Chapter 1079: Chapter 1079

“Listen up! There are still people who follow me more than they follow you,” Daphne said confidently.

Goddess Freyja lifted the tablet in both hands with a blank face.

“You damned shell of a god!”

“Hold it! Even if she's an avatar, she’s still your patron deity!”

As Daphne tried to lunge forward, screaming in rage, Goddess Freyja just stared at her blankly, then gently flicked her finger against the tablet. A photo began to slowly appear on the screen.

It was a picture of a small girl, around six years old, frantically running away while clutching a giant blanket.

As Goddess Freyja silently showed the photo, Apollo—who had been trying to hold Daphne back—raised an intrigued brow. Meanwhile, Daphne’s face twisted between red and pale.

“Come here! C’mere, you goddamned goddess!!”

The girl in the photo was none other than Daphne. It was the exact moment from her childhood when, after wetting the bed, she tried to destroy the evidence only to get caught running away.

It was a memory from long ago, and no one had ever taken a photo of it. Yet there Goddess Freyja was, showing that exact moment as if she had pulled it directly from the past.

While Daphne screamed and tried to wriggle free from Apollo’s grasp to launch herself at Goddess Freyja, she quietly approached her. Then, without a word, she gently patted Daphne’s head.

Daphne froze instantly, as if the touch alone had turned her to stone. Like a loving mother stroking her daughter’s head, Goddess Freyja kept her eyes closed and gently ran her hand through Daphne’s hair.

She then slowly lifted the tablet again.

Just like that, leaving Daphne stunned speechless, she vanished without a sound.

Later on, when Daphne stormed the Saint Sanctuary swinging a massive hammer toward Goddess Freyja’s divine sanctuary, it took several heroes to hold her back.

Although her avatar carried divine power and authority, it was a special case. A ‘goddess’s vacation’ was the best way to describe what she had done.

She could manifest a certain level of authority, but had descended into a realm where gods were not supposed to intervene directly. That made her both perfect as a god and incomplete.

She was a manifestation of personhood, a transcendental and omniscient entity that had been reduced to just one will.

Of course, since she was in her vacation form, it had no effect on her real body, but even so, her current state was something unheard of in all recorded history. A being that should have disappeared without anyone ever knowing she existed had nonetheless appeared.

A massive monster ran away at full speed as someone chased it like a flash of lightning.

“Rinne evaluates beef highly!”

The monster was none other than a gigantic minotaur. Though powerful, unlike ogres or trolls it was a monster that humans could safely eat. Unfortunately, it just so happened to be one of her favorite delicacies.

Rinne was already known within the territory for never turning down delicious food. As such, when a minotaur wandered in from another land and happened to catch her eye, well, its fate was sealed.

The minotaur, frothing at the mouth and running like mad, found itself cornered in a dead end alley. Trembling, it shrank back in fear as it looked back at Rinne, who had caught up.

Even a vicious creature like a minotaur, brutal in any situation, was shaking for its dear life, facing her innocent enthusiasm.

“Rinne evaluates beef highly!”

“Buooo!!” Its pitiful scream echoed through the entire forest.

Rinne cleanly severed its head without letting it feel any pain, then lifted the head and began moving about excitedly.

Goddess Freyja silently took a step forward as she watched. Without saying a word, their eyes met. They stood in silence for a long, long moment.

Rinne, who had been standing still once she sensed someone approaching, grabbed the minotaur’s leg with one hand and began dragging it along. When she passed by, she gave a small polite bow.

Rinne quietly looked at her and tilted her head at the question. “Rinne is unable to understand the meaning. Rinne requests a detailed explanation.”

Rinne simply kept her head tilted.

Goddess Freyja also tilted her head in response, and the two simply stared at each other like that for a while. Then, after a few moments of blank stillness, Rinne slowly closed her eyes. When she opened them again, there was a strange glimmer in her eyes.

However, it wasn’t Rinne responding. Rather than looking surprised, Goddess Freyja nodded gently, as if she had been waiting for that answer all along.

Leaving those words, a faint light poured down from the halo floating above Rinne’s head, then Goddess Freyja vanished.

Rinne stood there in a daze, her expression blank, before her lips finally twitched.

“Rinne evaluates that strange experience lowly.”

Still, the annoyance didn’t linger long. She once again grabbed the minotaur by the ankle and started dragging it off with soft, steady steps. “Rinne evaluates beef highly!”

Her simple nature hadn’t changed.

At that same moment, a roar filled with rage erupted from the lord’s manor.

It came from none other than Davey.

The weather in Heins Territory was generally very pleasant. It was all thanks to the territory’s environmental management system.

“Here it is. This is a financial trail with an unclear source.”

