The Villainess is a Millionaire Solver - 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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Chapter 172

Was it because I moved quickly?

The carriage I was riding arrived safely at Belmare Port without any interference.

But somehow the atmosphere seemed chaotic.

‘What’s going on?’

As soon as I got off the carriage, I could understand the reason.

Security forces were spread all over the docks. There was no way to get to the chapel without getting through them.

‘What’s this?’

The security forces were currently surrounding some boat and locked in a tense standoff. My heart pounded at the thought that crossed my mind.

Could it be that Ruellian was hiding here to avoid the manhunt?

Just as I was approaching to get a better understanding of the situation.

“Oh? Who do we have here!”

Someone called out to me from behind in a hushed voice. The owner of that familiar voice was the old man who guarded the chapel.

I turned around.

“Ah, grandfather…”

“Be careful. It’s dangerous here.”

He gestured and led me somewhere. It was a village warehouse nearby.

After closing the door, the old man lowered his voice and whispered.

“You came looking for the chapel? I’m sorry. If you pass through now, you’ll be questioned by the security forces.”

“What on earth is going on?”

“I don’t know. They say some major criminal escaped? They claim there’s a high possibility of fleeing to foreign countries by sea, so they’ve blocked all ports and are conducting thorough searches.”

“Then is that criminal hiding in that boat?”

“No. That’s not it, just a few villagers are hiding there.”

“I see…”

So it wasn’t Ruellian.

But this is a bit strange?

I asked again.

“Why are the villagers hiding?”

“Well…”

The old man answered with a troubled expression.

“The security forces suddenly barged in to check everyone’s identity, so they panicked. They can’t be investigated.”

“Why can’t they?”

“…”

The old man closed his mouth with an even more troubled expression.

“It’s okay, so tell me. I need to know what’s going on to find a solution.”

While pressing him again and looking out the window, I realized.

The villagers’ expressions were very strange.

Everyone’s faces were filled with fear and anxiety. Some people were stamping their feet and almost on the verge of tears.

‘Come to think of it…’

Joseph, the tavern owner who used to be sneaky with me until he got taught a lesson.

His face was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to be hiding inside that boat.

I recalled what Joseph had told me.

“When we were all about to die unjustly, that person appeared and saved us. He made it possible for everyone to live new lives here. From that day on, we’ve all been living thinking our lives belong to that person.”

I looked at the old man again.

“You mentioned having a story about almost dying unjustly. This is related to that incident, right? Isn’t it?”

“Sigh…”

The old man let out a long sigh and finally spilled the story.

“Actually, we originally lived in a village called Rehometh. There was one notoriously evil tax collector there. An orphan youth from our village had struggled with his younger sister to do business and barely managed to open a small shop…”

He pointed to a middle-aged woman outside the window with his wrinkled finger.

“That tax collector coveted that younger sister, and used the excuse that they cheated on taxes to try to drag her to prison. The youth and his friends got angry and resisted. A fight broke out, and the drunk tax collector was swinging a sword around when he fell by himself and got stabbed by the sword and died. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s truly what this old man witnessed with his own eyes.”

The old man spoke while swearing to the air.

“But who would believe such a story? Thinking this way, the village youths were so terrified that they did something unwise. They were caught trying to clumsily conceal the corpse. Killing an official and even trying to cover up the crime. They were all destined to receive death sentences…”

“He saved them? That person who owns ‘The Two-Faced Serpentes’?”

“Yes, that’s right. That person happened to be passing by and learned of their situation, then rescued the youths. He even extracted all the family members who would be interrogated if they disappeared, created fake identities for them, and helped them settle here. He promised that he would definitely clear their names someday.”

The old man clasped his hands together in gratitude and continued.

“But for now, they’re all just escaped death row inmates. Their portrait sketches are prominently displayed on the first page of the notebook that every security force member carries around. They should have calmly slipped away without panicking, but they got scared and hid like that, arousing suspicion.”

He lamented.

Even at this moment, the security forces were surrounding the boat and threatening them to come out quickly.

