Is It So Wrong that I Like Seeing the Villain Suffer? - Chapter 11

Gillian Moril spoke in a highly arrogant voice.

“In the case of the Morris Mine… as you know, it’s the best mine in the empire, not just House Moril….”

He was about to name an enormous price that even he felt a little guilty about.

“No, that’s enough.”

Arkle’s single word cut him off.

“Let’s not hear the price of the Morris Mine. I’m not going to buy it anyway.”

Gillian’s eyes widened.

“What did you just say—”

Arkle’s next words were even more shocking.

“House Cayenne will buy the Wensle Mine.”

“The Wensle Mine?!”

Gillian shouted without realizing it.

He quickly shut his mouth, but he couldn’t hide his agitation.

Arkle, who had been expressionless all along, seemed to have a slight smile on his lips.

Could it be that guy knows?

Gillian gritted his teeth.

‘No, that can’t be.’

It must be acting like this hoping I would lower the price.

Gillian forced a smile and spoke.

“Alright. I’ll lower the price for you.”

“……”

“I’ll give you a reasonable price, so you don’t have to pretend you’re not interested.”

“It seems you didn’t understand me.”

Arkle spoke in a resolute voice without any change in expression.

“No matter what price you set for the Morris Mine, I’m not interested. I clearly said I want the Wensle Mine.”

“……”

Gillian swallowed dryly.

Arkle continued speaking casually.

“As far as I know, the Wensle Mine doesn’t have a large deposit of magical stones, so it’s not considered important by House Moril, right?”

“……”

“So if House Cayenne bought it, it would be an enormous gain. As you said, the timing is perfect.”

“Haha, well, this is…”

Gillian laughed awkwardly, desperately trying to think.

No matter how he looked at it, Arkle wasn’t joking or acting. He truly wanted the Wensle Mine.

‘Absolutely not…! Just take the Morris Mine and leave!’

In fact, the Morris Mine was not the gold mine of top-quality magical stones as rumored, but an ordinary small-scale mine.

The magical stones known as top-quality were just superficially polished. Some were even low-quality defective products.

On the other hand, the Wensle Mine, unknown to the public, was the real treasure trove.

It contained not only high-purity magical stones but also all kinds of herbs and minerals used as materials for magical tools….

‘The Wensle Mine has it all.’

Gillian looked at Arkle with cold eyes.

House Moril had been deceiving others by selling the Morris Mine’s magical stones at high prices, while secretly profiting from the Wensle Mine’s magical stones.

They kept the truth about the Wensle Mine a secret to avoid attracting attention… but how on earth did Arkle Cayenne know?

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

“……”

“You said you needed funds for business.”

Of course, that was a lie too.

He just intended to sell the worthless Morris Mine for a fortune.

Arkle’s red eyes piercingly stared at him.

Gillian forced a sly smile. He spoke regrettably.

“Are you really not interested in buying the Morris Mine? If so… unfortunately, the deal is off.”

“……”

“The meal was good.”

He stood up and spoke to the servant.

“Prepare the carriage. I’m returning immediately.”

“Wait.”

At Arkle’s word, Gillian turned his head to look at him.

Arkle spoke quietly, looking at Gillian’s plate.

“Isn’t there still half of the food left?”

“I’m sorry, but since the business is over, I want to return as soon as possible.”

“It seems you don’t like this place? That’s a shame. We’ve prepared dessert.”

“Dessert?”

Gillian raised an eyebrow.

“Juan, bring it.”

“Yes, Master.”

At Arkle’s command, the bespectacled man who had been standing behind him went somewhere.

He returned shortly with a bundle of papers in his hands.

Gillian squinted at the papers and froze.

They were newspaper articles.

Arkle received the articles from the man and slowly read the headline.

“Explosion of magical stones from the Morris Mine… many workers injured during transportation.”

“How did you—”

‘How did you get your hands on that?’

Lize, who had been listening to the entire conversation from behind the wall, hummed quietly and laughed.

❖ ❖ ❖

While covering my mouth with one hand and laughing quietly, I made eye contact with Juan, who was looking this way.

When I gave him a thumbs-up, Juan shook his head wearily.

No wonder he’s tired.

“Juan! I need you to do something for me right now.”

“My lady. I’m sorry, but I still have some work left. I just started reviewing the documents— Ah, please give back my documents!”

“I’ll give them back if you do me a favor.”

“Give them back! I really have a little left… Ah, alright—! Okay, so don’t tear them—! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

That’s how I pushed Juan’s back to get the newspaper articles.

I already knew Gillian Moril was committing fraud with the Morris Mine.

‘Martha would be furious when she finds out later.’

She was almost ready to storm into House Moril with all the articles.

Anyway, that’s when a question arose.

