81. Disruption (2)
The nights of Violess were exceptionally deep and dark compared to those of other regions.
Yet the nights of Violess truly came alive in an even more dazzling—and sinister—fashion.
Red light painted the alleys.
The streets of pleasure never fell silent, filled with coarse laughter and suggestive moans.
The Red-Light District.
Brothels lined every alley and street of the Red-Light District, and women dressed in extravagant clothing beckoned passersby inside.
And among them stood the most lavish brothel of all.
With ornate decorations adorning its antique exterior, the place resembled a grand mansion inhabited by nobles.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again!”
From deep inside the mansion, a completely naked woman was dragged out by a group of intimidating men.
“I-I must have lost my mind for a moment! I’ll never do it again, so please...!”
The woman pleaded desperately, but the men paid her no heed. They threw her to the ground and began beating her indiscriminately.
Thud! Th-thud!
The woman’s skin, whitened by thick makeup, was swiftly covered in dark bruises, while her red lips split and swelled, becoming even redder.
A voice came from inside the mansion.
Only then did the men stop beating her and take a step back as another woman emerged from the mansion.
Th-thud! Thud! Th-thud!
Even so, the men showed no intention of stopping their assault.
Just as the naked woman became so covered in bloody bruises that her original appearance could no longer be recognized—
“Enough.”
Hair as red as though it had been dyed in blood.
An alluring beauty that stirred desire.
The red jewel hanging around her neck further accentuated her seductive neckline and voluptuous figure.
“M-Matriarch...”
Lyla, the matriarch of the Crimson Soiree who ruled the Red-Light District.
The bloodied woman crawled across the floor and begged Lyla.
“P-Please spare me….I was wrong….”
Lyla slowly approached the woman and—
Smack—!
Slapped her across the face.
The woman’s cheek split open as though struck by a whip, but—
“Who taught you that you could refuse a customer’s choice?”
Smack—! Smack—!
Lyla continued striking both sides of the woman’s face without the slightest concern.
After several more blows—
At some point, the only sounds coming from the woman were wet, blood-choked gurgles.
Only then did Lyla irritably flick the woman’s blood from her hand.
“Take her away and make sure she learns her lesson.”
The men dragged the unconscious woman away.
And it was precisely then—
Rumble-rumble-rumble—Boom!!
“Matriarch.”
A Vister belonging to the Crimson Soiree approached Lyla from behind.
“What happened?”
“We have confirmed that Sarpedon is currently at the gambling den.”
Sarpedon, the Ark Master of the Black Grasp that controlled the gambling den.
“It does not appear that the Black Grasp was responsible for the attack on the Black Market.”
“Hmm....”
A deafening explosion erupted with an intense flash of light. It was a massive blast that seemed to shake the entirety of Violess.
Lyla’s long, slender fingers caressed her lips.
The blood she had failed to wipe away made her lips appear even redder.
“Then who could it be?”
“I heard that Violess’ smaller Vister groups have formed an alliance, but—”
“No.”
Lyla immediately shook her head.
Who did they think the Ashen Masks of the Black Market were?
There was no way they could be helplessly overwhelmed by an alliance of insignificant Visters.
Small fry remained small fry no matter how many of them gathered.
If the Ashen Masks were weak enough to fall to such insignificant rabble, they would have been destroyed long ago.
This was nothing more than a horde of miscellaneous monsters attempting to become masters of a mountain range simply because there were no ogres around.
Rumble-rumble—Boom!!
Another explosion erupted at that moment. It was even more violent than the previous one.
The Black Market was clearly being attacked one-sidedly without being able to mount a proper response.
“Something isn’t right.”
A peculiar gleam flashed through Lyla’s eyes.
“What about the Black Grasp?”
“They have not made any noteworthy moves yet, but....”
The subordinate swallowed once before continuing.
“Since all their affiliated Visters, including their senior officers, are gathering at the gambling den, they will likely take action soon.”
“They’re going all in?”
“What should we do?”
Her subordinate’s question followed.
Lyla did not deliberate for long.
* * *
Rumble-rumble-rumble—Boom!!!
