The Shadow Organization Members Raised Through Pay-To-Win Are Too Strong

# Cuckoo (3)

Time began to flow again inside the mine.

The investigation team moved busily.

One person had disappeared, but no one noticed.

“How terrible.”

They examined the blood-stained ground and torn corpses, trying to find the cause of this horrific tragedy.

They did their best.

This was a magic stone mine, the Hailstone Duchy’s largest source of income.

Once the culprit is found, measures will be taken at the imperial level.

Amid the ongoing investigation, someone approached an investigator.

“What do you think is the cause?”

The person was brusque.

Moreover, his attire differed from the other investigators.

The man was from the Arcadia Empire, not the duchy.

More precisely, he was an agent from the Empire’s intelligence department.

Since the destruction of the duchy’s magic stone mines would also be a loss for the Empire, the intelligence department dispatched an agent.

It was important to find the culprit behind this incident and prevent it from happening again.

But none of the investigators here could find the cause.

“…We haven’t found any evidence yet.”

The investigator who received the agent’s question answered with an awkward smile.

Their words were true.

There was something strange about the extent of damage to the corpses.

‘It’s certainly ambiguous to call it monsters.’

A contradictory situation where it clearly looks like the work of monsters, but doesn’t seem like monsters.

If monsters had attacked the mine from the beginning, neither the duchy nor the Empire would have been unaware.

Yet not one, but all three magic stone mines had been attacked.

Looking at the scene, it seemed impossible unless a monster wave had occurred.

But the incident had already happened.

To report to their superiors, they had to find evidence diligently.

The investigators racked their brains to piece together the incident but couldn’t figure it out.

“Hmm….”

The same was true for the agent from the Empire’s intelligence department.

Various monster information occupied his mind, but nothing matched the current scene.

‘The bite marks are too irregular.’

The marks where the corpses had been bitten showed an irregular pattern.

Even the agent, who prided himself on having seen various monsters, had never seen such bite marks.

From the beginning, there were too many strange points about this incident.

Just looking at the current scene showed that.

‘There’s nothing that could be called evidence.’

Whether the being that did this was a human or a monster, they should have left some evidence.

But it was too clean.

As if it had been like this from the beginning.

“……”

The agent glanced at the dark atmosphere of the mine and turned his head.

“It’s like a monster born from darkness.”

“Pardon? What did you say?”

“Nothing. I’ll be going now. Please continue your work.”

He was embarrassed by the absurd thought that suddenly came to mind.

‘What nonsense about a monster of darkness….’

As the agent shook his head and was about to turn away,

“You can’t come in here!”

A shout from another investigator inside the mine was heard.

Wondering what was happening, he turned his head towards the direction of the voice.

‘An old man?’

There, an old man was walking out leisurely.

It was so peaceful that one might mistake him for having come out for a stroll.

The white-haired old man carefully examined the interior of the mine, disregarding the investigator’s restraint.

‘Is he from the intelligence department?’

No, it was an unfamiliar face.

The agent examined the old man’s attire.

He wore neat clothing like a gentleman, with a sword hanging at his waist.

Perhaps because the sword’s owner was an old man.

He didn’t look very threatening.

Others seemed to feel the same way, as they just shouted for him to leave.

“Hey, old man! Can’t you hear? Get out right now!”

Humans have patience.

But the old man was ignoring people’s words too much.

“This old geezer, there’s a limit to ignoring people!”

Unable to bear it any longer, one of the investigators drew his weapon.

Even though they were investigators, they all had skills comparable to knights.

Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed the investigator had really drawn his sword to swing it.

‘Tsk.’

The agent turned his head.

He wasn’t in charge of this place anyway.

His only mission was to find clues.

It didn’t matter what happened to the old man.

Rather, if the old man’s actions were hindering the investigation, excluding him in this way was appropriate.

A moment later, the sound of air being cut was heard.

The agent turned his head again.

‘Unnecessarily, one more corpse has been added.’

But a different scene from his expectation unfolded.

“Huh?”

The old man, whom he thought would have died, was fine.

And the one about to swing his sword at the old man was still maintaining that posture.

“…!”

A moment later, the body of the investigator who had held the sword was cut into dozens of pieces.

Everyone looked at the old man in shock.

‘What just happened?’

Holding their breath, the investigators were wary of the old man.

Even in such a tense moment, the old man did his own thing.

“Hmm, nothing particularly strange.”

Moreover, he showed a relaxed appearance while talking to himself.

The identity of the old man was Walter.

Walter was in the process of looking around the mines that Celestia had turned into a mess.

And this mine was the last in line.

“Why the mines?”

