I Bought the Villains With Money - Chapter 79

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

Chapter 79.
Rumdracks was bored and indifferent to everything in the world. He’d taken to Deception to survive, but even after he had enough to live on, he continued as a greedy con artist—because only the art of deception could truly excite him.
His pleasure came from watching the anger and excitement on victims’ faces after they’d been deceived.
Of course, even Rumdracks had a final goal.
To steal the Sacred Relic of Petrola.
By stealing it, he would bring the King—the most powerful man in this Kingdom—to his knees, witness his despair, and… revive his mother, who had given him light in this world.
According to legend, Petrola’s Sacred Relic could resurrect the dead.
It wasn’t some grand filial piety that drove him to bring her back.
Rumdracks had a question he wanted to ask her.
Why had she abandoned him?
Because he’d been abandoned from birth, Rumdracks didn’t trust people—which made him perfectly suited for Deception, an art built on exploiting others’ trust.
Then, for the first time, he wanted to believe in someone. He began to find joy in things that had nothing to do with Deception.
All because of Diana.
A child who bragged about money right in front of a con artist of the century, who lived with stubborn, almost obsessive righteousness, yet encouraged him to deceive her freely.
Diana, who at thirteen possessed uncommon insight and a charm that drew all manner of people to her—like flypaper attracting everything in sight.
Rumdracks had gotten stuck to that flypaper Diana had laid down. By the time he tried to pull free, he’d already grown interested in what she was doing.
So when she offered him an absurd contract—something about taking a liar’s tongue if he broke it—he’d accepted without hesitation.
As long as Diana remained interesting, Rumdracks had no reason to betray her, and for some reason, she seemed like she would be endlessly entertaining.
But now Rumdracks could no longer stay by Diana’s side.
“R-Rumdracks. Calm down. Where did you drink all that? You’re not in your right mind, are you? Can you at least see me as one person?”
“Two eyes, one nose, one mouth. And eyeballs that make the sound of a mind turning. I’m fine.”
Rumdracks released Diana’s forearm, which he’d been gripping hard. Cho caught her as she stumbled backward.
“You lunatic! What the hell are you doing to a kid?”
“A kid? You see that as a kid?”
With Diana between them, Cho and Rumdracks shouted at each other in fury.
“Thirteen is a child. Are they an adult?”
When Cho’s face flushed red with anger, Rumdracks ran his hand roughly through his hair and placed the other on his hip.
“A thirteen-year-old doing something that could cost her life? That girl definitely knew the bomb would explode. But she didn’t run—she just walked past it without a care. Is that a child? No. Even an adult couldn’t act that way.”
“Diana has her reasons too…….”
“Getting her hands on House Irenber? Or does she want this Kingdom? Does she covet the throne?”
Jennis, who had been listening quietly to their exchange, tactfully closed the window.
“See? Now that you mention it—who is she, anyway? Diana is House Irenber’s only heir, the acting head. How dare a con artist open his mouth about…….”
Rumdracks let out a hollow laugh.
“Cho, don’t twist the point so cleverly. The issue here isn’t that I call her ‘kid’ or ‘girl.’ The problem is that Diana walked toward a bomb knowing she might die.”
“Wait a moment.”
I’d been listening in silence, but I raised my hand, deciding the misunderstanding had to be cleared.
The two men, who had been snarling, looked down at me.
“I didn’t think I would die. And if I had truly believed the bomb would explode—if there was a hundred percent chance—I never would have walked past it.”
It was the truth. I know my own life is precious. That’s why I wore the Bracelet. I wasn’t about to risk my life as collateral to set a trap for Julia.
This was, after all, a second life I’d been given.
“Even if there was only a one percent chance the bomb would explode, you shouldn’t have done it.”
Rumdracks reproached me sharply.
After Cho, now Rumdracks was scolding me too—I felt as though I’d committed some grave sin. Suddenly, resentment welled up.
I was shocked too, and it hurt! I’d been awake for a while, but the pain only completely disappeared a day ago!
“But I wasn’t hurt. I’m fine. So isn’t that good enough?”
“That way of thinking is dangerous. This time, you weren’t hurt. But is that because you did well? No. A series of coincidences piled on top of each other, and the result happened to be good, that’s all.”
“It wasn’t coincidence! I predicted Julia would do something wrong, I inspected the Banquet Hall beforehand, I reduced the possibility of the incident, and I prepared for it!”
Rumdracks’s dismissal of my effort as mere luck made my words come out harsh and unfiltered.
“It’s still coincidence. If you had even the slightest will to protect yourself, the moment you predicted Julia would act, you should have found some way to prevent the incident altogether. But you didn’t. That Bracelet you prepared? What if the shield couldn’t withstand the bomb’s force?”
“I calculated that too. I judged that even Julia wouldn’t involve innocent bystanders nearby.”
“But you still failed. You ended up collapsing anyway. And you didn’t even take Julia down. No evidence. You just threw away your body.”
Rumdracks’s words were an awl piercing through me. When I think about it plainly, there’s nothing wrong with what he’s saying.
But because of this incident, Karman began to see Julia differently. Wasn’t that result worth something?
“Anyway, I can’t work with someone who throws their life away so easily.”
I closed my mouth. I could invoke the Contract to keep Rumdracks at my side, but if I did that, it would only backfire.
And right now, it was hard to think rationally.
I’d expected praise. But Kasion, Cho, and Rumdracks all seemed oddly cold.
