Only My Magic Levels Up - Chapter 79



Only Noblemtl

The two people, who had finished all their training in the morning, had lunch and left the mansion.

After stopping by the real estate agent and informing him that I would not be renewing my house contract.

The next place we headed to was a clothing store in the shopping district.

“Welcome!”

“I came to look at some clothes. The best ones.”

“I will serve you with all my heart! Now, come this way!”

“Not men’s clothes. Women’s clothes.”

“yes?”

Of course, that didn’t mean Galen needed women’s clothes, it was to buy clothes for Lilia.

Clergy do not only wear robes. Undergarments are a given, and there are also simple clothes worn separately under the robes, and there are also times when they wear everyday clothes for a short while.

But since there weren’t many cases where they really put in effort to decorate it, the owner was a little embarrassed.

“How about these clothes?”

“Wouldn’t those clothes look a little better just now?”

“Is that so?”

“But it’s best if the person wearing it is comfortable. Do whatever you want.”

This was because the clothes the priest was trying on here and there were neither the types worn on a daily basis nor the types worn at balls and such.

The merchant only cares about receiving money, so the doubts don’t grow any further.

“thank you!”

Leaving her master behind, who was bowing at a right angle to greet her, Lilia’s attire was almost identical to that of Galen next to her.

Clothing of a wealthy traveler.

Here, wealth meant that the clothing itself exuded luxury.

Even if they are clothes that are equally comfortable and active, the feeling that comes from the difference in material or finish is completely different. From the perspective of the wearer and the viewer.

Now, if you put on some armor and such, it becomes the fashion of a warrior who looks at least a hundred years old, and if you put on some robes and such, it becomes the fashion of a skilled magician.

It was the latter that Lilia chose.

Not to imitate a wizard.

“How is it?”

Lilia asked, her hood pulled down low on her robe.

“It looks suspicious.”

“yes?!”

“I’m joking. It’s not weird.”

Traveller’s robes basically had hoods, and people were seen wearing them with the hoods turned inside out.

Because it’s raining, to block out the sunlight, because I don’t want to worry about what other people think, because I have something to hide, etc.

Since I wore it for various reasons, I didn’t attract any attention just because I wore the hood down.

“Is your vision okay?”

“It’s a little uncomfortable, but I guess I have to put up with it. It’s okay because my eyes aren’t completely closed.”

The reason Lilia did this was to hide her identity as much as possible.

For those who spread disease, the most feared object is naturally the church.

Even if you put aside the extremely hardline attitude of starting a match and mercilessly cutting down people just by hearing the devil’s evil words, the holy power itself is a counter to the devil’s power.

That is, Damus’s advice was to investigate while hiding one’s identity as much as possible, since it was clear that if the church started to stir things up directly, they would go into hiding.

Don’t use blessings, and instead of light, use the swords you received as a gift from Akanksha.

He removes his robes to conceal his clergy status, and wears a hood that covers his eyes as much as possible.

High-ranking clergy with sophisticated control over their powers could deliberately suppress the glowing stigmata in their eyes, but even Archbishop Damus could not completely hide them.

However, it was possible to conceal it to a level where it was difficult to notice unless you looked closely at it from the front, so wearing a hood was a way to camouflage it.

“But the clothes look a bit awkward.”

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“My body feels comfortable, but my mind feels uncomfortable… I feel like I’m doing something bad?”

“It’s not like Your Majesty suggested it first, so what’s the big deal? Just because you don’t wear the robe doesn’t mean Lilia is no longer a priest.”

“We’ll have to pretend it didn’t happen for the time being. It would be nice if we could catch the culprit quickly.”

“I guess I’ll have to try hard.”

The next place the two people riding the carriage headed was the Messia branch at the top of Kalia.

A super-large conglomerate that boasts the world’s largest scale, with branches in every major city and at least one branch in every medium-sized city.

Because it had such high credibility and accessibility, whenever large sums of money, such as hundreds of coins or more, were exchanged and it was difficult to carry them around in actual gold coins, the bills issued by the Kalia merchants were invariably used.

All the promissory notes that Galen had received as commissions were from the Kalia merchants.

As befitting the city of Mezzaia, the largest city in the Northeastern Archdiocese, the branch building was also magnificent.

“Welcome, Lord Galen. Welcome, Your Excellency Bishop Lilia!”

“I would like to see the branch manager. Is that possible?”

“We received advance notice from the church. Please come inside right away!”

Even if Damus had told him to treat him well, of course he would have followed the Archbishop’s words, but there was no need to treat him this politely.

There was another reason why he recognized them from the entrance and bowed deeply.

“Oh my, welcome.”

Branch Manager Shane greeted the two kindly. Galen and Lilia also bowed in greeting.

“hello!”

“How have you been?”

“Fortunately or unfortunately, it’s always the same. How have you two been?”

“I had a good time eating and having fun.”

“Please wait a moment. I will bring out the tea.”

“You don’t have to do it yourself.”

“It’s normal to do this to black customers. If you don’t do it, I’ll be the one who gets in trouble.”

About a month ago.

The share of the ruins promised to House Steelwall was delivered through the Kalia Merchant.

Of course, since the work at the ruins was secret, only Shane knew exactly how much the sender had sent and that the recipients were Galen and Lilia.

The amount that arrived was about twenty-four thousand gold coins.

The estimated value of the entire treasure of the ruins was about 70,000 won, so a third of that was roughly correct.

The black card was what Galen, who received the money, was offered by Shane.

Black patch.

In Earth terms, it’s a bit similar to the concept of a black card.

It was an item issued when ten thousand gold coins were deposited at the top of Kalia. It was a kind of bank where money was stored and a small amount of interest was also paid every year.

