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

The Imperial Merchant Association.

A massive organization formed by the combined strength of merchants from the Arcadia Empire and the Hailstone Duchy.

Though individual merchant groups were weak, their united association was powerful.

Many believed their overwhelming financial power could even penetrate the Imperial Palace.

However, the atmosphere in the merchant association was gloomy.

The merchant leaders sat lost in their thoughts, watching the rain pour outside the window.

“I still can’t believe it. How could the Association Leader pass away so suddenly…”

One member muttered in a trembling voice.

Others nodded and sighed.

Count Hoffman, the leader who had guided the Imperial Merchant Association, had passed away the previous night.

The cause of death was ruled an accidental fall.

The conclusion was that he fell out a window while intoxicated.

“Even the heavens are cruel. It’s just tragic.”

The merchant leaders each recalled their memories with Count Hoffman and honored him.

But the dead do not return.

As the sorrowful atmosphere slowly began to fade, someone spoke up.

“We need to think about the direction we should take from here. With the world in such turmoil, shouldn’t we at least stay united?”

The atmosphere shifted. The merchant leaders hesitated, eyeing each other cautiously.

“Indeed. The association must continue! We are nothing but weak if we don’t stay united.”

With those words, silence fell over the meeting hall.

The position of association leader was vacant due to the Count’s death.

Though someone should rightfully take the empty seat, no one stepped forward.

It was practically decided already who would succeed Count Hoffman in the association.

Then, someone broke the silence.

“What do you think, Viscount Rosemund?”

In an instant, all eyes naturally turned to Viscount Rosemund.

Only Count Hoffman and Viscount Rosemund held noble titles in the association.

Now that only Viscount Rosemund remained, he was considered the likely candidate for the next leader.

“Hmm.”

The Viscount cleared his throat in a low voice.

The deep wrinkles on his forehead and light white beard hinted at his age.

Yet despite his age, he still maintained a sharp gaze.

“Indeed. Though the Count has passed, the association must continue.”

The other merchant leaders all nodded at the Viscount’s words.

It was the moment the next association leader was decided in silence.

“…”

But Viscount Rosemund did not smile.

It was only natural that he would become the next leader.

More concerning was Count Hoffman’s death.

‘This is strange.’

The Count that the Viscount knew wasn’t someone who would die like that.

‘Fell out a window while drunk?’

Bullshit.

Though the Count would drink, he wasn’t someone who would lose his senses to that degree.

‘Could it have been assassination?’

Saying someone pushed the Count out the window seemed more credible.

‘Assassination…’

Usually, assassinations stem from relationships of grudges.

There was already one suspicious aspect that had been bothering him.

‘Bastel.’

Bastel Hartwell was Viscount Rosemund’s grandson.

When his grandson started running a merchant group, Rosemund directly supported him.

He didn’t support him just because of blood ties.

It was because he had value to be used.

‘He was good for transporting the drugs.’

Drug trafficking.

The precious goods he had been transporting were drugs.

He supported his grandson’s merchant group because having diverse distribution channels was safer and more profitable.

But suddenly, Bastel changed.

After his merchant group was attacked once, he rebuilt the Golden Wing Merchant Group.

As soon as he rebuilt it, somehow, he started selling magical items with the backing of the Fire Magic Tower.

‘Insolent brat.’

Bastel naturally rejected Viscount Rosemund.

Though bloodline was important to the Viscount, money was more important.

Bastel was just a grandson – it didn’t matter if he was gone.

Moreover, if he turned his blade against him? No need to even discuss it.

In the end, the Viscount and the Count requested an assassination to deal with his grandson, who could become a threat in the future.

But that assassination failed.

‘How coincidental.’

After the assassination attempt on Bastel failed, the Count met an absurd death.

The timing of everything was too perfect.

‘I’ll have to watch quietly for now.’

Though he had suspicions, there was no physical evidence.

The assassination request was carried out in absolute secrecy from the start.

The probability of information leaking was infinitesimally low, and Bastel didn’t have the ability to discover it.

Viscount Rosemund thought perhaps it really was another group with a grudge.

* * *

Things were going so well for me that I wondered if it was okay for everything to work out this smoothly.

Today was the day Bastel would officially transfer all his merchant group shares to Bella.

Since shares couldn’t be transferred without meeting face-to-face, Bella came to the mansion herself to see Bastel.

Though I had obtained Bastel’s merchant group according to my plan, I felt strange.

‘It feels empty, so empty.’

Things were progressing so smoothly that it felt hollow.

As I closed my eyes to organize my thoughts, there was a knock.

“Young master, Lady Bella has arrived.”

“Ah, yes. Come in.”

The door opened with Chloe’s voice.

And Bella appeared.

As soon as she closed the door, she naturally cast a spell.

Now, no one but Bella and I can hear the conversation.

That meant she had something important to say.

Bella sat down immediately without even accepting my greeting.

“I didn’t expect you to move this quickly.”

I silently nodded at her words.

“Well, Bastel did transfer the shares earlier than expected.”

Bella shook her head and continued.

“No, not that. I mean about the Imperial Merchant Association.”

Imperial Merchant Association?

Ah, come to think of it, I had heard that the Imperial Merchant Association might have been behind this attack.

