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

As Fredrick left the dilapidated building, the street scene entered his view.

The atmosphere was peaceful, just like any other day.

Looking around, only the laughter of children absorbed in playing with their peers filled the streets with no other movement.

‘Hmm, still just children around.’

Fredrick thought to himself as he withdrew his suspicious gaze.

In truth, he had no worries about being followed.

He had already established a tight surveillance network in the surrounding area.

They were all people raised in the shadows of House Rosemund.

If any suspicious movement were detected, it would be immediately reported through their communication network.

‘If there’s anyone who could tail me here now… it would only be those little kids.’

However, Fredrick shook his head.

Children tailing him? Such a thought lacked reality.

What reason would these innocent children playing with their friends have to follow him?

The absurd thought made him laugh hollowly instead.

‘Everything’s going smoothly so far.’

Though Fredrick worked for House Hartwell, he was a collateral branch member of House Rosemund.

Of course, this fact was proceeding secretly, as even the head of House Hartwell was unaware of it.

‘Just a bit more.’

When Baron Rosemund took over the Hartwell territory, Fredrick’s authority grew even more.

Since he had been managing House Hartwell’s finances until now, his influence wouldn’t disappear even after absorbing the Hartwell territory.

‘If I play my cards right, I might even become a lord.’

The territories of Baron Rosemund and Hartwell were far apart.

Naturally so, as they belonged to different countries to begin with.

In this situation, someone would be needed to manage the Hartwell territory, and he, as the finance manager, was perfect for the role.

In other words, his future was practically guaranteed.

Though one might expect him to be in high spirits with such a promising future ahead, Fredrick remained indifferent.

Rather, one thing from their earlier conversation bothered him.

‘To prepare for that operation…’

It was something discussed in the building earlier.

Once ‘that operation’ began, the Hartwell territory would be thrown into chaos.

‘To think they’d plan to drug the territory’s residents… What a horrific idea.’

The plan wasn’t to affect all residents but rather to cause problems by addicting some of them.

They would use this as a pretext to bring down the Count.

‘All preparations are already complete.’

Baron Rosemund was a meticulous person.

He had already been secretly moving drugs through Bastel’s merchant group for some time.

The foolish Bastel probably never thought about it, but what other reason would the Baron, who viewed bloodlines as tools, have for investing in his grandson’s merchant group?

This was precisely it.

As the Count’s son, no one in the Hartwell territory would dare touch Bastel’s merchant group.

That’s why they could easily move drugs.

Although Bastel’s usefulness had disappeared, and the Fire Tower had taken over all rights to operate his merchant group, it didn’t matter.

They had secured enough drugs anyway.

Moreover,

‘…Preparations for dealing with Ethan as well.’

Ethan was just an illegitimate child, but he was a thorn in their side.

Currently, the mansion practically revolves around Ethan.

Therefore, Baron Rosemund’s order could be said to be precise.

‘I’ll have to think about how to handle this.’

As he was thinking this, Fredrick bumped into a small child playing tag.

“I’m so sorry, mister!”

The child quickly bowed his head and apologized loudly.

Normally, he would have scolded them, but this time he held back.

This was a place where Baron Rosemund’s people had infiltrated.

There was nothing to gain from causing unnecessary trouble.

“It’s alright. Just be careful while playing.”

He forced a smile and patted the child’s head.

“Thank you, mister!”

The child smiled brightly and ran back to his friends.

As soon as Fredrick disappeared from view, the children’s innocent smiles vanished, replaced by sharp gazes.

A tiny device no larger than a fingernail was in the hand of the child who had bumped into Fredrick.

It was a tracking device.

Not just for tracking but one capable of recording all of Fredrick’s conversations.

The children had retrieved the device that Lena had secretly planted on Fredrick.

“Retrieval complete. Shall we head back?”

One child said with a smile.

The other children nodded in agreement.

Soon, innocent smiles returned to their faces.

As if what had just happened was nothing at all.

“Let’s go!”

When one child shouted, everyone rushed together across the street.

The children laughed as they ran here and there, appearing to anyone as if they were absorbed in play.

Somehow, before long, the children’s figures vanished from the street.

The place filled with laughter became absolute silence, as if no one had been there from the start.

* * *

Using the orphanage children was the best choice.

“I didn’t expect they’d discover this much.”

My order was very simple.

To monitor Fredrick’s actions.

It was a simple task that didn’t require professional surveillance like Emilia’s – they just needed to follow Fredrick.

That’s why I deliberately assigned the orphanage children, but they performed far better than I expected.

‘But how did they find out this much?’

The information received through Lena contained Baron Rosemund’s detailed plans.

First, it was confirmed that the Baron wanted the Hartwell territory.

Though I don’t know why he wanted it, he had even brought drugs into the Hartwell territory for that purpose.

It seems Fredrick didn’t particularly guard against the children.

Thanks to that, I learned the information I wanted, so it didn’t matter.

“I never expected Baron Rosemund to be planning such things.”

I couldn’t believe House Rosemund, which ran the Empire’s finest merchant group, would deal in drugs.

‘This is ridiculous.’

We could have been in serious trouble.

That’s not all.

As expected, Fredrick had created double ledgers. They also discovered that Rosemund’s people had already established positions within the Hartwell territory.

‘And to think they were planning to kill me too.’

Baron Rosemund’s blade was pointed at me as well.

In other words, it was a clear indication of his will to leave no loose ends.

