The Male Lead Is Trying To Tame Me With Money - Chapter 69

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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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69.

 

Casian and I predicted several scenarios for when the Inquisitors or priests would come barging in.

 

And to respond to them, we also asked the Winter Palace Knights attending today’s title ceremony to prepare.

 

Among them, the Winter Palace Knight Captain was famous for his devotion, and assigning him to young Casian seemed like the Empress’s way of causing trouble.

 

But young Casian, knowing he was being watched with such prejudiced eyes, simply did his best and gradually peeled away that shell.

 

On his first battlefield, when an eleven-year-old boy arranged escape routes for the knights and tried to hold back sandstorms and monsters alone, that too must have made an impact.

 

Casian even succeeded in surviving that battlefield, escaping the stigma of being hated by the gods and earning the loyalty of this upright Knight Captain.

 

Now, more than ten years later, the young and devout Knight Captain was forced to help with all sorts of administrative work pouring into the Winter Palace, gradually losing his trust in the Temple.

 

Moreover, last time, seeing Saint Wesley Morel clash with the priests during the dragon subjugation, he came to view the Temple completely differently, separate from his faith in the gods.

 

Of course, only we noticed this, so if that famous Knight Captain pointed out the Temple’s corruption, it would be quite damaging.

 

If we’re going to tear open wounds, we should make it really hurt, shouldn’t we?

 

I decided to recite historical facts to the stunned Inquisitors.

 

“For reference, everything I’m about to say has been confirmed by His Holiness the Saint, so please don’t pointlessly argue back and further tarnish the Temple’s honor.”

 

Even before the magic scroll arrived, I had prepared in advance, thinking this damn original story would eventually throw every death crisis at me.

 

At my gentle smile, the Inquisitors’ faces turned as black as the priest robes they wore for dramatic effect.

 

*

 

Witch hunts were the worst of the Temple’s evil practices, carried out to exploit wealth.

 

They mainly targeted wealthy widows, female heirs, and female professionals like apothecaries, which was particularly vicious.

 

It was exactly like the ‘witch hunts’ that occurred in medieval times in my previous life.

 

Naturally, the trials weren’t fair at all, so anyone accused of being a witch had no choice but to die.

 

Then, the Temple would confiscate the ‘witch’s’ property under the pretext of purifying ill-gotten gains, easily inflating their wealth.

 

According to Wesley, Saint Starsha, who could use holy power similar to divine descent, intended to expose all of this corruption.

 

However, an Ether Dragon that had been sleeping in the Empire went berserk at that time, so she sacrificed herself to stop it and only remained in the Temple’s history.

 

So I decided to fulfill her dream instead.

 

“All of this is Saint Starsha’s will, and do you really think I’m a heretic for revealing what hasn’t been passed down?”

 

“Th-that is…”

 

“Saint Starsha is known as the saint closest to the gods, powerful enough to stop the historically strongest and most untouchable Ether Dragon. Surely you won’t defile the Saint’s name by using me for bad customs without evidence?”

 

The Inquisitor exchanged glances with other priests looking for a way out, but finding none, he hung his head.

 

“I ask again, do you have solid evidence that I, who faithfully upheld such a great Saint’s will, am a heretic?”

 

Rather, in the current state, aren’t you the ones who seem more heretical for arbitrarily violating the Saint’s will?

 

I smiled brightly, putting all those feelings into it.

 

Naturally having nothing to say even with ten mouths, the Inquisitor fumbled to roll up his whip and tried to retreat.

 

“W-we’ll withdraw now, it seems we made some great mistake… Sorry for causing unnecessary trouble on a joyful day.”

 

Even with such shameless behavior, trying to get away with just a few words.

 

“Wait, you’re just leaving like that? After putting innocent me on the pyre! And trying to swallow the Dragon Lair as the Temple’s property!”

 

“S-Salice, no, Margrave Clupea!”

 

“Unlike you priests, I have no vow of poverty, and I’m a worldly administrator who’s thorough with calculations.”

 

“A-are you telling us to pay damages?!”

 

The Inquisitor looked at me with an incredulous expression.

 

“That’s a matter to discuss with me privately, and right now I’m just trying to fulfill my duties as Margrave Clupea, Winter Palace advisor and Imperial noble.”

 

Civil matters are separate, right?

 

I began speaking faithfully to my main job, seeing His Majesty the Emperor’s satisfied smile like a cunning snake.

 

“First, let me inform you of the laws you priests have violated and the treaties between the Temple and Imperial Palace!”

 

At my diligent guidance, Casian clicked his tongue and said quietly to them.

