In the central market of the city, there was quite a sizeable building.

Considering it was located in a commercial area, a group of people had gathered there at that hour.

Six individuals were seated, with no distinction between men and women or age.

There was one elderly man, two middle-aged men, two young men, and one young woman.

However, despite the differences in age and gender, they all shared a few commonalities at that moment.
One was that all six were dressed quite lavishly, reflecting their considerable wealth.

The other was that, despite varying degrees of seriousness, all six were maintaining a grave expression on their faces.

It seemed as if just being there elicited complex emotions from them.

Some were drinking water as if their throats were dry, while one was sweating profusely, unable to hide his nervousness.

As a heavy silence lingered among them for a while…

One person, unable to bear the tension any longer, finally spoke up.

“Um… Is it really okay for us to be here like this?”

The first to speak was the youngest of the group.

In response, another young man next to him, as if he had been waiting for the cue, spoke up with a worried tone.

“Honestly, I don’t know either. Even though we’ve benefited a lot from Mr. Santana, isn’t dealing with an exiled person a bit…”

“Be quiet! What kind of guts do these young ones have!”

“As you know, Santana holds a lot of transaction records and ledgers with us. No matter how imposing the Archbishop’s blade may be, don’t you realize that if that Santana fella comes charging at us, we wouldn’t come out unscathed?”

Showing discomfort at the young men’s words, the middle-aged man spoke vehemently.

However, the elderly man who had been silent throughout finally opened his mouth with an unbothered tone.
He opened his mouth with a voice that felt palpable.

“Are you telling me that’s what you were all thinking? Ha ha, this is quite… But still, if the branch managers are so scared of something like that to come out here, then I must say I’m a bit disappointed in this old man.”

“Ah… But the branch manager. Isn’t that the reality?”

“Between us, there are actually items involved in transactions that could potentially be legally problematic. Regardless, that Santana person will be leaving here soon, so it doesn’t matter. But if he happens to reveal this on his way out…”

“Hah…”

A middle-aged man expressed his anxiety, and in response, the old man known as the branch manager let out a small sigh.

Then, he slowly turned his gaze to the young woman sitting opposite him.

A beauty with long, lustrous blue hair, deep blue eyes, and a wonderfully captivating face along with an impressive physique.

Looking at her, the branch manager lowered his head respectfully and said with a courteous tone, “I’m sorry, Miss Amalia. It seems my education has been lacking in many ways.”

“No, it’s only natural for people to feel such urgency in a situation like this. Especially when there’s something like accounting evidence involved. However…”

With these words, she began to exude a hint of intrigue amid the seriousness. She looked at the old man in front of her and asked, “It seems you’re not particularly afraid of meeting that disgraced paladin, Branch Manager. Is there something you believe in?”

“Haha, there’s no way! An old man like myself can’t have such beliefs. It’s simply that I’ve dulled my senses with age.”

Considering that he was the strongest branch manager among those present in this room, his words should be taken half as a joke.

He was someone with enough power that even the archbishop, overseeing not just this city but the entire area, wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.

However…

At least the other men present here faintly realized that his demeanor was not merely due to the power he possessed.
The other men present here could vaguely sense that it wasn’t just the power she possessed.

Then, the Branch Manager continued speaking in a calm voice while looking at her, Amalia.

“But you see, there’s really no need to feel fear, even if it’s not like that, right? Surely you already know this, my lady.”

“Hehe… Yes, as you say, Branch Manager.”

As the two shared a conversation only they could understand, they quietly reveled in their intellectual superiority, smiling smugly.

While the other branch managers seemed oblivious to this, these two were well aware.

They knew exactly why they were gathered here at this moment…

To be precise,

They had a rough idea of why Santana, a disgraced former Paladin and one of their most important clients, had summoned them.

‘In about four days, he will have his banishment dealt with and will need to prepare to leave this place. He must be too occupied just packing his things during that time.’

‘Yet, he went through the trouble of sending someone to gather us all here. This clearly means he wants to propose some sort of deal with us.’

At a glance, it could be something as simple as asking them to buy his land and home, but both knew it wouldn’t play out so straightforwardly.

No matter how wealthy they were in this city, it would be impossible to gather enough funds in the short term to purchase everything Santana owned.

If he had only wanted to sell some of it, he wouldn’t have felt the need to send such a notice, subtly hinting to gather them together instead of initiating the trade spontaneously.

‘Given that someone in his position is taking such measures, there must be something more to it.’

‘He’s the one who has come up with unusual trade methods we’ve never known about and gained benefits in unexpected ways. Surely, he wouldn’t resort to anything less special this time. It’s obvious things won’t go as smoothly as that Archbishop desires…’
“It’s clear that this won’t be easy…”

Despite having the identity of a paladin, which seems worlds apart from commerce, the special talent Santana displayed in contracts and dealings over the past year had astonished even those who made their living in trade.

Honestly, if this situation had just ended with him being expelled from the Paladin Order instead of causing a scandal, they would’ve scouted Santana the very next moment from the merchant guild.

With eager anticipation, they calmly began to wait for today’s protagonist to arrive, curious about what kind of bombshell this man had prepared.

And then, a moment later…

“Mr. Santana has arrived.”

The voice of the attendant came from beyond the door. Those in the room began to feel a little tense. Soon after, they caught sight of Santana entering the conference room alongside a beautiful paladin.

“Thank you all so much for gathering here despite your busy schedules.”

As usual, Santana spoke with a smile on his face. While the branch managers wore slightly stiff smiles, the branch manager and Amalia greeted him with equally calm smiles, matching his demeanor.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Santana took his seat. Immediately after, he wiped the smile from his face, looked seriously at everyone, and said, “Well then, since we are all busy people, let’s get straight to the point.”

With those words, he opened the bag he had brought and pulled out a heavy stack of documents. At that moment, the expressions on Amalia and the branch manager’s faces began to show that the expected had indeed come.

“I’m here today to dispose of all my property that I’ve gathered thus far.”