‘I just want to live peacefully, but they won’t leave me alone.’

This matter couldn’t be overlooked.

Especially if Baron Rosemund was left alone, he would continue to harass me in the future.

‘That can’t be allowed.’

At least while I’m with House Hartwell, nothing should happen.

The atmosphere has been ominous enough recently.

And now Baron Rosemund is causing trouble on top of that?

The aftermath would surely reach both the Count and me.

‘It would be better to handle this matter quickly.’

For a moment, I thought about informing the Count of this fact to build up my achievements, but that wasn’t a good choice.

How long would it take to convince him about the Rosemund people hidden in the Hartwell territory and that Fredrick, who manages the family’s finances, was actually the Baron’s man?

They might even accuse me of being a spy, questioning how I knew such facts.

Even if they believed me, there was a risk of them cutting off the tail since they wouldn’t take immediate action.

Thinking about it that way, I realized it was right to resolve this matter at my level.

“How should I handle this?”

I had already given orders to Black Raven.

To audit the Merchant Guild Alliance.

An audit could attach even non-existent crimes – that’s the power of an audit.

This isn’t just empty talk – it was actually one of the strategies I frequently used in the game.

When I played as a merchant in ‘Isekai Conqueror,’ it was one of the ways to legally eliminate competing merchant groups.

“At this point, it would be best to completely erase the Baron.”

I planned to return exactly what Baron Rosemund had intended to do to me.

“Time is tight.”

As Emilia had mentioned.

Duke Hoffman’s daughter would be coming to meet me.

Though I don’t know the reason, it probably wasn’t anything good.

I planned to finish this before then.

“First, let’s catch these rats?”

I was about to give Emilia orders when something suddenly occurred to me.

Considering future matters, having just Emilia alone would be insufficient.

So I thought about adding another subordinate who would follow my orders.

‘I need someone who will follow my words well and is taciturn.’

After a moment’s thought, I recalled someone who perfectly matched these conditions.

‘I wonder if he’s still around?’

Given that ten years had passed, I couldn’t gauge how he might have changed.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s not constrained by time or environment anyway.’

Even considering this was reality and not a game, he would surely act only for me.

[Leader, please give your orders.]

“Send ‘Jack’ to Celestia right away. If you say it’s my order, she’ll understand well.”

Shadow Jack, Black Raven’s Assassin.

* * *

As the sun set and darkness descended, one man’s silhouette gradually revealed itself.

It was Alric, who had met Fredrick earlier that day.

Although he stood on Hartwell territory, his true loyalty lay with Baron Rosemund.

Raised from birth to serve the Baron’s family, he currently held the important role of managing communications with Fredrick in the Hartwell territory.

Alric slightly raised his hood.

His brown hair, which had sparkled in the moonlight, was soon buried in darkness.

The thickening darkness meant it was time to begin their real actions.

“From now on, we’ll move the hidden drugs here. Everyone stay alert as we can’t afford any disruption to the plan.”

With Alric’s instructions, the people behind him nodded.

Their primary objective was to gather the drugs hidden in various places to implement the Baron’s plan

Alric took out a magical communication device and instructed his subordinates to monitor the surroundings.

“Surveillance teams, send a signal immediately if any suspicious movement is detected. Understood?”

This magical device, specially commissioned by Baron Rosemund from the Magic Tower, enabled smooth communication even with distant surveillance teams.

As this was a crucial operation that couldn’t tolerate even the slightest mistake, Alric was taking every precaution.

“……”

But something felt wrong.

There was no response from any of the surveillance teams.

“Surveillance teams, can’t you hear me?”

Alric asked again with irritation, but only silence returned.

“……”

This had never happened before.

Moreover, the fact that not just one but all surveillance teams weren’t responding could only mean one thing.

‘…When were we discovered?’

A chill ran down his spine.

Their presence here was top-secret information known only to a select few.

‘Did Fredrick betray us?’

No, that couldn’t be.

Fredrick wasn’t that kind of person.

If this operation succeeded, it would benefit Fredrick too – there was no reason for him to betray them.

Moreover, he wasn’t capable of it.

The priority now was to withdraw.

Though understanding the situation was important, hiding and planning for the future was better than rashly confronting an unknown enemy.

“E-Everyone-”

Just as Alric was about to give orders, someone suddenly approached from behind and held a sword to his neck.

“Hah……”

Alric inhaled sharply at the sudden situation.

There had been no presence at all.

Even now, he couldn’t sense any presence behind him, which terrified him.

‘What an incredible master!’

Could Count Hartwell have noticed?

Though he didn’t know who the opponent was, this wasn’t entirely a bad situation for Alric.

In fact, he smiled slightly.

Wouldn’t he have considered situations like this while carrying out such missions?

Alric quickly drew the hidden dagger from his chest and swung it.

The dagger pierced through the opponent’s robe so quickly that they couldn’t even react.

Though the dagger’s tip felt like cutting through empty air, it didn’t matter.

The dagger’s tip was coated with poison, so if the opponent was even slightly scratched, they would soon meet their fate.

‘Got them!’

Alric let out a cry of joy.

But that cry soon froze.

The enemy who should have fallen showed no reaction at all.

The sword at his neck remained exactly where it was.

Alric slowly turned his head.

“H-How……”

And then he could see it.

The fact that the one holding the sword to him wasn’t human.

There stood a pitch-black skeleton with nothing but bones, staring at Alric.