Chapter 103: Unable to Find Happiness

Being able to freely control zombies turned out to be more convenient than I had imagined.

In the labyrinth, the zombies would find the corpses and throw them into the jars. They would also create the corpses for me. All I had to do was wait in the temple.

When there were too many zombies, I would gouge out their jewel eyes and kill them. The empty shells of corpses could be left on the lower levels, and the monsters would take care of them by devouring them. It was a convenient food chain that had been established.

At my feet, there was a pile of gemstones. Each one was a breathtakingly beautiful jewel, but now they looked cheap and worthless.

Initially, I had discreetly taken one or two gemstones to the adventurer’s tavern to sell them, so as not to arouse suspicion. However, I received very meager amounts of money compared to the increasing quantity of gemstones.

I didn’t have any connections to sell them. Once again, I realized that I was at the bottom of the adventurer hierarchy.

Adventurers carried weapons and emitted a foul stench. Despite being necessary for monster extermination, they never received favorable looks from the townspeople. In fact, it was not uncommon for them to cause trouble, so it was inevitable that they would be viewed in such a way.

I needed an accomplice who would buy even suspicious gemstones without asking questions. It was then that I suddenly remembered my father.

A father whom I had never seen, who had played with and abandoned my mother. I had tried to avoid him as much as possible, but I couldn’t help being curious, so I had researched the Tubris Company many times.

The Tubris Company was in decline. However, I didn’t think it was appropriate to dismiss the current head, Tubris, as simply incompetent.

He had simply been unlucky. It could be said that he had the talent to toss a coin and get tails ten times in a row. If you bet on heads, it would come up tails. That’s the kind of man he was.

When he bought a large amount of wheat, there was an abnormal abundance that year, causing the prices to plummet. He sold everything and withdrew from the wheat market, only for a war to break out the following year.

He tried to stock up on weapons and sell them, but there were too many business rivals with the same idea, so he ended up selling at low prices.

When he collected a large amount of wood for building fortresses and siege weapons, he made a profit of several hundred gold coins. It was enough to make up for all the previous failures. But the horse-drawn carriage carrying the gold coins collapsed and fell off a cliff due to heavy rain.

Everything he did backfired. He must have been at a loss as to what was the right answer.

Nevertheless, he didn’t abandon his duties as the head. He respected his ancestors and parents, and he had the will to protect and preserve the inherited company.

It was quite convenient.

I visited the Tubris Company and expressed my desire to meet the head. Even though I was a filthy adventurer fallen on hard times, I couldn’t expect to be accepted for a meeting with the company’s leader out of the blue.

I showed the bag filled with gemstones. When one of the gems was held by the attending servant, he hurriedly went to the master and obtained permission. The power of treasure was great. And I understood why the sin of bribery never disappeared from this world.

I was led to the reception room, where I met my father for the first time. Instead of a mysterious and dangerous man who could attract women, Tubris looked like a worn-out face tired of being manipulated by the world.

I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Was my mother’s extravagant life and the ruin of my own life all because of this man? If he had been a better man, I might have accepted it.

“I heard you have a profitable deal,” Tubris said in an irritated voice. He was looking at my waist, but there was no desire in his eyes. It was the look of someone contemplating whether to throw away the chair that the smelly woman had sat on.

I opened the mouth of the leather bag wide and placed it on the table. Tubris had probably heard the story from the servant, but he still couldn’t hide his surprise when faced with the actual gems.

“I would like you to buy these. Not just for a one-time deal, but to continue providing gemstones,” I said.

Tubris’s expression tightened. He seemed to be calculating how much profit could be made by selling this amount of gemstones when their value increased, and what could be done with that profit.

The profile of a man absorbed in his work had its own charm, but I doubted if it was enough for a woman to devote her life to.

“Where did you get these?” he asked.

“Through my own channels.”

“Explain in detail. I won’t accept it if it turns out to be stolen goods.”

He was cautious, not being swayed by immediate desires. It was natural considering that the one bringing the story was a suspicious adventurer.

I told him about the secret technique of turning the dead into gemstones deep within the labyrinth. It might have been reckless, but I wanted my father to bear the same sin. I didn’t intend to let it end with just making money and pretending he didn’t know anything.

My father looked at me as if he were seeing a monster.

“…Will that be forgiven, such a thing?”

“Who is it that won’t forgive?”

“What?”

“There’s no one who wouldn’t forgive it, right?”

“What are you saying?”

“It’s not against the law, is it?”

The laws of the earldom didn’t apply inside the labyrinth. Killing people or stealing things had no consequences. Investigations in the labyrinth couldn’t be carried out every time an incident occurred.

If nobles were victims, they wouldn’t be able to say such things, but in the first place, nobles wouldn’t come anywhere near such filthy places.

Furthermore, only adventurers were being killed, and they were not snatching people from the town to use as sacrifices. Whatever death the rogues met didn’t concern the rulers.

“But if it becomes known that the gemstones are made by gouging out zombie eyeballs, our company’s image…”

“Just keep it quiet.”

Tubris fell into contemplation again.

There was no point in hesitating. Considering the financial difficulties of the Tubris Company, they had no choice but to accept this deal.

I deliberately looked around the reception room.

“If you hang a painting over there, the room’s atmosphere would greatly improve, don’t you think?”

“You…!”

Tubris glared sharply. He had been selling off inherited artworks one after another. I had mentioned it casually, thinking there might be some here, and it seemed to have hit the mark.

“Fine, I’ll accept it. But why did you bring a profitable deal to us? Did you think we would accept even a suspicious deal because the company is in decline?”

“That’s one reason, but also because you’re my father.”

“What…?”

Tubris looked more annoyed than surprised. I told him about my mother, but his expression didn’t change.

“I’m sorry, but I have no recollection of it.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaking me for someone else?”

“Please don’t deny my mother’s life!”

I unintentionally slammed the desk. A stifling atmosphere filled the reception room.

“Besides, it’s strange to receive hundreds of gold coins as a severance payment. It’s not a noble’s dowry. The usual price would be around ten gold coins. Even if you add a bit for the child, such an amount is unthinkable.”

Tubris counted on his fingers. He must have been thinking about the woman he had abandoned, but my mother wasn’t there.

This man was despicable. I didn’t expect a heartwarming reunion between father and daughter, but I hadn’t imagined I would feel so uncomfortable.

I just wanted him to apologize to my mother with a single word.

But that couldn’t be achieved.

“I will prepare the money.”

Saying that, Tubris left the reception room, and after a while, a servant carrying a bag of gold coins entered.

We had several transactions after that, but I always dealt with the servant, never meeting Tubris face to face.

I couldn’t help but feel curious about the woman I passed by in the town. We didn’t speak or even see each other’s faces. She was a woman I didn’t know from anywhere.

I felt there was some intention behind it, despite noticing the foul stench. It was a story that could go on endlessly once you started thinking about it.

This transaction wouldn’t last forever. That woman left only a sense of impending doom in my heart.

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