The Damn Family Is Back Again

222. The Source of Contamination (4)

‘Just as Harnié said.’

As I followed Harnié to this place, I listened to various explanations.

She mentioned that this black market had only been a venue for light sales and formal greetings until now, but the real event was about to begin.

What would unfold in this black market was none other than an auction.

Using a sky-blue button inscribed with magic as a bell, one could input their desired amount; if they secured the final bid, they could then pay for their purchase at the auction house.

‘So that sky-blue button serves as an entry pass, yet you didn’t bring it.’

This aspect made some sense to me.

However, while one might think that at an auction people would be preoccupied with buying items, it was crucial not to let my guard down.

“You’re Ontoni? Hehe. I’m Dark.”

“What? How did you recognize me?”

“Even from afar, that round belly of yours doesn’t seem to fade away.”

“You little brat.”

The nobles had formed their own networks within noble society.

Even if someone wore a mask and hindered recognition, there were still those who could identify others like that; thus, I needed to be cautious not to attract any attention myself.

The button had a seat number on it which kept me separated from her.

I had to be even more careful not to raise any suspicions among them.

Meanwhile, the two nobles who had been giggling together moved on to their next topic of conversation.

“They say today’s auction will stretch out long into three rounds with highlight auctions included. Three sessions lasting an hour each with a thirty-minute break in between. Remember?”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“You didn’t hear the announcement? You clueless idiot.”

Oh. This is actually pretty good information.

Three sessions of one hour each with a 30-minute break. And if the final highlight auction board is added, that makes a total of four sessions. I noted it down.

They said during the break, Harni won’t care where you wander… which means those 30 minutes could be spent rummaging through the black market.

“Just in case you don’t know, rooms marked with three stars are off-limits to anyone except authorized personnel, and triggering an alarm spell will happen if you touch anything there.”

“Come on. I know that too!”

Moreover, there’s a room marked with three stars indicating places you shouldn’t go.

“When leaving, don’t exit through the main entrance; instead, cross over to the basement storage and head towards the annex. Also—”

You must always pass through the annex when exiting.

If you enter a room marked with two stars without unbuttoning your sky-blue button-up shirt, your location will be tracked.

There’s even a mandatory rule stating that at least one item must be purchased.

I was able to gather quite a bit of information from their conversation in various ways.

I recorded everything down.

I’ve missed dialogues like this in games before and faced consequences more than once.

And then—

“Oh right. Speaking of which, I heard there’s actually a room you’re not supposed to enter at all this time?”

“Yeah. I know about that! What was it again? They said it’s because it’s where they make non-sale items or something? Anyway, they told me never to go near there.”

One suspicious detail caught my attention as well.

“Non-sale items? Ah. I think I know what you’re talking about—the private room in the west wing?”

“Whoa. Over there. But when they said it was not for sale, I got curious and asked what it was, you know? Can you guess what they said?”

“What did they say?”

“They said you’d find out from the results of this symposium! I mean, doesn’t that line up perfectly with what the black market owner mentioned a few weeks ago through his representative?”

“Uh… You mean the part where they assured us that the results of the symposium were already predetermined, so we shouldn’t worry?”

…Could it be?

I quickly increased the amount of mana used for auditory enhancement.

“So I couldn’t help but sneak a peek nearby. Wow. What came out was beyond my imagination!”

“Oh, what was it?!”

“Hehe. Give me 300 Pesel as information value. Then I’ll tell you.”

“Oh come on. Just share a bit with me. Don’t be so stingy.”

“I can’t do that since I’ve spent too much on pocket money, buddy. I’m struggling because of this symposium too; just help me out a little.”

As Ontoni clicked his tongue and paid 300 Pesel, Dark chuckled and opened his mouth again.

“There’s this bag filled with fertilizer and inside is a monster’s corpse being broken down by magical energy until later it’s all mixed in with the soil! They even used a magic dissolvent to do it.”

“What? So you’re saying it’s just soil mixed with monster remains?”

“Exactly! But while they don’t know where it’s going to be used, all they’ve been saying is that they’re going to shoot those bags somewhere.”

“For crying out loud! What a waste of money! How could that possibly influence the results of the symposium? It’s probably just bravado; I’ve noticed lately how much bluster that black market owner has been spouting off about things like this. Don’t take him at face value!”

“Oh come on; it could really be true! Especially after getting completely wiped by His Highness Prince Florence and having terrible grades as well—I’ve got to hold onto some hope!”

Not for sale items, restricted areas… The connection to the symposium results.

Even at this point, suspicion had sharpened considerably.

However, their statement about determining who would come in last place in the symposium following those fertilizer bags…

“Absolutely. They targeted Chatrain outright.”

With that, everything fell into place.

As the harvest rates plummeted and began to deteriorate, Chatrain became an extremely insular territory.

