Chapter 92:

When I heard from Werner that the Assembly of Well-being had invited me, I thought it was a good opportunity.

There's no better way to gather information than meeting them in person, and it was even better if I could join in naturally without having to take the lead.

At least, that's what I thought before I came.

“Are you comfortable, Count?”

“Yes.”

“I heard you recently expressed your intention to support the People's Medical Center, could we discuss it more deeply?”

“Let's do that in a little while.”

“Wouldn't it be better for both nations if you, Count, put your efforts into the relationship between Vestol and the Empire.”

“I will think about it.”

First of all, it was bigger than I had expected.

I had only heard that the Three Blades were handling the preparations and that the Assembly of Well-being would be coming, but it felt like every single person from Vestol had gathered.

I didn't know why, but the majority of them were trailing after me.

I guess Werner must have put some ideas in their heads....

My plan to observe the members of the Assembly of Well-being had gone considerably awry.

But it was also difficult to ignore all of them and just investigate the Assembly of Well-being.

They were all influential figures in their own right, and it was possible that some of them, like the Assembly of Well-being or the People's Medical Center, were involved in the Kranacht incident.

“My apologies, everyone. I know you all have much to say to the Count, but we too have been eagerly awaiting our meeting with him.”

A man with a beaming smile broke through the crowd and came forward.

With his slightly short stature, impeccably groomed beard, and clothes that were obviously expensive, down to the gleaming watch chain, he was clearly a person of high standing.

“Isn't that Chairman Paulo? I heard you were busy with other matters, I'm surprised you managed to attend.”

“Since this was opened with the support of the Assembly of Well-being, it is only natural that I attend. By the way, I heard your business has been struggling lately, I'm surprised you managed to attend.”

When someone sniped at him, Paulo immediately retorted.

At his words, the other person's face turned red, but he left without another word.

The other Vestol figures also began to slip away one by one.

As if Chairman Paulo were a ghost.

Regardless, the chairman approached me warmly and offered a handshake.

“A pleasure to meet you for the first time! I am Paulo Skovye. I run a small merchant union called the Assembly of Well-being.”

“A pleasure. I've heard of Assembly of Well-being. Though not always for good things.”

“When people from Vestol work in the Empire, they tend to build up a bad reputation. Aren't you also a fearsome person according to the rumors, Count? I hope we won't be swayed by rumors about each other.”

Paulo spoke firmly, even while smiling.

To put it nicely, it was confidence; to put it badly, it was arrogance.

I smiled brightly and took his hand.

“Of course, we shouldn't.”

“Well then, shall we go inside? We left the preparations to the Empire, but we've prepared a few parts in the Vestol style.”

Paulo turned his body gracefully.

I played along appropriately and then turned my head to look at the two people watching me from a distance.

Werner briefly raised a clenched fist, as if to say 'good luck.'

Though not as much as me, he was surrounded by various people and quickly disappeared among them.

Victor, on the other hand, stood quietly in a corner, observing the banquet hall.

Judging by his clothes, he looked like a waiter, but there was an aura about him that those who knew his identity could feel.

Seeing that many of the waiters seemed to be from the Three Blades, it looked like they had put in a lot of effort.

He was probably suspicious of the relationship between me and the Assembly of Well-being.

‘It's better for now if he misunderstands like that.’

If he stuck his nose in trying to dig up the relationship between me and the Assembly of Well-being, he would eventually get closer to the truth of the Kranacht incident.

The truth that Timershi had intervened in some way.

Though how Johann Geller would react was still a question.

I went deeper inside and entered a luxurious room.

The atmosphere was similar to a poker room where mafiosos gather in movies.

“Keep everyone away so no one can approach.”

“Yes.”

A bodyguard, who was no different from a thug except for the clothes he wore, spoke in a gruff voice and went outside.

Only after the thug came back in a few minutes later and nodded did Paulo speak again.

“I've checked several times, so it's fine now. Let's talk about that letter you sent last time. More specifically, about Brauder Stetten.”

I smiled lightly and said nothing.

As I remained silent, Paulo, seemingly bothered, tapped the table quickly.

“Knowing Brauder's location must mean that you are the one who instigated the kidnapping, Count?”

“I must say that is a baseless assumption. I simply know where that idiot is.”

“Well… let's say that's the case. To be honest, I was suspecting it was a setup staged by himself.”

“A setup by Brauder, you mean.”

“Considering the money that punk owes, it's a reasonable suspicion. He has no money to pay it back, so he must have pulled such a stunt to disappear.”

Paulo clicked his tongue and shook his head.

He himself probably knew it was an unlikely story.

Brauder was an idler who just played and ate, but he wasn't the type of man to abandon his ducal bloodline.

Even more so if he was in debt.

“That's a plausible guess.”

“Thanks to that, we've been put in a very awkward position. It's as if a major source of money has disappeared….”

“But couldn't we think of it this way.”

Paulo's mouth, cut off mid-sentence, twisted from behind his beard.

I fully savored his anxious look as he held out his hand for me to continue.

“The creditors, unable to endure it any longer, kidnapped the delinquent debtor. How about that.”

