Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 310

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Chapter 310 – Secret Deal

The man pleaded desperately, clinging to me as if his life depended on it.

“I’ll do whatever you say. Just help me,” he begged.

“Well, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll at least check,” I said, kicking the goblin warrior in front of me.

As he watched its head fly off, he finally grasped the reality of the situation.

Even though the threat of the monster was gone, the man in front of me was still trembling violently.

“Now then, first, what is your name?”

“V-Victor.”

“Victor, I see. As you can see, I could kill you instantly if I wanted to.”

“…”

Therefore, whether or not you live to leave this place is up to you. I will ask you questions to help you stay alive, so please answer them thoroughly and don’t lie.”

“Understood…”

“First and foremost, I need to confirm something with you. Have you entered into a ‘slave contract’ with Marie?”

“Yes, I have.”

“With Marie herself?”

“Yes, with her personally.”

“Was it voluntary or forced?”

“Voluntary. The terms are impossible, but the conditions for termination are set.”

“I see…”

Why are you asking all this?

The man looked up at me with that expression. Whether keeping him alive would yield any value remained to be seen.

That was the most crucial point.

As expected, this outcome was predictable.

If a slave contract is in place, the hurdles are incredibly high.

I don’t know if the contract can be overwritten. Even if it could be, the cost would revert to Marie the moment the original contract vanished. This would expose the cancellation.

This leaves us with no choice but to proceed with the contract in place. But is there still a possibility?

Furthermore, if I don’t find a way to utilize this man, I won’t be able to properly use the auction going forward.

“By the way, what are the terms of the slave contract?”

“You cannot divert auction funds for other purposes,” and “All auction items must be handed over.” Those are the two.”

“Huh? That’s all?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“So you didn’t skim off the top during that time?”

“I was bound by both money and goods, so it wasn’t possible. Besides, I received a 10-million-Beeke reward every time an auction was held. I didn’t even need to consider such things.”

“I see. That’s quite a hefty sum, isn’t it?”

“That’s why I’ve said it many times: I’m not just a slave; I’m Marie-sama’s messenger.”

Regaining his composure slightly, Victor then detailed his monthly interactions with Marie, who teleported in once a month.

He also explained his specific duties.

The day after the auction, Marie appeared on the upper floor of the building and gave him the next installment of funds. He would then hand over the items he had won at the auction directly to Marie.

He also handed over ledgers detailing the items procured, their individual winning bids, and the remaining balance held by the auction house. Once she received them, Marie immediately teleported away.

(This is… tough…)

After hearing all this from Victor, I let out a deep sigh.

A perfectly tailored environment had been meticulously constructed for Marie’s convenience, leaving almost no room for me to intervene now.

If Victor survived, he would probably report that all the “Skill Seeds” had been secured this time.

Even if I tried to silence him, Marie would grow suspicious if none were found. If the ledger existed, she would likely discover she’d been outbid.

If that happened, the next time would be a pure bidding war.

For Marie, with her excessively abundant funds, setting a budget cap would be pointless.

“Huh? You receive war funds every time?”

A simple question suddenly occurred to me.

Why was I able to outbid Marie this time despite her staggering wealth?

Since it was an auction, it should have been a bidding war today, not just next time.

Yet Victor held back from bidding beyond 150 million for the “Skill Seeds.”

That’s why I won. But why did he hold back in the first place?

“Every time. The price has gradually increased with the rising market value of rare items, and now I receive roughly 400 to 500 White King Gold Coins.”

“How much is that?”

“Four to five billion. They give me enough to bring my total balance to around five billion.”

“That’s still a huge amount. But why? Couldn’t Marie deposit much more at once?”

“This is already absurdly high. She’s depositing it with me as her proxy. If anything happens to me, she won’t be able to withdraw the money.”

“Ah, I see. So that’s why you lost the bid to me today.”

“Exactly. Although I’m instructed to ‘bid as much as possible,’ separate from the slave contract, there’s still a priority order for winning bids. If I compete with prices clearly above the market rate, I risk not winning higher-priority items.

…This is it.

The only opening to exploit in this enviable situation is right here.

It’s a drawback unique to being Marie’s proxy.

Normally, I’d heard that proxy participation only required paying a fee, and the Hunter Guild’s auction listing officer, Alan-san, would handle it.

Using a bid limit means setting a maximum budget in advance, which makes it less flexible than participating personally.

Still, they handle it for a 1% success fee on the winning bid price.

However, Marie is banned from the guild for causing trouble in the past, so she can’t use guild requests.

This left her with no choice but to rely on individuals like Victor, who offered no guarantees. Considering the risk of losing her entire balance in an instant, entrusting him with hundreds of billions, or even trillions, of credits required a resolve beyond what most people could comprehend.

Unable to shoulder that level of risk, Marie accepted that some items would inevitably be unsuccessful due to budget constraints.

That’s precisely why she had to prioritize rare items.

The crucial part starts here.

“What are Marie’s bidding priorities?”

