Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 6

Since that day, I had been investigating.

There was no doubt anymore—my sister, Jekyll, and Claire had conspired together.

Using Lax’s presumed death, my sister had exploited her authority as acting lord to declare him officially dead and transfer all of his assets to herself. His engagement to her was automatically annulled, and soon after, she formally became engaged to Jekyll.

The nausea wouldn’t go away.

It was beyond cruel.

Lax had spent three years diving into the dungeon’s lower levels. His accumulated wealth must have been enormous. Even just one trip to the middle levels could provide enough to live comfortably for a week.

And yet, Lax regularly ventured into the lower levels. Not just during Flash’s scheduled monthly expeditions, but almost daily, leading and training other adventurers.

Where had all that wealth gone?

I used my position as the lord’s daughter to investigate, but there was no trace of where it had ended up. I was able to confirm that my sister had inherited his assets and that some items had gone to Claire, but beyond that, there were no records. The more I looked, the more inconsistencies I found.

My sister’s financial records had been wiped clean.

As the lord’s daughter, she had always received a fixed yearly budget. As acting lord, she also received a salary for her work. And yet, there were no financial records in her name.

Even after inheriting Lax’s assets, there was no record of those funds either. It was as if her entire financial history had been erased.

What the hell was going on?

Since I could no longer trace her assets, I turned my attention to the funds Lax had deposited in the guild. I needed to know exactly what he had owned.

Thankfully, I worked at the guild. As the lord’s daughter, I had higher clearance than regular staff. Using that, I searched through the archives for old records.

Lax’s wealth at the time of his presumed death was staggering. He had accumulated 1,000 gold coins—enough to live lavishly for a lifetime. And that was only what he had earned in this city. I could only imagine how much he had made before settling here.

Breaking it down, it wasn’t too complicated. One expedition into the lower levels could yield nearly 100 gold coins, even after keeping valuable items for personal use. This was because very few people could survive in the lower levels, and the items that dropped there were extremely valuable. Most of these lower-level materials were sold through the guild to nobles and even royalty for twice the price. Not that I cared about the guild’s profit margins, so I ignored that part.

The important thing was how Lax divided his earnings.

Whenever he earned 100 gold coins in a single dive, he split it into five portions. One part went to the party’s funds, and the remaining four were divided among the members. In just two and a half years, he had gone on 100 lower-level expeditions, earning 2,000 gold coins in total.

Exploring the middle levels could yield several gold coins per trip. In three years, he had gone on 800 expeditions. But Lax never took a share from these. He gave everything to the adventurers who participated. The only thing he kept was low-value items that were hard to sell.

Even accounting for minor errors, his total earnings were roughly 2,000 gold coins. His daily expenses had been minimal, just a few gold coins here and there. He never wasted money on luxuries. He never sold his equipment, as he relied on his own loot. The Viscount Riofendarl’s family never held extravagant parties, so he had no reason to spend large amounts.

But what about the other 1,000 gold coins?

To my absolute shock, Lax had donated 1,000 gold coins to establish a guild-funded program—a support fund for adventurers.

If monsters weren’t regularly culled, a Stampede would occur. But hunting monsters was a deadly job. When an adventurer died, their families were left destitute. This fund served two purposes. It increased the rewards for monster extermination and provided pensions to the families of fallen adventurers. Lax had invested 500 gold coins in each.

I was in awe of Lax’s selflessness. And at the same time, I felt a wave of horror. This was the man they had exiled?

Did my sister know?

Of course, she knew. That’s why she cut the budget.

Originally, the rewards for monster extermination were supposed to be funded by the city.

Yet, for the past three years, not a single coin from the city’s budget had been used.

Lax had created the fund to increase those rewards, donating his own money to support the cause. But instead of supplementing the city’s spending, his fund became the sole source of payment.

The city had completely stopped contributing.

That meant the total funds available had decreased, not increased.

The financial records in the archives were difficult to decipher, but when I compared them with the documents in the guild master’s office, the truth became painfully obvious.

This was undeniable fraud.

On paper, the city had allocated funds for monster extermination.

But in reality, that money had disappeared.

And the person responsible for managing those finances?

My sister.

The fund Lax had established was dismantled after his presumed death.

The 500 gold coins that had remained in it were nowhere to be found.

My sister had deliberately not inherited that money.

Which meant the funds had stayed within the guild.

There was only one person who could have taken them—the guildmaster.

This wasn’t just covering things up—this was a bribe.

A payment for his silence… or his cooperation.

They were the worst kinds of people.

What did they think Lax’s kindness was?

Did they see it as nothing but an opportunity to exploit?

I couldn’t believe it.

This… this was disgusting.

This was beyond corruption.

But something still felt off.

Why had my sister gone through so much effort to gather such an enormous amount of money?

And why had she recently reinstated the city’s contributions to monster extermination?

There was no way she knew Lax was still alive.

So why now?

There was still something I didn’t know.

I needed to keep digging.

Just as I steeled myself to investigate further, a loud, urgent voice echoed through the guild.

“This is bad! A STAMPEDE IS COMING!”

The words sent a chill down my spine.

They dredged up memories I never wanted to relive.