The Shadow Organization Members Raised Through Pay-To-Win Are Too Strong

[Leader’s influence within the Hartwell family has increased.]

[Synchronization progress has reached 30%.]

As the synchronization progress reached 30%, a new ability was unlocked.

It was Character Deactivation.

‘Interesting.’

The name Chloe, who was currently in contact with me, appeared in the status window as the target.

[You can invoke ‘Character Deactivation’ limited to targets you are in contact with. To invoke it, you must offer 5 traits or skills as a price.]

[Currently in contact with the character ‘Chloe.’ Deactivate this character?]

I shook my head slightly at the question of deactivating Chloe.

‘No, I shouldn’t use it.’

I didn’t meet the conditions to use it anyway, as I lacked the required number of skills or traits.

‘Still, it doesn’t change that it’s useful.’

Character Deactivation is a system that seals a character so they can’t be used.

In other words, it’s practically a conditional instant kill.

The advantage is that rather than completely killing the target, I can unseal them whenever I want?

That’s why I comfortably deactivated the 7-star Celestia in the past.

‘But the problem is this isn’t a game.’

This place literally isn’t a game.

So, I couldn’t be certain that the Character Deactivation system would be the same as the game.

This proves that originally, in the game, I could only deactivate characters I had collected, but now it is possible for anyone as long as I make contact, which is different.

‘Limited to targets I directly contact, I can deactivate them…’

And that’s at the price of offering 5 traits or skills.

Just looking at this, there was no loss for me.

I just needed to be careful when using deactivation, and traits or skills could be obtained from dark mages.

I checked the newly created list on the status window.

With this new authority, I could now check the traits and skills I possessed.

– Mana Affinity

– Elemental Affinity

– Pursuer of Death

‘Only 3.’

A total of 5 abilities were needed to use Character Deactivation.

It didn’t matter since I wouldn’t use it right away anyway.

Moreover, the ones I currently possessed were abilities I really needed right now.

Thanks to Mana Affinity and Elemental Affinity, I was able to learn magic with relative ease, but would sacrificing the skill reduce my ability?

‘Magic classes from now on would be a mess.’

That was unacceptable.

In the end, even if five seemed reasonable, excluding the abilities I needed, it wasn’t cheap either.

But there were ways.

Since I could absorb as many skills as I wanted.

‘From now on, I’ll have to hoard even useless skills.’

Until now, when dark magic-related skills appeared, I didn’t choose them. It was ambiguous for me to use anyway, so it was better to choose something else.

But now it’s different.

Sacrificing five useless skills to take someone out was a bargain.

It meant I was gaining a powerful weapon, so there was no way I would refuse.

‘7 dark mages caught last night.’

Including the one Celestia caught, there were a total of 8 abilities I hadn’t absorbed yet.

Now, even if it’s useless, I just needed to select as many traits and skills as possible.

‘Let’s finish talking with the Count first.’

As I stared at the status window for a while, Chloe spoke up.

“It’s all done, Young Master!”

Chloe carefully examined me to see if anything had gotten on my clothes, and only then was it over.

Now, I could head to the Count.

“Thanks, Chloe.”

As I was about to take my eyes off the status window, I suddenly thought of a new way to utilize this feature.

The status window clearly referred to Chloe as Chloe.

This may not seem like a big deal, but it meant that as long as I made contact, finding out the other person’s name was nothing.

‘I need to check if it shows the person’s real name.’

If it was correct that it showed the real name, it could be used even more usefully.

‘Is there any way to check?’

I had already confirmed that Chloe appeared as Chloe, but that was insufficient.

I didn’t know if Chloe was her real name, did I?

‘Let’s find out slowly.’

Even if not this, there were more than one or two things to be concerned about now.

‘First is the matter regarding Albert, I suppose.’

With Albert giving up the successor position, my daily life was bound to be disrupted.

The priority was to find out why he gave up the successor position and why he secretly headed to the Empire without telling the Count.

‘Simply put, it’s trauma…’

Albert was also attacked like Bastel.