 

“Didn’t I tell you? I hoped you wouldn’t regret it.”

 

*

 

As my prohibited treaty clauses flowed out as if prepared, the Inquisitors’ faces lost vitality like people on the verge of death.

 

After reciting all the violations they committed, I didn’t forget to point out the loopholes the Temple had exploited.

 

“Your Majesty, even when withholding taxes from officials working in the Imperial Palace, we don’t demand payment from wages they haven’t received.”

 

But the Temple was different.

 

Knights who went to war or those with narrow positions in the Imperial Palace sometimes couldn’t properly secure their share.

 

Not only that, occasionally some administrators had to apply for long-term unpaid leave for personal reasons.

 

But investigating this, the Temple demanded nominal donations based on what they would have originally earned even in such cases.

 

At my signal, a prepared Winter Palace Administrator quickly delivered neatly organized documents to the Emperor and priests.

 

“This is data the Winter Palace investigated over the past two years. The Temple’s donation rate is a whopping 13% of income, higher than most salary earners’ withholding amounts. However.”

 

I then requested they turn to the back pages of the materials.

 

The Emperor nodded happily.

 

Conversely, the Temple side showed even more desire to escape this situation.

 

“The Temple has never once disclosed how funds are used. Just three years ago, when Prince Casian requested a report and explanation about facility differences and children’s conditions between the Temple and state-supported private orphanages, the Temple refused.”

 

Of course, that was also the Temple’s right, but the fact they never once responded to such requests was essentially shouting ‘we have many things to hide.’

 

I rattled off comparisons with other private or state-supported institutions, detailing how the Temple had hidden so many corruptions behind the shield of God’s name.

 

“For these reasons, I request once again in this place: transparent disclosure of Temple operating funds.”

 

“Th-that’s overstepping authority!”

 

“Yes, you certainly could have claimed overstepping authority until 30 years ago, and we accommodated it considering past customs and the Temple’s dignity, but this is a legitimate request from the Imperial side.”

 

Toward the cornered Inquisitor who didn’t even know the world had changed, I sent a kind guiding gesture as if to turn one more page.

 

The Inquisitor turned the materials with a sour face and dropped the documents entirely.

 

“It’s been long since the Holy Knight Order transferred all monster subjugation duties to the Imperial side and began receiving support funds from the Empire for reasons like the Temple’s poor relief and child protection.”

 

And the Empire had the right to investigate fund usage for organizations receiving support money.

 

Of course, even knowing this, no one seemed to have openly revealed it due to dignity and other reasons.

 

“For these reasons, Your Majesty, I humbly request that you entrust the investigation of Temple support fund usage to the Winter Palace.”

 

I had no hesitation about taking on such responsibility.

 

Why should I care about some god who never granted even the small wishes I desperately made as a child?

 

At my request, the cunning Emperor pretended to consider briefly as if maintaining dignity, then soon pretended to reluctantly allow it, attaching all sorts of justifications about it being for the nation.

 

Your eyes were smiling while being so despicable.

 

*

 

“Rose, you know.”

 

“Yes?”

 

At Casian’s words, I answered briefly without lifting my head from the documents.

 

“You always complain about overtime but seem genuinely enthusiastic about adding more work.”

 

At Casian’s words, I quietly remained silent.

 

I left the coordination of the Temple’s treaty violations to that person at the Sun Palace, thinking they’d want to exercise their grudges too, but it was true I brought the tax audit—no, support fund investigation.

 

‘But no one else could strip them as thoroughly as we could.’

 

And revenge must be done personally to feel satisfying!

 

Thinking this while feeling slightly guilty, I mumbled.

 

“…It’s work that had to be done someday, just doing it a bit early.”

 

“What about the grudge over that 13% being deducted from your pay statements?”

 

“Naturally,”

 

“Naturally?”

 

When I looked up, Casian was grinning broadly.

 

As expected, my boss knew me too well.

 

I buried my head back in the documents and shouted honestly while checking clauses to bind the Temple’s hands and feet.

 

“Naturally that’s the biggest reason!”

 

At least the pensions and insurance withheld at my previous life’s company had some corner where I could benefit.

 

This they devour entirely to fill their bellies or use for scheming, and on top of that, they collect religious taxes without even receiving tax audits?

 

As a diligent salary earner, I absolutely couldn’t forgive it.

 

‘Please understand it’s definitely not because I can’t forgive public harm or future evil deeds like the protagonist!’

 

Whether it was the original story or the gods who never listen to me, I desperately cried out inwardly once more.

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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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