Strawberries and grapes from Chatrain, once accessible to all ages and genders, suddenly turned into premium crops for the nobility.

The residents of Chatrain clung blindly to high-quality fertilizers, which were sourced from outside.

From the festival organizer that Ferdy discovered to the thirty-five internal enemies including Maphe, all had conspired with other territories to ruin Chatrain.

Even if there were issues with farming methods or soil management, even if there were pH problems or fertilizer issues—ultimately, no meaningful change occurred.

Everything stemmed from the fertilizer.

From leading the premiumization of crops to being the root cause of this land’s downfall—every single problem pointed back at it.

Could it be that the residents of Chatrain simply misunderstood me?

It seems far more plausible that those who wished for Chatrain’s destruction acted deliberately.

It makes more sense to think they presented contracts for fertilizers in order to ruin this territory.

There likely existed forces aiming for the premiumization of Chatrain strawberries and grapes as well.

It’s much more rational to believe someone intentionally committed these acts in order to sabotage Chatrain.

The soil of ruined Chatrain will not recover by any means after being drenched in their manufactured fertilizers.

If I hadn’t taken action beforehand, it would have merely been a matter of time before Karsein finished last at the symposium.

Thus, I must catch the culprit.

Without doing so, I cannot clear this episode.

-Ding!

▶Relevant information has been obtained!◀

▶The types of items that can be secured as evidence will vary.◀

Now, it’s not just circumstantial anymore.

It has been revealed that the body of the beast was hidden in a fertilizer bag, and the fertilizer that acidified the soil also arrived at Shatren.

The deeper I dig, the more complicated it becomes, but if they were determined to ruin a territory like this, there should be clearer evidence left behind.

‘I need to look for something like related ledgers instead of just fertilizer bags.’

The fertilizer bags are already stored in Shatren.

It’s obvious there would be some sort of manual for their production; I just need to find that.

If there are ledgers indicating purchases of beast corpses from places where beasts do not appear, that would be perfect.

Documents stamped with seals from employers would surely help as well.

Doom- Doom-

As lights flickered on one by one on the dimly lit stage, cheers erupted from the nobles accompanied by dazzling spotlights.

-Clap clap clap clap clap!

“Welcome. Ladies and gentlemen!”

Let’s hold out for just one hour now.

And for thirty minutes, let’s rummage around here and there.

▶Episode XI. The Source of Contamination is Underway.◀

▶You have entered the black market. From now on, you must uncover traces of the Waglulu faction.◀

▶As means to prove increase in number, options may expand as well.◀

An hour had passed since the first auction time began.

As a 30-minute break arrived, I seized my chance for the first search.

First and foremost, I needed to fill in the gaps in my information.

While 30 minutes might not seem like much of a luxury, I was in an environment where the number of potential threats was completely unknown. Given that danger levels had originally been set at a prohibition yet remained at risk, it wouldn’t be surprising if I stumbled into a dead end without warning in such an unfamiliar place.

Thus, it was imperative to imprint on my mind how this black market was structured—where within the building one could move and where hidden dangers lurked. That had to come first.

My primary goal shifted from gathering evidence and obtaining options through investigation to focusing on this aspect instead.

And once again, another hour slipped by.

When the second search time arrived, my movements became bolder.

– Tap. Tap.

“Are there two guards?”

I quickly concealed myself.

“Didn’t find any intruders after all?”

“Nope. No matter how hard we looked.”

“Honestly, it could just be some animal that got in here messing things up. Ugh.”

Fortunately, the commotion from earlier with those guards seemed to have died down. If they continued searching here, things would have gotten quite troublesome for me.

Once those grumbling guards passed by and crossed the hallway, I finally reached the room I had intended to search from the start.

“So this is a security magic device.”

Red lasers crisscrossed throughout the room like something out of a movie, preventing passage through various points within it.

“I don’t know what you’re hiding so tightly away,” I mused aloud; “but it certainly seems important.”

The magical energy was faint enough that it could be easily shattered, but… this seemed to be a spell meticulously designed like a puzzle, fitting together perfectly.

If an alarm were to sound again like before and cause a commotion, that wouldn’t be good either. For now, it would be best to move while keeping my body low.

…or so I thought.

The swirling amount of magical energy was visible at a glance.

“Tilt it about five degrees from the 11 o’clock position. If I cut from here…”

Whoosh!

Four threads of crimson magical energy vanished in an instant.

Without the source of magic fueling it, the spell temporarily lost its effectiveness.

▶Emergency Mission!◀

▶If you temporarily stop the source of magic and search the room, no pursuers will appear.◀

▶Try to solve as many puzzles as possible for a safe search.◀

“This is what an emergency mission puzzle looks like.”

Usually, these weren’t familiar logical challenges but rather infuriatingly difficult riddles instead.

Well, it didn’t matter.

If the difficulty had decreased, then that was in my favor.

Having eliminated potential dangers, I began to thoroughly search the room.