The leader had ordered Ariel to investigate the mines.

He came wondering if he might find some clues, but there was little gain.

Still, Walter carefully examined the interior of the mine.

The flies around were annoying, but he didn’t notice them.

He focused only on finding clues to where the leader might be.

“Hm?”

While scanning the floor, Walter discovered something strange.

“The hounds headed in one direction…”

It was an unnatural trace.

Examining the traces of Celestia’s hounds, he found evidence that they had gathered in one direction.

“Could it be…”

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to Walter.

However, it wasn’t an environment where he could concentrate.

“Die!”

Another fly came rushing in with a sword.

But that fly was cut down in the blink of an eye and fell to the floor.

“!”

At the surreal sight, the agent rubbed his eyes and looked at the scene again.

He wondered if he might be dreaming.

The person who had just rushed in also turned into minced meat and fell around the old man.

‘There was certainly no movement…!’

Now everyone knew for sure.

The old man in front of them was definitely not an ordinary old man.

At the same time, they designated the old man as an enemy and drew their weapons.

But the agent inwardly screamed.

‘No, don’t… Don’t draw your weapons!’

The experience gained from working as an agent reacted sensitively.

His inner sense was warning that touching that old man was absolutely forbidden.

But everyone had already drawn their weapons and was rushing towards the old man.

To that action, the old man uttered only one word.

“How annoying.”

Saying that, he placed his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

That was the agent’s last memory.

After that, everyone’s necks were cut off.

Corpses with severed necks collapsed one after another, blood pouring out.

It was truly a crucible of death.

When all the annoying flies had disappeared, Walter examined the traces on the floor again.

“……”

It was certain.

The hounds had clearly gathered around someone.

They were loyal only to Celestia.

However, she hadn’t appeared here.

Was there someone else they followed besides Celestia?

“…Leader.”

It meant that the leader had been here until a few days ago.

“It’s been a while since I felt this excitement.”

Walter turned away without lingering.

As he left, the mine collapsed.

*  *  *

Cuckoo.

A bird known for not building its own nest but laying eggs in other birds’ nests.

The cuckoo chick that hatches from the egg first pushes out its siblings.

That’s so it can have the nest all to itself.

The original owner of the nest mistakes the cuckoo chick for its own and raises it with utmost care.

‘My situation is exactly the same.’

When comparing to the current situation, my circumstances were very similar to a cuckoo’s.

I was currently riding in a carriage heading towards the Hartwell family mansion.

Originally, Brooks was supposed to be in this position, but he died.

Instead, I took his place as the illegitimate child.

This would have been impossible if I had been an ordinary boy.

Even if I claimed to be an illegitimate child, nobles were so suspicious of bloodlines that they would check if one was really their child.

That’s why the knights from the Hartwell family who came to find me brought a mage along.

The mage was Bella, dispatched from the Fire Tower.

‘Things worked out well.’

Who would have thought the dispatched mage would be from the Fire Tower.

Moreover, Bella was the disciple of the Tower Master.

‘The Tower Master is a member of Black Raven.’

And I am the leader.

In short, this whole affair could be seen as a drama orchestrated entirely within my palm.

With Bella’s help, I passed the paternity test without a hitch.

Now, all that’s left is to live as a member of the Hartwell family.

‘It’s a shame it’s a duchy noble, but better than being a slave.’

Originally, I would have been no different from a fugitive fleeing with Emilia.

Compared to such a life, being a noble of the duchy was better.

Still, human greed is endless, so I couldn’t help but feel regretful.

‘Hailstone Duchy.’

After all, it was a vassal state of the Empire.

So even if the Hartwell family was a count in the duchy, they were bound to be of lower rank.

‘Was the countess’s maiden family a baronet?’

It’s been so long that I forgot the exact name.

However, I remembered that the current Countess Hartwell was the daughter of an imperial baronet.

In some ways, the Hartwell count family might seem higher in rank than the countess’s baronet family, but the reality was different.

The difference between the Empire and the duchy was that great in status.

‘And they were set to be rich, right?’

An imperial baronet family set to be very wealthy and affluent.

This was the result of my efforts to remember the game settings as much as possible over the past few days.

It’s the family I will live with from now on, so I should prepare accordingly, shouldn’t I?

I’m an illegitimate child anyway.

I didn’t expect to receive good treatment from the family.

However, I needed to prepare my own weapons, so I organized various settings in my head.

Through these efforts, I remembered that the countess’s maiden family was a baronet who had invested heavily in the duchy’s mines.

The duchy had many underground resources buried.

But among them, the most valuable were the magic stone mines.

