Cazerose looks flustered by my suggestion to leave together.

To this, I started bringing up practical matters to persuade her even a little.

“You know, the Archbishop won’t just let you go after helping me. No matter how you think about it, I can’t just leave knowing you might face such trouble.”

“Santana…,”

Cazerose shows hesitation at my words.

I couldn’t tell if her reaction was positive or negative, but I decided I needed to push a little harder to convince her.

“Moreover, it pains me to see you constantly discriminated against just because you’re from another country. Instead of staying in a place that treats someone as lovely as you poorly, why not come with me? At the very least… at the very least, I can take care of one person like you with my not-so-great self.”

“!….”

Cazerose stays silent for a moment, slightly bowing her head.

Watching her, I realized this decision is undoubtedly a significant concern for her.

In this moment, my proposal could be seen as asking her to give up everything she has, including her position as a Paladin, and start her life over somewhere else.

It was clear that it wouldn’t be easy to accept such a change, having to abandon everything she has.

But honestly, the most realistic thing I could come up with to help her at this moment was just this.

‘Who knew lacking talent in this area would hurt this much…’

If I were more appealing in a masculine sense or skilled at dealing with women, I could have persuaded her in a more flexible way.

However, having avoided romance in both my previous and current life, all I could offer was this clumsy, reality-based suggestion.
So, feeling a bittersweet sensation on my part, I cautiously awaited her response.

At that moment…

“Are you… serious about that?”

‘Huh?’

Cazerose asked me with a trembling voice.

Her reaction seemed to carry no sense of rejection, so I mustered all my confidence and replied clearly.

“Yes, though I may be lacking in many ways, I can definitely protect at least one person.”

“Ah…”

Originally, I had intended to save not just one person, but the paladins charging towards hell and the church. Now that those hopes were dashed, I wanted to protect at least this person before me at all costs.

With that, I spoke sincerely to her, who was unknowingly at the crossroads of life and death…

And she started to blush and, for some reason, looked like she might shed a few tears.

Cazerose sparkled her beautiful blue eyes, gazing straight at my face.

Then, with a trembling voice, she said to me,

“Yes… Yes, that sounds good… As long as I’m with you, Mr. Santana, anything is possible!”

Her response seemed to carry a deep joy.

Hearing this, I began to think that perhaps she had also endured a tough life here and wanted to escape this place at any chance she got.

‘Well, being a paladin on this filthy ground is indeed quite hard, especially when you’re discriminated against and now marked by the higher-ups…’

Just like that, Cazerose agreed to my intentions much more easily than I had thought.

Feeling a deep sense of relief and gratitude for her actions, I cautiously reached out my hand to her.

“Thank you so much. I look forward to working together from now on, Cazerose.”

“I, too… may be lacking, but I look forward to working with you, Mr. Santana.”

As she took my outstretched hand, a bright smile began to blossom on Cazerose’s face.
A bright smile began to bloom.

Such an incredibly beautiful smile.

Due to the clumsiness of Nune and Tine, Santana found himself with a chance to sort out his property.

However, Archbishop Maxim wasn’t overly worried about this.

‘By now, that Santana is probably scrambling to manage his property, but that’s wishful thinking. No matter how much he struggles, ultimately, his vast wealth is bound to become ours.’

Though he would have to reluctantly give up cash, over 90% of the considerable wealth he had amassed was made up of land and buildings.

For reasons unknown, Santana had always shown an unusual obsession with land and buildings.

And she knew full well that there was no way for the current Santana to quickly dispose of such assets.

After six days, all the assets he owned in this city would automatically belong to the Church, and even if he tried to run off with the land and house documents, those would undoubtedly lose their legal effect and turn into mere pieces of trash.

Moreover, to buy the significant amount of land and buildings would require a colossal sum of money, and hardly anyone in this city had that kind of cash.

So, one might think he could simply sell them off quickly at a low price, but that too was impossible.

Not for any other reason, but because of tax laws.

Typically, transactions between people, especially when it comes to high-value assets like land or buildings, must be reported to the authorities, and taxes must be paid.

The tax rate increases based on the transaction amount; for instance, if someone buys or sells a building worth 10 talands (gold coins), they owe 5%, which is 5000 silver coins in taxes, while a building worth 100 talands incurs a tax of 30 talands, or 30%.

In other words, the lower the transaction price, the lower the tax, while the higher the price, the exponentially higher the tax becomes.

The principle is: the more you earn, the more they take.

Because of this, in the past, people often engaged in tricks to avoid taxes, intentionally buying and selling houses or land at very low prices and later paying the remaining amounts through other means.
There was a time when sneaky tricks like buying and selling land to pay later using other methods were all the rage.

And to prevent this, the lords and rulers overseeing the laws of each region have established a decree that no land or buildings can be sold for prices below a certain threshold.

In other words, even if Santana tried to con the church by selling assets for peanuts, it would legally be impossible.

That said, if someone were to try to manipulate the transaction or tamper with accounts, they would obviously not be able to claim legitimate ownership upon getting caught, so no one would be foolish enough to go along with that.

Moreover, in a situation like now where Archbishop Maxim and the church are wide awake, even attempting to strike a deal with Santana, who was bound for an expulsion, would be a heavy burden.

Thus, having grasped the series of facts ahead of time, the Archbishop began to smile victoriously, recalling the arrogant man who had rejected her proposal.

“But still, I was willing to appreciate that guy’s talent and use him for a long time… I even showed mercy by easing the terms to just 40% of the profits, yet he dared to refuse?”

Despite being a Paladin, Santana had shown a natural talent for making money, leading Archbishop Maxim to devise a plan to profit greatly by utilizing him.

However, her attempts turned out to bruise her pride due to Santana’s outright rejection of her “merciful proposal,” and at this juncture, she decided to cut open the belly of the golden goose named Santana.

She knew all too well that there’s nothing as frightening as a competent talent that refuses to bow to higher-ups.

When it comes to getting rid of talent that you can’t afford to lose, it’s best to cut it off decisively.

In addition, this purging process would satisfy her long-held desire for his property.

“No matter how much of a fine steed it is, a horse that won’t let its master ride it must be slaughtered without fail. That foolish creature, unaware of the world’s dangers, should dissolve into a tender slice of meat that melts away in my mouth.”