In addition, I heard he almost got kidnapped.

The family knights all died, and he almost got kidnapped, so such a reaction was understandable.

‘Even so, he left without a word to his father, the Count?’

There was definitely something going on.

Moreover, if even Chloe knew that he gave up being the successor to the extent that most of the servants in the mansion probably knew it.

‘I’ll have to look into it.’

I didn’t see Emilia around anyway.

I ordered her to keep an eye on Albert so she would probably come asking for information soon.

Even if the matter regarding Albert was set aside, one important thing remained.

‘The synchronization progress.’

This time, as the synchronization progress reached 30%, I realized one thing—these also had their own rules.

‘The first time the synchronization progress moved was in the underground mine.’

After seeing Duchy’s emblem drawn behind the meal tray, I learned that this world was the game “Isekai Conqueror.”

Then, the synchronization progress rose to 10%.

And 20% was when I found out Emilia belonged to the Phantoms.

Then, 25% was achieved as Black Raven members hunted dark mages.

This 30% was achieved as my influence within the family increased.

I confirmed that the synchronization progress didn’t increase arbitrarily.

Based on the information so far, progress increased when I learned a new fact or when the members did something.

And it was the same when my influence increased as it is now.

‘It’s related to my actions.’

The members’ actions were ultimately carried out according to my orders, which meant that synchronization progressed according to my actions.

‘The more synchronization progresses, the more the leader’s authority will open up.’

The first was the authority to give orders to Black Raven.

The second was the list of Phantoms around me.

The third was absorbing the abilities of the hunted dark mages.

And the fourth one I got today, ‘Character Deactivation.’

I didn’t know what kind of abilities would appear in the future.

But they would probably help me live.

‘Haa, I’ll be busy for a while.’

I let out a small sigh.

*  *  *

The private meeting with the Count was not long.

It was clear the Count’s mind would be complicated due to the recent events.

The appearance of a dark mage, the killing of the family knights, and the attempted kidnapping of the eldest son.

On top of that, from the perspective of the Count who didn’t know who saved Albert, there were mountains of things to worry about.

Thanks to that, the conversation proceeded quickly.

What the Count requested of me was clear.

“Ethan, as the blood of the Hartwell family flows in you as well, it would be good for you to gradually learn the family affairs.”

It was to learn about the family’s affairs.

The underlying meaning of those words was clear.

In a situation where the directions of Albert and Bastel were unclear, it was a calculation to raise me as insurance.

The fact that he brought this up to me, a mere illegitimate child, was proof that the Count was in a desperate situation.

However, the Count’s orders were not just in words.

As my value rose, the dedicated escort knight that was only allowed to Albert and Bastel was also assigned to me.

“The recent events seem unusual. I think you will need security as well.”

The one the Count assigned as my escort knight was none other than Cael.

‘I have a lot of ties with Cael.’

He was the one who brought me to the family and with whom I was with during the recent dungeon subjugation.

Now, Cael had officially become my escort knight.

‘Does it mean he sees me as that important?’

During the last subjugation, Cael had become a valuable asset to the family by catching the dark mage.

Although he didn’t actually catch it, the Count believed so.

‘Rather, it worked out well.’

Cael seemed slightly suspicious of what happened then, so I just needed to make him my person.

I left the Count’s office and once again headed towards my room.

While walking down the hallway, I heard someone calling me.

“Oh, isn’t this Young Master Ethan?”

Looking back, an unfamiliar figure was standing there.

Round, fleshy face, protruding belly. A typical obese male body type.

“……”

Although the other party greeted me first, I stood still without responding.

Even though I had lived in the mansion for quite a while, I didn’t know all the family members.

In fact, the Count’s retainers often worked outside the mansion, and I heard the treasurer in charge of finances frequently went out due to the nature of his job.

So, they were people I had a hard time meeting.

The man approached, wiping the sweat flowing down his forehead.

Sparse hair clung to his sweat-soaked forehead.

“Haha, you must be seeing me for the first time, Young Master. I am Fredrick Copperfield, in charge of the Hartwell family’s finances.”