Interest could be received separately in money, or deducted from the amount spent on various services provided by the top of Kalia.

If I had known there was such a system, Galen would have entrusted the money sooner.

Even in a wealthy family, it was rare to have more than ten thousand gold coins in cash, so this was information known only to those in the know.

Even excluding the share of the ruins, the money Galen had accumulated up to that point was more than ten thousand coins, so even with the four black cards, there were still thousands of coins left.

Galen issued three in his name and one in Lilia’s name.

Lilia tried to resist, saying that she didn’t have to, but Galen said that he was more than willing to give her the money, so he gave it to her semi-forcibly.

Anyway, as a result, both of them became black guests, especially Galen, who had three black cards.

That alone is enough to make Shane look sharp.

This was especially true when connected to Damascus.

“Here it is.”

Soon, steaming tea arrived. As expected for a VIP, the aroma was exquisite.

Galen, who had been sipping his tea halfway through and waiting for the atmosphere to become more comfortable, opened his mouth.

“His Highness the Archbishop told me to get information from here.”

“Yes. After all, it’s information we obtained from our side. It would be more accurate if you heard it directly from us.”

In the present age, where large nations have long since collapsed and the world is turning into a city-state.

How can a super-giant company of global scale exist and operate normally?

Likewise, it was thanks to the protection of a church that had a worldwide network.

It’s not like they’re taking the lead and doing anything, but they’re just watching to make sure that legitimate business practices are carried out.

To put it a little more simply, it prevented the secular families from sticking their swords at the top and demanding money.

If you just do that, a competent merchant will naturally grow well.

Instead, the upper ranks of Kalia helped the church in many ways, such as donating generously to the church and asking for information.

This time, too, the incident involved the cavalry, so instead of the church coming forward openly, they secretly gathered information through the upper echelons.

Of course, the word ‘Mabi’ was not directly told to the subordinates except for Shane, who was the general manager, but since the task was to follow the leader’s movements anyway, it didn’t matter if they didn’t know.

“It must not have been easy to find.”

“Actually, that’s why it took several months. It was fortunate that there were not no clues at all.”

“Well, even if I had gotten it by chance, I would have known ‘where’ I got it by chance.”

“Yes. If you compare his actions before he acquired the horsemanship, you can see some things that are somewhat useful.”

Shane, after a brief pause, took a map from the desk. It depicted the entire Northeastern Archdiocese.

“It would be no fun to listen to the nitty gritty stories from the investigation, so I’ll just tell you the conclusion. Do you know about the black market?”

“Black market?”

Lilia tilted her head.

“Isn’t this a place that sells suspicious items?”

“That’s only half true. To be exact, it’s a type of event where the trading of stolen goods takes place. It also refers to the place where the event takes place and the organization that hosts the event.”

“If it’s stolen goods, then it’s stolen?”

“Yes. Since the items were acquired in an illicit manner, the items being sold are naturally suspicious.”

“The boss got the horsemen from the black market?”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant.”

Shane waved his hand when Galen questioned.

“The reason the black market can continue to exist is because no matter how much you wipe it out, it keeps popping up somewhere. As long as there are no thieves in this world, the exchange of stolen goods will never disappear.”

“So you’re saying that we’re just going to leave it alone because it can’t be permanently eradicated?”

“Yes. But if they hear that there are demons roaming the black market, wouldn’t the church sweep them away even if they know that they will reappear? Even thieves know that their lives are precious, so they will be terrified and stop anyone who tries to sell them.”

“Then why mention it?”

“To summarize, while investigating the circumstances under which the boss acquired the horsemen, a fairly strong culprit was identified. He is a black market executive.”

“aha.”

“If you know, why don’t you just catch it?”

Lilia asked. Shane answered with a bitter smile.

“Even if we know that the criminal is a black market executive, we don’t know his personal details. So we can’t find out his exact whereabouts.”

“Well, I don’t think we’ll show our faces around. But do you think we’ll be able to find you?”

“I have thought of one way to do it······.”

Shane hesitated and looked around. Galen urged him on.

“Please speak at your own convenience. You must have already told the Archbishop about this. He would not have just told us to go and figure it out on our own without any plan.”

“That is… the black market is a market in name only, but in reality it is closer to a high-class auction house. Small items are disposed of elsewhere, and expensive items that are not easily sold are auctioned off to a small number of participants.”

“Hmm, it’s an auction.”

“Since it’s a moment where a large sum of money, hundreds or thousands of gold coins, is involved, a black market executive will personally handle it. Even if he’s not the criminal, he’s probably someone who knows the criminal’s whereabouts. If you wait for that moment······.”

“There’s a chance we’ll find something. I don’t know if it’ll work out well, though.”

“Yes. When the black market is not open, there is no way to even know where they are.”

“Okay. Whether it works or not, we should start looking for clues from there. Where is the location?”

“The location changes every time, but this time it’s here.”

Shane pointed to a spot on the map.

A location in the western region within the Northeastern Archdiocese.

“Maduros. It is one of the top ten largest cities in the Northeast.”

“······.”

Galen and Lilia, who were silently looking at the map, moved their eyes upwards slightly.

A little further up from Shane’s finger, not far away, he saw the word ‘Oklaane’.

It was a very familiar name. A clay doll appeared right before my eyes.

“···Is this city called Maduros ruled by a certain family?”

“This is the Steelwall family’s sphere of influence.”

“······.”

So, does that mean I should cause trouble in a city ruled by a family that handed over a huge sum of twenty-four thousand gold coins with trembling hands and tears of blood?

“···Well, I guess it’ll work out somehow.”

“···I hope so.”

Galen and Lilia sighed together.