Episode 335 – The Greedy Adjudicator (1)
[Azonne Vistas – Hand of Midas (Fortune)]
[Eye of Greed]
[Gilded Eye of the Golden Castle]
[Coinmaker of Midas]
[Greedy Adjudicator (Target: Bearer of the Divine Na)]
[Owner of the Black Market]
Through Lily, I confird Azonne’s Divine Na.
Thankfully, there were no surprises.
That ant I could proceed as planned, assuming he was the sa Azonne from the novel.
And if that’s the case, there’s only one thing I need to be wary of.
[Greedy Adjudicator (Target: Bearer of the Divine Na)]
That skill, the Greedy Adjudicator, was the only offensive ability Azonne possessed, despite being close to an ordinary person.
But that one ability was nearly broken in its potency.
As I was recalling Azonne’s background and thinking it through, Lily looked up at with a questioning gaze.
“But hey, why aren’t there any witches?”
“What?”
“I heard it from the elves here. So of the ones who got captured were witches too. But the inn is full of elves—no witches anywhere.”
“So where are the witches?”
At Lily’s question, I let out a bitter smile.
As expected of a fellow witch.
She was the only one who noticed sothing that hadn’t occurred to anyone else.
No one had questioned the absence of witches among the rescued captives.
But of course, I knew the reason.
“They’re probably sowhere else.”
“Sowhere else? Like where?”
Most witches are born with a destiny to serve a Divine Na.
In other words, those who serve the gods.
And that destiny stoked the greed of humans.
After the Witch Slaughter, witches hid away under a barrier in the forest of Ordoro, so capture rates declined, but witch hunts still continued.
And most captured witches end up in one place—
A place that uses witches as vessels to absorb curses, extracting Divine Na data, then leveraging that information to gain trendous wealth and influence.
The Black Market.
The Black Market was a force built on the sacrifices of witches in its early days.
It wasn’t known for physical might, but for its specialization in information and profit.
And the one who secretly managed it?
Azonne, the Lord of this city.
At Lily’s question, I turned my eyes toward the window.
In the heart of Aintrier stood a massive castle.
The master of that fortress would know exactly where the witches were.
Any witch captured and brought to Aintrier would pass through Azonne’s hands.
“If we ask the master of this place, we’ll find out.”
“The master? That guy from the party?”
I nodded.
Despite his cool and composed appearance, Azonne was soone whose inner thoughts were unreadable.
No one knew yet that he was the owner of the Black Market.
Even throughout the entire novel, only a handful of characters ever realized his secret.
And Lily wasn’t one of them.
In Lily’s case, she loses her ability to read Divine Nas when she awakens as the “Great Witch” after losing her forest.
That transformation turns her into the infamous “Black Star” due to her powerful curse, but even then, she never discovered Azonne’s secret.
Only two characters in the entire story knew the truth about Azonne.
One was a mysterious figure with exceptional ability to sense Divine Nas—the Arcane of Fate.
The other was the regressor, Kal Blazer.
Kal uncovered the Black Market’s secrets while investigating Azonne to shake Aintrier from within.
That, in turn, led to his early death.
Despite being a genius, Kal couldn’t withstand the pressure from Hell Gri’s three powers—Demtoar, Aintrier, and Pri Root.
And among those three, Pri Root had Lily and Fenley—who had lost loved ones to Kal’s actions—on their side.
Once Azonne set the stage and the “Black Star” versions of Lily and Fenley began to move aggressively, Demtoar, who had once cooperated with Kal, turned against him.
But still—
"If Kal had just a bit more ti, he would’ve brought down Hell Gri.”
At that ti, Kal had nearly completed a grand plan to dismantle Hell Gri.
That’s why, as a reader, I knew how to counter Azonne.
I also—Knew how to bring down Demtoar.
But I chose not to use those thods.
Because each one of them led to grueso outcos—massacres, disasters.
They were all plans centered solely on conquest.
There’s a reason Kal bore the star of the Butcher.
“Then should we go ask now?”
“You an the lord of that castle?”
“You said if we ask, we’d find out, right?”
I never actually said he’d tell us if we asked...
But knowing Lily, she might actually go ask Azonne directly about the witches.
Sothing like, “Are you the head of the Black Market?”
If she asks that, things could spiral out of control fast.
With a serious expression, I grabbed Lily by the shoulders.
“Lily, I have a plan. Can you trust and wait?”
“Hmm… okay.”
“You promise?”
“...”
Lily gave a smile as her way of saying “yes.”
Just in case, we even hooked pinkies.
She could be odd, but she had never once broken a promise, so I could rest easy.
“I’m hungry.”
“Wait! I’ll get sothing.”
As I rubbed my stomach, Lily jingled her bell and darted down the stairs.
I chuckled and looked out the window.
The darkened castle lood eerily today.
“I hope there’s a response.”
I’d thrown out the Everfell family as bait. Who would bite?
Would Azonne move himself?
Or soone else?
As I considered the figures surrounding Azonne, one person ca to mind.
Nagrock, the vice tower master of the Ivory Tower.
Just thinking of him made my brows furrow.
I still hadn’t made a clear judgnt on him.
Would he be an ally or an enemy?
“Why did he reject the eting?”
