Chapter 14
"Damn it! That brat... How dare he reject my proposal!"
At the Auster Trading Company, the company president, Guez Auster, slamd his fist on the desk.
The thick, bulging veins on Guez's forehead clearly showed just how furious and agitated he was.
"Even though I said I'd return the money... Even though I offered an absurd amount of gold for a re countryside priest, that insolent brat! Is he really that taken with that useless daughter's body!?"
That man, Reina's biological father, had sold his daughter to the shrine just a few days ago.
But now, two months after the sale, he was trying to get Reina back sohow.
At present, Reina was the talk of the town.
There was word of an angelic young Sister—an exceptionally talented girl who, despite being only ten, could use healing magic.
Thinking it couldn't be, he had his subordinates investigate... and the one at the shrine turned out to be none other than his useless daughter, Reina, reborn as a completely different person.
His instincts as a rchant were telling him sothing.
Reina, as she was now, could fetch an outrageous price.
She wouldn't just be so rich man's second wife... Nobles in the royal capital might stack up gold—enough to buy a castle—just to have her.
"I failed... I failed... I never imagined that girl would change so much...!"
"P-President, what shall we do? Should we pressure the shrine and take her back by force?"
A subordinate standing nearby made the suggestion.
Normally, that would've been the move... but Guez shook his head.
"...No. She's connected to the Byrne Marquis family. Applying pressure would backfire."
The priest who took Reina in—Clael Byrne—was a mber of the Byrne Marquis family, a powerful noble house in the royal capital.
It was unclear how much backing he had from his family... but if they opposed him directly, they risked having their trade routes crushed and their company destroyed.
"Then... are we giving up on the girl?"
"Don't be stupid. She's a golden goose. I must get her back no matter what."
Guez clasped his hands on the desk and fell into thought.
That priest nad Clael understood Reina's value well. That's precisely why he didn't accept when offered money.
(Is he planning to sell that woman at a high price, just like I would? Or maybe he plans to adopt her into the Byrne Marquis family and marry her off to royalty? Or—could it be he's after her body too?)
Guez never considered the possibility of genuine goodwill.
To Guez, humans were creatures driven by lust and greed—he had no faith in emotions like kindness or compassion.
Even priests were the sa.
Though they grandly called themselves clergy, they were all just greedy frauds spreading worthless teachings in the na of God to line their own pockets.
He was convinced Clael Byrne was no different.
"...It can't be helped. I'll have the sewer rats kidnap her."
The 'sewer rats' were Guez's subordinates who handled illegal work that couldn't be exposed publicly.
He had them do all sorts of dirty work—attacking rival companies, cultivating and selling drugs, kidnapping young won to sell to brothels...
"A-Are you sure about this? If we're found out..."
"As long as we're not caught, it's fine. There are plenty of ways to do it."
Even if they used the sewer rats to retrieve Reina, they couldn't keep her at the company or the mansion.
But... if they took her outside the town and locked her up in a suitable hideout, no one would find out that Guez was behind the abduction.
Once things cooled down, they could change her na and sell her off.
(Maybe I should use a potion to erase her mory. Or perhaps I could win over a noble ranked even higher than the Byrne Marquis family...)
"First, we must secure the girl. Take care of it before the Byrne Marquis family catches wind of our movents and interferes."
"...Understood. I'll relay that to the rats."
The subordinate bowed respectfully and left the room.
With this, Reina would soon be back in Guez's grasp.
"Heh... I don't know what changed you so much, but don't think you can escape your father's hands."
In the end, that girl was just a tool.
If Guez wished it, no matter how far she ran, she would always be brought back.
A tool has no will or freedom of its own.
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