While Perserque, Illyna, and Aeria were sleeping soundly, Davey was reading through documents in his office. He quietly looked over at Royal Attendant Bernile standing to the side. “Royal Attendant, how’s Amy doing?”

“I sent her on a trip, on my own discretion, Your Highness.”

“Good. Mark all of it under territorial expenses. She’s been through a lot.”

“Understood. However, Your Highness... about these funds...”

“Are you aware of them?”

Heins Territory ran several businesses.

From Aeonitia’s mass-produced watches to high-end artisan watches aimed at the wealthy, including ventures like consecration golems made through alchemy and moon grass cultivation.

However, relying too heavily on just a few sources of income was extremely risky. That was why they kept pushing forward with new business plans, though it certainly wasn’t easy to find solid ones.

If things ever became truly critical, Davey would step in personally, but for the moment, most of the invention and business development was entrusted to Aeonitia, Tiara, or Technical Advisor Edison.

Most of the territory's businesses had, truthfully, begun by accident. Davey simply let Aeonitia do what she wanted, and the watch business exploded from there, with other ventures following a similar path.

“Any idea who used it?”

The amount of money that had disappeared was not massive, having moved quietly through hidden channels. Still, he knew that ignoring small leaks like that could ruin the territory’s finances in no time. Maybe in the past, he could've overlooked such things, but he was now responsible for leading many people.

“I'm sorry. We're investigating from every possible angle, but...”

“Call in everyone managing our funds,” Davey said in a cold tone.

Royal Attendant Bernile quietly nodded.

There were twelve people in total handling the Heins Territory’s finances. They allocated budgets for different departments, and those budgets would be approved by Aeria, Illyna, or Perserque.

The summoned individuals rushed in, every one of them wearing anxious expressions.

“Relax. Why do you all look like you're about to die?”

“Your Highness, we have committed a grave mistake!”

“If only I had double-checked things more thoroughly...”

“Yeah, be more careful next time. But right now, what's important is finding out who stole the money. Realistically, only you guys could have siphoned off funds this quietly. You’re all aware of that, right?”

They all nodded in response.

“The suspicious transactions amount to two hundred gold. Honestly, whoever it is, I’m not going to be kind when I catch them.”

The group visibly flinched at his words.

“That being said, I must say they’re pretty clever. It’s almost funny how it took us several months to notice anything wrong.”

The issue had only been caught because one of the planned budget allocations had come up slightly short.

“Of course, two hundred gold isn't a small amount, but it’s not that big either; it’s definitely not enough to topple the territory. Still, a thief is a thief, and if they don't have a very convincing reason, they’ll definitely face the consequences,” Davey said with a calm smile. “If anyone here was involved, you should turn yourself in. If you do it now, I might be willing to show a little mercy.”

At that moment, one of the men trembled.

Davey narrowed his eyes. “Paxon, why are you shaking?”

“T-That’s... it’s nothing, Your Highness...”

“Yeah? Doesn’t seem like nothing to me.”

Paxon’s pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.

Davey let out a quiet sigh. “Everyone except Paxon, get out.”

Following his cold command, the others glanced at each other nervously before carefully leaving the room.

Only Paxon, Bernile, Rinne, and Davey remained in the office.

Davey calmly asked, “Paxon, you moved to the territory a year ago, didn’t you? You even brought your whole family with you.”

“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”

“Did you really think you wouldn’t be suspicious when you're shaking like that?”

“You've got decent skills, but you clearly don’t have much of a backbone.”

Before Davey even finished speaking, Rinne shot forward like a flash and kicked the back of Paxon’s knees, knocking him down and pinning his head to the ground.

“How dare you?! Embezzling public funds, and it wasn’t even a small amount! Do you have a death wish?!” Bernile shouted sternly.

Paxon just trembled violently.

“That’s enough. I’ll handle the interrogation,” Davey said calmly as he rose from his seat and approached him. “Choose your next words wisely. You stole a lot more than a handful of coins, so if you even try to play stupid, I don’t know what I'll end up doing to you.”

The Rowane Kingdom had very strict punishments for embezzlement.

Paxon shook harder and bowed his head deeply. “P-Please, just kill me!”

“So, you’re confessing?”

He was clearly a strange fellow. He had hidden the evidence so cleanly that, if not for his trembling, it might’ve taken much longer to find him.

“You better answer properly.”

“Y-Yes! I did it! Please kill me!”

Davey sighed heavily after his confession. Something felt off, like he was still hiding something. “Paxon. If you don’t give me a straight answer, I’ll rip the truth out of your head myself.”

“Or would you prefer I execute your entire family?” Davey didn’t like using guilt by association, but nothing worked better when it came to threats. “Talk.”

“Your Highness, what are you hesitating for? Embezzling public funds is a serious crime!”

