Dekan Didn't Cheat Honest People
Inside the church.
Morion took the keys from the mayor's pocket and hasn't returned for almost an hour.
Meanwhile, Dekan, who remained in the church, had already skillfully bound the unconscious engineer and locked him in the Confessional.
Then he helped the mayor to a seat.
He was left lying on the long table.
Finally Dekan, holding paper, pen, and documents he had obtained from the engineer, studied the bridge design proposal Morion had requested.
Several tens of minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
Finally, the heavy doors of the church were pushed open again, and Morion seemed to have obtained useful information.
Dekan glanced up at Morion, then continued to focus on his design task.
After all, fulfilling Morion's request would be quite difficult.
But this didn't stump Dekan.
It's just a budget of 30 Holy Gold Coin, right?
Morion, disguised as the mayor, slowly walked up to the real mayor and stuffed the key back into the mayor's pocket untouched.
Then he went to the Confessional, touched the engineer, and activated [Contact Mimicry].
When Morion returned to Dekan's side, he had already transformed into an engineer.
"Did the investigation uncover anything?"
Dekan asked without looking up.
When Morion got a certain distance away from him, he naturally became alert.
"We searched thoroughly, including the mayor's house and other places he was authorized to enter. There was nothing related to the mission, and absolutely no clues related to the Blood Race you mentioned."
Morion leaned back at the table, speaking as he examined Dekan's unfinished design with great interest.
"There's definitely something wrong with this town. If there are no clues in these places, it's very incongruous, as if it's been deliberately wiped out."
Dekan put down his pen, frowned, and muttered to himself.
After all, the story's background is clearly stated: an event is brewing between the town and the city-state.
With the town's priest disappearing and the bridge destroyed a few days ago, changes must have already begun.
It is absolutely impossible to miss any information.
If we can't find the cause using gentle methods, then we'll have to resort to some extreme measures.
However, this will have to wait until Dekan and Cornelia reunite.
In terms of "winning people over with virtue," even without Croix, Dekan Cornelia is an expert in the art.
"But there were still some gains."
Morion smiled smugly and continued:
"That mayor is absolutely a greedy bastard. He seems very frugal, but I just went to his house and there are quite a few good things hidden in the attic."
Dekan chuckled coldly, "No wonder the mayor is so hostile towards me; he's worried I'll find out who he is."
Morion: "It's probably worth over a thousand Holy Gold Coin."
Dekan: "What are you talking about? The mayor is clearly honest and upright."
Morion: "Oh, I was mistaken. There really isn't a single penny in his attic."
The two discovered another treasure.
However, they are not in a hurry to withdraw the money; for now, their strategy is to maintain their status as law-abiding citizens.
Because Dekan did not increase the dosage of anesthesia given to the mayor.
I reckon it'll be almost time for me to wake up.
Soon, Dekan gently knocked on the door of the sleeping mayor.
"You..."
The mayor awoke from his coma, looked around, and found himself sitting in the church.
He rubbed his head; besides feeling dizzy, his forehead also ached a little.
"The church was too dark. You tripped over some books scattered on the floor when you entered and fell unconscious."
Dekan explained gently from the side.
He looked just like a kind priest.
The mayor nodded with some skepticism, but soon noticed that only the masked priest and the engineer were in sight.
However, the guard from before had vanished without a trace.
Where is the guard?
The mayor asked, puzzled.
"I sent him back to the caravan to find some medicine for your external injuries."
Morion, now disguised as an engineer, mimicked the original owner's tone.
The mayor nodded, feeling a little uneasy, but he didn't suspect them much.
After all, in such a short time, how could they possibly switch people out?
No matter what, there's a legitimate priest here, so safety isn't an issue.
"Mayor, I've recalculated the bridge repair costs and realized that the 300 Holy Gold Coin quote might not be enough."
Morion's expression suddenly became somewhat troubled.
"So, how much do you need?"
"It might cost 500 Holy Gold Coin."
"No, 500 Holy Gold Coin is too much."
The town mayor flatly refused.
"Based on my years of experience, I swear before this priest, in the church, under the idol, that no matter which contractor you hire, it will not cost less than 450 Holy Gold Coin. Moreover, they cannot guarantee quality, unlike us, a professional team."
"..."
The mayor fell silent.
"Unless you agree to this, we will still charge you 300 Holy Gold Coin, but you need to pay me the full amount first to resolve our cash flow issues."
Morion sighed, looking as if he had made a very difficult decision.
"Consider it a service to the townspeople; we'll even pay out of our own pockets to fix the bridge. You know, business hasn't been good lately..."
The mayor raised an eyebrow, seemingly somewhat tempted.
As Morion predicted.
Morion, using his position as mayor, had previously discovered that the mayor could only withdraw 500 Holy Gold Coin from the town's public funds.
If it really costs 500 Holy Gold Coin to repair the bridge, the mayor won't be able to pocket much of it.
So, faced with this offer that was both incredibly tempting and risky, even though it looked like a trap, the mayor still hesitated.
"Please rest assured, we will sign a formal contract with you."
Morion added sincerely.
Meanwhile, Dekan secretly unleashed [Three-Corpse Berserk], tempting the town mayor's greedy thoughts to erupt.
Morion also used a [Friendship Aura] to offset the effects of [Three-Corpse Berserk] on the two of them.
[Friendship Aura]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Rarity: Orange Epic]
[Class: 3]
[Effect: Reduces the impact of mental magic on individuals within the area and lowers the hatred all individuals have towards the caster. The size of the area determines the mana cost.]
[Note: Thank you so much.]
This card is the very mental magic Morion used during his previous secret confrontation with Dekan.
The mayor seemed to lose his mind for a moment, snatching the contract Morion handed him as if it were a robbery.
"Then I'll pay 300 Holy Gold Coin in full!"
"I'm glad you made the right judgment."
The mayor then led Morion away from the church to find the accountant, where they collected the money, signed the contract, and made the payment all in one smooth motion.