They were trying to persuade them for now since breaking the boat would make things too big, but who knows how long that would last.

It really was a crisis.

‘What should I do?’

Just as I was racking my brain wondering if there was a good idea.

A pile of pure white cloth stacked in the warehouse caught my attention.

Unlike other items covered in dust, it was clean, as if it had been placed there recently.

“Isn’t that clothing?”

It seemed somehow familiar, so I approached it, and indeed it was.

Pure white clothing with leather straps. It looked like the traditional Neyplisia outfit that Prince Istan’s attendants had been wearing.

“Yes, it’s clothing.”

The old man answered.

“It came from the boat that prince’s gang left behind back then. After the investigators examined it, they said it was nothing special and just left it, so we collected it.”

Hearing the old man’s answer, one idea came to mind.

‘Good. I need to clear a path anyway, so let’s try it once.’

I put on the traditional Neyplisia outfit over the simple clothes I was currently wearing.

After telling the old man to disguise himself the same way, I took him and came out of the warehouse.

Outside was very noisy.

“If you don’t come out within 5 minutes from now, we’ll break in!”

The security forces were each holding clubs and shouting.

Having run out of patience, they really seemed ready to break in at any moment.

That’s when I appeared in traditional Neyplisia clothing.

People were surprised and stepped aside to both sides. The memory of Prince Istan causing trouble a few months ago seemed still vivid.

I approached the security forces without hesitation and shouted, mixing in the Neyplisia accent that remained in my memory.

“Are you all crazy wanting to get fired?”

“…?”

The security forces turned around.

Exotic clothing. Blonde hair slightly visible through the hood. An upright, confident, and aristocratic attitude. Fluent speech with a slight foreign accent mixed in.

‘Could it be?’

Everyone made that expression.

Right. That’s me.

I blocked their path and pressed them fiercely.

“Are you really planning to arrest my attendants? Do you want to see this turn into a diplomatic issue?”

“Isn’t the story different?”

The old man also chimed in from the side as I had taught him.

“It’s natural for the princess to be angry. Wasn’t this visit conducted in utmost secrecy because of the trial issue concerning Prince Istan, her brother? You should have heard from Chief of Imperial Security, so this is strange.”

“Willis clearly said there would be no problems!”

I called out the Chief of Imperial Security’s name casually and trembled with anger.

If Neyplisia has several princes, there should be at least one princess too.

Since the Empire put her brother in jail, she could come to investigate the details.

That was roughly the setting.

“What’s this?”

The security forces half-believed my words.

But when I pressed them so fiercely and boldly argued while invoking the Chief of Imperial Security’s name, they seemed to decide to be cautious for now.

Just then.

“It’s a fugitive! Someone’s running away!”

A loud shout came from the other direction.

I still stood firm in front of them and spoke coldly once more.

“If you want to search my boat, bring proper documentation.”

“…Let’s go support that side first!”

The Security Forces scattered.

Taking advantage of that gap, there was small movement from behind the boat.

It seemed the people hiding inside were secretly escaping on emergency boats.

The villagers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew…”

Then they all looked at me as if by agreement. Their faces showed relief and gratitude.

The Old Man spoke with a moved expression.

“How can we ever repay this kindness…!”

“It’s too early to let your guard down. We don’t know when they might catch on to my lie.”

“Yes! Please come this way quickly!”

The Old Man quickly came to his senses and guided me to the Chapel.

While inserting the key, opening the Secret Room, and taking the elevator down, another thought occurred to me.

‘Could Ruellian be hiding here?’

But he wasn’t. The place was completely empty.

The air hung heavy and stagnant, as if no one had visited for quite some time.

“At least he’s alive, right?”

Just as I muttered that and entered the Control Room.

I saw the massive Stained Glass at the front blinking with light.

I knew what this meant.

It meant the results from investigation requests to various Information Guilds under the Master Guild had arrived.

Since Ruellian had disappeared suddenly, there was no one to receive the results, so they seemed to have remained in this pending state all along.

‘I really did well to come here!’

I quickly approached the Stained Glass.

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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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