“You have a fine sense of humor. If that were the case, the Three Blades and Lord Werner would have already torn us to shreds.”

Judging by his attitude and expression, he seemed to have grown weary of such questions.

It seemed he was well aware that they were under suspicion.

“No, if you know where that damn punk is, don't you also know who took him? Or were you lying?”

“There's no need to reveal one's hand so quickly, is there? We need a process of getting to know each other, one by one.”

“If you have something you're curious about, please just say it. If we take up too much of the Count's time, those things outside might get angry.”

Hearing Paulo's blunt reply, I became more certain.

Brauder's kidnapping was unexpected for the Assembly of Well-being as well, and they were also in a hurry.

“Do you know about the People's Medical Center?”

“Of course, we do, since we're the biggest sponsor. I heard you recently expressed your intention to sponsor it, Count. Is that perhaps what you wish to discuss?”

The thought 'if so, by all means' was so clearly written on his face that it was amusing.

I shook my head, betraying his expectations.

“I've already spoken with the director about that. My question is why the Assembly of Well-being supports the People's Medical Center.”

“Does one need a reason to help save people?”

“It's a noble reason, but you wouldn't have acted for that reason alone. If you had, you wouldn't have neglected the clinic.”

If they truly had a noble cause or were trying to improve their image, they should have actively responded to the rumors I spread.

They should have either denied any connection to the People's Medical Center or actively refuted them as baseless rumors.

The fact that there was no such movement meant that they didn't really care about that kind of reputation.

“We have a close… with the Imperial authorities.”

“Just because my eyes are closed, do you think I'm blind? I am well aware that no such discussions took place.”

“……”

It was a fact Werner had confirmed, so I was certain.

Paulo, at a loss for words, quickly changed the subject.

“In any case, we had our own reasons for not responding.”

“Then may I imagine as I please? Vestol's commercial activities are quite disliked within the Empire, and they are also subject to restrictions. With the change of Emperor, these restrictions have only increased, not decreased.”

“You are correct. Business was better under the former Emperor.”

“However, things are lax when it comes to Vestol people who aren't merchants. Scholars, tourists, simple laborers, people like that. A charity organization like the People's Medical Center is one of those lax links.”

“Are you trying to claim that we smuggled goods through the People's Medical Center? Haha, what an interesting imagination you have.”

Paulo scoffed at me with an exaggerated gesture.

I calmly waited for his excuse.

“If we were a merchant union that sold things, it would be suspicious enough. In fact, there have been fools who were caught using such petty tricks. But the products we deal with are insurance and money.”

He was saying they didn't need to resort to such things.

If it was related to their own business, he was right.

“It's a business that runs with just contracts, money, and some enforcers to threaten debtors, so the Chairman is right. Then let's think about it this way. But what if you received a request from someone else?”

“Isn't that just forcing a connection? Go on and say whose request we received!”

Paulo waved his arms in a strangely agitated tone.

The bodyguards, sensing the situation was not favorable, moved their hands to their waists.

I raised both my hands and smiled.

The atmosphere didn't calm down at all, but at least I stopped the other party from storming out.

“Please, calm down. I am just talking about one of many possibilities.”

“Don't speak so vaguely, point it out precisely.”

“Well, for example….”

When I paused for a moment, Paulo's pupils dilated slightly.

In the suffocating atmosphere, I revealed my card.

“Someone like Timershi Stetten.”

***

A considerable amount of time had already passed since Valheit went in with the chairman of the Assembly of Well-being.

If only I could hear what they were talking about.

Of course, Victor himself understood better than anyone that it was a difficult conversation to have in such a public place.

That wasn't what he was after.

“An order came in from number 17.”

A waiter who was bustling about with a plate whispered to him as he passed.

It meant that a message had come from the team in charge of investigating the Assembly of Well-being building.

Moving inconspicuously, he approached a table by the window.

“Good evening. Have you decided on your order.”

“Here is the order sheet.”

A well-dressed middle-aged man handed him a piece of paper.

Victor politely took the paper and headed towards the kitchen.

‘Security has become considerably lax due to Chairman Paulo's outing. Some ledgers confirmed, but mostly routine records.’

Victor, who was walking while deciphering the code, paused for a moment.

After deciphering the code once more to confirm his interpretation was not wrong, he walked on calmly again.

Suddenly, large demands for repayment were made to Brauder Stetten, a significant portion of which was handled by the Third Duke.

However, the debt on the books appears to have continued to increase.

It was already a widely known fact that Brauder was involved with the Assembly of Well-being.

Those in the know also knew that Timershi secretly paid off his younger brother's debts.

But the last sentence was something that even Victor, who doubted everything, had never imagined.

“After the discord between Brauder and the Assembly of Well-being, transactions between the Third Duke and the Assembly of Well-being increased. The ledger states it is repayment of Brauder's debt, but the frequency is too high for that to be the case. Investigation required….”

That greenhorn who just follows the old man's tail, surely not?

Normally, he would have laughed and dismissed it as nonsense, but right now, Victor was on the job.

And on the job, Victor trusted no one except himself and the First Duke.

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