“The top priority is the ‘Yellow Book of Skills,’ regardless of thickness. Next are accessories with excellent bestowed properties. Special bestowments are even better, of course, but those don’t come around often.”

“What about the other priorities? Are they unchanged?”

“She also said to prioritize the ‘Blue Books of Skills’ for magic and resistance systems, but that’s it. Oh, and weapons are no longer needed unless they have exceptionally good properties.”

“Hmm…”

I understand that the “Yellow Skill Book” is the top priority because it lets you gain skill experience directly, bypassing the usual unlock conditions. I also understand that weapons aren’t in high demand in beginner dungeons.

That’s probably also because they control Valnir, so crafting isn’t an issue.

But what about accessories with bestowed properties?

This just doesn’t sit right with me.

“Why an accessory with a bestowment?”

“I don’t know the details either. But they say you can definitely get ‘resistance-type bestowments’ that can’t be applied to weapons.”

“Resistance-type, so like elemental or poison resistance?”

“That’s right.”

I see. This might have revealed some valuable information.

It’s true that resistance-type skills, unlike passive ability-boosting skills such as Unbreakable Strength or Strong Wind, don’t grant experience points unless you actually take damage.

In a way, it’s like torture. While poison resistance might be manageable, I wonder if you can level up Petrification Resistance on your own.

However, whether it’s worth spending skill points on prayers to raise it is a different matter altogether. Ultimately, the best approach is probably to compensate with easily replaceable decorations.

This feels like an opportunity for me to win and a business opportunity.

If accessories sell for high prices, then armor with excellent enchantments could also fetch a good price at auction. Victor might even buy it.

Today is auction day.

This means that if I craft something and list it at auction tomorrow, I could exceed Marie’s budget at the next auction.

“If there were other high-quality, resistance-type, enchanted armor pieces, would Marie want to buy them?”

“It depends on the base materials, but she’d likely order me to buy them. Since armor can’t be obtained in dungeons, there’s no other way to acquire it. So she’d definitely prioritize resistance-type gear.”

“I see.”

Finally, a path forward became clear.

A crack appeared in the ideal Marie had built.

“At first, I thought it was hopeless, but I’ve finally seen what I can ask of you.”

“I… cannot afford to make Marie-sama an enemy. If I do, I will certainly die. That much is undeniable. It would be no different from being killed by you.”

“It’s fine. As you know, I’m after the ‘Skill Seeds.’ Though it overlaps, I’m also interested in the ‘Yellow Book of Skills.’”

“Hmm.”

“Therefore, I ask that you refrain from participating in the auction for these two items—for now, just the ‘Skill Seeds’ alone. In exchange, I will search my master’s treasury for high-quality armor with excellent properties and list some for sale. This should meet Marie’s demands so that we can avoid making her an enemy, correct?”

“If it’s truly feasible, then there’s no issue. May I relay this information to Marie-sama?”

“Yes, that’s fine. However, if she increases the budget just for this one time, I’ll be in trouble, so keep it at the level of a rumor. Also, it would be good if you could gently confirm whether she would actually bid if the opportunity arose.”

“In that case, I’ll relay it tomorrow. If it’s listed early, I can say my budget ran out.”

I also plan to request proxy participation from the Hunter Guild going forward. Alan-san handles auction listings, so he should bid on my behalf. If you don’t participate in the ‘Skill Seeds’ event, I won’t harm you. That should be a fair deal, right? Of course, if I can’t find items to burn through the budget, then we’ll just forget about it.”

“Understood. I’m grateful you’ve settled for these terms. I was complacent, thinking no one would dare defy Marie-sama. Who would have thought…”

“Ah, naturally. But please keep any information or proposals concerning me strictly confidential. If you break that promise, I really will kill you.”

As I said this, I pretended to hide behind a rock while returning Victor’s clothing and auction items.

I’d made my point clear, but the terms weren’t entirely one-sided against him.

This way, the benefit of informing Marie would be minimal.

The plan was to wipe Victor from existence, seize his current auction items, inflict nearly five billion dollars in losses on Marie, and then eliminate any replacement appointed to take his place, further swelling the losses.

If the goal is to inflict damage by any means necessary, this method is the quickest. However, it would make me look like a complete villain, and such brute-force tactics would only work twice or three times at most.

If I did it again, even Marie would finally get serious.

Besides, killing him directly would instantly trigger the search condition “Victor’s killer,” making an unexpected battle highly likely.

If I were Marie, I would undoubtedly try to find the culprit that way.

I can’t imagine a more stifling adventure than one where my life is constantly at risk outside the base.

Above all, securing a stable future supply of dungeon-dropped items is the priority. They’re essential for getting stronger, and there are limited ways to acquire them.

There are plenty of ways to make money: business, mercenary work, and the Hunter Guild. Establishing a reliable method is worth far more than the immediate 50 billion.

(Besides, as long as Victor is alive, I can continue to deal damage to Marie…)

With this thought, a smile naturally slipped out. After gathering more information about Marie, I put Victor to sleep again and teleported to Sanur, just like before.

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