It’s an unexpected reaction.

The person standing in front of me is definitely the same person from the first interview photo in Dasrothe.

But shouldn’t he be more apprehensive about meeting me?

He looked me up and down as if examining a rare creature, then tilted his head in curiosity.

“But… what brings you here? There are no restricted areas or busy streets nearby. You’ve come quite far.”

“…I came to speak with you privately. Can we talk?”

“It’s nothing strange, right? Could it be that the demonic beasts have reached here…?”

Does he really think nothing is strange? Seriously?

It’s absurd, but starting off emotionally wouldn’t be a good choice.

“Well, I think you would know better about that, Mr. Velter.”

“Me?! Did I do something wrong?”

“……”

I felt a headache coming on and forced a smile.

Narce sighed briefly and tapped my arm.

“Sir.”

“Yes…?”

Narce smiled and snapped his fingers.

—“Come to think of it, I’m not sure what to call you. Shall I just call you Sir Nicolaus?”

“…!”

It wasn’t the content of his words that surprised me.

It was the way they were delivered.

Just like how Pai’s words seem to bypass the air and directly lodge into my mind, Narce’s words were delivered in the same way.

‘Did he do this with Divine Power too?’

It seems like a useful skill to learn.

I nodded.

Narce smiled and spoke again.

—“Haha, it feels a bit strange. I’ll call you that for now. And… that person really doesn’t know. He’s not even thinking about Dasrothe.”

Not even thinking about Dasrothe?

Even after seeing me?

‘…Wait.’

It’s entirely possible.

This could be an opportunity to really screw over Dasrothe.

Having assessed the situation, I spoke to him softly.

“No, there’s something I need to investigate. I came because I need Mr. Velter’s help.”

“Help? Is there something I can help you with?”

“Of course. I urgently need some information. If you have time, I’d like to talk with you.”

He looked back and forth between me and Narce, confused, before opening the door wide.

“I’m not sure what this is about… but please, come in.”

We sat at the table he indicated.

“I don’t have much to offer right now. I’ll go out and get something.”

“No, our schedule is a bit tight. It’s fine.”

It was already close to 4:30 PM.

We still had other places to visit, so we couldn’t linger here for long.

“Really? I feel bad since you came all this way…”

“It’s really fine. We’re here to ask for your help.”

“Oh, right. What do you need to ask about?”

“Have you heard any stories about me?”

Narce snickered beside me.

The way I phrased it made me sound incredibly self-centered.

I restrained my urge to explain and waited seriously for his answer.

“You’re Sir Nicolaus, right? I saw it in the Empire’s newspaper a few days ago.”

“You saw it. Do you have any other information?”

“No… just that you did something completely unexpected with Duke Elias… Is there something else?”

He frowned deeply, stroking his chin as if trying to recall something.

No matter how hard he thought, it seemed like nothing came to mind.

I pulled out a copy of yesterday’s Dasrothe from my bag and handed it to him.

“Oh.”

He frowned at the cover and nodded.

“Impressive. Yesterday’s issue features you, Sir Nicolaus.”

“The content isn’t impressive at all.”

He flipped through a few pages and then smiled awkwardly.

“Haha… indeed. Did you read this yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Are you okay?”

He squinted and cautiously continued.

“Surely you’re not this calm because it’s all true…? You’re not actually meeting seven people at 77….”

“No, that’s not the case.”

I pulled out today’s magazine and pushed it towards him.

“Read this too.”

He nodded and turned the first page.

The smile vanished from his face.

“What?”

He flipped the pages back and forth, then hurriedly scanned through from the beginning.

‘As I thought….’

I chuckled inwardly.

They didn’t get permission to use the photo.

They just used anyone’s face.

It’s astonishing how recklessly Dasrothe operates.

‘Well… it’s the same everywhere.’

The royal family also operates sloppily, so what can you expect?

He, now pale as a ghost, pointed to his photo in the magazine.

“What’s this? That’s not me?”

“Asking me won’t change anything….”

“R-right. It looks like me… No, it is me. But why is this here?!”

Narce stared at him and asked.

“Mr. Velter, do you know anything about this?”