“I get it, Royal Attendant. Just give me a minute.”

After hesitating and rolling his eyes around nervously for a long while, Paxon burst into tears. “T-That’s... Sob...”

He then slowly moved his trembling lips, “Threats?”

What he then confessed was something truly unbelievable.

There were still many underdeveloped areas within Heins Territory. The northwestern region was a good example, and a few months before, a certain group had set up camp there. Content originally comes from novelꞁire.net

They were illegal settlers without any official permission. Then again, it’d be more surprising if such bandits or criminal organizations cared about the laws.

The real problem came after.

That group of settlers specialized in the trafficking of human organs, and they had previously operated in other countries. Most importantly to the Heins Territory’s residents, they ran a very dirty business: predatory lending.

In the past, Paxon had taken a small loan to save his wife. Unfortunately, he had no idea how the real world worked, and the organization's brutal practices kept stringing him along, making it impossible for him to pay back even the principal sum.

The interest ballooned until the amount he owed became monstrous. Having initially borrowed just two gold coins, the debt had swiftly exploded to a thousand gold.

It truly was an outrageous number.

“One thousand gold? It jumped five hundred times? They clearly never intended to let you pay it back.”

“T-They said the interest would increase over time, but they later kidnapped my son and daughter and used them to threaten me.”

Apparently, they had warned him that if he told Davey, they’d kill his family. On top of that, they had threatened to rip out his children's organs and sell them if he didn’t repay the debt in a timely manner.

Considering his meagre salary, one thousand gold was an impossible sum.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

If something like that had happened, Davey believed he should’ve spoken up from the start.

He knew those damn scammers didn’t care about the law; they believed more in the blade than in justice, committing atrocities without hesitation.

“T-There’s someone backing them within the territory, too.”

Davey had known that with the growing population, it was inevitable that security wouldn't be able to stay perfect.

He let out a long sigh. Then, he extended his hand toward Royal Attendant Bernile.

The man looked a little startled, but then quietly bowed his head. He pulled a sword down from the wall and respectfully handed it to Davey.

“Don't worry, I’ll rescue your children. They're innocent in all of this, and will face no punishment.”

“Anything else you want to say?”

Paxon lowered his head, tears falling freely. “No, nothing. I’m truly... truly sorry... and thank you.”

Bernile suddenly shouted, “Your Highness, wha—!”

A chilling slicing sound echoed through the office.

The undeveloped mountains and wastelands of Heins Territory.

The group that was camping in the northwestern mountains was a gang, notorious even in foreign countries. A gathering of the worst of the worst, the organization readily engaged in human trafficking, harvesting and selling organs, and carrying out outrageous predatory lending schemes.

Naturally, many nations had tried to capture them to bring them to justice, but the criminals would simply bribe officials and slip away whenever things got too hot. Eventually, whenever their names became too well-known, they would quickly move to a new location.

Though there was a formidable information guild operating within Heins Territory, it was rare for low-level gangs to stick around. Every time even the slightest sign of trouble showed up, they would be crushed completely.

As a result, word had spread that coming to Heins Territory was a death wish, so no new scum had dared to settle there.

Clearly, those scamming bastards were fearless.

Paxon had given in to the gang's threats and embezzled funds from the territory in a desperate attempt to save his children. It didn’t erase his crime, but in many ways, he was a victim too.

Clearly, some fools within the territory had been emboldened by Davey’s generosity, and had begun to lose their minds. It seemed like it was time for them to pay for their actions.

Davey was well aware that some people mistook kindness for weakness all too easily.

Climbing the large mountain, he flicked his fingers. “Gnoass, seal this mountain up. Don’t let even an ant get out.”

When people came together, there were always those who started thinking stupid things. That gang was just the latest proof.

With a roar from Earth Spirit King Gnoass, the mountain's terrain began to twist and shift.

Watching the land transform, Davey gathered a mass of black energy in one hand and tossed it lightly into the air.

Instantly, an enormous magic circle spread out, covering the entire mountain range.

Davey didn’t think the members of the group were just reckless, idiotic thugs. He suspected they had a formidable backing, likely someone who wanted to sow chaos and division within Heins Territory.

Just then, a massive geyser erupted from the far side of the mountain.

Steam rose thick from the newly uncovered underground hot spring.

Though he had come to catch some bandit scum, he ended up finding a gold mine instead.

“Royal Attendant Bernile, handle things here. I’m gonna go clean up those bastards. In the meantime, go ahead and allocate some budget—about two thousand gold should do.”

At that moment, multiple presences started moving throughout the mountains.

“At the very least, I ought to show them exactly who they decided to mess with.”

Leaving a cold smile behind, Davey, accompanied by Rinne, began to head straight toward the cluster of enemies.