An explosion erupted as soon as we arrived at the Black Market.
Accompanied by a tremendous roar, the blast practically shook not only the Black Market but the whole of Violess.
‘It looks like Isolde is going all out.’
In any case—
“This way.”
I followed the Acata and arrived at the Black Market’s vault.
Reaching it required an extremely complicated series of procedures, but we passed through every step without the slightest problem.
Then the enormous, thick vault door opened—
Gold and silver coins serving as the continent’s key currencies filled my entire field of vision.
It resembled the scene I had witnessed inside Avarus’s secret vault.
However, the scale was so overwhelming that the two could not even be compared.
“These are funds laundered through Obscura.”
Obscura.
Simply put, it referred to both the “method” and the “place” through which the Dark Merchant Company laundered money.
The Dark Merchant Company earned enormous sums through Black Markets located across the continent.
However, those funds had been acquired through illegal activities.
To put it simply, it was dirty money, and recklessly distributing it would expose the Dark Merchant Company to the risk of being traced.
It therefore needed to be laundered into legitimate funds, and Obscura was responsible for performing that role.
Violess was also one of the Dark Merchant Company’s primary strongholds.
It operated its own Obscura, and the wealth piled up before my eyes consisted of the laundered profits earned in Violess.
‘This must easily exceed a hundred million gold.’
Even that was only the “minimum estimate”.
I would have to count it all to determine the exact amount.
And precisely then—
“W-We have a serious problem!!”
An Acata wearing an Ashen Mask suddenly came running inside in a panic.
“R-Right now...! The Black Grasp is attacking the Order!!”
“What...?!”
The Evangelista-rank Acata practically leaped in surprise.
“Th-That isn’t all...!”
The Acata delivering the report swallowed once before continuing.
“Violess’ smaller Vister groups have also formed an alliance and are attacking the Order!”
“What in the...!!”
The Evangelista-rank Acata appeared utterly horrified.
The Black Grasp and the Vister alliance.
They represented a military force that even the Dark Merchant Company could not ignore.
However—
‘The Crimson Soiree hasn’t joined them.’
Were they being cautious? Or were they plotting something else?
‘Hmm.’
I still did not know which it was.
However, it seemed certain that the Crimson Soiree had no intention of acting immediately.
Their movements differed from my expectations.
Even so, it was fine.
Variables could always arise during an operation, and this one remained within the range of my predictions.
‘We’re a little pressed for time now.’
Nevertheless, everything was still proceeding according to plan.
“Did I not tell you? The attack on the Black Market is merely a diversion.”
“I-I see...!!”
The Acata exclaimed in admiration as though he had only just understood.
He had not even considered the possibility that I was deliberately stirring up chaos.
Instead, he trusted me completely and had gone so far as to “worship” me.
“Until the situation has been resolved, I shall keep these funds safe.”
“Understood.”
The Acata obediently took a step back, but then—
“....Excuse me? You said you would ‘keep’ the funds here rather than ‘move’ them somewhere safe?”
“How long do you think moving this much money would take? And who knows what might happen while it is being transported?”
“That is true, but how could you possibly handle this much wealth by yourself, Executor—”
Before he could even finish asking—
◆A “Pile of Gold Coins” has been placed in your Inventory.
I opened my Inventory and swept the gold coins inside, causing him to leap in surprise once again.
“Subspace magic...?!”
To other people, my Inventory appeared to be a form of subspace magic.
Avarus was both an alchemist and a high-level mage.
Therefore, there was nothing strange about me openly using my Inventory, but—
“Y-You’re currently Transmogged! H-How could you...?”
Transmog perfectly imitated the target of the transformation.
Because it perfectly replicated the target’s appearance, traits, abilities, and even mind, using one’s original powers became extremely difficult.
That was why Avarus had been unable to use magic easily while transformed into Viscount Venenon.
In other words, casting highly advanced magic such as subspace magic while Transmogged was nearly impossible.
“You can use subspace magic of this scale even while your magical power is restricted?!!”
The Acata’s eyes, visible beyond his mask, looked as though they were about to split wide open.