I heard it from Emilia, who frequently contacts Bella, so this conversation must be related to that.

“Right, how’s the Imperial Merchant Association?”

The last instruction I gave to Emilia was simple.

If it really was the association’s doing, order Bella to give them a warning.

But Bella looked at me and marveled.

“Wow, that expression of complete ignorance… You’re really not someone to be underestimated. To be so calm even though the association’s leader is dead… I didn’t expect you to act this swiftly.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at her words.

“What? The association leader is dead?”

“I understand. I won’t press further. Since it’s officially concluded as an accidental fall, let’s leave it at that. In any case, you’re much more impressive than I thought, Young Lord.”

That’s when I felt something was off about my conversation with Bella.

‘What’s going on?’

From the atmosphere of the conversation, Bella seemed to suspect me of the association leader’s death.

But I truly knew nothing about it.

Wasn’t this matter only known to Bella, Emilia, and me from the start?

Moreover, Bella first mentioned that the association might be behind the attack, and Emilia relayed it to me.

The same went for the message about warning the Imperial Merchant Association.

“…”

Suddenly, something felt off.

I wanted to confirm whether this was just a misunderstanding or if it was real.

“Didn’t you first mention that the association might be behind the attack?”

But Bella raised her voice, asking what I was talking about.

She denied ever saying such a thing.

“No. Of course, I had suspicions. But there was no physical evidence, right? So I didn’t mention it separately.”

Then what message did Emilia deliver, and who did she hear it from?

Emilia definitely said:

– Regarding Bastel’s attack, Bella is currently looking for related information. She thinks the Imperial Merchant Association might be involved.

That Bella was looking for information and suspected the Imperial Merchant Association’s involvement.

Shortly after, I could arrive at one conclusion.

‘Ah…’

Why had I missed it?

When I first escaped from the underground mine, I had some suspicions about Emilia.

Emilia was in charge of meal distribution in the underground mine, and at first, I thought it was because she wasn’t feeling well.

But right after escaping the mine, I learned that Emilia’s physical strength was better than most men.

And even when Celestia’s hounds turned the mine upside down, Emilia was safe.

At the time, I thought she was just lucky, but looking back now, I see that there were many strange points.

‘Even when delivering letters to Bella, Emilia found her quickly, right?’

Then, too, I thought she just got lucky finding Bella, who was visiting the territory.

At first glance, one might think everything just fell into place luckily.

‘But what if none of this was luck?’

Who exactly was Emilia?

She followed me well.

When escaping the mine, when I asked her to come to the Hartwell Count’s family – she thoroughly followed my words.

As if she knew exactly who I was.

“…”

A chill ran down my spine as my thoughts reached that point.

Everything fit together like a puzzle.

‘Shit.’

She wouldn’t have followed without reason.

Emilia saw something in me.

And that something was most likely.

‘Celestia’s hounds followed me.’

The dark hounds’ master is Celestia.

Yet they followed me?

‘She knew I was the Leader.’

There was no other way to explain the current situation.

At the same time, that meant Emilia was a member of Black Raven.

As all thoughts came together, the status window appeared.

[…18%, 19%… Synchronization progress has reached 20%.]

[From now on, you can check the list of direct guard ‘Phantom’ members adjacent to the Leader.]

– Gray Reaper

* * *

When I achieved 10% synchronization, I could give orders to Black Raven.

Now, at 20%, I could check the list of Phantoms close to me.

‘Authority is growing bit by bit.’

Gray Reaper.

Just looking at the alias alone, it seemed to refer to Emilia with her gray hair.

No, it was certain.

‘To think Emilia was a Phantom.’

That one fact made everything that had happened until now make sense.

The problem was that Emilia was a Phantom.

‘Weren’t Phantoms supposed to hold grudges against me?’

It was just my assumption, but it was reasonable suspicion.

In the game, Phantoms were literally experimental subjects.

They conducted experiments recklessly, just treating them as disposable.

If lucky, they gained powerful abilities, but if not, characters would disappear – that’s how ruthlessly they were cultivated.

‘But why is Phantom a direct guard unit?’

Even the alert’s content was somewhat different from what I was thinking.

‘I don’t understand.’

In any case, surviving the reckless experiments meant Emilia was that powerful of an existence.

‘But Emilia wasn’t a character in my memories?’

Of course, there was a high chance I had overlooked her.

Phantoms were disposable cards, so I didn’t pay much attention. Since I constantly applied cursed equipment or mysterious scrolls with the risk of disappearance, changing appearances was common.

‘Let’s pretend not to know for now.’

Though I didn’t know why Emilia quietly followed my words, acting normal for now was the right choice.

After a moment of silence, Emilia’s voice was heard from outside the door.

“Lord Ethan, I’ve brought juice.”

“Ah… yes. Come in.”

Emilia carefully opened the door and entered.

Her face wore the same calm expression as always.

‘Her footsteps are so quiet.’

Now that I knew Emilia was a Phantom, every action caught my attention.

She skillfully handed juice to Bella and me.

At the same time, the status window appeared.

– Gray Reaper (Nearby)

[Gray Reaper currently feels pleased about serving the Leader.]

“…”

You really didn’t need to tell me that.