was impossible.
“I am Irenber. You’ve heard of Irenber, haven’t you?”
Hendricks turned to look at Oskin. He still seemed convinced that Oskin outranked me.
“Lady, how could anyone not know Irenber? Your House commands wealth and power second only to the Royal Family itself!”
Had Karman heard that, he’d have bristled—but since he wasn’t here, I let it stand. It was true enough anyway.
Hendricks’ head swiveled back toward me with stiff precision, his eyes still clouded with doubt.
“I am aware of Irenber, yes.”
They teach history even at the Magic Tower, and the Tower receives substantial endowments from Irenber. Even if he’d been born and raised within those walls, he’d have heard our name.
“You really mean you’d give me all of this? That Magic Pouch too?”
As expected—someone with real knowledge immediately recognized that the Magic Pouch was the more valuable prize.
I nodded.
Hendricks folded his arms across his chest and sank into thought.
His expression suggested he was wrestling with how to pocket everything without revealing that he was merely a 3-Circle mage.
‘Even one small box would be a prize worth having. Taking everything would be even better. The boxes alone are valuable enough.’
Even if I surrendered all of this, I stood to gain far more from Hendricks in return.
In truth, Hendricks was a capable man; his only real flaw was excessive greed.
He took an interest in design work—something most mages dismissively avoided—and he had sharp instincts.
Perhaps the reason he’d never devoted himself wholly to magic was precisely this curiosity and fascination with design.
The fact that a mere 3-Circle mage had secured mining contracts and led coal operations suggested his design expertise had been instrumental to his success.
Hendricks was perfectly suited for this venture.
‘A 3-Circle mage can certainly craft Magical Devices—tools inscribed with spells to make them function.’
The power and sophistication of such devices was another matter entirely, but what mattered was that he possessed the fundamental skill.
Time to bring this negotiation with Hendricks to a close.
I crossed my legs and spoke to him.
“Shall I make this easier for you?”
Hendricks raised both eyebrows.
“I’ll give you everything, so let’s do a business deal together. I won’t even ask what circle of magic you are. As I said before, my business only requires 3-Circle magic.”
Hendricks’s face brightened noticeably. It was a very positive sign.
However, the contract with Hendricks did not go smoothly. It was after he heard the explanation about the Coal Mine.
“Excavation Magic isn’t easy.”
This time Hendricks crossed his legs and spoke arrogantly.
His eyes looked down on me as someone who didn’t know the first thing about magic.
If I had been someone who knew nothing, it would have been convenient for him, but unfortunately, even though I wasn’t a mage myself, I knew magic well enough in broad strokes.
‘I’d studied for quite a long time because I wanted to collaborate with mages.’
So I know that Hendricks, being a 3-Circle mage, cannot perform magic that shatters earth and removes rubble. But he has another ability that can make up for it.
“I can’t do work this monumental for this level of compensation.”
Hendricks waved his hand dismissively. He even turned his body away, making clear he had no intention of contracting.
“I clearly said I’d only use magic at about 3-Circle level.”
“That doesn’t…….”
Hendricks’s turned-away head slowly returned to face me.
I unfolded one of several blueprints I’d shown to Oskin on the table.
Expressed in the intricate blueprint was the machine I’d designed for digging earth—an Excavator, as I’d named it.
“The ground will be dug by this. Your job is to spin this enormous gear section. You don’t need to apply much force—the teeth will mesh, and just a bit of effort will make it turn.”
“This, this, this…….”
Hendricks’s jaw dropped at the extraordinarily complex blueprint. His hand reached toward it. I slid the blueprint in his direction so he could see it better.
Hendricks picked up the blueprint and brought it close to his face.
He stared at the blueprint for a long while. His eyes would not leave it. Curiosity and the hunger to learn something new gleamed in his gaze.
‘He’s not just interested in design—he might actually have far more talent in design and Magical Tool Crafting than in magic itself.’
If the drive to explore counts as talent, that is.
“You’re going to dig the ground with this?”
“Yes. When machinery and magic work together.”
“So, so you don’t need to study 4-Circle magic then?”
So moved by the blueprint was Hendricks that he didn’t even notice he was speaking casually to me.
“That’s right. There’s no need.”
“My, my lost ten years…….”
Hendricks must have spent ten years studying to become a 4-Circle mage.
Having learned design and Magical Tool Crafting, Hendricks predicted from the blueprint and explanation alone what could be achieved through the harmony of machinery and magic.
Infinite creation of wealth!
‘Though it seems his intelligence developed only in one direction.’
He still hasn’t noticed his own slip of the tongue. Unaware he’d just confessed to not having learned 4-Circle magic.
In any case, I’ve drawn his interest now, so let me move on to serious negotiation.
“Will you do it or not?”
I placed both hands on the armrest of the sofa. Then I tapped the armrest with my fingers.
To others it would look like I was keeping time.
For Hendricks, it would create psychological pressure to decide quickly.
Hendricks set down the trembling blueprint and wiped his face.
After his palm passed over his face several times, Hendricks’s expression changed.
“Is there something similar to this blueprint?”
I shrugged.
Only a genius like me could think of such a machine, and only someone skilled in mathematics and art—a painter, in other words—could implement the blueprint, but that would require paying for it……in short, only I can do it.
‘A genius who also happens to be rich.’
Plus, I can recruit talent by any means necessary.
How much I can produce depends on how much time I devote to magical machines.
‘But I have no time now.’
Whenever I have time and need it, I’ll make more.
“No payment needed. I want to learn.”
A laugh burst from me at Hendricks’s sudden scholarly fervor.
If Hendricks weren’t the one who had ruined Helsinkin’s finances in the past, the one who had stolen Helsinkin’s coal, I might have been moved by his passion for learning.
But I know everything.
“I don’t have time to teach. I have to get engaged to the Crown Prince. So will you sign the contract or not?”
I handed him a paper listing what he had to do, his compensation, and what he had to comply with.
“Engaged to the Crown Prince?”
Hendricks could hardly focus on the contract. Though, to be fair, I had told him to listen.
“You’re getting engaged to the Crown Prince?”
Hendricks asked. I covered my mouth with one hand and feigned surprise, as if I’d misspoken.
“Pretend you didn’t hear that.”
Since royalty was involved, his demeanor shifted to sudden formality. I didn’t mind the change, so I simply nodded lightly in acknowledgment.
After that, Hendricks read through the contract carefully.
“The compensation is too small. There’s no success incentive either.”
Hendricks set down the contract and spoke with a sigh threaded through his words.
In such a brief time, he’d calculated the total compensation he could receive—his mind was clearly sharp when it came to mathematics.
Like someone who’d once fleeced Helsinkin dry out of greed for money.
“We don’t know what lies beneath the earth. I can’t offer an incentive. But I can raise your salary.”
I asked Jennis for a pen. The moment she handed it to me, I doubled his compensation right there on the contract.
Though it would be trifling compared to the profits after mining coal, Hendricks seemed quite shocked at how boldly I increased the figure twofold.
He moistened his dry lips with his tongue.
A habit that emerged whenever he was uncertain, perhaps.
Inexplicably, I felt my own lips drying, so I took a sip of tea.
It was when his eyes had rolled about three times.
I Bought the Villains 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, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul. (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 11th floor)
Email | [email protected]
Homepage | http://blog.naver.com/jayplemedia1
© Lee In-hye 2021
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a 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 restriction may result in criminal and civil liability.

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