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076 Schemes
for Ruin
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Translator : PolterGlast
I exited the Minister
of Finance's room and, this time, entered Count Erbasil's room. It was a room
about the same size as the Minister's office. Count Erbasil was a
nervous-looking, elderly man, muttering to himself at his documents; he was
clearly a dangerous person.
He looked capable, but
Detailed Appraisal revealed him to be incompetent. He delegated all his work to
subordinates, a typical individual who held his current position solely due to
his family lineage. Regardless of his prestigious family background, was it
truly acceptable to appoint someone who didn't do their job as an assistant
minister?
"Princess Ermelda
must have endless troubles," I mused.
An assistant minister,
as the name suggests, assists the minister, and there are typically three such
positions. Count Erbasil was reportedly the head of these three. By the way,
the Minister is at the top, followed by the Vice Minister, and then the three
assistant ministers are next in rank. Count Erbasil, being the head assistant
minister, was positioned as the Ministry of Finance's number three.
Now, this Count
Erbasil had committed his fair share of crimes: smuggling, illegal slave
trading, murder, rape, extortion, and so on. As the father of that trash
Grissom, he was truly scum. From his demeanor, it was highly probable that his
other sons were also trash.
I discreetly searched
the room without Count Erbasil noticing, but there was no significant evidence.
I wanted evidence that could bring down the Erbasil Count's house itself. I
thought there would be evidence of smuggling and human trafficking... But he
wouldn't bring such evidence to his workplace, of course. I'd have to search
his mansion next time.
I entered the Ministry
of Finance's archives and looked around. The financial situation was quite bad.
If nobles and officials were embezzling so much, it was only natural for the
finances to be in disarray. The Minister of Finance was siphoning off 40%, and
others were doing it too, right? If the finances were sound despite that, I'd
be truly impressed. As I was looking through ledgers, three people entered the
archives.
"Hey, did you
hear that rumor?" one asked.
"Oh, yes, I did.
About Assistant Minister Erbasil and Assistant Minister Rudil having a
fistfight?" the second replied.
"Apparently, they
exchanged terrible insults, almost leading to a fistfight," the third
added.
"Assistant
Minister Rudil is serious, you see. Aside from him being incompetent, I think
he really dislikes Assistant Minister Erbasil, who has embezzled a considerable
amount," the first explained.
It seemed Count
Erbasil had a quarrel with someone who seemed to be his political rival. I
thought nobles wouldn't openly quarrel, even if they did questionable things in
secret. But it was shocking that even low-ranking officials knew about the
embezzlement, yet he still held his position.
Detailed Appraisal
indicated that Count Erbasil was closely connected to the Minister of Finance
through marriage. He had reportedly climbed to his current position through
this connection. Connections are only supposed to be used for getting in. If
people continue to be promoted through connections, everyone suffers.
"I think the
current Minister is fine, though," one official said.
"He's fine as
long as money goes into his pocket, he doesn't care what we do," another
replied.
"But lately, it's
gotten especially bad, hasn't it? Taking advantage of His Majesty's illness to
do whatever he wants. This makes me worried about the country's future."
"Indeed,"
the other two agreed.
I had heard the King
was ill. I didn't know the exact nature of his illness, but it seemed they were
taking advantage of the King's absence to do as they pleased. Princess Ermelda
was only 16, I recalled. She was younger than me, yet she was shouldering the
burden of the country, but her lack of power was undeniable.
However, while a
princess of an age that would still be considered a child in Japan was doing
her best, what were the adults of this country doing? Instead of exploiting the
country, shouldn't they be supporting the princess? I hated these kinds of
adults.
I had no good feelings
towards the Princess, but I disliked these adults even more. I wanted to punish
these adults I hated.
***
While investigating
Count Erbasil, the Minister of Finance, and other individuals involved in
blatant corruption, the day came for the New Year's audience with the King.
Since the King was currently recuperating, Princess Ermelda would act as his
proxy. Anyway, I've already met the Princess, so it's fine, isn't it?
"This is this,
that is that," Zaigen said with a sigh. Can you stop reading my mind?
The audience was held
in the same place as last time, but there were fewer nobles present. It seemed
the ceremony for the demon subjugation reward was held grandly. Though it was
ruined by those idiots.
"This year, with
the appearance of a demon, the Gardland Ducal Territory must have faced great
difficulties," Princess Ermelda remarked.
"Not only the
houses in the castle town, but my castle also suffered significant damage.
Therefore, I plan to build a new castle," the Duke replied.
"The Royal Family
shall also provide assistance for the castle construction," Princess
Ermelda offered.
The national finances
are in the red, yet you can afford to assist the Duke? Do you not understand
reality? Or do you have another plan? Oh well, if this country's finances
collapse, it's none of my business.
"Thank you, Your
Highness," the Duke replied.
Basically, the
Princess and the Duke would talk, and then it would be over. But the Princess
kept glancing at me. I had a bad feeling.
"Baron
Footscythel, you must have also faced troubles," Princess Ermelda added.
She was probably
referring to Akaba and his group. Those guys were enslaved after that. They
certainly didn't have a large sum of money like 250,000,000 Grill. They were
now under the Knight Commander's management, starting over with training. If
they said anything cheeky, they'd apparently be sent flying by the knights.