Wouldn’t a baronet family that made money through investments invest in magic stone mines?

Of course they would.

‘Oh, come to think of it, I paralyzed all the magic stone mines, didn’t I?’

This incident probably caused massive damage to the countess’s maiden family.

‘But I didn’t destroy the mines, right?’

The mines are still intact, so they’ll normalize soon.

Well, that’s what I think, but in any case, the family atmosphere won’t be good.

‘Let’s stay quiet for a while.’

Anyway, I just need to live comfortably under the name of nobility.

There’s no point in being greedy, just living comfortably under the name of nobility is enough.

Thinking such thoughts, I entrusted my body to the swaying carriage.

“……”

From outside, the sound of hooves and armor clashing could be heard.

These were the knights who would safely escort me to the mansion.

Once we arrive at the mansion, I will live as a member of the Hartwell family.

Inside the carriage, Bella and I were seated.

Bella was sitting across from me, looking at me.

I had already had several conversations with Bella.

Mostly topics related to my activities or future plans were exchanged, but I evaded most of them.

In this process, I gave one clear warning.

– Never disclose the information you learned here. Even if it’s to your master.

Emilia was sleeping well beside me despite the carriage shaking severely.

It was thanks to Bella’s sleep magic.

There were several parts inappropriate for Emilia to hear while discussing matters related to Black Raven.

Initially, I had planned to send Emilia to the tower with Bella.

But after confirming Bella’s personality, I withdrew that thought.

Emilia is a being who knows about me.

My identity might be exposed if I carelessly sent her to the tower.

‘She would surely ask Emilia various things.’

In the end, it seemed better for my safety for Emilia to enter the Hartwell count family with me.

‘Maybe I should get some sleep too.’

I wanted to rest peacefully, but Bella’s gaze was burdensome.

“Do you have more questions?”

I asked in the most solemn voice I could muster.

Bella was in a situation where she believed I was Black Raven’s ‘Phantom.’

To maintain the concept, some acting was essential.

Perhaps because I asked first?

Bella’s expression brightened.

And she asked one question.

“How can I become as strong as my master?”

Bella’s voice was full of aspiration.

“……?”

Why are you asking me that?

Seeing my expression of disbelief, Bella continued speaking.

“I heard that my master learned magic from the leader, so I wondered if I could do the same.”

Ah, right.

Bella’s master, Adeline.

Originally, Adeline had no talent for magic.

The background of how such a person awakened her talent and became the Tower Master was through cash purchases.

‘Indeed, cash purchases are the best.’

But I couldn’t tell her that her master became strong through cash purchases.

I used the trump card I realized while conversing with Bella.

“Only the leader knows that.”

It was deflection.

In fact, I am the leader, but I’m in a situation where I have to hide that I’m the leader.

Anyway, they don’t know where the leader is, so it doesn’t matter.

My trump card seemed to work, as Bella didn’t ask any more questions.

Unable to hide her disappointment, she pouted her lips. Then she crossed her arms and turned her head away.

‘Could she be sulking?’

It seems she’s become more comfortable as we’ve been talking continuously in the carriage.

But even if she sulks like that, there was no way I could help her.

There really was no answer except cash purchases.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Walter raised through cash purchases too?

‘Except for Phantom.’

The ones belonging to Phantom were for experiments anyway, so instead of cash purchases, they were made to wear lots of cursed items.

Along with the cursed items, I splurged on enhancement scrolls that would cause the characters to disappear if they failed.

Among them, the tough ones who luckily survived gained powerful strength, but most died.

But this was possible because it was a game.

Doing such experiments on Bella right in front of me?

Before the ethical issues, Bella would be horrified.

Thinking about it that way, I felt more sorry for the members belonging to Phantom.

“……”

Putting aside sad thoughts, I decided to ask questions in return this time.

When we left the village earlier, I briefly talked with Bella.

At that time, Bella said she wasn’t affiliated with Black Raven.

‘Why is that?’

If the master is a member, it would be natural for the disciple to follow and join.

Moreover, Bella knew a lot about Black Raven.

I asked Bella about that point.

“Why didn’t you join Black Raven?”

Bella answered my question.

The answer was simple.

“Because the Leader wasn’t there.”

“?”

“They said I can only become an official member when the leader gives final approval?”

Huh? That was news even to me, the leader.

They all became official members in the game just by reading the report, but here there’s such a thing?

Then how are they replenishing their numbers?

“Official members… I’ll tell the leader.”

This time, too, I evaded appropriately.

And as soon as my words ended, a status window appeared before my eyes.

[Leader, do you want to promote Black Raven’s provisional members to official members?]