Skilled cultivators could sense the presence of others around them to some extent.
Iris, despite lacking the innate talent to manipulate mana, had trained for many years and was no different in this regard.
“If I had mana, it would have been easier to detect them,” she thought.
Mana not only strengthens the body but also sharpens the senses.
Yet, at this moment, the current Iris’s abilities were sufficient.
She detected no cultivators of overwhelming strength nearby.
“I can leave now.”
Even if someone later discovered that the books about the Sacred Sword had disappeared, it would be even harder to pinpoint Iris as the one who took them, since she had slipped away naturally.
Next, Iris focused on the blurred characters on the counterfeit currency notes.
“Time to move.”
She sensed footsteps approaching.
Iris returned the second book—now unnecessary—to the shelf.
Concealing her presence, she moved in a direction opposite to the approaching presence, quietly circled around the area, and then left the secret library.
Before the empty shelf where the books had been removed, the space that had been hollow slowly closed in, then vanished completely, as if nothing had ever been there.
The imperial institutions were generally clustered nearby.
The path from the library to the imperial bank was quite short.
“Perfect timing—I have a valid reason to visit the imperial bank.”
Without any proper excuse, visiting both the secret library and the bank could arouse suspicion due to overlapping routes.
But that didn’t apply to the current Iris.
She had a solid cover story—Lilliana’s case.
And she could say she was handling various tax issues, including territory levies, which would neatly explain her visit.
As Iris approached the counter, a clerk greeted her politely.
“Welcome, Lady Iris Valentine. How may I assist you today?”
“I would like to check the balance of the Valentine estate.”
Presenting her seal, the clerk confirmed it and nodded.
“Seal verified. I will escort you immediately.”
The clerk led Iris down a side corridor.
A dim red carpet covered the floor.
This was a secret vault room contracted jointly by high nobles.
Strict security ensured that only one person could access it at a time.
The door required not just one key but a combination of several.
After turning a series of keys, the heavy iron door slowly creaked open.
A sharp light spilled out from inside, brighter than the corridor’s dim glow.
“I will wait here until your business is complete. Please knock when you need assistance.”
“Understood.”
Usually, it was considered a grave insult for anyone to watch a noble while they inspected their vault.
It was especially true for the Valentine family.
As expected, the clerk did not watch Iris’s movements but closed the door and waited outside to maintain security.
Clang—
As the iron door shut, Iris quickly stepped inside.
She passed by the Valentine family’s vault.
“One of these must belong to the counterfeiters.”
Depending on the vault’s security level, Iris would adjust her approach accordingly.
“Even if I can’t open the vault now…”
Just identifying its condition and location could provide vital clues to uncover more information.
Iris immediately began searching for the vault.
At the Imperial Bank within the palace, unless one was the rightful owner, it was impossible to identify a specific vault.
But…
Nobles, being who they were, always left behind some kind of sigil to mark what was theirs.
Eliminate the unnecessary ones first.
Vaults engraved with the crests of noble clans. Vaults with clearly defined purposes. Vaults with no signs of recent use.
By process of elimination, only a very small number remained.
Found it.
The vault before Iris now radiated the highest level of defensive qi she’d sensed yet.
Unlike the others, which could be opened with keys or combination codes, this one had no visible mechanism at all.
To the untrained eye, it looked more like a massive hunk of scrap metal than a vault.
It was many times larger than Iris herself.
A spiritual artifact…?
As she pondered this, her fingers brushed against the surface of the door—
And with a faint hum—
kiiiiiing
—something within the vault stirred.
[Identification complete.]
The massive door rumbled open.
Despite her worries, the vault parted just enough for Iris’s body to slip through.
“…Was this you too?”
She glanced down at the brooch hanging from her neck and whispered softly.
No answer came.
With one hand clutching the brooch, Iris stepped inside.
Heavens above…
What lay before her was a mountain of counterfeit spirit notes—
far more than she had ever imagined.
The true cause of the economic collapse that once devastated the Leonteim domain was now painfully clear.
Everything at her feet—false.
All of this…
Had been unleashed upon the Northern territories.
And when the economy shattered overnight, people had died—not by blade, but by silent, suffocating desperation.
And the one they cursed, the one they begged for help, the one they blamed—
was the Grand Duke of the North:
Cedric
.
A quiet, smoldering fury ignited within Iris.
