I Bought the Male Lead with Money

16.

Of course, it’s impossible to blow up an entire city like the magic used by a certain magical girl. However, if various conditions are met, magic can enable mass slaughter.

“Argh!”

I’m not sure how my thoughts got this far. What’s important now isn’t magic or mysticism.

“How can I convince Keith?”

I considered confessing honestly to Haruna and asking for her help. But I had to give up on that idea soon after. Once again, there was a problem with the merchant group, and Haruna had to leave.

This merchant group is precious, earning the money Yu Jin is spending now. I couldn’t call Haruna back from dealing with the incident there just for my personal problem. So Yu Jin had to persuade Keith and separate him on his own.

Yu Jin struggled again.

Even at this moment, time was passing, but he couldn’t think of a solution.

A problem arose in the Elly merchant group, which was registered under Yu Jin’s name.

“What is it this time? It hasn’t been long since we solved the last problem.”

Haruna followed the merchant group employee who had rushed in, left the room, and got on the carriage brought by the merchant group. Keith stood by the second-floor window of the mansion, watching the scene.

Soon the carriage departed, and the commotion subsided.

It’s itchy. Keith raised his hand to scratch his neck. His nails scratched his skin, creating a wound, but he didn’t care. If he didn’t do this, he felt like he would go crazy.

He thought at least Haruna would understand him.

‘But she didn’t.’

Despite being twins, Haruna couldn’t understand Keith. He felt a deep sense of betrayal, but Keith chose to yield instead of fighting.

But that didn’t mean he truly yielded.

‘Lies.’

It was all lies. Yu Jin needs to learn how to love? He needs to broaden his world by meeting other people?

Fine, that’s all fine. But why does it have to be through a slave? Unbearable anger boiled up. He put more force into the hand scratching his neck, but the pain was better. When he felt pain, his mind calmed down, allowing him to think more rationally.

In fact, it wasn’t just the slave he disliked. He hated the idea of Yu Jin going out and meeting other people. Wasn’t it better when he was a rogue?

Yu Jin, drunk and dependent on Keith, was cute and lovable. Though he was doing things that weren’t good for his body, Keith thoroughly controlled him.

He didn’t let Yu Jin live recklessly to the point of ruining his body. Whenever Haruna saw this, she wanted to return Yu Jin to his former self, but…

‘Any way is fine as long as he’s happy, right?’

Though his heart felt like it would tear apart when Yu Jin slept with others, it was okay. Because Keith was always there too. They couldn’t greatly influence Yu Jin.

But this slave felt different. It was the first time since leaving the Lucid family that he saw Yu Jin being considerate of someone. And to a slave, at that.

To Yu Jin, born in a noble family, slaves were no different from objects. But he didn’t treat Jinhyeon that way. He was considerate and tried to treat him better. He continued conversations and didn’t get angry even when Jinhyeon touched his body as he pleased.

‘What exactly did Yu Jin like about him?’

The uneasiness that had been growing since buying Jinhyeon was now eating away at Keith.

This incident at the merchant group was quite significant, so it would take quite some time for Haruna to return. It was because the problem occurred in another region.

Yes, Keith was the one who created that problem. Originally, Keith shouldn’t have had the power to cause such a problem. He managed the mansion’s guards, but that was it.

Yu Jin didn’t have a knighthood like other nobles. The head of the Lucid family, his father, had forbidden the possession of troops. So Keith’s power was limited, but that was only within the mansion.

Long ago, when they were young. There was a time when Yu Jin was kidnapped. Keith was taken along, and as he struggled to protect Yu Jin, he gained a new power.

“Use me. In exchange, please save Yu Jin.”

The dark man laughed at Keith’s words.

“That doesn’t add up. What can a tiny kid like you do? Do you think Lucid would compare the life of his youngest to you?”

“I’ll make it comparable. I’ll be of help somehow.”

“I’m not sure if you’ll be of any help?”

“You’re not an ordinary kidnapper, are you? You killed all those knights and kidnapped us alone. But your goal isn’t us, right?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Just a hunch.”

The dark man stopped laughing.

“You’re an interesting kid. Alright, let’s say it’s a hunch. Then do you know what the situation is?”

“It’s obvious. You’re causing a commotion here to draw attention, and then you’re planning to do something when things quiet down, right?”

“Hmm, you’re quite smart.”

