The Baby Raising A Devil - Chapter 242

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 242

Two months ago, news that a large quantity of mana stones had been discovered on the Acalia Peninsula caused a stir across the continent.

Hope Trading Company immediately made contact with the Acalia Peninsula after receiving the news. It was a golden opportunity for me, who needed large amounts of mana to maintain the demon.

However, upon investigation, the mana stones turned out to be fakes artificially created by injecting mana into minerals.

And currently, most major trading companies had figured out that the Acalia Peninsula’s mana stones were fake.

“The mana stones from the Acalia Peninsula were fakes made by storing mana. Not only can those with divine power not use them like mana stones, but the injected mana leaks out into the air.”

I snorted and crossed my arms.

“In other words, by the time they’re transported from the Acalia Peninsula to the continent, they become completely useless rocks.”

The chief frowned menacingly and looked at Hannibal. Hannibal made excuses with a flustered expression, stammering.

“W-we didn’t know about this.”

“Fine. Let’s say you didn’t know about the Acalia Peninsula situation because you were incompetent, but what about trading Kuhelm’s mana stones that should be worth 20,000 francs for 5,000 francs?”

“That was─”

“Swindling.”

When I used the slang term between trading companies, Hannibal’s face turned pale.

I approached Hannibal closely and said.

“You never intended to make a proper deal from the start, did you? You thought it would be easy to deceive someone like Kuhelm who’s slow to outside news, right?”

“Th-this girl…”

“Did you even properly fulfill the 5,000 franc contract? Let me see the account books. I want to check if you didn’t take outrageous profits on food supplies.”

“Chief! This girl is insulting me and our trading company! What exactly is this girl that she dares to…!”

Hannibal shouted angrily while looking at the chief. The chief said with a cold expression.

“What are you doing? Kuhelm’s external advisor is requesting the account books.”

At those words, I realized. That Kuhelm’s chief was halfway in my hands.

I chuckled inwardly, and Hannibal’s face turned deathly pale.

* * *

While carelessly flipping through the account books, I looked at Hannibal who was trembling like a mouse before a cat.

“You’ve written these account books fantastically. If unicorns appeared here, it would be a perfect novel. Hmm?”

“Wh-what! That’s because the major flour production area suffered great damage from floods, so the price─”

“Mister, why are we doing this between professionals? No matter what, prices don’t rise to this extent, do they?”

“…”

I glanced at the chief standing in the doorway and lowered my voice.

“Just settle for 1 million francs. I’ll cover the remaining amount. And from now on, even if you make fake account books, at least match the quantities. That’s basic among basics, isn’t it?”

“…What exactly are you?”

“What do you mean what? I’m the youngest of a prestigious tax evasion family.”

“What?”

“Leblaine Dubbled. No matter how incompetent you are, mister, you should at least know my name, right?”

“…!!”

He gaped open-mouthed, then hastily covered his mouth. Glancing nervously at the Chief again, he whispered.

“How am I supposed to believe that?”

“My portraits are spread everywhere, so go check for yourself.”

After writing something in Imperial Language at the end of the account book, I slammed it shut and spoke to the Chief.

“880,000 francs for the embezzled amount plus 120,000 francs as an apology fee. A total of 1 million will be paid. How about we forgive them at this point?”

‘After all, Kuhelm has no other option besides Hannibal’s trading company, right?’

When I looked at him with such eyes, the Chief cleared his throat loudly and looked at Hannibal.

“Tell the Trading Company Head. If this kind of incident happens again, Kuhelm’s warriors will not forgive you.”

“Yes, yes… Chief.”

Hannibal bowed his head deeply with a pale white face, and I threw the account book at him.

“1 million francs. You’ll have it ready within this week, right?”

“…”

“Right?”

“Yes…”

Hannibal greeted the Chief with the appearance of a defeated soldier, then staggered out of the room.

I lifted my chin with an arrogant expression.

“See? I told you I know how to make money.”

“That is why I treat you with such precious regard.”

When I crossed my legs with an arrogant expression, he chuckled and nodded his head.

“1 million! 1 million francs! Thanks to you, noble one, we can put out the urgent fire.”

“Did you spend a lot kidnapping us?”

“We had to scrape together every last handful of barley left in the warehouse. What precious bodies you have.”

We laughed heartily as we left the room.

The Chief showed great favor toward me for earning him 1 million francs and thoroughly crushing that arrogant merchant’s pride.

Just as we came down the stairs, the new students from Odis were returning from the labor camp.

The labor must have been so harsh that their clothes reeked of musty sweat, their hands were pitch black, and their faces were sallow.

It was a world of difference from my fresh and clean appearance.

“Emeline, are you okay?”

When I asked Emeline, the Chief approached.

“Is that girl a particularly close friend?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t send that child to the labor camp anymore.”

At the Chief’s words, the young man who was my guard and supervisor of the students’ labor bowed his head.

“Yes, Chief.”

“Prepare a meal for the noble one and that friend─”

“Excuse me.”

It was Mina’s voice.

Mina looked around at the exhausted new students with a pitying expression, then turned her gaze to the Chief.

“Please give us food too.”

“…”

“I haven’t been able to eat even a piece of bread since yesterday and have been suffering through hard labor. I might die at this rate.”

“What have you done?”

“…What?”

“The first Child of Fate earned money for our tribe. Thanks to that, we can spend the next season comfortably. What help have you provided to our tribe that you dare ask us to share our food?”

“I did hard labor.”

“Yes, labor. Labor is just labor, nothing more. You are enemy forces we captured, not workers we employ. I have no reason to share our tribe’s food with you.”

“We’re all going to die at this rate. No matter how much we’re enemies, to be so heartless—”

“When you raised your swords to kill our warriors, did you have any compassion?”