Among the magical stones from the Morris Mine, there were defective ones, so why hadn’t it been a problem until now?

After thinking carefully, there was only one answer.

‘They silenced it.’

Surely, it couldn’t be that no one mentioned it. Yet, the Morris Mine was still able to do business because they covered it all up.

‘I’m familiar with this happening even in modern times. In such cases, the first thing the parties do is…’

Control the media.

I immediately asked Juan to find out if there were any articles that were recalled shortly after publication, and as a result, we found one about the explosion of magical stones.

The exploded magical stones were, as expected, from the Morris Mine.

“According to the writer of the article, an order suddenly came from above to recall and destroy all published copies.”

“Hmm… as expected.”

“He said it happened a few times before, but can a single reporter reveal this to the world?”

“They can’t, not alone. Corporate media manipulation is terrifying.”

“What?”

Juan looked puzzled, but I just smiled broadly.

“…However, if a big backer helps, the story changes, doesn’t it?”

I looked at the newspaper article in Arkle’s hand with satisfaction.

I had instructed Arkle on what to say while showing him the article.

And now,

“—I’ll spread it. This fact.”

Arkle was following my instructions clearly.

“You might have been able to silence a small newspaper, but House Cayenne will be difficult.”

Color completely drained from Gillian’s face.

Arkle glanced at Gillian’s trembling face and continued speaking indifferently.

“House Cayenne wants just one thing. Hand over the Wensle Mine.”

“Am I crazy to—!”

“Unless you’re crazy.”

Arkle interrupted Gillian with a cold voice.

“You wouldn’t have recklessly distributed magical stones that could explode at any time. It was possible because you were crazy, wasn’t it?”

“……”

“I hope you enjoy the dessert.”

Arkle put down the newspaper article and casually drank from his glass.

I chuckled and looked at him with curious eyes.

‘What, he can make jokes too.’

I thought he was just an emotionless man, but he knows how to make a witty jab.

“What will you do? You seemed eager to return quickly, but I don’t intend to keep you long.”

“……”

“I’m not asking for the Wensle Mine for free, I’m proposing a legitimate deal.”

“…Y-you…”

“……”

“Do you think you’re in a position to threaten me? You’re the truly vicious one here…!”

Gillian, pale as a sheet, pointed a trembling finger at Arkle, who was sitting across from him.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Arkle asked quietly.

His voice was flat, but there was a chilling intimidation in it.

Gillian flinched as if he felt it too.

“Why do you say Cayenne is vicious?”

Arkle stood up from his seat.

He spoke as he slowly approached Gillian, step by step.

“We’ve never committed fraud or sold dangerous goods like you scoundrels.”

Gillian, trembling and stepping back, opened his mouth with difficulty as if he couldn’t find his voice.

“…L-L-Lize Allenheim!”

Arkle stopped walking and looked at Gillian calmly.

“I know Lize is here. What do you think will happen if Allenheim finds out…?”

“……”

“No matter how devout Allenheim is, they won’t turn their back on their daughter. They’ll bring all their knights and storm this place. You should be prepared for war…!”

“War, you say.”

“Yes, even the great Cayenne won’t be able to avoid shedding blood. A single holy knight from Allenheim has the ability to match an entire unit.”

One corner of Gillian’s mouth twisted.

“Now you understand, don’t you? You’re not in a position to threaten me. You should be begging me instead.”

“Is that so.”

When Arkle spoke indifferently without any agitation, Gillian gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Don’t pretend to be calm! I also have evidence that Lize is here…!”

Gillian took something out of his pocket. It was hard to see from afar, but it was a thin, silver object.

‘…Could that be my hair?’

I was dumbfounded as I looked back and forth between the silver hair in Gillian’s hand and my own hair.

“The Allenheim family would recognize it at a glance. That it’s their daughter’s.”

Gillian said triumphantly, holding the hair in his hand.

“Don’t think of harming me. Before coming here, I ordered that if I don’t return within a day, the article will be sent immediately.”

“……”

“Do you get it now? The situation you’re in.”

As Arkle silently stared at him, Gillian, regaining his confidence, raised his voice.

“Now then, shall we make a demand from this side? In exchange for me turning a blind eye to the fact that Lize is here, let’s talk about what I’ll receive….”

“—Liar.”

“What?”

As I walked out from behind the wall where I was hiding, both Gillian and Arkle’s gazes turned to me simultaneously.

“You boasted about rescuing me, but now you’re negotiating with it? It’s really hilarious.”

“L-Lize….”

Gillian’s eyes shook madly as he looked at me.

“Why are you so surprised? Didn’t you say you knew I was in this mansion?”

“I-I was just—”

“And why are you taking my hair? Isn’t this complete stalker behavior?”

Gillian’s face hardened.