“No. I never had any such interview… No one ever asked me for one! And I’ve never met Sir Nicolaus until today, so why would I say such things? What the heck are these people talking about?”

“Hmm, okay. It’s the truth.”

Narce spoke to Mr. Velter as if to reassure him.

But he was actually conveying it to me.

“Of course. I’m so shocked I can’t even speak properly. How could they use my face like this?!”

Not “Why is my face here?” but “How could they use my face like this?”

In any case, this man isn’t entirely uninvolved.

Narce also sensed this and quickly asked about the incident’s details.

“What exactly happened?”

“Some people came by before and offered five thousand pel for five photos, saying they wanted to take some pictures for a newspaper…. I guess that’s when they took these.”

“Five thousand pel.”

Narce pressed the end of his sentence.

They bought each photo for 100,000 won.

If it were me, I wouldn’t sell my face for 500,000 won, but different people have different perspectives.

“They just asked me to look serious while looking at the sea, saying it was for a regional promotion. They introduced themselves that way too…. I had no idea it would be used like this….”

Mr. Velter looked furious as he held his head.

I leaned forward and asked.

“So they didn’t tell you exactly how it would be used?”

“They just said it was for capturing the article’s concept. If I had known, I wouldn’t have agreed.”

“I see.”

I smiled and checked the time.

The rest will finish sooner than expected.

* * *

Mr. Velter, who was determined to sue Dasrothe immediately, exchanged contact information with us.

After thinking it over calmly for a moment, Mr. Velter seemed to recall the cost of filing a lawsuit and became less enthusiastic, but I could cover that expense. All I needed from him was his willingness to participate in the legal battle.

And, it turned out the other two people were in the same situation as him.

Both were equally shocked to see how their photos were used and, although they were clearly weary of getting involved in a lawsuit that could drag on for years, they were willing to testify to the relevant authorities after some persuasion.

And now… it’s 6 PM.

“It’s 6 PM!”

The moment I lowered my arm after checking the time, Pai popped its head out of Narce’s robe pocket.

Having been asleep the entire time, it must have remembered what I murmured while it was in the room with me yesterday.

Since I planned to make 6 PM the inflection point for the impression score, it was important to check the numbers from this time.

“Wow~ On the dot!”

Narce checked his wristwatch and was impressed.

‘But how did it know the time….’

Even Narce, the owner, seemed to be discovering this ability for the first time.

It would be nice to carry Pai around when there’s no clock.

Anyway, that’s not the important thing right now.

I opened the status window.

Lucas Rene Askanian

Impression: -9.9 [+5.0003821]

Earlier, it dropped from 10,000 to 8931.

During the time I was finishing the investigation, it dropped another 5000.

Considering that the evening newspaper hasn’t been published yet, this is quite a significant change for the 3-6 PM period.

At this rate, from now on, as we enter the actual evening hours, the drop will be even steeper, and it could fall into the 4-point range in just a couple of hours.

No, it’s not “it could fall” but “it’s already falling rapidly.”

Impression: -9.9 [+5.0003789]

Yeah. No surprise there.

Just a blink of an eye and it dropped another 32 points.

We stopped by the Bavarian Investigation Bureau and then returned to school.

After changing clothes at the dormitory, we warped to the meeting location for a conference.

Narce had already arrived before me and was waiting with the other students.

As I exchanged brief greetings with the students and took my seat, they resumed their conversation.

“I don’t know if it’s true, but honestly, I hope it’s not. Who are they trying to please with this?”

“It’s for Pleroma. God, can’t they read the room? Even if it happened, they should have revealed it later….”

“Maybe Pleroma’s behind it?”

Everyone was talking about Nicolaus.

But all the students here seemed to be extremely hostile towards Pleroma, so they were blindly siding with Nicolaus regardless of the rumors.

After all, Nicolaus was the initial whistleblower in this case and had significantly impacted Pleroma along with Elias.

I took the prepared materials and stood in front of the blackboard to speak.

“Alright, it’s already 7:30. Let’s start today’s analysis.”

I took out the newspaper sheets from each press, which were stored here, and cast a spell.

The text forming today’s articles slowly revealed itself.