After we successfully negotiated with the Lenon Workshop, I’d secretly asked Italus to arrange a eting with Nagrock.
The Ivory Tower had once protected the Lenon Workshop. They had history.
So Italus had been confident, but there was no response.
It wasn’t until earlier, in the carriage, that Antonio relayed Nagrock’s answer.
“‘For now,’ it’s a rejection…”
Our first encounter had been abrupt and in the forest, but Nagrock hadn’t looked hostile—just surprised.
He had even seed sowhat friendly toward the World Tree Union.
So why reject the eting?
Still, his response included the phrase “for now,” which suggested future contact might be possible.
“I can ask his reasons later, I guess.”
I had already left a ssage for him to reach out anyti. If he changed his mind, he’d contact .
“Now, all that’s left is to wait.”
That went for the portal, the bait I’d cast, even Nagrock’s potential reply.
It was a ti to stay still and hunker down.
“Here you go!”
While I was reflecting on all this at the window, Lily returned carrying a basket of freshly baked bread.
She probably hadn’t baked it herself.
It looked like she was making full use of the innkeeper.
Well, I was paying him generously, so it should be fine.
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
The savory aroma made my stomach rumble.
I sat down with her at a makeshift table and began eating.
As she ate across from , Lily chatted nonstop about her day in the inn.
She must’ve been holding it in the whole ti I was gone.
“You didn’t talk to anyone else?”
“Nope. Boring. Their reactions are weird.”
Apparently, most people found Lily hard to approach.
Which wasn’t surprising—she was known as the “Witch of Terror.”
If it was soone’s first ti seeing her, of course they’d be intimidated.
“You could talk to Keros.”
“Dummy. Keros can’t talk.”
That wasn’t what I ant, but she still called a dummy.
I passed so ti casually chatting with her.
After a while, things outside got noisy.
Carriages began lining up between the torches at the building’s entrance.
Lily spotted it through the window and smiled wide before dashing downstairs.
“Be right back!”
Where to, I had no clue.
Seeing her mischievous grin made think, No way…
A mont later, I heard a familiar voice yelling from the first floor.
“Damn witch! Cut it out already! How many tis is this now?! Aren’t you tired of this?!”
Karl’s voice, flailing as he scread into the air.
He must’ve gotten caught in the barrier again.
Despite his complaints, it was no use.
Soon, his defeated voice rang out.
“A-Beautiful Lady Lily, please open the door…”
“Louder!”
Lily’s shout echoed after it.
***
—Elsewhere—
A golden chair draped in the finest silk.
A middle-aged man, eyes closed, stroked the red silk fabric gently as he picked up a wine glass.
The dark crimson wine touched his lips, slid down his throat.
Brilliant colors bathed him in a radiant glow.
His study, crafted by the finest artisans using the finest jewels, would leave anyone in awe.
Clink—
He set the glass down, savoring the taste before slowly opening his eyes.
A man with a composed face, dressed in golden robes and adorned with red jewels—he looked like a king flaunting his wealth.
But—
“Azonne Vistas! Are you playing gas with right now?!”
The wizard standing before Azonne saw none of the splendor.
With a sharp glare, the mage—Vice Tower Master Nagrock—glowered at him.
Azonne smiled softly and stood from his chair.
Nagrock’s intense aura pressed down on the room, but Azonne remained calm.
Seeing that, Nagrock let out a quiet groan.
I heard his strength was ordinary...
Nagrock wasn’t a “star” of Demtoar, but he was a 5-star mage and the bearer of a Divine Na.
He was already being considered as the next star.
When he released his pressure, any regular person should have collapsed or at least gone pale.
But Azonne walked right up to him without a hint of fear.
Nagrock’s eyes caught sothing that annoyed him—red rubies glittering all over Azonne’s robes.
Too shiny. Distractingly so.
Azonne gave a refreshing smile and asked,
“Why are you upset, Lord Nagrock?”
“How can I not be?! Didn’t you say you’d support our side? And now you’re saying ‘sorry’ all of a sudden? Isn’t that just a rejection?!”
“It is a rejection.”
“…What?!”
Nagrock was staying in Aintrier as a proxy for Tower Master Modine of the Ivory Tower.
He’d co to persuade Azonne and bring Aintrier’s power to their side.
Talks had been going well—until this morning, when everything flipped.
Azonne had declared support for Duke Clark instead.
Nagrock bit his lip, glaring.
Azonne shrugged and calmly stepped back.
“I said I’d consider it positively. I never promised anything.”
“What nonsense! Just yesterday—!”
“A person’s heart is like a reed, swaying between yesterday and today. Especially rchants.”
“And it’s not like we signed a contract, is it?”
Azonne pulled out a piece of black parchnt.
As he unfolded it, white letters shimred across it.
Nagrock’s eyes widened—he knew instantly what it was.
“A Black Tower Oath Scroll?!”
An Oath Scroll was a relic of the Black Tower, binding the promises of stars in blood.
Only Gram Serphim could wield them.
They required both parties’ blood to activate.
Which ant… if Azonne had one—
Gram had personally co here.
Nagrock’s face twisted in disbelief.
To abandon Demtoar at a ti like this?
Unthinkable.
Yet Azonne gave a slight nod.
And Nagrock’s expression contorted.
Gram Serphim.
That snake of a woman had been here.
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