“As expected of the Executor!! You are incredible!!”
His worship of me grew rapidly between those wide-open eyes.
He never even dreamed that all their wealth was being cleaned out. Considering that he firmly believed I was Avarus, it was hardly surprising.
Without the slightest hesitation, I swept up all the wealth.
◆A “Pile of Gold Coins” has been placed in your Inventory.
◆A “Pile of Gold Coins” has been placed in your Inventory.
◆A “Pile of Gold Coins” has been placed in your Inventory.
The wealth continued pouring into my inventory without end.
“H-How is that possible...?!”
“Whoaaaa!!”
The Acatas’ astonishment intensified every time it happened.
After all, this was far too much to store using ordinary subspace magic.
Even the Coalition Forces’ Archmage would probably be unable to create a subspace capable of storing this much wealth.
In other words, there would have been no way to manage it without an Infinite Inventory.
And so, I swept all the wealth into my inventory without encountering a single limitation.
“I shall now go and stop the attackers at the Black Market. You should return to your assigned sectors and provide support.”
“Yes!!”
“Yes!!”
The Acatas answered energetically.
Unmistakable worship had taken root in their eyes as they looked at me.
However, once the entire truth was revealed, their hatred and anger toward me would become equally intense.
Perhaps that was why.
Now that I thought about it—
‘Whenever the Imperial soldiers saw me, they nearly ground their teeth to dust.’
They had gnashed them so violently, after all.
* * *
Boom!!
A clamorous disturbance awakened the night in Violess.
However, contrary to Iratum’s prediction that the commotion would quickly die down, the chaos continued for quite some time.
“......”
Iratum still had absolutely no idea what was happening.
The place where Iratum currently stood—
The Ruins District.
The Ruins District had been formed by Visters who had lost their factional struggles and could no longer establish themselves in Violess.
It was an abandoned sector even within Violess.
It was primarily inhabited by homeless people and patients, with the majority being vagrants who had no connections.
It was the perfect place to acquire the one hundred people Avarus had requested as materials for Homunculi.
Thus, Iratum had personally come to the Ruins District and was selecting the slaves one by one.
He normally would not have needed to handle it himself, but one hundred people changed matters.
What would happen if that many people suddenly disappeared?
Those around them would find it suspicious and report the disappearances.
Concealing everything and silencing the witnesses would require considerable resources and manpower, so Iratum needed to intervene personally.
Naturally, he found the entire process extremely bothersome and unpleasant, but—
‘He said he would help me find the Valley of Kardun.’
Iratum restrained his surging anger while selecting homeless people and patients suitable for use as Homunculi.
Then, after he had selected approximately fifty people—
Boom!!
He first became aware of the noisy disturbance awakening the night in Violess.
Initially, he paid it little attention.
Factional struggles between Visters occurred nearly every day in Violess.
Boom!!
When the second disturbance sounded, he assumed it would soon stop.
Rumble—Boom!!
When the third disturbance sounded, irritation began to rise within him.
“They are being rather noisy.”
Rumble-rumble—Boom!!
When the fourth disturbance erupted, considerable anger rose within him.
“These bastards....”
But then came the fifth.
Rumble-rumble—Boom!!
An ominous explosion powerful enough to shake the whole of Violess rang out.
“Tonight! The true absolute power of Violess will be born! Is everyone ready?!”
“Yes, Boss!!”
“Then let us begin! Crush them without mercy!!!”
Only after witnessing a mob of Visters advancing into Violess like an army—
“....What is this commotion?”
Did he realize that something was amiss.
Could this truly be considered a mere factional struggle between Visters?
The scale of the disturbance was far too extraordinary.
“I will go and investigate.”
One of the Acatas tactfully ran off to assess the situation.
However—
There was no news from him whatsoever.
“This time, I will investigate.”
Another Acata tactfully volunteered, but—
There was no news from him either.
“Then I shall go and investigate.”
And the next one—
“This time, I shall—”
And the one after that.
Like sacrifices cast into the Abyss, not a single one of them returned.
“??”
For some reason, Iratum felt as though he alone had been left out.
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