I lowered my head.
What had I done wrong?
I was only living as hard as I could.
I did my best.
Why should I be blamed for that?
Tears spilled down her cheeks, falling in drops onto the backs of her hands gripping the quilt.
“Oh, miss!”
Jennis, who had been watching, pushed Rumdracks aside and knelt at my side.
“Miss, please don’t cry. You haven’t done anything wrong. If anyone’s at fault, it’s us for leaving you to make such a decision alone.”
Jennis dabbed my tears away with a handkerchief.
I hadn’t wanted to cry, didn’t want anyone to see me like this, yet the tears wouldn’t stop.
“Sniff, Jennis, I don’t want to die again. I hate dying.”
I whimpered like a child. When the bomb detonated, when I shielded Kasion—for just a moment, I’d glimpsed the worst: my own death.
My death.
Only those who have faced death truly understand its terror.
I had conquered that terror. And in return, I’m told I was foolish to come back.
“Miss…”
Jennis wrapped her arms around me. I buried my face in her shoulder and wept.
“Sigh.”
Above my head, Rumdracks let out a long breath.
“That’s enough. Cross the line and you’ll answer to me.”
Cho and Rumdracks started round two, but I heard nothing at all.
***
At dawn, exhausted from crying and half-asleep, I woke to an intense stare. Rumdracks stood in the doorway, my eyelids still swollen.
He’d placed a chair by the bed and sat watching me with an unwavering gaze.
“Promise me.”
“Promise what?”
My throat was parched.
When was the last time I’d cried so hard my entire body felt drained? I sat up and drank from the glass on the nightstand.
“Promise you won’t do anything dangerous again.”
“…Then won’t you stop?”
“Do you really think that matters right now?”
“It does.”
Rumdracks clicked his tongue in disbelief and shook his head.
“Why? Because you need a con artist to achieve your goals? There are plenty of con artists in the Kingdom. If you don’t know them, I can teach you. I can introduce you too.”
Rumdracks spoke like a street thug.
When scolding me, he’d seemed almost adult. Now he looked like a hooligan, and a poorly-directed one at that.
“You’re my teacher.”
“What?”
Rumdracks uncrossed his arms and stared back at me.
After being rebuked by him, I’d felt wronged the whole time. I’d dwelled on every cutting word he’d said, chewing them over again and again, until tears came, and then I’d cry again until they dried up. And I’d repeat the cycle.
Only when my tears finally ran dry and only sobs remained did I understand the real reason for his fierce anger.
He was worried about me. He was afraid of my death.
The anger he’d shown was the rage of someone facing the death of family—the helpless fury of those who have lost loved ones.
“Not many people teach Con Art. And even if they do, they’d only use lessons as an excuse to squeeze money out of me.”
“Kid.”
“And there’s no one else who calls me ‘kid.'”
“Here we go again.”
“No one else treats me as if I’m actually young.”
Rumdracks closed his mouth.
“I need someone to scold me when I’m wrong.”
Rumdracks clenched his fists and took a deep breath. His face was full of things to say, but he held them back.
“Will you promise? That you won’t get involved in anything dangerous?”
After a long silence, he spoke, his voice thick with emotion.
“Rumdracks, my goal itself is dangerous.”
“You won’t stop at being a branch head?”
“Becoming a proper head is dangerous too.”
Rumdracks turned away and cursed under his breath.
“But you’ll help me anyway.”
“That’s exactly what frustrates me. Every time you do something dangerous, I’ll be holding my breath, knowing I’m going to step in.”
“Then I’ll be counting on you going forward.”
Rumdracks’ words were cold, but I could tell they were a form of consent. I answered in a bright voice.
“You have to promise me one thing. If something seems dangerous, warn me ahead of time. I don’t want to watch you collapse without any way to prepare for it again.”
“Should I draft a contract?”
I pretended to rummage through a drawer. Rumdracks got to his feet, ruffling my hair roughly.
“Stop playing around and get some sleep. And you said it yourself with your own mouth—that I’m your teacher. From now on, treat me with proper respect as your teacher. I’ll make you into a con artist for the ages.”
“I’ll show you what it means when a student surpasses the master.”
“All talk and those wide, innocent eyes.”
Rumdracks waved his hand dismissively and headed for the door.
The sorrow that had quietly accumulated in my chest melted away like snow under warm spring sunlight.
Even if I faced Julia head-on, I didn’t think I’d lose. Because I had villains at my side who would stop at nothing for my sake.
***
On the night the Red Moon rose, Julia stood on the balcony, gazing up at it.
Anderson approached from behind Julia, who had let down her long hair and wore a gossamer nightgown.
“It’s quite cold, Your Majesty.”
The air was indeed chill, as Anderson said. It had been some time since the Riprician flowers that had bloomed so abundantly had withered. Winter had come in earnest.
“Your Majesty.”
Anderson called to Julia urgently. With each word he spoke, his breath clouded in the cold air.
But Julia did not stir.
She only reacted when Anderson’s fingertips had turned blue with cold.
“Anderson.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I need to fight properly.”
Anderson knew well enough who Julia’s opponent was.
Diana. Anderson pitied Diana.
I Bought Villains with Money (Serialized)
Author │ Lee In-hye
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd. – Tiramisu
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 1101, 11F, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 33-gil Digeul-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Homepage │ 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 permission from the company and author.
Violation of this is subject to criminal and civil legal liability.

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