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

After meeting with Bastel, Bella returned to the magic tower.

Then she confidently knocked on the office of the Tower Master on the top floor.

“Come in.”

When she heard the familiar voice from beyond the door, Bella grinned and flung the door wide open.

“Teacher, I’m back!”

Bella greeted in a cheerful voice.

Adeline raised an eyebrow and looked at her disciple.

“Yes, you’re here. Come, sit down. I have something to tell you.”

Bella sat down in front of her teacher and casually crossed her legs.

Adeline got straight to the point.

“You left the magic tower without a word. Did you have some important business?”

Bella had disappeared without saying anything.

No matter how much of a disciple she was, leaving the magic tower without a word was unacceptable.

Bella shrugged and replied.

“I went to the Hartwell Count’s Family.”

The Hartwell Count’s Family?

Bella had already carried out a request related to the illegitimate child matter of the Hartwell Count’s Family.

But that request was completed long ago.

There was no reason for Bella to go there again, so Adeline nodded.

It meant to keep talking.

“Teacher, it’s like this…”

Bella told Adeline about everything that had happened so far.

Starting from meeting the Phantom when performing the Hartwell family’s request to the story related to Bastel’s merchant group.

No matter how much Bella was the Tower Master’s disciple, selling the magic tower’s magic tools required approval.

This was an unavoidable choice.

Of course, while telling the story, she left out ‘Ethan.’.’

Bella intended to keep the information related to the Phantom to herself.

“…I can’t believe such a thing happened.”

Adeline held her forehead after listening to Bella’s story.

‘I hoped she wouldn’t get involved with the Phantom…’

Adeline understood why the Supreme Council ordered her to stand by when Bella left for the request.

‘The Supreme Council said it was the Leader’s order.’

That meant no matter how much she warned her, Bella had no choice but to get involved with the Phantom.

“This letter contains the Phantom’s requirements.”

Adeline read the letter Bella handed over.

It really contained instructions to approach Bastel, the second son of the Hartwell Count’s Family, and seize shares of the Golden Wing Merchant Group.

‘But did the Phantom originally work like this?’

Adeline also couldn’t know information about the Phantom, so she didn’t know how they handled things.

However, she didn’t doubt it.

Didn’t it spread throughout Black Raven that the Phantom had resumed activities?

Above all, Adeline was cautious.

‘Don’t doubt.’

Even if someone impersonated the Phantom, it didn’t matter. The impersonator would experience pain to the point of feeling lucky to die.

“According to the contents, we just need to supply magic tools to the merchant group.”

Certainly, the contents of the Phantom’s instructions were something Bella couldn’t do alone.

Moreover, if the disciple followed the Phantom’s instructions, wouldn’t it be funny for her, a member of Black Raven, to sit still?

And supplying magic tools to the merchant group wasn’t a very special action.

The Fire Magic Tower was trading with several merchant groups, so it was just a matter of supplying some suitable magic tools to the Golden Wing Merchant Group.

Moreover, the methods written in the letter were unparalleled in their viciousness.

– Create fake magic tools and make it the merchant group’s management responsibility. Take the compensation in the form of shares in the merchant group.

– Cast a very weak curse on the magic tools to incite customer complaints. Of course, make it the merchant group’s responsibility and demand a small portion of shares.

– Make small problems occur in the merchant group and secure appropriate shares in exchange for solving them.

All the orders were focused on securing shares.

Just looking at it gave her goosebumps.

“…It’s definitely the Phantom.”

If there was a problem with the magic tools, it would also tarnish the reputation of the Fire Magic Tower.

Disregarding the process and only looking at their own goals was definitely the Phantom.

They were beings who worked only for the Leader, not for the well-being of Black Raven.

“You think so too, Teacher?”

Bella nodded in agreement, unaware of Adeline’s true thoughts.

Above all, Adeline didn’t want to secure shares at the cost of damaging the magic tower’s reputation.

‘Let’s just skip the first and second methods.’

If damage occurred due to the magic tools, not only the merchant group but also the Fire Magic Tower would be harmed.

And the intention of wanting shares in the Golden Wing Merchant Group meant that they were plotting something with that merchant group.

But it didn’t make sense to unnecessarily damage the merchant group’s image.

“Then there’s only one option left.”

It was to make problems occur in the merchant group.

And there would be several ways to do that.

‘The merchant group gets attacked, or Bastel dies…’

But that was still a distant story.

Adeline, having organized her thoughts up to this point, got up from her seat.

And she began to write something on a piece of paper.

“Bella, I’ll make it so you can continue to visit the Hartwell territory.”

Bella would have to keep going to the territory to contact the Phantom.

But the Count’s Family wouldn’t view it favorably if she kept visiting without any reason.

So she was going to create a pretext.

Adeline finished writing on the paper, put it in an envelope, and sealed it with magic.

“There is an orphanage in the Hartwell territory. I’m acquainted with the director there. I’ll add your name to the sponsor’s list, Bella.”

She explained to Bella that she would add her as a sponsor of the orphanage.

But in reality, it was different.

That place wasn’t an ordinary orphanage.

‘…The Eighth Elder.’

An orphanage managed by the Eighth Elder.

But she had no intention of telling Bella the truth.

She was already involved with the Phantom, but there was no need to get involved with the Elders.

