──October 31st, 00:00
Adria’s external office.
High-ranking and senior knights under Deputy Commander Anton, along with nearly all the administrative officers they trusted, were gathered, imrsed in ledger analysis.
"I think we may need to bring in so accountants."
But the flow of funds was far too complex. Split apart and mixed together through dozens of shell corporations, disguised as consulting fees, art consignnt managent costs, and countless oth??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????er ostensibly legal transactions.
“There’s no ti for that. Goebel will be released soon.”
“We don’t have ti either.”
It was clearly a bribe, but it was impossible to pin it exactly on ‘Goebel’ as the central figure. At this rate, not only was the death penalty off t??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????he table, it would be hard to even leave a scratch.
“.......”
Adria stood with her arms crossed, lost in thought.
Goebel was undeniably the cartel's pipeline.
A cunning old fox who had manipulated the Imperial Guard to make contact with the cartel, sucked in dirty money, and expanded his own power base within the Imperial Guard.
‘If I were the cartel.’
She reversed her perspective and imagined herself as the head of the cartel, dealing with the power holders of the Empire.
‘I would never trust those Empire bastards.’
That was the first cardinal rule.
They could just pocket the money and wipe their mouths clean, or even sell the cartel out.
're ledgers like these could never serve as insurance.'
That was the second cardinal rule.
Goebel was the type of monster who was always ready to cut off his tail and flee. aning, the mont things went south, he could betray them and kill them without hesitation.
In that case, what should the cartel do?
“......Jero. Tiana.”
Adria called the two of them. She pointed at a certain "cluster" within the flow of funds.
"A cluster ford by gathering small, fragnted sums of money."
Art auctions.
More precisely, paintings. Goebel actually owned nurous works by master painters and showed them off without hesitation. It was his characteristic vanity and desire to flaunt.
"What if."
Adria’s gaze sharpened.
"The cartel hid sothing in these paintings......."
One could manipulate or sever the flow of funds, but traces left on the physical objects themselves could not be erased.
"What if they hid evidence to blackmail Goebel, or as a safeguard in case he betrayed them?"
Adria turned to face the two. Tiana and Jero's eyes mirrored her own.
"We move out. Right now."
Right now, they had to do sothing, anything. Even if the hypothesis seed absurd, they had to act.
If they just sat around doing nothing, they would simply be put down quietly.
.......
──October 31st, 03:00
Tick. Tock.
The ti was past 3 a.m. Reutern II flicked the ink off his quill pen and laid it down neatly.
The list was complete.
“Ah...... I’m so tired.”
Stretching widely, he looked across from him. Reutern I, his father, sat there with a content expression.
“What are you staring at like that?”
“......Can’t a father look at his son?”
"It's making
uncomfortable."
His father shook his head as if filled with pride.
This list was, in truth, a lifeline.
A list of favors, personal appeals, asked for by Reutern II and Reutern I’s close friends.
“I'm going to have a headache too. I have to go outside the Imperial Palace and deal with that guy Max again. Do you know how scary that guy is?”
Reutern II grumbled.
“I’ll buy you whatever you want. If this matter is resolved well, even that villa you’ve always wanted.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Reutern seed to find his only son adorable, praiseworthy, and precious, but Reutern II put on a deliberately serious expression.
“But rember this clearly. It might not work. That Maximilian guy is incredibly strict.”
“I know.”
"I'll really try my best. I'm only doing this because you're my dad."
“Thank you.”
Reutern II felt nervous for the first ti in a while. This was a favor from his father, and his close friends. Even if it ant coughing up the bonds he received from Maximilian as a gift, he had to succeed.
Was this peculiar resolve what people called a sense of duty?
"Off you go. I'll be cheering for you."
“Yeah.”
Reutern II rose to his feet with a look of determination.
Though he was entirely innocent in relation to the cartel matter, he was voluntarily heading to the Knight Order......!
.......
──October 31st, 04:00
Dawn, cloaked in deep darkness.
Adria and her subordinate knights moved in covertly. Knights who had received thorough stealth training at Empire Point were practically no different from assassins.
With the distinctive footwork of knights, they infiltrated Goebel’s mansion and searched through the interior brimming with artworks, avoiding the eyes of the servants.
Ceramics, sculptures, landscapes, still lifes, and countless other artworks. As they swept over the pieces reeking of dirty money with mana detectors, they advanced while checking for any signs of suspicious anomalies.
“......Adria.”
Tiana pointed to a particularly elegant fra. It was a portrait in the hallway, strictly secured with mana-based security devices.
CRACK!
Adria extended her sword and destroyed the device. No alarm sounded. It was due to the nature of the mana she possessed.
“Open it.”
After unlocking the security device, they scanned the canvas ticulously with the mana detector they had brought.
Whrrrr...
The needle of the detector shook violently.
At a glance, it was simply an oil painting of a beautiful woman, but it indicated that a foreign mana had been hidden within.
"I'm cutting it open."
Without hesitation, Adria drew a dagger and slashed the fra apart. A painting worth millions of dollars was split open.
As she carefully examined the canvas, turning it front to back.
“......Found it.”
Words inscribed in blue particles. Based on a logic similar to Active Traces, invisible unless illuminated by a detector.
[From Fellier of Verkina─]
[To Goebel, the leader of the Imperial Guard]
A token of affection left personally by the cartel's boss Fellier, sothing Goebel never could have imagined existed.
“Ha.......”
The feeling surging up inside Adria was voiced instead by Tiana.
“Got you, you fucking bastard.”
.......
──October 31st, 05:00
I was organizing the personnel list in the office. Dieter and the geniuses under his command had ticulously categorized those involved in the cartel scandal based on Fellier’s ledger.
Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4.
The grades were based on severity of the cri and the amount of bribery.
Grade 4s were the ones who would receive standard criminal punishnt or re warnings, those who had only picked up scraps.
Grade 3s were idiots who didn’t even realize cartel money was circulating through the Imperial Palace and just assud it was free cash.
Starting from Grade 2s, there was "clear intent
Reviews
All reviews (0)