That's about right for them.
"No, I didn't do
anything significant," I replied. I also got to vent some of my
accumulated resentment, and I received 750,000,000 Grill as compensation for
the trouble of the duel. I never thought I'd get the full amount, so it was a
surprise. If there had been any skimming, I would have driven that person to
ruin.
"If possible, I
would like to make you a direct vassal of the Royal Family, but the Duke looks
displeased, so I shall refrain," Princess Ermelda said. That's a good
idea. I would refuse anyway.
The Hero Summoning was
initiated by the Princess, but it was apparently strongly pushed by the King
and the Minister of Finance. The Princess, if anything, was reportedly against
the summoning. I had investigated thoroughly, so I read those records. I
revised my opinion of the Princess a little. The King and the Minister of
Finance were the bad ones. That Minister of Finance had been siphoning off
funds for the summoning. I had pinpointed the location of his hidden ledgers.
And of course, Count Erbasil was also siphoning off funds.
The investigation into
Count Erbasil had also progressed considerably. I had pinpointed the location
of evidence that could bring him down. However, I couldn't gather evidence of
his idiotic son Grissom's crimes. Despite how foolish he seems, he's
surprisingly diligent at destroying evidence. If I brought down his father, the
Count, Grissom might be investigated as well, but I shouldn't count on that.
Since he was illegally
confining slaves, I might be able to exploit that point, but the responsibility
lay with Grissom's party members, as they were the owners of the slaves. This
meant Grissom could claim ignorance. Grissom was quite cunning. I desperately
wanted to get evidence of Grissom's crimes... but for now, there was no
prospect of that.
It was at that time
that I used Detailed Appraisal on Grissom at his mansion, and his record card's
criminal history had disappeared.
"What does this
mean...?" I wondered. On closer inspection, I could see traces of it being
erased. But Grissom didn't have any skills to tamper with or change record
cards.
"Did he perhaps
ask someone to change it?" That was the logical conclusion. But neither
his party members nor his slaves had such skills.
"Who...
who...?" The record card was unnaturally altered, and there were also
unnatural aspects even in Detailed Appraisal. As I patiently unraveled these
unnaturalities, I came across the term "underground guild." It seemed
Grissom also had ties to an underground guild.
The audience concluded
without incident, and the Duke departed the royal capital in two days. I needed
to hunt monsters on the 10th floor of the dungeon, so I continued to stay at
the Duke's detached residence. At the same time, Yamato and Itsukushima-san
moved into the Duke's detached residence (my quarters). The two would continue
to create items under my direction. I had expected some conditions, like having
to present the created items to the Duke, but the Duke didn't say anything of
the sort. I felt a little uneasy, as I now owed him a favor.
Our quarters were part
of the Duke's mansion, so security was strict. The safety of the two of them
during our dungeon explorations would be ensured. Just then, Gandarvan brought
two explorers.
"I found some
good talent at the royal capital's Explorer's Guild," he announced.
They were explorers
who had transferred from Kerniff to the royal capital, and they were apparently
acquaintances of Gandarvan from when he was an explorer.
"They were active
in a party of five, but two of them retired due to injuries, so they were
thinking about their future," Gandarvan explained.
"Hm, two retired,
so what happened to the other one?" I asked.
"One joined
another party," he replied.
That other party had
also had one member retire due to injury, leaving one open slot. So, they had
reportedly discussed whether they could merge with them, but the other party
had five, and theirs had three, so merging would make it eight people, which
was too many. Since more people meant smaller shares, the discussions stalled.
After several
discussions, one of their comrades ended up joining the other party. In short,
the two of them stepped aside. The two had been planning to form a new party
with new recruits and continue as explorers, but then they reunited with
Gandarvan, heard his offer, and he recruited them.
The two were a bit of
an odd couple. One was shorter than me, and the other was taller than
Gandarvan.
"These two are
sisters," Gandarvan explained.
"Huh? Sisters...
Really?" I asked.
"Yes, both of
you, introduce yourselves," he instructed.
The shorter one
stepped forward. She was about 140 centimeters tall.
"I am Colon, the
elder sister," she said. Huh? She clearly looked like a middle schooler,
and the shorter one at 140 centimeters is the elder sister?
"We have the same
father, but different mothers," she explained. Half-sisters. "My
mother is a Litrana, so I inherited Litrana characteristics and have a youthful
appearance."
First, I didn't even
know what a Litrana was. Gandarvan explained that it was a race belonging to
the dwarf-kin. They were apparently a relatively tall race among the dwarf-kin.
Now, the taller one
stepped forward. She was a head taller than Gandarvan, probably about 230
centimeters tall.
"I am Karon, the
younger sister. My mother is a Half-Dargo," she stated. Gandarvan,
explanation please! Half-Dargo is a race belonging to the giant-kin, and they
are reportedly relatively small. So, the taller of the dwarf-kin and the
shorter of the giant-kin, huh? How confusing!
"Since Gandarvan
recommended them, I will hire them, but they will have to sign a
confidentiality agreement," I stated.
"Thank you!"
(Both)
"You can hear the
employment terms from Gandarvan. If you agree, then we'll sign the
contract."
I was happy to have reinforcements,
as I thought we were short on soldiers. And their personalities didn't seem bad
either.
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