Many shops suddenly registered at Münhel’s Cazerose Trading Exchange.

All of them were sound and had no major issues, so naturally, they were sold at high prices and almost immediately made it to the shelves.

“How much do all those items together cost?”

“It looks like around 1,000 talents.”

1,000 talents was an astronomical sum that an ordinary person could hardly ever touch in their lifetime, but from the perspective of the Cazerose Trading Exchange, which typically dealt with piles of cash, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

The problem was that all those shops that came in over the past two days didn’t seem to have any reason to be here in the first place.

With that minor doubt lingering, the employees of the exchange proceeded with their tasks as per the usual routine.

And as they looked at the enormous gold coins they received in exchange for ‘borrowed’ building documents, Lipton’s face began to twist into a smile filled with greed.

‘This… this is really all mine, isn’t it? A dreamlike scenario… Could it be that a day would come in my life when I’d handle this much money?!’

Earning an amount that vastly surpassed what he had painstakingly saved bit by bit over the years in just two days had left him in such a state of excitement that he couldn’t think straight.

In a situation where an ordinary person couldn’t even dream of this amount in their lifetime,

Of course, to fully obtain it, he needed to move the rioters to break down the buildings, and only after that could he buy up the pieces of paper that would be left behind.

However, from Lipton’s perspective, this was merely a finishing process…

In fact, at the point where cash had come in, he thought the whole affair was practically over.

*

A small merchant of Münhel, Paulo, received a strange letter.

It was an announcement that in three days’ time…

He would be accused of heresy and assaulted.

With an unknown recipient and no markings, Paulo found it hard to believe the content.

‘No.. Just the other day, I rented my building at the bishop’s request. What nonsense is this…’

Of course, it goes without saying that, no matter how devout the believer, one needed a certain level of faith to engage in such dealings.

Even if he signed a contract and made a guarantee, accepting a request to rent out the building, which constituted the largest portion of his property, would be impossible without trust in the church.

For him… the anonymous letter warning him of an attack, claiming he would be accused of heresy, was just too hard to take seriously.

However, as a merchant who had to be sensitive to the rumors in the city, Paulo couldn’t dismiss it lightly.

Lately, the increasing occurrences of ‘heretic eradication’

Indeed, it seemed too excessive even to Paulo.

What particularly weighed on his mind was that people who appeared to be nowhere near heretical were also being condemned and killed or suffering trials.

Given that context, Paulo couldn’t help but remain preoccupied with the note from the unknown sender, ultimately deciding to sneak away with his family as the three days approached.

And this was a reaction shared among almost everyone who received such a note.

After all, it was only a matter of being out for a day or two.

Especially since it happened to be the birthday celebration day, it was generally prohibited to open stores, so there was no reason to worry about business losses.

When the critical day passed…

They all felt deeply that their choice had been very wise.

“Th… this can’t be…”

The shops that had been left unattended were thoroughly destroyed.

The properties of those accused of heresy were looted and ravaged by rioters, turning to ashes.

As a result, they fell into deep despair, yet could still find a small relief in the fact that they had managed to save their lives and those of their families in the midst of it all.

‘Losing my property is gut-wrenching… But it was really dangerous; if someone hadn’t warned me back there…’

Thus, a sense of gratitude and trust towards the unknown individual who had forewarned him began to swell within Paulo.

However, before his emotions could settle,

Another letter of the same nature arrived for him.

And the content contained within was precisely…

*

“Wh… what does that mean?”

“Umm… there’s none… not a single one…”

Lipton began to show bewilderment at the unexpected report.

Although he had successfully earned a massive amount of money following Cazerose’s advice…

At this moment, he had hit an unforeseen snag in the final stage.

The building documents that were meant to be returned as per the trading conditions.

They had all been sold without a trace—

Clearly, nobody would want what was now nothing but scraps of civilization.

“Wh… what nonsense is this… who in the world bought them?”

“Well… I did ask just in case, but…”

“Wha… what did you learn?”

“The original owners of the building bought them back. In anger over their properties being sold without their consent… they left a message saying they would formally report it to the Archbishop and the Lord…”

“Wha… what?”

Hearing this thunderstruck news, Lipton’s face began to turn pale.

‘Wha… how is this possible? There’s no way they could figure it out so quickly… Those people should be holed up in their rooms, trembling in dread of the heresy accusations until it blows over! But how do they know I sold it to the exchange?!’

Lipton’s face was filled with a profound sense of astonishment at this utterly unforeseen conclusion.

No matter how cheap it was, having the building documents he had to return taken away from him was a perilous situation, given that he had placed conditions that required compensation.

At this rate, he could end up losing all the money he had made according to the contract…

No—if that was his only worry, he would consider himself fortunate. If a formal accusation had already reached the Lord and the Archbishop, then it could spiral into something irreversible.

‘Did I… did I let my greed get the better of me? Damn it… But isn’t it hard to get such documents from anyone who isn’t a devout believer? Even so, I never dreamed it’d all go south like this at the last moment…’

In such a moment of embarrassment and unpredictability, the only thing Lipton could do was one thing.

At this very moment, meeting Cazerose, who was still at the tavern, Kasheight.

She was seasoned enough to surely know how to resolve this issue.

With those thoughts, Lipton hurriedly ran to the tavern.

For some reason, the usual lively atmosphere of the tavern was disturbingly quiet, but he was too flustered to concern himself with such things and urgently searched for people.

“Pol… Polena! Where is Polena?”

Polena, who had always acted as the intermediary between him and Cazerose, was like the tavern’s mascot.

However, no matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find Polena, only hearing the bartender’s voice laden with disappointment.

“If you mean Polena, she left here two days ago.”

“Wha? W… what do you mean?”

“I’m not sure of the details, but I heard she was heading back to her hometown.”

The owner spoke in a forlorn tone.

Hastily, Lipton asked him, “Then, wh… where are those guests? Cazerose… the inquisitor from out of town…”

“They left a while ago, too. I don’t know where they went.”

“Ugh…”

Of course, Lipton wasn’t in a position to speak up about them having never mentioned how long they intended to stay.

However, having someone who could help him in an emergency situation vanish was a significant blow.

Just as he was plunged into confusion over what to do next, an unexpected voice rang out.

“! Wh… what?!”

“So you were here… Inquisitor Lipton! By the order of the Lord, I’m here to arrest you!”

“Wh… what is the meaning of this? What crime have I committed?!”

“You’ll know the details once we get there, drag him away!”

“Let go! Let go of me, you bastards! I’m an inquisitor! Do you really think I can be forgiven after this?!”

The suddenly arriving soldiers forcefully bound Lipton and…

He was dragged away toward the Lord’s Castle in a futile struggle.