The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 172

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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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Emma gazed at the display case with satisfaction.

“Just looking at it makes me feel full.”

What was in the display case were the mana stones that had been inside the hourglass Elisha gave her.

How much would this be worth in money?

No, these are high-grade mana stones that are hard to buy even with money.

After the special-grade mana stones from Rionet Duchy were depleted, all demand shifted to high-grade mana stones.

‘With this amount, I could even trouble those haughty Temple priests, couldn’t I?’

These mana stones were pure enough to poison the Captain of the Royal Knights, and there were plenty of them too.

Emma shrugged as she recalled the priests who had looked unfavorably upon her as a mage every time she went to buy holy water for selling as magical device neutralizers.

“Phew, I’m a good mage so I’ll let it slide. …Hmm, but I wonder whose handiwork this is….”

She had given precious mana stones to no less than three friends and asked them to investigate, so results should be coming in about now, right?

Just then.

Ding, a notification sound rang out and a letter dropped from thin air.

Emma’s face lit up when she saw the sender.

“I knew my intuition was good! Yes, I thought it would come around this time! I believed in you!”

It was a letter from one of her three friends, the owner of the Eastern Magic Tower.

Emma hummed as she tore open the letter, then slightly furrowed her brow.

Emma, where on earth did you get this thing?

I’ll get straight to the point. I couldn’t read anything from it.

Whatever kind of concealment magic was cast on it….

I failed to dispel it. Ugh, my pride is hurt.

“Huh.”

She had half expected this.

Emma herself hadn’t been able to read anything from it either.

‘Even Chloe, who’s an expert in this field, said she couldn’t see anything.’

Today she had suddenly come over saying she had something to research,

“Hey, those are magical devices I’m repairing at Elisha’s request?”

“J-just for a moment, just a moment will do… Can I borrow them? Please.”

“They’re not urgent repairs so I can lend them to you. But Chloe, is something wrong? Why do you look like this?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’ll be going.”

‘Does she want to fix them herself since they’re things Elisha used?’

Emma, who had been thinking about Chloe borrowing some broken magical devices, read down to the next line for now.

But! That doesn’t mean there’s no way to trace it.

Since I couldn’t dispel the magic, I decided to analyze the composition of the mana stone.

“Oh! Then we can find out where it was mined!”

Her friend said that after comparing the composition, she found out it was a mana stone mined from the Eastern Mana Stone Mine.

With this much quantity, there should naturally be purchase records.

So when she went to the eastern mine….

They said there are no records. Apparently they were stolen.

“What?”

When she pressed asking if that made any sense, they said they were just as frustrated and jumping mad about it.

Moreover, they said they couldn’t remember well who the buyer was either.

The mana stones were definitely gone and the money was there, but their memory of selling them was hazy.

‘An expert in concealment magic and also an expert in hypnosis magic?’

What kind of bastard is that?

Emma narrowed her eyes, then furrowed her brow at the following words.

One thing that’s certain is that they haven’t sold large quantities of mana stones since Founding Festival week.

…As if that mysterious buyer had found some other source of supply.

Founding Festival week, that means.

‘After the Tiara Theft Incident… right?’

Her friend’s letter ended with the words ‘I have a bad feeling about this. Be careful.’

Simply thinking about it, one could assume the ‘buyer’ had given up on their goal and stopped buying mana stones.

But her friend was right. The feeling wasn’t good.

‘Someone who was even willing to poison the Captain of the Royal Knights wouldn’t give up just because they were caught.’

Rather, it would be correct to say they had changed their target and method.

As her friend said, they might have found another source of mana stones.

“Phew….”

Emma let out a deep sigh and took out the mana stones she had been looking at proudly just moments before, putting them into subspace.

She felt uneasy somehow.

*

After business hours ended.

I knocked on the door of the Information Guild.

“Hello, young Manager.”

Despite his smooth greeting, William looked quite busy.

He glanced at me and hurriedly organized his documents when suddenly a cheese-colored cat jumped onto his desk.

“Oh my, this little guy is getting revenge on daddy for not playing with him today!”

The cat vigorously stepped on the documents and leaped onto the cabinet, causing several papers to flutter about.

I smiled watching William complain and the cat strutting majestically on top of the cabinet, then bent down to pick up the papers for him.

‘Huh.’

I caught a glimpse of the content.

[…the Cardinal’s birthplace cannot be confirmed making investigation difficult, but by approaching priests who have returned to secular life…]

Just then William approached stealthily and swiftly snatched the paper away.

His olive-colored eyes rolled around frantically before he asked slyly.

“…Did you see it?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“A little. About one sentence?”

I should be honest, what else can I do.

William glared at the cat, then soon made a dejected expression.

“Keep it secret that this was seen, okay?”

“If it’s not the content that’s secret but the fact that it was seen, did Duke perhaps commission this?”

“Cough, cough.”

“Your coughing already answered that.”

“How can you ask so directly! Ahem, anyway, you’ll keep it secret, right?”

“Of course. We have trust and faith between us, William.”

William, who let out a sigh of relief at my joke, gestured with his hand.

“Sit down.”

As I sat down, I thought about Tesagh’s request.

‘He only told me to keep it secret, not to forget about it.’

Seeing that William didn’t ask me to keep quiet about the details, it seemed to be an investigation within legal bounds at least.

More than that, the only cardinal I know who’s connected to Tesagh through work is Crescenziano.

‘What was Tesagh curious about regarding Lord Crescenziano? Was it just a simple investigation?’

Was what William said about being busy because of this matter?

As I was tilting my head in thought, the usual two glasses of juice were placed in front of me.

“Well, first, do you remember Duke Romanus?”

Duke Romanus?

He was the investor who got me entry to Count Hestian’s jewelry brand showroom.

Come to think of it, ‘Snowflake’ completely collapsed, so what happened to his money?

“He seemed to quite like the young manager. He asked me if he couldn’t invest in the pawnshop.”

But William’s attitude was quite relaxed.

I asked cautiously.

“Um, well, you heard about Snowflake, right? The Duke’s investment money…”

“Ah, he pulled it out right that day.”

“What?!”

William shrugged his shoulders.

“The ‘five sheep’ that the young manager conveyed was a danger signal.”

“Really? How did you know it was dangerous?”

There’s no way he could have known about the ruby tablet.

As I was gauging, William chuckled.

“Count Hestian seemed to have kept it secret, but he had pulled in too much investment from here and there. It looked like he didn’t have the ability to repay, so I told the Duke to pull his money out in advance.”

“Ah, no wonder he seemed to have no interest in the jewelry show…!”

It wasn’t even my money, but it almost felt like a waste. Thank goodness.

By the way, William is really capable, isn’t he?

Perhaps reading my expression that showed I was seeing him in a new light, William giggled and asked.

“So, are you thinking of accepting investment for the pawnshop?”

“My own capital is still sufficient for now. Please tell him I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Hmm. No thoughts of opening a branch? Any plans to train junior appraisers?”

“Hey, that’s information I can’t give for just two glasses of service juice.”

“Tsk, what a shame! You won’t fall for it easily!”

Seeing William ask this, it seems the pawnshop’s status has risen quite a bit.

If it were worthless information, he wouldn’t be dealing with it.

Realizing from this strange angle that the pawnshop business was going well, I asked.

“Do you have any other information that came in?”

He wouldn’t have called me out this late just to tell me that Duke Romanus protected his investment.

William cleared his throat.

“There is. Two things.”

He furrowed his brow.

“One is, well, it seems someone is very enthusiastically investigating the young manager’s family background.”

Hah.

I knew it.

‘It must be Crodil.’

I let out a hollow laugh.

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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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