“Just as I thought. Something like this would exist.”

-Ding!

▶You have discovered traces of the Wagluru faction.◀

▶You have found the manual given to contractors.◀

▶Find more remaining evidence.◀

“The manual… this is the seal of Count Modric, who has significantly lost power even within the Wagrul faction.”

In other words, they’ve found the weakest piece of evidence.

It would be dangerous to feel reassured just because of this one find.

A figure like Count Modric could easily have his tail cut off by them.

Moreover, there are certainly pieces of evidence still hidden away that we have yet to uncover. We need to discover at least one more to eliminate variables in our choices.

But then…

I stumbled upon something peculiar.

“…The Extinction Plan for the Kingdom of Wederos?”

What on earth is this?

-Ding!

▶You have satisfied one of the conditions for an urgent mission!◀

▶You have found traces of an ancient kingdom.◀

▶Satisfy additional conditions to receive extra rewards.◀

***

Since discovering the manual, I had been rummaging through other rooms and managed to collect items that could serve as clues.

Yet still, I couldn’t grasp the true nature of that document.

‘The Extinction Plan for the Kingdom of Wederos.’

If only I could read its contents; perhaps then I would understand something about it, but it was completely illegible.

At least judging by its title, since it mentioned a kingdom, it must refer to a singular nation…

“I’ve never seen anything like that, either in my memory or on the map of this game.”

The Kingdom of Wederos.

I’ve never even heard the name of such a kingdom.

Yet, as soon as I laid eyes on that plan, a status window appeared?

I can’t help but be suspicious.

I want to dismiss it and conclude that it has nothing to do with me, but if it’s part of this game’s setting…

“Hmm?”

– Crack.

It seems Harnié had tightened her grip on my arm without me noticing I was crossing my arms.

“…It’s because of the auction.”

From the time of the second auction onward, our seating arrangement became more of an obstacle than anything else, allowing us to meet up.

Even though her delicate arms didn’t hurt when she exerted force, I could tell from her gaze what she meant.

“Now, behold! This is a crystal shimmering in a resplendent shade of violet!”

She gazed at that gem with desperate eyes.

It was as if she were staring intently at something she absolutely couldn’t afford to miss.

Harnié’s reason for stepping into this black market seemed to revolve around that very thing.

“But…”

There were more than just one or two nobles eyeing it greedily.

While they likely had enough money, they wouldn’t be able to use it freely.

Even if we both wore sky-blue buttons, we belonged to different groups. Mine was associated with one noble faction while Harnié belonged to another elite group.

If she spent a large sum of money, there was a risk that her true identity would be revealed.

‘Money… I can pull it out. Thanks to the item window.’

Here… this method is a hundred percent correct.

“Harnie, cancel the bid.”

“Excuse me?”

– Vroom.

“Oh, we have a new bidder! Now, the bidding price is… What?!”

“Two hundred thousand Pesel!”

“Wasn’t the previous bid one hundred thousand Pesel?”

“To double it…!”

The gazes of the nobles turned towards me all at once.

***

A short while later, the item was successfully auctioned off, and Karsein moved to the designated location to collect his jewel.

“Congratulations! Haha!”

“Yeah.”

He replied nonchalantly as he took possession of the item.

And just as the auction had concluded at that moment,

Karsein subtly lifted the box in front of Harnie, who was staring blankly at it.

It was the box containing the jewel that Harnie had so desperately wanted to purchase.

“I’ll return it later when there are fewer eyes watching.”

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. If your true identity is revealed, it won’t just be a problem for you.”

I see.

For a moment, I almost let my desire to buy that thing get the better of me.

That meant he had been watching me all along.

‘I shouldn’t be feeling this way…’

– Thump. Thump.

My heart starts racing uncontrollably again.

“Have you found everything you’re looking for?”

“…Yes.”

Thanks to you, though.

“And what about you?”

“Well. I have some information about this place, so I’ve gathered everything useful. But since I might attract suspicion, I think it would be wise to stay a bit longer.”

“Alright. I’ll pay you back later with interest.”

“I appreciate that.”

As he smiled at my words of gratitude, Harnié’s face flushed slightly.

‘W-what is happening…’

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she cleared her throat and continued speaking.

“Um. Karsein. Once this is over…”

────!

At that moment, a deafening explosion rang out as dazzling lights illuminated the scene.

“Welcome to today’s highlight auction! And here it is—right now!”

-Click!

“This item!”

Spotlights converged in one place.

The audience gasped in unison, their excitement erupting into cheers.

There lay a sword.

A sword. Not exactly something that would pique Harnié’s interest.

Yet amidst the crowd, Karsein’s gaze was drawn toward it.

“…Hah.”

In a situation where no one explained what it was, Karsein let out a faint sigh as he looked at the sword.

What on earth could that be?

“This item is the silver blade of the Kingdom of Wederos!”