However, she just wanted to make it so her disciple could visit the Hartwell territory without suspicion.

* * *

A month had passed since handing the letter to Bella.

I was peacefully spending time drinking juice again today.

‘Looks like Bella is doing a good job.’

To be precise, Bella and Adeline were doing a good job.

I only gave instructions to Bella, but it was a task too difficult for her to handle alone.

Ultimately, the Tower Master’s approval would be needed to supply magic tools.

But I didn’t give any separate orders.

Even without doing that, I thought Bella would persuade her teacher alone.

‘Judging by Bella’s personality, she must have hidden my existence.’

No, it was a must.

Basically, Bella was someone with a great desire for magic.

‘Even more than Adeline.’

Even in the game, Adeline had a tremendous obsession with magic.

She never yielded to others when it came to magic.

‘And Adeline took on a disciple like that.’

That’s why I was puzzled when I first saw Bella.

As expected of Adeline’s disciple, Bella showed such an appearance.

Above all, Bella received my promise that I would recommend her to the Leader if everything went well.

From her perspective, it was advantageous to hide my existence as much as possible, so I thought she wouldn’t say anything.

Anyway, this plan not only had Bella but also Adeline joining, so it couldn’t fail.

Thanks to that, the Golden Wing Merchant Group achieved dazzling growth.

When rumors spread that the Fire Magic Tower would supply magic tools to the Golden Wing Merchant Group, its reputation soared instantly.

Of course, they weren’t very rare or expensive magic tools.

They were just simple magic tools that helped a little in daily life.

For example, bracelets that regulate the wearer’s body temperature or necklaces that purify the surrounding air.

This much was enough.

After all, the quality was certain since they were produced by the Fire Magic Tower.

In this way, the Golden Wing Merchant Group was advancing triumphantly with the backing of the magic tower.

“By the way, it’s about time to strengthen the escort.”

There was a need to strengthen the merchant group’s escort troops.

In fact, the Golden Wing Merchant Group was currently biting off a tremendously large prey that didn’t match its size.

If it couldn’t digest it, it would be snatched away by other competitors.

If someone attacked the merchant group, my plan would be ruined.

‘That must never happen.’

I called up the status window for the first time in a while.

[Leader, just give the order.]

Seeing the message asking me to give an order, I gave one command.

“The Fire Magic Tower should strengthen the escort of the merchant groups it trades with.”

[Confirmed the Leader’s order.]

* * *

Bastel was sitting comfortably in the carriage and traveling.

He was on his way back to the territory after receiving magic tools.

It was a long distance, so it was tiring, but he had no complaints.

Hadn’t he already gained tremendous benefits over the past month?

Thanks to the deal with the Fire Magic Tower, the popularity of the Golden Wing Merchant Group was rising day by day, so he could endure this much trouble.

Lying comfortably in the carriage, Bastel smiled.

If the current situation continued, the Golden Wing Merchant Group would become not only the duchy’s but the empire’s top merchant group.

Above all, the biggest thing was escaping from the influence of the Rosemund Viscount Family.

‘I can’t live as a puppet forever.’

Viscount Rosemund was Bastel’s maternal grandfather.

However, rather than a bond of blood, it was closer to a business relationship, so there was no feeling of family.

Thanks to his mother being in the middle, he could receive help, but now it wasn’t necessary.

“Mother…”

Bastel called out to his mother for no reason.

Currently, his mother’s situation isn’t very good.

The Rosemund Viscount Family’s merchant groups were hit as the mine collapsed.

That wasn’t all.

A priest was murdered in the temple within the Hartwell territory. Because of this, the atmosphere within the family wasn’t very good either.

The culprit who murdered the priest still hadn’t been caught, and his mother was holed up in her room, so the family’s appearance didn’t look normal.

‘I’m suddenly tired.’

Was it because he had been working too hard for a month?

Bastel closed his eyes to take a short break. At that moment…

Bang-! Boom!

With a tremendous explosion, the carriage shook violently.

Anyone could see it was an attack.

In an instant, dust and smoke rose around. But Bastel couldn’t move.

Because the carriage he was riding in had overturned from the explosion just now.

To make matters worse, the blood flowing from his head dyed his vision red.

Bastel focused on the sounds outside the carriage while holding onto his consciousness.

“……”

No sound was heard, and silence lingered.

Perhaps the entire force had been caught up in the explosion just now.

“No…”

Bastel’s vision gradually blurred. Soon after, he fainted.

A moment later, unidentified individuals with hidden appearances surrounded the carriage.

“Everyone, just take the items and leave. Hurry!”

Their purpose was none other than the magic tools.

They immediately started taking out and collecting the magic tools skillfully.

But then someone spoke from behind.

“Adeline was right.”

Turning their heads in the direction of the voice, there stood an old woman wearing glasses.

“……?”

No one felt any presence.

If the old woman had stayed quiet, they would have continued to not notice.

But they didn’t guard against her.

After all, the other party was an old woman.

Moreover, unlike themselves who were holding weapons, she was empty-handed, so no one was on guard.

However, the old woman smiled.

Her identity was the Eighth Elder.

She moved because of a request from Adeline.

But she also had her own motives.

” I’m curious about who provided the information about this place.”

The Eighth Elder took off her glasses.