TMLHGCFTV 31

Chapter 31

The old man’s eyes widened when he saw the gold coin.

“Miss.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I need someone I can entrust with this kind of transaction. Someone who can handle it without revealing my name.”

The old man’s expression changed.

Now this finally felt like a real information guild.

“That would be a different matter.”

“I’ll pay more.”

The old man looked down at the gold coin, then slowly curled the corner of his mouth upward.

“There will be a market on the cliff above Salt Valley tonight. The mercenaries who came down from Greystone will gather there as well.”

“The black market?”

“Some people call it that.”

Oh…

Since even stopping at this village was something that had never happened in the original story, of course I had no idea this place existed.

Should I bring Vanessa with me?

“If I go there, can I find someone to hire?”

“If you pay properly, you’ll find plenty of people willing to work.”

With that, the old man pulled the lantern closer and began copying the information from the ledgers.

“What are you doing?”

“Investing. When the world falls apart, land is one of the first things to lose its value. And it’s also one of the first things to rise in value…”

“Ah!”

I answered automatically, then suddenly jumped in surprise.

Someone had leaned right into my face.

It was none other than Kael.

His silver hair tickled my cheek. Kael straightened up, rubbing his ear.

“I didn’t expect to see the young lady here.”

I swallowed hard, still clutching my chest.

“I-I didn’t expect to see you either…”

I accepted the papers the old man handed me and discreetly hid them from view.

He couldn’t have seen them, could he?

He wasn’t planning to take them away from me, was he?!

Before going to Greystone, I had planned to stop by the black market and hire someone who could handle things on my behalf. I intended to pick a suitable mercenary from among the people gathered there and have them purchase the land for me.

“Are you planning to buy land?”

He saw it.

“That…”

“Those northern mines as well?”

“Yes.”

“For what reason? I can’t understand why you would want to buy land in a world like this.”

Kael’s gaze lazily settled on me, amusement lingering around his eyes.

“Then why are you here, Your Highness?”

“To gather local information before we enter Greystone.”

Ah.

That was such a commander-like reason.

Kael nodded toward the papers in my arms.

“So, why are you trying to buy mines in the north when the entire region is falling apart?”

“…”

Because they’ll produce mithril.

There was no way I could actually say that.

“Well…”

Kael watched me with obvious amusement before asking,

“Who were you planning to entrust the work to? Looking at those papers, it seems all the properties are in this area.”

“That…”

“Do you need someone?”

My eyes widened.

“Really?”

“If you give me a reasonable explanation, I may be able to help.”

There was a great deal of curiosity in Kael’s eyes.

As expected, nothing came for free.

I swallowed hard.

To be honest, Rosana was practically a nobody in this world. As far as everyone knew, she was nothing more than an obnoxious nuisance who lashed out at others while using her trauma as an excuse.

But Kael was different.

He was the Crown Prince, after all, and the one leading the expedition. Having the Crown Prince’s people handle the matter would be a hundred times safer than handing gold to some unknown mercenary and entrusting them with my land documents.

“I-I need your help.”

I answered immediately, and Kael let out a quiet laugh.

“We should move somewhere else. This doesn’t seem like a conversation we should have here.”

“Okay.”

“There was a cafeteria outside.”

“I-I’d really like to buy you a cup of coffee!”

I shot my hand into the air.

Kael burst out laughing at my reaction, his silver hair shimmering as it swayed.

At that moment, he really did look like an angel sent to save me.

I sat across from Kael with two cups of coffee between us.

I could see Vanessa pacing outside, but for now, I decided to ignore her.

“I’d like to know why you were gathering information on those mines.”

I swallowed nervously.

There were two properties I had my eye on: a ruby mine and an iron ore mine.

The northern mines had been abandoned and were being sold for next to nothing because monsters had made mining impossible.

The important part was that those monsters were Amber Bats.

The minerals exposed to their bodily fluids would eventually transform.

Iron ore would become mithril, while rubies would become red diamonds.

Both would eventually sell for astronomical prices.

Should I tell him about this valuable information?

No.

Would he even believe me if I did?

There was no proof yet.

And if he asked how I knew, what would I say?

All right.

Time to play the sympathy card.

“Sniff.”

I covered my mouth and lowered my head.

There was nothing about the situation that actually made me want to cry, so forcing myself to shed a tear was surprisingly difficult.

I sniffled, desperately trying to squeeze out some tears.

Think of something sad.

Something sad…

Think about the time my father gambled away our deposit and left us with nowhere to live.

Think about that time when I couldn’t even afford a single hot dog.

Finally, one tear rolled down my cheek.

“…Lady Rosana?”

“I don’t want to go back home.”

My voice trembled.

This part, at least, was genuine anger.

“I don’t want to be locked away in the attic anymore, Your Highness. That’s why I thought I needed assets of my own.”

“…The attic? What are you talking about?”

Kael’s expression twisted.

Until now, Rosana had been treated little better than a slave by the Duke, but she had never once told anyone about it.

I took a breath and slowly began explaining the abuse Rosana had suffered at the Duke’s hands.

“That was why I hated chickens. I’ve overcome that now, though.”

I couldn’t eat them because there simply weren’t any around.

So I made sure to emphasize the second part.

“I also hated dark places. I couldn’t stand insects or rats either. But I’ve overcome those things as well.”

After all, it would be ridiculous to claim those things were still traumatizing me when I had been sleeping perfectly well on the ground during this expedition.

That was why I kept emphasizing that I had overcome them.

“I really am sorry about how I behaved before. I suppose my circumstances simply made me that way…”

I glanced at Kael, watching his reaction.

Rosana hadn’t done anything wrong.

Exactly.

I shifted all the blame onto the Duke.

Kael’s expression had turned cold.

It seemed to be working.

“…So that’s why you need land?”

“I want to be independent when I return home, Your Highness. Once the monsters are gone, the mines will return to their former value.”

Kael clicked his tongue softly, his expression turning even colder.

He didn’t seem particularly pleased.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I mean, back when we were technically engaged.”

I blinked.

Thinking back to that time…

“Well…”

Obviously.

“Because you hated me, Your Highness. I couldn’t exactly ask for help from someone who hated me, could I?”

I was being completely sincere.

Even if I had become Rosana much earlier, I still wouldn’t have asked Kael for help.

And the memories of Rosana that had seeped into me felt the same way.

No one is going to help me. My fiancé? He hates me too. Everyone hates me.

That was why she had become so sensitive and sharp-edged.

Kael’s lips pressed into a hard line.

Something flickered in his eyes.

Was he feeling guilty?

He really was such an upright person.

“I’m truly fine on my own. But if you want to help me, I certainly won’t refuse.”

Kael let out a quiet sigh.

“…Do you want revenge against the Duke?”

“Hmm. No.”

Honestly, it wasn’t even something that had happened to me personally.

“I don’t want to waste my life on something like that, Your Highness. There are so many things I want to do, and so many things I’m capable of doing.”

I’m going to become the richest person in this world.

What I was doing right now was basically the equivalent of finding HanXynX stock at rock-bottom prices and buying it before anyone else realized what it was worth.