– [Hessen] Nicolaus Ernst Joins Grand Duchy of Hesse and Two Other Nations’ Purification Efforts: “Will Help As Many Citizens As Possible”

– Leopold of Württemberg Thanks Nicolaus Ernst for Responding to Request

– Three Days Left in Grace Period: Württemberg, Hesse, and Baden Successfully Recruit Mages Amidst Manpower Shortage

“Wow.”

The students, who were reading the evening papers with me, let out brief exclamations.

“This guy’s really planning to go to multiple places.”

“Bavaria alone has five restricted areas, and now he’s adding three more countries?”

“So, he’s going to travel four times a week…? Does he have the strength for that?”

“Yeah, let’s wrap up Dasrothe like this!”

I chuckled at the last comment.

They think just like me.

One reason the decline has slowed is this very thing.

Yesterday, I moved to Bavaria to initiate an investigation into the false report in today’s Dasrothe.

Since Dasrothe must have bribed people to create evidence, breaking that would resolve many issues.

‘This alone is enough to defend.’

But dealing with crazy people like Dasrothe, who operate outside the bounds of common sense, requires more than a “moderate” approach.

They could bribe our witnesses or give absurd explanations like “it was just a reference image” and exploit the public’s tendency to be drawn to sensationalism, regardless of the truth.

Given that they’ve claimed without any evidence that I’ve been involved with seven people, it’s a route they could consider.

Therefore, the solution is to knock them down so hard that they can’t even think about getting back up.

To do that, I have to give them a reason to attack me again.

And these articles are exactly that bait.

“Wow, all seven newspapers have this story on the front page.”

“At least they’re not behaving like Dasrothe.”

Multiple newspapers reported on the resolution of the purification issue in three countries on their front pages.

From regional to national newspapers, they all leaned towards factual reporting.

If they only cared about increasing sales, they would have coPaid Dasrothe’s report and changed a few words, but they didn’t. Besides, it’s not a political issue.

These factual newspapers have consistently criticized the behavior of tabloids like Dasrothe.

Unless there’s a specific vested interest, there’s no reason for them to cover the controversy generated by those tabloids.

It’s now 7:40 PM.

It’s been more than an hour since the last check.

By this time, people would start accessing the evening news.

‘Let’s check it out.’

Lucas Rene Askanian

Impression: -9.9 [+5.0002829]

An hour ago, it was 3789.

It dropped by 960.

‘Ha.’

960.

It dropped by 5000 earlier.

If we evenly divide the drop from 3-6 PM, it fell by about 1670 per hour.

But between 6 PM and 7:40 PM, it dropped by less than 1000.

Even though we’ve entered the time zone where newspaper purchases increase, the impression score dropped less than during 3-6 PM.

If the decline during the second most impactful time zone of the day is this mild….

‘It’s over.’

I smiled and closed the status window.

This indicates that this morning’s Dasrothe already drew enough public interest.

It also means not many people were encountering the evening edition of Dasrothe for the first time.

‘The impression score didn’t drop as much as expected.’

Considering the overall trend, it suggests that people looked at the report but didn’t fully believe it.

Due to the live broadcast, a favorable impression of me has taken root more strongly than the gossip.

Dasrothe’s timing failed.

On top of that, their growth rate has plummeted….

‘They should be getting desperate by now.’

Now, they just need to attack me with a new topic.

It’s been almost two hours since the purification reports were released.

Dasrothe has had enough time to revise their articles.

Even if it’s not as impactful as the morning, they wouldn’t want to miss out on evening sales, so if they’re a bit more greedy, they’ll try to attack me in this edition as well.

Maybe they’ll come out with a new report tomorrow morning.

I looked down at the newspaper and quietly asked.

“Who has the current Dasrothe?”

“Dasrothe? I do!”

A student pulled the magazine from his bag, froze, unable to take his eyes off the title, and then showed the cover to the students.

“Look at this… They’re at it again.”

The students fell silent at the bright red text covering the lower part of today’s Dasrothe cover.

The title had been changed.

“1,775,000 Pel of Taxpayer Money, Misused for an Affair? Sir Nicolaus’ ‘Sacred’ Purification”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep