Hestia declares her failure on the task she was entrusted with.

Valenshtein starts to show a quite unexpected expression at her attitude.

“Is that true? I never thought you would fail even with your abilities.”

“I apologize. I was able to track them for a while, but they used various methods to scatter themselves and make tracking impossible. It seems my opponent is not to be underestimated.”

“Hmm…”

Frowning at Hestia’s words, Valenshtein slowly nodded his head.

He knew Hestia possessed some of the strongest magical skills.

With her involvement, Valenshtein wanted to clearly understand one fact.

It was about the large-scale food transactions that had occurred across the Empire over the past few months.

Suddenly appearing as if it was springing from the ground, these individuals were selling vast amounts of food at prices three times higher than usual.

Although they didn’t send anyone our way, most of the lords surrounding him were barely managing to survive the crisis by trading with those unknown entities.

Some were even going into debt just to import food.

Normally, one would have nothing to say about price gouging, but in the reality of this horrifying famine, those unidentified individuals were being referred to as saviors performing the will of God by the lords and the common folk alike.

While the prices were steep, it wasn’t so exorbitant that the lords couldn’t afford it. Most importantly, considering that it prevented people from starving to death, it could indeed be seen as a form of relief.

However, this perspective was simply the viewpoint of those who couldn’t see the whole situation, and from Valenshtein’s standpoint – someone who could observe it from a distance – things looked different.

“People are calling it a divine hand or salvation, but the reality is far from such naïve thoughts; it’s practically exploitation, a calculated scheme to drain the dust out of the lords of the Sacred Empire.”

On the surface, it seemed like those unidentified forces were handing over valuable food within a range that the lords could afford.

Yet Valenshtein realized that this “affordable range” wasn’t crafted out of goodwill, but was a figure determined by precise calculations and cold analysis.

If they had asked for slightly higher prices, the lords would likely have either not been able to pay or, if they did purchase, would be left with great resentment.

Even a situation forced upon the underdog has its limits when it comes to human patience.

Excessive mistreatment could only result in backlash, and if resentment built up, one could hardly predict what actions the other party might take.

They might use this resentment to incite the people and forcibly seize food or take other steps to uncover their identities.

However, the price they proposed, being three times higher, was just within the threshold that wouldn’t stir up that psychological backlash among the current lords.

In fact, during past famines, there had been cases where grain prices spiked over four times higher, and the current situation was at least as dire, if not worse.

Thus, offering three times the price could easily be packaged as benevolence.

Moreover, critically, if this situation were to prolong…

And if they showed up again offering to sell food to the lords, it was highly likely that the lords would purchase spontaneously and naturally, as if it were expected.

Considering this, Valenshtein naturally arrived at one conclusion.

“This is a situation where one can achieve proper profit while securing their customer base… Such a scenario couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. Someone is definitely planning and executing this systematically behind the scenes.”

Of course, despite that, predicting a natural disaster like famine is impossible for humans, yet Valenshtein judged that it was clear that someone had anticipated this situation and acted once the opportunity arose.

“That’s why I asked Hestia to track those unidentified individuals… I never expected her to fail this time.”

Hestia, utilizing her immense magical power to attempt tracking the opponent, ended up failing.

In light of this, Valenshtein had no choice but to recognize that there was someone in that unidentified organization who was even more formidable than he had anticipated.

“Someone capable of predicting and disrupting tracking magic… I don’t know who they are, but they are anything but ordinary. Perhaps this matter harbors secrets beyond my imagination…”

While considering this, Valenshtein focused his mind back on the situation at hand.

Meanwhile…

In stark contrast to Valenshtein, who was deeply contemplating this incident, the one reporting her failure to her ‘contractor’ was…

Hestia Playmer, who was inwardly feeling a deep joy about “that fact” she had discovered during her investigation.

“They’re here… for sure.”

The tracking of the unidentified beings had been done smoothly up until a point.

However, along the way, Hestia recognized that her magic was forcefully blocked by some means.

It was as if they had anticipated her tracking from the very beginning.

But through this failure, Hestia was able to clearly recognize one undeniable fact.

“How many beings in this world could disrupt my magic like that? Especially at this point in the Sacred Empire…”

Had she still been the half-hearted powerhouse she was in the past, there would have been too many to keep track of, but Hestia was different now.

Having gained far greater power compared to the past, only one person came to her mind who could potentially stop her at this moment.

“That guy is involved in this. It’s probably 80% because of me…”

Given her past actions, it was only natural that this situation had been anticipated.

And through this,

Hestia effortlessly deduced who was involved in this matter.

“If it’s the power that guy possesses… and the backing he has, then everything happening now would certainly be possible. I never imagined he would come out so actively from there…”

In this way, Hestia had gleaned a lot from what should have been a simple failed tracking.

However…

Regarding this incident, Hestia had no intention of sharing detailed information with her contractor Valenshtein.

After all, she and Valenshtein were only linked by contract.

She wasn’t really his subordinate, and thus had no reason to harbor loyalty to him.

Moreover, this incident directly related to her own safety, and if it were to be made public, it could only work against her.

“I don’t need to give this bastard any advantage by giving up my own… After all, he is nothing but a stepping stone for me. To achieve my true purpose…”

Thinking this way, Hestia lightly bowed her head and left her contractor’s side.

Immediately after that, a calm yet chilling smile appeared on her lips, one that no one else could see.

“Regardless, we will meet again soon. Let’s catch up, Senel.”