She reached into the mound and tore one of the notes in half.
But she was alone.
And there were too many of them—far too many.
At this rate, it’s endless.
Unless she burned them, physical destruction would be slow and nearly impossible.
And even then, simply destroying the forged notes wouldn’t be enough.
The plates.
The copperplates used to forge them had to be destroyed as well.
Iris recalled the faded pages of the counterfeit episode, letting the story from the novel unfurl in her mind.
“All preparations were made here,”
it had said.
Then the plates should be here too.
Ripping through the counterfeit notes in her path, Iris pushed forward.
And there they were—the copperplates.
Clearly, no one had ever thought this vault would be opened.
They had hidden the evidence here, behind divine protections and imperial seals.
They were too bold—probably because they believed the Emperor stood behind them.
After all, who would dare break into the Emperor’s own vault and search for one forged plate among priceless relics?
With composure, Iris summoned the Sacred Sword.
It flared to life with a brilliant light, then returned to its original form—a dagger of divine lineage.
She closed her eyes, flipping through the book in her mind.
Just as always, the pages stopped exactly where she willed it.
[The Sacred Sword returns all to its origin. Life and death, creation and destruction. Thus, it must be wielded in righteousness.]
But what
is
righteousness?
Could her desire to protect—this burning will in her chest—truly be called just?
She didn’t know.
In truth, she couldn’t be certain of anything.
She was not a deity.
“But—”
She drew forth the Sacred Sword.
Its silver blade shimmered brilliantly, flashing with a radiant light.
Even if what she was about to do was deemed improper, Iris was determined to wield the sword.
She would bear full responsibility for whatever consequences followed.
Raising the sword high, she struck down hard upon the bronze plaque.
Clang!
The sound of air shattering echoed as golden particles burst forth from where the blade struck.
And then,
[They distributed counterfeit currency on a massive scale, irreparably damaging the trust in Leontheim’s market…]
The words from the original script fractured in her mind.
Iris raised the Sacred Sword again, striking the plaque with greater force.
With each strike, the letters in her mind scattered bit by bit.
At the moment the final character vanished,
golden ribbons erupted like a storm across the shattered plaque.
The wind-like strands of gold brushed Iris’s cheek as they swept through the vault.
The counterfeit bills touched by the golden aura sprouted seeds and soon turned to soil, disappearing without a trace.
When the radiant light filling the vault faded,
all the corrupt elements within had been cleansed.
Panting heavily, Iris collapsed to the ground.
The bronze plaque had vanished just like the counterfeit currency.
The Sacred Sword did not destroy them—it simply returned them to their primordial form, just as the words had said.
Clenching the soil in her hand, it crumbled and scattered into the air.
Had Iris herself been one of those “corrupt things,” what then?
“Likely, I would have been no different.”
She felt anew the immense power the Sacred Sword possessed.
Unaware or perhaps indifferent to Iris’s trembling heart, the sword shrank gently, as if wanting to return to the brooch.
A small smile escaped her lips.
“Alright. I’ll put you back.”
Returning the Sacred Sword to the brooch, Iris checked the original script in her mind.
The counterfeit currency episode, once blurred, had now been completely erased.
“I changed it.”
Still uneasy, she glanced through the last pages, but Cedric’s ending remained unchanged.
Somehow, she felt relieved.
“…I will protect it.”
Slowly, step by step.
Closing the vault door firmly as she had upon entering, Iris calmly attended to other matters.
Before leaving, she withdrew all the money from her personal vault.
Now that she had the Sacred Sword—a walking warehouse—she had less need for physical funds.
“It’s better to leave the family sooner than later.”
Though she disliked enduring the Valentine household, what weighed more heavily was that she no longer had time to waste on them.
To awaken the Sacred Sword on schedule, she might have to be even more diligent.
“There are many other things to do as well.”
Iris had long established ties and investments with various merchant guilds to increase her funds.
“Back then, I planned to secure my capital more solidly before leaving.”
Looking back now, she knew leaving immediately—even with less capital—was the wiser choice.
After locking her personal vault securely, Iris’s eyes fell upon the noble Valentine family’s vault, standing proudly nearby.
Chapter 8
Translator's Note:
🎧 Check out the audio versions on my YouTube channel:
https://youtube.com/@novel-tube-w2f?si=UqMphhId_8DH80Ns