Ch.21 I Have Urgent Use for It
“April 30, 1795: Purchased fifty pounds of black bread, five pounds of pickled vegetables, expenditure: 2 surs 50 centis.”
“…”
“July 12, 1795: Purchased ten sets of casual shirts, expenditure: 5 surs.”
“…”
“August 2, 1795: Priest granted funding of 100 surs, inco: 100 surs (Note: The originally promised 200 surs funding was halved; the priest said the economy is currently in poor condition and the patrons have no surplus grain left, but I suspect the truth is not like this.)”
“Patrons? As I expected, they have soone backing them.”
“Just not sure which faction is sponsoring these Abyssal cultists. Let
think…”
Luo Nan carefully recalled the division of powers within the Imperial Capital Opalia and throughout the entire Osoke Empire as depicted in ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’, attempting to narrow down the scope based on his past mories.
“Nobles… the Church… even demons…”
“First, exclude the Church. Although the Dawn Church and the Osoke Empire are in conflict, this conflict exists at the macro-political level—they have no reason, nor possibility, to cooperate with Abyssal cultists to assassinate , a re duke’s son.”
“Next, demons. Hmm, demons can also be excluded. If I rember correctly, they have not yet completed internal unification, and the strongest Demon King in ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’ has not yet ascended the throne.”
“Most importantly, they currently have no conflict with —I cannot think of any reason why they would cooperate with Abyssal cultists to assassinate .”
“Thus, the greatest possibility remains the nobles.”
“So it really is those guys?”
Based on the original plot and his current-life mories, Luo Nan analyzed the contradictions among different noble factions. “The scope can probably be narrowed down to a few families within that faction, right?”
After Luo Nan finished flipping through the ledger, he found no other more valuable information.
As for the other record books, they were all ritual records used for worshipping their ‘Master,’ containing even less valuable information.
“Indeed, reality does not work like stories, where villains deliberately leave clues for the protagonist to discover and then follow them to defeat the villains.”
“Or perhaps it’s because I am a villain?”
“Never mind. Strictly speaking, this trip wasn’t entirely wasted—I at least learned that those Abyssal cultists didn’t target
out of personal dislike, but were commissioned by soone behind the scenes.”
“Turns out these guys also need to eat and wear clothes—I thought they could survive on faith alone!”
Unknowingly, Anya had leaned her head over, and the faint scent of the girl drifted into Luo Nan’s nostrils, causing him to instinctively turn his head slightly aside.
“Hmm? You finished searching the cellar? What are you coming over here for?”
Saying this, Luo Nan, taking advantage of his height difference, raised the ledger to a place where the girl could not see it.
“Tch…” Noticing Luo Nan’s action, Anya turned down the corners of her mouth and replied, “Finished searching. These guys are dirt poor—not a single coin left behind.”
“Then let’s go. Oh, take the other notebooks with you. Don’t touch the statue in the center of the altar—leave it for the Church’s professionals to handle later.”
“What about the agreed-upon split…”
“Don’t worry, I won’t shortchange you.”
“Good.”
Saying this, Anya organized the stack of notebooks and carefully cradled them against her chest as she followed Luo Nan out of the cellar.
Pushing open the door and stepping out of the house, Luo Nan looked up at the blazing sun already high in the sky and couldn’t help but raise his hand to shield his eyes. “This weather is truly sweltering.”
“By the way, Anya, take all these notebooks and hand them over to the investigators sent by Princess Serela. Also, notify them to have the Church handle that strange statue in the cellar of this house.”
“Yes, yes, yes—why do you always dump all the work on …”
Anya, holding the notebooks piled up to her chest with visible reluctance, walked toward Apartnt 23.
Only after Anya disappeared from his sight did Luo Nan change his expression. “That assassination plot not appearing in the original storyline—I wonder if it will be connected to Princess Serela’s subsequent plotline. According to my past mories, only in her storyline will the vortex at the center of imperial politics be involved…”
“Never mind, let’s not consider these things too far removed from
for now. The most important thing right now is to prepare properly and save myself from the upcoming ‘collusion with demons’ incident.”
“Also, regarding those Abyssal evil gods—absolutely restrain your curiosity. Do not make contact with them.”
“Those who contact the Abyssal will beco unfortunate!”
“…”
“What are you doing?”
Luo Nan looked at Anya standing before him, one hand on her hip, the other extended toward him.
The girl didn’t reply, rely wiggled slightly the five jade-like fingers stretched toward him.
Seeing this gesture, Luo Nan imdiately understood—
This girl was coming to him for money!
“Alright, alright, I won’t shortchange you.”
Luo Nan, sowhat speechless, reached into his spatial storage device.
Before coming here, he had stored all the materials he needed inside his spatial storage magic device, which was why he could continuously pull out various tools from his chest.
“Let
look… Oh no, I actually didn’t bring any cash.”
“Will a card paynt work?”
Luo Nan pulled out his unlimited-credit black gold card issued by the Imperial National Bank and waved it in front of Anya.
“Huh? I don’t even have…”
The girl almost blurted out the fact that she didn’t have an account with the Imperial National Bank, but the words stuck in her throat.
She absolutely didn’t want this guy to think she didn’t even have a bank account!
“I—I only accept cash paynt! That’s what you agreed with
originally!”
“Did I?” Luo Nan didn’t rember ever agreeing to cash-only paynt with her.
“Yes, absolutely yes!”
Actually, Anya didn’t rember exactly what they had agreed upon a few days ago either, but to cover up the fact that she had no bank account, she had to insist—even if it wasn’t true!
“Besides, you haven’t paid
the 30 plus 30 surs for today, nor the 30 surs from yesterday!”
Anya extended three fingers, bending them down one by one as she continued, “And then there’s the split we just ntioned—I won’t even count the dangerous statue in the cellar. When I handed those notebooks over to the investigators sent by Princess Serela just now, I asked about the price.”
The girl extended another slender jade finger toward Luo Nan. “20 surs—if split evenly, that’s 10 surs. Altogether, it’s 100 surs—you can just give
one Fara!”
“So urgent? Can this young master really shortchange you?”
The reason Anya demanded paynt right now was because she knew that today happened to be the day when most contraband material shops in the underground black market received new shipnts.
She had previously inquired at several shops and learned that the ‘scales from the corner of a rmaid’s eye’, which she needed recently, might be available in the new shipnt.
Although she felt such a trivial material wouldn’t be bought out by others in advance, she still intended to place an order early.
The money she had saved up, plus the one Fara she was owed, would be enough for her to purchase the ‘scales’ without having to pay exorbitant tariffs.
Therefore, she demanded her paynt from Luo Nan.
“I have urgent use for it!” she replied.
Luo Nan remained silent for a mont, deciding not to argue further with this money-obsessed girl. “If you insist on having it right now, then follow
back to the Duke’s mansion.”
“Hurry up!”
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