"Ugh! Heh heh heh… heo-eok…"
The villainess, Isolda Evergarden was gasping for breath with unfocused eyes.
Her whole body was soaked in sweat, and her stamina had hit rock bottom. Above all, it was the psychological suffering not the physical suffering, that gave her the most pain.
'I… got dirty… and he even.. uh…'
The sense of loss from having been thoroughly trampled on and losing what she had cherished for so long was too great beyond imagination.
The burning sensation she still felt from below was eating away at her mind along with the flowing red… reminding her of what she had lost.
'Where did it go wrong… from where…'
In the eyes of others, she had done some of the most despicable things without hesitation.
She had framed the innocent, dishonestly acquired their property, and, even shed blood if necessary.
The woman named Isolda Evergarden could do anything for success.
Even if she had to resort to lies and trickery in the process, in the end, only the victors would always survive.
With that thought in mind, Isolda Evergarden had lived her life to the fullest until now.
It was the same for that man as well, who she really considered a nobody.
He was a nobody, nothing more, nothing less, simply a dog she would use for her own benefit.
It never occurred to her that the dog that had thoughtlessly waggled its tail in front of her would bite her at the scruff of the neck like this.
'No way… that man… did he know everything from the beginning? And then… when I showed an opening, he struck a blow like this in one breath…'
Considering the circumstances so far, the thought that this might be the case suddenly began to settle in Isolda's mind. Otherwise, there was no way that Bahamut, who usually showed a mindless and stupid appearance, would be able to do such a terrible thing.
Just as Isolda had approached Bahamut pretending to be naive, Bahamut might have also accepted her acting as if he didn't know anything and looked for an opportunity to take everything from her at a decisive moment!
'I… failed to recognize that person.. the fact that I put my hand in the mouth of a wolf, not a dog, from the beginning… kuuu!'
Isolda, who was thinking about such things, had no choice but to stop thinking for a while due to the sudden burst of pain.
It was due to the blood that suddenly flowed out the next moment.
The pain of losing her pride and purity began to shake her once again, both mentally and physically.
Trembling in such agony, Isolda began to shed tears, recognizing once again her hopeless reality in which only darkness was visible.
However, even in the midst of that, her eyes remained clear.
They were monster-like red eyes full of hatred and anger.
Slowly burning the will contained in it, Isolda gathered her heart once again.
'I'm not giving up… someday this debt… I must…'
*****
A small study located inside a luxurious mansion.
There, Bahamut was wrestling with the papers stacked in front of him.
'I expected it to some extent, but… this is a lot harder than I thought…'
As the basic tasks for the operation of the merchant company were completed to some extent, Bahamut began to feel a little tired.
Bahamut, the original owner of the Beden Merchant Company, was a character that was the symbol of incompetence in the original novel.
He was a man who went out hunting and fishing while entrusting the basic duties to the subordinates whom Isolda had planted. However, the current Bahamut, who defeated Isolda with his own hands and had purged all the subordinates she had planted in the process, could not enjoy such leisurely time, and he didn't even want it in the first place.
'After all, what's really fun is making money. Oh, and playing with girls is also quite fun.'
Before defeating Isolda, he had to show some incompetence, but now that there was no need for that, Bahamut was learning what he could and should do in earnest.
It was unlike when he was a job seeker who had basic knowledge about management and investment, but had no opportunity to use it at all. Now he was the owner of a large merchant company with a huge amount of money.
In addition, as this world had a medieval fantasy like setting; Bahamut, even while reading the documents, was feeling an intense excitement in anticipation of the future.
'Currently, I'm staying in Schwyz, which is the base of the Beden Merchant Company. It would be fun to visit places like the Holy Empire in the north or the Dragona Empire in the east.'
If he did well, he could meet the characters from the novel in person, so his expectations as a fan were also very high.
Of course, there were many villainess's that would make you frown throughout the entire plot of the novel. Like Isolda, who he had thoroughly trampled last night, they might give him more moments of pleasure as well.
'To do that, I will have to steadily roll the snow ball. Anyway, since I know a little bit about who will rise and fall later, then first of all…'
While thinking about that, Bahamut began to think about the next investment destination he had been eyeing the whole time, even while acting like a fool next to Isolda.
By the way…
"Sniff… "
"…?"
The next moment, Bahamut turned his head at the sound coming from his side.
The person there is a middle-aged butler in charge of managing the Beden Merchant Company.
In the novel, he was a loyal servant of Bahamut who appeared briefly at the beginning of the novel. He was a minor character without a name, who was killed by Isolda while trying to lead his incompetent master on the right path.
So Bahamut had automatically saved his life when he got rid of Isolda.
The fact that such a person was, for some reason, making an excited expression with tears streaming down his face while looking at him, Bahamut felt a slight doubt and asked.
"What? Is there something wrong?"
"Ah… no, Master. There is nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong at all. Only…"
"Only?"
Bahamut's question must have intensified his emotions, so the butler took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Master… excuse me. It's the first time I've ever seen you sit at a desk for such a long time since you were little. So I was a bit moved…"
"…"
The thought that he was thrilled with something so trivial.
Bahamut was able to understand when he looked back at his past self and thought about it.
'Well… because the person called Bahamut was originally an incompetent fool…'
He was person who inherited a huge fortune, but left it unattended and was robbed by Isolda, and then he met his demise together with her. The fact that such a person had finally cut off his relationship with Isolda and was sitting at the desk while working was something that the butler, who had been looking after him for all his life, would shed tears about.
If he had to compare it with something, it would be the same situation where his son, who stayed cooped up in the corner of the room, finally grew up and got a job.
"Well… I have to admit that I've done a lot of stupid things in the past. Regarding that, I want to apologize to you, who has been suffering because of me all along."
"Master… "
The butler bowed his head at Bahamut's words and felt even more excited.