“…”

“How foolish to seek compassion in war, Second One.”

The Chief didn’t even glance at the students and spoke to the tribesmen.

“The First One is our friend and my benefactor. If the First One needs anything, don’t hesitate to give whatever is required.”

“Yes, Chief.”

“Yes.”

The Kuhelm tribesmen all bowed their heads at once.

It was the moment my position in Kuhelm rose vertically.

* * *

The new students were locked in the prison again. A little later, I also entered the prison, but the atmosphere was different from yesterday.

“Leblaine!”

“Lady Leblaine.”

The students welcomed me warmly.

“How did you manage to win over the Kuhelm Tribal Chief? My goodness, that’s amazing.”

“You must have had a hard time, right? Oh, sit here.”

“No, come sit next to me.”

“Lady Leblaine.”

“Miss Leblaine.”

The students who witnessed with their own eyes how my position in the Kuhelm Tribe had changed were desperate to get on my good side.

Allen, who was beside Mina, snorted.

“Do you want to share in the authority gained by flattering the enemy so badly? Don’t lose your pride! We are students of Odis—”

“Please shut that mouth of yours, Allen!”

“What, what?”

“You think Lady Leblaine has no pride? Lady Leblaine abandoned her pride for our sake. Don’t you understand what a noble sacrifice that is?”

The others also shouted at Allen furiously. Allen gritted his teeth and turned his head away sharply.

Even in the midst of this, Mina and Sandra said nothing, and the students glanced at me nervously as they mumbled.

“Um… could we perhaps get even some dry bread?”

“I’m physically weak. My hands are all scraped up from the labor… I’m not saying I want to rest forever, but if you could excuse me from labor just for tonight…”

Emeline burst out in bitter laughter.

“Yesterday you didn’t say a word when Allen was speaking, but now you’re defending Leblaine? You talked about noble pride, but it turns out the people who truly have no pride are all right here!”

Emeline, who had been glaring at the people, grabbed my hand.

“Come on, Leblaine. Don’t stay in this creepy place.”

“I’ll ask the Kuhelm tribesmen for food.”

Emeline’s face hardened. On the other hand, the students cheered and shouted without exception, “Thank you, Leblaine!”

“Let’s go, Emeline.”

“….”

“You can come out if you’re with me. Come on, let’s go.”

Emeline, who followed me with a reluctant expression, said:

“What’s so pretty about those things that you’d share the food you worked hard to get?”

“As if I’d share it because they’re pretty. I hate them too, just like you said.”

“Then why.”

“To make them remember.”

“What?”

I looked toward the prison and said:

“To realize who gave them bread, who they should follow to earn even a coin.”

When I grinned wickedly, Emeline chuckled and shook her head.

“You’re going to be stuck in those fair-weather friends’ heads.”

“And when they return to school, they’ll realize. That the first is better than the second. Then the temple’s plan to pressure me using Mina won’t be easily accomplished.”

“If you can achieve that with Kuhelm’s food supplies, that’s an incredible gain.”

We walked while laughing wickedly together.

From afar, the young man who had been my guard came running up breathlessly.

“Noble one! I’ve obtained the chick you requested.”

He showed me the chick he had brought cupped in his hands.

‘Perfect! Now I can go to Surir.’

“Where is Surir?”

“Well, he hasn’t been seen since this afternoon.”

“I’ll have to go look for him….”

“Noble one, just in case, let me tell you – even though the chief allowed you to walk around the village, don’t think about escaping. There are barriers at every entrance, so if you try to run away, you’ll be burned to death.”

“Of course. When I have an agreement with the chief, how could I possibly run away?”

That’s a lie!

I’m definitely going to escape. Of course, taking Surir with me.

I carefully took the chick and went around looking for Surir. But even after searching the village for nearly two hours, I couldn’t see a single hair of Surir.

“Hey there, kid.”

When I caught a passing kid, the child turned their head.

“Noble one?”

“Haven’t you seen Surir?”

“I think I saw him at the stable….”

“Where is the stable?”

“Over there.”

Looking in the direction the kid pointed, I could see a shabby building. After greeting them, I headed to the stable with Emeline.

But Surir wasn’t there.

“Where on earth could he be….”

I was muttering when it happened.

Guuuuuung─!

I felt a strange sensation.

‘This is definitely….’

I hurriedly looked around.

“Leblaine?”

“Devil’s Passage…. It’s the sensation of a passage.”

“What?”

I frantically searched for the source of the vibration. I could feel vibrations coming from the stable floor.

‘Why am I feeling it from the floor?’

I could definitely feel vibrations coming from the floor covered with hay. I frantically cleared away the hay and felt around the floor.

“I can feel wind….”

“Wind from the floor? There’s no passage here, so what kind of wind… No way.”

Emeline and I looked at each other in surprise and quickly examined the floor. While feeling around the floor, my fingertips caught on something like a very small button.

Let me try pressing it….

Kugugugu─!

With a dull grinding sound, the floor opened and stairs appeared.

“Leblaine, this….”

“You stay here. Someone might come, so keep it closed and open it when I signal from below.”

“Will you be okay alone?”

“Yeah.”

I left the chick with Emeline and carefully went down the stairs.

At the end of the stairs was a corridor, and torches hung along each corridor making it not difficult to walk.

What I found at the end of the corridor was some kind of huge door.

Just as I was about to grab the door handle, I heard a familiar voice through the gap in the door.

[…by.]

‘Huh?’

[Baby.]

I flinched and let go of the door handle, and the voice stopped as if a communication connection had been cut off.

‘This voice….’

This voice is definitely….

I looked at the door handle with trembling eyes.

A voice I could never forget. This voice that has always called me gently from ancient times until now….

I placed my hand on the door handle, and once again I heard that gentle voice.

[Little One.]

“…Bune!”

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