Only then did I learn the other party’s identity.

He was the treasurer in charge of the family’s finances.

But Fredrick’s words bothered me.

‘The other person knows me, but I’m seeing them for the first time?’

Perhaps we had passed by each other once.

I didn’t think deeply about it.

‘It’s a good thing we met here.’

I was planning to look for the treasurer anyway as soon as the matter with Albert was settled.

As he was in charge of the family’s finances, it would be difficult to win him over, but if I could just make him my ally, my influence in the family would rise further.

I immediately showed a bright smile and offered him a handshake.

“Ah, I apologize for not recognizing you. Fredrick Copper… I’m sorry. Which family did you say you were from?”

“It’s Copperfield. It’s only natural for you to not know me well, Young Master. It was already a fallen, lowly family, haha.”

Fredrick Copperfield answered with a laugh, but it didn’t work on me.

I had a specific reason for deliberately asking.

[Currently in contact with the character ‘Fredrick Rosemund.’ Deactivate this character?]

Unlike Fredrick’s self-introduction, the family name on the status window was completely different.

‘Rosemund.’

It was the maiden family name of the deceased Countess.

*  *  *

Viscount Rosemund was silent with a serious expression.

Only the sound of ice breaking in the glass shattered the silence.

After a moment, the Viscount’s mouth opened.

“So, how much of Albert’s words can we believe?”

As the Viscount spoke, the retainer beside him answered cautiously.

“Young Master Albert is the Viscount’s grandson. There seems to be no reason for him to lie.”

“Hmm…”

Viscount Rosemund closed his eyes with a deep sigh at the retainer’s answer.

It wasn’t strange for his grandson Albert to seek out the Viscount.

However, Albert’s words were the problem.

“Even hearing it, it’s all hard to believe.”

He already knew the fact that his beloved daughter had passed away.

But it was the first time he heard the news that Bastel had become a wreck confined to his room and that Albert had almost been kidnapped.

‘To think Bastel would end up like that…’

Since it was Viscount Rosemund who had instigated the attack on Bastel, that was passed over as an exception.

‘Then who is operating that merchant group?’

Even though Bastel had become a wreck, the merchant group Bastel operated was running well.

That wasn’t all.

“That bastard is behind all this?”

“Yes, according to Young Master Albert, the name of the illegitimate child is Ethan. He says he receives considerable trust within the family.”

He knew an illegitimate child had entered the Hartwell family, but he considered him nothing more than a consumable.

As long as Albert and Bastel were there, he could not even dream of the successor position.

But the story Albert conveyed was shocking.

‘The death of my mother and the group trying to kidnap me, that illegitimate child may be behind it all!’

Albert pinned the illegitimate child as the mastermind behind everything.

When asked why he thought that way, he couldn’t give a satisfactory answer.

Therefore, Viscount Rosemund only half-believed Albert’s story.

In fact, it was a hard story to believe, but he still believed it because it was his blood.

No, in fact, Viscount Rosemund did not place great importance on blood.

He only considered them as tools he could use.

Albert was exactly for that purpose.

Wasn’t he the puppet that would become the next head of the Hartwell family?

If his grandson became the head, the Hartwell family would soon fall into his hands. Hence, he had no intention of discarding Albert.

“What will you do, Viscount? It would be good to swallow up the Hartwell family with this opportunity. Don’t we have a tight grip on that family’s finances anyway?”

As the retainer said.

As the daughter he had married off to Count Hartwell died, his influence had almost disappeared.

Fortunately, he had infiltrated a branch member of the Rosemund family into the Hartwell family. Otherwise, it would have been a big deal.

“No, don’t move the treasurer. The risk factor is too big.”

There were too many risks in believing Albert’s words as they were and acting on them.

The treasurer still had a lot of work to do.

They couldn’t reveal their existence yet.

“Rather than that, let’s first dig up information on that illegitimate bastard.”

A sharp light flashed in the Viscount’s eyes.

The tools he could use disappeared in an instant.

If Ethan was behind it as Albert said, he intended to take care of him.