Roselyn frowned, took out a couple of gold bars nearby, and threw them at the High Priest.
"Do you think 5 million Orlang will be enough? Take as much as you want. But..."
Roselyn trailed off, then soon smiled brightly.
"If you interrupt me and play these kinds of tricks in front of me one more time without my permission..."
The High Priest stopped abruptly at Roselyn's cold gaze.
It was because the gaze was so cold that it was hard to believe it was the same person who had been indifferent, aloof, and even listless just moments ago.
"You. I can personally leave you penniless and homeless on the streets. Of course, the aid to the temple will end as well."
"...Haha, I see our master dislikes insubordination!"
Roselyn stared blankly at the High Priest, who was quickly kneeling on the bed.
High Priest Irbon quickly opened his mouth.
"Although it is said that Bashin always takes on different forms and hides within the human world, there are never two of them in any worldline. For he is a traveler of worldlines whose origins are unknown to anyone."
At that, Roselyn's eyes widened.
'You mean there are no two people in any world?'
How did Garen Walbreed end up in a pharmaceutical business with a guy like that?
"This demon can move between world lines. And since two identical people cannot exist in the same world..."
Roselyn paused at his words.
"His existence can inevitably be just one person."
"That's a bit strange."
"Right? But actually, I heard that in any worldline, the moment he appears, he becomes something that originally existed in that world. That's why no one notices."
Roselyn nodded at the High Priest's relaxed explanation.
High Priest Irbon's eyes sparkled.
Rolling the gold floating in the air back and forth, he opened his mouth again.
"I can sense the traces of that Bashin on you, Master."
"... Yes?"
Roselyn slowly lowered her gaze.
'Why do I feel so uneasy?'
There is a nagging feeling that something is definitely missing. It feels like a hangnail that hasn't been removed.
"I was wondering why my eyes kept gravitating toward you, Master, and now I see it was because of this."
Roselyn frowned as she watched him muttering softly.
It is because the honorific 'master' has been bothering me since earlier.
"Stop calling me 'master'."
"Why? Everyone who gives me money is my master."
He rubbed his cheek against the gold bar and spoke. Roselyn shook her head, thinking he was a truly materialistic person.
'Still, he lost his life in the war with Kaluta.'
It was because they deployed a defensive shield around the empire to protect it.
After all, his abyss was an abyss that burned his own life force.
Roselyn was also able to stay safe thanks to him, so even though he acted so annoyingly, she didn't feel like genuinely disliking him.
"I never thought parallel worlds would really exist."
He looked at Roselyn with a curious expression.
"So… did you see how many years into the future, Master?"
Roselyn stared blankly at the High Priest.
"What do you want to do with that?"
“Is there any more information?”
He crept up and asked tactlessly. She thought he was quite greedy, considering he was holding gold bars in both hands.
Roselyn narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
Roselyn nodded.
Actually, there were many things that could be profitable. That was what knowing the future was like...
'I haven't mentioned it separately, but it seems Garen is also getting involved in various businesses...'
He was a man of good business acumen to begin with, so he seemed to be quite busy these days.
It was the kind of work that required a bit of tedious effort for Garen Wilbreed to handle, but one from which steady profits could be expected.
In contrast, the way Roselyn turned to make money was not complicated—if anything, it was something that could bring in a large sum of money at once, but offered no long-term profit.
She was going to leave anyway, so she didn't want to cause any trouble.
'I'm not the type to go out of my way to make things difficult for myself like Geran.'
It means she didn't want to go out of her way to get involved in something that was obviously going to give her a headache.
'Money earned without working is the best.'
If there was a job where you earned money without having to work, it would have been best to work in that.
By that measure, being born into the upper nobility could be considered a great achievement.
"Do you want to make money?"
“Of course.”
"Well... I think that depends on how well you listen to me from now on."
At Roselyn's subtle remark, the High Priest's Adam's apple bobbed.
The man, who was flamboyant rather than plain—unlike a priest in pure white clothes—swallowed hard and laughed, revealing his desire.
"What do you need, my master?"
Before she knew it, the suspicion had vanished from his eyes, replaced by kindness.
"You really like money."
"This is the only way I relieve stress. It feels thrilling to gather a mountain of gold and spend it diligently."
The High Priest clasped his hands to his chest and unhesitatingly spat out vulgar words as if praying to some god.
When Roselyn looked at the High Priest with eyes that could not understand at all, he smiled kindly.
"Doesn't Lady Roselyn like spending money too?"
"Not really."
"Looking at them, it seems like all your clothes are brand new. And they are from Fluer..."
"I extorted this from Garen. And as for the money... well, I was born with it, so I don't really know what a commoner's mindset is."
At the extremely arrogant remark, the High Priest blinked once and burst into loud laughter.
He had been giggling for quite a while, not knowing what was so funny, then rubbed his eyes once with the back of his hand and opened his mouth.
"For an ordinary human to travel the world implies they died... I suppose your life leading up to your death was quite smooth, wasn't it?"
"No, I've rarely been short of money. Even if I did, I didn't really miss it."
Even after leaving home, Roselyn lived a sufficiently luxurious life with the money she earned by backstabbing others or selling information.
When she lived as a fugitive, she was a bit poor, but that wasn't particularly unfortunate.
"Ah. Speaking of Marquis Garen... he will be entering the Duchy soon, too."
"Garen, here? Why?"
He rubbed the corners of his mouth once at Roselyn's question.
"The Imperial Family did order the Temple to exterminate the monsters, but..."
He tilted his head in puzzlement and dragged out the end of his sentence.
"He said he would participate in this subjugation as well. It seems he received permission from His Majesty the Emperor, so I couldn't really refuse."
Irbon rubbed his chin a couple of times, then put the rest of the gold bars he was holding back into the tower and opened his mouth.
"He is a really awkward person, so I arrived over here first."
"So that's why Grandfather came down to the Duchy..."
"Probably. Since they had to be stationed in the duchy, the Duke's permission was essential."
Roselyn fell silent in thought at the explanation that flowed out smoothly without any joking.
'...I didn't expect Garen to move.'
Garen Wilbreed and Roselyn both knew the future 10 years from now.
However, unlike Roselyn, Garen Wilbreed did not do anything to specifically change the future.
'Well, considering rumors of discord are still circulating...'
After speaking with the Marchioness Wilbreed the other day, it seemed she was probably anxious about Garen change.
After all, he is a person who pursues pleasure and fun so much, and he has neglected his wife for quite a long time.
In fact, the Marchioness's love for Garen was so famous that even Roselyn knew about it.
'I don't understand, but.'
Rumors were always circulating in high society that the Marchioness fell in love at first sight with Garen when she saw him at his debutante ball.
She heard that after that, he only went straight ahead.
Garen Wilbreed approached her time and again, and undeterred by her firm rejection, proposed and eventually chose her.
However, the Marchioness must have grown increasingly weary of the continued indifference that followed.
'No matter how I look at it, Garen is a damn bastard.'
She should continue to support divorce.
Roselyn opened her mouth while thinking.
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