“I’ll be your hands and feet within Lucid. Please save Yu Jin.”

Keith begged desperately, and the dark man nodded.

“I can kill him later anyway. Well then, let’s see if these hands and feet move properly.”

The dark man said so and released them.

Thanks to that, Yu Jin returned to the mansion a week after being kidnapped. However, the shock of the kidnapping was so great that he lost his memory.

Upon learning this, Yu Jin’s mother asked the family head to silence the family members. Haruna and Keith also held hands and swore. To take this incident to their graves. They didn’t want to revive the terrible memories for Yu Jin. And Keith became a spy for the unidentified man.

At first, he was scared. He didn’t regret his actions to save Yu Jin, but his body trembled no matter what he did. Fortunately, since Keith had also been kidnapped with Yu Jin, everyone thought it was just a aftereffect.

With such a body, Keith conveyed all the trivial stories of the Lucid family. Because the man had a special ability, there was no need to use carrier pigeons or people to communicate.

A palm-sized paper given by the man was enough. If he wrote down what he wanted to convey on it, the letters would gradually disappear. Then the content would appear on another pair of papers the man had, he said.

The fear and guilt faded over time. Keith learned various things while collecting information on Lucid. From how to classify information to learning about the dark side of the world, as well as increasing his knowledge about the man’s forces.

Occasionally, when Keith handed over information, the man would throw in stories from their side as if it were a reward. Keith put all of it into his head. And he thought.

‘I can’t remain just a spy forever.’

At that time, the first and second wives of Lucid ignored and bullied Yu Jin’s mother, Madam. Yet they couldn’t fight back from this side. Because they had no backing.

Now, Madam is enduring with the love of the family head, but what if something happens to him? Then there would be no one left to protect Yu Jin.

‘I need to have power.’

But it’s difficult to receive power from Lucid. The family head didn’t pay much attention to Yu Jin, unlike Madam. Moreover, with the interference from other wives, Keith couldn’t even have a proper teacher.

How much could the children of a wet nurse learn in such a situation? Haruna, who was learning swordsmanship, switched to studying as it didn’t suit her, but even then, without proper teachers, she had to run around and study on her own.

Compared to that, the swordsmanship side was better off. The knight assigned to Keith’s education was faithful to his designated role and taught swordsmanship properly. Of course, there were limitations due to the knight’s skill level not being high.

The limits had to be broken.

Keith tried and tried. And he got closer to the dark man, receiving various teachings. As Keith learned well, they started to regard him as more important.

The name of the organization was Leviathan.

It was the name of an ancient monster said to be stronger than dragons. Leviathan’s goal was to gain control of the world.

Perhaps because of that, there were quite a few high-status individuals in Leviathan’s upper ranks.

“But you can still climb up.”

The dark man, Rector, said.

“Here, we favor the capable. It’s totally different from the outside world where they don’t even look at you if you don’t have noble blood. So, struggle a bit more. Let’s see how far you can climb.”

“I will climb.”

And Keith really did climb. He clawed his way up and became a commander.

There wasn’t much time. Problems occurring in the merchant group were common, but if they happened consecutively, even Haruna would become suspicious. Everything had to be resolved in between. Right now, Yu Jin is sleeping.

Keith had found Yu Jin asleep after struggling with merchant group documents and put him to bed. Once asleep, he doesn’t usually wake up easily.

“Well then, shall we go?”

By now, Jinhyeon should be at the training ground. Curious about how he trains, Keith had observed once, but his swordsmanship was messy. That’s probably the skill a duel slave without a master would acquire.

The sword swung according to instinct was utterly crude. He might have won by facing only weak opponents in the Colosseum, but it didn’t seem like he would be a match for Keith.

When Keith appeared at the training ground, Jinhyeon stopped swinging his sword.

“What brings you here?”

He often smiles when seeing Yu Jin, but he erases all expression from his face when seeing Keith. This is better. All his other expressions seemed to mock Keith, making him feel twisted inside.

“I came because I have something to say.”

“Bringing people with you?”

Keith shrugged. He could defeat Jinhyeon alone, but it would be troublesome if he tried to escape in that state. If he escaped outside, he could be caught eventually, but what if he ran into the mansion? What if he asked Yu Jin for help then? Keith didn’t want to break Yu Jin’s trust. He always needed to be a reliable protector for Yu Jin.